Effective readers develop into proficient writers

Within the academic discourse community, it is almost impossible to think about the development of writing without the aid of reading, and vice versa. Thus, engaging students into profitable reading activities would influence effectively on writing proficiency; in other words, the former skill becomes the source of the necessary input for achieving the latter successfully. According to Bloor (1985), there are four different ways of dealing with reading in academic contexts: psychological, linguistic, content-oriented and pedagogically- oriented approaches (Bloor, 1985; as cited in Jordan, 1997).
As regards the first of the approaches already mentioned, it is concerned with the processes that take place in the reader’s mind when involved in such activity (Jordan, 1997). The philosophy of this approach underlies exercises focusing on word recognition and interpretation. Reading activities of this kind could be those where students are asked to identify specific vocabulary first, and then give an account of what they have understood by means of producing their own pieces of writing.
Secondly, a linguistic approach focuses on the words and sentences of the text. It is believed that the reading ability will improve if learners are able to deal with linguistic aspects efficiently. In doing so, exercises focusing on grammar become essential. Examples of this are those reading tasks where students are to recognize, name and specify function and structure of distinctive grammatical issues included in the text. In academic contexts, activities where learners are supposed to identify and classify discourse markers, for instance.
Regarding the third approach, it is assumed that giving learners a specific purpose for reading will improve their efficiency. As well as this, if students read about areas of their own interest, they will be truly engaged. These two aspects lead us to think about tasks where readers are given a set of pre-reading questions about a text bearing relevance for them. For example, in the case of students attending an EAP course, reading papers, dissertations or books about discourse or academic language practices could be considered representative of the content-oriented principles.
Finally, a pedagogically-oriented approach is the one that places learning theories at the top of the scale in reading motivation. According to this view, students are supposed to work at their own rate by means of using self-access materials. A good example could be a course where the teacher presents a set of reading tasks based on different texts provided with answer key resources for students to assess their own progress.
All in all, reading proves to be a reliable source for acquiring language and strengthening students’ cognitive abilities; aspects that enable learners to construct their knowledge and produce meaningful writings within their discourse community. Consequently, developing interested and stimulated readers becomes the major aim.











Reference

Jordan, R. (1997). English for Academic Purposes – A guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge, UK: CUP.