When writing laboratories first opened over 30 years ago, only a few faculty members and administrators had a firm notion of what constituted a writing center, and these notions differed from campus to campus. The pioneers of the discipline had little beyond instinct and imagination to guide them--and a nagging notion that there is one true path…

Writing teachers can use several techniques to focus student attention on revision and to guide students, revision processes. Asking students to make an outline of what they have already written (after the draft is complete, just before the conclusion is drafted, or when the writer is blocked and does not know what to write next) enables a writer…

This report provides information drawn from a study that compared two components of the freshman English program at the University of Texas at Austin. The first chapter of the report contains background material and describes the two course components--the analytic option, which emphasizes writing skills in the context of complete pieces of…

Controlled compositions are a partial answer to the challenge faced by basic skills teachers of giving their students enough writing practice without increasing their own grading load. This method is especially suitable for academically underprepared students, English-as-a-second language students, highly apprehensive students, students who hate…

An approach to evaluating student writing that emphasizes reformulation and deemphasizes grades teaches students that reworking their writing is a necessary and acceptable part of the writing process. Reformulation is divided into rewriting, revising, and editing. The instructor diagnoses student papers to determine significant problems on a…

This paper identifies and describes the five components that underlie the structure of any advanced composition course: audience, purpose, voice, organization, and polish. Each component is illustrated with examples from technical writing, business writing, journalism, and academic writing. (FL)

The college writing center can be most helpful in preparing prospective English teachers for the classroom. Students could be required to spend some time each week tutoring in the writing center. Although the methods course focuses on the theory of teaching writing, the work in the center can put that theory into practice. Before actually…

At Springfield Technical High School (Massachusetts) tenth grade students are required to spend three six-week periods in writing laboratory classes. As the students write, the teacher moves from student to student for short conferences, checking with each student twice during each class period. Students proceed in a three-step process and are…

This guide contains activities for use in helping elementary school pupils increase the quality and quantity of their written expression. The first section of the book contains prewriting, writing, and postwriting activities designed to develop specific skills. The remaining eight sections offer prewriting, writing, and postwriting activities for…

This study was conducted to determine the effect of remedial instruction in English usage upon writing competence in a college business letter-writing course. It was hypothesized that remedial instruction in English usage would not affect an individual's letter-writing achievements. Subjects were 50 matched pairs (IQ, Freshman English, grade, age,…

Illustrates Toulmin's simple three-step model of argumentation (claim, grounds, backing) with various proposition and syllogisms. Implements such heuristic quests at each step as "What position do I want my audience to take?" Proposes Toulmin logic as a strategy for teaching inductive and deductive thinking in composition. (JG)

Presents a list of articles published in journals outside the immediate field of business communication that discuss various aspects of professional writing. (JD)

Uses a single language system--technical description--to illustrate how language systems can now be used as the basis for instruction in technical writing. Provides sample exercises in progressive teaching from simple description to complex continuity devices, showing how they can be used at all stages of the writing process. (HTH)

Argues that technical writing teachers will profit from linguistic research if they keep in mind that linguists set their own goals, develop their own trends, and establish their own priorities, because these facts force technical writing teachers to consider their linguistic requirements before they turn to linguistic research for answers to…

Concludes that handwriting instruction improves writing ability because students who have mastered the basic skills of handwriting are able to concentrate on the process of composition rather than transcription. (SRT)