Argues for the teaching of "visible features of written texts," or document design, in composition classes. Concludes that educators must teach students how to see their own texts through the eyes of the readers they hope to attract, converse with, and persuade. (SC)

Considers how in the 1990s most English departments have altered curricula to accommodate the explosion of the canon, the emphasis on cultural studies, the arrival of new technology in writing and literature classrooms, and the varied learning styles of students. Discusses how many of these changes have been patches rather than substantial…

Argues that teachers of writing can readily become forces for peace in our schools and, by extension, in society at large. Argues that returning to personal story at the center of the writing curriculum, accompanied by deep listening, will promote peace and well-being, voice and sense of self, and respect and caring as well as powerful literacy in…

Suggests that the annual conference on computers and writing has remained on the cutting edge of technology and composition pedagogy. Notes changes--presenters discuss their uses of commercial applications rather than demonstrate homemade programs; instructors are more concerned with how users may manipulate others through technology; and the…

Offers a conceptual approach that begins to connect literacy as an individual development to literacy as an economic development. Grounds the investigation in more than 100 in-depth interviews that explored individuals' memories of learning to read and write. Demonstrates the practical application of the concept of "sponsorship" for interpreting…

Aims to redefine what happens in the margins through a practice called "sideshadowing," adapted from Bakhtinian theorist Gary Saul Morson's examination of narrative technique. States that sideshadowing redirects the attention to the present moment, its multiple conflicts, and its multiple possibilities. Argues for sideshadowing's…

First graders at risk for handwriting problems (n=144) were assigned to 1 of 6 treatment conditions, including handwriting instruction and phonological awareness training. Converging evidence across multiple measures shows that combining numbered arrows and memory retrieval was the most effective treatment for improving both handwriting and…

Describes a grading system used in a college composition class that shifts the focus away from letter grades and toward continuous student progress. Describes how it is based on a personalized, flexible standard that challenges each student's particular skills as a writer, and encourages real improvement in student writing. (SR)

Explores the mechanism of the endurance of the unequal division of the professional status and power within English studies--particularly the role of the writing program administrator (WPA) in sustaining composition's marginality. Suggests that the WPA position is the site at which radical, reformist theories can be redirected into pedagogic and…

A study to determine whether an Internet writing course would be useful for teaching as a distance learning option found that students who participated via the Internet submitted papers that were not as complete or as well organized as those participating in the classroom situation. (Author/JOW)

Teachers and students can use color to identify different types of writing. This article describes using color to highlight annotations, identity, topic sentences, thoughts and emotions, logical arguments, advertising and selling, showing and telling, and looking and seeing. Includes sample assignments for identifying emotional content, topic…

Provides a course overview and a critical statement of a course for seniors (a capstone experience) at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington described as "a workshop leading to production of a senior manuscript in prose or poetry and public reading of selected work." (PA)

Suggests that the overriding agenda of composition teachers is simple: "We want our students to share our class values." Combines personal narrative with an examination of college catalogs, claiming that as a "teacher class," compositionists reinforce and reinscribe national values and national character. (RS)

Suggests that current efforts to synthesize cohesive and differentiating functions in classrooms do not go far enough in recognizing interrelations. Argues that a crucial task for writing teachers is to nurture motives for both cohesion and differentiation in writing/reading classrooms; and that writing teachers must interrogate their motives and…

Explores three important critical perspectives taken toward student resistance: that of the "traditional" teacher/administrator, that of the student, and that of the writing teacher. Shows them as interactive elements of a system enriched by variety. Suggests that compositionists should see their pedagogical actions for what they are: sincere…