Analyzes earlier studies which suggest that women are better than men in considering audience during writing tasks. Argues that little difference actually exists between males and females as they construct a verbal and visual set of instructions. Provides data from original research on this topic. (HB)

Investigates the effects of letter writing on the writing of sixth graders. Describes the process of establishing a communicative relationship between the writer and the audience. Finds that students' writing improved in the following areas: length, syntax, paragraphing, openings and closings, questions, topics, and borrowed features. (PRA)

Discusses the difficulties with anticipating reader needs and evaluating a text's effectiveness. Reviews current methods of evaluating audience needs such as peer review and audience testing. Describes a reader-focused assignment detailing the class preparation, peer review, reader testing, reader response, and student response to reader…

Uses ethnographic field methods to investigate the ways that scientific authors develop an understanding of their audiences. Finds that, rather than writing a text for an abstract audience, these scientists engaged their readers in direct interactions to obtain a clearer sense of their concerns. (RS)

Describes a writing strategy that reflects the importance of writing for authentic purposes for real audiences. Discusses how cross-grade-level exchanges can support this approach. (MG)

Discusses eight limiting factors on media effects, identifying and raising research questions about agents and structures that limit the potential effects of the mass media on the behavior and attitudes of people and on the actions of institutions. Discusses the ignorance of researchers about how people use, and live with, the mass media. (SR)

Describes how a university professor collaborated with a ninth-grade English teacher in a research project aimed at studying the collaborative writing processes of the students. Analyzes the various collaborative writing processes of the students, including audience awareness, planning, and revising. (HB)

Suggests a method for modeling the characters of readers and writers as they are shaped in the process of writing about public policy issues. Uses this model to examine classroom oral presentations of four professionals. Integrates consideration of writing process, audience, ethics, and public policy issues. (HB)

Explores the differences between e-mail and paper mail, focusing on audience, interface, and rhythm of response. Argues that technological change triggers other changes in a system, creating discomfort, and that this discomfort should not prevent English and writing teachers from studying and accepting e-mail as a legitimate site for writing. (RS)

Argues that high school newspapers might do well to create stronger ties with alternative weeklies. Discusses issues of niche marketing, alternative content, and alternative presentation. Notes that high school papers could learn a lot from alternative newspapers. (SR)

Shares one strategy used to empower preservice and inservice teachers as they respond to children's literature--the creation of Personal Text Sets. Examines teachers' reflections concerning their Personal Text Sets. Considers how teachers share with their students books that have touched their hearts. Describes how they create communities for…

Describes how one teacher uses life writing (reading and writing about transformative life experiences) in her basic writing class to engage students and to help them understand the power and purpose of reaching out to a variety of audiences. Discusses grading life writing. (SR)

Examines effect of use of e-mail by college developmental reading students to respond to literature. Provides a detailed view of the nature of the students' engagement. Shows that using quality literature, e-mail, and authentic audiences engaged many students in academic discourse. (RS)

Discusses several approaches to creating an effective text, envisioning a specific audience and determining how much detail is appropriate. Provides examples from seventh-grade English classes and a literacy methods course for middle-grade teachers. Considers some broader implications of the framework that educators are beginning to consider as…

Examines General Beauregard's inability to communicate in his report of the First Battle of Bull Run. Suggests that Beauregard's success on the battlefield came from the initiative of his junior officers. Concludes that Beauregard failed to consider political ramifications of certain statements in his report, offending President Davis and leading…