Proposes a view of literacy learning in which various forms of reading and writing are conceptualized as unique ways of thinking about and exploring a topic of study (analogous to a conceptual "landscape") en route to acquiring knowledge (best "traversed" from a variety of perspectives). (MS)

Examines the use of a visual approach as an organizing framework for planning and writing various discourse styles. Finds that low literacy achievement students showed increased competence in different writing styles when they planned, photographed, and "story-boarded" photo essays, compared to traditional writing assignments. (RS)

Reconsiders how child writers gain control of story forms, the functions of children's story worlds in their real worlds, and the connections between form and function in literacy development. Focuses on one students' writing development to show the gradual evolution of literary perspective. (MG)

Provides an overview of a study of the relationship between classroom context and the revisions of student writers. Indicates that students focus their revisions on surface and stylistic concerns. Suggests how specific features of the classroom context, including teaching methods, may influence the kinds of revisions undertaken by student writers.…

Describes the largely positive results of a business school's exploration of a writing-across-the-curriculum program over a three-year period. Maintains that the writing-across-the-curriculum approach improved the quality of student writing, the application of course concepts, and student performance even in classes not participating in the…

Presents a French study of the impact of providing knowledge about text superstructure on children's ability to improve text through predefined revising strategies. Reports that children exposed to a similar reading task before revising tended to improve text correctly and use the most efficient strategy. (DK)

Warns against a complete reliance on the "writing process approach" in writing instruction, stressing that not all writers rely on rewriting and revision and that emphasis on group response does not necessarily lead to effective writing. Argues that the process approach discourages modeling and the use of well-known rhetorical patterns. (DMM)

Examines four college students' descriptions of their early reading experiences and their texts composed in class, to reveal notable parallels between their reading histories and their present writing performances. (SR)

Examines naturally occurring one-to-one writing conference conversations between a ninth grade English teacher and three students. Considers composing processes that appear to be privileged in the conference context when different students are learning to write. Suggests a broadened model of effective writing conference instruction. (MG)

Reviews research (1) concerning the use of word processors in improving children's writing; (2) students' attitudes toward writing; and (3) how improvements in writing are measured. Notes that current research should not be accepted at face value. Argues that teachers should seek ways in which the availability of word processors can help students…

Studies 110 sixth grade students to determine whether the writing of persuasive discourse can be improved by instruction and the effect of reading on writing and of writing on reading within the mode of persuasion. Finds that ability to write persuasion can be improved by instruction and that students transferred knowledge from reading to writing.…

Presents a 43-item selected annotated bibliography of recent research in the teaching of English published, generally, between July through December, 1998. Divides entries into sections on assessment; bilingual/foreign-language education; media, society, and literacy; reading; research methodology; teaching and learning of literature; technology…

Shows that middle-school students with autism were able to recall parts of a series of stories that were read to them. Finds that recall improved when stories around a theme were presented in a series, and was further enhanced when students drew and wrote about the stories and referred to their work when answering questions. (SR)

Considers how young children as writers perceive the needs of their audience when that audience is children of the opposite gender. Documents discussions about what girls and boys like to read and write. Illustrates and discusses stories written for six-year-old girls by boys, and stories for boys written by girls. (PA)

Examines ways primary-aged children in the United Kingdom and Finland socially construct writing while using computers. Finds children's talk to be highly task-related and to concern mostly composing, not ways in which to use the computer. Suggests that ways in which children interact and write while using computers are embedded in wider…