Week 7: Teaching of Reading and Writing

On teaching a second language, it is important for students to be able to read and write in their TL in order to obtain better proficiency in the language.  Without these necessary skills, it would be very difficult for L2 speakers to function in the TL's society without proper means of understanding and producing written means of communication.
The texts for this week focus on the various aspects of reading and writing for ELL students.  The articles talk about various strategies to help L2 learners in reading and writing proficiency. Both the Kuma. article on heuristics and the anthology readings (particularly chapter 28) focused on "the process of self-discovery on the part of the learner" and how important it is to being able to read and write competently in the TL.  As Kuma. states "activating the intuitive heuristics that every learner naturally possesses is a worthy goal to pursue, and...there are several options available to those L2 teachers who wish to pursue that worthy goal" (203).  Meaning that there are several factors that influence how students learn.
I particularly enjoyed these readings.  They helped me better understand why my reading comprehension wasn't always the greatest when I was learning another language.  I think what Kuma. has to say about heuristics is very important for us as future educators to understand because it helps in understanding how to better help our students.