The 34 articles in this publication focus on the improvement of writing instruction and range from brief statements to discussions of courses. Contents are divided into the following six categories: getting the writer started finding a subject; developing a point of view; sharpening technique; writing to clarify values; and exploring writing…

Funds for vocational education, especially federal funds, have increased greatly during the past decade and more may be expected, but vocational educators lack training in writing the proposals required to obtain these funds. To help develop the knowledge and skills needed to prepare effective proposals, a workshop for vocational administrators…

This detailed curriculum guide has been compiled as a sequential framework for teaching the language arts from first grade through twelfth grade. Following a language arts skills chart for elementary grades, the guide outlines learning programs for the specific skills of spelling, language, grammar, listening, composition, handwriting, reading and…

Three articles are included in this issue of the "Illinois English Bulletin." In "Form Is Not Enough: Thinking the Unthinkable about Teaching Literature," John Milstead recommends a reading program for high school English courses which emphasizes the quantity (rather than quality) of reading material according to individual student interest so…

With the recognition that a gap exists between the traditional doctoral programs in English which focus on literature and linguistics and the need for skills and methodology training (to teach poorly prepared undergraduate students), a study was conducted at the City University of New York (CUNY). This report contains the results of the study,…

The first section of this paper discusses recent writing research and the basic elements of language development. The second section describes a program which used a sentence-combining method as an activity-based experience for language development. A six-month study involved all fourth graders at Powell School in Mountain View, California. The…

This paper argues that film courses are useful because they sensitize students both to the artistic qualities of film expression and to equivalent qualities in other forms of expression. The objectives of a film course at Michigan State University are: to develop the students' knowledge of the film medium and through that knowledge develop a…

Northampton County Area Community College (Pennsylvania) studied changes in student writing ability using a research paradigm described in the ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges' fifth topical paper (ED 030 422). Students in seven English classes were randomly assigned to write on one of two topics at the beginning of the semester, and asked…

Teachers have been increasingly worried for more than a decade about the effectiveness of English as a second language instruction in the United States at the intermediate and advanced levels. This article investigates briefly the causes of this situation and suggests a theoretical guideline--a scale of manipulation and communication teaching…

Reflecting the opinions of both classical theorists and recent authors, 16 papers on rhetorical theory are collected in this publication. Selections in Part 1, concerned with the definition and objectives of rhetoric, are by Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Kenneth Burke, Donald C. Bryant, and Martin Steinmann, Jr. In Part 2, selections from the pedagogy…

Guidelines for curriculum design in reading, composition, and grammar and usage are presented in the form of required skills for each of four grades (6-9). Four English examinations designed to test these skills are also provided. Brief comments on examinations in other subject areas offered by the National Association of Independent Schools and a…

In this study, fourth-grade materials based on a linguistic approach to grammar known as sector analysis were devised, field-tested, and evaluated. Two socioeconomically similar fourth grades--experimental and control groups--were pre- and post-tested to find possible changes in the complexity of their sentence structure after the experimental…

This study investigated (1) whether teaching applied linguistics can help high school students learn to write more effectively, and (2) which approach, linguistic or traditional, is more effective in teaching composition. Twelfth grade male students (188) in a private metropolitan high school were randomly assigned to six sample groups, fairly…

Although books of solely black literature are being published in abundance, an anthology representing both black and white authors is needed, for only through including the literary traditions of all Americans can the national experience be accurately reflected. The origins of Afro-American poetry are found in the late 18th century, and with the…

This paper traces the development of the seven-volume Florida Catalog of Performance Objectives for Reading and Writing, kindergarten through grade twelve, and describes the nature, purposes, and use of the finished product. The project was funded by the Florida Education Department, and the researchers built on earlier catalogs developed in…