Drawing on psychological, sociolinguistic, and discourse theories, this book shows how students use writing not only as a vehicle for participating in the academic world but also as a means of fashioning their own private and public identities. It presents case studies of four students during their years at a large, public university. The case…

This paper grew out of the collaborative relationship that emerged from in-class modeling of student-centered writing approaches as participating teachers and a consultant/researcher began to explore ways to increase the length of fourth-grade writing. The paper reports on a small study in fourth-grade writing aimed at increasing the length of…

Research indicates that for students to perform well in speaking, reading, and writing they need to possess a rich vocabulary. Studies have consistently shown that "vocabulary size correlates with success in all areas of the curriculum" (Manning, 1999). This Topical Bibliography and Commentary reviews the recent research literature on the…

Family Message Journals, in which first-graders write to their families and receive a daily written reply, involve families in children's school literacy program. This paper focuses on the written replies of four representative case-study families to their children's messages. Analysis of the instructional functions realized through text structure…

A researcher examined the numbers of relative clauses and the percentages of subordinate clauses that relative clauses comprise in two sets of research reports (one set from the period 1893-1901 and the other from 1980) about spectroscopy from the "Physical Review." He analyzed some striking differences between the sets in patterns of…

Family Message journals, notebooks in which first-graders write a message to their families and receive a family reply each day, provide a fertile context for instruction and practice in writing for real-world functions and authentic audiences. Observation of classroom instruction, qualitative analysis of case-study children's and families'…

This paper reports the results and educational implications of an experimental, comparative study evaluating the gains in overall writing quality in two groups of college freshmen composition students. The experimental group of 45 students learned to compose their first four of eight essays on the computer, while their professor intervened with…

Discusses the results of research that suggest there are two distinct "schools of thought" or predilections that influence teachers' judgments in evaluating compositions. (AEA)

Teaching about reading and writing should be flip sides of the same coin. Writing reinforces and develops skills traditionally thought of as reading skills. (PP)

Examines the differences between writing research conducted in England and that conducted in Canada and North America. Discusses how educators and researchers have used their observations to derive a pedagogy and have done so much too rapidly. (HTH)

Reports the methodology and results of a survey of professionals who write on the job to discern the problems they encounter. Indicates that fear and avoidance of the writing task, little or no advance planning, and an inability to organize content were at the root of their writing difficulties. (HTH)

Describes a survey designed to discover (1) why technical communications programs need advisory boards, (2) how to find members and keep them productive, and (3) how boards can mutually benefit both the academic and the business-world members. Includes the questionnaire and a bibliography of materials on advisory boards. (HTH)

Provides a brief review of research concerning the relationship between reading and writing, and of instructional strategies suggested by that research. (AEA)

This survey of 106 two-year colleges in the Midwest indicates that 77 percent have assessment tests in writing and 72 percent in reading, and that English departments play a major role in communicating test results to students. (AEA)

Reports the highlights of the first year of the National Study of Secondary School Writing, which provides new information about secondary school writing instruction. (RL)