Teaching and testing writing: a reflection     

                                   

As a teacher, written communication is something I make my students work on considerably. I generally set them one composition a week, though from other modules of this subject, I realise that other activities may be done as homework. I found the reading I had to present to the class very interesting.

The article, amongst many things, reinforced the idea of seeing language in context and that writing had to be anchored to their original contexts for them to be learned successfully. It was very closely linked to Vygotsky’s principles of learning, which is supported by much of the material presented in this Master. The principle is based on the line of thinking that social interaction is fundamental in the process of cognitive development, a student has to be active and interactive to be able to learn. From my experience in the Practicum, this belief was not much adhered to, as many of the classes were teacher-orientated and the students were rather passive to say the least. From the article, I also learned about the importance of working within the student’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). A student will get frustrated if the tasks are either too easy or too difficult. I have reflected on this aspect and made some adjustments to my teaching.