Blog 4- A writer writing about teaching writers writing.

Written text is now more visible and prevalent in daily life than never before. From road signs to emojis sent in text messages and writing on poster, communication surrounds us... even in situations where face-to-face interaction may not be possible. This means

that as language educators, it is more crucial than ever to bring light to all forms of communication and support learners in developing their multimodal literacy.

For many learners, writing (especially in a second language classroom) can feel overwhelming as it requires organizing thoughts and language into a structed, coherent text rather than simply blurting out what they want to communicate. I have found through research and prior experience, that guiding the leaners through the structured steps of the writing process not only eases cognitive load, but also helps learners recognize the value of each step, deepening their understanding, developing their intended message and improving their linguistic skills.

The writing process, as informed by Williams (2005), emphasizes writing as a recursive process, encouraging writers to revisit their writing and critically assess their work to enhance clarity and effectiveness for their audience. In the following table, you can find a brief explanation of each stage of the writing process:

	The Writing Process (Williams, 2005)
Pre-Writing/Planning	Learners are introduced to the context and purpose of their writing through explicit instructions. Educators encourage brainstorming, facilitating consultation with instructors and peers. The primary goal being to help learners generate topic ideas and develop a clearer vision for their writing before just going straight into it. This planning stage allows learners to spend time reflecting on the topic and consider how they can contribute before continuing in the writing process.
Drafting	Throughout the drafting step, educators encourage leaners to reflect on their pre-writing steps, incorporating feedback from instructors and peers to shape their writing. It is important to establish a clear audience and purpose of writing during this step, as learners should attempt to clarify what their intended message is and establish an outreach to their intended audience and genre. This step in the writing process allows learners to expand their understanding with the content and recognize the value their contributions.
Revising	In this stage, learners review their writing holistically, focusing on the clarity and effectiveness of their message rather than looking for errors in the grammar. Here educators encourage learners to reflect on whether their writing aligns with their original intended message. Revisiting the pre-writing and drafting stages can help learners develop missing information and reevaluate their text. Peer revisions and insight from educators support cohesion of ideas and help ensure that there is a well-structured piece of writing before moving on to the final step.
Editing	In the final stage of the writing process, the focus shifts from content and structure to surface-level corrections and adaptations. Learners refine their written text by addressing things like word-choice, grammar, vocabulary, punctuation and spelling. While the prior stages focus on the construction and presentation of ideas, editing polishes the text, establishing a final written product.

When selecting writing activities that will engage and motivate students throughout the writing process, I typically employ task-based writing activities. For example, having learners write for a public webpage that can be visited by many, could help learners develop audience awareness and understand the broader impact that their writing can have, far more effectively then just having students write on a piece of paper that they will throw away at the end of class. To view an example of task-based activities that facilitate the writing process, view this presentation: Unidad de los filmes_No se aceptan devoluciones-L2W.pptx

Along with task-based activities, integrating innovative tools can further engage students during the writing process and expand their learning of content. Exposure to such technologies excites learners while also preparing them for real-world interactions where language and technology work together to create communication and meaning.

An example of such tool that is now increasingly being integrated in language learning is AI, which can also serve as a mediational aid during the writing process. AI offers several affordances, such as assisting with vocabulary selection and refining word choice during the editing stage. To see more on how AI can be used during the writing process, please see: Blog 2: To integrate or to not integrate AI?. If you're wondering what things you should consider, affordances and implications, or simply want to read my opinion on AI integration in the language classroom, please also see: Blog 3: Man vs. Machine or Man + Machine?

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Looking ahead, I plan to and I also encourage educators to continue aiding learners to become multimodal and multiliterate individuals. AI is now becoming an everyday tool for many individuals and as technology continues evolving, we should embrace and learn how to we can best use such tool rather than resist it. Shouldn't we be equipping our students with the skills to effectively use AI (or whatever new and controversial tool comes next) to enhance their writing or overall production in another language, rather than ignoring these tools and limiting their linguistic growth? I leave you with that question to consider.

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Thank you for reading! I look forward to reading your thoughts in the comments :)

Until next time!