The back-to-basics movement and arguments by its proponents are examined with emphasis on proficiency in writing skills. Composition course requirements are discussed along with the need of instructors to teach semantic and logical skills. (LBH)

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)

Four eighth-grade students with learning disabilities were taught paragraph-writing skills using a metacognitive text structure strategy, which included an outline as a paragraph planning guide. Results suggest that when provided with such direct, intensive instruction, these students can improve their paragraph writing. (Author/MSE)

Designed to provide an introduction to study skills for students in the eighth, ninth, and tenth grades, this teacher's guide provides a series of 12 activity-oriented units, most of which require one period of class time. The units in the guide cover the following topics: (1) learning to listen, (2) vocabulary (getting meaning from context), (3)…

A heuristic procedure can be used to teach organizational skills to students of technical writing. Designed to allow students on their own to explore ways that numbers can be used to give a definite shape to technical information, its central feature is a matrix composed of a series of control numbers (horizontal axis) and organizing concerns…

One portion of a course in English for Science and Technology (EST) designed for foreign nuclear engineers studying at Oregon State University dealt with the conceptual paragraph, considered a basic unit of discourse in EST. The conceptual paragraph is defined as a group of rhetorically related concepts developing a generalization to form a…

Designed to help teachers find an effective approach in teaching expository writing, this guide divides expository writing into five main types: definition/classification, comparison/contrast, thesis/proof, problem/solution, and inference (drawing conclusions). Five different starter techniques are presented with each of the five main types of…

This text, written for students and teachers of English Composition, incorporates writing instruction with concepts of transpersonal psychology in a holistic and cosmic approach to writing. The text comprises nine units, which include teaching materials, group and individual exercises, and writing assignments. Unit I presents techniques of…

Excerpts from articles in the "British Medical Journal" and "The American Journal of Medicine" were compared to determine which journal was easier to read and what stylistic traits might account for such ease. Nine paragraphs from the discussion sections of articles on hypertension were taken from each of the journals. When…

Paragraph writing mediated by imagery is richer, more flexible, and more creative than that produced by the somewhat impoverished, predictable, one-process model usually taught in composition classes. Since the writing advice given students differs considerably from the practice of professional writers, students should be given exercises that not…

STEPS IN TEACHING EACH LESSON IN OPERATION ALPHABET 2, A SERIES OF WORKBOOKS FOR ADULTS LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE, ARE OUTLINE--STIMULATING INTEREST, NEW WORDS, SILENT READING, QUESTIONING FOR COMPREHENSION, REEXAMINATION OF NEW WORDS, READING EXERCISES, WRITING PRACTICE, AND PARAGRAPH WRITING. LESSON PLANS FOR BOTH VOLUMES ARE INCLUDED. THIS…

THE DESCRIPTIVE SCIENCE OF LINGUISTICS AND THE SKILL OF WRITTEN COMPOSITION MEET IN THE "SENTENCE," AND THE INFORMATION WHICH LINGUISTICS PROVIDES ON SENTENCE STRUCTURE CAN AID THE TEACHER OF COMPOSITION. ALTHOUGH TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR DOES NOT IMPROVE A STUDENT'S WRITING, CONSTITUENT GRAMMAR AND TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMAR, BY PRESENTING METHODS OF…

"Muddiness" in student writing can be eliminated, and students can learn to write with clarity, through the employment of a 1-3-3-3-1 pattern: one opening sentence, three paragraphs of three sentences each, and one closing sentence. To this basic pattern, the concept of key words may be added to help students develop a focus for each piece of…