With support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, writing teachers at three central Illinois high schools, a community college, and Illinois State University (ISU) are addressing the problem of getting composition teachers to cooperate in developing long range curricula and sharing actual classroom practices through a collaborative…

An effective model for analyzing revision processes in writing needs to synthesize what research has shown about the process, the strategies involved, and what is known about students' revision strategies. Development of such a model also requires recognizing that (1) a relationship exists between reading and writing in the revision process, (2)…

To determine how writers who differ in editing performance respond to operationally defined categories of errors in different kinds of written texts, a study asked novice and expert editors to correct and comment upon three kinds of error (consulting, intuiting, and comprehending) in two tasks (a self-written essay and three essays written by…

A study examined the effect of topic-specific background knowledge on the general quality and local coherence of student writing. Ninety-seven tenth grade students were assigned two writing tasks on specific topics at two points during a semester. J. Langer's measure of topic-specific knowledge was administered prior to each writing task. Each…

Based on research using participant and nonparticipant observation in a natural setting, a study examined how teaching practices, classroom conditions, and student differences influenced the design of writing lessons in 14 English classes in five inner city schools. Data were collected from five sources--interviews, writing samples,…

Intended to assist teachers at all levels and to help students become independent strategic learners, this guide is based on the philosophy that with proper instruction students can understand the reading/learning process and apply this knowledge across the curriculum. Strategies presented in this guide are designed to aid learning from content…

Focusing on the sociolinguistic dimensions of literacy, this sourcebook builds upon Mina Shaughnessy's contributions to the study of basic writing by gathering together contemporary research, theory, and practice on the subject. The 39 essays and their authors include: "Defining Basic Writing in Context" and "Perspectives on…

This report summarizes and synthesizes current research on the effects of using word processors on students' writing performance. The report examines cognitive models of the writing process, issues in the assessment of writing performance, and research on instruction in keyboarding. The work was carried out as part of a course requirement by…

To document the writing practices, opinions, and perceptions of a particular segment of professionals in the work force, a study surveyed Department of Defense middle managers working for the United States Air Force. Self-report questionnaires were completed by 234 middle managers who had completed a one-week formal in-house writing program, and…

A study investigated the relative effects of ownership opportunities and instructional support on high school students' engagement with assigned writing topics. Subjects, 66 eleventh graders enrolled in five United States history classes, experienced three instructional conditions, writing on one of three topics in each one. The instructional…

Fifty fifth and sixth grade students participated in a study attempting to document motivational differences that may be associated with two approaches to classroom writing instruction. Thirty of the students were involved in the process-oriented approach where students are encouraged to write multiple drafts of assignments, attending to issues of…

This annotated bibliography contains 26 references on writing apprehension found in the ERIC database. The bibliography contains citations from the period between 1985 and 1989 and is divided into four sections. The first section lists sources of teaching ideas. Citations in the second section deal with the use of computers in alleviating writing…

This book contains 16 articles on how teachers respond to students' writing and how they can help students evaluate their own writing and make it more effective. It encourages teachers to study their own assumptions and techniques for responding to student work, assess whether they are helping students take responsibility, and adjust their…

Intended to provide teachers of poetry with both inspiration and teaching advice, this paper explains how one teacher developed a method for teaching poetry successfully in high school. The first part of the paper consists of an autobiographical fragment describing how the teacher used free time to begin seriously writing poetry, as well as how…

Major writing style differences between Korean and U.S. essayists are examined in order to determine: (1) the types of relationships expressed in a specific essay; (2) the sequence in which related ideas are expressed; and (3) the distance between two ideas that comprise each relationship. Eighteen basic types of relationships were examined in…