A study compared text summaries produced by French high school students and those written by experts. The study's objective was to determine how language users distinguish the essential from the peripheral information, to describe the summarizing process, and to apply the macrostructure theory to the process of summarizing. The summarized texts…

A perceived relationship between the teaching methods of traditional Zen Buddhism and those of process-based English composition is explored. It is noted that the four main processes of Zen teaching (meditation, physical work, personal interviews, and group lectures) focus on process, not product, as in process writing. Characteristics that Zen…

In order to improve instruction in basic speech courses, a program was developed adapting creative problem solving to speech preparation and to interactive speech communication. The program, called O-I-C--Orientation, Incubation, and Composition--and based on Howell's five levels of competence and their implications, begins with a thorough study…

While discouraging using writing as punishment, this pamphlet shows how writing can be a tool to support learning. The pamphlet discusses the following ten ways that writing can be used in any school subject to enhance learning and to develop students' thinking processes: (1) to identify personal goals, (2) to comprehend reading material, (3) to…

Pointing out the relationship between the writing process and business communications should help business students understand the necessity of communicating clearly and efficiently. Students should first learn that adequate preparation before using non-print communications devices--such as telephones--is as necessary as prewriting is before…

In developing an interactive model of composing, this paper discusses three groups of reader-oriented theories, each of which provides composing theorists with some research and theory to use in developing such a model. First the paper discusses the main principle of the literary reader-response theorists--that the meaning and value of texts do…

Noting that computer instruction for teaching composition is generally limited to the component skills of spelling, punctuation, and grammar, this paper proposes a program that can help elementary school students use computers to generate ideas for descriptive writing. The first section of the paper provides orientation procedures designed to…

Several models of the reading and writing processes suggest that the two should be taught together as part of the communication process. The first responsibility of a teacher interested in teaching the connection is the selection of a model that seems to fit perceptions about the connection. Next, the teacher must decide the balance and sequence…

The writing-reading process is a total interacting system comprising four subsystems: the writer, the text, the reader, and the context. A model of the complex interactions among these four subsystems is useful to the extent that it provides a framework for established facts, and in so far as it explains phenomena and suggests hypotheses. While…

Research on the composing process conducted from 1946 until the present is summarized in this paper. Concentratinq on research dealing with the process of writing, the paper does not include studies of written products, language development, or the effects of instruction. The research is arranged in chronological order from the earliest to the…

Drawing from classroom experience and current composition theory and research, this guidebook presents basic assumptions about teaching developmental writing and explores elements of the composing process. Five basic assumptions about developmental writing are discussed: (1) because writing is a skill, courses should be how-to or process-oriented;…

Designed for use by elementary school teachers responsible for working with students whose writing test scores indicate a need for remediation, this guide has as its goal the improvement of students' writing skills on a day-to-day basis. The first part of the guide describes the composing process and defines the characteristics of an effective…

A review of the literature on computers and writing reveals that a dichotomy exists. The great debate that has been taking place in the world of writing instruction mirrors the emerging debate concerning the implementation of computers in education. Applications and research fall into one of two categories: the computer as a teaching instrument of…

One way of giving students a sense of audience in their writing is to combine speech communication and written communication in the classroom. If students can be taught to write as they talk, they can perceive their audience to be real people rather than the amorphous "indefinite other" they typically write for in the traditional writing…

In a "College English" article, B. M. Kroll describes the educational and philosophical foundations of three perspectives on the teaching of writing: interventionism, maturationism, and interactionism. These three developmental perspectives offer a useful way of reviewing, evaluating, and classifying textbooks written for basic writers.…