Reports, from personal textbook publishing experience, that composition teachers do not want the results of research in their textbooks; they want what's familiar to them. (JL)

Finds serious flaws in the research asserting the uselessness of teaching grammar to composition classes. Proposes that writing teachers acknowledge the presence and importance of grammar in the writing class. (RL)

Stephen P. Witte outlines a conceptual model useful for classifying research in written composition; Roy C. O'Connell surveys contents of volumes 1-10 of this journal; and Arthur Applebee and George Hillocks, Jr., trade comments about James Britton's study as reported in "The Development of Writing Abilities (11-18)." (GT)

Reports on a study of the use of sentence combining in developmental writing classes. (MKM)

States that writing from sources is the most difficult writing task for ESL college students--especially a lack of ability to create voice and claim authority in their writing. Reviews definitions of voice; offers a new definition. Studies 18 ESL students at Indiana University (Pennsylvania). Finds even brief training for writing with voice can…

Reviews briefly accounting writing skill research, discusses the subject bias prevalent in that research, and relates this weakness to a potential bias toward grammar and syntax in curriculum development. Argues that the user of accounting information is an important but neglected party in the communication process, whose input should be…

Takes issue with standard characterizations of Japanese expository prose styles on the grounds that they view language and culture as exotic and static. Draws on multiple interpretations of ki-sho-ten-ketsu (classical rhetoric) offered by composition specialists in Japan. Suggests that researchers and writing teachers should be wary of…

Explores features of conference proposals submitted to the Conference on College Composition in 1989, 1990, and 1992--345 abstracts in total. Results showed that successful abstracts were more likely to follow generic qualities associated with "unsolicited proposals"; foundational discourse remained constant throughout the abstracts but…

Endorses recent arguments for more study of writing that shapes and directs the production of material artifacts and for considering writing as one semiotic mode among others. Considers a case of "nonwritten" symbolic production, architectural design, for what it may suggest for the study and teaching of writing. (TB)

Examines the work of Janet Emig, particularly "The Composing Processes of Twelfth Graders," as a means of gaining historical insight into the process movement in writing today. (TB)

Reports on a study of genre and register that reaches the following conclusions concerning the teaching of language and literature: (1) teaching should concentrate on the move structure of genres and the concomitant move registers rather than the general register of a genre as a whole; and (2) the teaching of reading and writing should be…

Addresses interrelated sets of ethical considerations: the ethical principles for representing students and student writing in the teacher's own publications of two types--in textbooks designed for student use, and in research publications and conference presentations designed for the author's peers. Lists 10 points to make clear to students whose…

Proposes ethnomethodology as a theoretical approach for resolving the structure-agency binary and for treating the activities of writers in organizations as simultaneously embedded in and constitutive of organizational context. Illustrates the value of ethnomethodology with data from a study examining the social practices that surrounded the…

Follows from a previous investigation into the impact of guidance given in writing tasks when 600 eleven-year-olds completed writing tasks with varying content and structural support. Probes children's thinking as they face a writing stimulus and plan their writing. Investigates whether the support facilitated better writing and if the nature of…

Proposes that emotions should be regarded as important components of learning. Focuses on recent trends in composition relating to how the emotions have or have not been included in discussions emphasizing writing instruction. Suggests opportunities for further research that give attention to emotion. (PM)