Current research suggests that students who struggle with grammar, spelling, mechanics and other "problems of ability," as well as students who suffer from "problems of engagement," as well as those students who see reading and writing as a chore, can benefit from creative writing assignments and learn to enjoy reading and…

This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning on writing anxiety alleviation through a pre-test/post-test assessment. 120 EFL learners from a Chinese polytechnic institute were assigned into two groups: one experimental (cooperative writing) and the other comparison (solitary writing). Results revealed that cooperative learning…

Many scholars have conducted research into ways to improve EFL learners' writing proficiency by seeking to address several problems related to achieving this goal (Darani, 2014; Lu, 2013; Thomas, Thomas, & Moltow, 2015; Wang, 2013). However, the issues of learner identity in written communication and the role of the language EFL writers use as…

Concern about student retention and success remains paramount in universities both in Australia and overseas, especially in the light of the ongoing massification of higher education, yet current strategies are not necessarily dealing successfully with the changing demographics of student populations. This is particularly so in the realm of…

In this article, I demonstrate how the use of reflective writing assignments in first-year composition facilitated students' understanding of their own writing process strategies. I first discuss the theoretical roots from which reflective practice among student writers grows. Next, I employ my students' voices to demonstrate that reflection…

This article looks at the use of extended metaphor in teaching. Our case studies as two teachers using metaphor in different settings show how metaphor is experienced by learners to different pedagogical effect. The article demonstrates that metaphor can be used not only for the similarity between vehicle and target systems, but also for the…

Writing centers in American institutions of higher education have existed in one form or another since the late 1800s and early 1900s, providing individualized writing tutoring and support for students. As writing centers evolved, questions arose regarding the effects of writing tutoring on student writing. Some assessment studies on writing…

Journaling is an effective tool for the development of writing skills and creative thinking; however, research has not revealed how it improves writing skills in the college classroom. The majority of the studies related to journaling are elementary school studies, which do not provide statistics on how journaling can improve writing skills for…

Most students come to their graduate programs with academic writing skills insufficient to excel in their studies. A lack of academic writing skills among graduate students has been a problem in a college of education at a large southeastern public research university where the project described in this article was implemented. To address this…

Supplements existing rhetorical scholarship by returning to the notion of invention as general preparation of the communicator. Explores the need for invention in technical communication and summarizes Kenneth Burke's theories of dialectic and rhetoric. Presents strategies for invention, and offers advice for incorporating them into teaching…

Provides 10 tips on things not to do when writing stories, including not believing any of the other 9 "don'ts." (SR)

The role of the reader in how the meaning of a text is formed has been a nearly obsessive concern of recent critical thought. While theories of reader-response or deconstruction may seem to have had little effect on the practice of teaching literature, they do hold much in common with the way many teachers try to teach writing. The works of Roland…

Suggests that the five-paragraph theme does in fact have value, and explains why assumptions about its ills are wrong-minded. (SR)

Efforts to improve the written communication skills of accounting and other business students at Columbus College (Georgia) include a required business writing course, required writing assignments in business and accounting courses, and use of a writing specialist as a consultant for students and faculty. (JOW)

Good writing is good sentences. It is a simple truth that many in the business of teaching writing have strayed from. Good writing is a first sentence that makes a reader want to read the second sentence, a second sentence that makes a reader want to read the third, and so on. Erika Lindemann suggests that certain types of sentence instruction can…