Have you ever been having an intense discussion with someone and started saying something without having much of an idea about how you were going to end your statement, or the point you were going to try to make? We all have. There's always this vain hope that, if we just keep talking, the point will eventually come to us, and we will be revered for our intellectual greatness. Obviously, sometimes the situation doesn't work out that way, but what I'm saying is this is an important form of learning that both Murray and Emig discuss in their articles, a technique that writing so successfully endorses. Writing provides a way for us to slow down a little, to discover the meaning in what we're trying to say, and unlike speech, allows us to go back, reformulate and bulk up our statements. Writing, indeed, is a completely unique form of learning in that it gives us the time and freedom to say what we really mean, rather than passively taking in information through reading or listening, or blurting out the first thing that comes to our minds when we speak.
Writing, of course, is a completely individual process, so the main argument appears to be: How can it be taught? What's the point of becoming a good writer?
My main argument is that the ability to think for ourselves is invaluable, that the creative process that we each experience is an art, and is what makes us individuals with very different things to say. Suddenly we are more than just people who can take in information and regurgitate facts and figures; we become our own voices with opinions and ideas that have never been seen before. Of course we think communication is essential in our society. Why not, then, is being an articulate communicator valued in the same way? To answer the main question: yes, not only can writing be taught, it can be SELF-taught, and can allow us to come up with ideas we wouldn't be able to otherwise.
No comments:
Post a Comment