I have a class of adult learners of 17. They come from different parts of Asia: Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam. They’re mostly intermediate level in their English, both written and oral. The course I teach is called Independent Reading.

The program I use with them is broken up into two parts: two days in a row for 90 minutes each, I teach Reading Strategies. The book I use is called Reading in The Content Areas. I use book levels C and D. I like using this coursebook for two reasons.

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In his talk here in Bangkok, Thailand last September 20, 2008, Dr. Stephen Krashen (www.sdkrashen.com) talked about the homerun book for every reader, and how crucial it is to jumpstart ALL other reading interests in the future.

He says for every lifelong reader, there is that one book or one reading experience that started it all. And it could happen at any age. This homerun experience is so special or distinct that many readers could still remember the title, or the author, or the characters of the first story/book that ever got them started on reading. It’s the one book/story that they could hardly put down, that they were most probably not ‘told’ to read, and one they definitely read up to the very end.

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Let us begin this conversation by looking back at times in your life when you read books or any printed medium, for that matter, simply because you wanted to. It was not because of some reward, nor was it because you wanted to avoid some kind of negative consequence by not reading. What was it like then?

Chances are, you enjoyed the experience so much that you probably did not notice the time. You felt you had all the time in the world to immerse yourself in the words of the book. Most probably, the experience was so vivid in your memory that you could still remember the stories, the authors, the book series, even characters’ names, and more.

Would you say that those moments were meaningful? Rewarding, even?

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From experience, collegial sharing and attendance at professional development opportunities in search of what “effective assessment” looks like, here is a combination of principles, experiential anecdotes and actual classroom practice I use to assess students effectively for learning.

I refer heavily to materials and discussions from Ken O’ Connor’s workshop on “Classroom Assessment FOR Student Learning” held at an international school in Bangkok last few years in this article. The principles discussed in that workshop are strong affirmations of what I live by as an educator for years. And this material I present here are a testimony as to what research looks like in actual classroom practice and how the principles have shaped the assessment programs I have set up for my own students.

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I have been teaching teenagers for almost 5 years now, and I find this group of students both challenging and rewarding to work with. The kids are challenging because they are at the beginning of that stage in life dreaded by most parents and teachers alike. You guessed it right – PUBERTY!

On the other hand, the experience is rewarding for different reasons. Because the kids are battling with hormonal changes, pressure from peers to blend in, pressure from (some) parents to achieve, conflict between school rules and their search for an identity (thus the weird hair do, the psychedelic nail polish, etc), to get them focused on goals and what it is they really want for themselves is already quite a feat.

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I believe that children will live up to whatever standards you set for them as a teacher, as a mentor, as an adviser, but most especially, as an older ‘friend’ who truly cares about their success, not just in school, but most especially in the outside world.

This, I believe is the true essence of a teacher.

To illustrate this, let me tell you Taka’s (not his real name) story: Taka came to me with very little English. In the beginning, he struggled so much to understand what is gong on in the classroom. I noticed, he didn’t have that many friends either. I worried about him, especially since other teachers have also reported a lack of progress with him.

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It was quite difficult to think about what I was going to share with you this evening. But I finally settled on the idea of talking about one of the things I consider to be a big part of My life, both as a professional, and as an individual.This is one area some of you may have had some experience with. And it’s relevant to all of us as we progress in our M.A. It is, of course, teaching English-teaching English to children, in particular.

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Class Information: The class is made up of ten (10) students; 3 girls and 7 boys. Nationalities include: Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai.

Communication skills are generally good, particularly in speaking and writing. Some problems may arise in listening and reading comprehension, especially for Student E and the new student, Student A, who is still struggling to express ideas in speech.

Energy level is good also and the group has a sense of team work and support.

Possible problems: Discussions could be monopolized by a couple of students, student A and student B who are more verbal than the other students, so care is to be taken so that each student gets a chance to express ideas.

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What is Writing?

This study could not proceed without an attempt to explore the many and varied definitions of writing. Writing seems to have taken on different definitions for different groups of people in order to suit their different needs and purposes for writing. Even for professionals involved in the field of English Language Teaching, not one definition of writing could satisfy everyone.

For the process oriented professionals and researchers, writing is a product of a person’s search for meaning. Zamel (1982) points out that writers go through the process where meaning is created because writers seem to start off the process not knowing what they are going to say at all.

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Why this study?

Krashen’s idea is founded on the notion that exposing children to pleasure reading and shifting focus from form to meaning in extensive reading helps learners acquire writing ability in any language.

It is my hope that at the end of this study, I will be able to come up with concrete evidences of the influence that reading has on students’ writing. Armed with such evidences, I would be able to come up with well-founded principles on teaching writing to my students in this particular context.

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