The nine articles in this focused journal issue are concerned with the revolution brought about by the video display terminal as the medium for television and the computer. Among the topics discussed in the articles are (1) the influence of television on students, (2) writing and word processing, (3) reservations about word processing for student…

To introduce students to the actual environment in which professional level communication takes place early in the term of a business writing course, students are asked what they believe to be the major communication difficulties faced by business people in their everyday routines. The responses are listed and then compared with actual instances…

A study was conducted to determine the current status of and trends in writing instruction in the Illinois public community colleges. A survey sent to the colleges sought information on admissions, writing courses, course placement, graduation/completion requirements, in-service training for instructors, technical assistance, public service, and…

Good and poor explanatory essays of 40 college freshmen were analyzed for 18 cohesive ties and chains to determine the appropriateness of the cohesion system for teaching and evaluating writing. The questions that were specifically addressed were, (1) How do writers use the cohesive resources of the language? and (2) How is cohesion related to…

Writing samples as diagnostic measurement tools have many variables that the instructor must control--time is a factor, and often the instructor needs more than one sample to fairly evaluate student writing ability. One method for better predicting the exact nature of students' writing problems is sentence combining. For sentence combining to be…

Education has often created and widened the distinctions between reading and writing rather than focusing on their relationship. More recently, however, research has advanced a view that recognizes reading and writing to be instances of communication between people. Research also suggests that five kinds of knowledge (informational, structural,…

Since basic writers tend to learn best when only a few skills are presented at a time, composition teachers should introduce these students to word processing and writing simultaneously, demonstrating word processing commands as they complement the writing process. For instance, the use of the insert key can be presented when students need to…

The computer applications that hold most promise for writers form a large class of utility programs, including word processing and text editing. However, the computer can pose some problems for the student in the writing center. What proportion of writing center students arrive ready to work at the keyboard? Will learning to type present special…

Intended for teachers, this paper considers response to student writing, looking at the different angles from which it is commonly perceived and acknowledging the complications that evaluation and the demands of curriculum add to that response. Three major areas are examined. There is an historical look at response, so that some of the roots of…

A major concern when encouraging faculty development in teaching composition should be an appeal to faculty pride. Most college English faculty have been conditioned to see the teaching of composition as work for apprentices. The teaching of good writing is not merely strenuous and time-consuming; it demands the best of one's imaginative, mental,…

Initially, a study was designed to discover the effect of institution of employment--that is, community college or university--on teacher attitudes toward composition; however, employment status--part-time or full-time--more clearly accounted for attitude differences at both types of institutions. The study methodology involved a two-part…

Using a sequential approach, this booklet identifies a number of research skills students need to become independent in gathering and presenting information. The booklet begins with a brief description of the sequential development of research skills it recommends, a bar graph representation of the skills used as a curriculum planner, and a…

The third of three studies involving a comparative analysis of transactional and narrative writing of selected samples of students in two Ontario districts, this study addressed questions arising from the earlier studies and examined the writing skills of students in grades 5, 8, and 12. Writing samples were examined for conformity to the norms of…

Questionnaires were sent to 2,161 teachers and to administrators in 118 primary schools in the Brisbane North Region (Australia) to determine their attitudes toward the implementation of a new handwriting syllabus. The questionnaire also solicited information on educational experience, the importance of handwriting, the teaching of handwriting,…

Teachers should be more aware of the function of place (an individual's physical and social environment) in the formation of the self in writing. By analyzing literature one can observe how the writer reflects upon the importance of a sense of place. Another kind of analysis is that of the writer in his or her environment, including the social and…