Most second language learners arrive at university having had little writing tuition at high schools beforehand. Writing thus represents a steep learning curve for these learners. Furthermore, there are significant differences between those in their first or final year; from coherency and paragraph construction in their first year through to academic dissertations in their final year. This presentation will describe a method to help second-year university learners construct an academic text. This approach incorporates both process and product approaches. While specific creative stages utilize the process cycle of self-reflection, production, feedback, and rewriting, other stages are better served by incorporating an ideal for learners to work toward. Both constraints and benefits of this blended approach will be described in this presentation.

The aim of this workshop is to support participants in setting up and implementing extensive reading (ER) components in the courses they teach. Extensive reading, defined as reading for overall meaning, information, pleasure, and enjoyment, has been proven by research to enhance reading speed and fluency, writing skills, and overall language knowledge. Research findings also indicate that although ESL and EFL teachers may have positive views on the effectiveness of ER and may be motivated to implement an ER component in the classes they teach, they may be reluctant to do so. Workshop participants will initially contribute their experiences of implementing ER in their context. Subsequently, they will be presented with an ER approach utilizing free resources available online, including implementation examples of the approach and strategies and techniques to link an ER component with the intended learning outcomes of various foreign language programs. The workshop will end with group work on the topic.