| The English Language Arts (ELA) curriculum in Manitoba is divided into six areas: reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing and representing. Those elements are important not only to the language arts, but to all areas of subject learning. Being able to read and write, to interact with ideas and to effectively communicate responses to those ideas is essential to experiencing success in school. With the importance of written communication being what it is, instructors need to offer opportunities for developing and improving the quality of students' written responses to texts studies. Grade school ELA classes present writing lessons in a variety of ways in efforts to help students clearly present ideas and responses to topics and issues encountered in the classroom and in their communities. Attempting to discover whether different instructional approaches can impact the quality of writing is what this study is about. By examining the effects of (1) a "traditional", teacher-centered approach to instruction, (2) a writing response approach to instruction, and (3) a combination of student talking and writing approach to instruction. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
