Chapter 5: Reading & Writing

Chapter 5 discussed the correlations between reading, writing, and language. How does the difference between acquisition and learning correspond with a student’s ability to learn how to write properly?

Many children today are learning how to speak and read at younger ages. For example, my two year old cousin is very proficient for his age in both English and Spanish. On page 165, Steve Krashen addresses the acquired second language skill. There is emphasis on the fact that acquisition is much different from learning because you are doing it unconsciously. This is evident in my little cousin because he often takes fragments of sentences that he may hear and put them together in his own particular way. However, if he were learning the languages, as he eventually will in school, it would require someone to feed him the material, instead of being able to experience it on his own.

This is related to students’ abilities to learn how to write properly because if students are able to experience reading on their own, their writing skills will improve in correlation with that. Such a proposal is mentioned on page 166 and is called the “reading hypothesis”. The theory behind the reading hypothesis is that students who read more because they want to are the students who develop the best writing skills. Since these students are being exposed to so much literature, their minds can more easily grasp the “bigger picture” in stories. Therefore, they are able to incorporate this knowledge into their own writing, which means they will write at a deeper level.

I can say that I have seen this happen through my own experiences. When I was in elementary and middle school, I loved to read books outside of the classroom. I think that this is a large part of why I am a successful writer. However, I also believe that my writing skills would not be at the level they are today if it weren’t for my grammar teachers, as well. The combination of the two has brought about great success in my writing abilities.