Although instructors express concerns about social work students' writing skills, little research has been conducted. One remedy is a social work-focused writing course. This study assessed a required writing course with a sample of 49 baccalaureate students. From online pre- and posttest surveys, 2 student outcomes improved significantly:…

It is now widely recognized that assessment and the feedback play key roles in the learning process. However, assessment-based learning approaches are not yet commonly practiced in Japan. This paper provides an example of an assessment-based approach to teaching and learning employed for a course entitled "English as an International…

COMPOSITION TEACHERS TOO OFTEN TEACH AS IF MOST OF THE STUDENTS WILL BECOME ENGLISH MAJORS. MANY TEACHERS ALSO GIVE POOR, UNDIRECTED WRITING ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSUME, AFTER CORRECTING THE PAPERS, THAT THEIR JOB IS ACCOMPLISHED. BECAUSE STUDENTS DO NOT LEARN TO WRITE BY THIS METHOD, THE COMPOSITION COURSE SHOULD BE CUT DOWN TO A FEW BASIC ESSENTIALS.…

Cautions against overemphasizing poor mechanics and overlooking content in writing classes as an overreaction to the problem of deteriorating writing skills. (MKM)

The purpose of this paper is to present a new approach to teaching a creative writing sequence for high school students. During the first 45-day course, over 30 papers are to be written. Students begin with a paper titled "I Am" and proceed through a series of self-discovery papers. The papers give the students a chance to understand…

Although role-playing is an effective way to create the atmosphere of "real" business situations, technical writing teachers should continue to concentrate primarily on student writing problems and the development of such composition skills as brevity and audience awareness. (RL)

A composition course for teachers emphasizes the importance of writing for a specific audience, of alternating between the concrete and the abstract, and of developing intelligent criteria for evaluating writing. (Author)

An English teacher tells how to make composition classes more interesting, make students learn more, and make oneself a better teacher. (Editor)

This article states that advanced composition skills must provide students with means of becoming independent writers, able to monitor their own writing and to know the means to solve problems of effective written communication. (Author/CFM)

The writing course described in this paper is designed to utilize the existing listening, reading, and speaking skills of educationally disadvantaged students to teach writing skills on the college level. The paper discusses the rationale of the course, describes the content briefly, outlines the language skills employed in a typical week's…

Two minipresentations by second-language teachers describe their classroom efforts to instruct their students. The first article focuses on using computers to help students improve their writing skills. The second zeroes in on incorporating speaking activities into the daily life of the classroom. (CK)

The intent of this book is to acquaint teachers with the realistic situations and composing processes that they can use when teaching business, report, and scientific writing. An introductory chapter provides a working definition of technical writing that reflects such essential writing components as recording the experience and having an…

Before undertaking a computer-assisted composition class, several factors should be considered. First, there will be demands on the instructor to replan the entire course to include the effective use of computers; to teach fundamental word-processing skills in addition to writing skills; to develop enough knowledge of hardware and software to…

Intended for use every day for a semester, this secondary seminar handbook provides a schedule, lesson plans, materials for classroom distribution, and a bibliography for a course designed to teach critical reading and basic writing skills through an in-depth study of Ernest Hemingway. Because the course requires that students write seven position…

The justification for including a year-long course in practical writing and editing in a research-oriented university's writing program and a description of that course are presented in this paper. Discussed are the responses to four questions: What is practical or survival writing? How much is there of it? What can a university gain from teaching…