This study aimed to examine the impact of a reading-writing connection project on
the first-year EFL college students who studied English as a required subject in the
first semester of 2005. A literacy environment that was supportive of reading-writing
connections involved explicit instruction of text structures and story elements,
reflective reading journals (or reading logs) on each reading text, and creative writing
based upon the story book of the learners’ own interest. Data were collected from the
students' reading log entries, creative writing, and the follow-up interviews. Results
indicated that the learners' literacy developed not only in linguistic progress but also
in critical thinking as well as in personal growth. Reading helped the EFL learners’
development of their writing with the stimulus, structures, vocabulary, and prior
experience (schema). The reading-writing connection also had a positive impact on
the EFL college students’ reading metacognitive awareness (i.e., looking back what
they read), as well as their reflection of personal values and experience transaction.
Evidence arising out of these findings suggests that reading and writing should be
integrated in teaching for the reason that they are not separated skills, but mutually
reinforced in EFL classroom.