Community college developmental English students passed Composition I at a higher rate than did non-developmental students, confirming the effectiveness of developmental English courses. However, the lack of a significant relationship between placement test scores and students' grades in all writing-intensive courses raised concerns about…

A pilot study concerning the range of writing skills of intermediate students of English as a second language (ESL) is reported. The study identified the clause structures and relative low-order linguistic skills in the writing samples of 25 college students in this group. The method of evaluation of writing samples was a model of conformity to…

The literature on journal writing to learn supports journal writing as a means of enabling students to understand and modify their own academic habits and attitudes. Dialogue journal writing adds another component in which the academically skilled adult offers support, insight, and feedback through written interaction. A study was conducted in…

A series of three experiments obtained objective measures of skilled and unskilled writing that was prepared in response to a potentially hostile audience. The principal differences between the two groups of writers were that skilled writers were far more likely than unskilled writers to go beyond the narrow constraints of the task, to generate…

The new trend in writing instruction is toward "content area writing"--the rhetorical situations and composing problems that students will face in their non-English courses and in their professions. The focus of content writing instruction should be to prescribe the inventional techniques that are common to all forms of writing, and to…

This dissertation describes a study of the Black English Vernacular (BEV) based on 350 compositions written in the college classroom by 42 black students from working class and lower class families in a predominantly white university. The correlation between certain extralinguistic variables and over 20 linguistic variables was examined. Although…

A three-step approach in the evaluation of students' compositions in college freshman English courses is described in this article. The student, after identifying his errors and determining possible corrections, submits an abbreviated version of the text with corrections for final review by the instructor. It is felt that with a more refined…

The required English course is one of the best places to assist with career guidance, particularly in schools where the placement office and the counseling center lack personnel to offer regular group seminars in career choice. For this reason a basic composition course was designed with an emphasis on vocations and was intended to teach writing…

This paper discusses a pilot program for a writing course taught by four teachers at Drexel University. One of the primary assumptions was that a course in writing was also one in language. The object of the course was to ask the students to become conscious of themselves as learners and writers and to attempt to discover the function of language…

Outlines a multistep writing program in which English as a second language students participate in the writing process and relate to their fellow writers (classmates and teachers) in various ways, using journals, learning logs, and essays. The extent to which activities increase writing proficiency and reduce students' writing apprehension is…

Based on a survey of 118 college students, presents student perceptions of how environment effects their writing. Notes frequent criticism of classroom as a debilitating alien environment and preference for writing at home because surroundings can be manipulated. Recommends student participation in setting up the classroom. (JG)

The summary writing skills of 30 hearing-impaired and 30 normally hearing college students were analyzed. Compared to controls, hearing-impaired students included opinions in their summaries more often, included important ideas less often, selected or created topic sentences less often, and integrated ideas within and among paragraphs less often.…

The Test of Standard Written English was found to be nearly as valid as the California State University and Colleges English Placement Test, while requiring one-fifth of the time. Both tests were more valid than the Scholastic Aptitude Test-Verbal in predicting English composition grades. (JKS)

Surveys students' perceptions of how their Intensive English Program courses prepared them for university writing courses. While the students expressed similar perceptions of the emphases of their courses, their responses regarding how the Center for English as a Second Language prepared them for their composition courses were inconsistent. (seven…

Presents two explorations of English for academic purposes practice. The first looks at dissertation writers, explores their rhetorical and other difficulties, and suggests ways of mitigating them. The second deals with students at the opposite end of the spectrum--entering undergraduates taking their first class in anthropology and assisted by a…