A content analysis of professional journal articles pertaining to composition from January 1969 through September 1982 and a related annotated bibliography.

Abstract

The journals published by the National Council of Teachers of English contained a majority of published articles; therefore, those articles included in the annotated bibliography were from these sources. This author concluded that more emphasis should be given to the interests and needs of secondary and elementary teachers by those in the field who are preparing articles for publication.

Data were reported in numbers and then converted into percentages, which were indicative of the degree of emphasis given to each item. Findings revealed that patterns in article content can be classified into four distinct areas: those which remain stable across time, those which fluctuate, those which were noncontemporary, and those which were contemporary. Trends were also apparent in the educational affiliation and geographical location of authors and educational level of articles. Authors were predominately from the North East sector of the United States and were affiliated with institutions of higher education. Articles were predominately written for an audience at the higher educational level.

The purpose of this research was to ascertain trends or emphases in content, institutional and regional affiliations of authors, and educational levels of articles published within the thirteen-year period from January of 1969 through September of 1982. A secondary purpose was to produce an annotated bibliography for the use of elementary and secondary composition teachers.