Writing: A Science

Reading Sondra Perl’s “The Composing Processes of Unskilled College Writers” makes me reevaluate my teaching. In some ways, Perl’s research was a bit too scientific. The coding and the group studied made these students seem like lab rats going in for some drug tests. However, as I read more, I realized that the codes, the groups, the analysis…this is what we do as teachers. We are like scientist, analyzing, regrouping, testing, and collecting data for future “experiments.” As Perl discusses the process of writing through her studies, the writing process is a learned behavior. As teachers, it is important that we monitor our students’ processes in writing, so that we “extricate...the knots and tangles in those processes.”

In Emig’s “Writing as a Mode of Learning,” Emig brought up some interesting ideas about writing vs. talking. I often explain to my students that these two activities are different, but never to this extent. Although I do not feel that talking is “natural,” it is a mode of communication which most people find the simplest. Speech is a learned behavior; it can be refined, but it can be distorted. Reading and writing require much different processes, especially when dealing with students who cannot read. In this sense, writing must be accompanied with reading and thinking. There is no argument on the value of writing, of course this is coming from an Composition teacher. According to Emig, writing involves all hemispheres of the brain which is why students must be able to write without too many restrictions, but with guidelines. Writing enables student to perform at higher levels of functioning, incorporating reading, thinking, and writing.

Gathering my thoughts on both of these articles, I have confirmation that writing (and talking) are valuable sources of communication and that students must learn these forms and the processes that they entail. Students must learn and exercise these skills; teachers must hone in on those skills. Not that I do not incorporate the writing process or pay attention to the difficulties of my students, but the articles illuminate my need to be more aware of the processes occurring in their little brains.