Examines the use of cohesive conjunctions by student writers in Hong Kong to ascertain how it differs from native speaker use, to gauge the extent to which teaching, textbooks and transfer are influential, and to analyze the extent of misuse and unnecessary use. The article makes suggestions for teaching implications and further research. (18…

Introduces the Parent Writing Folder Review assessment strategy for eighth-grade children's writing, whereby parents discuss the student's writing with them and complete a written evaluation. Describes how evaluation of parents' reflections about children's writing found that they indicated growth in children's writing, identified areas for…

Investigates the reliability of measures of linguistic accuracy in second language writing. The study uses a holistic scale, error-free T-units, and an error classification system on the essays of English-as-a-Second-Language students and discusses why disagreements arise within a rater and between raters. (24 references) (Author/CK)

Asserts that research into the effects of word processing on student writing is dependent on established writing skills, keyboarding techniques, human intervention, and the established criteria for good writing. Concludes that nonnative writers may benefit in significant ways from the attributes of word processing. (CFR)

Discusses a female student's senior project linking women's difficulty using academic discourse with the roles they are expected to play in a male-dominated society. Explores the risk involved in her resistance to the dominant discourse, the role played by her professor, and the place of resistance in the larger educational process. (CJS)

Describes the deficit theories and skills approaches shaping how teachers, administrators, and students conceive of basic writers. Critiques research on cultural conflict in the classroom and the theory that students must be initiated into academic discourse. Explores John Ogbu's "oppositional culture" theory to better understand basic…

The unique partnership of the University System of Maryland, Maryland State Department of Education, and Maryland Higher Education Commission has created rich opportunities for collaboration to improve K-16 education and articulation. The relationships and the results in mathematics and writing are described, with Towson University offered as a…

The purpose of this empirical study was to determine if there was a measurable difference on the content and organization portion of a narrative writing test by a sample of students taught by teachers who received professional development (PD) as compared to students whose teachers did not have this training and thus their students did not receive…

A Computer Tutor for Writers (CTW) was designed to provide procedural facilitation to high school students while they learn the skills and knowledge associated with composition writing. Four previous year-long studies helped identify how to facilitate specific elements of the writing process. The CTW was designed to combine lessons learned from…

The use of computer assisted instruction (CAI) at Indiana University to provide basic grammar review to beginning writing students, and the results of an evaluation of the PLATO system as a learning resource are described. At the time of the evaluation, the CAI curriculum in use was the Language Arts Routing System (LARS). The evaluation involved…

Content-based instruction in English as a second language develops thinking, researching, and writing skills more realistically than do traditional instruction methods. Approaches include: topic-centered modules; intensive, content based reading and writing courses; content-centered English for special purposes courses; course adjuncts in…

This study examined and compared the rhetorical structure of argumentative texts written by three groups of university students: 1) twenty Indonesian texts written by Indonesian native speakers (I.I.); 2) ten English texts written by Indonesian native speakers (I.E.); 3) ten English texts written by English native speakers (A.E.). Following the…

Teachers' ideas for quick classroom activities include creating a garden-in-winter bulletin board, writing a science story, playing a Valentine's game, graphing vowels, averaging students' sizes, creating lifesize figures of historical people, making picture books, creating an idiom bulletin board, and sending school valentines to local hospitals.…

Examines a six-step "lesson plan" for teaching writing. Details the pairing of eighth-grade students with first graders about whom they will write a story, the collection of information about the main character, the composition and revision of the stories, and the sharing of the final product with the students participating in the project. (AA)

Explored images that young children construct of literacy in their lives, both inside and outside of school. Analysis of the drawings of 48 children in grades 1-3 revealed a shift in the children's images of themselves in relation to literacy with each grade level. The influence of home and family on literacy behaviors was also noted. (Author/TJQ)