ESL Blogs

Joining the English 1A class has been very beneficial in equipping me to be a better reader, writer and thinker. By exposing me to a lot of reading material and writing assignments I have been helped to look critically at my own skills and to acquire new ones. In the whole process I have found that there is a relationship between being a good reader, thinker and writer. The better one is in any of these, the better the chances of being good at the other two. 

When I entered the class, I had a passion for writing. My passion made me keen to learn and practice what I learnt with diligence. This has been a strength that has served to make learning enjoyable for me. However I am not good at English since it is not my first language. I have had to read a lot to enable me to have fairly good grammar. One of my weaknesses other weaknesses was that I was not familiar with many writing skills. Therefore I need a lot of practice to write fast and well in the new skills like argumentative writing. To be able to write a good piece and to stop looking for someone write my essay, I had toprepare the material thoroughly, do enough research, present all sides to a story and apply grammatical rules and technicalities of writing like proofreading. Every step is important and leads to a better work. 

Putting cohesive and logical work on paper is not as easy as it may seem. I learnt that in the writing process it is important to know the style of writing being used so that I could know what approach was best. For example, in summary I was reducing the material and highlighting the major points. In narrative, I was exemplifying the material and expanding it, filling the main points with details. In argumentative, I was presenting evidence for arguments to my points which often seemed contradictory. In analysis, I was making deductions and giving a critical view in the writing. In synthesis I was blending a production of works. 

Apart from writing I have gained a lot in reading. I now know that to understand reading it is helpful to have some background information on the writer, time that the work was written, reasons why the work was written and even other people’s thoughts on the work. Sometimes knowing the writer enlightened me by creating a context for the work thus I was able to better understand it. Being familiar with writing techniques helped meto hear the voice of the writer better. For example, in reading Keith O’ Brien’s “Single Minded” I was able to hear his arguments by concentrating on his every thought so as to pick every argument. I could not his work like prose. 

Even when I was not working alone but was involved in group work, I was able to acquire further knowledge, skills and confidence. One of thegains was that I was able to get more sides of any work than mine alone. I got other new ideas on the topics of discussion. By presenting my own sharing I developed my skill to articulate. I became more organized, vocal and learnt to summarize and present my work in a logical coherent manner. Through it I became more confident, more focused on my work and learnt to respond quickly and to the point. Knowing I would be sharing my work with the whole class motivated me to do a thorough job and to prepare on time. Having discussions with my peers allowed me to freely share my thoughts on the topic especially since we had fairly close thoughts and ideas. As a result of the discussions and sharing, I have learnt to think more critically. I have learnt to approach information and ideas with a more open mind. Instead of automatically picking the side I agree with, I now want to hear the other side and see if it has any valid points to offer. Even when I may still chose my side. I can appreciate the valid points on the other side. When reading a newspaper now, for example, I examine if the writer has presented conclusions that are supportedby evidence and facts within the story. If the story and facts do not agree, then the conclusions are not credible. I can also pick the writers own thoughts and opinions which helps me to know the core parts of the story and the peripheral parts. I have also learnt to value sources in given works. Having credible sources gives authority to a piece of work. 

Critical thinking has also helped me to know more about my own beliefs, thoughts and ideas. By reading about other people’s ideas, I find myself examining my reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with them. I can not blindly follow or support any argument presented to me without critically examining it. The themes in the different units gave opportunity for some critical thinking. The readings came in different writing styles which meant that I had to read each carefully to get all what was presented. During the discussion, I heard different views especially on marriage and family. While some people supported the single life, others did not, all with valid reasons. 

When I was writing on conformity, I drew mostly from my own experience so as to agree or disagree with the writer. I showed how my ownexperiences supported the findings of the writer. In writing about marriage I synthesized the arguments in a written article that advocate for single lifestyle against the experiences of a character in a film which show the tribulations of marriage. In writing on advertisement, I analyzed theeffects of advertising as presented in an article highlighting the findings. On writing about poverty I examined facts presented and reached my own conclusions about the topic. Out of all the units, it is the one on single life-style that impacted my thinking about the topic the most. This is because it presented data that showed that marriage is losing its position in the many societies today as one of key steps in life. While I hear about divorce and separations a lot in America compared to my home country Hong Kong, the article showed that many are opting not to try marriage at all and chose a single lifestyle right from the beginning. This will impact greatly on future generations that will have to adjust to ideas about family and relationships. 

In the papers I wrote, I aimed to write intelligibly about the topics and to execute the writing style in a better way while reducing grammatical mistakes. I wanted to bring out the key points that I wanted to make and support them well. I can say the assignment that most challenged me to be a better writer was the advertising. It required careful reading of the material and presenting arguments for and against advertising in a logical and balanced manner. 

Taking this class has made me a better reader by exposing me to varied readings. It has also made me a better thinker by introducing me to critical thinking. And finally, it has made me a better writer by assignments that combine my reading, my thinking and the writing techniques I have learnt. As a result I feel more confident in my writing.