1. Read the material.
2. Post on the Blog.
3. Using the same sample material I sent before in Spanish, create a writing quiz. Take a look at the elements and consider that this sample page is for an elementary level.
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For me another cultural difference is teaching our students to write using their own ideas on a paper report or an essay, because in our educational system students are taught how write about what someone else had said. They don’t have critical thinking, as result they struggle when writing something without basing all their report on someone else points of view. I think that this is one of the strongest cultural differences that second language teachers have to face here in Salvador because it’s very difficult to change this pattern. Even in college students and teacher face this problem when some papers or essays are plagiarized by students.
ReplyDeleteFátima Crespín
When we work with a writer who is native speaker, we can assume that he knows what a thesis sentence is; that he understands the basic idea of the paragraph; that he will place a topic sentence at or near the beginning of each paragraph, and that he understands (at least in a general way) the rules governing plagiarism. However, with an ESL writer, none of these principles can be assumed.I think this is another difference when teaching writing to L2 students. Raquel
ReplyDeleteIn El Salvador we do not have the custom to read or write something as a hobby, we must receive something to do so. In the school it is difficult to ask the students to write because they do not do it. (Either Spanish or English) So when I teach my students to write something like sentences I ask them to do it using some pictures and a specific grammatical structure.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I know is that students develop different abilities, what happen when there are students that are good at reading but they can not put together their own ideas and write them down on a page. According to the material, it says that if we are good readers it means that we are good writers. Is that right?
Ana Maria
I agree what ana maria said about salvadoreans culture about reading, we lack of writing abilities such as orthography, writing a poem or either an essay. imagine if for us as a native speakers it is difficult writing in spanish so image for a l2 speakers. the most difficult about writing is the coherence, the relation between the ideas and how join it together in a paper.silvia
ReplyDeleteI think that writing is one of the most difficult abilities to teach because we have to pay attention to all its components such as organization of ideas, spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Unfortunately, in El Salvador most of the people don’t know how to write properly in Spanish. They lack of the writing ability. So, for us second language teacher is really challenging to develop this ability in our students because they don’t see the importance of writing properly in English. They think that the most important ability for them to learn is speaking.
ReplyDeleteFátima Crespín
Writing is something that our students take time to polish. When they are asked to write something they have the idea in mind and they just translate their thinking literally influenced in this case for our language Spanish. English has many words that can work as verbs or nouns and some auxiliaries that make harder the writing of sentences or a short composition.
ReplyDeleteSo, in my personal case I teach my students grammar more than anything else and I try to tell them that words in English can work in different ways.
Composition is the most difficult ability to develop because it involves grammar, punctuation, coherence, correct use of vocabulary, etc. Therefore, our students should be taught to write complete ideas, to use correct punctuation and the most important thing, to use linking words and determiners like but, and, because, however, the, a, an, etc.
Julio Beltrán.
The more you read the more your writing abilities improve. Essays, documents and other stuff show you and teach you at the same time how to write. Sometimes when you are asked to write a short composition, you use phrases and expressions you have read somewhere else without noticing it. Reading enhance writing in the sense that when you are reading you learn many new words and unconsciously you learn to make pauses and apply correct puctuation when writing. It has happened to me and I'm pretty sure it has happened to you.
ReplyDeleteJulio Beltrán.
When I worked at a radio station in San Salvador, I was told to listen to others... then I would learn to do the same. Good readers make good writers? I would say yes... the more you read, the more you imitate, the more you learn how to write... no?
ReplyDeleteI agree about nelson said we if you are a good reader you know how to give a speech and why not write excellent. indeed as a reader you learned a lot of vocabulary and also sentences constructions, ideas, coherence, cohesion, how to trasmit your ideas clearly to the audience. writting is the most difficult ability to learn it is not the same speaking rather writting. because when tou speak yo do it natuarly and you trasmit your personality, instead of writing it has to be formal and academic, and we have to be careful about what we write and what we want to trasmit to the readers.
ReplyDeletesilvia
for having an excellent writing ability your ideas need to be clear and in order, that is smth most of us lack of, to have clear what we want to argue or discuss. besides puntuation is important. trasmit our ideas is not always easy, specially for 2l learners due to they always think in their native language and try to translate their ideas to the target language.
ReplyDeletesilvia
I agree with nelson, that the most you read the most you learn and in that way you can imitate in the way you write.
ReplyDeleteIn teaching is the most difficult ability to develop in our students, because they are still in the process of acquiring the linguistic system. They can't even write in spanish and they find difficult when we ask them to write three or five sentences in English. So, reading is very important because it exposes the students to new vocabulary and to formal written language, and in this way they can improve in the writing skills.
Magdalena...
Agree. I am at a conference in Costa Rica and someone asked me what can be done to encourage students to write creatively. As Central Americans, we do not write unless we have to. Much less in a foreign language. It is HARD for people to write in a foreign language when they don't even do it in their native tongue.
ReplyDelete