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50 Years of ERIC
50 Years of ERIC
The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is celebrating its 50th Birthday! First opened on May 15th, 1964 ERIC continues the long tradition of ongoing innovation and enhancement.

Learn more about the history of ERIC here. PDF icon

Showing all 6 results
After Symbol-Picking
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Sloan, Gary – College Composition and Communication, 1976
Contends that symbol-hunting is a more effective way of studying poetry than close reading. (DD)
Descriptors: Critical Reading, Higher Education, Literary Criticism, Poetry
The Subversive Effects of an Oral Culture on Student Writing.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Sloan, Gary – College Composition and Communication, 1979
An examination of 2,000 freshman themes, half written from 1950 to 1957 and half from 1973 to 1976, revealed that recent themes had many more deviations from standard usage, mechanics, and punctuation. (DD)
Descriptors: College Freshmen, Educational Problems, Educational Research, Error Analysis (Language)
The Wacky World of Theme-Marking
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Sloan, Gary – College Composition and Communication, 1977
Describes the inconsistencies and inaccuracies in 50 instructors' markings of some 2,000 freshman English themes. (DD)
Descriptors: College Freshmen, Evaluation, Evaluation Criteria, Higher Education
Relational Ambiguity between Sentences.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Sloan, Gary – College Composition and Communication, 1988
Explores the concept of ambiity in semantic relationships, and discusses several causes of relational ambiguity, including differing world views, subtext construction, and selective focusing. Asserts that while most instances of relational ambiguity do not impair text comprehension, readers should be aware of possible ambiguities. (MM)
Descriptors: Ambiguity, Coherence, Cohesion (Written Composition), Figurative Language
Transitions: Relationships among T-Units.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Sloan, Gary – College Composition and Communication, 1983
Citing results of an analysis of 46 college level essays, the author refutes W. Ross Winterowd's theory that, with only two exceptions, every T-unit must have one of seven transitional relationships with the unit before and after it. (HTH)
Descriptors: Cohesion (Written Composition), Higher Education, Semantics, Syntax
Frequency of Errors in Essays by College Freshmen and by Professional Writers.
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Sloan, Gary – College Composition and Communication, 1990
Compares writing errors made by college freshmen and professional writers. Explains that 20 student essays were compared to 20 essays from the students' textbook, "Short Takes: Model Essays for Composition." Notes that students and professionals were almost equally prone to commit errors. Offers suggestions for improving student writing. (SG)
Descriptors: Authors, Comparative Analysis, Essays, Freshman Composition