To investigate how writing might be affected by composing aloud and computer composing--two factors that are increasingly being used either to study composing processes or to alter the typical context in which students write--a study described the composing process of five junior high school students. The students wrote four compositons, one in…

The admissions process at Fayetteville Technical Institute (FTI) currently relies on high school class rank, prior academic performance, and an admissions interview for placement. Faculty concern about students' writing ability prompted a review of the placement test program, which resulted in a recommendation to include a measure of grammatical…

Based on the perspective on childhood literacy which assumes that listening, speaking, reading, and writing abilities develop concurrently and interrelatedly rather than sequentially, a kindergarten literacy program was implemented in classrooms in San Antonio, Texas, to influence young childrens' writing development. Writing was linked with other…

This is a final report of support received through the National Institute of Education (NIE) to assist in research on the writing ability of United States children. The study began under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in order to contribute to a cross national assessment of…

Intended for use in curriculum planning, course development, and program evaluation, this report contains data from a study of the writing abilities of entering freshman students at the University of Texas at El Paso. The first chapter of the report provides background information concerning the need for systematic assessment of the writing…

Intended for college-level basic writers, the program described in this report integrates selected oral communication training with writing instruction. The first section of the report presents a rationale for the program--which uses oral activities to enhance students' development in the underlying rhetorical abilities of invention, audience…

A discussion of what functional linguistic research can offer teachers of composition and English is presented in this paper, which provides examples of different levels of analysis (phonology, morphology, and syntax) for the language of a variety of populations (including traditional freshmen, basic writers, English as a second language (ESL)…

The English teacher encountering a student of English as a second language (ESL) with significant writing problems must find an appropriate way of responding, finding a balance between being overly sympathetic and being overly concerned with correctness. ESL students are learning English from many sources, not just the teacher, and the teacher's…

Differences in spoken and written English appear at every level of the language; there are differences in phonology, morphology, vocabulary, and syntax, as well as differences in acceptability levels. This study contains four sections and an inventory of contrasting forms. Section One deals with domains and modalities including those discourse…

In examining why performance scores on writing tests so often fail to improve in neat positive intervals for individuals and groups, testers have sought the answer in differences in test conditions on progressive retestings. Two other sources of performance variation are possible: the U-shaped learning curve or phenomenon of apparent regression…

The English as a second language (ESL) programs at El Paso Community College, Texas, are described. The ESL curriculum focuses on speaking, listening, reading, and writing; and attempts to integrate ESL English, reading, and speech into comprehensive language development programs. The basic competence program of the ESL curriculum consists of four…

Encompassing reading and writing skills exercises, this book is a GED (General Educational Development) preparatory workbook designed to provide the student with all the skills needed to pass the reading and writing sections of the GED exam. Designed as a supplementary text for use in American Indian adult education programs, the workbook is…

Measurement disturbances, such as guessing, startup, and plodding, often result in an examinee's ability being either over- or under-estimated by the maximum likelihood estimation employed in latent trait psychometric models. Several authors have suggested methods to lessen the impact of unexpected responses on the ability estimation process. This…

Three writing projects in the state of Oregon, each of which uses a different approach to the teaching of writing, are described in this report. The first section of the report deals with the Coos County ESD Composition Improvement Project, which focuses on writing as a three-step process involving prewriting, writing, and postwriting. The section…

One of the most difficult problems facing colleges today is dealing with students whose basic skills are too low to allow them to benefit from college-level studies. While some institutions seem to have given up expectations for underprepared students' achievement, others have instituted massive programs of individualized counseling and tutoring…