This study explores the writing processes of students with hearing impairment. Students were given an expository essay for writing. The students produced two data sets: first was obtained at entrance test and second on the completion of the course. All data sets were scored with the help of a scoring guide that was provided by the English…

The new language curriculum in South Africa recommends that extended writing be taught through a combination of text-based (or genre) and process approaches. This article reports on a study of the teaching and assessment of narrative writing in English as a first additional language (FAL) at a time of curriculum change. The setting is a Cape Flats…

This article explores how a composition program at a minority serving, Midwestern university used an accelerated learning approach in its general education composition course sequence. Using research in the area of literacy theory and developmental education, as well as assessment data, the program designed a two-course general education…

Much research has been conducted to investigate the quality of writing and high-level revisions in word processing-assisted and pen-and-paper writing modes. Studies that address cognitive aspects, such as experience and comfort with computers, by which students compose essays during writing assessments have remained relatively unexplored. To fill…

Many students do not meet expected standards of writing performance, despite the need for writing competence in and out of school. As policy instruments, writing content standards have an impact on what is taught and how students perform. This study reports findings from an evaluation of the content of a sample of seven diverse states' current…

Geocomposition engages students in writing on the move in order to explore how such writing composes the multiple layers of public places. This article describes a collaborative, location-based composition project designed for students to rhetorically engage a responsive public through locative media: media that work in and through specific sites.

Through her years as an elementary teacher and now a university professor in teacher education, the author has developed many creative writing instructional ideas for use with all learners (i.e., elementary through graduate level). Resourcefulness and imaginative thinking proves invaluable to teaching artists' pedagogy in current economic…

Lexical richness makes an important contribution to L2 writing quality. To explore its importance, the study aims to identify and explain how lexical richness manifests in argumentative essays written in the final exam of reading and writing class by thirty-five undergraduates. The lexical richness consists of four interrelated elements: lexical…

This study investigates the impact on extemporaneous English-language first drafts by using Google Translate (GT) in three different tasks assigned to Chinese sophomore, junior, and senior students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) majoring in English. Students wrote first in Chinese (Step 1), then drafted corresponding texts in English (Step…

Learner autonomy is widely recognized as a desirable educational goal in second or foreign language learning. However, the generality of the concept often makes it difficult to either nurture or measure the related traits. The present study focused on learner autonomy in the area of writing, exploring the use of the process approach as a means to…

Developing students' communicative competence became the primary goal of the current College English Curriculum Requirements in 2004 in China. There has been increasing concern, however, that this goal has yet to be realized, particularly in relation to the teaching of writing. This study investigated the potential of a Systemic Functional…

This paper presents the first phase of a study conducted to analyze Knowledge Building forums for evidence of second language acquisition. This study is an analysis of the posts within an existing forum in search of evidence of foreign language learning. The analysis found that the collaborative writing project shows evidence that the students…

Recent multilingual perspectives view second language writing as part of a language user's dynamic multilingual repertoire, always occurring in the (cognitive and social) context of some first language(s), and often of first language literacy and/or use of other languages. This paper focuses on one element of written language (lexical…

As culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms become increasingly common, research looking at ways teachers can support language and literacy practices of all students in these spaces is needed. Using qualitative methods, this project examined second-grade, multilingual students' practices during a Writing Workshop activity that invited them…

Previous studies have identified that genres and genre knowledge are not only pivotal for the development of writing expertise but also for facilitating writing-related transfer. However, little research concerns issues of teaching genres for writing transfer to first-year English as a second language (L2) writers at universities in the US. This…