The primary objective of this study was to compare the syntactic complexity of informational texts produced by fifth-grade students (a) with and without language impairment and (b) with and without native English-speaking proficiency on a curriculum-based reading and writing task. Expository writing samples produced by 114 children enrolled in the…

Developmental dysgraphia refers to a grouping of neuropsychologically-based, specific learning disabilities that directly impact approximately 7-15% U.S. students (Feifer, 2013). Effective writing, including the use of fundamental and effective communication of ideas and content-specific knowledge in written form, are crucial not only for academic…

A theoretical understanding is offered to help explore how students attempt to reconcile divergent narratives around the purposes of Higher Education in relation to their own writing. Drawing from the twin notions of centripetal and centrifugal forces, the paper discusses the ways that students both follow and resist convention in their own…

This article offers a critical reading of writing center workplace space. Weaving together counterstorying with semiotic, geographic, and rhetorical analysis of space, the author provides an alternative way of understanding the connections between our physical and metaphorical workspaces. Precarity and contingency, the article posits, are made…

For faculty members, writing is often the task that is perpetually set aside due to demands of teaching and service in a university setting. Faculty writing groups are one way to encourage commitment, consistency, and support for a successful writing agenda. The purpose of this article is to illustrate one successful example of a thriving virtual…

Despite the extensive research into academic vocabulary in university student writing, little is known about academic vocabulary in international foundation-level students' assessed academic writing. Considering that academic vocabulary is regarded as a key element of academic writing style and that written assignment is one of the main forms of…

This work provides a chronological and thematic account of empirical studies and position papers on second language (L2) writing scholarship from a complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) perspective. As a theoretical framework, CDST was formally introduced into applied linguistics research by Diane Larsen-Freeman in 1994 (Larsen-Freeman, 1994).…

Personal statements are among the most commonly used instruments in college admissions procedures. Yet, little research on their reliability, validity, and fairness exists. The first aim of this paper was to investigate hypotheses about adverse impact and underprediction for female applicants, which could result from lower tendencies to use…

Sustaining a career in music by pursuing multiple paths, usually performing and teaching, is neither new nor unusual. In this article, I consider another option--the musician-writer--to demonstrate how the process used to create in one's primary field or career path may be transferrable to the pursuit of new endeavors. Analyzing and comparing the…

Noticing is often dependent on time-sensitivity and uses video or live observations. This paper explores loosening the time-sensitivity component and implementing self-narrative and inquiry approaches by having teachers write to explore noticing. This study explores narrative writing of beginning mathematics teachers using a noticing framework as…

In using software to write a scientific, technical, or other scholarly document, authors have essentially two options. They can either write it in a 'what you see is what you get' (WYSIWYG) editor such as a word processor, or write it in a text editor using a markup language such as HTML, LATEX, Markdown, or AsciiDoc. This paper gives an overview…

This paper focuses on "How Texts Teach What Readers Learn" (Meek, 1988) and considers how texts teach readers in a digital age. I use Meek's book as a frame for exploring the ways children learn about narration, structure, voice, discourse and language, and becoming an "insider" in the text. To demonstrate this, I use Meek's…

Purpose: This paper aims to suggest a new way for structuring English teacher preparation within traditional university programs, challenging the age-old use of formal lesson plan reflections and introducing critical narratives as course texts to better understand pre-service teacher experiences. Through this reimagined English methods curriculum,…

This article presents a profile of the community writing and performance project Write Your Roots, organized by the author, which was disrupted by the impact of COVID-19 in early 2020. The project narrative is framed by the theoretical basis for the project, rooted in the concept of "making space," which borrows from Michel de Certeau's…

This book presents the creative, arts-based and educative thinking resulting from a "21 day autoethnography challenge" set of self-guided prompts arising from the large-scale collaborative, creative, and global project to explore "Massive and Microscopic Sensemaking during COVID-19 Times." It employs a guiding methodological…