Digital Commons Network^™

Bad Writing: Some Thoughts On The Abuse Of Scholarly Rhetoric, Jethro K. Lieberman

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trop De Soleil Tue L'Amour : Une Expression De L'Écriture Du Mal-Être De Mongo Beti, Rodolphine Sylvie Wamba

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The classical and dissident African writer Mongo Beti perpetually uses the theme of man’s quest for freedom in everything he does. In fact, the philosophy of “Rubénism” is found in each of his works. Given that man must survive in the “ocean of shit” he lives in, the writer, using a popular language, freely chooses to add some humour to everyday life. Thus, the text we studied appeared as a genuine thriller, complete with comedy and tragedy, which presents a deviation from more formal writing. This is the main idea of this analysis, which consists of showing Trop de soleil …

The Effect Of Teachers' Error Feedback On International Students' Self-Correction Ability, Youngju Hong

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of teachers' error feedback on ESL students' self-correction ability. One hundred and nineteen international students enrolled in ESL composition classes at Brigham Young University's English Language Center participated in this research. The participants were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: (1) a coded feedback group, (2) a non-coded feedback group, and (3) a no-feedback control group. All participants were asked to write an in-class essay and to self-correct their grammatical errors during 20-minute time period. A grammar test and attitudinal survey were administered at the same time.

An Examination Of Relationships Of Reading And Writing Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Standardized Placement Test Scores, And Diverse Community College Students' Perceptions Of Those Relationships, Ann Woolford-Singh

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Social cognitive theory explains the role that one's level of confidence plays in the accomplishment of a specific task. According to Bandura (1982, 1995), self-efficacy beliefs should align with performance. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among reading/writing self-efficacy beliefs and reading/writing standardized placement test scores of diverse community college freshmen. Additionally, this study sought to understand the sources of these students' reading/writing self-efficacy beliefs through the descriptions of experiences they feel have influenced those beliefs.

There were three major research questions: (1) What is the strength of the relationships among reading/writing self-efficacy beliefs and reading/writing …

The Literacy Practices Of Working Class White Women, Jody Ann Fernandez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is an accepted construct that literacy proficiency is vital to economic success in America. As well, research has shown that home literacy use, especially parental practices, is instrumental in the children's acquisition of literacy skills, and later, proficiency with school literacy tasks. While literacy research abounds regarding family literacy practice, especially that of low-income mothers and children, rarely is the concept of class specifically addressed as separate from race.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the reported home literacy practices of nine white working class women residing in a neighborhood in the Southeastern United States. …

Text, Context, And Identities In Pointe Coupee, Louisiana: Six Young Women Positioned As Writers, Patricia Meeks Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Texts are contextualized¡Xtied to times, tied to places, and tied to the people who live in those times and places. This dissertation is based on a study of writing and identity set at Catholic High School in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana. For their senior English class, the six young women participating in the study produced a number of pieces of writing of various types, contrasting in genre, length, content, and register. These kinds of writing represent varying discourse practices, and it was within these practices that the young women positioned themselves or were positioned by influences in their social context. The …

Using Graphic Organizers To Enhance The Academic Achievement And Self-Esteem Of Haitian Esol Students, Ingrid Chrisphonte

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to increase the academic achievement and self-esteem of English to Speakers of Other Languages Haitian students in language arts through reading and writing. Haitian students were not at the academic level of their counterparts in English. Teacher assessment and observed student behavior in writing assignments and class participation were evidence that a problem existed. Haitian students submitted writing tests that were incomplete. They were unlikely to participate in classroom discussion or to share answers aloud. It was important to make learning enjoyable in a nonthreatening environment.

The writer used various strategies to accomplish the goals. …

Using The Writing Process And Continuous Assessment To Improve Student Compositions, Constance M. Goines

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This dissertation described an intervention program that was designed to improve the quality of writing in an inner city school in the southwest United States. It was an ethnically and linguistically diverse Title I learning community of about 300. The program targeted 44 second semester 3rd graders who would be first semester 4th graders following the July summer break. Two fourth grade teachers, both with at least four years of experience and extensive writing process training, implemented the program at both grade levels.

The focus was to raise writing scores, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) …

The Colorsong Prophecy: Using Gardner's Theory Of Multiple Intelligences To Develop Hero Archetypes For A Young Adult Fictional Fantasy Series Aimed At Promoting A Mythology Of Nonviolence, Danielle Selyse Shylit

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This synthesis explores the value and possibility of using Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory to inform the development of hero archetypes for use as protagonists in my original fictional fantasy series entitled The Colorsong Prophecy. These seven books, in the process of being written, are intended to provide adolescent readers with strong hero models that mirror the intellectual diversity of their own population and promote a new mythology of nonviolence that depicts nonviolent choices as mighty in their own right. I relate this literary work-in-progress to the foundational theories upon which it is based, examining the relevant literature from the …

Writing Mathematics-A Nut And A Bolt Of Style, Frank A. Farris

Mathematics and Computer Science

As editor of Mathematics Magazine, I see a lot of manuscripts. Some of them are written with a charming sense of style, but many of them leave me thinking that the author's only concern was to set out the mathematics clearly. This is a fine place to start, but the tradition of the Magazine is to offer things that people will enjoy reading, and this requires more than clarity. Let me explain an important step authors can take in order to make their work more attractive.

Simplification And Personalization Of French Grammar, Regina Dee

MA TESOL Collection

The materials included in this project have been developed as a result of my emerging understanding of French grammar since I began studying it in 1976. I began teaching a French Activities class in 1986 to eighth graders at St. Andrews and third and fourth graders at an elementary school in Baltimore as a student at Morgan State University. While I was completing my student teaching at Baltimore City College Preparatory School, I found that my students had difficulties understanding textbook explanations. I therefore began to create my own explanations during sessions when students came for after school help. I …

Determining Best Practices For Supporting The Emergent Writer In Kindergarten And First Grade Classrooms: A Handbook For Educators, Lynn Pearl

All Graduate Projects

Best practices for supporting the emergent writer in kindergarten and first grade were researched. The research suggests ways to assist emergent writers as they move through the developmental stages of writing. A handbook for educators was created to not only compliment existing curriculum, but also to help educators organize a writing workshop in their classrooms. This handbook contains activities already field tested in many classrooms, and organized procedures for conducting a writer's workshop. iii

Using Writing To Learn In The Theatre Arts : Exploring Wac Applications And Limitations, Kevin A. Moberg

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Development And Change Process Needed For The Implementation Of The Electronic Writing Portfolio To Assess Student Writing At Eastern Illinois University, Debra Cross Hopgood

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze how the adoption of an electronic writing portfolio led to institutional change at an institution of higherEducation that chose to adopt the Electronic Writing Portfolio (EWP) to assess the writing skills of their students. This study also analyzed the perceptions and experiences of key administrators and faculty that participated in the adoption of the EWP. The research questions addressed in this study were: (1) To what extent has the institution demonstrated that the EWP is linked to the mission of the institution? (2) What is the institutional evidence that faculty participated in …

Review Of The Language Of Speech And Writing, Laurel Smith Stvan

Linguistics & TESOL Faculty Publications & Presentations - Archive

No abstract provided.

Activities For Integrating Reading And Writing In The Language Classroom, Leslie Giesen

MA TESOL Collection

This project aims to provide teachers with a selection of practical activities for integrating reading and writing in the language classroom. It first looks at the connections between reading and writing and discusses how their integration enhances learning. A compilation of before-reading, during-reading and after-reading activities with detailed lesson plans follows.

Special Focus: Personal Writing, Jane E. Hindman

Publications and Research

This introduction to a special section of College English treats the nature, role, and problematics of personal academic discourse and professional work. It address the place of personal writing in professional contexts and aims to clarify the myriad denotations of "the personal" in academic discourse and to suggest viable criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of personal writing's contributions to knowledge-making in English studies.

Language, Myth, And Perceptions In Writing About The Natural Environment, William Laurence Redman

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Meeting The Academic And Social Needs Of Diverse Mainstreamed Students (K-4): A Series Of Workshops For Mainstream Teachers, Carren Renee Tallman

All Graduate Projects

A series of workshop materials was developed to help educators meet the academic and social needs of students at Goldendale Primary School in Goldendale, Washington. The targeted students are those who make insufficient academic and social progress in mainstream classrooms. The materials included in the workshop series consist of assessment training, behavior management strategies, and curriculum adaptation and modification skills that can be used by rural primary mainstream teachers.

Orality In Writing: Its Cultural And Political Function In Anglophone African, African-Caribbean, And African-Canadian Poetry, Yaw Adu-Gyamfi

Faculty Dissertations

For years, critics have used Black writers' interweaving of African-derived oral textual features and European written forms to reject the concept of the Great Divide between orality and writing in literacy studies. These critics primarily see the hybridized texts of writers of African descent as a model that assists in the complex union of writing and orality. My argument is that the integrationist model is not the only way, perhaps not even the most fruitful way, to read the hybridized texts of writers of African descent. I develop a reading of Anglophone African, African-Caribbean, and African-Canadian literature that sees the …

What Is Critical Literacy?, Ira Shor

Journal of Pedagogy, Pluralism, and Practice

We are what we say and do. The way we speak and are spoken to help shape us into the people we become. Through words and other actions, we build ourselves in a world that is building us. That world addresses us to produce the different identities we carry forward in life: men are addressed differently than are women, people of color differently than whites, elite students differently than those from working families. Yet, though language is fateful in teaching us what kind of people to become and what kind of society to make, discourse is not destiny. We can …

Et Cetera, Marshall University

Et Cetera

Founded in 1953, Et Cetera is an annual literary magazine that publishes the creative writing and artwork of Marshall University students and affiliates. Et Cetera is free to the Marshall University community.

Et Cetera welcomes submissions in literary and film criticism, poetry, short stories, drama, all types of creative non-fiction, photography, and art.

Writing Across The Curriculum For Primary Grades, Jenneifer L. Perri

All Graduate Projects

Writing activities have been developed for the primary classroom to help in the teaching of science and social studies. Both research and observation have shown that writing is a thinking process which has a positive impact on all areas of the curriculum. The project included specific writing activities which can be taught during specific science and social studies themes. A list of writing prompts which can be used when using learning logs has been provided as a way to encourage reflection and interaction with curriculum content.

Using Portfolios To Develop L2 Cultural Knowledge And Awareness Of Students In Intermediate Spanish, Lina Lee

Languages, Literatures & Cultures

In spite of many efforts and contributions from previous researchers, the need for a systematic and consistent approach to teaching culture is still unmet. This pilot study shows that the portfolio is a meaningful way to integrate language and culture in a structure that provides opportunities for students to learn about foreign culture while using other skills-reading, listening, writing and speaking. In addition, resources from the Internet, such as Gopher, World Wide Web, and Listservs have great potential for cultural learning out-side the classroom. Foreign language teachers should be encouraged to explore and experiment with portfolios in other content areas …

An Inservice Training Manual Of Selected Writing Techniques To Improve Reading Achievement In Primary Grades, Roni L. Rumsey

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to design and develop a manual of writing techniques that could be used in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, in order to increase reading achievement. To accomplish this, current research and literature on emergent literacy, reading, writing, and communication was reviewed. Additionally, information and selected materials from selected schools and school districts related to the utilization of writing techniques to improve reading skills was obtained and analyzed.

Elements Of A First Grade Writing Program, Julie Laree Fry

All Graduate Projects

Literature regarding the early developmental processes of (1) writing, (2) spelling, and (3) phonemic awareness for children between the ages of five and seven were reviewed. The literature stated that all three of these processes develop simultaneously through a series of very specific stages. Writing in kindergarten and first grade needs to be practiced daily and treated like a free activity without restriction of copious spelling rules. It was further regarded that spelling should be considered a life long evolving skill that should not stifle the early writer. A program to guide teachers as they help first grade children to …

The Effect Of Daily Journal Writing On Reading Achievement Of First Grade Students, Sara A. Dinneen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Changing Practices In The Assessment Of Writing A Discipline Redefining Itself, Marie E. Schleiff

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This thesis concerns how changes in the assessment of writing mirror the historical changes in the purposes and methodologies in education. We have witnessed a dramatic shift from the viewing and testing of writing as a series of sub-skills, with emphasis on error-avoidance and correctness of form, to viewing both the process of writing and its assessment as a means of discovery, reflection, and learning. New practices in the evaluation of writing reflect knowledge of how writing occurs and how it is taught. Results of a survey conducted over two years show high school students' responses to traditional and new …

The Punctator's World: A Discursion (Part Nine), Gwen G. Robinson

The Courier

In the writing ofauthors Henryjames, Robert Louis Stevenson, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, james joyce, E. E. Cummings, Ezra Pound, George Orwell, and Ernest Hemingway, Robinson traces the development in the twentieth century of two rival styles, one "plaindealing" and the other"complected." In the "literary skirmish" between the two, the latter may be losing-perhaps at the expense of our reasoning powers.

Undergraduate Writing In The Sciences: A Case Study, Susan Browning, Jon Bruce Obray

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This research project is an attempt to understand the role of writing in undergraduate science education, including the development of writing's current role in scientific education, the present nature of writing in the scientific disciplines, and its value. With this understanding, we feel it is possible to successfully improve the communication skills of undergraduates students in the scientific disciplines, which in turn will benefit both the scientific community and society itself. A case study of undergraduate writing in the sciences was conducted at Utah State University, both to assess the present attitude of faculty toward this subject and to investigate …