While tenure-track faculty begin their careers with some sense of what they will teach, what they will earn, and how they will be promoted, lecturers are not allowed such assurances. In the early days, lecturers in the English Department at the University of Nevada Reno (UNR) taught basic composition courses, four per semester unless they were…

College composition instructors have the opportunity to take a step toward meeting the needs of a pluralistic society by defining a developmental writing curriculum that incorporates the same strategies that characterize the mainstream writing classroom. The "cognitive deficiency model" that characterizes most instruction in…

This book is a journal kept over 15 months from January 1987 to March 1988 by a tenured member of the English Department at Ohio State University (OSU). The book is an attempt to convey the quality and texture of life at OSU, with its ups, downs, and level places; its satisfactions, frustrations, and routines; its successes, disappointments, and…

Creative writers have moved into the mainstream of English departments without understanding or reviewing their own history, and without reconceptualizing graduate and undergraduate creative writing programs. Such a history can be constructed from sources in three areas: institutional history, creative writing history, and rhetorical history. An…

Intended for elementary and secondary school English teachers, this thematic journal issue offers practical suggestions and strategies to help educators improve their professional image, both in the classroom and in the larger sphere of the community. The titles and authors of the eight articles are as follows: (1) "Raising Your…

As a follow-up to the successful book "Eight Approaches to Teaching Composition," this collection of 13 original essays presents the major research and scholarship in the related fields that are shaping the theory and practice of composition studies. Each chapter defines a special area of study, assesses its published literature from the…

The English department faculty training program at Purdue University-Calumet, Indiana, designed a program that would provide their entire staff with the skills necessary to use computer-assisted instruction and word processing to teach all levels of writing. Phase one of the program was a semester-long class designed for regular faculty, beginner…

In a doctoral program begun recently at the University of Virginia, the English department has combined three areas of study considered essential for graduate students who expect to be teaching. Titled Language, Literature, and Pedagogy (to balance the traditional degree in language, literature, and research), the program grew out of a…

This paper describes the steps necessary for starting a cooperative education program for English majors. Though not all English majors can use cooperative education to advantage, such a program is an educational alternative that allows people who have no definite career goals to develop job opportunities while staying in school. Sample forms used…

This paper describes a survey, of 51 rural schools in Illinois, that was conducted to gather information on English and language arts teaching in rural areas. Following an introduction to the rationale and methodology of the survey, the paper discusses the results of the survey in the following areas: (1) the rural community, including community…

Recognizing that English majors need some preparation for a wider choice of employment opportunities, the Michigan State University English Department initiated an internship program in 1979 to offer students work experience, vocational advice, and practical tips for securing permanent employment. Although the choices for English intern positions…

The 26 lectures and addresses in this book are all concerned with methods of instruction in secondary school English classes. They are organized into seven major sections: an introduction which considers the emerging curriculum in English and the aims of English instruction; individualization of instruction; teaching reading, writing, and…

University and college English departments, preoccupied with literary study, have long neglected their role in teacher preparation, especially the training of college composition teachers. Grammar, rhetoric, and logic are studies more valuable to the composition teacher than courses in imaginative literature. The weighting of curriculum in favor…

To determine the adequacy of undergraduate teacher preparation in composition, questionnaires were distributed to a representative sample of Florida's English teachers, and a survey was made of the major teacher-training universities in Florida. Teachers were asked to indicate courses in language and composition that were included in their…