Expresses a concern to look beyond happy endings in reading materials to texts whose bleakness, harshness, and grimness deal with complex human issues. Provides ideas and methods by which teachers might accomplish this. Discusses relevant literary texts. (HB)

Asks whether the sustained instruction in the "basics" of English, especially grammar, is being unrightfully ignored. Challenges teachers who claim that instruction in grammar is unneeded or ill-advised. Counters such assertions by examining two research studies purportedly proving the ineffectiveness of teaching grammar. (HB)

Lists the characteristics that college instructors expect in first-year writing. Suggests ways that a writing instructor can resist such simplistic expectations. Provides five basic strategies for subverting these expectations. (HB)

Argues that many students are alone and afraid in high schools. Looks at two basic premises underlying the traditional way of doing school: competition and conformity, and their inherent violence. Describes how the author works with prospective English teachers in her methods class, showing them how teachers can teach a curriculum of respect and…

This journal article focuses on the return of grammar in composition teaching. After about 2 decades of virtual banishment from the higher reaches of English teaching theory, grammar has returned as a subject of serious discussion. This is the result in part of a new assertiveness by a group of people who never lost interest in grammar as part of…

Attempts to suppress and even censor various texts used by English teachers often are led by members of fundamentalist Christian groups. These activists charge educators with depreciating Christian moral values and instigating a religion of "secular humanism" in the schools. Various examples of recent legal cases show how prominent the…

The English curriculum needs to provide and structure learning experiences that enable students to speak, write, and read their culture into the curriculum and at the same time enable teachers to learn their way into the students' cultures. For students who do not or have not yet acquired nonverbal patterns of the mainstream, the communication and…

College admissions requirements can be a powerful force toward improved student achievement in high schools and colleges. In January of 1982, California State University adopted more rigorous admission requirements, to become effective in the fall of 1984. Since that decision, morale of high school teachers has improved, and expectations and…

Projections concerning the nature of schooling in the 21st century are replete with images of schooling at home via electronic media. Educational goals suggested by theorists include (1) using language and other symbol systems to think and communicate effectively with diverse peoples; (2) developing skills of lifelong learning; (3) acquiring a…

There is a widely felt need to do something in education about the moral wasteland of contemporary American society. It is appropriate for English teachers to posit some usable dimensions of moral education. Seven cornerstone principles appear to be universally involved both in the lives of literary characters and in the kind of heart-deep…

Reflecting the author's thoughts on trends in the teaching of language arts during the 1970s, 12 articles and talks in this collection deal with the following topics: (1) behavioral objectives; (2) the student-centered language curriculum; (3) teaching literacy; yoga for public school teachers; (5) instructional television for language learning;…

Prewriting, writing, and revision represent vital elements in both the total writing experience and the evaluation of writing programs. An effective writing program should include (1) a written plan to guide composition instructors and ensure that students receive balanced instruction; (2) clearly stated purposes reflecting concern for composition…

Research concerning the applied educational potential of Richard Atkinson's mnemonic "keyword method" is reported in this paper. Included are possibilities for stretching the limits of the keyword method by combining it with other mnemonic and prose-learning strategies. The first half of the paper provides an overview of mnemonics--the…

A cognitive approach to the interrelation of writing and reading assumes that production and comprehension of written text depend upon cognitive and affective schemata used in concert by a writer or reader to produce or encode, store, and retrieve text information. Both comprehending and composing are basic, complex, interactive processes with…

A rationale is presented for using science fiction in the English classroom, emphasizing that students like the genre and that it teaches them to analyze and interpret social and technological change. (SJL)