A study explored the effect of drama on the writing development of adolescents in four Toronto (Canada) schools over a 6-month period using a naturalistic observation methodology. The range of schools and student groupings included: a grade 10 drama class in a collegiate institute; a grade 12/O.A.C. drama class in a technical-commercial school;…

Examines the motivations of Chinese journalism students to choose journalism as their major and discusses possible reasons for their choices. Finds that Chinese journalism students chose journalism for some professional motivations: for a chance to develop their potentials and for love of writing instead of being attracted by quick fame or high…

Focused freewriting, broadly defined as writing without stopping and editing about a specific topic, has been viewed and used as a powerful tool for developing student writing in a wide spectrum of educational contexts. This study aimed to further explore the use of focused freewriting in the context of promoting students' academic skills…

Collects primary pupils' views of themselves as writers and their preferences, attitudes and awareness of the source of their ideas in the context of England's National Literacy Strategy. Underlines the importance of listening to pupils' views about literacy, in order to create a more open dialogue about language and learning, and to negotiate the…

Compares German and French preschool children's attitudes about school and literacy. Notes that French preschools aim to prepare children for primary education, whereas German preschools give priority to learning through play. Finds that children developed attitudes in line with their preschool system and that only French children from deprived…

Background: In most primary schools in Hong Kong, a product-oriented approach is used in teaching writing. The process approach to writing has been seen as an improvement over the traditional methods of writing instruction in recent years. However, the effectiveness of using the process approach to teach writing is still inconclusive. It is…

This collection presents 15 articles on writing, three of them new and 12 of them representing the best of the 500 articles published since 1974 in "SET: Research Information for Teachers," a twice-yearly publication by the New Zealand and Australian Councils for Educational Research aimed at teachers, students, board members, and…

The net effect of the early experiences of writing "compositions" which involved either describing the circumstances of a student's life or recounting the kinds of events encapsulated in that proverbially hack title, "What I Did on My Summer Vacation," has been a tendency for older teachers to devalue nonfiction as an object of…

Structured interviews with 44 Canadian Native and non-Native first and second graders found that most children had positive self-images as writers and enjoyed writing at home and school. Native and non-Native children differed in awareness of the purposes of writing, ability to reflect on writing processes, and mention of extended family as an…

The study examined an ESL writing class, which consisted of 36 students, at a community college of Hong Kong. The students took part in three online collaborative writing tasks by sending drafts to peers who gave them suggestions and comments for improvement and working together on the completion of the writing tasks via email. The 36 students…

This study investigated gender differences in students' writing self-efficacy beliefs, writing attitudes, writing preferences, and gendered perceptions about writing in the New Zealand School Certificate English classroom (year 11). The aim of this study was also to identify factors which may contribute to the negative affect and poor performance…

Two sets of secondary students (n=26) were interviewed about attitudes toward writing after using laptop word processors. Handwriting remained popular and quicker for most writing tasks; neither planning nor constructive reflection on language were enhanced; typing speeds remained very slow; and the connotations of "writing" were…

Compares essays by college students from Mali and from the United States, exploring cross-culturally the influence of orality and audience or written discourse. Finds that the "other-directed," group-directed dimension of the Malians' writing contrasts with the overwhelming by self-referential dimension of the U.S. students. (SR)

Describes a study of a writing exchange between a classroom of teenagers (mostly African American, mostly male) in the United States and another classroom of students in England. Notes that even reluctant writers produced responses in a variety of styles. (SR)

A survey of coordinators and tutors in 50 adult-literacy programs in western Canada examined program activities involving writing; amount and type of instruction devoted to writing; and staff attitudes about the value of writing in the program, their own writing skills, potential of writing as a self-development tool, and professional-development…