The drawings of 17 four- to five-year-old children from two points in time, age four and age five were analyzed. At both ages four and five, the most commonly used scribbles were single vertical lines, single horizontal lines, and single curved lines, whereas the two least used scribbles were spiral and circular lines spread out. The subjects in…

Recent studies undertaken with sociocultural perspectives on literacy offer a framework through which to explore poetry in youth's lives. This article draws upon works within New Literacy Studies to provide a glimpse of urban high school youth's experiences in a unique program called Poetry for the People (P4P). It identifies some ways in which…

In the UK, teachers have moved from a process approach to the teaching of writing to a more didactic and objectives led programme. This has given rise to concerns about the suppression of creativity and enjoyment. Writing is a convention bound activity where spelling, punctuation and expectations about different text types imply a right and wrong…

Based on a questionnaire to academic staff, this article examines the reading and writing tasks assigned to undergraduate science students at a South African university. The article finds that although academic staff in science value clearly written and well-organised writing, few see it as their task to induct students into this literacy. Instead…

English and writing teachers are often pressurized to return to the basics of grammar, despite the evidence that drilling grammar does not improve students' writing skills. A great disparity exists between public perception of effective education and the perception of professional educators, which is the main reason why parents and government…

This research examined component processes that contribute to performance on one of the new, standards-based reading tests that have become a staple in many states. Participants were 60 Grade 4 students randomly sampled from 7 classrooms in a rural school district. The particular test we studied employed a mixture of traditional (multiple-choice)…

Balanced literacy is a philosophical orientation that assumes that reading and writing achievement are developed through instruction and support in multiple environments in which teachers use various approaches that differ by level of teacher support and child control. The authors describe 1 urban school district's real-world attempt to create a…

Throughout their undergraduate and graduate careers, students are assigned various types of papers that require scientific writing style. The scope of these assignments include laboratory reports that require only graphing and statements of findings; abstract assignments with critical summaries included; abbreviated research papers, including…

This paper examines literacy policy and practice in six Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) classrooms. The study focused on three questions: (1) What literacy practices did these newcomers participate in their new country? (2) How did their teachers understand the role of writing in their learners' lives? (3) What and why did…

The purpose of this study was to describe the variations in literacy achievement among native and non-native upper primary school children (grades three to six) in the Netherlands. Various measures of word decoding, reading literacy and writing skill were collected from 1091 native Dutch children, 753 children with a former Dutch colonial…

This study was aimed at finding effective ways of organising peer assessment of written assignments in the context of teaching history at university level. To discover features yielding optimal results, several peer assessment designs were developed, implemented in courses and their learning outcomes evaluated. Outcomes were defined in terms of…

In this article, I argue that 9th-grade English can be a fertile environment for demonstrating that students who come to high school with diverse skill levels and from racially and socioeconomically diverse communities can learn with and from each other. It is not enough, however, that the 9th-grade English teacher believes that all students can…

In traveling about contemporary academia, especially the haunts of philosophy and English, one is likely to stumble upon the lair of a new monster, one that bears considerable resemblance to Hawthorne's dreamy vision. The name of this huge miscreant is Critical Thinking--a name uttered by professors and students with more awe than understanding.…

This study examines the motivations, attitudes, and goals of a Spanish for native speakers (SNS) class at a large Midwestern university over a semester, using questionnaires, student interviews, classroom observation, and instructor interviews as data sources. It presents results from four students who participated in the data collection, but…

The Greater Flint Educational Consortium on Writing Improvement, comprising local high school teachers and area college writing instructors, has worked for several years to improve the transition students make from their high school to college writing experiences. The focus of the most recent consortium was on writing support services. This…