Tina Bell
English 5001
9 May 2009

Commentary

I have always written the given assignment and then doubled the time it took me to calculate how quickly my most experienced might need to finish the writing assignment. I do this in order to allow for student think-time during the process of writing. Janet Emig’s article “Writing as a Mode of Learning,” reinforces my belief in the complexity and power of writing.

The skills of listening and speaking are natural, but reading and writing both need formal instruction. Writing is different than reading in that it “is originating and creating a unique verbal construct and reading is creating or recreating, but not originating a verbal construct” (123). It is the creating and originating that make writing so complex. I believe my students think-time is a response to their attempts at creating an original piece. Emig also points out how different speaking and writing are. She states that “writing may emanate from different sources and represent quite different, possibly distinct, language functions” (123).. Since speaking has many environmental clues to its meaning, it is far different than writing which has no environmental clues.

Another of Emig’s findings really struck a chord within me. She believes that the pacing of learning is determined by the individual. This is such a difficult issue to deal with in the classroom. Students, regardless of their differing needs for time, have only one year to learn their grade-level writing genres and techniques. I feel that this lack of any way to allow more time for those who need it, may be why so many students wind up in remedial classes. Emig demonstrates the complexity and power of writing which lead to varying pacing needs. Students in remedial classes have a great deal of knowledge, and I wonder what might happen in a system which might allow them to proceed at their own pace.