Designed as a research tool for teachers of writing, this annotated bibliography describes texts and readers which pertain to college level English courses (with indications of those suitable for use in high schools). Each entry has been placed in one or more of the following categories: grammar and basic usage, composition, advanced composition…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the writing of elementary children, grades four through six, to determine the relationship between specified genre and the development and use of figurative language. Three teachers, one each in grades four, five, and six in the Metropolitan School District of Perry Township, Indiana, collected…

This paper discusses the subject of fragments as they appear in the writing of college freshmen. It examines the conditions under which certain syntactic constructions are identified as fragments and the reasons for designating some of these fragments as nonpenalty and others as penalty types. The fragment is viewed here as a syntactic…

To speak, write, and react to language with awareness is to live at least somewhat more fully than to be oblivious to the manifold nuances and potentialities of language. With this idea in mind, the rationales, strategies, and implications of three language-related assignments for advanced composition are presented. The first assignment asks…

Presented in this publication are the findings from a selected group of 52 studies conducted by graduate students at the University of Kansas. Undertaken as research for masters' and doctoral degrees, these studies are limited to problems occupying public school teachers of grades 7-13. Specific areas of the research are grammar and usage (6…

Strategies proposed in this study for teaching composition at the secondary level incorporated an expanded concept of semantics. A survey of semantic developments indicated that a composition program stressing the interrelationship of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics in a communication situation was a desideratum. As an initial procedure, the…

This book discusses various approaches to the teaching of composition from classical and contemporary sources. It is intended to give a comprehensive coverage of the various kinds of oral and written themes students are expected to create in college and high school. The book can be used as a basic text in college composition and rhetoric, for…

Urges everyone in journalism or journalism education to emphasize the use of "sexless" plural pronouns where pertinent and possible. (RL)

Describes a test of language usage, spelling, and grammar and punctuation which is used to predict students' performance in writing courses. (KS)

Describes an interdisciplinary writing course organized around the theme of language as used by individual disciplines. Reports a significant improvement in students' writing skills, exposure to a breadth of issues to which these skills might be applied in students' respective majors, and an enthusiastic response to the approach. (DMM)

This paper examines the written use of the "be after V-ing" construction since the reintroduction of English into Ireland. Information comes from publications beginning in 1670, including 193 works by 87 authors providing 1,316 tokens of the construction. Results support Filppula's (1999) view of historical change in the use of this…

Composition teachers should recognize that all errors in student writing are not the same. The author distinguishes between handbook rules, spoken language, and ambiguity. (MM)

An essay exploring the application of moral criticism to rhetorical discourse; based upon two lectures given at the State University of New York at Binghamton, November 1968. (Editor/RD)

Poor writing style among academics, particulary those in the behavioral sciences, stems from a lack of linguistic sophistication, the linguistic customs of academia, and the linguistic customs of the behavioral science disciplines. The article offers remedies for errors in each category. (SB)

Presents results of a study on how accurately instructors in composition identified various kinds of errors. (RL)