Calls for a language-centered view of composition instruction, illustrating that view by comparing and contrasting two recently published books about teaching composition. (RL)

Reports on an examination of 50 French school grammars from the last 30 years, to ascertain how thoroughly they clarified the difference between "written code" and "spoken code." Substantive plural marking was investigated. It was found that most texts treated the topic inadequately. (IFS/WGA)

Appraises the results of an exercise in which students in a composition class attempted to write detective stories. Concludes that many of their syntactic errors result from their intentions exceeding their level of writing skill. (RBW)

Presents four principles to use in creating inconspicuous sex-fair language: (1) be consistent, (2) use words not marked for gender, (3) make the surface structure match the deep structure, and (4) use dual epronouns only when they contribute to clearer understanding. (MM)

This book presents 113 writing "workouts" (exercises) to help students, and especially teachers, think about the small steps writers take as they learn their craft. The workouts in Part I, Writers Speak Up, are intended to help novice writers develop confidence in the value of their experience. Part II, Writers Pay Attention, presents challenges…

Analyzes George Orwell's 1946 essay, "Politics and the English Language," to develop an argument about compositional pedagogy and the nature of writing itself. Points out the dangers of promulgating only the "plain style" of language usage and the paradoxical advantages of combining classical rhetoric with radical politics. (RL)

Suggests ways to help students enjoy the illogic or inconsistencies of English by comparing conventional usage of several major world languages. (MKM)

An examination of 2,000 freshman themes, half written from 1950 to 1957 and half from 1973 to 1976, revealed that recent themes had many more deviations from standard usage, mechanics, and punctuation. (DD)

A questionnaire given to graduates and students of English revealed that: most use of their English was in the home country; aural comprehension was most important, followed by reading-comprehension, speaking and writing. Abroad, English was used more in non-English-speaking countries than in England or the USA. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)

The domains of application in applied linguistics have changed considerably since the early 1960s. In most of these domains, the fundamental property of language as "a resource for making meaning" has increasingly been foregrounded. This approach recognises, amongst other dimensions of language, its multi-stratal character, i.e. that a given…

This article draws on constructs in second-language acquisition, literacy, cultural, and media studies as theoretical bases for examining how networked technologies and fan culture provide a young English language learner (ELL) with a site for developing her English language and writing skills. During this process, she also develops an online…

Working with a word processor changes writers' behavior. They compose more easily, less anxiously, and more prolifically. The word processor makes them want to sit down and write and makes them feel good about their writing. It does this by encouraging prewriting and invention, by providing a sense of control and mastery over the actual writing…

Advancement of students' abilities to cope with the demands of exposition and argument is noted when they are encouraged to accept mixed diction within a framework of activities that interrelate thinking, speaking, reading, writing, and listening, in the context of the immediate audience of class and teacher. Research indicates that when a weak…

The Rogerian argument, as described by Young, Baker, and Pike in "Rhetoric: Discovery and Change," misrepresents Carl Rogers's own principles. Addressing the need for improved interpersonal communication both within and outside of therapy, Rogers describes three conditions for "listening with understanding": congruence, or…

Intended for writing teachers, this paper shows how "pithy prescriptions" for writing, such as "use definite, specific, concrete language," can be misleading or wrong. To support this thesis, the paper examines a technical writing book advocating short sentences and finds that it has sentences averaging 27.8 words in one section and 30.18 in…