Writing as a Mode of Learning: Janet Emig
Writing serves learning uniquely because writing as process-and- product possesses a cluster of attributes that correspond uniquely to certain powerful learning strategies
Making such a case for the uniqueness of writing should logically and theoretically involve establishing many contrasts, distinctions between (1) writing and all other verbal languaging processes-listening, reading, and especially talking; (2) writing and all other forms of composing, such as composing a painting, a symphony, a dance, a film, a building; and (3) composing in words and composing in the two other major graphic symbol systems of mathematical equations and scientific formulae
The task is simpler, since most students are not permitted by most curricula to discover the values of composing, say, in dance, or even in film--- this has become less true in modern times as academia, mostly in lower education, recognizes the positives in this kind of creative composing outside of writing
The uniqueness of writing among the verbal languaging processes does need to be established and supported if only because so many curricula and courses in English still consist almost exclusively of reading and listening--- i think this has somewhat changed as well
Traditionally, talking and listening characterized as first-order processes; reading and writing, as second-order
Distinction:
listening and reading as receptive functions and talking and writing as productive functions
Writing is originating and creating a unique verbal construct that is graphically recorded. Reading is creating but not originating a verbal construct that is graphically recoded
Listening is creating or re-creating but not originating a verbal construct that is not graphically recorded. Talking is creating and originating a verbal construct that is not graphically recoded
Differences bw talking and writing:
writing as a process is that, by its very nature, all three ways of dealing with actuality are deployed
enactive-we learn "by doing"
Iconic -we learn "by depiction in an image"
representational or symbolic-we learn "by restatement in words”
Writing is also integrative in perhaps the most basic possible sense: the organic, the functional.
Writing is markedly bi- spheral--interesting when contrasting mike rose
Writing is a unique form of feedback, as well as reinforcement, because information from the process is immediately and visibly available as that portion of the product already written--- is every part of the process visible in the product?
writing is self-rhythmed. One writes best as one learns best, at one's own pace
Writing can sponsor learning because it can match its pace
Writing, unlike talking, restrains dependence upon the actual situation
Writing connects the three major tenses of our experience to make meaning
2 modes by which these three aspects are united are the processes of analysis and synthesis
Writing is epigenetic, with the complex evolutionary development of thought steadily and graphically visible and available throughout as a record of the journey, from jottings and notes to full discursive formulations
Naming What We Know Concept 4:
4.0 All writers have more to learn
Writers struggles with writing bc writing is not just transcribing performed ideas but developing new ones
This difficulty and imperfectability of writing and that it is not a natural phenomenon is one reason formal writing instruction is typical of schooling in the US
Instruction doesn't just happen in school
Some writers do discover that writing habits developed in one context can be helpful in other contexts
Enables teachers to recognize that it is impossible to make a valid judgement of a students writing ability by examining a single sample if their work
4.1 Text is an object outside of oneself that can be improved and developed
externalization : decreases amt of of material a writer must remember and attend to while composing and see how the product is progressing
See what the words actually convey: is not automatic so writer must be aware that text exists outside of themselves
4.2 Failure can be an important part of writing development
Must have opportunity to try, fail, and learn for intellectual growth
Might focus on what teacher wants and simply hope to get it right on the first try
In the classroom and real world
4.3 Learning to write effectively requires different kinds of practice, time, and effort
In the practice of writing, we develop writing capacities, among them the ability to adjust and adapt to different contexts, purposes, and audiences
Fluidity: writers become familiar with writing
Technique: different spaces, different materials, and different technologies; involve other people
4.4 Revision is central to developing writing
To create best possible writing, writers work iteratively, composing in a number of versions, with time in between each for reflection, reader feedback and/or collaborator development
While writing, writers usually find something to say that they didn’t before writing
Revising is a sign and a function of a skilled, mature, and professional writing and craft
4.5 Assessment is an essential component of learning to write
Essential for writers to learn to assess others writing and their own, processes and products
4.6 Writing involves the negotiation of language differences
Myth of linguistic homogeneity-- related to Lu and multicultural writing