This study examined the extent to which middle and high school English teachers integrate reading and writing instruction as complementary processes. Using qualitative research methods, researchers investigated the following: (a) Do middle and high school English teachers conceive of and enact the teaching of reading and writing as integrated…

The article describes Tools of the Mind--an instructional program developed 25 years ago and now implemented in a variety of early childhood settings across the United States and in Canada. Based on the principles of cultural-historical psychology, this program addresses developmental and learning needs of young children by offering a…

Entering the world of academic writing can be a troublesome experience for young researchers, especially for those writing in ESL. In addition to mastering the specific language of their disciplinary community, they also have to adopt an array of metadiscourse features which help them organize their writing and position themselves towards their…

How can social change become possible when secondary teachers approach argument as participation in ongoing conversations? The authors illustrate how--through writing, speaking, and reading to develop a letter to their principal arguing for a school policy change--secondary students participated in multiple conversational spheres across time and…

This study explores the effect of feedback on ESL students' L2 writing anxiety level. The study was conducted using a quantitative method, specifically using experimental research where students are divided into 2 groups, the control and experimental group. 30 students were randomly chosen to be involved in the study, equally distributed in the 2…

There has been little research into 'language play', the manipulation of language for enjoyment, in children's narrative writing. The unprompted language play of 36 children was investigated in their writing of an imaginative story. The sample comprised three attainment sub-groups from a larger repeat-design quantitative study of writing…

Many researchers and educators believe that reading and writing instruction needs to change in order to reflect the multimodal, technological, interactive nature of communication today. To date, few studies have examined how touchscreen devices may influence primary school students' reading and writing practices. Guided by Vygotsky's notion of…

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the 6+1 trait writing model on ESP university students' critical thinking and writing achievement. It was assumed that students who receive training using the 6+1 trait writing model would reveal greater gains in critical thinking and writing achievement. Six instruments -designed by the…

Teaching writing well poses several challenges in today's diverse classrooms. Despite a growing research base on teaching writing, outcomes for students with disabilities in secondary schools continue to be disappointing. Research in the naturalistic tradition that would help educators understand the knowledge and beliefs that influence teachers'…

The Faculty Writing Fellows Seminar was designed to develop university instructors' skill in writing instruction: The 2015-16 professional development project offered faculty at Southern Oregon University a chance to read writing-pedagogy research, collaboratively develop their teaching practices, and--most importantly--put themselves in the shoes…

The development and implementation of learning material on exposition text with a process for Senior High School (SHS) students on the teaching of Bahasa Indonesia is reported. The study is aimed to develop a learning material on exposition text with a process to be used as a learning media on the teaching of writing in Bahasa Indonesia. The study…

Improving the writing of middle-school English learners can improve their academic thinking, literacy, and content knowledge. The Writing Reform and Innovation for Teaching Excellence (WRITE) program uses six high-leverage writing practices and develops teacher capacity through professional learning activities anchored in the group grading of…

In this article, we discuss what it means to learn troublesome "threshold concepts" about writing that cannot be adequately grappled with in a single course or assignment. Here, two faculty members and a graduate of a writing major reflect on elements of the writing curriculum, the writing center practicum, and the learning dispositions…

This paper reports on qualitative research from an Australian, K-6, faith-based school about teachers' experience of a job-embedded professional learning initiative (the "Whole-School Benchmarking of Writing," WSBoW) that was designed to improve teachers' capacity to apply data-driven decision-making to achieve improvements in student…

With Common Core State Standards (CCSS), all students are held to the same high expectations, including students learning English and other learners who may have academic difficulties. Many students learning English have trouble writing and need effective writing strategies to meet the demands the standards present. Ten fourth and fifth grade…