Successful speech should rest not on prepared notes and outlines but on genuine oral discourse based on "data" fed into the "software" in the computer which already exists within each person. Writing cannot speak for itself, nor can it continually adjust itself to accommodate diverse response. Moreover, no matter how skillfully…

Revision poses a curious problem for the theorist because it is as difficult to define as it is to direct. Not only does it imply and require re-vision, or re-seeing, but also the prior existence of a vision, a "seeing," encoded in text. The theoretical problem of revision is further exacerbated by the issues of discourse convention and…

A study examined how well existing audience theory fits what really happens when writers write on the job. This ethnographic study focused on the process of revising one chapter from a guide to the DOS computer operating system designed for use by novices as well as intermediate and skilled users. Preliminary findings confirmed much of audience…

Student writing performance has not appreciably improved in the past decade. While there is evidence that teachers assign more writing than in the past, performance has not kept pace. Three urban schools that experienced significant improvements in students' writing achievement were studied. To glean ideas and examples, the authors observed…

"Marketing" and "branding" were once considered dirty words on campus but faculty, staff, and board members now appreciate the value of getting their message out and managing their reputation. The question is not so much whether to invest, but when, how, and most important, what's the return on investment? A roundtable of accomplished marketing…

This collection of essays by inspired and inspiring writing teachers from around the world is designed for teachers who want to expand their students' worlds through writing. The essays answer questions about how to motivate students to do their best writing, how to help them publish their writing, and how students can achieve successful results…

A two-phase ethnographic study conducted over the course of two semesters examined a project to create a web site on the Internet. Subjects were enrolled in either a "Features Writing for Business and Industry" course or an "Advanced Technical Writing" course at an open-admissions university offering a major in Professional…

Integrating theory and practice, this book is designed to teach presentation skills to students of technical communication, whose careers will involve making complex scientific and technical information accessible to a variety of audiences (including lay audiences). It focuses exclusively on technical communication and provides a rich,…

The purpose of this "Written Language Developmental Continuum" brochure for second through fifth grades is to provide helpful information for parents, teachers, and other adults as they work with young children to advance and refine written language (writing) competence. The brochure is intended to be a useful tool for assessing…

The writing and art program described in this lesson plan employs scientific observation, descriptive writing, sketching, reading, investigation, and poetry writing to train middle school students to use their senses and focus their attention. During the four 45-minute lessons, students will: make careful observations of natural objects; write…

Noting that fear of public speaking is shared by people of all types, the second edition of this book offers practical, easy-to-follow strategies for confident and effective public speaking. The book discusses the following aspects of public speaking: what to talk about; how to research a topic; how to organize a speech; how to keep an audience…

Noting that children today are growing up in a "media saturated" world in which mass media, including the Internet, have a commanding presence in daily life, this Digest argues that it is imperative for educators to teach what M. Megee (1997) calls "the new basic"--media literacy--so that learners can be producers of effective…

Two writing teachers designed a graduate-level seminar where other writing teachers could share writing with the global electronic community. They expected these seminar students to embrace this new technology because the benefits of Internet writing seemed to provide a practical way to promote audience, voice, and collaboration, three of the…

Presents basic design tenets for electronic library guides and the concerns these guides present for internal policymaking. The goal is to help library staffs produce electronic guides that will be effectively utilized by a variety of patrons without creating an added burden for the library. (Author/LRW)

Presents an evaluation instrument for evaluating instructional multimedia programs. Highlights include the need to evaluate; an illustrated example; and instructions for filling out the instrument that includes compatibility for hardware and software; instructional design issues, including content and audience definition; and interface, including…