The role of rhetorical reading in writing

Reading for the purpose of writing is different from reading for the purpose of comprehension and therefore requires a different set of reading strategies. While L1 research has proposed new reading strategy categorisations and examined their connections with writing, little L2 research exists on integrated reading-to-write tasks. In this presentation, I will briefly review the L2 studies that have focused on the reading-to-write process and investigated the role of reading in writing. I will then introduce a rhetorical reading model as a useful analytical tool to reexamine reading strategies and explain how this model was employed in my recent study with Chinese postgraduate TESOL students. By showing examples from the students’ think-aloud protocols, I will discuss the students’ reading strategies and possible relations between their reading and writing. I will conclude that although there is some evidence to suggest that the students who adopted a more rhetorical approach to reading, produced more successful texts, more studies are needed to better understand the role of rhetorical reading in writing.