All About Writing

" We usually say 'reading and writing', so it sounds as though I'm putting the cart before the horse. But I call writing the horse. Nothing can be read unless it was first written" Peter Elbow(2004)

"Writing continues to be 'in'. Students are being asked to write in Science, in Mathematics, in Social Studies, in Health & Physical Education, and of course, in Language Arts. The SAT ( Scholastic Aptitude Test) - now requires students to write. Taking the writing test is on longer an option.

Writing is the improvement in student performance in 'every academic area' (Reeves, 2002)

William Zinsser has stated that 'the only way to write is to force yourself to produce a certain number of words on a regular basis', yet, one learns to write by writing, just as one learns to bowl by bowling.

Pelajar dan Penulisan

Sejak terciptanya tulisan, manuisa mula menulis untuk berkomunikasi terutamanya apabila terpisah oleh sempadan dan masa.
Penulisan membolehkan kita menyampaikan ilmu pengetahuan, pendapat dan idea. Penulisan membolehkan kita mengumpul, menyimpan dan menyampaikan informasi secara luas dengan tepat.
Penulisan juga digunakan untuk memujuk pihak lain, mengekspresi diri dan berkongsi maklumat.
Penulisan ada di mana-mana sahaja seperti papan tanda, risalah, majalah, novel, buku cerita, poster, buku panduan, televisyen apatah lagi dalam dunia internet.

Penulisan begitu penting kepada pelajar-pelajar, pelajar perlu menguasai kemahiran menulis kerana prestasi pelajar sering diukur dan dinilai melalui penulisan.

Kebanyakan alat pengukuran prestasi pelajar menggunakan penulisan sama ada penulisan yang minimum seperti isi tempat kosong, soalan struktur dan jawapan pendek ataupun berbentuk esei, projek, kerja kursus dan lain-lain yang melibatkan penulisan yang komprehensif.

Writing is Essential

Writing is a powerful tool for getting things done. Even young children sometimes recongize the power of writing. Glenda Bissex(1980), in her case study of her 4-year-old son's literacy development, tells a story about him. She was reading and did not respond when her son tried to engage her. A few minutes later he returned and handed her a written message, " R U DF?". It worked. She turned away from her reading, and went to talk to him.

One of the imporntant features of writing is that it lets us communicate with others, allwoing us to maintain personal links with family, friends, and colleagues who are removed by both distance and time.

The advent of e-mail, text messaging, and other forms of electronic text have made writing an even more flexible ocmmuncation tool.

from: Best Practices in Writing Instruction edited by Steve Graham, Charles A. MacArthur, and Jill Fitzgerald