A comparative study examined the extent of growth in overall writing quality of college freshmen to determine whether feedback from the instructor during planning and the composing process (especially on the computer) was more effective than another instructor's feedback during conferences on each final, graded writing product in the students'…

Reflecting a constructivist approach to teaching and learning, this book presents the content of the language arts curriculum and the most effective strategies for teaching this content. The processes of reading and writing provide the foundation for the three instructional approaches presented in the book: literature focus units, reading and…

This book presents 93 essays that offer guidance, reassurance, and commentary on the many activities leading up to and surrounding classroom instruction in first-year composition. Essays in the book are written by instructors who teach in community colleges, liberal arts colleges, state university systems, and research institutions. The 14 section…

Investigates factors influencing Japanese university students' expository writing in English. Quantitative analysis revealed that students' second-language (L2) proficiency, first-language writing ability, and metaknowledge were significant in explaining L2 writing ability variance. An explanatory model for writing ability in English as a Foreign…

Teachers in kindergarten through grade three, nominated as effective literacy teachers, were surveyed twice about their practices. Responses indicated teacher commitment to: similar instruction for all abilities, with additional support for weaker readers; literate classroom environments; modeling and teaching of both lower- and higher-order…

Describes a writing project that was set up to improve the writing skills of selected categories of corporate employees. The article considers the interplay between the technical platform for distance training scenarios and the pedagogical strategies these made available to course writers and tutors. (10 references) (Author/CK)

Offers strategies for working with international students throughout the writing process to produce more critical thinking and better text. The process approach has specific advantages for non-native speakers of English. Implementing it involves techniques encouraging prewriting, planning, conference groups and peer support, and multiple drafts.…

The computer can be a powerful tool to help students who are having difficulty learning the skills of prewriting, composition, revision, and editing. Specific software is suggested for each phase, as well as for classroom publishing. (Author/JDD)

Describes the use of a local area network and video switching equipment in teaching revision skills on computer. Explains that reading stories from texts, rewriting them from differing character viewpoints, and editing them as a group exposed students to a variety of writing problems and stimulated various revision strategies. (SG)

Investigates how children represent meaning in their response to stories through listening, speaking, reading, drawing, and writing. Finds no one particular language process to be exclusively used by children to convey meaning in response to story. Discovers sequential and simultaneous linkage patterns of language process modality. (KEH)

Describes a case study that was designed to discover how seventh-grade students felt about writing when composed using a word processing program compared to using pen and paper. Student and teacher interviews are discussed, classroom observations are reported, and factors students found important to enjoyment of writing assignments are described.…

Reviews Monsters and Make-Believe Plus, a computer program which supports learners in their quest to become skilled language users. Finds it to be one of the most powerful software programs available to implement a whole language program. (MG)

Describes a study in a large metropolitan high school to ascertain what influence the use of regular writing in algebra classes would have on students' attitudes towards algebra and their skills in algebra. Reports the simpler and more direct the writing topics the better. (MVL)

Suggests four overlapping areas of exploration that might help spark "creative re-formations" of the way English teachers think about computers and their relationship to writing: (1) computers and teaching writing, (2) computers and language theory, (3) computers and learning from the past, and (4) computer research in other fields. (GEA)

Reviews what has happened in the field of second-language teaching over the past decades and examines the development of the process approach to writing by comparing it with the traditional product approach. A critical evaluation of the new approach follows and forms the premise for recommending a philosophy of eclecticism. (41 references) (CK)