Intended to inform both the new and the experienced English teacher about the present state of knowledge in the field, this textbook is also addressed to students preparing to teach English language and literature in junior and senior high schools. The book stresses application rather than theory, presenting specific classroom procedures drawn…

To describe and evaluate current practices in college composition programs, a study was conducted of the 19 California State University campuses. English department chairs completed a short survey on courses, staffing, and special projects, and structured interviews were conducted with these chairs and various other program coordinators from a…

The role of high school English department heads as active leaders and departmental advocates, as well as their role in improving their departments' composition programs, is examined in this paper. The first section provides an overview of department heads' basic responsibilities, noting the need for them to have an active role in setting…

This checklist is designed to assist English teachers and departments in analyzing and evaluating their current programs. It is divided into four parts: (1) the basic organization and procedures of the English program (25 criteria), (2) the physical provisions for English instruction, both facilities and equipment (11 criteria) and materials (2…

Teachers should first realize that their assigned role (according to society's decision-makers) is to produce a brainwashed work force which does not question the prevailing culture. Then they should take action to reject this role. As Michael Holzman put it, "We should stop doing harm if we can help it." Many "compositionists"…

Examines the question of teaching literature in the composition class in terms of an ideological gap between composition and literature which is maintained for political reasons, and reflected in the tenure process. (MM)

This book suggests that first graders could express themselves on paper more easily and naturally if they were taught the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.). The chapters take up (1) the neglect of writing skills in a reading-oriented nation, (2) a comparison of the writing performance of students who learned the i.t.a. with that of students who…

Part I of this book attempts to provide students with an understanding of the "academic enterprise" as a whole, and specifically the structures, people, money, myths and practices which create that peculiar enterprise known as freshman English, an experience through which the majority of college students must pass. Part II offers students a…

Designed primarily for English faculty at two-year colleges in California, "Inside English" includes articles on instructional innovations and major curricular, administrative, and employment issues of concern to teachers in the field as well as information on the activities of the English Council of the California Two-Year Colleges (ECCTYC). The…

Designed primarily for English faculty at two-year colleges in California, "Inside English" includes articles on instructional innovations in teaching remedial writing, literature courses, and freshman composition, and on major curricular, administrative, and employment issues in the field. The four issues in volume 8 include the…

This book combines personal stories of rhetoric and composition teachers with statistical data derived from various government and academic research studies to document gender experiences of college writing teachers and administrators. Anecdotal evidence was drawn from a survey questionnaire mailed to 3,000 college writing teachers, follow-up…

Surveys eliciting descriptive information on English programs were sent to the deans of instruction, department chairpersons, and faculty in 21 Alabama community colleges; 17 colleges provided institutional data, 19 of 19 department chairpersons returned the survey, and 80% of the English faculty responded. The survey requested information on: (1)…