Teaching English Language Arts through Writing - Research Paper Example

Teaching English Language Arts through Writing Introduction A lot of research has been done on the topic of teaching the English Language to young children and much of it talks about the importance of reading and writing and the methods that can be adopted to make this an effective learning procedure. A large proportion of this research has been done under the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE). Methodology In her article, “Important Research in Reading and Writing”, Margaret Early talks about how teaching the language arts through reading and writing has been influenced by two major factors in our recent history. A decade ago, when teaching the language arts, greater importance was paid to the composition of the language; “its phonology, morphology and syntax” (Early, 1976). Later, the focus was shifted to a more humanistic approach that looked at why children employ and comprehend language and how their feelings were more important than what they knew about the language. These two methodologies of teaching the English Language Arts seem to be at opposite ends of the continuum; however, the most successful teachers have been those who have incorporated their knowledge from both methods into their teaching style and operate through them on a parallel basis, using both styles to enhance their teachings of teaching the language arts. According to revised research there are about four or five important comprehension sub-skills that include remembering word meanings, following paragraph structure, finding answers in the passage and drawing deductions from the passage. However, research to accurately study these methods has been difficult because researchers cannot seem to separate the effects of a certain methods from the variable that effect them. Consequent studies on the topic tried to make use of “introspection, interviews and laboratory simulations” (Early, 1976) to achieve more accurate results. According to research, a child has been taught to read effectively if he/she can understand the text and translate it into his/her own language. According to Early’s research, for a child to develop exhaustive knowledge of the language arts, it is important for him/her to be exposed to various forms of the language, both through reading and writing so that the range of his/her language arts is successfully widened. Another research along the same vein talks about the theories and approaches that have been developed to help teachers teach young children how to learn the language arts through writing. Specifically, this research paper looks at some generalizations about children and their written language in the above mentioned context and what implications these generalizations have for their teachers. People often think that writing serves numerous different functions and purposes, for example, we use it to express ourselves and describe things too. It has many different forms and can be addressed at many different audiences, for example, written language can be in the form of stories or poems and be addressed to one’s self or someone we know. It consists of three important phases and consequently, the phases of a child’s language arts development depend on it. Lastly, children should write frequently and that their teachers should practice writing as well in order to teach it better to their pupils. All these generalizations have implications for the teacher of the language arts. Since writing is a means of self expression, children should be encouraged to look at their written pieces much like you would look at any other piece of art in another form. To let the child develop mastery over the written language’s several purposes the teacher must focus on creative writing, argumentative and descriptive writing etc. To let the child feel more comfortable with his/her writing the teacher may let different forms of writing be available at their disposal. To help the children distinguish between audiences, the teacher can focus on productive writing and then give the students an exercise which gives such a structure to their writing that eventually distances the author from the written piece and broadens the consequent audience of it. Throughout the writing process the teacher must concentrate especially on the pre-writing process because this is where ‘the foundations of the writing are laid’ so to speak. Progress must be monitored through the child’s different ages to see if he/she is meeting the requirements for that age criteria. Furthermore, daily lessons should be planned such that they include writing activities and language should be focused on. Lastly, the teacher himself/herself should practice writing because that is the only way to ensure the most effective results. (Klein, 1981). Further research hints at the fact that there is no “quick fix” in learning the language arts and proper grammar, the process is long and often tedious and involves learning and relearning material before it comes into application. Furthermore, if these concepts are to be effectively retained the student must practice and re-practice them over the years. This will enable him/her to apply them in pertinent situations and not forget their correct usage. (Weaver, 1996). However, this is not the only factor and is not even by far the biggest factor in the equation. The paper talks about how the teachers need to present to their students a wide array of examples to clarify their points as this is aid and improve understanding and comprehension of the language arts. Secondly, it is okay for students to make mistakes in the learning process, it signals that their learning curve is experiencing growth and improvement. (Weaver, 1996). Journals are also a form of written language arts that have become increasingly popular with time. People maintain journals for work purposes, for daily activities but more often as an emotional outlet where they write about their lives and feelings and emotions. They are thus an important form of written language arts. Journal writing thus also becomes a factor in their literature learning over the years. According to studies, tests and research conducted it was found out that students who wrote guided journals had a better story understanding as compared to those students who had not written guided journals. It was inferred that journal writing increases the students’ emotional involvement in the story which helps them follow it more closely and retain and comprehend better than they would normally have, more of the plot and storyline. (Wong et. al, 2002). A further research paper talks about effective methods for teaching grammar, analytical thinking and creative writing. Initially the author believed that the language arts could just be learned through writing and revising and redoing the written pieces. But consequent research showed that this was not the case. As part of the study, students kept journals and exchanged feedback about their work and their peers’ work in the journals that they were keeping. Initially, the writings reflected that the students’ thought process wasn’t clear and that they had difficulty putting together a coherent piece of writing and it was clear that they needed assistance with their writing skills. In order to help them out while not refocusing them away from writing, revising and literature, the author introduced warm up exercises where the students looked at examples of written pieces and analyzed them for possible mistakes. The author used questions, examples and diagrams so that it would be easier for the students to comprehend and retain the subject matter taught in class with respect to their writing skills. The students found it easier to learn if the topics of learning were introduced in class slowly and in a given sequence. The author summarizes that in order to learn grammar effectively, it cannot be an isolated experience. For the students to get a better and more lasting understanding of grammar, they need to learn it in free context. This is also the framework along which the teaching methods for the language arts through writing have changed over the years. (Sams, 2003). Other language arts like creative writing can also be taught through reading. (Buelke, 1966). Following are some of the important concepts students learn from the language arts; self concept, planning and evaluation, vocabulary, grammar, literary criticism, styles and forms, phonics, concepts and reading. (Buelke, 1966). Subsequent research talks about the “Best Practice” for teaching the language arts to young children today. The most important point it looks at is what needs to be taught and how. The problem is that, even though research on the subject has existed for decades, the best practices so to speak have not yet fully pervaded the modern classroom and teaching techniques for the language arts through writing to young children. As an important step in this advancement, it is proposed that the curriculum be thoroughly revised to include what really needs to be taught instead of the generic material that has been constituting it in the past. (Zemelman et. al, 2005). Another article talks about some important things that teachers should know and include in their teaching when teaching the students the language arts through writing. Firstly, that the English language is vast in its entity. Second, its rules of understanding are uncomplicated and reliable. Thirdly, improvement is achieved first from oral and then from written improvement. Furthermore, words are learnt through associations made between people and in relationships and may possess multiple usage meanings. And finally, teaching at a slower more consistent pace is more effective than piling on workload and learning material on students. (Bromley, 2007). Research was also conducted through the National Writing Project which showed similar findings and adds that teachers should be thought of as thinkers and not as brainless, trainable employees of the system. (Whitney, 2008). Hypotheses A survey conducted by Dan Dolan along the same lines, looked at several pertinent and basic issues in this regard; how much or written assignments were given to students, what was their nature, what were the techniques used and who is responsible for teaching the language arts through writing. A questionnaire was drawn up and presented to several teachers by a group of students. It was found that the majority of the teacher gave shorter writing assignments, the smaller the length of a particular assignment, the more likely the teacher would be to assign it. It was also found that the lengths of the assignments increased as the student’s grade increased. It was also seen that teachers preferred to give assignments on a regular basis; however, frequency was seen to decrease as the student’s grade increased, especially in the field of social sciences. It was seen that argumentative assignments were the least popular, while reports were the most popularly given, alongside narrative essays. Writing assignments were given to students as extra work that would build upon class lectures and not as summary assignments about what happened in class. In this study it was also seen that, teachers thought it better to exclude the students out of the teaching process and thought they should just be restricted to the learning side. Written assignments were graded on format and content, although content was given more importance. Grades consisted of letter grades and comments and could be a mix and match ratio depending on the teacher. (Donlan, 1974). In crux, even though the effects, techniques or methods of teaching language arts through writing may vary, it is agreed upon that teaching it in the first places holds tantamount importance in the educational journey of all children. Conclusion Looking at the research about teaching language arts through writing over at least four decades has allowed us a better understanding of how and why teaching methods for the language arts have changed over the years. Research has showed how initial teaching methods were flawed and what the real needs of the students were, needs to which the teaching methods needed to be aligned so that the students could experience a better learning process and retain the information they had learned in class more effectively and for longer. References: Early, M. (1976). Important Research in Reading and Writing. The Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 57, No. 5. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20298256?origin=JSTOR-pdf Klein, M. L. (1981). Teaching Writing in the Elementary Grades. The Elementary School Journal, Vol. 81, No. 5. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1001611?origin=JSTOR-pdf Donlan, D. (1974). Teaching Writing in the Content Areas: Eleven Hypotheses from a Teacher Survey. Research in the Teaching of English, Vol. 8, No. 2. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40170529?origin=JSTOR-pdf Weaver, C. (1996). Teaching Grammar in the Context of Writing. The English Journal, Vol. 85, No.7. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/820502?origin=JSTOR-pdf Wong, B. Y. L., Kuperis, S., Jamieson, D., Keller, L. and Cull-Hewitt, R. (2002). Effects of Guided Journal Writing on Students’ Story Understanding. The Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 95, No. 3. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27542376 Sams, L. (2003). How to Teach Grammar, Analytical Thinking and Writing: A Method That Works. The English Journal, Vol. 92, No. 3. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/822261 Buelke, E. (1966). The Drama of Teaching Reading through Creative Writing. The Reading Teacher, Vol. 19, No. 4. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20195545?origin=JSTOR-pdf Zemelman, S., Daniels, H. and Hyde, A. (2005). Today’s Standards for Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools. Retrieved from: http://www.heinemann.com/shared/onlineresources/E00744/sample.pdf Bromley, K. (2007). Nine Things Every Teacher Should Know About Words and Vocabulary Instruction. International Reading Association. Retrieved from: http://www.johnsoncreek.k12.wi.us/faculty/mentings/Vocabulary%20JAAL.pdf Whitney, A. (2008). Teacher Transformation in the National Writing Project. Retrieved from: http://iawp.ucr.edu/files/teacher_support/teacher_transformation.pdf Read More