The essays in this book address various cognitive and emotional dimensions of disrupted composing and describe some of the situational variables that can contribute to it. The titles and authors are as follows: "Blocking and the Young Writer" (Donald H. Graves); "Emotional Scenarios in the Writing Process: An Examination of Young…

This 1994 yearbook presents 24 papers and a summary of the dissertation award winner "Overcoming Misconceptions about Science Beliefs" (G. Qian). Papers are: "The Roots of Reading: Preserving the Heritage of a Profession" (N. A. Stahl and others; "CRA Professional Programs and Progress: A Personal Twenty-Five Year Perspective" (James E. Walker);…

A study investigated the effect of two staff development models--role playing and open instruction--upon teachers' self-awareness and attitudes toward inservice education. In a 2x2x2 design for analysis of variance, 27 composition teachers were randomly assigned, stratified by years of experience, to two parallel but contrasting summer workshops.…

Examines the early literacy experiences of a bilingual Chicano student, focusing on how these experiences affected the students' reading and writing skill development. For a period of 6 months, research elicited information about the student's relationships with teachers, memories of school experiences, and resulting self concept and behavior in…

According to self-efficacy theorists, people's judgments of what they can accomplish are influential arbiters in human agency and, as such, powerful determinants of their behavior. In large part, this is because these self-efficacy beliefs are said to act as mediators between other acknowledged influences on behavior, such as skill, ability,…

Based on the premise that composition skills and their evaluation are crucial to the educational process, this paper presents a tentative research program for conducting future English as a second language (ESL) composition evaluation studies. The program developed in the paper covers the following topics as areas which merit further rigorous…

In many cases, in higher education today, teachers usually deal with two types of students. These are the pre-adults or those people call traditional students, and the adults, or those they call non-traditional students. For adult learners, making writing mistakes of any kind is a source of anxiety and confusion, and often contributes to their…

While research on the composing process has revealed great variation among writers and among types of writers, research has largely ignored fluctuation in the writing behaviors of a single writer. A study contrasted both texts and behaviors of six graduate and undergraduate students of English as a Second Language (ESL) as they wrote a practice…

The creative writing of English poetry by English as a second language college students helps them to: overcome initial psychological inhibitions to language learning; stimulate interest and involvement in study; develop a means of self-expression; and prepare for study in other areas. (Author/CB)

A middle school teacher of writing to learners of English as a Second Language describes two techniques used to improve student participation and guide the writing process. The first is to select a writing topic to which all students can relate. In this case, the teacher asked students, in a class discussion, to give their own definitions of…

Describes a study that investigated statistical factors associated with teachers' telecomputing use during a graduate telecommunications course. Variables including age, teaching experience, telecommunications experience, computer anxiety level, and writing apprehension level were examined for relationships with login frequency. Implications for…

An experimental study compared the effects of controlled and free writing exercises and of evaluative vs. communicative feedback on the writing quality and apprehension of Korean college students of English as a foreign language (EFL). Students in two sections of a freshman reading course wrote dialogue journals as practice in free writing, and…

An intervention study was designed to implement and evaluate an instructional program combining the writing process and computers to improve the writing quantity and quality and investigate the apprehensions of middle level students. Subjects, 75 sixth-grade students, were chosen from a relatively small rural school system. The intervention took…

This study examines writing apprehension in bilinguals, a common problem among Puerto Rican college students who take composition courses in both their native Spanish and English as a second language. A questionnaire designed to determine the sources of apprehension was administered to three student groups: graduate students of English, freshman…

This annual serial volume contains 22 articles offering practical pedagogical ideas from faculty at New Hampshire technical colleges. Section I, "Learners Conversing," includes "'Cheering': A Prelude to a Street Dweller," by Thomas Gorka; "Illusions of Fear: Unleashing My Writing," by Bruce Maville; and "Claremont's Writing Workshop," a transcript…