A study was conducted to determine whether subject-related writing tasks assigned in college courses (1) increased the amounts and clarity of student learning, (2) led to improved student writing performance, and (3) changed levels of student apprehension about writing. Students enrolled in two sections of courses taught by each of four…

This paper discusses the objectives for the writing programs for Department of Defense Office of Dependents Schools (DoDDS). Assessment results for 1978-79 writing samples of eighth and eleventh grade students are also presented, along with a summary of students' responses to questions about their writing habits. Test results reported in the paper…

Prepared as part of the evaluation of the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP), this report compares BAWP to its "critical competitors" (other inservice teacher programs and programs for improving student writing). The BAWP model and ten other program descriptions are presented in identical descriptive formats. Three types of competitors are…

An individualized program for teaching writing skills was initiated for high school students in a writing laboratory program. The major goal was to develop a systematic, individualized approach for teaching 300 specific writing skills. Major characteristics of the program included evaluation of student writing to diagnose and prescribe…

In order to establish the effects of three different levels of writing lab use on the writing proficiency and attitudes of remedial freshman composition students, three instructional modes were used. Writing lab students spent two hours a week in small group discussions and four hours in the lab, using autotutorial materials. Classroom lecture…

The purpose of this study was to estimate the reliability of various measures of writing behavior using 500-word samples instead of 1000-word samples. The themes of 135 eighth graders on narrative and expository topics were collected for 6 weeks, one theme per week. Samples of at least 1000 words were obtained from each student, and the criteria…

A review of the use of specific word processing programs to teach foreigners English language composition discusses advantages and disadvantages of such features as spelling checkers, prompting markers, and formatting programs. Suggestions are presented for enhancing students' writing skills both with and without word processing help. (CB)

Examines four topics in composition research that are pertinent to journalism instruction: writing as process, writing across the curriculum, modes of instruction, and dealing with errors. (FL)

Discusses the writing of 12-year-old boys who write daily. Presents case studies of five individual boys and describes their genre choices, individual writing strengths and weaknesses, and attitudes toward the writing process. (SKC)

Sets forth educational inferences drawn from a classroom incident involving a first-grade child and her first story writing experience. (FL)

Offers five classroom activities, some teacher centered and some child centered, that develop reading and writing in five-year-old children. (FL)

Reports on a four-year study of the process of journal writing in an elementary school. Assesses student behavior as well as actual writing. (FL)

Describes a method for using the press release to introduce basic technical writing principles and increase students' writing confidence. Includes lecture format and writing assignment. (HTH)

Describes a teaching method for reading and writing instruction to be used with college developmental reading students that involves writing reactions to editorials in the campus newspaper. (SRT)

Discusses T. Eagleton's view of rhetoric as a study of the political power of discursive practices, comparing it to views of other theorists. Argues that composition faculty should welcome Eagleton's socialist-inflected revival of rhetoric because he embeds it in a deconstruction of the polarities that marginalize writing teachers and empower the…