Technology for reading and writing

Dear Deborah, Sueanne and All

I went through Liao's (1999) article 'E-mailing to Improve EFL Learners' Reading and Writing Abilities: Taiwan Experience' (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Liao-Emailing.html ) which highlights the importance of e-mailing in developing reading and writing skills of students. The ideas discussed in the article can be used for all levels of students especially for those who can write e-mails. To be specific, I use this idea with the Bachelor level students who are doing their course on Reading, Writing and Critical Thinking. Since my students have easy access to e-mails than other technological tools, they can use e-mail to share their ideas.

Based on the experiences of working with Taiwanese students, Liao argues that the students who join Computer Pals Across the World (CPAW) do not only develop their communicative competence but also intercultural competence through e-mails. This means students do not only share their ideas and experiences but also share their culture with the people from other cultural backgrounds. This indicates that the use of e-mail enhances students' ability to communicate effectively with people from other cultures.

Moreover, students have to use appropriate mechanics (e.g. punctuation), correct grammar, cohesive devices and style while e-mailing people from other cultures. This will of course develop their writing skill. At the same time, in order to answer the queries and know more about other cultures, they have to read the e-mails sent by the friends. In this sense, e-mailing is the useful tool to integrate both reading and writing skills.

Similarly, as students have to communicate with people from other countries they will be motivated to read their e-mails and write about their own culture. On the one hand, this will maintain intercultural communication and on the other hand, this will make students aware of their own culture which is called 'reflexive impact'.

However, the article does not mention much about the process of providing feedback to the students' writing. There is no detail account of how e-mailing develops intercultural competence as there is no any description of testing the intercultural competence in the article. Moreover, the focus on fluency rather than accuracy may create the fossilisation of learning grammar.

Another useful article is by Belisle (1996) E-mail Activities in the ESL Writing Class (http://iteslj.org/Articles/Belisle-Email.html). I found the idea of the article useful for my students. Belisle argues that by using e-mail, teachers can provide task in a group and monitor their activities closely. One of the most important points in using e-mail is it makes writing more focused and audience-oriented. Students have to write something keeping in mind that other friends read what they write.

I found 'Operfect paragraph' and 'Chain stories or sentences' more useful for my students. The former involves students in the writing process. They do not only write a paragraph but also edit and fine tune it. This process also enables students to edit their own language. Moreover, such an activity enhances language awareness of students. Similarly, the second activity engages them in developing a complete story by contributing one line of the story. On the one hand, this activity involves the students in a meaningful interaction and on the other hand, it develops the ability to use language cohesively and coherently which is one of the important aspects of writing.

Overall, both articles provide insightful ideas and activities for using e-mail to develop reading and writing skills of the students. However, both articles lack discussion on how to establish a good rapport and interaction among the students in a group. They do not discuss much about the role of teacher for making the writing and reading more effective.

The ABCD objective to go with these articles is: Provided that students are given access to these articles (C), my students (A) will write one e-mail a week (D) sharing their ideas, stories and edit the paragraph (B).

Sincerely yours
Prem

References
Belisle, R. (1996). E-mail activities in the ESL writing class. The Internet TESL Journal, 2(12). Available at http://iteslj.org/Articles/Belisle-Email.html.
Liao, C. (1999). E-mailing to improve EFL learners' reading and writing abilities: Taiwan experience. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. V, No. 3. Avaibale at http://iteslj.org/Articles/Liao-Emailing.html