The Role of Reading in Teaching Writing

“There is a widely held belief that in order to be a good writer a student needs to be read a lot”. (Hedge, 1988:11).

Harris (1993:81) is also of the same belief as Hedge when he wrote in his book, “Introducing Writing”, that “reading and the consideration of written texts should form an important part of the teaching of writing.” He explains that writing cannot be taken as a different entity from other aspects of language use. He says writing requires attention to reading and to talking, for these are the two means by which writing skill can be learned or acquired.

According to Eisterhood (1990:88) traditionally, the answer to the question of   “what constitutes the relevant language input that would pave the way so second language learners develop hypotheses of writing in English” has been reading.

The reason for this perhaps, is because reading is believed to provide “models from which writing skills can be learned, or at least inferred. Reading in the writing classroom is understood as the appropriate input for acquisition of writing skills” (Eisterhood, 1990).

This link between reading and writing is perhaps akin to Krashen’s (1984, as quoted in Eisterhood, 1990) theory on language acquisition. According to him, reading for interest or pleasure paves the way to developing writing competence. He claims that “the development of writing ability and of second language proficiency occurs in the same way: via comprehensible input with low affective filter”. He goes further by saying, “It is reading that gives the reader the ‘feel’ for the look and texture of reader-based prose” (Krashen, 1984:20).

Stotsky (1983) and Shanahan (1988), did a survey of first language correlational studies, and here are the results they found as mentioned in the book, Reading and Learning to Read, by Vacca, Vacca and Gove (1991:137-138):

• Reading and writing processes are correlated, good readers are good writers and vice versa.

• Students who write well tend to read more books than those who are less capable as writers.

• Wide reading may be as effective in improving writing as actual practice in writing.

These results suggest that the two skills, reading and writing, are interrelated. “Both are language based and experience based, both require active involvement for language learners, and both must be viewed as acts of making meaning for communication.” (Vacca, Vacca and Gove, 1991:138).