The final, submitted draft of any writing activity is, of course, important. However, in the context of studying Japanese, the process of writing holds as much significance as the final draft itself. In Japanese class, we often make use of peer-editing, one part of the writing process. There are three main reasons why.
1) The writer’s intentions vs. the reader’s interpretationThe peer-editing process gives us insight into the differences between our intentions when we compose a section of text and the ways in which various readers will interpret this text. As all readers approach a text from different backgrounds, their ways of reading the text will differ. This is an important realization for all writers.
2) New Ideas New ideas and realizations are often first come upon during the discussion inherent in the peer-revision process.
3) Helping one anotherReading classmates’ texts often leads to realizing and understanding the problems with one’s own texts. Also, the revision process gives writers the opportunity to obtain help in their weaker areas (for example: grammar, organization of your essay, information on the topic, etc) while helping their classmates using their own personal strengths.
We are lucky to have such a great class, so take advantage of each others strength and get better together before the opportunity passes!
