Computers come of age in writing instruction

Conclusion

During its first three years of use at CSU, thewriter's workbench system enjoyed such success with students, faculty, teaching assistants, and administrators that the project now includes the entire composition program—basic, college, and advanced writing, more than 4000 students per year. Faculty in the College of Business have adaptedworkbench for the needs of their students. Faculty in the Intensive English program have adapted it for international students learning English. As the result of a slight increase in tuition, the English Department's Center for Computer-Assisted Writing is now free to all composition students. As the project continues to expand, the laboratory will become a textual-analysis and writing center, soon CSU hopes, open at no charge to all students writing papers for any instructor on campus who agrees to spend lecture, office or grading time helping students with writing problems.

Programs for composition instruction like theworkbench now give writers new power to learn by bringing even the seemingly esoteric and difficult points of style and diction directly to bear on the writer's text. Our experience and that of students at CSU suggest that computers and software will improve the way we write, the way we learn to write, and the way we teach writing.