Existing evidence suggests that students do less well in writing argument than they do in writing narrative reports, and the reasons for the poorer performance are complex and interactive. In some ways argument is more cognitively demanding than narrative, but lack of experience in persuasive writing, and the interrelated nature of the writing…

The progress of students enrolled in the writing center of a midwestern university was evaluted after one semester. Subjects were 35 students who had taken the first semester of a two-semester composition course and had failed to meet the guidelines for correctness established for the course. After writing a pretest essay, students were tutored…

Revision, based on a grasp of intertextuality (the relation of texts to one another and the writer's locus relative to her own text and the text of others) and the social nature of all discourse, is a larger process that can be observed in any single piece of writing. This larger conception of revision is a natural outgrowth of…

An observational study examined computer writers' use of hard copy for reading. The study begins with a description, based on interviews, of four kinds of reading problems encountered by writers using word processing; formatting, proofreading, reorganizing, and critical reading ("getting a sense of the text"). Subjects, six freshmen…

A study examined how specific developmental levels of cognitive ability affect the relationship between beliefs and performance; how cognitive development levels affect reading and writing performance; and how developmental level affects the interactions between the reading and writing domains. Subjects, 150 undergraduates between the ages of 18…

A study examined whether a writing style called "dialogue writing" would allow children to use conversational cues to write longer papers in the same amount of time as free writing. Subjects were 54 sixth graders (about 12 years old) in 3 classrooms in rural neighborhoods--one class consisted of children with learning difficulties.…

Intended for researchers in a variety of fields, this journal issue contains articles that provide guidance for technical writing for publication. Following an introduction, the first article explores some of the reasons papers are rejected by editors, including research design problems, lack of clarity and style, or unsuitability for the journal.…

The Oakland County School District in Michigan is in its fourth year of sponsoring the Oakland Writing Project. Research concerning whether the activities are having a positive influence on instruction and whether students are writing better as a result of the project has been, for the most part, informal but important. Project participants have…

A pilot study explored how to teach students to write thoughtfully, and also how to teach computers to recognize and interpret the kinds of thinking that appear in such writings. First, a taxonomy of mental processes was found, next the linguistic expressions (clues) that indicate the processes were hypothesized, and then a professionally-written…

The 1985-86 Chapter 1 Reading Skills Center Program which provides supplementary individualized instruction in reading and writing to eligible students in grades four through eight attending nonpublic schools in New York City is the subject of this evaluation report. The Chapter 1 Reading Skills Center Program aims to enable students to achieve…

A study examined the differences between the processes involved in analytic and summary writing by contrasting student writing of both kinds. Twenty 11th graders, 10 high and 10 average ability writers, participated in two composing-aloud sessions. In one session, the student wrote an analytic essay about a history passage and, in the other…

This literature review summarizes what is currently known about the agreement among six measures of writing skills. Three of these methods involve the application of human judgment in scoring or rating a piece of writing: holistic, analytical, and primary trait scoring. Two methods involve anatomical or taxonomic analysis of a piece of writing:…

Six of the 10 existing research studies that attempt to characterize the composing process by examining certain components and behaviors are critically reviewed in this paper. For each study, the aims and data gathering and sampling procedures are described, and the findings, interpretations, design, and rationale of the research are critically…

A study was conducted to determine the effects of word processing on the correctness of student writing. Student papers produced on the word processor were compared with those produced without the word processor in two classes of freshman English--an experimental and a control. The teacher attempted to keep the teaching methods and curriculum in…

A study was conducted over a two-year period to investigate the idea-generating strategies of six professional writers and their implications for students. Because finding an idea that leads to a journal or newspaper column is so important to a writer, an attempt was made to learn ways professional writers establish working plans and develop a…