Synthesizes major findings of writing research into 10 basic principles: grammar, correctness, feedback, positive reinforcement, formative evaluation, quality of learning, specific devices, sharing, student interest, and reading. Applies the principles to business communication classes. (RS)

Presents an interview with Linda Flower, discussing her research on the cognitive processes of student writers and on collaborative planning, and the place of composition research in the university. (SR)

Describes the influence of writing conferences on revision knowledge and revision activity for an initially knowledgeable first grade reviser and a relatively naive one. Finds variable conference influence, with only the initially naive writer profiting significantly and evidencing clear developmental progress in revision. (SR)

Investigates the processes which two college faculty members go through to generate knowledge that neither they nor anyone else has, to situate themselves so they can both formulate and answer questions that will contribute to the knowledge of their fields. Discusses applications of the research for teaching. (PRA)

Analyzes the relationships between complimenting strategies associated with male and female language use and evaluations of the effectiveness of written discourse. Finds that use of certain complimenting strategies associated with male and female language use correlate with lower ratings of ideational effectiveness. Illustrates ways that gender is…

Asserts that more revisionist work is going on in rhetoric in the 1990s than before and that it is easier to see how the traditional, white-male-elite version of rhetoric might be reconstituted in less exclusionary forms. Focuses on needed research on women and rhetoric. Outlines some ways in which feminist research in rhetoric might proceed. (PRA)

Evaluates external and diagnostic validity of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf Writing Test. Supports its external validity but does not support the diagnostic validity of this and other writing tests of the same basic design. (SR)

Uses ethnomethodological perspectives to translate the language of Flower and Hayes's cognitive theory of writing into a more thoroughly social vocabulary as a way of articulating the role of social context and social structure in individual acts of writing. (SR)

Compares the style, emphasis, and tone in textbook chapters on trauma care written for and by doctors and nurses. Discusses ways physicians' and nurses' roles are mirrored in the writing. Notes that doctors' prose is focused, with attention given to injuries and their repair; whereas nurses' prose adopts a holistic view, caring for patients'…

Considers the relationship of rhetoric to hermeneutics. Describes a practical understanding of interpretation which presents hermeneutics as a specialized application of topical invention. Reviews the historical origins of the dominance of hermeneutics over rhetoric and the split between theory and practice. (HB)

Finds no significant effects of an instructional intervention on students' persuasive writing at two grade levels (third and fifth). Determines the categories and types of written persuasion used by students at four grade levels (third, fifth, 10th, and 12th). (SR)

Finds that the strategies used by children with hearing impairments to invent spellings were developmentally and phonologically similar to those used by hearing children. (SR)

Investigates the effects of asking interspersed questions or no questions in three full-length stories on the summarization behaviors of sixth graders. Finds that the approach students used in writing summaries may be influenced by the structure and length of the story and that interspersed story-focused questions influenced selection and accuracy…

Examines the writing assignments and instruction in 30 introductory literature textbooks. Finds three types of writing assignments: the "ever popular" critical paper, the expressive paper, and the literary paper. Presents excerpts of student papers to demonstrate that writing on expressive and literary topics can help students see the…

Responds to Sarah J. McCarthey's article in the same issue. Considers two issues: the social context of conducting language research, and the treatment of language in research on classroom reading and writing. Requests a discussion of the social context of conducting research. (HB)