When students do not write well in stressful situations, traditional instruction such as grammar exercises, sentence combining, and imitation of sentences will not be especially useful. Students are not often aware of their linguistic insecurity or of how insecurity affects language usage. The writing lab, however, creates an ideal setting for…

Reflecting changes in the focus and methodology of writing research over the past 20 years, this book provides a meta-analysis of studies on teaching approaches and focuses on composition instruction at the elementary, secondary, and college levels. The first chapter of the book examines general studies of the composing process, studies of process…

The experience of a writing teacher who taught fourth and fifth graders how to take notes, describe what they observed, interview, write quickly, amd edit their own work are presented. Searching for ideas, gathering and sifting, finding a focus, rethinking and correcting, and reaching an audience are discussed. (MLW)

Beginning college writers often approach the writing classroom with attitudes of fear and alienation. Fostering partnerships between instructor and students allows these writers to extend their private selves, affirm their identities, and connect to larger audiences. Letter writing can help establish an authentic connection between instructor and…

A study was conducted to determine whether manipulating the classroom environment to be either apprehension producing (AP) or apprehension reducing (AR) could significantly change the level of students' dispositional writing apprehension. Five student teachers and one secondary education supervisor volunteered to participate in the experiment and…

A study at Hong Kong University explored the use of the word processor as a writing tool in enhancing a process approach to writing instruction and the effect it has on writing performance, student attitudes to writing and revising, and the process by which students revise their scripts. A comparative analysis was done on a control group of 13…

To evaluate composition programs based on peer feedback, a study compared the improvement in written composition skills of two sets of eighth grade students in 11 classes at eight Dutch schools. The control group was enrolled in teacher feedback programs, the experimental group was enrolled in peer feedback programs. Students wrote a discursive…

The writing apprehension experienced by Puerto Rican university students is examined. Levels of apprehension when writing in English versus native Spanish, for males versus females, and for students enrolled or not enrolled in writing classes are compared. The results indicate that the students, particularly the women, are more apprehensive when…

Acknowledging that the process approach to writing instruction is particularly valuable for lower ability students (because carrying a project through from prewriting to publication enhances their self-esteem), this book presents procedures for teaching writing to build student confidence and subsequently to improve student writing. Following an…

A study investigated the effect of two staff development models--role playing and open instruction--upon teachers' self-awareness and attitudes toward inservice education. In a 2x2x2 design for analysis of variance, 27 composition teachers were randomly assigned, stratified by years of experience, to two parallel but contrasting summer workshops.…

Based on the premise that composition skills and their evaluation are crucial to the educational process, this paper presents a tentative research program for conducting future English as a second language (ESL) composition evaluation studies. The program developed in the paper covers the following topics as areas which merit further rigorous…

In many cases, in higher education today, teachers usually deal with two types of students. These are the pre-adults or those people call traditional students, and the adults, or those they call non-traditional students. For adult learners, making writing mistakes of any kind is a source of anxiety and confusion, and often contributes to their…

The creative writing of English poetry by English as a second language college students helps them to: overcome initial psychological inhibitions to language learning; stimulate interest and involvement in study; develop a means of self-expression; and prepare for study in other areas. (Author/CB)

A middle school teacher of writing to learners of English as a Second Language describes two techniques used to improve student participation and guide the writing process. The first is to select a writing topic to which all students can relate. In this case, the teacher asked students, in a class discussion, to give their own definitions of…

An experimental study compared the effects of controlled and free writing exercises and of evaluative vs. communicative feedback on the writing quality and apprehension of Korean college students of English as a foreign language (EFL). Students in two sections of a freshman reading course wrote dialogue journals as practice in free writing, and…