A new "remedial" or marginal group has emerged in teacher certification, known in Texas as Alternate Certification. In the Texas program, university graduates earn a certificate upon completion of a rigid state-mandated program. A group of 25 graduate students and their teacher set out to examine their notions of literacy, its…

Professional literature reporting the use of the "cliff-hanger" as genre as a teaching tool in writing instruction is relatively quiet. College students may become better writers and readers when they write cliff-hangers and allow other students to read their writing. Sixty-five undergraduate reading students at a southeastern Arkansas…

A study investigated one dimension of metacognition--the knowledge of cognition--in first language (L1) and second language (L2) writing. Subjects were 20 students (10 L1 and 10 L2) in a first level college writing course. A questionnaire elicited subjects' definitions of good writing, their notions of the constituent features of the writing…

A practicum was designed to provide opportunities for second-grade students from low socioeconomic school communities to use computer technology in the writing process. Staff development training was designed and conducted to increase teachers' knowledge, experience, and attitudes toward using the computer as a tool for writing. Providing…

A practicum sought to improve student writing and student attitude towards writing through a performance-based assessment which featured peer and teacher conferencing, holistic grading, and publication of material written by students. The practicum involved seventh and eighth graders and five teachers who instituted all aspects of the writing…

A study examined and analyzed the functions of written language for one writer during her first-grade year. Data included 516 pieces of writing done by the subject, transcriptions of interviews with the subject, and field notes. Results indicated that: (1) sources of the subject's writing ranged from extremely structured situations to…

A study investigated the relationship between beliefs and attitudes toward reading and writing, and the effect of personal journal writing on attitudes and beliefs. Subjects, four intact classes of 95 fourth-grade students enrolled in two public schools in a southeastern metropolitan area, were randomly selected to participate in the study. In…

Word processors can enhance the reading and writing skills of underprepared college students in a special course combining reading and writing. Word processors may serve such a course in many ways: (1) storing and retrieving students' own unpublished resource materials; (2) moving large blocks of writing at the flick of a finger; (3) serving as…

The idea behind this project created by two teachers of different age groups was that providing students with penpals would give students a real audience to write to and change their attitudes about writing. Seventh graders and college students exchanged letters and were required to send working drafts of some class assignments to each other to…

This report describes a program for improving writing skills and related attitudes towards writing of elementary students. The target population consisted of fourth grade students in stable middle to upper class suburban communities, located northwest of a large midwestern city. The problems of inadequate writing skills and poor writing attitudes…

The purpose of this study is to investigate how publishing students' writing in the community affects their attitudes toward writing. Participants were 19 sixth-grade language arts students from an urban upper elementary school. Results from student attitude surveys indicate that using publishing is an effective method of connecting students to…

Community college students are often described as less motivated, or "turned-off," compared to other college students. This stereotype has prevented many writing instructors from trying new ways of reaching these students at a Midwest community college, the majority of whom have access to the Internet either at home or in the local…

This paper reports the results of a five-week intervention designed to improve students' writing proficiency through self-efficacy training in a remedial summer course. Twenty pre-freshmen students participated in the program. In addition to whole-class instruction, students met individually with instructional coordinators. During these meetings…

Reports results of a survey of writing center tutors concerning their attitudes toward computer use. Finds that tutors in the writing center are largely confident in using word processing programs for their own writing needs and that tutors assume the students they tutor will use computers for revision of papers. (RS)

Describes how one teacher dealt with a rebellious sophomore Honors English student and how they learned to listen to each other. (MG)