There is a growing movement within the field of "rhetoric and composition" to separate the more theoretical, abstract, and prestigious rhetoric from the more practical composition. Evidence cannot irrefutably prove that professionalization is creating an opposition between the two elements of the discipline with a privileging of rhetoric, but…

When a large group of nontenured part-time English department faculty were summarily dismissed, a significant segment of the English curriculum was left largely unattended, and other problems arose throughout the institution. (MSE)

To help instructors teach students basic information retrieval skills, librarians at the University of Toledo (OH) developed a bibliographic instruction program, "Teach the Teachers," to be used in the English department's composition classes. This article discusses the development of the program and cooperation between librarians and…

Composition instructors at two-year colleges embrace a large array of approaches and pedagogies, and forming a "teaching community" among these instructors is both a rewarding and a challenging commitment. The positive and negative implications of such a community were examined in a case study of one community college using…

A tribute to the work of Ann Berthoff, this book--a collection of 6 poems and 21 essays--explores issues in the philosophy and teaching of composition. Each of the five sections is introduced with a poem by Marie Ponsot. Essays and their authors consist of (1) "Genre Theory, Academic Discourse, and Writing within Disciplines" (James F.…

This book explores the central concerns in the teaching of English at the secondary level in relation to the changes in content emphases and methods during the last decade. It contains six chapters. "Personal Response and Writing" discusses purposes in writing, self-expression, form, roles of the teacher, categories of writing, and audience and…

Current needs in English-as-a-mother-tongue teaching, especially in England and Wales, are surveyed. It is argued that the feeling of stagnation among students in many university English departments results at least partly from the failure to respond to new ideas about the teaching of English language and literature. (JL)

To determine if there are significant differences between the first-semester freshman composition grading standards of public two-year and four-year institutions in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, a composition instrument was mailed to 120 freshman composition directors from two-year and four-year member institutions. The…

English department members at Augustana College decided to make writing a college-wide concern. They began by attempting to change the perceptions of the faculty, including that of the English department, which consisted of members trained entirely in literature rather than in composition. The approach to the rest of the faculty began with an…

Addressing the issue of testing and evaluation in English at the university level, this paper focuses on the development and use of the English Placement Test developed by the California State University system. The discussion of this testing program is placed within a framework of four testing principles: testing is an essential part of learning…

Surveys past graduate-student administrators (now in professional and academic careers) involved in the consensus-based management system of a composition program. Finds that such involvement exposed graduate students to the most challenging aspects of university life, in all its political, structural, and interpersonal complexity; and was central…

Following a discussion of the advantages of having everyone in an English Department--teaching assistants, junior faculty, and senior staff--teach composition courses, specific qualities desired in a composition instructor are suggested in this speech. These instructors should include: (1) those willing to insist that students emerge from…

Outlines the predominant paradigm of teacher training that claims theory as the primary component in teacher preparation and that holds an empty vessel view of teachers-to-be. Advocates asking questions from an ecological and phenomenological viewpoint. Describes four different ways, drawn from the author's experience, that a person might be…

This report is the result of discussion of some 35 interrelated issues which have contributed to a loss of definition of "English" programs at all educational levels. Fearing further fragmentation of the curriculum would take place without reform, the conferees propose an articulated English program based on four cardinal principles. They seek to:…

Curriculum reform begun in January 1968 in the English department at Bethany College (Lindsborg, Kansas) is detailed in this article. New offerings feature three "mode" courses: (1) the Romance-Epic, (2) the Comic and Satiric, and (3) the Tragic. Two new majors, the English major and the English teaching major, are examined; degree requirements…