Since this is a personal reflective blog, I always write stuff about my previous experiences and try to compare them with what has been learned during the week. As this week was about writing, I’ll share with you my own experience in writing.
I remember two years ago when I was in the States I was very interested in writing so that I took a course in technical and professional writing and another one in news writing. I recall how much we suffered with these two courses, especially the first one. We would spend a lot of time just in very simple stuff, like those mentioned in Krajka’s article. Every time we wrote something we would feel very satisfied that we did a graet job. But once we go to the professor she would make lots of comments and corrections.
She might have been right, and I don’t blame her, on the contrary, I give her credit for that because she wanted us to master all style of writings. However I still don’t agree with the way we were given that course; lots of stress, time, and energy which all lead to disappointment and discouragement. We spent lots of time in very little things that could have been gained on the road. We could have spent that time in much better way.
I could say the whole course could have been taken in two weeks or so, and the rest of time could have been used for practice. Just as Krajka suggested “ I am in favor of devoting at least two periods to teaching one genre” which means totally 22 periods, which could be broken down into two weeks give or take a few change.
Like other skills in English language, writing takes time to be mastered. You can’t judge a person by one piece of writing, rather you show him the techniques and he goes by himself.
I am amazed at the way the writer dealt with each genre individually, the description, and the resources. I could Imagine how great benefit students would gain if they join such course. I hope, I could someday do a similar course with my own students…you hope so too for me.. don’t you? Thank you..
Thank you for sharing your personal experiences of a writing course. It's too bad that you had a negative one. But maybe you learned something very valuable: what it's like to be a student. It seems to me that we teachers sometimes forget what it is like to be a student and it's difficult for us to look at things from the learner's point of view. Encouragement and praise can do wonders for motivation. If my students don't do very well in a test, I always remind them that it is JUST English. We, as teachers, should be able to see the big picture and help our students do the same.
ReplyDeleteYes, Faisal! I understand what you are talking about. I was a student and I had similar experiences. From my humble experience, as a student and as a teacher, writing is the most difficult skill for a foreign language learner. I have seen that first hand myself and with my students. Unfortunately, we don't have an independent course for teaching this important skill.
ReplyDeleteMay be now with the help of technology and the many websites and resources available, teaching and learning this skill will be easier and more fun.
I totally agree that the article by Krajka is full of creative ideas which can easily be used in our situation. I also liked the idea of breaking the course into different genres and handling them one at a time.
Good luck to you and us all.