Asserts that the main goal of writing instruction is to help students attain the competence necessary for academic discourse and the most effective way to do this is to teach the basic strategies for uncovering the rules that govern discourse in any particular context.(SRT)

Discusses a study that explored college freshman English students' feelings toward peer evaluation and concluded that this form of evaluation should be included to some extent in all composition classes. (DF)

Traces the development of a project that consisted of first graders developing a book. (DF)

Discusses objections to an article describing a teaching assignment in which students were to compose and mail a letter to at least one individual or organization in order to elicit a written response. (DF)

Describes an experimental course designed as a journalism workshop where economics students became reporters writing articles on economic events, issues, and prominent economists and their ideas. The requirement to explain economics to lay readers accurately and clearly, developed the students' own economic literacy. (Author/JDH)

Explores three current approaches to describing what happens to basic writers when they enter college. Seeks a more comprehensive approach that takes into account the differences in dialect, discourse conventions, and ways of thinking, through the notion of a language community, and W. Perry's developmental model. (HTH)

Presents an example of a poorly written memo that students must rewrite and edit for style and organization. The exercise works best with four or five students at a time. (SRT)

Explores the background of "mutual knowledge"--an aspect of language theory--and modifies that notion so that it can be applied to composition theory and instruction, specifically audience analysis.

Suggests three stages to proposal writing that will help increase the writer's success rate and help in writing proposals faster: interview the reader/buyer; write a "yellow-pad" proposal; and use a guide for proposal writing. Also discusses how to organize a proposal. (CT)

Makes suggestions for people planning to sponsor or speak at conferences devoted to writing. (EL)

States that incorporating a short poetry or drama unit in a composition course can stimulate both students and teachers and that the benefits include more creative thinking, better attitudes toward writing and assignments, and sharpened revision skills. (EL)

Explains problems with teaching the research paper in stages and suggests an alternative, the cumulative research paper. (EL)

Discusses the characteristics of the ideal basic writing instructor, including commitment, curiosity, and confidence. Describes some of the ways in which the Ohio State University faculty has tried to foster these characteristics in its basic writing instructors. (HTH)

Describes the four general categories of advanced technical writing courses: genre courses, general communication courses, rhetorical theory or history courses, and courses that use special pedagogical techniques or focus on a certain aspect of technical communication. Discusses implications for planning advanced courses. (HTH)

Describes an English instructor's gradual conversion to technical writing instructor and her antipathy toward the inevitable conversion to writing instruction using a computer. (HTH)