COMPUTERS AND TEACHING COMPOSITION IN A FOREIGN-LANGUAGE

New technologies for word processing provide incentives for changing the way writing is understood and taught in the foreign language classroom. Special hardware and software are expensive, however, and training faculty and students to use them is daunting. This article shows how any ordinary text editing program such as WordPerfect and a small number of computers can become the platform for a higher volume of student production, a greater variety of writing assignments in the second language and easier grading and writing management on the part of the teacher.