Applying big ideas to facilitate reading-writing integration in language classrooms

Abstract

This article presents and discusses the pedagogical use of big ideas to facilitate reading-writing integration in second language (L2) classrooms. By conceptualizing “big ideas” as a dual-dimension notion concerning both language and content, we demonstrate how a continuous and interactive process of meaning discovery and application can be enacted through integrated reading-writing tasks. Through such a process, students are guided to comprehend, analyze, and formulate big ideas while fostering and honing their reading and writing abilities. The paper sheds light on the pedagogical power of big ideas that logically and structurally builds connectivity between different stages of reading/writing and between students’ text comprehension and language use. Practical implications are also provided to inform language teachers on the application of big ideas in L2 classrooms.