Herrington & Curtis (2000), building on Goldblatt's (1995) idea of the "sponsoring institution," (p. 48) showed students' need for a personal sense of connection with a "sponsoring discourse" when writing in the academy. As Herrington and Curtis, as well as Goldblatt point out, these "sponsoring discourses" often come from outside the academy.…

Providing feedback is one of the foreign language writing teacher's most important tasks (Ferris, 2007). However there is less certainty about the techniques that should be used (K. Hyland & F. Hyland, 2006). This article reports on research that investigated the effects of two types of teacher feedback, on-tape and written, and of the absence of…

This exploratory study investigated the effects of a structured writing strategy on the quality of expository compositions produced by 36 African-American college undergraduates with learning disabilities. The strategy was structured to assist students in developing a topic sentence and main ideas into body paragraphs, and in using transition…

Writing instruction in the United States now routinely takes place in networked environments. For adult learners in open admissions institutions, the literacy demands of the academic sphere and the public nature of the acts of writing in networked environments can create alienating experiences. This study examined the possibilities that the genre…

Conducts two studies that asked whether undergraduates who attended one-to-one conferences on rough drafts improved as writers. Notes the first year focused on peer tutors, so few changes remained for students to make, and results were inconclusive; but the second year focused on a professional tutor. Finds 65% of revisions made afterwards were in…

Explores the relationship between expectations of success or failure in community college students and the functions of writing. Considers if high, medium, and low self-efficacy writers differ in terms of the range of the possible functions and usage. Reveals a direct correlation between self-efficacy on each of three dimensions. Calls attention…

Discusses the use of online teaching assistants or "course wizards," employed at Mercy College (New York) not only to tutor students who are experiencing difficulty but also to facilitate discussion and to model the role of a successful student. Presents a discussion of the current crisis in higher education in America and of how online education…

Addresses problems related to consistency of goals and objectives in student portfolio applications. Poses questions to test if the portfolio process is working correctly and authentically, particularly in weighing the use of portfolios as a formative rather than summative tool. (SG)

Discusses how the writing classroom can impact students' understanding of self-identity. Notes how the writing classroom can affect student awareness of themselves as gendered individuals. Considers how teachers who effectively use writing activities in the classroom have the opportunity to increase power within the classroom for both female and…

Presents a strategy that helps English-as-a-second-language students improve their writing by developing a culturally based self-monitoring strategy that guides them through the revision process. Describes how the students enhance their metacognitive cross-cultural knowledge by comparing various rhetorical patterns and improve their metacognitive…

Notes that the college writing style model is based on a wide range of research conducted in the United States and abroad. Notes the writing style model is comprehensive because it explains strategies writers use in relation to writers' beliefs, writing environments, and written products. Concludes with recommendations for instruction that…

Translates learning style theory into the following university teaching practices: classroom learning, group assignments, essay research-writing instruction, and examinations. Notes that the recommendations for practice can be adapted to accommodate the style delineations of other theorists' models. Focuses on university classroom, group, essay…

Examines reasons for the resistance and resentment of many student athletes to working with writing tutors. Discusses successful intervention strategies for dealing with counter-productive behavior. Argues that the resultant learning not only enriches the athletes, but the entire academic community, since their stories are a tremendous asset for…

Presents a case study of a tutoring session. Includes portions of the student's essay and perspectives from both student and tutor. Presents two responses to the case study that argue for focusing on the writer as a writer of a paper, instead of on the paper as a product of the tutorial; and on what makes a tutoring session effective. (SR)

Reviews the use of teaching conflict pedagogy, specifically war narratives, in order to evaluate positions of power. Utilizes the views of compositional theorists, rhetoricians, essayists, and fiction writers in an effort to disengage students from unproductive argumentation models. Challenges past polarities and forges confrontational cooperation…