Abstract:
Reading and writing are often thought of as integrated skills. Some thinkers consider that they
ought to be taught as a single subject, while others see the opposite. In our immediate
environment, we notice that in the Teachers Training School they are taught as separate
modules; while in Mentouri University there is no room for reading. This situation leads us to
think that if reading is really indispensable for the mastery of writing, then we are tempted to
believe our students are handicapped; in that, they learn writing without reading. This study
aims first at shedding light on the different approaches and methods of teaching and
integrating reading and writing, as well as assessing the development of the writing skill in
the second year students of both departments. Second, it also aims at investigating the
potential positive impacts that reading might have on improving the writing skill. We
hypothesize that if Reading and Writing were taught as integrated skills, the students'
performance in Writing would be enhanced significantly. To test our hypothesis, we have
chosen the descriptive method. Teachers and students questionnaires with students‟ scores in
Written Expression and Reading Techniques were analyzed and manipulated with adequate
statistical procedures to study the perceptions of the informants and compare the
performances of the students in the exams. This revealed that the Teachers Training School
students were better writers and readers than Mentouri Brothers University students. Through
this study, we assume that reading plays an important role in developing students‟ writing
performance. Hence, we want to prove that reading needs to be taught as a module on its own
right in the English Department of Mentouri University to help our students improve their
writing skills.
