Seven people who both write and read various kinds of reports in their professions were asked to read and respond to identical sets of student reports over a four-month period in order to determine whether they responded to personae. Attached to each unevaluated and unidentified student report was a form with 15 different response areas that…

To determine the best means of improving the effectiveness of classroom English teaching, the reasonableness of the present teaching load, and the adequacy of teacher education programs, 430 experienced teachers, representing 150 communities throughout California, were asked to report on their own professional preparation in English, their…

The research project described in this paper examined the development of analytic writing abilities in late high school and college level students. Following a brief discussion of the project, in which 135 students at different educational levels wrote position papers on an assigned topic, and 35 participated in protocol analysis, the paper offers…

A study explored the content and syntax in the writing of 15 ninth grade Micronesian students for whom English is a second language. Their composing behavior was also observed to determine whether Micronesian students exhibit distinctive composing behaviors or produce writing paralleling their degree of contact with Western culture. A…

The interaction between student writers and word processors was the subject of a case study that assessed (1) how advanced high school students respond to learning word processing, (2) what immediate impact the machine has on the writing processes and strategies of students, and (3) whether the machine alters students' attitudes toward writing…

A study was undertaken to explore the problems beginning writers face and how they grapple with them. The subject, a six-year-old boy, was observed over 10 writing sessions and an analysis was made of his composing behavior and the illustrations and texts he produced. In addition, his composing aloud protocols were analyzed. Results suggest that a…

Based on the authors' classroom work and observations since the 1930s, this book is intended to help teach children to write correctly and, at the same time, help them learn to enjoy writing so much that they will want to continue writing throughout their lives. The book offers classroom teachers, school library media specialists, curriculum…

To determine how children's knowledge about word boundaries differs at given points in time, writing samples were gathered from nine kindergarten children using similar procedures. Also examined were children's statements while composing and rereading as well as children's questions and information elicitations. Three of the subjects were judged…

An extensive comparative analysis of dysfunctional sentences found in the writing of prefreshmen at Bowling Green State University (Ohio) was conducted to examine and to describe possible differences in dysfunctional sentences produced by remedial and nonremedial writers. Writing samples consisted of randomly selected freshman placement…

A study investigated the effect of Frank O'Hare's "Sentencecraft" sentence combining program on the written syntactic skills, reading comprehension level, and speed of average ability ninth-grade students. The sample consisted of 75 experimental group students and 68 control group students. Following a pretest, the experimental group…

A random sample of 175 compositions on the same topic (a lost suitcase) was used in a study examining the correlations between holistic (single impression) and quantitative methods of evaluating student writing. The sample contained 25 papers from each of the following grade levels: four/five, and seven through twelve. A panel of three readers…

The 19 conference papers in this collection deal with the relationship of various rhetorical theories and their practical applications to the rhetorical traditions that they are superseding. The papers deal with many topics, including the following: (1) a multidisciplinary approach to writing instruction; (2) the importance of writing as a human…

A training program designed to teach high school students to be specific in their writing is described in this booklet. The first section of the booklet explains the three stages of the program: (1) daily practice in translating a "telling" sentence into a "showing" paragraph; (2) application of "showing" writing to…

The taxonomy of cohesion devised by M. A. K. Halliday and R. Hasen was used to examine the kinds of cohesive ties used in argumentative prose written by 105 sixth, tenth, and twelfth grade students. In this way, the study sought to determine whether there were differences between grade levels in the kinds of ties used and in the numbers of…

The purposes of this study were (1) to investigate the metalinguistic knowledge children have acquired from their environment before formal instruction, and (2) to examine the relationship between evolving writing and reading behavior. Twenty middle-class children ranging in age from 4.1 years to 5.11 years were selected. The Goodman and Cox…