This paper presents an instructional model for thinking skills and discusses implementing the model. Based on a unitary theory of human cognition and some basic assumptions about the conditions for successfully intervening in public education, the model can be implemented at any grade level within any instructional framework. Currently used models…

Text linguistics can make significant theoretical and practical contributions for writing teachers. Borrowing from classical rhetoric and cognitive psychology, text linguists investigate defining text, creating text grammars, and identifying communicative aspects of text. To show how these investigations are useful for writing teachers, this…

Renewing some previous considerations on the "manufactured" split between literature and composition instruction that is currently dividing many professionals in higher education today, this paper discusses the economic and political reasons for the initial separation of composition and literature in the classroom. The paper argues that…

The writing problems of most Spanish-English bilinguals do not stem from their bilingualism per se, but are similar to those that inhibit other basic writers. The most serious is unfamiliarity with written, academic English. Students can rarely overcome this on their own. Most need intensive remedial and developmental instruction to be adequately…

The term "value added" refers to the assessment of the amount of learning that takes place during the college years. Two experiments, Value Added I and Value Added II, attempted to measure college students' attainment of eight liberal education objectives: (1) writing ability; (2) analytical ability; (3) sensitivity to ethics, morals,…

Describes the use of Daedalus Integrated Writing Environment in the networked computer classroom to teach Spanish grammar and composition. Notes that second language teachers can benefit from advances made in Writing-Across-the-Curriculum programs and that incorporating writing in all disciplines develops critical-thinking skills. (nine…

Describes a study of fifth graders that investigated whether types of revision and quality of writing vary for bilingual and monolingual students when using word processors as compared with paper and pencil. Topics discussed include keyboarding skills, bilingualism, and language art skills. (Contains 27 references.) (LRW)

Explores children's systems of combining drawing, talk, and writing (i.e., symbol-weaving) with traditional media and with new information technology. Social aspects of writing are discussed, and new information technology is examined, including clip art software, word processing, graphics, color, hypermedia, CD-ROM, and microworlds. (23…

A college student of intermediate to advanced English as a second language (ESL) is still constantly trying to identify the rules governing the language and making and correcting mistakes. Sociolinguistic theory can help to understand this type of active, advanced learner and the instructional strategies that complement this learning style. Four…

English essayist literacy shares many features with the discourse patterns of English speakers. Where these patterns are different from those of another ethnic group, literacy will be experienced as interethnic communication. Athabaskan discourse differs from that of English in (1) presentation of self (an Athabaskan is silent with new…

Focuses on the need for improved teaching at the secondary and college levels of the English curriculum, emphasizing the view of learning that also includes the development of thinking abilities capable of helping students use information to create their own insights. Reviews recent pedagogical guides that follow this approach. (NKA)

To maximize the level of comfort that will facilitate an equal exchange of ideas instructors need to tailor their pedagogy to fit their audience. That means they must consider the extent to which their students have been exposed to computers. The University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) has a high percentage of "non-traditional" students.…

This paper argues for peer evaluation of writing, in addition to peer editing, for a complete student-centered learning experience. The proposed peer evaluation model addresses three shortcomings of the current writing class model: (1) instructor workload; (2) the problem of students' writing for an audience of one; and (3) the problem of…

Shares how writing can be used as a primary intervention vehicle to provide for skill development, strategic thinking, and building self-esteem in a clinical setting. (MG)

In the last 10 to 15 years, a number of higher education institutions have initiated model cooperative programs with high schools to strengthen secondary composition instruction. The Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP) in California involves a 5-week summer seminar in which both secondary and postsecondary instructors write the kinds of compositions…