Beyond foreign language writing instruction: The need for literacy pedagogy

The situation we have found ourselves in after 1989 has all the signs of a literacy crisis. As academic teachers, we find the academic literacy skills of many our students below our expectations. Yet, we must not exclude such students, but admit them and find new ways to educate them, taking example from American institutions of higher education which faced a similar literacy crisis in the 1970s. We must provide literacy instruction for those students who lack the traditionally expected literacy skills. My point is that tertiary-level students in Poland should be offered such assistance as long as our goal is university education not only for the elite. For our democracy to thrive, its foundations need to be broadened, which means increasing the number of citizens with critical thinking/literacy skills. By organizing conferences like this one, we can build bridgeheads from which to launch not just writing instruction but literacy instruction in our tertiary education. The key point is understanding what is involved in the transition from being a teacher of the standard academic language to being a teacher of literacy

Effects of word processing on text revision

Revising is an evaluating and editing process that is an essential part of text production. Is text revising facilitated by the use of word processors? After examining the related research, it is difficult to conclude with certainty that the use of word processors is always effective in improving writers' revising skills, or that their use necessarily leads to the production of higher quality texts. Their effectiveness depends on a large number of parameters (computer equipment, writing skills, task execution conditions) which psychologists are now starting to measure

ImpacT2 project: preliminary study 1: establishing the relationship between networked technology and attainment

This report explored teaching practices, beliefs and teaching styles and their influences on ICT use and implementation by pupils. Additional factors explored included the value of school and LEA policies and teacher competence in the use of ICT in classroom settings. ImpaCT2 was a major longitudinal study (1999-2002) involving 60 schools in England, its aims were to: identify the impact of networked technologies on the school and out-of-school environment; determine whether or not this impact affected the educational attainment of pupils aged 816 years (at Key Stages 2, 3, and 4); and provide information that would assist in the formation of national, local and school policies on the deployment of IC

A review of the research literature relating to ICT and attainment

Summary of the main report, which examined current research and evidence for the impact of ICT on pupil attainment and learning in school settings and the strengths and limitations of the methodologies used in the research literature

A Multimedia Resource Manual to Facilitate English Language Instruction for Elementary Youth in Taiwan

The purpose of this project was to develop a multimedia resource manual to facilitate English language instmction for elementary youth in Taiwan. To accomplish this purpose, a review of current literature regarding multimedia technology in English language instmction for EFL/ESL learners was conducted. In addition, unit overviews, objectives oflesson plans, learning activities, teaching strategies, and instmctional materials were adapted and developed

Network-Based Classrooms

Computer-mediated communication is an increasingly familiar part of the educational experiences of students from elementary school through graduate school. This is not surprising, because electronic mail, bulletin boards, gopher servers, and other forms of telecommunication offer conveniences and exciting new possibilities for learning. The rapid expansion of the Internet, the availability of low-cost modems and high-speed data lines, and a growing awareness of the educational possibilities are leading to major changes in classrooms. The many ways in which network-based classrooms are used highlights questions about the goals and means of education that are too often pushed aside. By affording new ways of communicating, these classrooms ask us to rethink questions such as: What role should the teacher have in the classroom? How can students support each other???s learning? What kinds of writing should students learn to do? How should we accommodate, or balance, student interests with other curricular concerns? What is needed to make a classroom become a true learning community? In addition to raising these questions, they provide us with new possibilities for answering them.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe