Questions 6 and 8

In an era of digital technology, there is perhaps no mode of literacy that has undergone more tumultuous change than writing. Writing, as has been conventionally understood, refers to the act of crafting word-based representation of one’s ideas, opinions, and thoughts, etc, on paper. With the advent and development of digital devices, however, the scope and meaning of writing came under critical scrutiny. In other words, the viability of persisting in the traditional conceptualization of writing in the face of expanding methods of composition is being critically questioned. Recognizing that writing encompasses more than paper-and-pencil manifestation, I would like my students to learn that they have to write differently depending on the context they work in, and to consider the purpose they write for. For instance, writing for academic purpose (e.g. term paper, thesis, etc) should be thorough in organization and accurate in the use of language to the extent that their work will be graded by the instructor and that the result usually has high stakes in the student’s future. On the other hand, posting for a blog is not as serious as academic writing, in that it is personal and deals with anonymous readers. The context could be used for one to express themselves freely and interact with people. I will focus on teaching my students to the importance of separating different purposes and contexts of writing and not conflating one another when they work on one setting.

One of the biggest challenges that digital technologies for writing present concerns whether the technology should be incorporated as part of the assessment process. We see a steady increase in use of computers in administering writing tests, as in the case of TOEFL or computerized take-home exams in many educational settings. While computers have brought several enormous advantages to the field of L2 writing, issues of fairness and equity have always loomed large. Not all test-takers have access to internet, nor are they situated at the same level of digital literacy. For some learners, dealing with computers might be as hard as having to write. Teaching practitioners have to make sure that all the students are well prepared for composing digitally as a prerequisite for writing tasks.