A survey of coordinators and tutors in 50 adult-literacy programs in western Canada examined program activities involving writing; amount and type of instruction devoted to writing; and staff attitudes about the value of writing in the program, their own writing skills, potential of writing as a self-development tool, and professional-development…

Uses a control class to compare student attitudes about writing and performance as writers. Finds that students in the Internet-based classes contributed to their journals more frequently, reported a greater increase in their enjoyment of writing, and demonstrated greater improvement on initial and final timed writing samples as compared with the…

Describes a study of how portfolios are used in grade seven with particular attention to three conversations between a professional writer and students who use portfolios. Argues that portfolios must not be static compilations of work but rather ever-evolving organic creations. (TB)

Determines the impact of modeling the process approach to writing and assisting student teachers in planning and implementing writing activities on student teachers' attitudes toward writing. Shows how formal instruction in process writing and successful experiences with writing positively affected student teachers' attitudes toward writing. (RS)

Suggests a classroom newspaper provides an excellent vehicle for teaching writing to students of various ability levels, allows students to direct their writing to a specific audience, and increases motivation (because recognition through publication is very reinforcing). All students, including students with disabilities, can benefit from the…

Examines African-American kindergartners' intrinsic motivation in the context of an emergent writing task in both autonomy-supportive and controlling interactions. Finds: (1) in the autonomy-supportive context, children demonstrated more interest in the letter writing task than in the controlling context; (2) the order of the interactions affected…

Offers an overview of changing attitudes towards the place of mechanics in writing instruction, as documented in "College Composition and Communication" over the 50 years of the journal's existence. Argues that the role of formal correctness within each instructor's teaching depends on the purposes, goals, and contexts of each writing…

Investigates whether business executives and business communication academics were bothered by examples of perceived errors in grammar or usage. Finds usage elements that troubled readers most were basic sentence-structure errors (run-ons, fragments, nonparallel structure, and danglers); several usage errors may be in transition to acceptability;…

This study investigates the approaches adopted by students to a university writing programme designed to help them learn first-year undergraduate science. The research design includes phenomenographic analyses of 19 interviews and 50 open-ended questionnaires, as well as quantitative analyses of the qualitative data. The main results of the study…

A study investigated the effectiveness of a program to improve writing performance across the curriculum. The targeted population consisted of students (n=73) from the elementary sector of a middle-class community in a south suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The problem of deficiencies in student writing throughout content areas was documented through…

Of poor academic skills, perhaps the most prevalent among at-risk students is the lack of ability to compose--to develop ideas in print. Providing opportunities to learn that skill opens a whole new world for young people who believe they are incapable of learning. This paper describes writing instruction that was provided over a 4-year period in…

A study investigated the writing motivation of 145 third- and fifth-grade students. Because self-perceived competence and task value interact in important ways to influence an individual's motivation, these two constructs were used as the basis for measuring children's motivation to write. Students responded to the Motivation to Write Scale (MWS),…

A study examined and described a program to improve writing skills and related attitudes of elementary school students. Targeted population consisted of second- and fifth-grade students in a stable, middle class suburban community, located 20 miles southwest of Chicago, Illinois. The problems of underdeveloped writing skills and lack of student…

A study investigated how future teachers viewed themselves as writers and writing teachers and how these identities were being addressed in teacher education programs. Subjects, 226 student teachers at Middle Tennessee State University, responded to a questionnaire designed to measure both writing apprehension and beliefs about the role and…

The English Department and the composition class are mired in the trappings of Romanticism. Romanticism ingratiates itself, mostly in infatuation with the writing process, but with some other fetishes as well. The "whitecentric" character of that Romanticism imbues instruction; it is not just innocuous and "old hat," but really damaging. Students…