Student transitions into the university are often conceived of via an apprentice-type model, or as entrance into a "community of practice". This paper disputes the applicability of these models to the indeterminate and opaque nature of student experiences of academic writing, and proposes that emotional destabilization and struggles…

The author questions the continued usefulness of inside/outside as a liberatory metaphor, particularly for Latino/a students, who experience that classroom quite differently from the privileged way that the author, their Anglo teacher, does. The author argues that the assumptions of the inside/outside metaphor accentuate the challenges that these…

Amongst academics working with postgraduate students, there has recently been increasing interest in ways of supporting advanced academic literacy (AAL). This is a concern for us at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, where we teach a diverse group of postgraduate students, most of whom are subject practitioners in…

The authors describe their experience using a learner-centered approach to turn learner writing into booklets. When students write about their own lives, they can focus on the language they need to express their ideas. Interaction increases because interest is high. Near beginners can create fact sheets about themselves, and more advanced students…

The article examines understandings of class, race, gender and sexuality in the writings of secondary school students in two working-class schools in Durban. The analysis of students' questions and responses to a problem page "agony aunt", indicate how class and race come to be expressed through accounts of sexuality. In the letters many…

The design and development of GRACILE, a collaborative learning environment in the domain of Japanese language patterns and expressions, is described. The environment is designed to allow learning goals communication, learning activities negotiation, and collaboration between learners. From a group of student models, a potential development level…

A student-centered noncredit writing course for students of English as a second language, designed to alleviate the problems of diverse class membership, consists of a series of composition assignments with topics determined by class interests and composition length determined by the student. The entire class participates in prewriting activities;…

A unit used in an Australian school to teach English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students how to write a discussion is described. The 3-week unit was planned and implemented jointly by an ESL resource teacher, class teacher, and teacher librarian. The class was divided into three heterogeneous groups, two of which were observed for this study and…

Traditional approaches to teaching writing have been challenged, and new methods have emerged that reflect the new understanding of this process. This paper compares and contrasts product-based and process-based approaches to teaching writing. Product approaches reflect traditional, teacher-centered approaches to teaching in general, emphasizing…

Presents a critical overview of trends in research on writing skills. Defines criteria for the studies based on current cognitive writing models. Includes treatments designed to change writer activity by influencing knowledge and cognitive functions. Discusses acquisition of knowledge or expert skills, interaction with other writers, and computer…

Specifically intended to address the teaching of spelling, this description of an elementary school program in Australia deals with many of the pedagogical problems that arise in whole language classrooms, and suggests ways for teachers to integrate a process approach to spelling with process writing to create a total language program. Following…

This paper outlines a model of study mode negotiation between clients and English Language Training providers that has been developed at the University of Malaya, specifically related to English language writing skills as taught to corporate clients. Negotiation is used to reach decisions concerning the goals and methodology of learning to ensure…

Exploring questions about how the classroom environment affects young learners, this book describes how young children from various cultural and linguistic backgrounds have coped with the conditions surrounding them in process oriented writing classrooms. Chapter 1 describes the kinds of activities in which children engage in seemingly chaotic…