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Why
Aren't You Using Writing Journals?
John
Brezinsky, Higher Education Marketing Manager
Writing
journals can greatly improve students’ writing fluency and
help students become better readers, without adding more than a few
minutes to your workload. This article describes why you should use
journals, offers tips for getting started, and includes a free podcast.
Why
Use Writing Journals?
Why?
Because students often become better writers and better readers if they
keep a journal. Journals are an opportunity to practice writing for
meaning—without worrying about accuracy or rhetorical modes.
They allow students to experiment with language and take risks. They
develop writing fluency in the same way that open-ended speaking tasks
develop oral fluency. Furthermore, research (Mylnarcyzk, 1993; Spack,
1993) suggests that journal writing also helps students to think more
about what they read, reflect on their reading skills, and make
stronger connections between reading and writing.
How to Use Writing
Journals
Adding
a writing journal to your Reading/Writing course is easy. Just keep
these tips in mind.
- Make
it interesting.
Set the journal task after a good discussion of a reading.
Don’t tell students to just react," but
give them something specific to respond to.
- Don’t let them focus on
form.The whole idea is for
the students to practice writing quickly and fluently. They should not
worry about spelling, grammar, or mechanics. Consider prohibiting the
use of dictionaries during these exercises. You may even encourage
students to add the occasional word in L1 if they dn'’t know
it in English. These words can then become the source of personal
vocabulary lists.
- Do it in class at
first.
Journal writing is a new concept to many students, so you may have to
do the first several entries in class. Don't let the silent
writing bother you—they’re learning a valuable
skill. Once they're used to the idea of writing for meaning
rather than grammar, you can start setting the tasks for homework.
- Grade the writing based on fluency,
not accuracy. You can
relax. You don't have to correct spelling mistakes, or
grammar issues, or problems with cohesion. Just read what your students
have written, and give them a grade based on how much they tried to
communicate. Did they take risks? Did they push themselves further?
Where Can You Find
Journal
Activities?
Surprisingly
enough, there are very few Reading/Writing textbook series that include
regular journal exercises as part of their structure. Our newest
series, From
Reading to Writing,
is a clear exception. In each chapter, students focus on reading
skills, discuss the readings, and then respond to a discussion question
in their journals. This happens right on the student book page, so
instructors don't even need to invent the journal themselves.
Linda Butler on Journal
Writing
Linda
Butler, an author of several ESL books, including New
Password
and Fundamentals of Academic
Writing, describes writing
journals in this podcast.
Get More Information
Contact
your ELL Representative
today for more information about From
Reading to Writing, including a
sample copy.
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