The current practice and theory of preparing college teachers of writing can benefit greatly by considering the history of writing teacher education as practiced in this country since at least 1894. Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) offered the first course for new teachers of writing in 1912, and in the early years of this century,…

This encyclopedia is a comprehensive explanation of the study and teaching of English and language arts at all levels of education. It includes media, technology, curriculum, learning, and assessment in composition, literature, reading, drama, and language study. Designed to be used as a major resource by administrators, teachers, and students,…

In order to support an argument for the teaching of grammar in a writing class, this report first summarizes the descriptive studies done by Kellogg Hunt in 1965 and 1970, and the comparative studies done by John Mellon and Frank O'Hare in 1969 and 1973. The second part of the report consists of five workshop handouts about the following topics:…

Discussion of the contribution of a particular course toward developing teacher competency raises the question: "Just what does one need to know to teach composition?" If a person were to take only one course, it would likely be "Composition for Teachers." In theory lie answers, so a suitable syllabus would include Beth Neman's "Teaching Students…

Using data from three studies, this paper focuses on competency education trends in California in the area of writing. The studies reviewed in the paper examined (1) the competency examinations produced by students in one high school in 1980, (2) the various means employed in 1981 by five school districts in the San Francisco Bay area to implement…

Noting that teachers must devise writing situations that help students see possibilities for revision beyond mechanics and usage, this paper describes several exercises that will help students use the computer or word processor as a tool for assisting them when they write. The exercises, which can be done with or without a microcomputer, with a…

In an effort to identify characteristics of effective college composition programs, an examination was made of 19 campuses of the California State University. Each English department chair was sent a "fact sheet" requesting program information on such matters as the use of placement test scores, sequence of and prerequisites for lower…

Created as one part of a comprehensive curriculum for teaching writing from kindergarten through twelfth grade, this guide focuses on expressive writing. Following an introduction describing the goals of the writing project, the preface points out that the guide is based on the comprehensive model of James Kinneavy's "A Theory of Discourse,…

The University of Lowell (Massachusetts) conducted a writing needs assessment in order to help its English department and department of continuing education systematically formulate a professional writing curriculum responsive to documented needs. Questionnaires were mailed to representatives of industries and businesses in Massachusetts and New…

The development of a college writing program can offer many challenges to a program director drawn from the ranks of the English faculty. The discipline of writing, an act of production, is both scorned and clutched by faculty who have been trained to analyze literature, an act of perception. Literature specialists, to be qualified to teach…

Teaching composition in a prison is different from teaching composition in a traditional freshman composition classroom. Since most prison inmates have a high school equivalency degree earned while in prison, a developmental writing course offered prior to the standard freshman composition sequence is probably necessary. Such a class may include a…

Sentence combining activities can be used throughout the English curriculum. The entire composing process can be developed with sentence combining activities based on student rough drafts of book reports, analysis and imitation of sentences written by professional writers, the organization of sentences in whole paragraphs or essays, and "oral…

Presents and analyzes the qualifications English departments prefer when hiring faculty to teach business and technical writing. Indicates that most successful candidates are those who have completed degree programs combining the study of literature and composition. Also suggests that English departments should make their degree programs more…

Allan Glatthorn, author of "Curriculum Renewal," makes specific recommendations for the content of the English "mastery curriculum," grades 5 to 12. These include guidelines for the six strands of the English curriculum: literature, language, composition, speaking and listening, critical thinking, and vocabulary development.…

Explains why structured composition assignments produce better writing than nondirectional writing experiences, explores the reasons for this, and establishes hypotheses based on these reasons for developing a theory of composition instruction. (HOD)