Siddique 1

Maryam Siddique

English 5M

Professor Doutherd

Nov 26, 2017

Literacy Experience

Developing my literacy narratives was a unique experience for me. In 2012, I moved to the
United States deliberating almost no English. I struggled in many ways such as adjusting to a unique
environment, learning a new language, and much more. My first year in the United States was very
struggling due to the lack of knowledge of English. I was barely able to explain my issues to peers, and
teachers; however, I was enrolled in ELL courses to receive extra help. My attempt to gain fundamental
skills of literacy, and adjust in a unique environment was critical while success was the ultimate result.
For instance, I passed the Literacy State Exam (CELDT) to be placed in college prep courses, and work my
way out to attend a university. Overcoming the obstacles throughout this journey was difficult, perhaps
the most critical factor was to develop my literacy skills to succeed in school.

Reading outside of class significantly promoted me shape my literacy. I enrolled in early

language courses to develop my vocabulary, and become more comfortable to communicate in English.
As a multilingual (ML) student, the range of my vocabulary and knowledge of writing was limited,
however, my teachers promoted me to become more fluent in English by reading books, articles,
newspaper, and more. Increasing the number of reading supported me to accumulate a wide variety of
vocabulary and understanding of the American writing structure. Indeed, Reading doesn't only help the
ML students to become more fluent in English but also improves their capability of expressing
imaginations in writing effectively.

Moreover, reading supports ML students to learn several ways of expressing their opinions and
explaining them accurately. Since American writing structure requires the writers to layout information
in a specific way, reading more will help them understand the structure better, and promote ML
students become better writers. In contrast, Dana Ferris in her article titled Multilingual Writer states
that the first [approach to increase vocabulary, and grammar error] is to read as much as possible in
English- newspaper, magazine and journal article (25). She writes this fact to suggest ML students a way
of increasing vocabulary, and knowledge of the writing structure. In this quote, she clarifies that the
most effective way to increase vocabulary is to read more and learn strategies to approach the English
languages unique writing styles. This suggestion by Ferris ties back to my experience of gaining literacy
skills, because reading significantly influenced me to learn more, and write effectively.

To improve my writing structure, I had to understand the exceptions of my audience. As an ML

student, I struggled to learn strategies to layout my paper appropriately. To learn to organize the writing
better, I enrolled in the creative writing class, and learned different strategies for expressing opinions
accurately. This class taught me the appropriate use of verbs, and transitioning phrases to make my
essay appealing. Additionally, I learned the importance of self- editing my work. Furthermore, Anne
Lamott in her article titled The Shitty First Draft writes that almost all proficient writing begins with
terrible first effort (528). This quote clarifies that a perfect writing requires more than one draft. The
first draft can be unorganized and contain all ideas but editing it to a second better draft will help the
 Siddique 2

writer explain their thoughts more effectively. Similarly, my History teacher suggested the class to write
rough drafts for any paper we write. I followed her suggestions, and started writing first drafts for the
assignments that I found complicated; over time I discovered that the papers with a rough draft earned
a better grade.

Perhaps most importantly, an ML student can significantly benefit from the online resource. As I
struggled to gain my literacy skills the online resources played a leading role to support me, and
enhance my capability of writing effectively. For example, the internet offers a wide variety of articles
and books for English learners to read and improve fundamental skills of reading and writing. Indeed, I
took the advantage and read as much as possible from the online resources. Moreover, it allowed me to
gain vocabulary by having the ability to define unfamiliar words and learn their synonyms. Apart from
helping with vocabulary and providing a variety of readings, the internet supported me to learn diverse
ways of writing by having the ability to read others' writing pieces.

My English teachers also took advantage of the online resources by assigning the students to
peer review each other's work and give feedback. Editing others work is beneficial for both the reader
and the writer because it allows the reader to help the writer clarify their opinions effectively and the
reader also gains a better sense of the prompt they are writing to. Since college professors expect
students papers to be well written, self-revised, and accurately organized, students must take
advantage of resources provided and help themselves become better resources (Ferris 25). Indeed,
editing other writing significantly promoted my reading and writing skills, since it allowed me to
overcome unique styles of writing and view a perspective in separate ways.

The development of my literacy skills was a difficult journey of my life. I overcame many
obstacles and struggled to resolve the issues. I had to improve my reading skills to become a better
writer and communicator, while reading in English wasn't also easy. Every step towards the
development of literacy skills was challenging. However, I managed to keep growing by participating in
extra courses and gathering help from every resource possible. For example, enrolling in early language
courses, taking extra supporting language courses and exploring information from the Internet.
Consequently, I showed growth in my literacy skills and enrolled in college prep courses to be able to
attend a university and continue developing my literacy knowledge.