Considers teaching about language to be more important than teaching of grammar. (HOD)

Good writing is seen as good thinking--thinking carefully, not just grasping for the opinion nearest at hand, and clearly. Its primary purpose is to communicate with the reader. Good writing can be learned--to think honestly, to say things clearly, to avoid pomposity, and to consider the reader. (MLW)

Writing programs and their directors have taken on a new importance because writing has become more necessary to society. However, the status of the writing program in the modern university is usually low and its financial support tenuous. (MLW)

The National Writing Project (NWP) became a key institution in the effort to define a new level of minimum literacy. There is an increasing awareness of the importance of writing as an aid to thinking in all subject areas. The NWP staff development model is described. (MLW)

States that writing must be taught in a way that interests and involves students and prepares them for life outside the writing classroom. Gives examples of appropriate assignments, including writing a letter of complaint and writing job application letters and resumes. (DF)

Relates the evaluation of a secondary school writing program that concentrated on three areas: (1) the level of group participation and group feeling generated in the classroom, (2) the level of security felt by students and teacher within the process approach, and (3) the linking of the students' reading and writing. (HOD)

Word processors can assist teachers and students by focusing on writing as a process, rather than a product. Word processing breaks writing up into manageable chunks that permit writing skills to develop in an integraged manner. (10 references) (CJH)

Offers a method for teaching English using biographies in conjunction with creative writing assignments, for example, writing a short biography of another student in the class. (SRT)

The study examined the paragraph writing performance of 89 undergraduate students with low or high convergent or divergent aptitude in response to three methods of instruction: deduction (topic sentence to details), inductive (details to topic sentence), or a combination. A balanced presentation of both methods produced greater overall…

Describes an interdisciplinary writing course organized around the theme of language as used by individual disciplines. Reports a significant improvement in students' writing skills, exposure to a breadth of issues to which these skills might be applied in students' respective majors, and an enthusiastic response to the approach. (DMM)

Argues that society's capacity to become more powerfully literate depends on its capacity to develop better ways to explain to and to show others what people do when they read and write. Offers ways in which schools and communities can help students go beyond current inadequate but deeply entrenched verbal constructs. (HTH)

Discusses materials in the ERIC system dealing with inservice session on writing as a process, improving teacher writing skills, conducting classroom research, and improving teaching attitudes. (HTH)

Recommends teaching students the exploratory essay as a means of contributing to the larger effort of revitalizing the humanities by restoring the spirit of inquiry to a place of currency and honor and by educating people to communicate freely with one another. (EL)

Criticizes English departments for ignoring the need for research and adequate instructional programs in the areas of competency referred to by the term "literacy": reading, writing, comprehending, and communicating. Suggests ways of bridging the gap between literature and composition. (EL)

Shows the power of dramatistic writing, which uses representative anecdotes as well as argument and demonstration. Proposes that dramatism be taught as an alternate style, in addition to and in conjunction with argument. (EL)