Christina Mancini's Blog Reflection 4

Recently our class has been discussing the details of teaching a language:  writing. An important aspect of mastering a language is the ability to write in the language. Writing is probably one of the hardest skills that relates to a new language. Speaking and reading is easier because the language is already written on a page for the reader to read and speaking does not require correct spelling or written grammar rules. After having discussion in class about writing and how grammar relates to it, I started to think about different ways my teacher could have better taught Spanish to me.

I took Spanish for 3 semesters, but strictly learned it through memorization, then forgot it afterwards. I think that if I was forced to write more in my L2, I would have further developed my skills and retained more information. Typically I was asked to only write vocabulary words or circle the answer on a page; never write a paragraph or summarize anything. I’m embarrassed to look back at my Spanish career because of how pathetic it was! I reached Spanish 3, of 6, and never wrote a single paragraph.  In particular after today’s lesson, I realized that writing is directly linked to comprehension.  Comprehension is the ability to make meaning of a text, which I was never asked to do on my own; I always had a crutch to help me along; such as the vocabulary was given to me, I had to fill in the blank and the paragraph was already done for me, or the teacher told us the answer and we had to write the answer down.

After concluding this, I realize exactly how I will teacher my future students English. I will give my students prompts as to what to look for while reading. Then ask them to show what they have comprehended, through writing! Writing does not have to be perfect at first, but it is vital to practice over and over again. Now I realize that this strategy may not be used for all activities, but realize that it must be used multiple times a year. Even in my TE 301 class it says that writing can only be improved through practice. So no matter if the student is learning their L1 or L2, practicing writing can help the student engrain the language within them. A language can best be learned through writing because writing involves so many skills, all in one, that lead to higher level thinking in a new language. 

Now I believe that the ability to write in a target language should be considered the ultimate goal within a classroom.