A teacher is likely to encounter three kinds of difficulty with technical writing instruction. The first is transitory difficulty, which a teacher may reasonably expect to overcome with practice. This is the difficulty a teacher may have in learning a new curriculum or the needs of a new group of students, in making up and grading assignments, and…

Although first enunciated in 1827 by Samuel Newman, the modes of discourse--narration, description, exposition, and argument--were not very popular until formulated in 1866 and presented in the United States in a rhetoric textbook in 1885. After 1890, they were gradually accepted by the most influential rhetoricians of the day, and their use in…

The writing center at a Maryland university prepares third-year students for nonacademic, preprofessional writing by using retired professionals as tutors. These tutors are trained by discussing readings centered around the Aristotelean schema of ethos, logos, and pathos and the more recent conception of writing as a problem-solving process. The…

Intended to help students improve their written work by their active involvement and by their interest in investing the time and energy necessary to create a finished product of quality, this booklet presents a structured process that teaches children to progress from a draft to a "published" stage, through individual editing, peer…

Reading instructors have valuable expertise to share with writing instructors to improve the writing ability of students. Writing instructors often give reading assignments to provide topics for students' essays or discussion, without understanding the reading process. A reading teacher can (1) show the writing instructor how to determine the…

In addition to providing a written record of a conference or meeting, the confirming letter helps the public relations practitioner assure that his or her objectives are being achieved. Timing, packaging and salutation, opening paragraph, and closing paragraph are important elements for an instructor to consider when teaching the confirming letter…

The freshman composition course at Mayville State College (North Dakota) progresses from basic grammar to sentence combining to the development of expository writing skills based on the principles of generative rhetoric. The course begins with a brief review of grammar, emphasizing the phrase, clause, and sentence, and then moves on to the process…

Teachers and test professionals must work together for responsible measurement in English to take place. Traditionally, they have refused to do so, a situation that has led to serious problems in at least three areas: research in the teaching of writing, classroom practice in teaching revision of writing, and some testing practices by such…

Jargon, when used properly, defines precisely and concisely the concepts peculiar to a profession. Within a profession, it meets the criteria for clear, brief, specific communication. When used outside that profession, however, it tries to impress rather than to express. Engineers and other professionals need to be taught when--and when not--to…

A holistic case can encompass the whole of technical writing by allowing the student to experience the total communication act in which the technical task and data are fully integrated into the rhetorical situation. The salient components of a holistic case are the persona of the technical professional, the facts about the technical problem and…

Current views of the writing process are explored, and implications are drawn from them for the teaching of writing skills in the second language class. Certain psychological processes seem to be common to most writing tasks, namely: (1) the conception stage; (2) the incubation stage, in which two mental processes are at work getting the facts and…

The first year of the writing program at the William M. Trotter Elementary School (Boston, Massachusetts) accomplished (1) the development of an outline of basic writing activities and skills for grades one through five; (2) the use of holistic rating; (3) the development of a common correction symbol; (4) the development of writing folders…

Many basic writers who possess minimal composition skills are able to articulate their thoughts but are unable to express these thoughts on paper. The talk-write method of writing rehearsal is an approach that allows these students to experience prewriting and composition processes in an enjoyable way. In the talk-write technique, the student…

As a means of assisting school districts in their appraisal of kindergarten through grade twelve writing programs, a brief list of questions concerning the major areas that form the nucleus of a balanced program is presented in the form of a rating scale. The questions cover the following areas: (1) background for a writing program, (2) overall…

Journal writing--an expressive prose that verbalizes the writer's consciousness--helps the student by fostering personal growth, reducing writing apprehension, strengthening prewriting in students' composing processes, and enhancing the development of writing abilities. Journals are places for students to write what they will, for teachers to…