Argues that medieval popular literacy can provide a crucial link for understanding alternative literacies. Claims that medieval practices explain some contemporary literacy practices, especially those outside the academy. (HB)

Based on the idea that an individual cannot understand literature, philosophy, or rhetoric without knowing the field's historical content, this book traces the evolution of the growing and ever-changing field of composition/rhetoric through numerous schools of thought, including Platonism, Aristoteleanism, New Criticism, and the current…

Contains representative selections from issues of "The Elementary English Review," a precursor to "Language Arts," during its second decade of publication. Includes articles, editorials, and ads reflecting contemporary concerns of English education still relevant today, such as integrating the language arts and school closings.…

Considers the right students have to the use of their own idiom in the classroom. Gives a historical overview of the 1974 "Students' Right" document prepared by the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Calls for a new view of language among English teachers. (HB)

Describes and analyzes the genesis and history of the academic journal, "College Composition and Communication." Considers the journal's evolving physical format, the conversants within the pages, and the subject matter discussed over a period of four decades. (HB)

This paper surveys the study of English in British schools from the 16th century to the present. The paper proceeds chronologically, using key terms operative in education at various times to structure discussion. In the 16th century a key term was "rhetoric," which concerns oral expression. "The Art and Craft of Rhetoric," is…

Traces the historically optimistic view of college-secondary school cooperation. Asks why such optimism has faded in recent years. Considers how college-level departments of English can collaborate with high school English programs, such as in collaborative conferences. (HB)

Frank Aydelotte is best remembered for developing in the 1930s and 1940s the nation's most innovative and influential honors program, based on the education he received as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. As coordinator of freshman English at Indiana University, Aydelotte attacked the dominant Harvard model of instruction while promoting a method…

Discusses the historical pedagogical controversy between advocates of the personal, expressive functions of school-based creative writing and defenders of its utilitarian functions. Concludes that the merits of creative written expression must be defended during the current "back to basics" movement because of its therapeutic, functional, and…

Sketches the history of the Pacesetter initiative to reform high school English curricula. Discusses the pros and cons of the Pacesetter agenda, including its assessment instruments. (HB)

Examines collaborative pedagogy in English departments in the United States in two contrasting decades, the 1930s and the 1950s. Focuses on the practices discussed in three English journals: "English Journal,""College English," and "College Composition and Communication." (HB)

Spanning the years 1932-1982, this book details the history of the National Conference on Research in English (NCRE) in terms of members' activities, research directions taken, and accomplishments. The first section of the book, "The Founding," reviews the initial efforts to establish the organization; examines its early programs;…

In tracing the development of language curriculum in public schools, one discovers that prior to the twentieth century grammar was the center of linguistic attention. Around the beginning of the century, psychologists and others were doing research on the supposed efficacious results of such study and were finding that such supposed results were…

Contains representative selections from issues of "Elementary English," a precursor to "Language Arts," from its fourth decade of publication. Includes articles, editorials, and ads reflecting contemporary concerns of English education still relevant today, such as censorship, criticism of reading instruction, and the evolution…

Understanding the absence of composition in western Canada is predicated upon understanding the presence of composition in the United States, the only country in the world with a highly visible tradition of composition. This absence in western Canada, between 1900 and 1950, is largely a matter of appearance--composition in both countries was an…