The first volume of the serial is dedicated to writing, merely for the reason that writing can still be considered in language education to be a skill to which little attention is paid, where as discourses on listening, reading, and especially speaking experienced major advances over the last two decades. With the intention to question this rather international tendency from as many as possible different perspectives, this book unifies articles from Switzerland and Italy, Denmark, Germany, and the US, dealing with French, Italian, German, and English as foreign or second languages in all levels of instruction. The aim of this first volume is mainly to encourage the understanding of an expanded function of writing in the field of language education, in theoretical terms and within the framework of classroom practice. Writing is understood here not only as a tool for recording knowledge but also as a means of developing it. Writing seen as such reaches beyond the realm of a foreign language, connecting the learner's expertise of his/her native language and culture with the ones to be studied. When we acknowledge language as a social phenomenon, the potential uses of writing for learning across the curriculum are revealed.
GERD BRÄUER is Assistant Professor in the Department on German Studies at Emory University. His interests include German as a foreign/second language, theory and methology of foreign language teaching, and theory and methology of writing and theater.
Introduction Part I. History and Theories Writing and Foreign Language Pedagogy: Theories and Implications Torild Homstad and Helga Thorson Product, Process, and the Writer Within: History of a Paradigm Shift Gerd Brauer Part II: People Creative Writing With Young Immigrants Rose Schrader Dialogue Journals in the Adult ESL Classroom Karen Sanders Automatic Writing in the Preparation of Immigrants for Work Markus Schrader, III Spaces. On the Interface of Writing and Speech Bob Weissberg Internet Writing and Language Learning Inge Blatt Using Computers to Teach Writing in the FL-Classroom Terri Nelson, IV Modes of Learning Zen and the Art of Writing Ralf Saborrosch Method Awareness and the Teaching of Writing Antonie Hornung Quantity vs. Quality? Using Extensive and Intensive Writing in the FL Classroom Torild Homstad and Helga Thorson The use of Workshops and Seminars in the ESL Classroom Lisbet Pals Svendsen Portfolio Learning Gerd Brauer Afterword Expanding the Function of Writing in Foreign and Second Language Education