Williams: Speaking, Writing, and Hybrid forms of interaction

While I can understand the idea that speaking carries a good deal more pressure in the classroom than perhaps writing does, I still think it is important to encourage speaking in the classroom. When we speak to students, we should monitor our own speech and take note of whether or not we are providing them with an appropriate language model to refer to as they practice their own oral skills. Kumaravadivelu (2006) suggested that by encouraging students to attempt oral production we would be encouraging them to process the target language at a much higher cognitive level.

I can definitely see the value of online chatting as a conversation tool for practicing second language skills. There is a lower risk in using spoken language forms in an online chat situation than in the classroom. People in chat forums tend to expect that the person they are conversing with may take some time in responding. People rarely feel the need to correct other people’s speech in a chat forum, though students would probably take note of the forms and structures most commonly used. This would be a fairly safe space for second language students. I’ve felt less constrained by my own feelings of uncertainty in my L2’s when I chat with people from Germany or German speaking areas online. Also, interestingly, people seem to be far more admiring of second language learners online than in the classroom. Online, people sometimes want to learn how many languages their conversation partner speaks. Bilingualism, biliteracy, and multi-lingualism tend to be praised.

Chapter 4: Reading to Write

I was really interested in Hirvela's chapter 4 on Reading to Write. I strongly believe the way I read and the variety of literature I read influence the way that I write. When I was younger, I would read all kinds of humorous adventure stories from the children's section of our Free Library. At some point, my mother began showing me how to use her typewriter (because I thought it was interesting) and I began typing up one-two page adventure stories of my own. The style that I used to write my stories was reflective of the style shown by the authors I had been reading. My stories were pretty funny and engaging, but they usually ended in "to be continued..." as I was still learning about writing and keeping a focus and developing all these other aspects that go into creating a prolonged narrative. I would definitely consider my experience under the term "reading for writing" as described by Carson(1993).

I especially love the quote by Kroll(1993)that, "one can read a text not only to 'learn' its content but to 'learn' choices that writers have made in producing it" (113).I would actually love be able to give first year students a book list to have read before the start of class. I do not think that many beginning students read enough...to be fair, I don't think most people in general read enough. I'm not quite sure why summer reading is required in high school (at least my high school) and not in college for undergraduates. Students often complain about class readings, fail to complete readings, or have trouble understanding readings because they do not read much outside of the classroom. Reading on a regular basis would probably make it a less jarring experience during the semester.

Chapter 1: An Overview of Reading-Writing Connection

Reading and writing are both acts of composing. One act informs and influences the other. That seems to be the suggestion in this chapter. It’s amazing how differently we think about the act of reading in comparison to the way they thought in 1983. How could reading ever be passive? I am a very active reader. Either I’m actively engaged in a text, or I am actively resistant to reading a text but I’m never a passive reader. The best texts are the ones that coax you to be an active reader and get engaged in a dialogue with the text or the author or the concepts presented in the text.

This is why I wish I could give my students a required reading list like I was required to have during my summers in high school. Reading a variety of texts helped develop my writing skills, my vocabulary, my form, and my style. I love to read; partially because I love the way my reading is reflected in some of the things that I write. Reading allows me to observe and take note of what other writers do in their texts and invites me to try on some of those ways of writing and meaning-making. I can barely fathom the thought of “reading teachers”. Who are they? It is hard for me to see reading and writing being taught in two separate classes. I mean, some people argue that this is what we have going in between composition and literature. Some people see literature courses as just reading a lot of different books, and see composition as just writing a lot of papers. Both of those things do happen, but they are definitely not happening in isolation from each other.

Hirvela says, “one of the best ways to improve writing is to improve reading” (11). I have been thinking what hirvela is saying for a while now. What is our job? This is an idea that Hirvela brings up in chapter one. I am constantly wondering, “What is our job?” It has become obvious that many college students are coming to us straight from high school with poor reading and writing skills. There is always a debate about what exactly our obligation is to these students. Personally, I want to make them read more, take vocabulary quizzes, and work on using academic English not only on paper but in classroom discussion. The reading, I think, will expand their vocabulary and provide them with more ways to express themselves and more ways to construct meaning.