As English departments face the 90s and beyond, the pressure will only rise to define and justify the role of the English professor in the academy. Three current debates suggest the indeterminate future of English departments, which now represent a multi-faceted discipline. First, the canon debate must be resolved; second, the teaching role of the…

Current changes in health care professions requiring practitioners to have more and better communications skills are necessitating the integration of writing into the health curricula of higher education programs. At Ferris State University, a number of models (in Optometry, Dental Hygiene, Health Systems Management, Nursing, Pharmacy, Medical…

Traditional teaching of English language arts is based on a receptive-accrual view of learning, which places the learner in a passive rather than an active role in the teaching-learning process. This approach conveys to the learner the view that the subject matter is fragmented and that teachers prepare discrete, disconnected lessons. L.M.…

To assess the value of professional writing internships, a pilot study at Michigan State University will administer pre- and post-tests to students involved in internships, as well as to control groups composed of professional writing majors who do not participate in internships, and other English majors following a traditional curriculum of…

This report describes a computer-assisted writing laboratory project integrating Model Curriculum Standards (teacher-developed instructional literature guides integrating the reading of core pieces of literature with the writing process), the writing process, computer hardware and software, and staff development. The report estimates that in the…

In this paper, which draws on a dissertation in process, one of the issues central to the role of content knowledge for teaching, "pedagogical content knowledge," is examined. This body of knowledge is an amalgam of pedagogy and content and makes teachers different from scholars in a field. General pedagogical knowledge is the teacher's knowledge…

There are three general approaches to organizing a basic mythology course: geographical, conceptual/thematic, or a combination of the two. The geographical approach offers a wealth of material organized by focusing on one or several of the world's mythologies and offers the opportunity to find out more about the influences on the development of…

A curriculum development model advanced by Allan A. Glatthorn in "A Guide for Developing an English Curriculum for the Eighties" was field tested in a public high school setting. The model consists of five parts: staff development, curriculum mapping, development of a scope and sequence chart, evaluation and modification of the taught curriculum,…

The Department of English at Wayne State University is planning to introduce a doctoral program directed to the processes involved in the composition of expository prose. Students admitted to the program will be trained primarily in linguistics and cognitive psychology, though they will also work in communication theory and rhetorical analysis.…

This paper relates linguistic theory and bidialectalism, synthesizes theory and research concerning bidialectalism, and presents suggestions for a curriculum designed to maximize students' self-conscious control over their speech. Instructional activities, which have standard English as their goal, include pattern drills, short memorized dramas,…

A technical writing course required as part of an external degree program (EDP) offered to military personnel provides a profile of successful use of the noncampus classroom as a teaching environment. An understanding of the interests and attitudes of military students is essential, with pragmatism and idealism as the instructor's survival skills.…

In tracing the development of language curriculum in public schools, one discovers that prior to the twentieth century grammar was the center of linguistic attention. Around the beginning of the century, psychologists and others were doing research on the supposed efficacious results of such study and were finding that such supposed results were…

English teachers must actively work to preserve the humanistic content of their courses and assure the acceptance of students' needs, not only to promote skill development, but also to foster clear thinking about the great ideas of the past and the problems of the present. The achievement of these goals implies an active role in the politics of…

State departments of education, administrators, educational testing systems, and the media are demanding uniformity of instructional units and of performance objectives for community college English courses. Limited funds and the desire to promote a favorable public image are factors encouraging standardization of instruction. Presently, policy…

This paper discusses the community college English curriculum as a model for teaching communication skills in four year colleges and universities. The first part of the paper examines and discusses the decline of English majors, the changing nature of college students, open-admissions, part-time students, adult enrollment, and the difficulty…