10.Teaching Writing


  • Knowledge on written language
1. Written language vs. spoken language: two different kinds of complexity

1.1 complexities at the level of the clauselexical density (# of content words) vs. complexity in the way clauses are linked together.
1.2 decontextualization, which makes it impossible to adjust the message vs. contextualization due to permanent feedback from the other person.

2. Definition of writing = a communicative process involving the writer in decisions concerning the expected reader of the text.

N.B. Textual decisions depend on the writer’s perception of the audience.

3. Constraints in writing a text:
1. Appropriate
2. Intents 3. Context 4. Possible 5. Feasible 6. Performed
       

Utterance
Johnson, Keith, Communicative Syllabus Design and Methodology, 1982


4. Functions in everyday life served by written language:
4.1 for action: public signs, recipes, maps, bills, ....,....,....,....,......
4.2 for information: newspapers, non-fiction books, textbooks, advertisements.
4.3.for entertainment: fiction, comic strips, light magazines, etc.
  • Knowledge about teaching writing
1. Writing is a communicative activity where there is a reason to write and there is a reader.

2. Components of the writing skill:

2.1 mechanical component: e.g. hand-writing; spelling; capitalization; punctuation.
2.2 grammatical component: e.g. tenses; word order; etc.
2.3 discourse component: e.g. ability to paragraph; use of cohesive devices; etc.
2.4 stylistic component: e.g. choice of appropriate vocabulary; ability to vary sentence structure to avoid repetition; ability to choose language according to the type of writing and writing.

3. Potential problems: spelling; punctuation; stylistic confusion between spoken and written language; L1 interference; Ss’ resistance to writing in general.

4. What the student MUST know:
4.1 what the audience will be
4.2 what s/he wants to convey i.e. purpose of writing
4.3 how to write several drafts coming nearer to the message intended at the semantic and grammatical level.

5. Staging the writing lesson
  • ‘ideas’ stage
  • ‘composing’ stage
  • ‘editing’ stage

6. what will a course of writing include?
  • a lot of: reading, listening, oral discourse

7. Role of the writing teacher:
  • find interesting and relevant writing activities
  • decide how best to present the activities
  • provide sufficient guidance and control
  • provide correction and suggestions for improvement

8. Techniques used for teaching writing:
  • pre-reading discussion
  • spray-charts or visual forms presenting ideas before writing
  • first draft followed by peer discussion of the message
  • second draft
  • editing
  • recomposition
  • modelling/ parallel versions for different audiences
  • text combination (pairs use their best relevant pieces to make the whole text)
  • incubation (set the writing task a week after pre-writing activity)
  • writing many different kinds of texts (e.g. newspaper articles; menus; tourist brochures; doctor’s records; poetry; etc.)

9. Process-oriented approach vs. product-oriented approach
9.1 focus is on classroom activities, which are believed to promote the development of skilled language use.
9.2 language at the level of discourse.
9.3 writing teacher more interested in the processes writers go through in composing texts.

10. objectives + activities:
10.1 arouse Ss’ interesttopic (stimulus for topic: learner choice of topic)
10.2 arouse ideas/new wordsgroup/pair brainstorming
10.3 help organize ideasoutline or jot down ideas
10.4 get down main ideasfirst draft (individual, pair or group)
10.5 clarifying message, editingfeedback from peers and teacher
10.6 optional second draft and feedback
10.7 final versionrewriting

11. Discourse analytic tasks
  • true/false questions on writer’s intention
  • cloze and gap-filling using semantic replacement criteria
  • given 1st paragraph, learners predict 2nd, etc.
  • match list of functions with text
  • rhetorical transformations (e.g. given a description of a product, learners rewrite it as an advertisement)
  • modeling (e.g. given text as a topic, learners write a text of the same structure on a different topic).

12. Stages of a writing lesson
12.1 copying
12.2 controlled writing
12.3 guided writing
12.4 cued writing
12.5 free writing: reports; summaries; letters; invitations; literary compositions.,
13. Producing a piece of writing.


(Raimes, A. Techniques in Teaching Writing, OUP, 1983)



CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: WRITING SKILL

  1. Was it a mini-skills lesson e.g. punctuation, letter format?
  2. What was the degree of control? i.e. controlled/less controlled/freer?
  3. What kind of writing exercise was it? e.g. letter writing, composition, descriptive passage…
  4. Was there appropriate guidance for the task?
  5. How was the lesson concluded? NB: it may be set for homework.
  6. Comment on how successful you feel the lesson was. What factors contributed to this?


CLASSROOM OBSERVATION: USING THE BOARD

  1. Physical: Was the board visible to all?
Was the layout clear? (Did it appear overcrowded/disorganized?)
  1. Was the new language highlighted effectively?
  2. Was the board work complete? (e.g. no unfinished sentences)
  3. Did the teacher use the board for:
  1. clarifying points on the spot?
  2. correction? (e.g. grammar, pronunciation)
  1. Could any of the following have been appropriate?
  1. tabulation (e.g. substitution table)
  2. display of visuals (flashcards/drawings)
  3. prompts for practice
  4. preparation (e.g. giving information for an activity)
  1. What did the students write down and take away?
Was it representative of the salient points of the lesson, and would the students have understood it several days later?
  1. Was the board overused or underused?

  • Reflection as Exercise:
  1. The writer can choose any structure or lexis, which will appropriately express the intended meaning to the expected audience. So, will you look at Keith Johnson’s diagram of an utterance and spell out the necessary constraints to be considered when writing.
  2. How can you reformulate such a writing task as ‘Describe your room at home’ so that the assignment take on new dimensions besides a simple exercise in the use of the present tense and in prepositions. Consider providing student writers with a context in which to select appropriate content, language, and levels of formality.
  3. When is teacher feedback expected to happen during the writing process?
  4. What differences can you highlight between the process-approach to writing and a more traditional approach?
  5. Argue for writing as a group work activity or an isolationist activity.
  6. Mention advantages of use of brainstorming activities in the writing class.
  7. Consider the textbook English News and Views. Put down all the writing tasks used by the authors in order to refine students’ writing skills.
  8. Detail a scenario presenting the stages of a lesson teaching writing on a topic of your choice from a textbook familiar to you.
  9. How can the teacher get the balance right between accuracy and fluency in writing?
  10. What do you understand by the need to develop the students’ communicative potential in writing?