Using Learner-Produced Texts
 |
| Photo by Rachel Lynette French on Unsplash |
There are many benefits of using writings written by learners (Parrish, 2004, pp.142-144; Peyton, 1993, pp.60-62):
- Learners can relate to the texts easily and are engaged in reading and writing in a meaningful way. This motivates to express their thoughts and feelings.
- Using learner-produced texts allows learners to see that their thoughts and experiences are worthy sharing with others. This empowers them to take on an active role in their community.
- Writing drafts and reading texts written by their peers allow learners to actively think about what good writing is.
- When revising their drafts, learner writers think about language use, grammar, punctuation, and discourse in a meaningful way.
- The peers' writings are good models to show emergent readers that they can also become successful writers.
- Emergent readers need to read extensively in order to acquire the language. Using learner-produced writings provides a substantial quantity of texts that are linguistically and psychologically suitable for them.
References:
Parrish, B. (2004). Teaching adult ESL: A practical introduction. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.----- This section of the textbook provides examples to illustrate how learner-produced texts can be used in the classroom.
Peyton, J. (1993). Listening to students' voices: Publishing students' writing for other students to read. In Crandell, J. & J. Peyton (Eds.), Approaches to adults ESL literacy (pp.59-73). Washington, DC & McHenry, IL: Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems.
----- Apart from benefits, Peyton suggests guidelines for producing and publishing learner texts.