Too often college composition students see language as an end in itself, rather than as a means to realization of self and world, and teachers need to establish a classroom environment that stimulates and demands that students use their language to find out about themselves. Techniques helpful in shaping composition classes toward this end…

This paper explores the process of writing from several perspectives, as a first step toward a more comprehensive theory. The first perspective sees writing as a communicative act. The observation that to write is to communicate, though commonplace, has major and sometimes surprising implications for a theory of writing. It forces a focus on the…

Presents a new model of the writing process, adding technic to the traditional elements of writer, subject, and audience. Offers 20 questions, based on the dynamics of the new model, to help students write and teachers respond. (RL)

Examines whether the cognitive strategies of outlining and draft writing enhance college students' writing performance. Reports that outlines improved the quality of writing, but did not enhance efficiency. Rough drafts did not affect quality or efficiency. A survey of faculty revealed that outlines correlated positively with productivity, whereas…

Illustrates the debate between (1) those holding the mechanic view that form must be imposed on writing, enabling the selection of relevant details, and (2) those holding the neo-Coleridgean organic view that as one writes one's thinking assumes shape, structure being indivisible from content. Contrasts textbooks by R. Decker and D. Murray. (JG)

Investigated relationships between individual differences in (1) levels of writing skills and (2) proficiencies at simultaneous and successive cognitive processing. Correlated students' writings with the following word and sentence level problems: spelling errors, missing or inappropriate punctuation of sentence parts, missing noun and verb…

Argues that in part through theory, but mostly through hands-on practice, teachers help students develop an awareness of form as simultaneously constraining and generative that will empower them to understand, use, and even invent new forms for new purposes. (FL)

Compares deaf writers to basic writers with normal hearing in terms of their apparent attention to grammatical correctness. Finds that deaf subjects devoted substantially less attention to grammatical decision making during composition. (MS)

Claims "Responsive Teaching" is a useful conferencing procedure which expects writers to evaluate and refine their own writing, and tries not to side-track the self-evaluation once it begins. (MS)

Suggests that the loss of early American rhetorical traditions encouraged approaches to writing that emphasized prescriptive rules without acknowledging the art involved in the process, but that current "practical rhetoric" is more aligned with the art of composing and is both theoretically and empirically based. (SKC)

Describes recent advances in writing analysis and their implications for English as a second language writing instruction. The principal theme emphasized is that text analysis of written products, which complements process-centered research, is needed for an integrated theory of writing. (Author/CB)

Describes a basic writing program which provides an enabling environment to give students opportunities and a plan for composing sentences and texts and interacting with readers, through such techniques as collaborative learning, writing as process, and sentence combining. Offers profiles of typical basic writers including examples of their work.…

Advocates teaching the paraphrase from the dramatistic perspective in order to teach students the "active," dramatic nature of meaning, and the different ways they can describe meanings. Illustrates how the paraphraser selects and combines elements, creating a complete context for the original text. (MM)

Describes how a seventh-grade teacher was able to devise a final examination that both reflected the goals of his process-oriented writing class and met the requirements of his school board. (ARH)

Describes the background, materials, and implementation procedures for the Expository Writing Program. Points out that research has shown that participation in the program helped good and poor readers improve their composition and comprehension of informational texts. (ARH)