An experimental program was undertaken to determine the effects of attitude and reading achievement on writing, to ascertain if intervention could improve writing achievement and attitude, and to predict success in the program on the basis of an attitude inventory that measured need for structure and tolerance of ambiguity. Subjects were 15 boys…

The 26 papers in this compilation focus on integrated communication instruction. The papers are arranged into four categories: the integrated curriculum, theory and practice on integration, implementation of the integrated curriculum, and the integrated curriculum beyond the classroom. Specific topics discussed in the papers include (1) language…

Offered as an introductory guide to teachers interested in approaching written English as a "second dialect" that students must master, this review covers quantitative investigations of written language. The first section deals with developmental studies, describing how a variety of researchers have related written structure to writer maturity.…

This user manual provides students, teachers, counselors, and other school personnel with a set of practical instruments and procedures designed to measure the generalizable communications skills of students in secondary vocational programs. These instruments, strategies, and procedures are intended for diagnostic and prescriptive purposes…

The current writing across the curriculum movement has shown educators that the process of composing focuses writers' attention on producing much the same material that reading exercises asked them only to recognize. Two taxonomic structures and a list of Scott, Foresman's reading comprehension skills may be used to help demonstrate the…

To show the shortcomings of concentrating on the teaching of sentences and paragraphs in basic writing courses, this paper points out problems encountered by one teacher who attempted to use that approach. The paper describes how the teacher discovered that teaching the rules and concepts of grammar and writing stifles students' creativity,…

Intended for parents of fifth grade children who are participating in Chapter 1 programs, the learning activities in this booklet give children practice with reading and writing. Among the language skills covered are (1) vocabulary in context; (2) phonetic analysis--consonant sounds and letters; (3) structural analysis--root word endings,…

Intended for parents of fourth grade children who are participating in Chapter 1 programs that support basic skills education, the learning activities in this booklet give children practice with reading and writing. Among the language skills covered in the activities are (1) vocabulary (in context, synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homographs,…

In 1976, the American College Testing Program (ACT) organized the College Outcome Measures Project (COMP) to design, develop, validate, and implement assessment materials for measuring the knowledge and skills that are expected of general education college graduates and that are important to functioning effectively in adult society. The Composite…

The research project described in this paper examined the development of analytic writing abilities in late high school and college level students. Following a brief discussion of the project, in which 135 students at different educational levels wrote position papers on an assigned topic, and 35 participated in protocol analysis, the paper offers…

A study explored the content and syntax in the writing of 15 ninth grade Micronesian students for whom English is a second language. Their composing behavior was also observed to determine whether Micronesian students exhibit distinctive composing behaviors or produce writing paralleling their degree of contact with Western culture. A…

In fall 1983, a survey was conducted to determine the extent of basic skills assessment of incoming students conducted in Illinois public community colleges. Questionnaires were sent to 50 community colleges, requesting information on the skills assessed, the time of assessment, and the instruments used. Study findings, based on responses from 44…

The interaction between student writers and word processors was the subject of a case study that assessed (1) how advanced high school students respond to learning word processing, (2) what immediate impact the machine has on the writing processes and strategies of students, and (3) whether the machine alters students' attitudes toward writing…

This paper examined the status of assessment of writing as it is currently performed in the United States. All fifty states and the District of Columbia responded to a survey requesting information on their testing programs. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia were found to assess writing on the statewide level, and eight states were in…

A study was conducted to examine the relationship between reading achievement levels and writing ability, and to determine the extent to which writing ability in one language transfers to another language. Subjects were 21 high school students in advanced placement Spanish classes, all of whom had learned Spanish in the classroom. The Stanford…