Describes how one writing center with many English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students has integrated the "cultural informant" role of tutors with their role of teaching self-editing strategies. Reviews the process of introducing ESL students to use of a learner's dictionary, minimal marking, and error logs. Offers examples of using these…

Notes impact of high-stakes language arts assessments on teachers in Georgia rural districts. Provides additional support for what many English teachers already believe--that rich classroom discussion, reading from a variety of texts, student-centered writing assignments, and metacognitive awareness of one's reading and writing strategies…

Results of two studies support the contention that teaching metacognitive strategies with the aid of software packages can enhance positive transfer of reading comprehension and writing skills in very able fifth (n=140) and seventh (n=136) grade learners in Israel. Students receiving metacognitive instruction and using writing-skills software…

Describes an activity designed to enhance undergraduate student comprehension of the American Psychological Association (APA) manual and style where students examined a poorly written paper for errors in relation to the APA guidelines. Reports the results of a study that tested the effectiveness of the activity. (CMK)

Provides background information on the Document Based Question (DBQ) that is part of both the Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. and European history examinations. Includes an example of the process involved in analyzing documents during the AP examination. Discusses teaching techniques that can be used for the DBQ with the purpose of improving student…

The benefits of a self-regulated strategy development approach for teaching elementary school students with learning disabilities how to write opinion essays are discussed, and the steps of the POW plus TREE strategy of instruction are outlined: develop background knowledge, discuss, model, memorize, support it, and perform independently.…

This article describes a cognitive process model of writing as it pertains to adolescents with developmental disabilities. It then synthesizes what is known about the writing process, writing instruction, and technologies that may support the writing development in adolescents with developmental disabilities. Student writing samples and case…

A study investigated the use of a diagnostic and remedial adaptive computer tool to help an eighth-grader with low vision decrease spelling mistakes. Results indicate a clear change in the students' performance, from phonetic writing to process writing and a gradual evolution to automation in spelling and model word retrieval. (Contains…

Lucie, a Grade Two classroom teacher, and Kate, a university professor, engaged in an action research study that linked a trait-based writing instruction approach with a genre-focused instruction approach. To capture the experience, fieldnote observations, interviews and samples of students' work were collected. Lucie recognized the need to…

This article reviews research to examine how teaching and learning are improved with the use of narrative story materials. Stories help to focus the reader's attention and build personal connection, resulting in better retention and deeper subject-matter understanding. Four key advantages of narratives cited by D. T. Willingham are discussed. The…

Writing development involves changes that occur in children's strategic behavior, knowledge, and motivation. The authors examined the effectiveness of self-regulated strategy development (SRSD), a strategy instructional model designed to promote development in each of these areas. Instruction focused on planning and writing stories and persuasive…

Research into the behaviours manifested by the dyslexic condition has often focused upon younger dyslexic pupils and the lower-order skill difficulty in decoding and encoding. A surge in interest in the writing process has shifted the focus to higher-order skills, and a growing body of research is emerging within the higher education context…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating…

This paper presents a field study carried out with learners who used a grammar checker in real writing tasks in an advanced course at a Swedish university. The objective of the study was to investigate how students made use of the grammar checker in their writing while learning Swedish as a second language. Sixteen students with different…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends 2013, taking place in Madrid, Spain, from 26 to 28 of April. Our efforts and active engagement can now be rewarded with these three days of exciting new developments about what we are passionate about: Psychology and its connections. We take pride…