In an international school setting, the demand and pressure on students to be proficient in writing is quite high. They are expected to write in English in their core subjects; Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts, in order to accomplish reports, projects, as well as homework and in-class assignments.

However, apart from the fact that the students in this study needed to learn to write in English as a desired academic skill, it cannot be denied that the main purpose of writing is still first and foremost, for communication. Even when a text has been written for oneself, there is still likelihood for it to be read or communicated to others. Even when the writing is personal and private, it could still be argued that the writer himself or herself serves as a reader, and thus, the writing still holds its communicative value or purpose (Kaplan, 1996).

Now comes the basic question, “What then is the most effective way to teach second language students to write in English?” In this study, reading a story served as a stimulus for the writing activities in class. This is based heavily on Krashen’s (1984) idea that exposing children to pleasure reading and shifting focus from form to meaning in extensive reading helps learners acquire writing ability in any language (cited in Scott, 1996).

Another idea that seems to support the notion of using reading to teach writing in the classroom comes from Lightbown and Spada (1999). According to them, research show that learners can learn a great deal of those not taught to them explicitly .They are able to use their own learning strategies to find out the underlying systems that govern the language they are learning. So the more varied and interesting their learning experiences are, the more opportunities they will have to learn more about the language.

What better way to motivate students to read, and thus, learn more, than using literature texts? There is a genuine feel to literature texts that cannot be found in other materials, particularly those which emphasize pedagogy over experience (Duff and Maley, 1990). Also, literature texts offer learners a wide range of styles, registers and text types at different levels of difficulty. They touch on themes that offer opportunities for learners to react based on their own life experiences.

As mentioned in Vacca, Vacca and Gove ( 1991), suggestion to use a literature base in the classroom reappeared in reading instruction journals in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The rationale for it was, reading should be made an important part of classroom life: “reading literature that makes children wonder, weep, laugh, shiver and gasp.”

“Pieces of literature are used as springboards for writing.” (Vacca,Vacca and Gove, 1991:42). Some of the activities students do in class include writing different endings to stories they read about that are reflected in their own conflicts in life, looking at structures in stories such as the repetitive structure and write stories using the same structure, and encouraging students to gain insights into their own lives using the conflicts between the characters they read about.

Furthermore, “Young children learn writing through exploration. The key to early learning development is not found in a child’s motor development, but in the opportunities he or she has to explore print” (Vacca, Vacca and Gove, 1991:127-128). Reading literature, and then writing about it, offers students situations where they analyze and appreciate aesthetic quality. But of utmost importance is when, students relate literature to their own lives (Oster, 1989), cited from Reid, 1993.

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