For both reading and writing, context and perspective are everything; Ann Berthoff suggests that students "write continuously in a double-entry notebook." One instructor has utilized Berthoff's double-entry notebook in a technical writing class and finds that this classroom practice has also been informed by other theories inquiring into…

What astounds one writing teacher is what her students do with the reflective writing portion of a portfolio assignment, where they are instructed to use reflective writing to bring together their portfolio submissions into one cohesive unit. The class members first discuss the assignment, look at abandoned portfolios from previous semesters, and…

This book presents the graduate-student voice as authoritative and useful in the field of composition studies, based on statistics indicating that the majority of composition classes are staffed by graduate students. It contains 30 essays by graduate students that balance theoretical and practical issues as well as problematizing traditional and…

This article suggests one way of categorizing types of factual writing and introduces a teaching strategy for developing students' awareness of structural and language features of many factual genres. It is based on genre theory and the idea that generic structures of texts are determined by the purpose of the text. Six nonfiction genres are…

Programs using innovative methods to teach expository writing are described. Common approaches that these programs utilized to demystify writing--e.g., partitioning the writing task into stages, using peers to provide feedback--are examined. The article concludes with a discussion of other trends in the teaching of writing. (RM)

Describes an interdisciplinary effort that combines instruction in fundamentals of speech communication and English composition. (PD)

Focusing on the process of composition, lists and discusses problems students have in prewriting, writing, and revising. Solutions to these problems, which involve computer use, include making students aware of the composition process, writing strategies good writers use, audience analysis, grammar review, and need for peer review. (JN)

Concludes from an analysis of student writing and interviews with individual students that they benefit from being offered a variety of writing assignments and from the opportunity to apply their own knowledge, background, and experiences to their writing. (AEA)

Discusses theoretical models of the composing process and summarizes major related research. Indicates ways to help students with the planning and revising components of the process and suggests writing experiences that do not increase the number of compositions teachers must read and evaluate. (RH)

Examines materials in the ERIC database on the characteristics of the reluctant writer, the effect of apprehension on writing performance, and teaching strategies to encourage writing proficiency. (HTH)

Concludes that extrinsically motivated students tend to view writing as unimportant, that they would not take a composition course if it were not required, and that they do not enjoy writing. (FL)

Provides insight into the life of a Canadian Indian woman. (JL)

Adaptation of two poetry ideas for teaching poetry writing to intermediate-level Thai secondary English teachers is presented, based on the principle of designing and presenting poetry ideas to allow students to find and recreate within themselves the main feelings of the poems they read. (Author/MSE)

Identifies problems in the nature and execution of remedial writing courses and suggests possible solutions to these problems. (JL)