This book is a personal history of adult literacy as seen through the eyes of a student. The document assesses and evaluates styles of teaching and the student's role through the years 1969-1986 in England. The focus is on developing a new approach to literacy work, based on the principle of student-centered learning. In this method, the adult…

A course was developed which offers opportunities for prospective teachers to transform their prior experiences with teaching, writing, and children as they began to assume the role of the teacher. The course breaks with the ordinary understanding of beginning teachers in three ways: (1) instead of placing writing in genre boxes, writing is viewed…

At Borough of Manhattan Community College in New York City about a dozen teachers teach English composition in a special room (N779): 25 computers along the 4 walls frame the large arena in the center which holds several work tables, each one surrounded by 6 chairs. The room is an eco-system designed for learning about text production. The most…

Whole language approaches to the teaching of reading and writing have received broad support by United States advocates of "critical pedagogy." This paper outlines a case study of the Australian implementation of whole language inservice courses for the teaching of literacy in elementary schools. Drawing from post-structuralist theory…

Addressing writing instruction for students with special needs, this annotated bibliography contains 26 references of articles and papers in the ERIC database. The citations in the first section discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using word processors in writing instruction with learning disabled (LD) students and suggest instructional…

Seven articles by educators with a variety of perspectives examine promising educational practices for use with children having emotional disturbances. Lee Bell offers strategies for using group activities in "All Together Now: Group Techniques for Teaching Students with Emotional Disturbances." Lyn Sarda and Rik Flynn discuss benefits…

This book examines the ways that writing is taught in this age of technology. The book begins with writing about "tools" (technical writing), considers writing itself as a tool, and concludes with tools that aid writing. The aim is to study the interpenetration of writing and technology in order to determine how technology has affected…

When intermediate and advanced students of English as a second language (ESL) begin an English composition course, they face the task of creating logical extended discourses in English. Often, while the sentences they create are free from obvious grammatical errors, they are stylistically unacceptable, vague in meaning, misrepresentative of the…

There are many ideas for class activities in a first grade whole language classroom that can make the class a richer environment without requiring a lot of time or preparation. "Whole language" is not a set of practices to teach reading; it is a set of beliefs, a philosophy about learning which derives from the notion of keeping learning…

Reflecting the concerns of researchers and practitioners about children's text comprehension, this book defines and provides examples of narrative and expository text and describes research-based strategies for helping children comprehend these two types of text. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "Research on Stories: Implications…

The Writing Across the Business Disciplines Project at Robert Morris College has had a profound effect on faculty from various disciplines who have taken part in the program since its inception in 1985. Each participant targets a specific course in his or her own field for intensive scrutiny and eventual re-design. During this process, faculty…

Intended to serve as an introduction to a useful method of composition evaluation, this handbook provides a comprehensive checklist of many relevant topics and issues. The handbook begins with a discussion of the basic concepts of evaluation. The next chapter provides an overview of the components of a writing program as a background and context…

Recent research indicates that typical writing assignments given to advanced students of English as a second language do not prepare them for university level writing. However, the technique of information transfer, which involves presentation of a visual stimulus to prompt writing, can be used effectively to practice the skills most…

Personal observations as a writing instructor, combined with the findings of many experts, point to the fact that all children need to learn and internalize a "writing process" in order to master composition on an adequate level. Learning disabled children, who may possess several processing difficulties, have severe deficits to overcome…

The existing German curriculum should be updated to include career-oriented, career-related language courses, especially in German commercial language, since West Germany is one of the world's most important trading countries and the United States is a major trading partner. Language fluency alone is not sufficient for employment in international…