To help school districts comply with basic skills legislation, the California State Department of Education developed sample writing exercises and scoring guides. The exercises were modeled after Kinneavy's three categories of discourse: expressive--writer oriented; explanatory--subject oriented; and persuasive--audience oriented. The minimum…

A study of the growth of seventh grade students' writing ability after targeted discussions of children's literature was based on the assumption that active comprehension of a distinctive model of literature would provide an awareness of the structure of narrative prose that would transfer to the student's own writing. Eight students participated…

At the University of Florida, writing laboratory classes follow a structured, independent curriculum designed to help students write effective paragraphs and edit their own writing. The four periods in the biweekly block of instruction are devoted to instruction in writing techniques and sentence skills, revision, mastery tests, and individual…

To assist the learner of English as a second language in dealing with the etiquette of certain common forms of correspondence, a series of dialogs, comprehension questions, readings, and points of discussion are presented. The text is illustrated. (JB)

The activities of the reading/writing center at the University of Minnesota Technical College are described in this paper. Following a brief discussion of the background of the center and its rationale, the paper provides (1) steps in planning effective reading and writing strategies, (2) examples of reading/writing assignments, and (3) ways to…

Two competing paradigms seem to characterize all models of teaching behavior. The first may be labeled as behavior-analytic, detail specific, and structured in that the learner proceeds through prescribed steps toward each goal. The other may be described as inquiry-oriented and learner-centered in that the learner has greater choice of the means…

In this paper, the teaching of writing to black students is examined within the broader context of the education of blacks in American society. The purpose of a cultural historical approach to literacy is said to be the focus on black students' powers of expression, rather than on the technical accomplishments of writing, spelling, and…

Based on the assumption that major sentence errors are caused by a deficit in syntactic fluency that can be aided by sentence combining instruction, student writing errors are analyzed in this paper and explanations are provided showing how these errors could have been prevented or reduced through instruction in sentence combining. Some types of…

If the measure of success in nonfiction prose writing is the writer's ability to communicate whatever it is he or she wishes to communicate, the purpose in writing must be defined with reference to the reader. Papers produced for freshman composition courses frequently show that students do not anticipate an audience. Information about audience…

In a study of the revision strategies used by skilled and basic (unskilled) writers, 50 students assigned to an experimental group wrote an expository essay, then rewrote their compositions from memory. A control group of 20 students was given the same assignment, but the students were allowed access to their first drafts. As expected, the control…

The proceedings of a one-day training seminar on the assessment of writing proficiency are presented. The seminar was designed to bring educators up to date on newly developed assessment methods and to help them see the developmental directions of the future. The program was divided into two parts: large-group presentations and small-group…

The Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) is described. Specifications are listed for TABS objectives in mathematics reading, and writing for grades 3, 5 and exit level (grades 6-12). It is intended that sections of the publication will be distributed to curriculum planners and appropriate teachers to assist in their determination of whether…

The first section of this paper discusses the writing crisis as it applies to education in journalism and offers examples of writing by college students and faculty members to illustrate the depth of the crisis. It cites, however, a recent survey showing that journalism schools across the United States are increasing the emphasis on writing skills…

This study's purpose was to investigate effects of heightened anxiety upon writing performance of subjects with different levels of creativity and prior anxiety. Eighty ninth-graders were divided by median splits on test scores into high and low creativity and prior anxiety levels. Subjects produced editorial essays half under high and half under…

One of a series of guides to the teaching of writing at the elementary and secondary levels, this publication focuses on teaching the importance of audience and subject. An introductory statement on the need to make students aware of the audience for whom they are writing is followed by a brief overview of the research concerning audience/subject…