APLNG 412 Teaching Second Language Writing

Textbook 1.

Meeting Objectives: 2, 3, 4, 6

Download the attached files

    Using one sentence to summarize this course—“it is more than second language writing, but sociopolitical issues related literacy development.” I admit that before taking this course, I viewed teaching second language writing as designing learning topics, choosing materials, and giving feedback to students’ papers. In other words, I took writing not so much as a skill, though I knew it was tightly connected to listening, reading, and speaking. However, this class turned my perception of writing to be a set of political issues correlating with power.

Textbook 2.

      The first project was a literacy biography (please refer to the attachment literacy biography). Before doing this project, I nearly forgot that becoming able to read and write was such a heavy, painful, self digging and identity constructing process, I have experienced the processes twice: learning how to read and write in Mandarin and English. This project still reminds me always put myself in ESL/EFL learners’ shoes to understand their struggle in their literacy development.

Textbook 3.

       Another project was an observation in the writing center (please refer to the attachment—reflective tutoring observation). Because of the observation, I learned that the center’s structuring tutoring process was not so natural and simple. It implied the center’s defining of “what is good writing,” but it was not necessarily consistent with expectations of instructors or literacy research.

Textbook 4.

      The final project was a combination of philosophy of literacy and a lesson plan (please refer to the file named philosophy of literacy). By the end of this class, the emotional reactions toward literacy development were refined with the theoretical knowledge. In this philosophy I articulated my feeling which intertwined with the scientific concepts, and they were applied in the lesson plan.
      Because of these projects and the issues explored in this class, I came to a whole new, more complicated understanding toward teaching writing. I decided that if I have a chance to teach writing, I will not present a “perfect” model of writing for my students to pursue, but encourage them to develop repertoire which will help them communicate effectively in different genres.