{"id":141792629,"date":"2024-02-20T08:01:07","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T08:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/"},"modified":"2024-02-20T08:01:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T08:01:07","slug":"on-writing-reps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/on-writing-reps\/","title":{"rendered":"On Writing 'Reps'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can task repetition improve writing results? <\/h2>

Last week, I completed a course that seriously challenged my learning skills. It involved memorizing a vast number of facts and answering questions in a specific format. This might be \u2018meat and drink\u2019 (as my instructor put it) to some, but it was chewing on cold gristle to me. <\/p>

Buoyed by sheer ego, I doubled down answered every mock exam question I could put my hands on, watched videos, read the textbook, reread<\/em> the textbook and even dove into \/reddit looking for exam tips. <\/p>

Whether this paid off won\u2019t be known for another few weeks. But it got me thinking about teaching writing \u2014 academic essays<\/a> in particular. <\/p>

\"woman<\/figure>

Until students hit university, writing is taught in the context of English language arts or English lit or communications, or however a particular school styles it. These courses tend to jumble together reading, literary analysis, a bit of history, a bit of grammar, etc., which leaves little space for writing and revision.<\/p>

When I was teaching 8th graders, the vast list of learning expectations meant they managed one significant piece of writing per term: two essays and a short story. They wrote in three classes out of four: short answer questions, free-writing, descriptive paragraphs, poetry, etc., but we didn\u2019t have anything like enough time to get to the point where planning and producing longer pieces became habitual.<\/p>

In US high school diploma programs, the same pattern emerges: one \u2018long\u2019 writing assignment per unit or module; in the British GCSE and A-level system, the focus is on learning to write exam answers. (A notable exception: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme includes a mandatory 4,000-word research essay.)<\/p>

\"white<\/figure>

Any wonder, then, that students arrive at university with minimal writing experience and confidence?<\/p>

My Essay Mastery course<\/a>, which launches this year, is designed to teach the skills required to conquer college writing and my own learning experience has highlighted a key element: repetition.<\/p>

\"black<\/figure>

Young musicians preparing for a recital don\u2019t rehearse a piece once; they practice till their fingers go numb and each note is seared in their skull. So why, in the name of goodness, do we expect students to leap the chasm between high school and university on the strength of having written maybe<\/em> a dozen essays in four years?<\/p>

It is unreasonable. And unkind. <\/p>

Essay writing is simple, when properly taught, and can be huge fun. Even if students don\u2019t get to the point of relishing it, they can achieve mastery.<\/p>

But it takes time, feedback and practice. <\/p>

Search \u2018writing instruction repetition\u2019 and variations on Google Scholar and results focus on writing in the context of English as a foreign language \u2014 which suggests not enough research has been put into considering the question as regards native speakers. For what it\u2019s worth, studies show that repetition plus feedback improves EFL learners\u2019 writing skills (Khezrlou, 2020<\/a>; Roothooft, Lazaro-Ibarrola & Bulte, 2022<\/a>).<\/p>

Does being a native speaker<\/em> of a language make one a strong writer?<\/p>

Does being a skilled driver qualify a person as a mechanic?<\/p><\/div>

Educators, parents and students alike need to acknowledge an inconvenient truth: writing well requires practice, repetition, dedication. <\/em><\/p>

Nobody is amazing at something they do three times a year. The good news is, as author Charles Duhigg wrote in The Power of Habit,<\/em> \u2018there\u2019s nothing you can\u2019t do if you get the habits right.\u2019<\/p>

To be effective, writing education must help students to build concrete skills into habits, then to apply these habits to substantial academic and\/or creative tasks. <\/p>

Teachers also need to be honest and demanding: we need to emphasize that writing takes practice<\/em>. Like a personal trainer, we need to teach them the right moves, create a routine for them to follow, then give students the space and freedom to work out. <\/p>

What is your experience with writing and repetition? Leave a comment!<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can task repetition improve writing results? <\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141792629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOn Writing 'Reps' - Write To Success<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/on-writing-reps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"nl_NL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Writing 'Reps' - Write To Success\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can task repetition improve writing results?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/on-writing-reps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Write To Success\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-20T08:01:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/images.unsplash.com\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ersun Warncke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Geschreven door\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ersun Warncke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Geschatte leestijd\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minuten\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ersun Warncke\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/553b403c5955e10f57a174d7b4044450\"},\"headline\":\"On Writing 'Reps'\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-20T08:01:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":648,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.unsplash.com\\\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080\",\"articleSection\":[\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"nl-NL\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/\",\"name\":\"On Writing 'Reps' - Write To Success\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.unsplash.com\\\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-20T08:01:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/553b403c5955e10f57a174d7b4044450\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"nl-NL\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"nl-NL\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.unsplash.com\\\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.unsplash.com\\\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/on-writing-reps\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On Writing 'Reps'\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/\",\"name\":\"Write To Success\",\"description\":\"Holistic education for exceptional students\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"nl-NL\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/553b403c5955e10f57a174d7b4044450\",\"name\":\"Ersun Warncke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"nl-NL\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/663f7a135f009997a242a00d65a3d727b65be3018401271d9c7c511ce10ee5d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/663f7a135f009997a242a00d65a3d727b65be3018401271d9c7c511ce10ee5d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/663f7a135f009997a242a00d65a3d727b65be3018401271d9c7c511ce10ee5d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ersun Warncke\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/writetosuccess.net\\\/nl\\\/author\\\/warncke\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On Writing 'Reps' - Write To Success","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/on-writing-reps\/","og_locale":"nl_NL","og_type":"article","og_title":"On Writing 'Reps' - Write To Success","og_description":"Can task repetition improve writing results?","og_url":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/on-writing-reps\/","og_site_name":"Write To Success","article_published_time":"2024-02-20T08:01:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/images.unsplash.com\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Ersun Warncke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Geschreven door":"Ersun Warncke","Geschatte leestijd":"3 minuten"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/"},"author":{"name":"Ersun Warncke","@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/#\/schema\/person\/553b403c5955e10f57a174d7b4044450"},"headline":"On Writing 'Reps'","datePublished":"2024-02-20T08:01:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/"},"wordCount":648,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.unsplash.com\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080","articleSection":["Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"nl-NL","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/","url":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/","name":"On Writing 'Reps' - Write To Success","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/images.unsplash.com\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080","datePublished":"2024-02-20T08:01:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/#\/schema\/person\/553b403c5955e10f57a174d7b4044450"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"nl-NL","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"nl-NL","@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/images.unsplash.com\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080","contentUrl":"https:\/\/images.unsplash.com\/photo-1503945438517-f65904a52ce6?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOXx8ZXNzYXl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzA4MjY5ODQyfDA&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/on-writing-reps\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On Writing 'Reps'"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/#website","url":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/","name":"Write To Success","description":"Holistic education for exceptional students","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"nl-NL"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/#\/schema\/person\/553b403c5955e10f57a174d7b4044450","name":"Ersun Warncke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"nl-NL","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/663f7a135f009997a242a00d65a3d727b65be3018401271d9c7c511ce10ee5d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/663f7a135f009997a242a00d65a3d727b65be3018401271d9c7c511ce10ee5d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/663f7a135f009997a242a00d65a3d727b65be3018401271d9c7c511ce10ee5d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ersun Warncke"},"url":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/author\/warncke\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141792629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141792629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141792629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141792629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141792629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writetosuccess.net\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141792629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}