The insight and understanding gained from various discourse models can allow teachers of reading and writing to focus on the many ways reading and writing instruction can be integrated. For example, syntactically oriented writing exercises such as sentence combining and Francis Christensen's generative rhetoric of a sentence can assist students in…

To identify and help alleviate the apprehensions of returning adult students at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 42 subjects were given the Miller and Daly Writing Apprehension Test (WAT) before and after a composition course, their grades were recorded, and their teachers completed questionnaires regarding student attitudes and performance.…

There has been a remarkable amount of production and publication of children's poetry since the 1960s. One of the early, popular anthologies of children's poetry was "Miracles" (Simon & Shuster, 1966), with poems from English-speaking countries revealing how imaginative children could be and their use of metaphors. "The Me Nobody Knows: Children's…

A study was initiated at University College of the University of Cincinnati to test the effect of composing and revising at a computer on the writing performance of developmental English students. Students enrolled in English for Effective Communication (EEC I) were divided into three groups: a control group that did not use the computer at all; a…

Although there is a variety of approaches to teaching composition in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes, none is entirely satisfactory in helping undergraduate ESL students succeed in the academic and professional world. This population has specialized needs and objectives and requires a more tailored approach. The most common approaches…

A year-long study of the writing development of 27 first through third graders in an English/Spanish bilingual program was conducted during the 1980-81 school year. Samples of the children's writing were collected at four intervals, coded for computer tallying, and analyzed in terms of code-switching, spelling, punctuation and segmentation,…

A study examined factor structure invariance among the writing skills of graduating High School Seniors and Adult High School Non-Completers. The study had three purposes: (1) to use LISREL confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) procedures to specify and test a series of factor models based on the test specifications content of the General Educational…

This book of lesson plans, compiled from resources in the ERIC database, focuses on writing activities for junior high and high school social studies classes. The book begins with an introductory essay by John J. Patrick and then provides lessons on world history, United States history, general topics, and newspapers, as well as, a user's guide,…

Intended for teachers, this monograph argues that, unlike the structured, formulaic "school" essay, personal essays in the manner of Michel de Montaigne lead students to explore their connections with ideas and texts. The monograph describes several strategies which use writing as a tool for critical thinking. The monograph contains the…

This report describes the Prescriptions for Better Writing Program, a 9-week writing skills curriculum, suitable for seventh to ninth grade levels, developed by teachers in New Jersey's Lower Camden County's Regional High School District No. 1. The program was designed for two purposes: to remediate to ninth grade levels and designed for two…

This professional development package is designed to assist General Educational Development (GED) instructors in developing teaching skills to help them prepare students for the written essay part of the new GED exam. An introduction discusses some research and theory that support collaborative teaching situations that most efficiently and…

By using microcomputers, functional learning environments can be created in which reading and writing are arranged for communicative purposes and used as electronic workbooks for basic skills instruction. However, the "Computer Chronicles Newswire Network" goes a step further by giving students a goal for writing: to share their ideas…

Writing instruction reflects a growing appreciation of the value of talk. By implementing peer writing groups, teachers encourage students to give, seek, and react to oral feedback among themselves as they write, in addition to reacting to the teacher's traditional comments on finished papers. Collaboration in writing groups provides writers with…

This book emphasizes a comprehensive treatment of all areas of the language arts and advocates interrelating the teaching of the language arts and integrating this teaching with the teaching of other areas of the curriculum. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "Language and the Language Arts"; (2) "Teaching the Language Arts"; (3)…

The metaphor of community has become central to discussions about reading, writing, and teaching. According to this metaphor, an individual learns a discourse through entering into the community that uses it, and by accepting the practices and values of those already in it. Yet an argument can be raised for a definition of discourse that is not…