Describes an informal study to determine whether elementary school students could use writing to help them learn math. Results indicated improved scores when compared to another class and also indicated more accurately which students did and did not understand the math concepts being taught. (HTH)

Reports findings of one study that reanalyzed research data allegedly demonstrating a substantial relationship between social cognitive ability and narrative writing skill, and another that collected original data. Reveals no relationship between social cognitive ability and rated quality of narrative essays. Discusses finding in terms of a…

Using electromyography, an investigation was made of the interaction between covert language behavior, rhetorical modes, and the reading and writing processes. (HOD)

Describes observations of classrooms in which the teachers participated with the students in writing exercises. Discusses the three teacher/writer roles that emerged during the class--teacher/writer as model, teacher/writer as learner, and teacher/writer as human being--and the bond of understanding that developed as the teachers as students…

Explores the role audience plays in composition theory and pedagogy by demonstrating that the arguments advocated by each side in the debate oversimplify the act of making meaning through written discourse. Points out the failings and strengths of each side, and proposes an alternative formulation that more accurately reflects the richness of…

One of the ways in which tutors can help students improve their academic writing is to give them positive and constructive feedback on their work. D. Hounsell, however, suggests that written comments may fail to connect because tutors' and students' perceptions of marking criteria can be very different. This paper reports on two research studies,…

For a project, a university researcher and a group of education graduate students in literacy and language education at Purdue University exchanged e-mail with 32 third graders in two classes at a northern California elementary school. The overall aim of the project was to build the children's literacy and communication skills by involving them in…

Focusing specifically on the theories offered by language development theorist L. S. Vygotsky and evolutionary theorist Terrence Deacon, this paper examines the ways in which theories of language in composition studies coincide and differ with the theories currently being researched in neurobiology and physical anthropology. This examination…

This annotated bibliography of literacy research published from 1990 to 1998 in the "Journal of Research and Development in Education" is divided into different literacy categories for the ease of the reader. The categories in the bibliography are: Assessment (4 citations); Belief Systems (8 citations); Genres (13 citations); Literacy Mediums (9…

How learning is understood in everyday schooling and conceptualized in research varies a great deal, as does the way in which writing is used for enhancing learning. This paper reviews recent research conducted mainly in Europe, North America, and Australia to outline what kind of challenges research is facing at the moment. The paper begins with…

This book is about tutoring writing--about the techniques of tutoring, the theoretical and practical background that tutors will need to be successful--and the specific issues that make writing center work both challenging and rewarding. The structure of the book mirrors the structure of tutor training, starting with overviews of the writing and…

A study analyzed children's compositions from grades 1-4 in Slovenian schools. Children described real places within the framework of an experientially provable world, which is empirically available to them within the limits of their abilities and possibilities. Irreal places were described inventively without the support of experience, although…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of literature circle discussions on students' written responses. Two main research questions guided data collection and analysis: (1) How does literature circle discussion around one book affect the students' written responses according to a comprehension taxonomy? and (2) Do literature circle…

A writing teacher wanted to know how students perceive the second selves (alter-egos or implied authors) that writing teachers infer in their written comments on student writing, whether students saw room for negotiating the role this second self implied for themselves, and whether teachers can exercise control over some of the choices they make…

A study examined the relevancy of freshman composition to writing in the workplace. Four professionals in middle management who had been out of college for a number of years were surveyed by e-mail about their writing in the workplace, college education, freshman writing classes, and importance of seven skills employers want employees to have.…