This book discusses new developments in the discipline of English. It contains six essays. In "The Ghetto of the Negro Novel: A Theme with Variations," Blyden Jackson explores why the setting of the Negro novel is in the city ghetto rather than in the rural Southland. Albert Marckwardt investigates the concept of "standard…

This teacher's guide and student workbook are part of a series of content-centered supplementary curriculum packages of alternative methods and activities designed to help secondary students who have disabilities and those with diverse learning needs succeed in the regular education content courses. The content of Parallel Alternative Strategies…

This book is intended for middle and high school teachers who are committed to the process-writing model and are eager to encourage their students in the last step of the process--publication. The book offers specific writing ideas and classroom activities that help students develop the confidence and ability to publish in a wide market, and it…

Reviews studies that explore the nature of the relationships between reading and writing and that suggest the influence of writing on word recognition, reading comprehension, and reading motivation. Offers six recommendations for classroom instruction based on the available information about the reading/writing relationship. (GT)

Study examined the effect of mode of discourse (narration and argument) on the syntactic complexity of compositions written by sixth, tenth, and twelfth graders. At each level, syntactic complexity was greater in argument. Findings suggested that while syntactic complexity increases with age, increases tend to level off earlier in narrative…

In this article, the author relates how his visits to classrooms across America to speak to children about writing and illustrating books have left him impressed by the creative ways in which educators manage scant resources to motivate students and to develop exciting lessons. He shares six things that he has learned from these visits about how…

This study utilized a sociocultural approach to writing instruction and examined its effects on the motivation of students with learning disabilities. The concept of the Zone of Proximal Development was used to measure changes in five third and fourth grade students' motivation toward literacy activities. Students wrote in journals daily and…

This booklet contains the writings of international students enrolled in the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) at Onondaga Community College (New York). The contributed writings were viewed as bridges to understanding among the world's peoples. The collection of essays, poems and short stories includes: (1) "Our Lives in the…

Reader-writer conferencing was examined as an alternative or complement to the direct assessment of writing. Criteria guiding development of a framework for analysis of reader-writer conferencing were summarized as: (1) achievability; (2) transfer to other domains of writing; (3) importance of the outcomes; (4) inter-scorer agreement; and (5)…

This position paper presents the beliefs of the California Association of Teachers of English about priorities and goals in the teaching of the English language arts. The first section of the paper describes desirable objectives and practices in teaching many aspects of language study, oral and written composing, and reading; it then examines…

THE SEARCH FOR QUANTITATIVE MEASURES IN SENTENCE STRUCTURES THAT ARE SIGNIFICANT INDICATORS OF CHRONOLOGICAL AND MENTAL MATURITY IN SCHOOL CHILDREN WAS THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY. COMPARISONS WERE MADE OF COMPOSITIONS WRITTEN BY STUDENTS OF SUPERIOR IQ AT THE SAME GRADE LEVELS. THIS PART OF THE PROJECT HAD TWO OBJECTIVES--(1) TO SEE WHETHER…

Although the importance of writing is well recognized, it is largely neglected in the elementary curriculum because of the current emphasis on reading; to change this trend, teacher educators must influence teachers to adopt positive attitudes toward writing. They should help teachers derive satisfaction from writing experiences, demonstrate…

Designed to be immediately useful and practical for language arts teachers in the secondary schools, the six articles in this monograph are illustrative not only of methods but of pedagogical processes that are the components of successful teaching. The first article offers more than 20 ways of motivating and involving the nonreader and describes…

Focusing on writing as a complex process, this packet was prepared to assist teachers in planning daily writing activities which combine thinking processes, mechanical skills, and composition skills. Following an introduction which contains suggestions for ways teachers can help students to write, the first section of the publication provides…

Recently, the use of thematic units in the teaching of language arts at the secondary level has significantly increased. This document discusses the theory and practice of using thematic units. The first section provides an overview of the use of thematic units and shows how such units can aid in teaching students about the composing process,…