The purposes of this study were to determine freshman composition requirements, to describe organization of writing programs, to describe staffing of writing programs, to identify common textbooks and syllabi requirements, to describe course content and pedagogy, and to describe common goals and philosophies of Texas writing programs.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-62).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-141).

Writing apprehension is a writing difficulty that can impair the writing experiences of students. While researchers have proposed many interventions that teachers can implement to assist their students who struggle with writing apprehension, there has not been an instrument that is designed to measure teacher self-efficacy to help these same students. This study created such an instrument, entitled the Self-efficacy to Teach Apprehensive Writers Scale (STAWS), using Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy’s (2001) Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale and Daly and Miller’s (1975) Writing Apprehension Test as model instruments. The new instrument was designed to measure writing instructor self-efficacy to teach their students who struggle with writing apprehension. Results from an exploratory factor analysis indicate that the STAWS represents a two-factor construct, measuring teacher self-efficacy to (a) engage apprehensive writers (α = .80), and (b) identify and meet the needs of apprehensive writers (α = .79). This two-factor solution explains approximately 58% of the variation in responses from instructors of first-year writing. While the instrument still needs to be validated, preliminary analysis indicates that instructors of first-year writing may experience moderately high self-efficacy to teach their apprehensive writers. First-year writing instructors appear to feel slightly more confident in their ability to identify and meet the needs of apprehensive writers than they are to engage these writers. Future research should focus on validating the instrument and using it to explore different types and demographic groups of teachers, including different levels of experience with sources of self-efficacy.

No description available.

The teaching of freshman composition can be a challenging and exciting endeavor if teachers are aware of current linguistic facts about the nature of language variations manifested by their students and the linguistic shortcomings of many textbooks. Awareness of the distinction of linguistic competence and linguistic performance can aid teachers in making freshman composition more realistic to students. These concepts are technically explained in Aspects of the Theory of Syntax by Noam Chomsky (1965), and are applied to dialect for teachers of composition by the Committee on CCCC Language Statement in Students' Right to Their Own Language (1974). With knowledge of linguistic principles, teachers can respond to their students' dialects humanistically and realistically and can teach academic English without making impressionistic and incorrect statements about non-academic variations from their students.

Each year more international students enroll in American universities, and administrators nationwide must determine how to meet students' unique writing needs. Compared to similar institutions of higher learning, Brigham Young University (BYU) has a large percentage of international students—4.3 percent of the student body, approximately 2,000 students each year from 112 countries. Prior to Fall 2004, international students were placed in courses offered through the English composition program, which focuses on "mainstream" college writers who compose in their first language (L1) and not on second language writers and their unique needs. As a result, many international students did poorly and often failed their general education freshman writing requirement. The Department of Linguistics and English Language at BYU offers some English as a Second Language (ESL) courses in an effort to prepare students for freshman writing, but since these courses are electives and do not count towards the university general education requirement, many students opt not to take them. International students need a viable alternative to the "mainstream" freshman writing course. They need a course in academic literacy, combining the rhetorical and composition elements of a freshman writing course as well as the multicultural and applied linguistic elements of writing. The needs of writers need to be discussed and met through a balanced, interdisciplinary approach. Under the direction of the Department of Linguistics and English Language, I developed a course based upon an interdisciplinary approach to second language writing and academic literacy. I researched the needs of second language writing students, evaluated current ESL programs nationwide, created, implemented, and evaluated a curriculum for an international freshman writing course. It is a course in academic literacy, called Elang 105, which was specifically designed to meet the needs of international students and is now one of the general education (GE) first year writing options at BYU.

The use of imitation exercises—writing activities employing model texts and the modeling of writing-process behaviors—in the First Year composition classroom can have many benefits for both student writers and teachers, and offers practical solutions to some of the problems facing student writers in today's colleges. First Year writing students are often unaware that they are part of a larger academic community. They often lack exposure to and understanding of academic standards. They don't understand that "good" writing is not a blanket-concept but is determined on a situational basis, and they are frustrated by the vaguely expressed expectations of their writing teachers. These problems are interconnected and so are all addressed in this study, but because they offer so many potential avenues for discussion, the focus of this project will be limited to the benefits of clear expectations that the use of modeling activities in the classroom can bring about for both students and teachers. An in-depth look at the materials, methods, and results of student participation in the activities of a single semester of English 1105, the first course in Virginia Tech's First Year Writing Program will be the dominant component of the project; it will be supplemented by a review of literature and a contextual discussion of what Stephen M. North calls the "Practitioner" mode of inquiry—the gathering of pedagogical information through the active classroom application of educational theories and practices. / Master of Arts

This applied dissertation assessed pairing undergraduate English courses as an innovative delivery method within developmental English courses. Developmental courses are remedial classes students take due to low standardized test scores. Developmental courses usually do not count for college credit. In this study, a developmental English course was paired with a college course. At times, this pairing method is also called a learning community. The study specifically discussed the effectiveness of pairing a developmental English course with the college credit English course next in the composition sequence for freshman college students. Paired courses were compared to the traditional model of 16-week semesters. This study was initiated due to low course completion rates of students taking a developmental course. The research reviewed indicated the challenges of developmental students and addressed possibilities regarding why students may not have finished courses. The literature review also offered research about course delivery. This study assessed whether or not pairing the two courses at the research location led to a higher course completion rate as compared to students taking the 2 courses in the traditional, separate 16-week semester.

No description available.