Blog #1

Like most teachers, I want my students to be avid readers. In addition to being avid readers, I want them to be fearless learners. As a former student, throughout high school my instructors encouraged us to read a variety of writings. Whether it was the encyclopedia or a novel, a newspaper article or an autobiography; we were driven to read. If students are reading they are expanding their vocabulary, they are visually observing different writing styles and they are improving their understanding of language. Moreover, if students are fearless; this means not afraid to make mistakes or ask questions in the classroom. Combining the two will ensure that students are successful in developing good quality writing. 

Writing comes from the human desire to express oneself in a multitude of ways; such as a short story, a diary, poetry, or memoir. It is an essential part of our modern society, because humans yearn to connect with others. Writing dates back thousands of years to a time when pictorial depictions served as the only means to record historical events and share those events with future generations. The most popular use of everyday writing comes in the form of social networking; Facebook for example, is where people share their thoughts, stories, day-to-day adventures with thousands even millions of other people daily. Despite not being an example of formal writing, it is the reason writing plays such an important role in our daily lives. 

Regarding the writing process I would like to have a better understanding of how L1 influences my students' L2 writing abilities. What specific things hinder them or make them more successful L2 writers. Concerning my Spanish and Japanese speakers I feel that I can accommodate their needs Discussing writing. I know very little about my students with different L1 backgrounds. In addition, I want to determine what aspects of writing deserve more emphasis for being vital to student success in all non-ESL/ESOL classes. 

There are thousands of different languages being spoken around the world and each language has its own unique writing system. Writing systems are diverse, because the world is comprised of different cultures that speak various languages. I think that people become better writers under a formal education. A lack of formal education may result in nonexistent writing system or a language being lost. 

If a student’s maternal language and an additional language share for example a similar word order, student acclimate more easily to writing in that L2. When the L1 and L2 have in common formats or writing requirements, students may use their prior knowledge to transfer skill sets used to write in the L1 to the L2. For example, the format for writing an essay in French is the same for English. In this case, there are no clashing patterns. However, if the L1 and the L2 have different word orders, formats or grammatical requirements in terms of writing students must then learn a new set of skills in order to produce appropriate written works. For example, when writing an essay in Chinese students are allowed to quote or include word-for-word what person has said without giving recognition to the originator. If this is done in an essay written in English, it’s plagiarism. In addition, in Chinese the controlling idea of an essay is narrated by the writer; then explored, while discussing that topics issue(s) and finally that/those issue(s) being resolved all in one paper. This means that an essay in Chinese could range in the number of pages. Conversely, essays in English have a five paragraph minimum in which the topic needs a possible solution or ends in a possible result. Thus, a student must completely alter their way of writing in the L2. It is because of these writing regulations varying that students must learn the rules and formats for writing in the L2.