Interesting Counts: Writing for Readers

More methods and resources are available than ever before to help English learners improve their writing, but focusing too narrowly on mechanics or discourse can sometimes neglect what writing professionals see as the most important element: interesting a reader. This three-stage qualitative interview study investigated teachers' practice and students perceptions related to raising EFL student-writers' awareness of audience. This qualitative research project, based largely on interview data, looked at Korean EFL writing students' and their teachers' ideas about the importance of audience awareness in the writing process. Responses were focused on the importance of thinking about the reader as part of the writing process, how much awareness students had in terms of thinking about audience, and whether there was any extra value that students might get from writing for publication, as in letters to the editor or opinion columns in a newspaper. The data revealed that both teachers and learners saw great value in including awareness of audience in writing classes, as well as benefits from writing for readers outside the classroom.