emilychen
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Role of Writing
1) Among the four roles of writing, which one(s) do you think more important for beginners and which one(s) more important for advanced learners? Why? Please explain your reasons.
2)Recall your own writing learning experiences in English. Which role(s) of writing do you think your writing teachers gave more attention to? Please give examples. Do you think all of your writing teachers used the same teaching approaches? Which one(s) do you like better? Why?
Note: Groups 7 & 8 are required to answer these two questions.
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11/17/2004, 7:28 pm
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pigdodoo
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Re: Role of Writing~from group 7
1.Among the four roles of writing, which one(s) do you think more important for beginners and which one(s) more important for advanced learners? Why? Please explain your reasons.
I think that focus on form and the writer is more important for beginners among the four roles of writing because form can be regarded as the basic knowledge in writing. If beginners do not learn well in this part, they won’t know how to start a writing, not to mention others. Besides, they should know how to start writing. Form brainstorming to revising is quite important for beginners to develop a good fundamental skill in writing. Therefore, my personal thought is that focus on form and writer are more important for beginners.
For advanced learners, I consider that they should focus on the content and reader. Since they have already had basic knowledge about how to start writing, they need to know who the reader is and how to make the reader understand what they write. That is necessary step to attract readers’ attention. In addition, content and rhetoric form used in academic writing are both emphasized.
2. Recall your own writing learning experiences in English. Which role(s) of writing do you think your writing teachers gave more attention to? Please give examples. Do you think all of your writing teachers used the same teaching approaches? Which one(s) do you like better? Why?
In my opinion, writing is a difficult task for the second language learners since Chinese have totally different grammar construction from English. It is hard for us to memorize all the vocabulary, proverbs, and idioms of English. Because of it, we may not express what we want to say by writing properly. Therefore, most of our English teachers will pay much more attention to the second role, that is, they will focus on the writer much more. In the writing class, we have to have a draft before starting to write. Teachers will have some comment on the writing topics and also check if the details fit with topics. If we made some grammatical mistakes or wrong expressions, teachers will correct them for us. After that, we were also asked to revise the writing. Teachers will also ask us to read others’ writing and give comments. Therefore, we may learn from peers. I think it is a good way for students to learn and find the mistakes they made. Also, students may feel less stress if they were corrected by their classmates.
I think most of my teachers use the same strategy in the writing class. Most of them want us to express what we want to say clearly. We started our writing from the basic topic like what do you want to be in the future or explain your family. Those things are related to students’ lives and are easier to write. Teachers will not pay so much attention to the rhetoric form. It is enough if student convey their opinions by writing straightly.
Personally, I like the second role of writing. I think the most important part of writing is to say what you want to say. The author’s opinions are conveyed from their writing. Also, authors can get new ideas from others after other peer read their writings. It is a good way to exchange opinions with others. Therefore, I think it is a useful way for writers to improve their writing skills.
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11/22/2004, 12:07 am
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CharlotteShih
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Re: Role of Writing~by Group 8
1.Among the four roles of writing, which one(s) do you think more important for beginners and which one(s) more important for advanced learners? Why? Please explain your reasons.
I think the role of focus on form is more important for beginners. Since the pattern of first language will interfere with second language, the language structure (grammar) plays an important role to help beginners learn the correct form of second language. The ability to write well is not an ability we can acquire naturally. We learn it through practices and experience and notice the formal form by acquiring the writing strategies and skills. As we acquire writing in our first language, we might write with the patterns of speech in the beginning. However, after we learn some writing techniques and rhetoric by focusing on form, we notice how to write in correct way. Therefore, since speech pattern, first language cultural thought pattern, and rhetorical form will affect second language learners to write, the beginner got to focus on form first, and then they can easily transmit and transform the information they want to write afterward. On the other hand, I think the role of focus on the reader is important for advanced learners. The main purpose of writing is conveying the message you want to let others know. If the text you write can not be understood, then it is meaningless even though you have good writing strategies and skills. Also, if what you write is not meet the reader’s expectation, then your writing can not satisfy the readers, and it can not be said as successful writings. Therefore, it is important for advanced learners to focus on the reader. Only if they focus on the readers can they imply knowledge or their expectations successfully.
2. Recall your own writing learning experiences in English. Which role(s) of writing do you think your writing teachers gave more attention to? Please give examples. Do you think all of your writing teachers used the same teaching approaches? Which one(s) do you like better? Why?
My writing teachers gave more attention to the writer and the reader. For example, Dr. Good teaches our group writing this year. We often have brainstorming in class, do the exercises at home and then discuss the answers with classmates. Besides, after he gives back us the drafts we wrote, he will ask us to exchange the papers and write down questions that you want to know more about the paragraphs you read. And then go home and revise paragraphs according to questions your classmates give you. The purpose he wants us to peer-review and to revise is that he trains our group members to write more details to satisfy readers when we are writing. He expects us to think about the target audience before we write down. If the target audience is children, writers should use simple words and structures. If the target audience is adults, writers can use difficult words and complex structures.
However, some of my writing teachers do not use the same teaching approaches as Dr. Good uses. Some of them gave more attention on Form-based Approach, but some do not. I like both Process-focused Approach and Reader/audience-dominated Approach better because the ways I write in Chinese and in English are different. The Process-focused Approach makes me write a lot of drafts, share feedback with my peers to know which part I have done very well and which part I should pay more attention on it. And then I revise these drafts and get improved. The Reader/audience-dominated Approach makes me think about my readers and write details to satisfy them not just write what I want to write. I think both ways make me improve on English writing.
Last edited by CharlotteShih, 11/22/2004, 12:28 am
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11/22/2004, 12:27 am
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