Teaching Reading and Writing

Brown’s chapter entitled “Teaching Reading” helped the reader gain a sense of how to design effective activities, which I enjoyed, and had a lot of good points that I had never thought about before. The first one is that English learners should refrain from using a bilingual dictionary. The meaning of most words can be figured out from their context. I understand that that can help with fluency but I think that knowledge of word meaning is important, too. In regards to types of classroom reading performance, I thought of a disadvantage that is not listed. Oral reading can cause students to feel uncomfortable and inadequate to other students who read better. If students are put on the spot, especially in their L2, their affective filter may be raised because they do not have the necessary language ego yet. However, Brown made a valid point about extensive reading. It usually occurs outside of the classroom and involves pleasure reading. This type of reading not only develops reading fluency and accuracy, but also an appreciation for reading. It is an engaging way to discover more about English.

“Teaching Writing” briefly talked about the issue of voice and identity. How do we preserve the cultural and social identities of students but at the same time teach that English language writing conventions? It is difficult to accommodate students when the task at hand is clear-cut. I feel that we can be culturally sensitive by allowing students to choose topics to write about, such as their backgrounds and to look at the writing in the home country of the students. What is the style? How might the writing of that country be reflected in writing in English? When it comes to types of Written Language, I thought it would be a creative activity to show the students different types of writing (like on 362-363) and teach them how to identify and create these types, such as greeting cards. Lastly, in regards to peer editing, students will learn to be a better writer and a better reader if they take part in peer editing. I had not thought of it in this way before, but it is an applicable point because the students develop their reading skills when they look at the work of their peers. The Myth 5 chapter had good ideas about wiring, as well.

            My favorite of the three readings, “Myth 5: Students Must Learn to Correct All Their Writing Errors”, was a very real chapter in the sense that it gave real-life examples of how to teach and that the author made real connections from his life to the topic. Dana Ferris said that sometimes teachers sometimes expect their students to made radical transformations in a short period of time, which just does not happen. It takes time and hard work to improve and sometimes improvement is not as quick of a process as is wanted. I like that the author said that it is important to focus on the positive aspects of a student’s work. Every step should be celebrated as a big one because the student is that much closer to learning English. Students can be assessed in many different ways. Instead of a timed test, teachers can have students create a writing portfolio to show their improvement. What the teacher will find is that the quality of writing will be improved by higher expectations. Teachers who employ this method, demand more yet give students better conditions for success.