One of the most useful models of the composing process is that derived from an interpretation of the rhetorical triangle. This basic model implies the relationships between the writer's subject, background, and audience, but it also points to the specific writing functions that underlie these terms. For example, in conceiving a subject, the writer…

Students tend to think of writing as reporting the topography of their minds and souls guided by the assumptions that reality is "out there," that reality is relatively unproblematical, that the concepts they use are common to everyone and are therefore self-evident, and that they should and can abstract themselves from the processes of the worlds…

Improving spelling performance of college students is a question of insuring that the correct information is in long-term memory and readily retrievable. Any system of spelling instruction should recognize the capacity limits of the sensory register and short-term memory; provide for identification of and concentration on the distinctive features…

A review of literature dealing with educational accountability and a discussion of the history of the movement, this paper suggests that the National Assessment of Educational Progress was partly a result of the public's growing concern about the quality of education and the increase in local, state, and federal taxes needed to support education.…

For at least three reasons, university English faculties should reassess their attitudes toward children's literature, a field of vital importance in children's education. First, specialists in children's literature are sorely needed in English departments, where courses on the subject properly belong (rather than in colleges of education).…

This paper presents a commentary on the Report of the Commission on English published in 1965, "Freedom and Discipline in English." In particular, inconsistencies between the Commission's Recommendation 13, calling for a clearly defined sequence of study from grade to grade, and other statements apparently contradicting this sequential structure…

Doublespeak--inflated, involved, and often deliberately ambiguous language--can occur in the interpretation of statistics when a "credible" statistic is misused, when an unsupported number is passed off as a credible statistic, or when the limitations of a statistic are not known. This paper, intended for English teachers who are…

In expository writing, making an outline may prove helpful, but it is just as likely to prove inhibiting. While traditional textbooks advocate making a formal outline, recent studies, books, and articles question the value of formal outlining for all students. Alternatives to the formal outline include making only a rough plan or sketchy lists of…

This filmography lists information on 41 films or videotapes related to Shakespeare in cinema to help teachers integrate cinematic texts, or series of texts, into the teaching of Shakespeare's plays. It lists titles, length, and the name of the producer or distributor and includes brief descriptions of the content of the film or videotape. The…

Discusses the effects of the computer and telecommunications revolution on the humanities and compares the modes of conception and analysis that are inherent in the computer and in the humanities. (AEA)

Muses on such topics as the importance of teaching students about the craft of poetry and of helping them see that life can turn into literature. (GT)

Views technical writing as a discipline requiring skills basic to communication, with some distinctive elements, including that it is written by assignment and often to specification, is highly situational, is an analytic problem-solving process, and is a "real world" art. (TJ)

This study aims to investigate the activation process of metacognition of learners who systematically reflect on their learning using Online Learning Logs (OLL) which were designed to encourage them to think about learning. The study is qualitative and attempts to identify the metacognitive strategies of learners and their attitudes towards OLL.…

The role of vocabulary has been downplayed in the past decades. Only until the recent years has vocabulary begun to receive some initial attentions. Meanwhile, effective classroom methods and practices targeting on the acquisition of vocabulary are limited and often inconclusive. There is an urgent need for exploring the possibility of lexis-based…

The answer to the question, "What's happening to the standards project organized by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)?" is that the project is going forward. Though its federal sponsors rejected it in the fall and winter of 1993-94, the project is continuing under the…