Little research has been done which shows what the prewriting strategies of students are and what the usefulness of prewriting models are in the production of drafts. These case studies were designed to describe the prewriting strategies of four twelfth grade, advanced placement English students as they composed through three impromptu writing session, beginning with the time they received a prompt and directions to begin until they felt they had completed an essay. Each of three composing aloud sessions was used to draw a writing protocol, from which data were coded in five seconds intervals. Two basic sections were coded: strategies, the means students used to recall cognitively stored data (e.g., making associations, asking questions); and acts, anything physical the students did (e.g., transcribing, commenting). The first composing aloud session was used to draw data from which the students’ intact, acquired strategies could be determined. Given a one-word prompt, the students were asked to use as much time prewriting as they wished and to write an essay. The students were given prewriting models, Rohman’s meditation and Larson’s questioning strategy, for the next two impromptu writing sessions. They were asked to write an essay after having used the models. The students recounted their writing histories in the final session. Findings indicated that these students used l either an associational (the prompts were associated with single word nouns and phrases) or an analytical, (the question "What is it?" guided their search) strategy when they revealed their intact, acquired strategies. Prewriting served as a time for the students to develop a thesis sentence; when that task was completed, they began their essays. Rohman’s was perceived as too restrictive and limiting, while Larson’s was completely rejected. / Ed. D. / incomplete_metadata

This study develops an integrated reading/writing curriculum for the "new" college students. It is based on four assumptions. The first is that the reading of long, complete selections (books, speeches, essays) facilitates comprehension. The second is that the writing of at least three-hundred word essays improves writing ability. The third is that writing is a recursive process. The last is that collaborative learning is valuable because it enables students and teachers to share power and responsibility for planning and evaluating not only course content but also student and teacher performances. The assumptions are derived mainly from the cognitive structure theory of Frank Smith and the non-directive psychological theory of Carl Rogers. The humanist approach of Carl Rogers is applied to the pedagogical process by Rogers himself; Richard Young, Alton Becker, and Kenneth Pike; Kenneth Bruffee; and Peter Elbow. Psycholinguistic and particular composition and writing theories are cited to support the theories of Smith and Rogers. All these theories explore how one grows in understanding and becomes a mature reader and writer. The research leads to instructional principles, and from them, 1 developed the rationale for the content of the curriculum, the procedure for selecting materials, and the eight course components. The integrated reading/writing curriculum includes these components: 1) Orientation; 2) Assigned Readings; 3) Personal Reading; 4) Informal Writing; 5) Formal Writing; 6) Conferences; 7) Special Help; and 8) Evaluation. Each of the components includes an overview, materials needed, teacher's goals, student goals (surmised), proposed activities, and evaluation by teacher and students. The proposed curriculum is complete and ready for use as a pattern in an actual classroom. The study analyzes the curriculum to see if it has remained true to its theoretical base. I develop analysis criteria for the instructional principles and the course components are duly analyzed according to these criteria. The results show that the curriculum did reflect the theoretical foundation. I conclude that it is not only possible to develop a curriculum from a theoretical base, but that it is possible to develop a non-directive, humanities-based curriculum for non-traditional students, in a formal educational setting. Such a course of study can include components which help these students learn how to improve their reading and writing abilities. For further research, I suggest that the curriculum could be field tested in both urban and rural settings. I also suggest that others may wish to experiment with different humanist and/or liberal arts based curricula. / Ed. D.

I examined the effect of a feedback system on the performance of two graduate teaching assistants (GTAb) in writing conferences with their students. Two sets of conferences were taped and coded for the interactions that took place and for the content transacted. I established inter-coder reliability of .84 on interactions and .87 and .89 on content categories, using Scott's Pi Coefficient, with two trained coders. The coded tapes were processed using the “Real Time observational Data Collection” microcomputer program. This program provided printouts of the frequencies and percentages of interactions and content in each of the GTAs’ conferences with students in this study. After the printouts were generated, I conducted feedback interviews following the first and second set of text-based conferences. Transcripts of these taped feedback interviews were also analyzed. I found that there were important differences between the first and second sets of conferences. One GTA was able, as a result of the feedback system, to alter his performance in his second set of conferences, becoming more student-centered, clarifying his expectations for students, and modeling appropriate responses to writing. The content of his second set of conferences did not change markedly; however, the content of both sets of conferences dealt with rhetorical issues as the literature recommended. While the second GTA’s performance did not change a great deal, her attitude became more consistent with the literature suggested. The content of her first conferences tended to focus on mechanical or sentence level concerns. Her second set of conferences, however, contained more discussion of rhetorical issues. Both GTAs attributed most of the changes in their conferences to the feedback system, particularly the printouts that quantified the interactions and content. Finally, the GTAs intentions for their first set of conferences matched their actual performance. When they saw their first printouts, however, tht,ey chanljed their intentions for their second set of conferences, becoming more consistent with what experts contend should be happening in writing conferences. / Doctor of Education

Kong, Ying Yuk. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 287-304). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese.

published_or_final_version / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics

After a brief history of composition studies demonstrating a community realizing the need for more inclusive research practices, this thesis shows composition struggling with its identity as an academically legitimized discipline.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 M663 / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / abstract / Curriculum Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This research project studied a class of high school 11th and 12th grade writing students, for one semester, as they learned to use word processors for composing and editing assignments. The goals of the study were to (a) determine whether the use of a word processor created a special learning environment, (b) document the learning environment created, (c) document the resultant student word processing concepts, schemata and strategies, and (d) document the effects on the writing of students. Five predictions, based on research on language thought and symbol systems, and the application of a theoretical model formed the basis for observations. The predictions were tested by collecting and analyzing student writing and observational data. Student concepts, schemata and strategies were documented through use of the checklists and through observation. Pre- and post-student writing samples were matched and analyzed using individual T-tests, ANOVA and MANCOVA to determine any impact on writing due to the use of word processors. Questionnaires provided background information on English teacher and student writing/word processing backgrounds. Findings indicate support for the research model and predictions 1-4. The research model was found to be useful in organizing data and summarizing prediction results, and may offer assistance to teachers and researchers who want to study the impact of microcomputers from a total learning environment perspective.

Feminist scholars have in many instances led the way in challenging the tendency of academics to make transcendent claims from a disembodied and unmarked position, often in the name of objectivity. One means of reinstating the writer in the act of writing and thus circumventing discourse that, in effect, erases the writer as well as the complexities of the subject is to teach from the perspective of situated knowledges: that is, from the understanding that knowledge is mediated by one's cultural, ideological, and historical position. Moreover, the concept of situated knowledges challenges the positivist assumptions that place the writer outside of the cultural and situational context of the research subject. Situated knowledge thus holds out some intriguing possibilities for the future shape of the teaching of academic discourse. Foremost among those experimenting with the practice of positioning oneself in academic discourse are those scholars working in the cross-disciplinary field of Women's Studies. This dissertation analyzes the rhetorical strategies that three feminist scholars working at the University of Arizona employ in situating themselves in their professional writing. Each scholar occupies a different position along the continuum that represents the efforts to locate oneself. The most conservative strategy common to conventional ideological positioning is one in which the writer avoids any reference to personal location while situating herself within a community of scholars by means of reference and citation. Further along the continuum, the writer may invoke a form of strategic essentialism, critiquing those semiotic systems that enforce various forms of oppression while defining the social context to the advantage of the oppressed group. At the furthest extreme, the researcher acts as participant observer, placing herself in the research situation using a self-reflexive research methodology. In closing, I survey the potential that feminist research methodologies hold for writing pedagogy, especially in assisting our students in locating themselves in their own scholarly pursuits.