Purpose: This paper aims to recommend that English educators engage preservice teachers (PSTs) in thinking and acting agentively in twenty-first century writing instruction by prompting them to examine and (re)construct discourses around identity, beliefs and teaching contexts. It explores metacognitive interventions that supported one PST to…

By reviewing the evolution of contrastive rhetoric, and the development of ESL writing teaching, this thesis presents the close relationship between the two and the positive influence of contrastive rhetoric on the teaching of ESL writing. This thesis also explores the new directions of contrastive rhetoric studies from two aspects: expansion and…

The purpose of the present study was to understand how number writing in a class of low-income, pre-kindergarten children (N = 15) developed over the course of a school year, and to see what role that development played in their overall math readiness. The study used a mixed-methods approach. The target class was explicitly taught number writing…

This New Zealand-based article reports on an analysis of data gathered over two years from upper primary school students on their attitudes to writing and writing instruction and their beliefs about their self-efficacy as developing writers. Responses from 449 students in five diverse schools are included. Through an online survey administered at…

In 2012, head teachers responded to the proposed new Year 6 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test (commonly known as the SPaG or GPS test) with warnings of curriculum narrowing, teaching to tests, and misery for pupils and families. Despite head teachers' opposition to the test, seven cohorts of Year 6 pupils have now taken it. This article…

The authors focus on how teachers' attitudes toward writing can affect their instructional decisions. The authors give tips for teachers to self-reflect, explore avenues for mentoring and support, and develop and share with students their individual journey as a writer.

Teaching writing is not easy. Writing teachers often face problems with what kind of materials suitable for the students. This paper is intended to describe 1) the theoretical relationship between Content-Based Instruction and authentic materials that can be used by language teachers to teach writing in the classroom, 2) the previous studies of…

Good sentence construction, the act of writing multiple words into sentence types that make semantic and syntactic sense, is needed for clear and meaningful written expression. The present study investigated the effects of a multi-component writing intervention, sentence instruction and frequency building to a performance criterion, on the simple…

The idea that education should value imagination has lost currency over the last few decades and this has implications for teachers as well as pupils. Situated in a system of increased accountability, teachers in England are arguably less able than ever to act on their freedom and to imagine curricular and pedagogical possibilities beyond those…

While composition research recognizes the importance of the body and bodily knowledge, literacy instruction, especially as relayed in writing textbooks, often disembodies the material practice of reading. This move, in turn, contributes to normative assumptions about students' corporeal reading experiences. Drawing together scholarship on…

This essay claims that contemplative classroom practices can cultivate "kairotic" composure, which is an attunement to the dual aspects of the rhetorical concept of "Kairos"--a sense of timelessness or deep presence, and a sense for saying or writing the right word in the right moment. While theorists of contemplative writing…

As the arts are integral to shaping our culture, rigorous education that will prepare art students to create compelling artworks is necessary. Employing a tool such as Bloom's Taxonomy aids instructors in creating assignments that fulfill high-order concerns in the art-writing classroom. Because writing is one way for would-be artists to shape…

The ubiquity of written argument in academic contexts has underscored the importance of effective argument evaluation and writing pedagogies. Teachers can improve students' argumentation proficiency by intentionally addressing myside bias, the propensity to support arguments with which one preemptively agrees while selectively ignoring…

The author analyzed an attempt to increase authenticity of writing in a middle school English language arts classroom. Drawing on a grounded theory of authenticity developed based on stated needs of a diverse group of students, the author and classroom teacher designed curriculum that sought to help students choose a valued topic, emphasize…

This concise handbook helps educators write for the rhetorical situations they will face as students of education, and as preservice and practicing teachers. It provides clear and helpful advice for responding to the varying contexts, audiences, and purposes that arise in four written categories in education: classroom, research, credential, and…