Presents findings of a study comparing compositions by beginning writing and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students at a two-year college. Reports similarities in the groups' topic choices, topic sentence use, and expository development. Reveals that ESL students tended to write shorter papers containing more sentence level errors. Discusses…

Reviews literature comparing traditional manuscript alphabets to slanted manuscript alphabets and finds insufficient evidence to support requiring kindergarten, first-, and second-grade children to learn the slanted manuscript alphabet. Notes that since many children enter school knowing how to form their letters in the traditional style, learning…

Two studies examined developmental changes in handwriting variability. Results indicated that, between 3 and 5 years, the number of grip patterns that children routinely use declines and the variability associated with pen-surface positioning declines. Older 3-year-olds used an adult grip pattern more often and were less variable in pen-surface…

This article considers differences between good and poor spellers and concludes individual differences in spelling ability are the result of differences in the knowledge of sound-spelling information rather than differences in visual memory abilities. Poor spellers may rely more on visual strategies, but this is due to limited phonological…

Discusses some methods educators can use to ensure that grading supports and enhances learning. Suggests ways to grade written work that will enhance learning. Notes that teachers benefit from collaborative grading, primarily as a result of discussing grading practices with colleagues and sharing ideas about effective methods. Presents guidelines…

The Science Foundation Programme (SFP) at the University of KwaZulu Natal, Pietermaritzburg attempts to address past educational inequalities by providing disadvantaged matriculants with the skills, resources and self-confidence needed to embark on their tertiary studies. Students entering the Programme typically adopt a surface approach to…

In this paper, the role of computers in writing process was investigated. Last 25 years of journals were searched to find related articles. Articles and books were classified under prewriting, composing, and revising and editing headings. The review results showed that computers can make writers' job easy in the writing process. In addition,…

First-grade children's reading, writing, and spelling competencies in 2 different instructional contexts for teaching phonics were examined. Reading, writing, and spelling abilities were measured at the beginning, middle, and end of 1st grade. Children were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments designed to teach grapheme-phoneme correspondences,…

A study (the first of two studies) examined the effects that training in annotation writing had on college students' comprehension and summary writing abilities as compared with students who received a more traditional type of instruction. One half of the 144 university students enrolled in a college reading and study skills course received a…

To come closer to the full "face to face" expression of writing consistent with the intention of the holistic movement, a study investigated the writing attitudes of first year writing students. Subjects, 70 students in the developmental writing group, 77 in the middle ability group, and 68 in the advanced writing group enrolled in…

A study investigated what can be learned about the strengths and weaknesses of students' writing from direct assessment of writing performance and knowledge of overall student performance. In the first part of the study, all 13 school districts in Alaska participated in an interdistrict writing assessment procedure intended to measure the overall…

Argues that achievement gains in literacy in the middle school classroom revolve around the three elements of "dialogic instruction" orchestrated to support "envisionment-building classrooms" centered around substantive and sustained "curricular conversations." Asserts that effective classroom practices that include…

This response to EC 633 617, an analysis of a purported case of facilitated communication, stresses the role of linguistic and grammatical analysis of texts attributed to a Finnish man diagnosed with mental retardation and cerebral palsy. It identifies weaknesses in the analysis, urges use of multi-theoretical approaches, and notes the benefits…

Principles of writing assessment with at-risk students are explained, including the importance of identifying the purposes of assessment, assessment in the classroom context, and inclusion of children's and parents' perspectives in assessment of the child's writing progress. (DB)

Discusses the use of the Test of Written Language (3rd ed.) in assessing the writing ability of students with significant hearing losses. Reviews the test's format, administration, scoring, standardization and norming. Evaluates the test's reliability and validity as a screening tool for determining student strengths and weaknesses. (CR)