One of a number of reports of a study of the writing development of 14- to 16-year-old students, this booklet is divided into two parts. The first part uses five criteria to analyze what four secondary students learn from composing imaginary stories: (1) What resources are used in the setting or situation? (2) What kind of ordering is used? (3)…

The process-oriented advanced technical writing course described in this paper leads students progressively through the writing and editing processes while involving them in the technical writing of their respective disciplines. The readings, exercises, and report assignments used in the course are discussed to show how these activities awaken…

This writing skills curriculum provides Adult Basic Education (ABE) teachers with a perspective on intended writing goals for their ABE students, delineates specific writing objectives, and presents a framework within which writing activities can effectively take place. Introductory material provides a guide to the use of the curriculum and…

The 34 papers in this volume discuss a variety of technical writing topics. The following are some of these topics: (1) definitions and historical analyses of technical writing; (2) using case studies in technical writing classes; (3) advice to beginning teachers on how to teach graphics in technical communication classes; (4) preparing for an…

Observing writers in isolation, pulling them into research settings in neatly designed studies will reveal nothing about the circumstances that enable people to write. Context, or the setting in which writing actually takes place, may be the most enabling circumstance. Many first grade teachers believe their students cannot write or even spell.…

The classroom-tested ideas for teaching writing described in this booklet are based on the beliefs that writing is a teachable skill, that it is a process with constituent steps, and that students need evaluation at each stage of writing. Following an introduction that identifies eight steps in the writing process and discusses class organization,…

Four assumptions about factors leading to writing improvement may be related to instruction in supplemental writing laboratories (or "writing labs") that use tutorial conferencing to serve students needing help with classroom assignments or specific skills. The assumptions and their relation to writing lab instruction are as follows: (1)…

A college English instructor made an informal comparison of rewriting habits of students in a freshman composition course and two advanced composition courses. Notes kept on student rewriting focused on this central question: given peer and instructor response to their papers and a choice as to what and how to rewrite, what will students decide to…

This paper specifies the assessment of those general discourse skills that are needed for effective writing by students in grades one through six. The general discourse skills include planning/organizing, elaborating, proofreading, and editing. An introductory section provides background materials, including explanations of how the skill…

This is one in a series of eight discussion pamphlets produced by the Writing Across the Curriculum Project dealing with some of the issues connected with writing in the schools and their relation to learning. This pamphlet explores differences between students' talk and their writing in school contexts. It notes the value of expressive…

The purpose of this research was to identify and analyze student writing strategies and procedures. Six male college students, three high scorers and three low scorers on the Differential Aptitude Test, were videotaped while they wrote their regular English class assignments, two summaries and two essays. For each writing session, the students…

Outlines the achievements and the difficulties that occurred in the first year of a research project on the development of writing abilities in the senior years of western Australian high schools. (RL)

Examines the relationship between writing and learning in a college-level writing-across-the-curriculum class in philosophy. Results provide a basis for speculation about the conception of the writing/learning relationship and about the viability of further hermeneutical study of student writing. (SRT)

Focusing on process description, provides a step-by-step class presentation of an assignment given to a technical writing class that uses a computer program to teach instructions. Discusses the assignment's benefits to class discussion, the editing session, and the writing produced. (JD)

Provides a rationale for content area writing, and suggests ways it can be used for social studies instruction. (JC)