As teaching argumentative and persuasive writing returns to the classroom, so does the question of how to do so effectively. Process writing reforms over the past 30 years have sought to change the ways writing is taught from drill and practice in grammar exercises to a focus more on continuous writing and revision. Arguing from an ecological…

Providing a foundation in which researchers may build future research and theory and in which teachers may design more effective classroom practice, this book presents 12 essays that bring together the contributions of researchers and teacher-scholars to present the significant theory and research related to the writing process. The book is…

Reports results of a preliminary investigation of the feasibility and effectiveness of using word processors for students with poor writing skills. Subjects were 10 hearing-impaired teenagers. A comparison of correcting written work by hand and word processor, a sample of students' written work, research methodology, and possible implications are…

Discusses computer programs which encourage thinking. The programs, called "artificial intuition," ask questions based on three systems of inquiry, in particular, the heuristics of Aristotle's topics, Kenneth Burke's dramatistic pentad, and the tagmemic matrix. Also discusses research related to these programs and provides examples of…

Students from the fifth, seventh, and eleventh grades, as well as college students, wrote constrained and unconstrained summaries of stories they had previously learned to criterion. While developmental trends were apparent, it was also found that fifth and seventh graders who made rough drafts performed at a level set by college students.…

Writing teachers and researchers collaborate in the Written Literacy Forum at Michigan State University to: (1) heighten teachers' awareness of the complexity of writing; (2) stimulate discussion across grade levels; and (3) focus research on areas concerning teachers. Discussion formats and inservice activities are described, and materials…

An experiment in which students were required to keep journals during a civil engineering course is described. Student benefits (journals as problem-solving tools and forums for personal comments), faculty benefits (sources of background information and use as evaluation/recordkeeping tools), and five major conclusions are discussed. (JN)

Describes a pedagogical approach to teaching composition, based on research indicating that inexperienced writers have undeveloped composing processes. Presents a sample lesson for describing an item that gives technical writing students knowledge of how they write and introduces them to strategies for mastering the composing process. (HTH)

Examines materials in the ERIC system related to trends in grammar instruction. Discusses the efficacy of formal grammar instruction in the schools and presents activities for successfully integrating grammar instruction into the writing curriculum. (HTH)

Suggests a possible unified theory of reading, interpretation, and composition based on recent research in composition combined with the theoretical contributions of reader response critics in literature. Describes a pedagogical program based on this theoretical model that uses students' responses to texts as the center of the course. (JL)

Follows a six-year-old boy and his writing-revising experiences at school, demonstrating how his independence as a writer develops. Teacher and peers initiate interactions with the writer as he listens and responds and gradually learns how to discuss writing and learns a sense of the purpose of revision. (HTH)

Writing researchers suggest that children should write stories in order to (1) entertain, (2) foster artistic expression, (3) explore the functions and values of writing, (4) stimulate imagination, (5) clarify thinking, (6) search for identity, and (7) learn to read and write. (HTH)

Explores findings from research on the psychology of reading that may confirm and enlarge upon both the importance of planning and the perceptions of plans in writing and reading. (RL)

Describes an ethnographic study of writing in one elementary classroom that identified four functions of writing: writing to participate in community, writing to know oneself and others, writing to occupy free time, and writing to demonstrate academic competence. (HOD)

Describes the new GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), including its evaluation and the results schools receive. Reviews uses of the AWA scores and essays that have ramifications for management communication. Suggests why it is vital for communication instructors to become involved in decisions about how…