Writing to read, Reading to write: November 11, 2009

Writing is not simply to transcribe our thoughts and ideas onto paper or computer screen.
I strongly agree that writing strengthens reading and facilitates learning. That’s why writing needs to be incorporated into English classes for other modalities such as reading and speaking. Although it would be better not to separate those modalities in the first place, reading and speaking teachers can encourage students to keep uncontrolled journals, or take notes etc. when organizing the structures of classes are beyond the control of teachers.

Yuko’s acquisition of academic literacy in Spack’s (1997) article is interesting because writing played an important role in her academic life. While Yuko’s efforts were worth being appreciated, I believe that teachers’ support must have been there. “The experience of writing and revising journal entries in her sociology class showed her a way to use writing to clarify reading and to put social scientists’ ideas into her own words” (p. 46). When she entered college, it seemed that she didn’t expect the beneficial effect of writing in her learning. One or some of her teachers must have encouraged her to keep journals and revise her journals. Or the teacher must have shown strategies of using writing for her learning and reading. This is what we teachers need to do.

A small change in teaching practices can make a big difference in our students’ learning path. I observed that even teachers’ passion about a topic and care about our students made a difference in student learning in classrooms. No matter how insignificant what teachers do in the classroom look, it can have a great or small but sustainable impact on students’ success. Teachers need to acknowledge the value of writing and try to incorporate writing in their teaching.