How Reading and Writing Make You "Smarter"

[Rev. Doug Thomas, PhD]

Boricua College

TESOL Graduate Studies

Douglas Thomas, PhD

Source: Stephen D. Krashen, Explorations in Language Acquisition

and Use. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003.

“How Reading and Writing make you Smarter, or, How Smart People Read and Write”

“Smart People” are those who use reading and writing to solve problems.

Reading, writing and speaking, greatly increases our ability to inner-stand and master volumes of information. Krashen argues quite convincingly
that reading and writing produces “Smart People.” Not just any
kind of reading or writing but reading and writing that is designed
to solve a problem. This is a very important point to remember.
Reading and writing for the sake of passing a test does not usually
produce “smart people,” but when we read out of curiosity-- to
better over-stand something that we are genuinely
interested in, then this kind of focus reading—intended to answer
questions (clear questions) that are of concern to you-- produces
“smartness,” or what Krashen describes as “clear answers.”

Four Stages of Development

There are at least four stages that good readers and writers utilize that distinguishes them from the average reader and writer.

1. Preparation: this stage begins with a clear question that ultimately leads to a clear answer. Without the initial formulation of a “clear
   question,” it is most likely that you will be unable to arrive at
   a clear answer. In other words, if you do not have a clear
   unambiguous point (thesis), how will you be able to arrive at a
   clear answer? CLAIRIFICATION OF IDEAS LEAD TO A CLEAR RESPONSE FROM
   THE MIND.

2. Incubation / / problem solving: This stage occurs “subconsciously and automatically,” ONLY if you have formulated a CLEAR question. As
   Krashen points out, the mind immediately begins to solve only
   clearly stated questions that we give it to solve, but it cannot
   solve a question that is not CLEAR. If you are confused about what
   you, the point you want to make,or what you are asking, the mind is
   left in a quandary. It cannot solve anything that you are unclear
   about. It can only solve questions that are CEARLY put to it.
   Therefore, after developing a clear question, relax and let your
   subconscious do the work. Our brain/mind is capable of processing
   more than four billion bits of information a second. It is quite
   capable of solving the little problems we bring to it. You can also
   think of incubation as a time when the mind is relaxed, free from
   conscious thought. This usually can occur during mediation or other
   forms of relaxation. After presenting the mind with a Clear Question
   that arises out of careful thinking and Preparation, relax for a
   while. Even though you are no longer consciously thinking about the
   issue, the subconscious mind is busy working out the Clear question
   you presented it and will eventually solve the problem.

2. Illumination: This stage can also be thought of as the time of revelation. It occurs after one has incubated upon a clear question. The
   illumination or revelation may not all come at once. You most likely
   will get a piece here and a piece there, but the full illumination
   will certainly come in due time. Krashen refers to this moment as
   the “Eureka”--sudden insight. Note: at this stage occurs the
   emergence of new ideas; tapping the subconscious mind which
   processes over four billion bits of information every second. Of
   these four billion bits of information, most can only access a few
   thousand. Yet, through mediation, prayer, yoga and other techniques
   used to quite the mind, we can access this vast resource for our
   benefit.
   

3. Verification: This stage is akin to the intellectual skill Internal Evaluation. It is also a form of Intuition and where the Intellectual skill that
   uses the Affect can be of invaluable assistance. During the
   Incubation stage there are millions of ideas that come from the
   subconscious mind but not all of them are capable of entering ones
   long-term memory. Krashen conjectures that verification occurs when
   we read or find out that someone else has also thought about the
   same idea or written about it. This verification acts to settle our
   idea placing it into our long-term memory bank. Another way to think
   of the verification stage is to think about the experience you have
   after reading a good book and then reflecting upon what you read. At
   that moment you are going through all the stages but there is
   something emerging from the subconscious that stand out over every
   other thought. It is this thing that stands out, that seem to leap
   from the page, that injects itself into your long-term memory. I
   can never forget reading the autobiography of Barack Obama and the
   mystical encounter he experienced that the grave-site of his father.
   As he describes the experience he encountered “speaking” to his
   father at the grave-site, certain things-ideas, seemed to leap from
   the pages and “implant” themselves into my long-term memory.
   These things/ideas I will never be able to forget.

4. Reading and Preparation: “Smart People” do actually read more not because they are smart but out of curiosity. Also, the kind of
   reading they do that distinguishes them from their counterpart is
   aimed at solving problem; answering a question; figuring something
   out, etc. Otherwise, studies have shown that the correlation between
   the two is quite weak. As Krashen points out, “Reading may only be
   relevant to the extent that it relates to a problem we are working
   on, when it helps us gather information for preparation or
   verification, when we read selectively to help us solve a problem,
   we remember what we read.” Reading for the sake of reading—for a
   test, works against cognitive development.

5. Writing and cognition development: Writing strengthens cognition skills. “When we write, we attempt to represent our cognitive structures,
   our current thoughts, on the page. The act of doing this is a
   powerful stimulus toward creating new cognitive structures, new
   ideas.” Thoughtful preparation before writing is very important
   and always begins with a clear point that you want to make. Revision
   is perhaps the most crucial aspect of the writing process for it
   leads to new ideas, insight, and yes, Knowledge. “Average and
   remedial writers don't know this, but think that all of their ideas
   are in their outline or first draft, and regard revision as simply
   making a neater version of the first draft. An unwillingness to
   revise means an unwillingness to accept new ideas while writing.
   Excessive focus on mechanics and other aspects of editing while
   writing pulls attention away from meaning and may be a source of
   writers block.”

6. Writing and Incubation: “Good writing can't be rushed. Forcing writers to sit without a break and write nonstop denies the possibility of
   incubation.” writing is an artform where one not only writes what
   they already KNOWN but more importantly, writing also leads to the
   discovery of new ideas.

Enterprises: This stages could not occur without the use of applying reading and writing to real life situations or enterprises. Here Krashen
argues that smart people are different because they write or read to
solve real problems. “We do not learn parts of language and facts
so that we can eventually read and work on real problems. We read and
work on real problems. We read for interests and pleasure and we
engage in problem solving real enterprises; language acquisition,
literacy development, and intellectual development occur as a
result.”