Argues for a richer, more varied English Instruction experience for "vocational track" students. Suggests several methods for creating a more powerful vocational/English curriculum. Concludes that it is not the place of any teacher or school to decide what kinds of literacy students will or will not need or want in their futures. (SG)

Today's teachers bemoan the fact that their students, immersed in a media culture, appear to be uninterested in reading works typically assigned in traditional language arts classrooms. However, the incorporation of young adult novels has served to engage even reluctant learners with their young adult protagonists dealing with familiar themes and…

Although Caribbean (English) writers hold differing views on the effectiveness of making connections in an area of so much diversity, Caribbean literature can be connected to the English curriculum to promote diversity and understanding. V. S. Naipaul, Nobel Prize winning author from the region, presents a pessimistic view of Caribbean society in…

The prototype of the modern youth novel emerged in the second half of the 19th century, and books written specifically for either male or female youths often covered similar storylines and themes, usually educational in purpose. Changes in the readership emerged rather slowly, but a dramatic shift in ideas about children's literature was inspired…

Notes the absence of articles about poetry in journals and other publications, reflects on the poetry available for children, and urges teachers to include more poetry in the classroom. Concludes with a selected bibliography of poetry written for children. (HOD)

Discusses the value of teaching and producing contemporary plays as well as classics in high school. Argues for the superior interest level of challenging, low-budget, relevant dramas recently appearing on the young adult scene, such as those by Jerome McDonough and Hindi Brooks. Includes an annotated bibliography of young adult drama. (JG)

In a response to the Minnesota Conference on the Future of Doctoral Study in English, argues that English departments can define future study in English by focusing on the trivium: grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Claims that, taken together, the three disciplines are potentially concerned with all issues involved in how we use words to make, do, and…

Asserts that exploring convergences between composition and literature can bridge the gap between the two fields. (MM)

Argues that, although a split between literature and composition may create major problems and involve major risks, it can and must be done for the future of the profession. (JK)

Claims that high school curricula should provide opportunities for students to vicariously explore the relationships, roles, and ideas that appear in Shakespearean drama. Uses the dilemma dramatized in "Hamlet" as an example. (JD)

Directs attention to informal varieties of inservice teacher education, such as that provided by the contact between practicing English teachers and consultants. (HOD)

The author argues that the successful completion of one secondary credit of shorthand or business communications instruction should be considered the equivalent of one secondary credit of English study and should thus count as the fulfillment of one credit of the English graduation requirement. (CT)

Argues that (1) even the most radical critics of departmental structures are committed to the perpetuation of English departments and, therefore, will adopt, regardless of potential contradictions, the professional discourse that validates them and (2) that this will be done even though the Babel of contemporary critical discourse makes a…

In response to George Levine's argument that the more things change the more they remain the same, the author considers three measures that would promote the value of literary study. (HOD)

Questions whether the emphasis placed on the teaching of grammar in the American school curriculum will yield more than modest benefits. Suggests that literacy cannot be attained primarily through analyzing sentences and memorizing rules. (RBW)