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 investigated the relationship between writing proficiency and two aspects of proofreading: (1) the ability to detect structural errors, and (2) the ability to accurately correct them. During the fall of 1986 seventeen English-as-a-Second-Language students in the intermediate-level grammar review and paragraph writing class at Biola…

One goal of computer-based instruction in writing is to help students to edit their compositions, particularly those compositions written on a word processor. This can be accomplished by a complete editing program that would contain the full set of mechanics rules--capitalization, punctuation, spelling, usage--appropriate for the grade level of…

Teaching college writing students to edit the autobiographical writing of others has many advantages. Autobiographical materials, such as diaries, letters, or journals, are physically and psychologically accessible for students, and as editors they would be obliged to keep in mind appropriateness of language, tone, and simplicity or complexity of…

This report describes eight word lists developed for use as part of the computer readability editing system (CRES), which was developed to serve as an author's aid in improving the ease of comprehending Navy technical manuals and training materials. The system has features which flag uncommon and misspelled words and long sentences, suggest simple…

A course in advanced technical communication was developed at West Virginia University for upper-division students in engineering and the sciences and those planning careers in technical communication. The first four weeks of the semester are spent copy editing, with the students learning to use standard editing marks and keeping an editor's style…

Four recently developed computer programs can help students with the composition process. The first, a prewriting program, helps students prepare to write by asking them a series of questions, similar to those an instructor would ask, intended to help them think more deeply about their subject. The second writing program also contains prewriting…

Two exercises that can be used with journalism students to help them clarify and think through the editorial process are the repertory grid and the coorientation model. A technique developed in England by the followers of psychologist George Kelly, the repertory grid asks students to rank ten or twelve authors on criteria such as social…

One in a series of ten mini-manuals on office communication proofreading, this booklet for business and office students provides instruction in proofreading for errors in written communication. Included are terminal and specific objectives, a list of the commonly used proofreading marks and related instructions, and tasks for practice. A test over…

This guidebook provides a systematic approach to evaluating student newspapers in five major areas: coverage and content, writing and editing, editorial leadership and opinion features, physical appearance and visual communication, and photography, art, and use of graphics. Each of the major areas is divided into numerous sub-categories; for each…

A series of lectures presented by "Farm Journal's" editor-in-chief Lane Palmer to the advanced agricultural writing course of the University of Wisconsin's Department of Agricultural Journalism in the spring of 1970 formed the basis for this publication. The purpose of the lectures was to stimulate student interest in feature writing and…

The standard of mechanical literacy of any publication should be very high, both for one's own information and for education in and outside classrooms. On this count, too many smalltime local papers are good only for "negative teaching" of socially accepted language. The influence of any newspaper on the language depends upon how much of it is…

Surveys primarily the more important English dictionaries written by American scholars or edited and published in the U.S. Canadian and Caribbean English dictionaries are dealt with secondarily. Available from University of Alabama Press, Periodicals Department, Drawer 2877, University, Alabama 35486. (KM)

Presents results of a survey that suggests that high school journalism courses help students gain language arts skills better than required or elective English courses. (JC)