Examines first graders' tacit shared understandings about composing as related to expectations about the processes and meaning of writing. Finds evidence of three cultural themes: (1) the processes of creating and sharing text-mediated relationships with others; (2) writing was used to explore "self" and the world; and (3) collaborative composing…

Reports on two studies to determine if teaching poor readers to use inner speech could improve their reading and writing skills. Finds that both experimental groups improved significantly in both reading and writing. Includes three tables containing comparative experimental data. (CFR)

Describes background, focus, expectations, results, and comments concerning an undergraduate capstone course in the history of applied mathematics. Content area writing as a learning activity is recommended to promote an understanding of the history of the developments in mathematics which led to present day techniques, vocabulary, and…

This study investigated 3 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing teachers' and 39 of their ESL students' attitudes toward feedback and its uses. The results indicated that students preferred teacher feedback over non-teacher feedback, though the three teachers used non-teacher feedback frequently in their classes. (37 references) (MDM)

Reports on a study of the communications strategies used in the writing of answers in biology by English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) first year biology students at the University of Botswana. Examines four macro-strategies used by the subjects: risk taking, risk avoidance, second language-based strategies and semantic simplification. (Author/VWL)

Reports on an attempt to compare two data-collecting instruments, Think-aloud Protocols and strategies questionnaires, applied to capture reading/writing strategies. Subjects were immigrant speakers of linguistically different heritage languages, Russian and Amharic first languages, and thus represented two ethnic groups, who went through the…

Describes a study that investigated whether cooperative editing had lasting benefits for remedial freshman composition students. Reports that students who had been taught the application of standard written grammar made significantly higher mean grades in freshman composition than students who had been taught using only textbooks, discussion, and…

Reviews 32 studies regarding writing in a foreign language in the United States. Focuses on research that investigates relationships between various pedagogical practices or task types assigned and the texts produced by foreign language writers. Topics addressed include exploiting grammar instruction, computer use, task type, strategy training,…

In preparing students for their future discourse communities, the EAP/ESP literature has shown interest in the role of hedges in scientific literature. This interest has resulted in several studies that define and classify hedges, and hypothesize about their purpose. With these as our theoretical basis, we are led to ask "What is the relation to…

The RAFT technique (Santa 1988) is a writing strategy that helps students understand their "Role" as a writer, the "Audience" they will address, various "Formats" for writing, and the expected "Topic" or content. This article discusses the RAFT writing strategy used by the students to address land development issues. The authors facilitated…

This study investigated the effectiveness of Modified Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing (CSIW) with mildly mentally retarded students' skills in writing problem/solution texts. Participants were from two self-contained and multiage classrooms in Turkey. Instruction had a positive impact on the amount of time students spent planning and…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends 2013, taking place in Madrid, Spain, from 26 to 28 of April. Our efforts and active engagement can now be rewarded with these three days of exciting new developments about what we are passionate about: Psychology and its connections. We take pride…

An unconventional writing activity like correspondence between students can, under favorable social circumstances, encourage some college composition students to discover and employ literate, or decontextualized, writing strategies. The African American student will often write, to borrow James Britton's terms, from the standpoint of the…

High school students in Venezuela study English grammar and vocabulary for 5 years, but, because theirs is an oral culture, they do very little reading or writing either in their native language or in English. When students reach the university and begin to study composition, they are unmotivated to write essays on teacher assigned topics for a…

Sentence combining--a technique of putting strings of sentence kernels together in a variety of ways so that completed sentences possess greater syntactic maturity--is a method offering much promise in the teaching of writing and composition. The purpose of this document is to provide a literature review of this procedure. After defining the term…