Traces social change and evolution of the American writing curriculum. Argues that technology alone is not responsible for an increasingly oral approach to written language. Discusses emergent dimensions of email that alter communication access, social interaction, and response. (PA)

Notes that, although networked writing classrooms are more egalitarian than non-networked classrooms, networks cannot prevent discrimination. Social identity theory, from social psychology, suggests that instructors must be careful when focusing courses on divisive social issues; the presentation of these issues can break down into binary…

Examines, using grounded theory methods, an interactive, televised writing course taught via Teletechnet, a distance-education program at Old Dominion University. Shows how technology affects a writing classroom and influences the construction of students as writers. Suggests that institutional contexts are reconfigured in televised instruction as…

Suggests that theories of self in composition studies waver between forces of culture and psyche, and that composition theory lacks concrete representations of the materiality of self, the ways in which individuals negotiate culture to create a sense of identity. Examines diary passages from four volunteers to study the "heterophonic"…

Draws on the complementary processes of writing and photography. Suggests a theory and method of instruction employing visual and metacognitive strategies to aid students in discovering unseen details and meaning when writing descriptive prose. (RS)

Suggests that educators need to find ways to meet the demands of the assessment arena in which they find themselves without withdrawing from their students the wonders of the journeys educators and students take that are inspired by texts, films, and performances--journeys that must be taken to enrich the lives of students now and in the future.…

Argues that student journalists must be knowledgeable about when to use who/whoever and whom/whomever. Presents five such sentences that confound many writers, and discusses the correct usage. (SR)

Argues that technical communication courses, particularly introductory courses in technical writing, must include a translation component if they are to prepare students for the kind of work they are now likely to encounter as technical communicators. Suggests the time is ripe for changing the curriculum so that students receive instruction in how…

Argues that cliches make writing stale and flat, and that getting rid of them is a necessity. Lists the "top 14" cliches gathered by a Columbia Scholastic Press Association judge. Uses examples to show how cleansing a passage of its superlatives and cliches improves the writing, adding clarity, fairness, and objectivity as well as freshness and…

Presents an analysis of teacher research studies that illustrates the variety of choices teachers make in exploring questions within their own classrooms. Concludes with a representation of an array of possibilities from which teacher researchers might choose or use to guide them as they select or invent their own methodological solutions within…

Considers the value of consciously applying marketing language to educational efforts. Urges that market analysis might lead composition administrators to go with some flows that at first might seem best resisted. Presents an introduction to marketing rhetoric. Considers examining the current "plan" for marketing composition and its effects,…

Suggests that the future of composition studies will be shaped, in a large part, by the ways that educators decide to represent the work of composition to themselves. Notes that looking at composition from the administrator's point of view can enhance educator's sense of what role composition might play in the evolving university. (SG)

Makes a case for multiculturalism in professional communication studies by examining how international issues have influenced a move from an instrumental to a social orientation. Argues that although multiculturalism in professional communication aligns it with composition studies, it also brings a range of pedagogical, practical, and ethical…

Demonstrates how students who use background knowledge, context, morphology, and dictionaries learn words more effectively. Adapts a vocabulary web consisting of eight identical bubbles to provide students with a word map, intertwining most of the elements to clarify word meaning described by J. M. Harmon as essential to vocabulary instruction.…

Discusses leveling a charge of anti-intellectualism against compositionists who demand that theory result in classroom practice. Suggests the charge ignores the material conditions and intellectual reasons for that demand. Concludes there is a crucial place for theory in composition, even theory for theory's sake, but teaching in the composition…