In 1975, J. A. Daly and M. D. Miller devised and validated a 26-item questionnaire to better understand why having to write produces an extreme level of anxiety for some people. This questionnaire has been used extensively in related research since its introduction. Subsequent studies, which have shown writing apprehension to be…

A study investigated whether college students' writing skills have deteriorated in recent years. Writing samples from upper-level undergraduate or first-year graduate courses from 1956 (at a public university), 1965 (at a private university), and from 1978 and 1993 (at a private college) were examined. Samples were analyzed for errors in spelling,…

A study, to support the need for exploratory research, was designed to elicit a description of the medical chart located in its setting--the chart was looked "through" as a tool (as a means to an end to effect particular medical goals) and looked "at" itself as technology. This could provide a way to understand the relationship…

A study investigated whether the narrative writing task is more compatible with the structure of conscious thought than are other writing tasks. If so, composing a narrative text should demand less cognitive effort, occur more fluently, and yield a more coherent document than composing persuasive or descriptive texts. Sixteen college students were…

A theoretical framework of written language use and development that emerged from a two-year case study of one child's writing at home and in school during kindergarten and first grade is presented. First, the paper describes three elements which are found throughout the framework: the social web of experience, writing as relationships, and…

Even though the importance of critical thinking skills has been recognized and studied by experts in several fields, the research has not yielded a clear definition, nor has a clear explanation been proffered of how writing can foster critical thinking. This article reviews the literature on the various definitions of critical thinking and…

This book describes and discusses the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) study of writing in Sweden. The chapters are as follows: (1) Introduction; (2) Content and Planning of the Study; (3) Schools, Teachers and Pupils in Sweden 1985; (4) The Teaching of Writing; (5) Compositions and Scoring; (6)…

Designed to assess teachers' attitudes toward teaching writing, evaluating writing, and teaching course content through writing, the first part of this two-part measure is a Likert-type scale containing 35 items representing the instrument's three purposes. The second part asks for professional opinions in 12 categories, including extent of…

Computers, if programed to respond to writer-generated content with heuristic strategies, can guide the writer in the prewriting stage. Heuristics are problem solving strategies that can aid the writer in exploring a topic either through a systematic posting of relevant questions or through an unsystematic process of free-association. To date the…

This project is a historical and topical search into handwriting evaluation. It includes a statement of the problem; a justification; definitions; a bibliography listed in historical order with annotations on 36 books and articles; and a summary and evaluation of the literature. The conclusion of the paper discusses the importance of being aware…

To help business writers and writing teachers think more specifically about problems of writing collaboration, a study examined and analyzed a group writing project in the Auldouest Insurance Company (pseudonym) Department of Corporate Communication. The collaborative writing of the two page executive letter of the company's annual report involved…

As a response to the increasing support for linking information about the role of writing in the lives of children to writing instruction in schools, a research instrument was developed that illuminates children's concepts about writing (who writes, what is written, where people write, why they write, and how they view the writing process).…

A study examined attitudes toward writing that affect productivity and the extent of their influence. Subjects, 160 engineers practicing in the Chattanooga, Tennessee region, completed a questionnaire concerning writing attitudes, including anxiety and confidence, and levels of productivity. Findings show that confident engineers produce…

To develop a theory of invention that would include both generation and selection of material for written composition, the four major current theories of invention were considered. Since only one--prewriting--included a selection component and was limited in several ways, a psychotherapeutic theory--focusing--was adapted to the composing process…

A review of the literature concerning ethnographic studies of writing reveals a number of reasons for the writing that people do. Some studies of writing in the schools found that what is considered "writing" is not really writing at all and that the majority of students consider the teacher to be their sole audience. Other studies…