Genre
My reading experiences and skills have followed along with my
development as a writer. As a younger student and even early into my 20’s I did
not enjoy reading, it was something I viewed as a chore and my writing skills
reflected this. As I aged I realized the value and enjoyment of reading which
opened up my view of writing. The reading to me was a model where I could
validate my work by comparison. I think it is the same for L1 and L2 writing,
reading is a model and teacher for writing.
Emails are the most common genre I
encounter and this is both academic and nonacademic. Normally they are brief
informal communication with a single purpose. Online texting is something I see
regularly with the same features except even shorter and lots of slang. News
articles are longer and more descriptive with formal language still used to
communicate a message or information. Textbooks are a step up in formality and
language and quite a bit longer, no slang allowed. I learn from these the
accepted methods of communication in our culture and differences in each.
Instructional materials must be
relevant to the topic and target population. I look for current materials that
will assist enhance and instruct in the desired objectives. At my current position
this means adaptable to diverse individuals of varied backgrounds. Digital and
print are both highly prized if they accomplish the task in my classroom!
The difference in a L2 text is the
detail that needs to exist. We need to assume that the student is lacking a
foundation/background in reading and writing and teach easy to follow steps.
Most struggling L2 upper high schoolers I have remediated in their writing
understand what they need to do, but are being bogged down by advanced details.
When I have them step back and stop worrying about the rubric details to focus
on comprehension and addressing the prompt they are always successful. They
need an understanding of the basics first.
I use supplemental materials at
every opportunity. They can serve to reinforce lessons and concepts as well as
clarify points of confusion. It is also a nice way to break up lessons and reengage
learners.
Activities for inexperienced writers
outside of class I try to keep to informal and recreational reading and
writing. I need to be there to monitor and correct while the activities happen
in class and without a teacher it will simply not happen. In our refugee population
the majority of parents are also learning English, therefore I always gather as
many materials as they are willing to accept to assist with this in the homes.
I always push my students to share and teach their parents what we learn in
school. In-class activities are basic structure learning of process writing and
reading practice. I always read the passage aloud first and then they read to
me or in small group.
Experienced writers are able to be
turned lose with tasks. I would usually focus on reading and research away from
class and more structured writing during class.
No comments:
Post a Comment