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Students’ Prior Knowledge of Writing Topics
Prior knowledge in general appears to form the best possible base for comprehension and composition (Heller, 1999). Gaining background knowledge help learners write essays about interesting topics. In addition, when writers' prior knowledge is well-developed, it affects their leaning and confidence as far as producing written texts is concerned (Myhill, 2005). Ferris & Hedgcock (2004) highlight that prior knowledge and experiences that students bring to the composition classroom are major distinctive characteristics between native and non-native speakers of English. They add that background knowledge and strategic proficiency can be clearly seen in ESL/EFL students’ responses to texts and topics, in their reactions to the activities of ESL writing classrooms, and in their familiarity with the rhetorical patterns of academic and professional discourse communities. Prior knowledge plays an essential role in activating students’ minds in both reading and writing. Students’ schema is much affected by what they read, why they read it, and what genre they are mainly interested in. Schemata is a doubleedged weapon in students’ learning of reading and writing. Adequate schemata can be facilitating to learning. Prior knowledge of text structures facilitates comprehension and composition (Heller, 1999). On the other hand, L2 readers and writers lacking schematic knowledge might be hampering their learning (Ferris & Hedgcock, 2004). This justifies the significance of pre-reading or prewriting activities as helpful stimuli to students' prior knowledge in comprehension and composition (Anderson, 1984). Research findings show that comprehension and composition are hindered if a reader or writer lacks adequate background knowledge about text structure, topics, and ideas (Anderson, 1977; Rumelhart, 1980; Stein & Trabasso, 1982; Reid, 1993a; El-Mortaji, 2001; Scordaras, 2003). For example, Reid (1993a) has highlighted that “when content and form are familiar, reading and writing are relatively easy. But when one or the other (or both) are unfamiliar, efficiency, effectiveness, and success are problematic” (p. 63). 62 Shedding light on the importance of reading to enhance Egyptian students’ prior knowledge, EL-Koumy (1997) pinpointed that integrated instruction of reading and writing, simultaneous teaching of reading and writing, better preparation of English teachers to read like writers and write like readers are highly needed. Moreover, Scordaras (2003) revealed that prior knowledge and writing experiences seem to affect ESL writers’ revision processes. In the same vein, ElMortaji (2001) found out that prior knowledge about written English is one among other influential factors leading to students’ success. In this respect, (Ediger, 2001 & Moran, 2001) emphasise that teachers should acquaint their students with the texts and topics that they think are influential cognitively, culturally, and educationally. In relation to the Egyptian context, I think that some psychological issues need to be addressed. First, there is a need for increasing students’ motivation to write in English as they suffer from low motivation levels. Second, the use of multiple drafts, teachers’ written comments, peer-review and publications of students’ written work could be useful strategies that may help them gain self-confidence, high motivation levels and less writing anxiety. In addition, more attention needs to be paid to the instructional practices of English writing to help them overcome these psychological challenges. In reference to Egyptian students’ low proficiency level, it could be useful to engage students in some learning opportunities in the essay writing class where they could read in L1 and L2 as well as write in L2. In addition, Egyptian students lack adequate background knowledge about text structure, topics, and ideas as reported in the findings of the current study. Therefore, acquainting students with the texts and topics that they think are influential cognitively, culturally, and educationally is highly recommended. Moreover, providing some pre-reading or prewriting activities might be helpful to enhance and activate students' prior knowledge in essay writing. Making use of integrated instruction simultaneous teaching of reading and writing are also thought to increase students’ prior knowledge.
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