@article{oai:bunkyo.repo.nii.ac.jp:00000426,
 author = {Ogawa, Ruby Toshimi},
 issue = {2},
 journal = {文学部紀要, Bulletin of The Faculty of Language and Literature},
 month = {2009-03-01, 2009-12-08},
 note = {Pre-writing exercises that incorporate the Mind Mapping concept can enhance a student's ability to integrate complex thoughts into a cohesive unit of text. The difficultly for most Japanese students who are learning English as a second language is not the language barrier itself, but the student's desire to maintain a comfort level that is most familiar to the learner. There is a natural reliance and tendency for students to write according to their first language structures. As an instructor, we must be cognizant of our student's learning behaviors, and in giving guided lessons that students can readily incorporate within the framework of formalized writing styles.
Tony Buzan, the inventor of the world-famous Mind Maps, provides an incredible advantage in activating our right-sided brain to map concepts or words that are linked by our natural association of assigned meanings and references. The linking of words with images for the pre-writing stages can be accessed as a viable goal for students while providing some relevant skill-building objectives to enhance and achieve the final stages of writing readable prose.
The focus of this paper is to simply introduce the Mind Mapping concept as a tool for instructors in developing pre-writing skills for their Japanese students. While there are other methods that are available as new teaching trends are in constant motion for improvement and refinement, the Mind Mapping concept has great potential in providing Japanese students an enjoyable writing experience. In providing a bridge for students to crossover into developing language skills, this Mind Mapping concept can help to elevate the confidence level of students so that they may employ and develop their own writing skills.},
 pages = {71--82},
 title = {Mind-Mapping as a Pre-Writing Tool in Teaching College-Level Writing Courses},
 volume = {22},
 year = {}
}