Examines two debates within the basic writing community (the reaction against Min Zhan Lu's early theoretical work and the recent acrimonious debate regarding Ira Shor's defense of mainstreaming) showing how they reflect conflicting models of the basic writing field, with "critical" discourse challenging the conventions and authority of…

Discusses the increase in attacks on collegiate basic writing. Questions what the future holds for basic writing. Suggests that despite wrenching changes in basic writing instruction, moral obligation insists that basic-writing teachers continue their work to surmount the now commonplace challenges and assaults. (PA)

Argues that narrative is an important aim of discourse for basic writers. Examines the use of narrative by leaders in the field of basic writing, then focuses on the significance of narrative for students: the use of narrative yields legitimacy, allows for metacognition, and provides a vehicle for numinous expression. (RS)

Presents a response to Joseph Harris's article in this issue. Acknowledges that differences in opinion were less in principle and more in what they emphasized in their respective essays. Suggests that communities have possibilities for opening different sorts of spaces on university campuses. (SG)

Recent public policy discussions and documents reflect frames that will have profound effects on questions central to teachers of and students in basic writing courses. We argue that if basic writing instructors/administrators want to have a voice in these discussions, we must develop strategies and gather data to support our positions; we then…

Background/Context: Twenty percent of first-year students in public 4-year institutions and 42% of first-year students in public 2-year institutions in the United States enroll in remedial courses. Yet despite widespread remediation across U.S. colleges and universities, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about how remedial courses develop…

Considers the consequences of expelling California State University students who do not complete remediation within one year. Proposes that the lack of educational choices is analogous to the institutionalized absence of alternatives for basic writing programs. Analyzes the contradictory rhetoric of official policy, linking the elitist return to…

Claims that there is general agreement of a need to rethink the basic writing course. Posits that there is also a need to rethink the view of literacy on which the course is often based. Questions aspects of academic literacy and suggests ways to reform writing instruction at all levels by looking at literate practices outside the academy. (PA)

Considers basic writing as a way of naming (and producing) a curriculum, an area of study, a type of writing, and writing practice. Discusses the history of the term "basic writing" and the role of the intellectual, the culture, and its institutions in its production. (SR)

Considers the circumstances under which "basic writing" emerged both as a college course and as a field of study. Aims to map the "strange context" of discourses that have composed basic writing and to determine the strategic function of each of these discourses, including David Bartholomae's recent call for undoing basic…

Using Susanmarie Harrington's investigation of the presence and absence of basic writing students in articles in the "Journal of Basic Writing" as a starting point, this article investigates the visibility or invisibility of race in student-present articles from 1995 to 2005. The investigation reveals that the discursive practice of colorblindness…

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the publication of Mina Shaughnessy's groundbreaking book, "Errors and Expectations," a roundtable discussion was held at the March 2007 Conference on College Composition and Communication in New York City. This article, based on the earlier discussion, examines the question of CUNY's multiple…

Contends that developmental writing students' self confidence improves when they understand their learning styles. Outlines how the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is used to pinpoint students' learning styles and how to help students work "their way." (PA)

Offers a method to help writing students generate ideas and collect their thoughts: (1) giving students 10 minutes to freewrite about being stranded on a desert island; (2) writing one page on a thesis statement; and (3) having students "talk through" their papers in small groups. (PA)

Describes how struggle and conflict are constructive for writers. Examines why this view of conflict had rhetorical power historically for theorists. Explores how and why this view persists among basic writing teachers in the 1990s. (HB)