Writing Groups in Language Teaching A creative person is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others. In order to learn and improve, it is vital to have someone else comment on your work. However, students do not always like feedback from teachers in the first place, and very often teachers do not give feedback in a motivational way when it comes to writing skills. Writing groups offer a great way for students to get feedback from their peers. Who better to understand what works and does not work with your story than other students, before submitting it to teachers? So, with this in mind, I started two writing groups with my students, and I have been trying to show them how it can help their development and motivation when learning writing. First, I showed them this very casual and informal video, and we discussed what was said. After that, we engaged in a discussion about whether they agreed or not with the video. Then, we tried a “collaborative story” using the groups (it will be shared in my next post) and got their feedback on how it works without my feedback as a teacher. My participation in the groups is just like theirs: another peer submitting their work to feedback, and giving feedback to their work. After this first experience, they all realized that the benefits of a writing group when learning a language goes beyond getting to hear criticism on your work. They reported the following benefits: - critiquing other students teaches you to assess your own work better; - you do not feel so alone in your struggle in trying a writing assignment: other students share the thrills and frustrations too; - you get to read what other have written, thus practicing reading and getting more ideas for your own writing; - you complete lessons and exercises together designed to improve and develop your writing skills; - getting and receiving feedback, and scores/grades can be an emotionally draining process. With the groups, you realise that this process is never personal. After all, you are with other students who are trying all they can to help you become better at writing, the same way they want to improve their skills. As I said before, my role in the writing group is to participate as a writer, and also to organize it to make sure the assignments are being done. After the work is done, and peer critique finished, I try to give each student meaningful feedback. Some good tips can be found here: www.edutopia.org/blog/tips-providing-students-meaningful-feedback-marianne-stenger?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-tips-providing-students-meaningful-feedback-shared-image How about you? Have you ever tried a Writing Group with your students? Would you add some more benefits to my list?
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