Six pupils were selected at random from each of grades one through eight in a single school and were asked to write a rough draft of any length on any topic of interest to them. The 48 resulting essays were analyzed for errors in punctuation and sentence structure. Results indicated that elementary school children have difficulty in placing…

This evaluative study focused on a program of nine-week courses in English writing skills which has been part of the English curriculum at City College (California) since 1966. After a review of the historical development and the rationale for the courses, results from a student questionnaire, from a retrospective comparison of students who had…

This handbook is designed to be a comprehensive, practical reference guide for courses in business writing or business communication. Alphabetical entries provide coverage of grammar, usage, style, format, and writing procedure--planning, research, outlining, methods of development, and so on--and also include specific information on letters,…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether persons identified as having either a low or a high degree of apprehension toward writing encode information differently. Behavioral patterns similar to those exhibited by persons who are apprehensive about speech were investigated. Results of a study of 19 high-apprehensive and 21…

Teaching grammar to freshman composition students can be accomplished without turning the class into a remedial course or expending an undue amount of either student or teacher energy. Before grammar can have meaning for students, however, writing itself must become important to them. The teaching of the mechanics of language, therefore, should…

Grammar should be taught for its own sake, not as a means to improving student writing because, in fact, it doesn't.

Discusses the inappropriateness of the "Students' Right to Their Own Language" resolution in terms of community college teaching and the needs of the students. (RB)

Head of the University of Oregon's composition department charges that freshmen cannot write and proposes solutions to the problem. (RB)

This article presents suggestions for improvement in constructing better essay questions and for teaching students how to organize and write essay answers. (Author/ND)

Presents journalism as a logical part of the secondary English class; stresses reading and researching activities. (MAI)

Presents writing for magazines as motivation for student writing assignments; offers a brief list of publications that accept student writing and cites sources that provide information on the national print market. (MAI)

Prescribes a structural approach to report writing that beginning teachers in the subject area can use to give continuity to the course while teaching basic English and report mechanics. (RL)

A fifth grader wanted to know what he had to do to get all his ideas the way he wanted them in his story writing "and" have the spelling, punctuation and quotation marks correctly styled. His teacher encouraged him to think about writing as a process and provided the student with three steps as guidelines for effective writing. (Author/RK)

Describes a "warm-up" exercise that gives students practice in documentation procedures and prepares them for the later assignment of an extended research paper. Provides an outline of the short paper assignment. (RL)