Describes the writing apprehension and difficulty encountered by a teacher participating in a writing institute. Includes a copy of her final essay and some reflections on what the experience and institute taught her. (HTH)

Behavior modification techniques were used in an attempt to raise secondary school students' performance in creative writing. Incentives involved points, appropriate levels of teacher comments, and promise of a letter to parents. Results showed a considerable increase in essay scores on all variables considered (fluency, elaboration, and…

Discusses the problems found in the writing of advanced writing students, speculates on why such students often write badly, offers ways to get them to break away from old writing formulas, and suggests techniques for producing improvement in their writing. (FL)

Reveals that the University of Pittsburgh now requires all future English teachers to take an internship in the university's writing workshop while they are taking a methods and theory course in the teaching of composition. Discusses the effects on the program on the teacher candidates. (FL)

The use of foreign language classroom conversation as a prewriting exercise, to help students discover composition topics, discuss the pros and cons, shape the narrative or thesis, and gather detail in a coherent way, launches the composition process and makes the homework of writing and proofreading more interesting and initially less difficult.…

Recommends assigning students to complete a library resources investigation to help them choose a writing assignment topic. (HTH)

A newly developed manuscript alphabet was compared with a traditional one to observe their effects on the teaching of cursive handwriting. Results showed no significant differences between the two types in teaching the production of cursive letters when presented to first graders. (Author/DF)

Describes reviewing the basics of descriptive writing by having students compare the images described in E. B. White's "Once More to the Lake," with those in the film "On Golden Pond." Students then write a descriptive paragraph, from an internal or external perspective, about a magazine advertisement chosen for its sensory appeal. (HTH)

Discusses the potential of word processors for allowing students to generate and manipulate language while writing, and its superiority over the widespread use of computer programed packages and drills for teaching writing. (HTH)

Explains the importance of authority, beneficence, and commitment in teaching composition. (MM)

Discusses the differences between inauthentic and authentic writing, arguing that most writing in school is inauthentic, because it is written for someone else's intentions. Examples are cited from a classroom with an essentially whole language orientation, but which occasionally reverts to inauthentic writing assignments. (HTH)

Describes a technique, based on story grammar research, that merges the reading of a basal story with a writing lesson. (FL)

Examines some of the educational bases underlying the difficulties English as a second language pose for Japanese and other foreign students and how these affect instructional approaches for technical writing teachers. Discusses three factors to keep in mind when teaching foreign students: technical and semitechnical terms, grammar, and rhetoric.…

Proposes that because annual reports emphasize the role of audience in determining their purpose and content, they are effective in helping students understand the importance of audience awareness in business writing. (AEA)

Discusses the three strands essential to a comprehensive program on teaching arrangement: overall structure, paragraph development, and sentence structure. (AEA)