Provides responses by various scholars to two articles on teaching conflict and struggle and its relevance to the field of basic writing published in the December 1992 issue of "College English." (HB)

Presents the voices of basic writers, telling the importance of education in their lives and their struggles with it. Argues that basic writing merits support and should be regarded as college-level in its objectives and methods. Rejects the move to transform the mission of two-year colleges into one of narrowly defined developmental endeavors.…

Describes how the author uses the poems of Edgar Lee Masters'"Spoon River Anthology" in her developmental writing classes to foster literary discussion, build vocabulary, and teach a broad range of essay writing skills. (SR)

Studies whether students who reread their drafts aloud as they revise compose essays that are stylistically superior to those of students who do not. Finds this makes a difference for students with adequate to proficient reading skills but not for poor readers. Suggests basic writing courses should focus on reading and style, besides principles of…

Presents a case study of two college tutors that demonstrates the importance for writing instructors and tutors to engage in collaborative reflection to identify and examine their frame of reference, including their assumptions, beliefs, values and practices. Finds that the tutors' interpretation of writing instructors' authority influenced…

Considers how the revising skills of basic writing students improve when they receive both inductive and deductive teacher feedback. Finds that students who received inductive feedback changed their largest percent of errors when given oral conferences and students who received deductive feedback changed their smallest number of errors when given…

Addresses problems related to consistency of goals and objectives in student portfolio applications. Poses questions to test if the portfolio process is working correctly and authentically, particularly in weighing the use of portfolios as a formative rather than summative tool. (SG)

Background/Context: Twenty percent of first-year students in public 4-year institutions and 42% of first-year students in public 2-year institutions in the United States enroll in remedial courses. Yet despite widespread remediation across U.S. colleges and universities, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about how remedial courses develop…

The findings of two studies with students doing research with the Internet about topics in science are reported. The focus is on students' methods of text production when using external web-based information and their learning outcomes. In a first exploratory study, the computer-based text production of 45 students was analysed using log files.…

Commonly accepted ideas, on the one hand, about how small groups in a writing class should work and, on the other hand, psychological research about what makes a small group work well are not consistent. Social psychologist Clovis Shepherd claims that the "popular notion that the democratic ideal is a group in which all members exert an equal…

A writing center tutor's experience with a basic composition student named Tonja, while limited to seven tutoring sessions and, in the tutor's words, not amenable to claims of universality, reveals indications of the growth of the student as a writer, and the growth of the tutor as well. Discussions between the writer and the tutor were a learning…

The traditional basic writing model (giving students manageable writing tasks like narratives and descriptions of familiar places) has been criticized by both Mike Rose and David Bartholomae, among others, for not moving the basic writer far enough toward the goal of academic writing competence. Rose's schemata are reassuring and helpful to basic…

The lesson plan developed in this project presents the author's experience of searching for her roots during a summer seminar spent in Hungary, the land of her ancestors. Following an introduction, the project provides a summary syllabus for developmental writing students in an English literature and composition course, "Exploring Our…

Details, in a personal narrative, some techniques which have proved effective for enabling student success in the basic writing classroom. (PA)

Gives historical background of basic writing. Contends that elite language instruction has included some and excluded others. Discusses "tracking." States that formal education offers a top-down, business-oriented agenda: basic skills, vocationalism, work discipline, and citizenship. Considers basic writing a containment track below…