Argues that basic writing teachers must consider the negative effects of their lack of professional definition, particularly their lack of influence within the larger field. Argues that they need a resolution or professional statement to join in reasserting the value of teaching as their primary professional purpose. (SR)

Discusses political challenges that basic writing programs face and describes strategies for meeting those challenges. Suggests ways to improve basic writing instruction and assessment to empower basic writing students. (SR)

Argues that knowing how higher education is organized can enable basic writing teachers to improve both the status and funding of their programs. Describes features of higher education which organizational analysts consider crucial to the budgeting process. Suggests actions for teachers to revise the reputations and budgets of basic writing…

Explores the racialized discourses surrounding basic writing students by using the notion of education as "white property." Shows how students are racialized as "minorities" despite the significant numbers of whites in the program. Argues open-admissions students are discursively coded as non-white. Contends that racialization…

Notes Rei Noguchi's recommendation of integrating grammar instruction with writing instruction and teaching only the most vital terms and the most frequently made errors. Presents a project that provides a review of the grammar lessons, applies many grammar rules specifically to the students' writing, and teaches students the effective use of the…

Presents a farewell piece by a co-editor of this journal. Describes experiences and inspirations over seven years of editing. Considers what the future holds for basic writing. (SG)

One of the most important advantages to using literature with developmental writing students is that some pieces can be used as illustrations of important rhetorical principles and strategies that the instructor would like students to use in their own writing. The most important reason to use literature has to do with its usefulness as a source of…

Explores the idea that basic writing students, when positioned in a classroom setting where safety and trust are paramount, will be willing to take risks. Notes that successful risks will lead students into a more positive relationship with their own writing abilities. Concludes that success in writing leads to a more open-minded approach which…

Recounts the process of writing guiding curricular documents for the University of Minnesota - General College's basic writing program. Describes how this was a community-building process that involved a wide group of instructors and others connected to the program. Includes the opening statement, as well as the goals and principles of the…

Advances the idea of using the workshop format for basic writers' development as writers. Finds that workshops generate conversations and discussions that encourage social, political, and economic awareness to help basic writers discover who and where they are in society. (PA)

Describes the problems some basic writing students have had generating ideas for writing in response to timed essay tests. Proposes a technique based on the classical notion of the "topoi," which enables students to generate ideas and equips them for participation in the social and political dialogs they encounter in higher education.…

Examines the challenges one basic writer, a deaf student at the Rochester Institute of Technology, confronted when she took on the role of public writer. Analyzes the student's attempt to enact change for the sake of uncovering the pedagogical implications that teachers of basic writing must consider when educating students to write for the public…

Demonstrates that students who attempt graphically to represent their own writing process increase their involvement and self-awareness while validating their new writing behaviors and come to understand their role in managing the unique complexities of their own composing process. (SR)

Examines the basic writing course described in D. Bartholomae and A. Petrosky's "Facts, Artifacts and Counterfacts" from the perspective of four gender-typed categories: "masculinists,""feminists,""androgenous," and "undifferentiated." Suggests that teachers define themselves, give shape to their…

Charts a brief history of the teaching of basic writing, suggesting that fieldwork has been shaped by three overarching metaphors--growth, initiation, and conflict. Argues that recent views of the basic writing classroom as a "contact zone" fail to offer a compelling view of public discourse as a forum expressing and negotiating cultural…