Writing+Article+Summary

Lara Sokolowski Misunderstood Minds: Article Summary-Writing Understanding Why Students Avoid Writing By: Regina G. Richards (1999)

Many students in today’s schools dislike and/or avoid writing. For some, it’s because they consider it a slow and tedious process that pales in comparison to the high-speed technology of speech-to-text or typing. For others, it’s because they have a learning disability like dysgraphia or dyslexia and become so frustrated and encounter struggles beyond non-disabled students’ belief.

Some specific, primary reasons for avoidance are:


 * They have a hard time getting started and feel overwhelmed by the task.
 * They need to concentrate to form letters: it is not an automatic process.
 * They struggle to organize and use mechanics of writing.
 * They are slow and inefficient in retrieving the right word(s) to express an idea.
 * They struggle to develop their ideas fluently (poor ideation).
 * They struggle to keep track of their thoughts while also getting them down on paper.
 * They feel that the process of writing on paper is slow and tedious.
 * They feel that the paper never turns out the way they want.
 * They realize that the paper is still sloppy even though substantial time and effort were spent.
 * They are dysgraphic, which causes multiple struggles at the basic processing levels.
 * They are dyslexic, which causes very poor spelling and interferes with automatic use of writing mechanics.

Teachers and parents need to help students by helping them develop a greater understanding of and appreciation for the purpose of writing and working to develop more efficient skills. When students have a combination of this understanding and the skills, they can then apply the necessary techniques.

The hierarchy of skill developments represents the basic and upper-level skills needed to write comprehensibly and efficiently.

The underlying processing skills include:


 * Physical components of writing
 * Speed of motor performance
 * Active working memory
 * Language formulation and ideation

The mechanical skills involve lower level tasks such as automatic letter form, use of space, basic spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. More mature mechanics involve speed, clarity of expression, and appropriate grammar.

The content skills relate to organizing and expressing ideas:


 * Writing using different writing styles
 * Being flexible in the writing process
 * Understanding the viewpoint of the reader
 * Writing with enthusiasm

There are many reasons a student may avoid writing, but most relate to the concept that writing is not fun or enjoyable. When writing is not meaningful, it is difficult to pull together the variety of skills needed to develop enthusiasm about writing. Students learn to write by writing, which then gives them the confidence to continue to write and continue to develop their skills. Using a variety of modalities can help create enthusiasm for writing and help students view writing as a more meaningful activity. It is also important to analyze the lower level skills to ensure that the student has appropriately developed automaticity in these skills. The goal for these students is to reduce the frustration and feeling of threat.