Argues that student journals provide the basis for helping students learn to teach themselves and explore their attitudes and beliefs about writing, and strategies for writing. Reviews the historical uses of journals, the different educational uses of journals, and the use of the journal in the writing classroom. (DMM)

Describes several basic writing research projects that reported results in the 1990's. Discusses the role of gender, the needs of special student populations, the influence of technology, and the importance of various testing and teaching strategies in writing programs. (16 references) (MAB)

Examines the composing processes of basic writers, examining their tendencies toward writer's block, low-level goals, and writer-based prose. Suggests that basic writers be taught that the purpose of writing is to communicate with other people and that errors, revisions, and general messiness are part of the complicated process. (PAA)

Argues for teaching students to write leads that stress unusual story features and can be used as a peg to hang the rest of the story on. Recommends the use of student writing models, accounts by professional writers about lead writing, and instruction in the rhetorical strategy of contrast/dissonance. (PAA)

The most serious approaches to teaching basic writing in the last 20 years have been framed by the competing metaphors of growth and metaphors of initiation. The growth model pulled attention away from the forms of academic discourse and toward what students could and could not do as writers, and encouraged teachers to respect and work with the…

Offers a critique of existing methods of assessing the human interest of basic writing textbooks, contending that most are abstract and subjective and that the more objective Flesch formula inflates texts' human-interest level. Advocates modifying existing formulas and guidelines. Suggests criteria (e.g., appropriateness of readability level) for…

Reviews recent research concerning the use of computers in language arts instruction, reporting little impact on writing quality, but improvement in students' attitudes toward writing. Provides suggestions for effective computer use and warnings concerning their limitations and misuse in the teaching of basic writers. (DMM)

Details strategies for applying writing research and theories to the college basic writing classroom. Encourages instruction focusing on the complete writing process and on meaning rather than linguistic structure. Offers guidelines for creating a process-centered classroom and holding effective writing conferences with students. (PAA)

Examines research on the causes of writing apprehension. Profiles high-apprehensive writers, characterizes their written products, and describes their writing processes. Suggests four procedures for dealing with writing apprehension: peer group workshops; positive reinforcement; teaching about writing process, and gradually increasing students'…

Drawing from a review of the literature on feedback in two fields, English education and social psychology, this paper sets forth a set of theoretical conclusions and practical suggestions for developmental English instructors and others to use in providing feedback to composition students. First, the research on written feedback in English…

This paper provides an overview of the Computers and Writing Instruction Project, a field-tested curriculum for teaching writing to learning-disabled students consisting of a process approach, word processing, and strategy instruction. Its scope and sequence are described and guidelines for establishing a writer's workshop in the classroom…

Discusses a study of the effects of first year composition students' use of a microcomputer as a word processor on the quality of their writing. Compares students who used the word processor with those who hand wrote their compositions, revealing greater improvement among the word processing group, regardless of initial skill levels. (PAA)

Uses Clark and Trow's schema for differentiating collegiate, vocational, academic, and nonconformist peer cultures to classify basic writers' areas of commitment and attachment. Suggests ways that students can be grouped to work at translating non-Standard English so that it can be better understood by other cultures. (DMM)

Four areas of consideration are crucial to the development of an effective English-as-a-Second-Language writing program: the nature of basic writers; acquisition of written language; approaches to teaching basic writing; and classroom strategies. Basic writers are students who have studied writing for years but are still unable to produce…

Using cooperative learning techniques in writing classes requires the instructor to plan carefully and respond spontaneously to the assignment as students work through it. Steps using the techniques successfully include: (1) developing academic objectives for each step in the writing process (i.e., prewriting, drafting, revising, and proofreading…