Presents an exercise for teachers which illustrates the limitations of workbook drills and rule study by teaching a brief hypothetical grammar text of five rules and exceptions, then employing those rules in standard drill exercises and a writing assignment. Claims that traditional pedagogies of formal grammar are not effective in improving…

Presents the dialectical model, in which a thesis gives rise to an antithesis, thus creating the need for a synthesis, as an alternative to thesis-support structured compositions. Claims that the dialectical model's demand for an antithesis urges writers to look past the limits of prejudice and custom. (MM)

Discusses how computer programing and expository writing are both based on the ability to (1) recognize that a complex whole is composed of manageable parts, and (2) identify the necessary steps for achieving a goal or supporting a generality, and (3) concentrate on and summarize a large amount of information into an abbreviated, succinct…

Provides rules to help engineers develop an effective writing style. Wordiness, verb usage (considering direct and buried verbs), the passive voice in scientific writing, sentence length, and the use/misuse of negatives are considered. Numerous examples are provided to illustrate the points being made. (JN)

Analysis of the spelling errors of three college students with varying writing abilities and a history of spelling problems suggests that students must be taught spelling remediation along with vocabulary development and writing, with emphasis on helping students understand the underlying logic and regularity of the writing system and effective…

Describes an in-class interview exercise that allows the teacher to show proper questioning techniques. (FL)

The Boothbay Writing Project was developed by a group of teachers interested in discovering how writing should and should not be taught. Through self-research, teachers gained insight into how they had learned to write and how they could best help their students become competent, confident writers. (DF)

Points out problems with using the case approach in the classroom to duplicate real business situations. Discusses the advantages of using student experiences that are analogous to those instructors attempt to reproduce in the classroom. (EL)

Discusses ten approaches to manuscript development to help counseling professionals to overcome writing difficulties. (BL)

By analyzing the elements of experience, handling of time, contextualizing, role of the narrator, and integration of these factors it is possible to trace developments in the texture of personal and imaginary stories among students 11-18. Thus, narrative is revealed as a "primary act of mind" involving increasingly mature insights and perspectives…

The experiment described examines the strategies adopted by a small number of adolescents in writing, first with a pen, and later with a word processor. The writings of individual children, of male, of female, and of mixed groups, are considered. The word processor is not found to be an essential prerequisite for revisions, but a facilitating…

Describes a summer writing workshop conducted by author Jake MacDonald for a group of secondary school students. (DF)

The article describes an approach by which word processing helps to solve some of the writing problems of learning disabled students. Aspects considered include prewriting, drafting, revising, and completing the story. (CL)

The scope and complexity of literacy problems in secondary schools has received much attention. This article presents a way communication research can be used to identify and examine instructional strategies to extend students' literacy development and overall communicative competence. (MT)

Indicates that English faculty are discovering the value of computers for student writers through the use of word processing systems with dictionary and editorial functions. Discusses benefits, program building, and faculty and administrator involvement, as well as appropriate software and the place of microcomputers in writing centers. (DMM)