Describes tracing and kinesthetic techniques (often used with severely disabled readers) which may help extremely poor spellers in first-year writing classes. (SR)

Describes the author's estrangement from her chosen field of rhetoric and composition. Attributes it to her appointment as Director of Composition, her felt need to use a writing textbook, and her inability to make sense of articles on composition theory. Relates her gradual reconversion to composition via remembering that ethos is everything. (SR)

Assails the problem of emphasizing "don'ts" in freshman English composition courses. Suggests remedies for negativism in teaching and calls for "delight" as a professional goal for freshman writing. Offers suggestions on selecting textbooks, maximizing student interaction in class, and bringing teacher writing into the…

Challenges Donald C. Stewart's assertion that "a good number" of graduate school English majors teach freshman composition. Suggests that only a small minority of these students enter college teaching. Argues that college English departments should not limit student options by setting more specific course requirements within the major.…

Suggests that criticism of Donald C. Stewart's assertion that many English majors enter teaching stems from a misunderstanding. Argues that Stewart simply proposes making graduate students more aware of recent developments within the field. Questions critics' claim that few graduate-level English majors enter college teaching. (SG)

Investigates whether high- and low-apprehensive freshman composition students respond differently as peer evaluators in a face-to-face group versus a group using electronic mail. Finds that high apprehensives exhibit different strategies than low apprehensives for peer evaluation, and that high apprehensives participate more and rely more on the…

Describes a collaborative writing assignment devised for a first-year composition class. Outlines how the assignment was undertaken and carried out by the students. Provides background on the theoretical literature concerning collaborative writing. (HB)

Calls for careful and informed use of multicultural texts in the English classroom. Examines how students resist the study of difference. Considers how a teacher might help students read and write differently. Shows how peer response to student writing can be improved. (HB)

Discusses Julia Kristeva's notion of text--the tension between the semiotic and the symbolic--and how the tension can be made visible through typeface variation and other shaping techniques possible with word-processing software. Shares ways the author encourages students in first-year English classes to explore possibilities for incorporating…

Describes the major changes made by the English department of the University of Louisville in terms of how they define themselves and their mission. Notes that in exchange for all full-time faculty teaching at least one section of first-year composition annually, the administration allocated seven new tenure-track positions in the English…

Describes an assessment carried out in collaboration with the administrators of a large freshman English course. Relates how the assessment team worked with instructors to identify goals and design assessment tasks. Finds no substantial improvement on any of the five course goals for students who took the course. Reflects on why instructors may…

Regression analysis of data from 144 students in business communication found that the freshman writing prerequisite improved course performance, whereas the computer literacy prerequisite did not. Those who completed a lower-level accounting course that was not required earned better grades in business communication. (SK)

Describes a course in the first-year college composition sequence (with substantial research and argumentation components) that is organized around a career focus on social services practice. Describes how the students learn about connections between writing, thinking, problem solving, composition class, and their chosen profession. (SR)

Presents an Outcomes Statement that describes the common knowledge, skills, and attitudes sought by first-year composition programs in American postsecondary education. Determines if there was sufficient commonality among programs and courses for a common program to be defined. Attempts to articulate this program as a way of understanding what…

Addresses the question of what constitutes a writing course. Maintains that the main objective of a writing course is the development of the writer, and that the privileged text is students' writing. Takes issue with writing courses that emphasize reading, subject content, or investigation over the writing process. (TB)