Prepared at the University of Guam, this manual for preservice and inservice English teachers focuses on the background and theory of written composition and on rhetoric in a broad sense. It is divided into the following chapters: "Introduction," which covers definition and departments; "Composition and Rhetoric--A History"; "Arrangement," which…

The purposes of this study were to see if an objective composition test could be constructed that would correlate positively with grades on written compositions and to investigate the effects of native language background and total language proficiency on written composition skills. The objective composition test that was constructed consisted of…

A twelve lesson descriptive writing unit for tenth graders is presented in this document. Each lesson lists one or more behavioral objectives, materials needed, the procedures to follow, the method of evaluation, comments about the lesson by the teacher who used the plan, and suggestions for future use. Copies of the pre-test, the worksheets,…

After an Open Admissions (OA) policy was established at Baruch college in New York City, heavy emphasis was placed on remedial English. This emphasis was unfortunate for creative students since it reduced all writing courses to a "utilitarian," pre-college level. OA students also need to develop their perceptions, imaginations, and…

Surveying the current scene in the teaching of composition at the elementary level, this leaflet examines the results of recent research, the materials produced by four curriculum centers, and the opinions of respected authorities in English. It then describes some of the newer teaching practices stimulated by the recent emphasis on the individual…

This study was conducted to determine the effects of peer editing/grading of themes on grammar-usage and theme-writing ability of students enrolled in freshman level college composition courses. Fifty students, equally divided into experimental and control groups, completed two forms of the Language Knowledge Test (LKT), one as a pretest and one…

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) became a continuing project of the Education Commission of the States on July 1, 1969. Its primary aim is to obtain information on how well educated young people are and where the country's education problem areas lie. NAEP exercises have been constructed to provide information by 3 divisions: (1)…

Ten sections of Freshman Composition were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control condition. The experimental method, in order to motivate students to revise and rewrite, delayed grades until revisions were completed. The control method used incidental revision with immediate grades. Five instructors each taught one experimental…

Strategies proposed in this study for teaching composition at the secondary level incorporated an expanded concept of semantics. A survey of semantic developments indicated that a composition program stressing the interrelationship of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics in a communication situation was a desideratum. As an initial procedure, the…

The problem of this study was to find out how auditory skills develop and what teachers can do to help children who have not developed them sufficiently to support successful reading instruction. It was hypothesized that most of the strategies for developing auditory skills were already in the literature of the related disciplines but needed to be…

The prediction of students' writing ability by the development of multiple regression models was investigated. Seventy-one essays and scores on the California Language Test by average seventh graders were used. Essays were entered in a modified Project Essay Grade (PEG) computer program. Results for three specific models are presented: (1) overall…

In this study, three grade 5 classes were tested during a 3 week period to determine the effect that classroom discussion has on certain quantitative aspects of composition. Each week, 78 subjects viewed a short film with no narration and--after either no discussion, class discussion, or paired-student discussion--were required to write…

To analyze the use of metaphor in inducing innovative thinking in fourth grade children, two series of metaphorical activities were developed--the first asking children to compare given stimuli to a variety of other things, the second asking children to become other things (e.g., doorknobs). Oral and written responses were elicited from five…

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relation among reading readiness achievement, three instructional programs in personal writing, and achievement in personal writing of first-grade children. The 140 white, middle class first graders participating in the study were taught in one of three programs: (1) the Initial Alphabet…

A learning system developed at Valencia Junior College (Florida) would incorporate educational and communication skills needed for the job market and give direction for the best educational path to pursue, using the skills the student already possesses. The learning system developed as an ascending spiral, intended to include a series of aptitude…