Offers a review of research on remedial/developmental writers, focusing on studies related to revising strategies, the development of writing abilities, spoken language, rhetorical context, semantic abbreviation in writing, composing processes, writer's block, and thought and language. (DMM)

Argues that basic writing teachers should think of their students as seekers who are coming from different places and going different directions, each carrying different burdens and needing different tools. Presents a series of writing assignments using the process approach to writing. (RS)

Demonstrates that students who attempt graphically to represent their own writing process increase their involvement and self-awareness while validating their new writing behaviors and come to understand their role in managing the unique complexities of their own composing process. (SR)

Examines the basic writing course described in D. Bartholomae and A. Petrosky's "Facts, Artifacts and Counterfacts" from the perspective of four gender-typed categories: "masculinists,""feminists,""androgenous," and "undifferentiated." Suggests that teachers define themselves, give shape to their…

Charts a brief history of the teaching of basic writing, suggesting that fieldwork has been shaped by three overarching metaphors--growth, initiation, and conflict. Argues that recent views of the basic writing classroom as a "contact zone" fail to offer a compelling view of public discourse as a forum expressing and negotiating cultural…

Demonstrates how an issue of the "Journal of Basic Writing," published in 1980 as a memorial for theorist Mina Shaughnessy, resembles structurally the funeral orations of Ancient Greece. Divides the issue into three parts: praise, lament, and consolation. Discusses political implications of the issue. (HB)

Presents the results of a questionnaire which asked students to distinguish the most helpful instructional factors and activities aiding their writing progress. Concludes that the student's voice is his/her most accessible tool for progress, that acceptance of the student's voice is crucial, and that the speaking-writing connection is the most…

Presents annotations of 179 writing textbooks (new texts or new editions of previously published texts) having a 1993 copyright date. Includes developmental and ESL writing texts, first-year writing texts, advanced writing texts, special texts, and professional texts. (RS)

Describes the sharing of authority that occurred during a collaboratively taught course for basic writing students, supported by real-time computer exchanges. Discusses the computer classroom, curriculum, assignments, collaborative teaching, and student responses to the course. (SR)

Considers Mina Shaughnessy's metaphor likening the experience of basic writers to that of "uncultured natives" under European colonization. Advocates decolonizing the classroom by devising a pedagogy of voice in a dialogized space that is continually reconstructed from different locations and identities. (HB)

Compares the work of nineteenth-century Scottish philosopher George Jardine with the work of modern theorists, particularly Mina Shaughnessy. Shows how they all created similar plans for meeting the needs of students without the basic skills needed for traditional modes of instruction. (HB)

Describes an activity to encourage students to write with specific details. Notes that (at the beginning of each class) students briefly jot down three things that have made them feel good on that particular day. Notes several other benefits of this activity. (SR)

Describes how a course in expressionistic writing helped a Chicana basic writer examine the roles of gender, ethnicity, class, and language in her life. Discusses aspects of the course including gender role, economic and ethnic explorations, reflections on language, and connections to expository writing. (PRA)

Describes a simple structuring device for teaching paragraphing skills which focuses the student's attention on the subject of the paragraph and a specific interest in the subject. Outlines how to use the method for showing basic writers how to proceed to longer compositions. (HB)

Suggests a nine-step summary writing strategy for use with secondary and college developmental readers and writers. (MG)