Teaching Writing in the Foreign Language Curriculum. Language in Education: Theory and Practice, 43.

A text-editing approach to composition in the foreign language classroom is set forth. In a 15-week composition course meeting three times each week, students prepare a weekly composition that they will revise after an in-class text-editing session involving several student papers. The third day is devoted to grammar work. Criteria for evaluating student compositions are set forth. Progress in writing skill is enhanced by careful attention to prose style, and students are encouraged to write pastiches. Finally, students are required to keep a journal. Testing and grading are discussed, and situations commonly encountered by teachers are dealt with. Appendices include suggestions for or samples of personal assessment statement, course introduction for a basic French composition course, grammar mid-term, student evaluation of course, prose style analysis checklist, grammar review sheet, sentence-embedding exercises, and tests. Samples of student work (composition outlines, prose style analyses, and pastiches) are presented, most with the actual text-editing corrections of the teacher. The paper concludes with suggested texts for pastiche exercises. (JB)