Examines how teacher evaluation effects students' willingness and motivation and hence the writing process. Analyzes results of a survey measuring student responses to several kinds of evaluation of their essays. Concludes that informal evaluation (e.g. peer evaluation, conferences, ungraded writing) improves students' attitudes. (JG)

Recommends that as college faculties of all disciplines become more concerned with the quality of their students' writing and seek assistance of composition faculties in improving it. The need for a common vocabulary for defining "good" writing, diagnosing problems, and recommending teaching methods is apparent. (RAE)

Discusses the relationship between research in writing (i.e., research in "composition" or "rhetoric and composition") and English departments. Attempts to clarify writing research, asserting that English departments do not understand or approve of this type of research. (MM)

Examines elements in the early stages of the process of writing criticism. Suggests that the key to criticism is connections made in context, and that criticism of film or theater is first a reading act, and then a writing act. (MS)

Describes study designed to investigate students' attitudes and strategies when writing with the aid of a computer. Interviews with four undergraduates enrolled in a computer-assisted section of advanced composition are discussed, and participant observation and document analysis are also used to examine the combined processes of composing and…

Describes a high school composition teacher's research comparing researchers' observations on students' composing attitudes and habits against those of her own students. Emphasizes the importance of classroom teachers' involvement in research. (ARH)

Provides eight sequential, process-oriented writing assignments: (1) diagnostic essay, (2) personal account, (3) ghost writing, (4) summary, (5) developing a thesis, (6) exploratory essay, (7) proposal, and (8) final paper. (HTH)

Examines the writing strategies of English-as-a-second-language (ESL) student writers at different levels of ESL instruction. Results indicate that native and non-native writers had many strategies in common, but ESL learners were less inhibited by attempts to correct their work. Little correlation was found among English proficiency, writing…

Lists and annotates books and articles on the following topics: (1) writing contexts; (2) status surveys; (3) writing instruction; (4) writing processes; (5) text analysis; (6) writing assessment; (7) writing and learning; (8) language processing; (9) language development; (10) language interrelationships; and (11) language and schooling. Also…

Discusses (1) the practice of giving examinations and how this contradicts current theory about the writing process, (2) how students spontaneously became involved in reading and writing activities, and (3) the implications of not teaching traditional grammar. (SRT)

Describes a class project for which students discussed their conception of a hero, defined a hero in an essay, researched a specific person they felt was a hero, and finally, gave an oral presentation to the class acting out the character of their hero. (SRT)

Describes the behaviors and attitudes 49 high school junior English students demonstrated and the features that existed in their writing when they wrote for natural purposes (such as writing letters, biographies, and pamphlets). (EL)

Defines the four phases of the process approach to writing instruction--prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. Argues that more emphasis should be placed on process, rather than strategy, in business writing texts. (JD)

Explores ways in which microcomputers may be used in classrooms, both to enhance academic skills and to allow students to interact directly with students in other cultures. Examines the transmission and the interactional pedagogical models in terms of using computers for teaching writing and instituting cultural exchange networks. (SED)

Describes the objectives and background of a project designed to implement change in a school district's written communication program and analyzes the data obtained from writing evaluation forms. (HOD)