Examines the way children use varied kinds of language art forms and traditions as they construct and participate in the complicated worlds of school. Concludes that children must learn to engage in the writing process and to make their writing sensible for others, not just for the teacher. Asserts that teachers must be sensitive to children's…

Summarizes six significant findings of research on writing that business communication teachers may find of special interest. Lists seven implications of the research for business communication instruction. (RS)

Argues that, even for young children, composing of both oral and written texts is sociocultural process. Highlights variation in kind of oral and written genres child uses, in kinds of discourse traditions child draws upon, and kind of relationships child author enacts with others. Discusses implications of sociocultural perspective on young…

Offers three responses to a question about discourse synthesis and how it can be applied in the elementary classroom. (MG)

Shares the experiences of one writer and how children have shown her the many ways of creating a story. Shares methods of helping children find a voice for the stories they have to tell. (MG)

Maintains that an understanding of software development models gives insight into the problems of writers and the teaching of technical communication. Focuses on analogies between the two processes and domains, and suggests concrete ways for writers to proceed beyond analysis. (SR)

Examines the roots of some disciplinary quarrels (cognitive versus social perspectives and quantitative versus qualitative research methods) that polarize thinking in composition studies. Notes that these quarrels act as obstacles to reading and evaluating research and to training graduate students to conduct multimodal inquiry. (MG)

Compares writing students with medical patients. Discusses the challenges of writing teachers and tutors to provide the most useful methods to help their students develop as writers. Describes the author's experiences as a tutor after having been in medical practice. (MG)

Reviews research supporting the use of writing to develop reading ability, highlighting findings that writing exercises improve reading comprehension, recall, and retention of texts. (PAA)

Studies the writing of six high school students who write outside the school setting. Shares a case study of one student to show the themes and issues common to the group of students studied by the author. Finds that it is important for teachers to discover how their students view and understand writing. (MG)

Describes the way that novelist Michael Morpurgo came up with his character Anya for the story, "Waiting for Anya." Provides first-person account of the genesis of the character by the author. (HB)

Questions the ability of composition studies to empower students to resist authority. Analyzes the recent paradigm shifts within composition studies from a perspective informed by Michel Foucault. Discusses classroom design, process pedagogies, and the construction of the field of composition as bringing increased student visibility. (HB)

Discusses a process to guide technical writers engaged in writing a script for a video production on a technical subject. Offers an example of the development of such a script from a video demonstrating a surgical procedure. (SR)

Relates how parody is useful with third-grade children. Shows how children composed personal and meaningful stories based on selected literature. Compares parody and other writing strategies. Defines the parody process, including listening to literature stories, examining picture books, peer editing, and learning language. Includes comments from…

Discusses, in poetic form, the writing of the play "Salvador" from the perspective of the author. Explains her thoughts about writing for children, including didactic relationships with children, didactic functions of art, and how adults teachers try to create a sterilized, lifeless, good-thinking, and artificial world for children when they are…