Contends that autobiographic writing, specifically copy change poetry, helps developmental students to connect prior experiences with present identity, to become more aware of their feelings, to think about decisions and their consequences, and to construct meaning based upon personal choices. Describes copy change as a simple procedure involving…

Argues that findings from interviews with basic writing students cast new light on the responsibilities teachers have toward basic writers. Suggests that teachers must help students understand what it means to be a basic writer and can help writers contest and refute their labels through the curricula in the writing courses. (NH)

Basic writing students and online learning are not necessarily an ideal match. In hopes of stimulating more conversation and research on how technology can best advance the basic writing curriculum, this article first classifies the problems students and faculty encounter when a basic writing class moves online and discusses the pedagogical…

I conducted an action research study with intermediate-level language and literature students, examining meaning making as adolescents engaged in a developmental writing and performance project. The study was guided by theory and research highlighting the valuable role of overt student reflection to improve engagement in learning. Data collection…

As students enter college, English composition instructors complain that students lack essential grammar basics to create clear, coherent pieces of writing. The number of students requiring developmental coursework at institutions has increased significantly since the institution of mandatory placement in 2000. In the face of the challenge to…

This article examines some of the tensions and contradictions between the process-oriented, learning-centered pedagogy commonly associated with basic writing and the product-based, performance-centered moment mandated by writing-for-the-community varieties of service learning. Because end-of-term "writing-for" projects cannot provide students with…

This 10 week longitudinal evaluation study evaluated a brain-based learning curriculum proposed by Smilkstein (2003) by comparing student performance in a traditional basic writing curriculum with NHLP-oriented basic writing curriculum. The study included two classes each of experimental and traditional methods. Results of the data, gathered by…

Gray-Rosendale continues a project begun with "Investigating Our Discursive History: "JBW" and the Construction of the "Basic Writer's" Identity" ("JBW" 1999) in which she employed a Foucauldian archaeological perspective to trace the dominance of as well as the disruptions within the three major metaphoric allegiances of basic writing studies:…

We examined the effects of in-class writing instruction, practice, peer review, and feedback on writing skills of undergraduates enrolled in a general psychology course. We rated writing for grammar, writing style, mechanics, and American Psychological Association referencing style. Significant differences emerged on the 4 writing skill domains (p…

A pilot writing program was tested on 15 Florida eleventh graders, who had been placed in basic level classes and who believed themselves to be poor writers. After interviews with teachers and students, three practicum objectives were developed: (1) after 12 weeks, 80% of the target group will score a minimum of 3 on short composition assignments;…

Despite the repeated adage that "no two LD (learning disabled) students are alike, it is not only possible but important to focus on the most common errors of LD college writers in order to learn how best to serve these students. There are in fact two main categories of these students: severely learning disabled and classically learning…

A study examined the writing practices, attitudes, and beliefs about the importance of writing at work of "basic" writers and "strong" writers. Subjects were graduates of Francis Marion College for the years 1984 to 1989. Questionnaires were returned by 119 of the 182 basic writers (identified through placement in remedial…

Like most composition courses at large state universities, basic writing classes at the University of Minnesota are primarily taught by graduate teaching students. Graduate students and basic writers share a similar position in the university, sitting on the boundaries of the scholarly communities in which they eventually hope to participate. As…

An interim study measured changes in attitudes towards writing and the writing process among basic writing students taught in an electronic classroom (consisting of 25 networked computers). Students in six sections of basic writing which used the electronic classroom for at least 50% of their classroom time, and six control sections which did not…

Conducted at a public university that had long been overwhelmingly Anglo despite being located in a state noted for its linguistic and cultural diversity, an ethnographic study examined one adjunct writing program and the varied students it serves. Data sources were both numerous and varied--data were collected concurrently at the campus level and…