Usually to begin a semester I start off giving a cursory look at the historical speech/writing binary, asking students to list the values and disadvantages of both. Without fail students agree that they would rather respond to a question or state a position in writing rather than directly through speech. Additionally, they say that, if they were required to respond critically to something, they would rather read it than listen to it. They realize that writing better represents the thinking process and allows for reflection and revision. Then I tell them that we will not be speaking at all the rest of the semester, not even a single word uttered.
My initial response to Emig's article was "Well, yeah..." The educational benefits of reading/writing seem apparent, though Emig expresses them well.
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