Dictated words and pictures by 48 young French children, aged 3 to 6 years, demonstrated that young children have the capacity to produce graphics that exhibit some of the characteristics of writing. Developmental stages in children's recognition that their own efforts were not true writing were identified. (SLD)

Presents ideas to help parents make readers and writers out of their 11 and 12 year olds. Reading ideas include subscribing to teen magazines, reading aloud, and finding movies based on books. Writing ideas include writing lyrics to popular melodies, creating time lines, and making crossword puzzles. (SM)

Questionnaire data from faculty at six engineering schools were analyzed to determine the role of writing in graduate engineering programs and its implications for the design of writing courses. Faculty attitudes and beliefs about the importance of writing skills, and their practices regarding students' proficiency, are discussed. (36 references)…

Examines second-language classroom applications of computerized text analysis by English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writers, suggesting that the Grammatik III disk-based text analyzer may not be a suitable addition to ESL composition pedagogy. (16 references) (Author/CB)

Study examined the impact of word processing on sixth graders' writing and revision skills. Students used pencil and paper or word processors, or both, to write and revise compositions. There were significant revision differences. Word processing students corrected more and made fewer errors. Overall writing quality did not differ significantly.…

The historical bases for "text appropriation" in native English speaker (NES) and English-as-a-Second-Language writing classrooms are reviewed, along with the effect of the exclusion of the social context in writing. Suggestions are offered for encouraging teachers to use their roles as writing experts and cultural informants to empower students…

Describes a basic literacy program developed by the Spanish Women's Institute to lower the number of illiterate women in Spain and encourage women lacking basic educational skills to participate in the existing educational system. Explains the program's "New Approach" teaching materials, which teach women to read and write while…

Studies in 1974 and 1984 of errors in the writing of Australian university freshmen in a history course found no significant differences between the two groups. The most salient elements in the error-prone writing were less related to writing mechanics than to constitution of meaning, suggesting that grammar instruction is inadequate to improve…

This article about the poor writing of many students with learning disabilities suggests that a major cause is inadequate instruction and presents three principles of writing instruction: (1) frequent and meaningful writing; (2) developing, embellishing, and refining; and (3) a warm and supportive environment. (DB)

Evaluation of the dialogue journals kept by 153 deaf students in pairs of deaf and hearing students (grades 4-12) in 10 public school districts found an improvement in the quality of the writing of the deaf students over time and changes in content and syntactic complexity. (DB)

Offers an alternative approach to spelling instruction as exemplified in a fourth-grade teacher's spelling program. The program emphasizes learning how to spell as opposed to learning spellings and considers students' individual needs. Discusses the program's classroom orientation, weekly spelling timetable, and general underlying principles. (SM)

Describes how teachers can invite children into literacy and writing by the practice of writing with the children themselves, thus showing children how they themselves learned to write and how to learn from making mistakes. (BB)

The controversial oral English Bagrut examination is seen as a means to prepare students for their written Bagrut exam, specifically to encourage the active use of the English language. (LB)

This study, with three mildly handicapped nine-year olds, investigated the effects on capitalization skills of a peer teaching procedure combined with student letter-writing activities. Findings indicated acquisition of the skills, with mixed results for generalization. Two of the 3 mildly handicapped peer teachers (ages 10-11) also improved their…

The study, with 26 junior high learning-disabled students, found that students' predominant conception and application of revision to written work was correction of errors. Fewer than half of all revisions were rated as improvements. The only type of revision that positively affected overall quality was addition of T-units. (Author/DB)