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“A SOURCE of supply, support, or aid, especially one held in reserve.” That is the definition which the Random House Dictionary (unabridged, 1967) provides for the term “resource.” It is also an apt description of a major function of the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) system, a system which supplies educators with Current information about educational innovations, supports their efforts to improve the quality of American education, and aids teachers and administrators in finding that information most pertinent to their individual needs. Through two publications, Research in Education (RIE) and Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE), information on every field and every level of education is funneled to educators.
The ERIC system can be an invaluable aid to chairmen of English departments. Its resources can help department chairmen keep abreast of developments while enabling them to fulfill administrative and classroom responsibilities. In the area of freshman English programs, the ERIC system has a wealth of information. The following are gleaned from the pages of RIE.
“Teaching Composition: A Report on a Bidialectal Approach.” Mary Newton Bruder and Luddy Hayden. Paper presented at the Sixth Annual TESOL Convention (Washington, February 1972). [Ed 062 885. EDRS Price: MF-$0.65; HC-$3.29. 26p.]
This paper considers the problem of teaching formal composition skills to those whose repertories lack formal standard speaking style. The approach advocated here is bidialectal and is based on the idea that control of a variety of language styles is a useful tool and that productive competence of formal composition style is a mandatory skill for those who wish to obtain a university degree in this country. The educational objectives of this approach are to teach the student to identify the features which distinguish standard from non-standard usage, to recognize the appropriateness of dialects to situations, to identify the features which distinguish the registers—with special emphasis on those of the formal written register—to recognize the functional interrelationship between registers and dialects within the speech community, to write compositions in the standard dialect on many topics using standard rhetorical techniques, and to organize and carry out a research topic in acceptable academic form. Details on classroom techniques, textbooks, and procedures are provided, and a bibliography is included.
Descriptors: Language Styles, Composition Skills (Literary), Non-standard Dialects, Teaching Methods, College Students.
“An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Freshman Composition as It Is Taught at Western Illinois University.” Kenneth Resch. Unpublished M.S. thesis, Western Illinois University, 1972. [Ed 064 271. EDRS Price: MF-$0.65; HC-$6.58. 118p.]
Results of research performed to determine whether or not newly-enrolled freshman students improved after one and one-half quarters of composition instruction at Western Illinois University. Using an essay-type placement test given at initial enrollment as a pre-test, 158 students were selected as the experimental group to write post-test essays after one and one-half quarters of composition had been completed. Both the pre-test and post-test essays were subjected to an analytic evaluation which numerically rated each student in the areas of content, organization, style, mechanics, and overall score on the essay. A paired “t” test and a Duncan's Multiple Range test were used to analyze the essay scores data. The general findings and overall conclusions drawn from the study indicated that freshman students do improve their writing ability after one and one-half quarters of composition. That the improvement was due solely to composition instruction cannot be confirmed, since no control group existed to control maturation and other possible extraneous variables. A total of 30 null hypotheses were tested in this experiment. Statistical data are presented in 16 tables and in three appendixes.
Descriptors: College Instruction, Composition (Literary), English Programs, Research, Course Objectives.
Teaching Writing . By Howard Pierson. 1972. [ED 064 709. Not Available from EDRS; available from Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632—$6.50 cloth, $2.95 paper. 94p.]
This book, which is written for English teachers in secondary schools and colleges, particularly junior colleges, is an attempt to provide a convenient and concise statement regarding prevailing tendencies and issues in teaching writing. These are related to correction, the tutorial conference, motivating composition, grammar, research, and lack of nerve among some teachers in the face of electronic cultism. The outstanding features of the book include: (1) an explanation of the intellectual, emotional, and vocational uses of writing; (2) appraisal of traditional correction, lay readers, peer correction, and operant conditioning; (3) samples of students' writings; (4) discussion of student militancy and writing; (5) explicit directions for the tutorial composition conference; (6) instruction on helping students at each step of the writing process, from prevision through revision; (7) the relationship between grammars and writing; (8) summary of research findings in composition and instruction on how to read and interpret current research; and (9) counteracting the negative effects of McLuhanism and revealing the interdependence of writing and other media.
Descriptors: Composition (Literary), Language Arts, Teaching Methods, Writing, College Teachers.
Instructional Objectives for a Junior College Course in Freshman English . Compiled by Leslie Purdy. 1972. [ED 067 075. EDRS Price: MF-$0.65; HC-$3.29.34p]
These instructional objectives, written by Thomas Gripp and Anna Marie Thames, have been selected from materials used at Golden West College (California). The objectives are offered simply as samples that may be used where they correspond to the skills, abilities, and attitudes instructors want their students to acquire. These objectives may also serve as models for assisting instructors in related courses; see: ED 033 693 (English [subject A]; ED 033 694 (English Composition); ED 049 747 (English Composition); and ED 049 749 (Grammar and Composition).
Descriptors: Behavioral Objectives, Composition (Literary), English, Junior Colleges.
A Study of the Effectiveness of Linguistically Oriented Teaching Methods in Correcting Dialectally Derived Errors in the Writing of Black College Students. Final Report. By LaVerne Hanners. 1972. [ED 067 701. EDRS Price: MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29.73p.]
A group of 46 students from a remedial English workshop at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College were subjects in a study to determine whether linguistically-oriented teaching methods more effectively corrected writing errors of black dialect speakers than traditional teaching methods (using The Macmillan Handbook ). An effort was also made to validate a procedure for measuring the influence of a divergent dialect upon written free expression. Divided evenly into an experimental and control group, the students were required, both before and after the semester, to write from dictation 50 sentences which contained 98 opportunities to make dialectally-derived errors and to write a three-page essay on a selected topic. Nondialect and dialect errors were tabulated and between-group differences computed. Results indicated a mean reduction of six errors by experimental group students in free writing. They made 8.69 fewer errors per student in the dictated sentences, while the control group reduced the average number by only one. An appendix with a complete listing of errors, test sentences, questionnaires, syllabi for each group, and writing samples is included.
Descriptors: Composition (Literary), Dialect Studies, Remedial Instruction, Teaching Methods.
Special Composition Issue. John Butler et. al. Kansas English , 58 (December 1972) 138. [ED 073 466. EDRS Price: MF-$0.65; HC-$3.29.38p.]
This edition of the Bulletin of the Kansas Association of Teachers of English consists primarily of articles on composition, with special attention to the composing process. John F. Butler, in “On Teaching Composition,” discusses strategies for meeting two goals in college composition: teaching the more artful use of language and teaching the act of composing. John H. Bushman, Sandra Jones, and Sandra Zerger, in “The Thematic Unit and the Composing Process,” describe how thematic units, sometimes in the form of mini-courses, can be used to stimulate theme topics. The emphasis, the writers argue, should be on the process of learning rather than on the “product”; the approach is a balance between traditional and contemporary subject matter, with a student-centered curriculum. Nancy Vogel, in “‘Exitus,’ the Videotape That Went to Boston: A Momentary Stay against Confusion,” reports on how the class construction of a videotape served to teach the fundamental composition processes.
Descriptors: Composition (Literary), Composition Skills (Literary), Expository Writing, Teaching, College Students.
Evaluation of an Innovative Approach to English Composition Instruction: Phases Two and Three . Kevin Burne. 1973. [ED 073 748. EDRS Price: MF-$0.65; HC-$3.29. 16p.]
Phases Two and Three of an evaluation of an innovative approach to English composition instruction at Long Beach City College are reported. In the innovative approach each class was divided into two groups of 15 students each which met twice each week to discuss topics for writing, to read and revise first drafts of papers, and to discuss basic writing problems as they arose. In addition the students were to spend one hour each week working on writing problems with teachers and teacher aides. In Phase Two, a comparison was made of 136 final essays of 150 students (67 TBA, i.e., experimental, and 69 traditional). All of the essays were written under controlled conditions. The results were tabulated on an essay score sheet which allowed tabulation of 7 rhetorical variables and 14 nonstandard features; in addition a tabulation was made of total errors, error-word ratios, and error-sentence ratios. Analysis of the data is provided. The results of the analysis show that the non-TBA students were more successful in eliminating errors than were the TBA students. In Phase Three, performance in transfer-level English composition (English IA) was studied. Criterion variables used were the following: the tendency to enroll in transfer English composition; the tendency to complete or persist in English 1A; the ratio of achievement grades earned; and the ratio of penalty grades earned. Results of the study showed that the traditional population demonstrated a greater tendency to enroll in the transfer composition course, the difference being at the .05 level of significance. It is concluded that both types of courses equally prepare students for transfer freshman English. The Essay Score Sheet and tables are provided.
Descriptors: College Students, Community College, Composition Skills (Literary), Experimental Programs, Instructional Innovation, Program Evaluation.
Complete copies of most ERIC documents may be purchased in either microfiche (MF) or hardcopy (HC) from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), P.O. Drawer O, Bethesda, Maryland 20014. Orders must specify quantity, ED number, and kind of reproduction desired, MF or HC. MF cost $0.65 per document; HC cost $3.29 per 100 pages.
The ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills is sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English in cooperation with the National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. ERIC's objective is to keep educators informed about current developments in education.
ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communications Skills
© 1973 by the Association of Departments of English. All Rights Reserved.
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