Reports a study of the initial effects of word processing on essay-writing performance and on writing apprehension. Concludes that college freshmen using word processing showed greater progress in writing performance from pre to post essay tests than did those using traditional methods, but they did not show significant difference in writing…

Describes a project which used basic writers in a pre-college English class to tutor deaf elementary school students. Focuses on the project's attempt to encourage discussions of writing on a local area computer network, as a means of developing deaf students' experience with informal and formal written English. (MM)

Examines a sample of conventionally composed and word-processing-assisted essays to assess the computer's effect on progress and competence by determining how students used the computer resources available to them to write their papers in both standard English classes and across the curriculum. (MS)

Explores the thinking strategies or "inner languages" children employ when they read and write. Finds merging of different patterns of thought in most children, which varied with the task at hand. Proposes that teachers structure time and space according to children's varied needs. (MS)

Examines two case studies which illustrate that specific syntactic and semantic difficulties in writing are related to reading problems in syntax and comprehension among basic writers. Asserts that looking at writing miscues can be an appropriate way to analyze writing errors in a reading context. (MM)

Studies the transcripts of classroom discussions taking place in a college English class. Reveals the similarities and differences in the perceptions of the students and teachers of what actually took place. Gives insight into the nature of classroom talk. Analyzes student comments produced in a student-centered discussion approach to literature…

Outlines the historical development of female authorship in Great Britain during the years of the European Renaissance. Details the rhetorical strategies used by these authors to address a primarily hostile male audience. Considers the writing differences between the sexes in historical context. (HB)

Describes a research project in which elementary students with learning disabilities participate in both individual and cooperative computer-enhanced writing sessions, using three types of topics: free choice, literature based, and fantasy based. Finds the computer-enhanced whole-language writing sessions more instructionally effective than the…

Presents a case study of a fourth-grade student who learned to participate in the literacy community of her classroom by writing letters. Claims that letter writing aided this student in gaining confidence and skill. Discusses implications of this study for forging a new pedagogy of writing. (HB)

Investigates the ability of children at two grades and reading ability levels to write functionally appropriate expository texts. Finds that (1) virtually all the children understand the function and audience for exposition; and (2) reading level is significantly more related than grade level to sophisticated use of cohesion, organization, and a…

Presents an overview of research and unanswered questions related to gender issues in technical communication. Addresses the consequences of the feminization of technical communication, research on gender differences in technical communication, and the means for encouraging a more gender-balanced view of business and industry. (SR)

Second graders taught by the whole language approach produced better writing samples, for content and meaning, than did second graders taught by the traditional approach. No differences were evident in the use of mechanics. Sixth grade samples evidenced no difference between the two approaches. (IAH)

Discusses getting children to focus as much on the process by which they do their research as on the content of the research itself. Describes a project with fifth grade students in which children orchestrate their own reading, writing, and talking as they investigate their topic. (SR)

Reports on a three-year study conducted by two site directors of the National Writing Project in northern Arizona. Examines the effects, both immediate and longitudinal, of the Summer Institute on the fellows' attitudes and concerns about teaching writing. Shows that significant progress was made over time. Illustrates this claim with a case…

Discusses the IEA Written Composition Study in relation to other IEA studies, national cultural patterns, and research on writing in general. Describes research design problems, development of representative writing tasks, and a scoring scheme based on a system of writing competencies and preferences and their elements. Summarizes preliminary…