RECEPTIVE VS EXPRESSIVE MACRO SKILLS

Receptive macro skill is the ability to understand words and language. Much of this type
of skill is inferring communication from our environment and experiences. For example,
when we hear a siren, we know to get out of the way for an emergency vehicle. Similarly,
when a dog sees their owner grab a leash and put on a coat, they become excited because
experience has communicated it is time to go on a walk.
Receptive skill  also is responsible for understanding concepts such as size, shape, color,
time, and sentence structure.
 
Expressive macro skill is the use of words, sentences, gestures, and writing to create a
message or convey a meaning. It is frequently associated with identifying objects,
describing events and how to do actions, create sentences and use correct grammar.
Children of the appropriate age also will have the ability to recall or tell a story and
answer involved questions. This is critical for social communication and communication
of needs, wants, and develop writing.
 
When we learn a language, there are four skills that we need for complete
communication. When we learn our native language, we usually learn to listen first, then
to speak, then to read, and finally to write. These are called the four "language skills":
also known as "macro skills'
 
Macro skills are most commonly referred to listening, speaking, reading and writing in
English language.
 
Listening: This is a communication technique that requires the listener to understand,
interpret and evaluate what he or she hears. Listening effectively improves personal
relationships through the reduction of conflict and strengthens cooperation through a
collective understanding while speaking is vocalization of human communication. Being
able to express an idea, concept or opinion through speech is essential in the
communicative process and languages are about communication. A good language
teachers plan lessons, and sequences of lessons, which include a mixture of all the macro-
skills, rather than focusing on developing only one macro-skill at a time.
 
Listening is the most important skill in communication. It is a mental operation involving
processing sound waves, interpreting their meaning, and storing them in memory. It is a
communication technique that requires the listeners to understand, interpret, and evaluate
what they hear. It paves the way for other skills to tower over the others because of its
significance in terms of speech, discussion and freedom of expression. They serve as an
approach to make everybody comprehend which is being said. It is closely related to
speaking and it enables the persons to soak in any information that is given to them;
consequently, the information can be passed on to another party later on after the
conversation. On the other hand, learners will develop prediction and anticipation skills
in listening. Without listening, communication will be crippled. It is vital and should be a
main part in communication.
 
Listening comprehension is the receptive skill in the oral mode. When we speak of
listening what we really mean is listening and understanding what we hear.
 
Speaking is the expressive skill in the oral mode. It, like the other skills, is more
complicated than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words.
Speaking is often connected with listening. For example, the two-way communication
makes up for the defect in communicative ability in the traditional learning.
 
Speaking is the delivery of language through the mouth. To speak, we create sounds
using many parts of our body, including the lungs, vocal tract, vocal chords, tongue, teeth
and lips. In our own language, speaking is usually the second language skill that we learn.
This vocalized form of language usually requires at least one listener. When two or more
people speak or talk to each other, the conversation is called a "dialogue". Speech can
flow naturally from one person to another in the form of dialogue. It can also be planned
and rehearsed, as in the delivery of a speech or presentation.
 
Reading is the receptive skill in the written mode. It can develop independently of
listening and speaking skills, but often develops along with them, especially in societies  
with   a   highly-developed   literary   tradition.   Reading   can   help   build vocabulary
that helps listening comprehension at the later stages, particularly.
 
Reading is a fundamental skill for learners, not just for learning but for life (Traves
1994) with reading being defined as ―…the ability to draw meaning from the printed
page and interpret this information appropriately‖ (Grabe & Stoller, 2002, p. 9).
 
L1 literacy leads to L2 literacy development awareness. Reading itself builds on oral
language levels and key factors that influence (L2) reading skill development include the
ability to comprehend and use both listening and speaking skills because you need to:
 Hear a word before you can say it
 Say a word before you can read it
 Read a word before you can write it (Linse 2005)
 
Writing is the productive skill in the written mode. It, too, is more complicated than it
seems at first, and often seems to be the hardest of the skills, even for native speakers of a
language, since it involves not just a graphic representation of speech, but the
development and presentation of thoughts in a structured way.
 
Writing is a process that allows writers to explore thoughts and ideas and make them
visible and concrete. It is a social process as much as it is cognitive one. It is an act of
communication suggests an interactive process between the writer and the reader via text.
 
Viewing is an active process of attending and comprehending visual media, such as
television, advertising images, films, diagrams, symbols, photographs, videos, drama,
drawings, sculpture and paintings. It is about ‘reading’ – analyzing, evaluating and
appreciating – visual texts. Viewing is an active rather than a passive process.
 
 
VIEWING AS A NEW MACRO SKILL
Viewing refers to perceiving, examining, interpreting, and constructing meaning from
visual images and is crucial to improving comprehension of print and nonprint materials.
It is a process that supports oracy and literacy, and is a part of an integrated language arts
program. It involves interpreting the images for which words stand and connecting visual
images in videos, computer programs, and websites.
 
The dominance of visual media in our lives today has led to the inclusion of viewing in
the language macro-skills.
 
We   are   living   in   a   visual   world.   The   advent   of   the   internet   and   the  
digital revolution, the ubiquity of mobile devices which allow us to capture still and
moving images easily, the appearance of video-sharing platforms such as YouTube and
Vimeo, and the emergence of social media networks such as Instagram and Facebook
whose users upload largely visual content, have all contributed to an extraordinary rise in
visual   communication   and   to   the   image,   and   increasingly   the   moving   image,
becoming the primary mode of communication around the world.
 
With the inclusion of viewing in the macro-skills and proliferation of multimedia
technology,   it   is   imperative   that   both   speakers   and   listeners   critically   assess
audiovisual   inputs   and   make   meaning   from   them   (Curriculum   Planning  
&Development Division, 2010).
 
BICS VS CALP
BICS Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills
The language necessary for day to day living, including conversations with friends,
informal
interactions.
 
CALP Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
The language necessary to understand and discuss content in the classroom.
 
BICS vs CALP
students' ability to
understand and express, in
conversational fluency in a both oral and written
DEFINITION
language modes, concepts and ideas
that are relevant to success
in school
Embedded
Context embedded means Reduced
that the conversation is
often Context reduced is the
language of the classroom
face-to-face, offers many CONTEXT in which there are fewer
cues to the listener such as non-verbal cues and the
facial expressions, gestures, language is more abstract.
concrete objects of
reference.
Cognitively undemanding
Cognitively demanding
Cognitively undemanding
Cognitively demanding
language is easy to language relates to abstract
understand, deals with FOCUS concepts, has specialized
everyday language and vocabulary and uses more
occurrences and uses simple
complex language structure.
language structure.
 
Four Main Characteristics of an Effective English Language Teacher
Socio-Affective Skills
As in all other fields, it is crucial that teachers have some basic socio-affective skills to
interact with their students and maintain the educational process effectively. These skills
include a wide range of items such as motivating students, sparing time for students when
they ask for help, being enthusiastic for teaching, having positive attitudes towards
students, responding to students’ needs and providing a stress-free classroom atmosphere
(Cheung, 2006; Shishavan and Sadeghi, 2009).
 
In addition to these aspects, Foote, Vermette, Wisniewski, Agnello, and Pegano (2000,
cited in Wichadee, 2010) also state that the relationship between teachers and students is
one of the most striking features.
 
In their study, Arikan, Taşer and Saraç-Süzer (2008) also highlight the importance of
establishing and maintaining positive relationships with students. Besides,
when trying to find similarities and differences between his study and the existing
literature,
 
Borg (2006) maintains the significance of the relationship between the members of the
process. According to his study, the socio-affective skills enable teachers to establish
good rapport with their students as well as maintaining the process of education more
effectively and successfully.
 
Another crucial point is what students experience, how they feel and how to approach
their related problems in the process of teaching and learning. Feelings such as anxiety
and fear, and other negative emotions are natural and expected parts of this process.
Therefore, what is important for teachers is to create an environment in which their
students can concentrate on learning in both cognitive and emotional levels. Moreover,
socio-affective skills provide teachers with the opportunity to deal with what their
students feel and experience in their learning process (Aydın, Bayram, Canıdar, Çetin,
Ergünay, Özdem and Tunç, 2009). In
other words, in order to be effective, teachers should combine their behavior with both
their minds and emotions.
 
Pedagogical Knowledge
In order to conduct any kind of job properly, one should have the knowledge of how to
do it. S/he should be aware of the procedures and the strategies to follow in the process,
which is pedagogical knowledge. In his study, Vélez-Rendón (2002, as cited in Aydın et
al., 2009) defines pedagogical knowledge as what teachers know about teaching their
subjects. He also claims that without pedagogical knowledge teachers cannot convey
what they know to their learners.
The results of the study conducted by Aydın et al. (2009) show that students prefer their
teacher to have the knowledge of how to teach in order to deal with the affective domain.
To deliver the content in the best way, an effective teacher needs both field specific
knowledge and knowledge of how to present it (Brophy, 1991, cited in Aydın et al.,
2009).
Furthermore, Clark and Walsh (2004) emphasize the significance of pedagogical
knowledge by claiming that it is a sophisticated form of knowledge hard to obtain, and
not available to everyone that seeks it. Different studies refer to numerous dimensions of
pedagogical knowledge such as providing students with an environment in which they
can be relaxed in order to learn and produce well, guiding students, having the ability to
organize, explain and clarify, as well as arousing and sustaining interest, motivating
students, giving positive reinforcement, allocating more time to preparation and delivery,
and teaching with effective classroom materials by integrating technology.
 
In addition, effective teachers should basically have classroom management skills
defined as practices and procedures that a teacher uses to maintain an environment in
which instruction and learning can occur (Wong and Wong, 1998). The basic aim at
maintaining classroom management is to create stress-free learning environments for
both learners and teachers by lowering affective filter and raising motivation. Stress-free
environments provide not only learners but also teachers with the relaxing atmosphere to
take part in the process willingly and to eliminate or at least minimize the fear of making
mistakes.
Subject-Matter Knowledge
Another main area that attracts attention is the subject-matter knowledge which teachers
should possess regarding their specific field. To make a general definition of this notion,
Vélez-Rendón (2002, cited in Aydın et al, 2009) regards the subject matter knowledge as
what teachers know about what they teach.
 
Another study pointing out the significance of this knowledge type (Buchman 1984, cited
in Aydın et al, in 2009) suggests the use of subject matter knowledge in different phases
of the educational process such as using target language effectively in class, integrating
lessons based on students’ backgrounds and preparing effective lesson plans.
 
In addition to these items, different studies contribute to the notion of the subject matter
knowledge from different perspectives ranging from having knowledge of the target
language knowledge concerning fluency, accuracy, lexicon and pronunciation to being
knowledgeable on target culture (Borg, 2006; Park and Lee, 2006; Werbinska, 2009).
 
Subject matter knowledge enables teachers to make use of audio-visual materials when
possible, guide students to get some learning strategies, teach a topic in accordance with
students’ proficiency levels, and watch and inform students about their progress in
language learning. To highlight these aspects, Arıkan (2010) maintains that effective
teachers should have the subject-matter knowledge to prepare appropriate lesson plans
besides using adequate resources for content delivery. 
Shishavan and Sadeghi (2009) point out the importance of field knowledge of teachers as
they are the providers of knowledge in the process. Their study shows that one of the
requirements of being an effective teacher is to have the mastery of the subject matter
knowledge in their specific field. The more teachers have the subject-matter knowledge,
the more effectively they teach and the more successful results will be obtained.
Personality Characteristics
People who work in any profession indispensably bring their personal characteristics in
the working environment. This is also valid for teachers who not only are human beings
but also deal with human. Therefore, in addition to the subject-matter knowledge or the
pedagogical knowledge, teachers are also supposed to have some essential personal
characteristics to teach effectively and to be successful in their profession.
Malikow (2006) lists the personality characteristics most often cited by the studies
conducted on what personal qualities an effective teacher should have as follows: being
challenging and having reasonably high expectations, having sense of humor, being
enthusiastic and creative. To this list, other studies have added being tolerant, patient,
kind, sensible and open-minded, flexible, optimistic, enthusiastic, having positive
attitudes toward new ideas, and caring for students as characteristics necessary for being
an effective teacher (Cheung, 2006; Shishavan and Sadeghi, 2009; Werbinska, 2009).
Clark and Walsh (2004) suggest that when teachers combine all of these expected
characteristics in the profession, they can end up with a trusting relationship with their
students.
 

Oral Lore from Pre-Colonial Times

Oral lore or “oral tradition” is a form of human communication wherein knowledge,
art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved and transmitted orally from one
generation to another. The transmission is through speech or song or may include
folktales, ballads, chants, prose or verses. In this way, it is possible for a society to
transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other oral knowledge across generations
without a writing system, or in parallel to a writing system.
 
Pre-colonial Literature
The variety and abundance of Philippine literature evolved even before the colonial
period. Folks, tales, epics, poems, and marathon chants existed in most ethno linguistic
groups that were passed on from generation to generation through word of mouth. Some
of these pre-colonial literary pieces showcased in traditional narratives, speeches and
songs are “tigmo” in Cebuano, “bugtong” in tagalog “potototdon” in Bicol and
“paktakon” in Ilongo.
 
Philippine epics and folk tales are varied and filled with magical characters. They are
either narratives of mostly mythical objects, persons or certain places, or epics telling
supernatural events and bravery of heroes, customs and ideologies of a community. Pre-
colonial inhabitants of our islands showcase a rich past through their folk speeches, folk
songs, folk narratives and indigenous rituals and mimetic dances and affirm our ties with
our Southeast Asian neighbors.
 
1. Riddles (Bugtong or Palaisipan)
 Made up of one or more measured lines with rhymes and may consist of 4 to 12 syllables
 Showcase the Filipino wit, literary talent, and keen observation of the surroundings
 Involves reference to one or two images that symbolize the characteristics of an unknown
object that is used to be guessed
 
Examples of Riddles
 Nagtago si Pedro, pero nakalabas ang ulo.
 Hindi pari, hindi hari, ngunit nagdadamit ng sari-sari.
 Bugtong-pala-bugtong, kadenang umuugong.
 Buhok ni Adan, hindi mabilang-bilang.
 Sa araw ay bungbong, sa gabi ay dahon.
 Isda sa Marevilis, nasa loob ang kaliskis.
 
1. Proverbs (Salawikain)
 Proverb is a simple and concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, that expresses a
truth based on common sense or experience. They are often metaphorical.
 These have been customarily used and served as laws or rules on good behavior by our
ancestors. To others, these are like allegories or parables that impart lessons for the young
ones.
Examples of Proverbs
A broom is sturdy because its strands are tightly bound. People gain strength by standing
together.
It is hard to wake up someone who is pretending to be asleep. While it is easy to tell
people something they do not know, it is much harder if they are willfully choosing not to
see what is before them.
1. Lo-A
a short poem composed of four lines having its meter and rhyme. The recitation of a loa
is participated by two groups of boys and girls who are refuting in a form of poetry.
a folk tradition that mirrors the Ilonggo’s folks’ creative or poetic intuition. It
encapsulates in a single form the workings of the creative mind of the Ilonggo folks or
the common tao – the ordinary souls that one may meet in his daily existence;
housewives, farmers, “istambays”, laborers, teachers, even students. Ordinary as they are,
their lo-a is a proof of an extraordinary mind whose creativity flows spontaneously from
the soul.
Example:
Rosas, rosas nga kamantigue
Soltero nga waay nobya, agi.
 
Bulak, bulak sang tangkong
Dalaga nga wala sang nobyo, bingkong.
 
Tapakan ko central, gupi
Guwa kalamay, puti.
 
Didto sa Bohol
May isa ka lalaki nga manol
Panawag sa kasilyas, City Hall.
 
FOLK SONGS
 A form of folk lyric which expresses the people’s hopes, aspirations and lifestyle.
 Repetitive and sonorous, didactic and naïve.
 Traditional songs and melodies.
 Inspired by the reaction of the people to their environment.
 Examples of Folk Songs
 Uyayi-lullaby
 Kumintang-war song
 Kundiman-melancholic love song
 Mambayu-Kalingarice-pounding song
 Subli-dance ritual song of courtship or marriage
 Tagulaylay-songs of the dead
 
1. Myths and Legends
Mythology, body of myths of a particular culture, and also the study and interpretation of
myth. It is a complex cultural phenomenon that can be approached from a number of
viewpoints. In general, myth is a narrative that describes and portrays in symbolic
language, the origin of the basic elements and assumptions of a culture. Mythic narrative
relates for example, how the world began, how humans and animals are created, and how
certain customs gestures, or forms of human activities originated.
Myths from Different Regions of thePhilippines
The Gods and Goddesses (Ilocos)
Why There is a High Tide during a Full Moon (Ibanag)
Why the Dead Come Back No More (Ifugao)
Mag-asawang Tubig(Tagalog)
How the Moon and the Stars Came to Be (Bukidnon-Mindanao)
Traditional narratives or collection of related narratives, popularly historically factual but
actually a mixture of fact and fiction. The medieval Latin word “legenda” means “things
for reading”. A legend is a set of a specific place at a specific time; the subject is often a
heroic historical personage. A legend differs from a myth by portraying human hero
rather than one who is god. Legends, originally oral, have been developed into literary
masterpieces. Legends are stories of real people who are famous for doing something
brave or extraordinary.
Examples of Legends from the Philippines
The Legend of the Sleeping Beauty (Kalinga)
Legend of the Dama de Noche
Legend of the Banana Plant
Legend of the Firefly
1. EPICS
 A long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and
adventures of heroic or legendary figures or the history of a nation.
 Portraying heroic deeds and adventures or covering an extended period of time.
Examples of ethno-epics popularized by different ethnic groups in the country
 Biag ni Lam-ang(Life of Lam-ang) of the Ilocanos, narrates the adventures of the
prodigious epic hero. Lam-ang who exhibits extraordinary powers at an early age.
 The Agyu or Olahing of the Manobos is a three part epic that starts with the
pahmara(invocation) then the kepu’unpuun (a narration of the past and the sengedurog
(an episode complete itself). All three parts narrate the exploits of the hero as he leads his
people who have been driven out of their land.
 Sandayo of the Subanon tells of the story of the hero with the samename who is born
through extraordinary circumstances as he fell out of thehair of his mother while she was
combing it on the ninth stroke.
 Aliguyon or the Hudhud of the Ifugaos tells the adventures of Aliguyon as he battles his
arch enemy, Pambukhayon among rice fields and terraces and instructs his people to be
steadfast and learn the wisdom of warfare and of peacemaking during harvest season.
Beginning of Grammar
Grammar, the structural glue, the “code” of language, is arguably at the heart of language
use, whether this involves speaking, listening, reading or writing.
The history of English grammars begins late in the sixteenth century with the Pamphlet
for Grammar by William Bullokar. In the early works, the structure and rules of English
grammar were based on those of Latin. A more modern approach, incorporating
phonology, was introduced in the nineteenth century. Sixteenth to eighteenth centuries
The first English grammar, Pamphlet for Grammar by William Bullokar, written with the
seeming goal of demonstrating that English was quite as rule-bound as Latin, was
published in 1586. Bullokar's grammar was faithfully modeled on William Lily's Latin
grammar, Rudimenta Grammatices (1534). Lily's grammar was being used in schools in
England at that time, having been "prescribed" for them in 1542 by Henry VIII. Although
Bullokar wrote his grammar in English and used a "reformed spelling system" of his own
invention, many English grammars, for much of the century after Bullokar's effort, were
to be written in Latin; this was especially so for books whose authors were aiming to be
scholarly. Christopher Cooper's Grammatica Linguæ Anglicanæ (1685) was the last
English grammar written in Latin.
The yoke of Latin grammar writing bore down oppressively on much of the early history
of English grammars. The goal of grammarians was to assimilate a reading and writing
system that taught English speakers of all different social classes the same equitable
pattern, relying on a set of new guidelines taken from their Latin language rules. Any
attempt by one author to assert an independent grammatical rule for English was quickly
followed by equal declarations by others of truth of the corresponding Latin-based
equivalent. Even as late as the early nineteenth century, Lindley Murray, the author of
one of the most widely used grammars of the day, was having to cite "grammatical
authorities" to bolster the claim that grammatical cases in English are different from those
in Ancient Greek or Latin.
The focus on tradition, however, belied the role that other social forces had already begun
to play in the early seventeenth century. Increasing commerce, and the social changes it
wrought, created new impetus for grammar writing. On the one hand, greater British role
in international trade created demand for English grammars for speakers of other
languages. Consequently, grammars were published in various European languages in the
second half of the seventeenth century. On the other hand, English grammars were being
written for "non-learned, native-speaker audiences" in Britain, such as women,
merchants, tradesmen, and children. With education becoming more widespread by the
early eighteenth century, many grammars, such as John Brightland's A Grammar of the
English tongue (1759) and James Greenwood's Essay towards a practical English
grammar, were intended for those without a Latin background, including the "fair sex"
and children.
If by the end of the seventeenth century English grammar writing had made a modest
start, totaling 16 new grammars since Bullokar's Pamphlet of 115 years before, by the
end of the eighteenth, the pace was positively brisk; 270 new titles were added during
that century. 83 percent of these titles were published in the late eighteenth century. Both
publishing and demand, moreover, would continue to mushroom. The first half of the
nineteenth century would see the appearance of almost 900 new books on English
grammar. Showing little originality, most new books took the tack of claiming—as
justification for their appearance—that the needs of their target audience were still unmet
or that a particular "grammatical point" had not been treated adequately in the preexisting
texts, or oftentimes both. Texts that were both utilitarian and egalitarian were
proliferating everywhere. Edward Shelley's The people's grammar; or English grammar
without difficulties for 'the million' (1848), for example, was written for "the mechanic
and hard-working youth, in their solitary struggles for the acquirement of
knowledge." Similarly, William Cobbett's popular mid-century book was titled, A
Grammar of the English Language, In a Series of Letters: Intended for the Use of Schools
and of Young Persons in General, but more especially for the use of Soldiers, Sailors,
Apprentices, and Plough-Boys.
Eighteenth-century prescriptive grammars
In 1745, Ann Fisher published her English Grammar which has been argued to have had
influence on grammarians in the 18th century to follow and printed in more than 30
numbered editions, making it one of the most popular in addition to being the earliest
English grammar. Later, Robert Lowth, Bishop of Oxford and thereafter of London,
scholar of Hebrew poetry, and for a short time Oxford Professor of Poetry, was one of the
best known of the widely emulated grammarians of the 18th century. A self-effacing
clergyman, he published A Short Introduction to English Grammar, with critical
notes (1762), his only work on the subject, without the author's name on the title page.
His influence extended, through the works of his students Lindley Murray and William
Cobbett, well into the late 19th century. He would also become, among prescriptive
grammarians, the target of choice for the criticism meted out by later descriptivist
linguists. Lowth wrote against preposition stranding, using "whose" as the possessive
case of "which", and using "who" instead of "whom" in certain cases.
In America in 1765, the American Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson, founder, and first president
of King's College in New York City (now Columbia University) published in New
York An English Grammar; the First Easy Rudiments of Grammar Applied to the English
Tongue. It "appears to have been the first English grammar prepared by an American and
published in America.” In 1767, Johnson combined it with a Hebrew grammar, and
published it as An English and Hebrew grammar, being the first short rudiments of those
two languages, suggesting the languages be taught together to children, which went to
four more imprints by 1776. Johnson developed his grammars independently of Lowth,
but later corresponded and exchanged grammars with him.
In 2003, scholar Karen Cajka described nine English women who published grammars in
the late eighteenth century: Ellin Devis, Dorothea Du Bois, Mrs. M. C. Edwards, Mrs.
Eves, Ellenor Fenn (aka Mrs. Teachwell and Mrs. Lovechild), Ann Fisher, Jane
Gardiner née Arden, Blanche Mercy, and Mrs. Taylor. They "together published a total of
twelve discrete grammars, with over one hundred documented editions appearing well
into the nineteenth century". The study of English grammar was seen as important in
learning how to write English well, and in learning other languages later. It held a strong
significance to many people in the United States with little to no income, and sparse
educational backgrounds, ranging from former slaves, to rail splitters or weavers.
Learning it permitted individuals like these to speak and write the language with
passionate fluency, helping them expand on their careers.
Nineteenth century to present
It was during the nineteenth century that modern-language studies became
systematized. In the case of English, this happened first in continental Europe, where it
was studied by historical and comparative linguists. In 1832, Danish philologist Rasmus
Rask published an English grammar, Engelsk Formlære, part of his extensive
comparative studies in the grammars of Indo-European languages. German
philologist Jacob Grimm, the elder of the Brothers Grimm, included English grammar in
his monumental grammar of Germanic languages, Deutsche Grammatik (1822–
1837). German historical linguist Eduard Adolf Maetzner published his 1,700
page Englische Grammatik between 1860 and 1865; an English translation, An English
grammar: methodical, analytical and historical appeared in 1874. Contributing little new
to the intrinsic scientific study of English grammar, these works nonetheless showed that
English was being studied seriously by the first professional linguists.
As phonology became a full-fledged field, spoken English began to be studied
scientifically as well, generating by the end of the nineteenth century an international
enterprise investigating the structure of the language. This enterprise comprised scholars
at various universities, their students who were training to be teachers of English, and
journals publishing new research. All the pieces were in place for new "large-scale
English grammars" which combined the disparate approaches of the previous decades.
The first work to lay claim to the new scholarship was British linguist Henry Sweet's A
new English grammar: logical and historical, published in two parts, Phonology and
Accidence (1892) and Syntax (1896), its title suggesting not only continuity and contrast
with Maetzner's earlier work, but also kinship with the contemporary A New English
Dictionary on Historical Principles (begun 1884), later the Oxford English
Dictionary (1895).
Two other contemporary English grammars were also influential. English Grammar: Past
and Present, by John Collinson Nesfield, was originally written for the market in colonial
India. It was later expanded to appeal to students in Britain as well, from young men
preparing for various professional examinations to students in "Ladies' Colleges." Other
books by Nesfield include A Junior Course In English Composition, A Senior Course In
 English Composition, but it was his A Manual Of English Grammar and
Composition that proved really successful both in Britain and her colonies—so much so
that it formed the basis for many other grammar and composition primers including but
not limited to Warriner's English Grammar and Composition, and High School English
Grammar and Composition, casually called Wren & Martin, by P. C. Wren and H.
Martin. Grammar of spoken English (1924), by H. E. Palmer, written for the teaching and
study of English as a foreign language, included a full description of
the intonation patterns of English.
The next set of wide-ranging English grammars were written by Danish and Dutch
linguists. Danish linguist Otto Jespersen, who had coauthored a few books with Henry
Sweet, began work on his seven-volume Modern English grammar on historical
principles in the first decade of the twentieth century. The first volume, Sounds and
Spellings, was published in 1909; it then took forty years for the remaining volumes on
syntax (volumes 2 through 5), morphology (volume 6), and syntax again (volume 7), to
be completed. Jespersen's original contribution was in analyzing the various parts of a
sentence in terms of categories that he named, rank, junction, and nexus, forgoing the
usual word classes. His ideas would inspire the later work of Noam
Chomsky and Randolph Quirk.
The Dutch tradition of writing English grammars, which began with Thomas
Basson's The Conjugations in Englische and Netherdutche in the same year—1586—as
William Bullokar's first English grammar (written in English), gained renewed strength
in the early 20th century in the work of three grammarians: Hendrik Poutsma, Etsko
Kruisinga, and Reinard Zandvoort. Poutsma's Grammar of late modern English,
published between 1904 and 1929 and written for "continental, especially Dutch
students," selected all its examples from English literature.

Teaching Grammar
There is no doubt about it: The use or misuse of grammar in speaking and in writing
affects the images we have of ourselves and of others. Good grammar helps people
communicate more effectively and can translate into doing better in school, getting the
jobs we seek, and clarifying our points of view. Good grammar teaches thinking skills
and encourages logical thinking. It increases our vocabularies. And many feel strongly
that learning grammar has a positive influence on the quality of our writing.
 
There is no doubt about it: The use or misuse of grammar in speaking and in writing
affects the images we have of ourselves and of others. Good grammar helps people
communicate more effectively and can translate into doing better in school, getting the
jobs we seek, and clarifying our points of view. Good grammar teaches thinking skills
and encourages logical thinking. It increases our vocabularies. And many feel strongly
that learning grammar has a positive influence on the quality of our writing.
 
It is essential that teachers are not simply teaching grammar because it is part of the
Curriculum, but rather they know 'how' it will benefit students’ literacy abilities as well
as their daily life. Grammar rules facilitate clear and concise communication skills and
knowledge. Errors in verb tense, sentence structure, contractions, punctuation, spelling,
and word usage detract from intended messages. Being an effective communicator helps
an individual make positive impressions on others, which impacts their overall happiness,
social life as well as employment opportunities. An individual’s verbal skills and self-
confidence contribute to their public persona. Thus, teachers have the responsibility to
progressively teach children the essential skills and knowledge required to successfully
communicate with those around them. 
 
Grammar is important for many reasons, it assists with personal and professional
communication and academic and employment success (Morreale, Osborn & Pearson,
2000; Hillocks and Smith, 1991).

Personal communication
 Enable you to make your point in everyday interactions with family, friends and the
broader community.
 Makes you appear intelligent and self-assured
 You are taken more seriously.
 An ability to speak without grammar errors can help you make your point when dealing
with difficult situations
 Using proper grammar shows respect for your audience.

Professional communication
 Grammar proficiency is an important aspect of working. 
 You are judged on your competency based on your deliver of the English language. 
 Careless mistakes can cause embarrassment and ridicule. 
 Many jobs require presentations to audiences when demonstrating a product or pitching a
marketing idea.
 Grammar mistakes can undermine your credibility and persuasive power (Morreale,
Osborn & Pearson, 2000; Hillocks and Smith, 1991).

Academic success
 Grammar is vital to doing well in school because many classes require written homework
assignments. 
 Educators appreciate well written papers free of grammatical errors, 
 Good grammar results in higher grades. 

Career success 
 Neglecting to correct grammatical errors in cover letters and resumes can cost you a job
interview. 
 Mistakes can appear to be careless errors, laziness or apathetic to an employment
opportunity.
 Career advancement can be adversely impacted by poor grammar (Morreale, Osborn &
Pearson, 2000; Hillocks and Smith, 1991). 

Representational and Interpersonal Grammar

The kinds of meanings realized by grammar are principally:
 representational - that is, grammar enables us to use language to describe the world in
terms of how, when and where things happen
e.g. The sun set at 7.30. The children are playing in the garden.
 interpersonal - that is, grammar facilitates the way we interact with other people when,
for example, we need to get things done using language.
e.g. There is a difference between: Tickets! Tickets, please. Can you show me
your tickets? May see your tickets? Would you mind if I had a look at your tickets.
Grammar is used to fine-tune the meanings we wish to express.

The Sentence Argument

     The sentence-machine argument
 Part of the process of language learning must be what is sometimes called item-learning
— that is the memorization of individual items such as words and phrases. However,
there is a limit to the number of items a person can both retain and retrieve.
 
Even travellers' phrase books have limited usefulness — good for a three-week holiday,
but there comes a point where we need to learn some patterns or rules to enable us to
generate new sentences. That is to say, grammar.
 
Grammar, after all, is a description of the regularities in a language, and knowledge of
these regularities provides the learner with the means to generate a potentially enormous
number of original sentences. The number of possible new sentences is constrained only
by the vocabulary at the learner's command and his or her creativity. Grammar is a kind
of 'sentence-making machine'. It follows that the teaching of grammar offers the learner
the means for potentially limitless linguistic creativity.
 The Fine-Tuning Argument
    The fine-tuning argument
The purpose of grammar seems to be to allow for greater subtlety of meaning than
a merely lexical system can cater for. While it is possible to get a lot of communicative
mileage out of simply stringing words and phrases together, there comes a point where
'Me Tarzan, you Jane'-type language fails to deliver, both in terms of intelligibility and in
terms of appropriacy. This is particularly the case for written language, which generally
needs to be more explicit than spoken language.
 
For example, the following errors are likely to confuse the reader: Last Monday
night I was boring in my house. After speaking a lot time with him I thought that him
attracted me. We took a wrong plane and when I saw it was very later because the plane
took up.
 
 Five years ago I would want to go to India but in that time anybody of my friends
didn't want to go. The teaching of grammar, it is argued, serves as a corrective against the
kind of ambiguity represented in these examples.

The Fossilization Argument

     The fossilization argument
 
It is possible for highly motivated learners with a particular aptitude for languages
to achieve amazing levels of proficiency without any formal study. But more often 'pick
it up as you go along' learners reach a language plateau beyond which it is very difficult
to progress. To put it technically, their linguistic competence fossilizes. Research
suggests that learners who receive no instruction seem to be at risk of fossilizing sooner
than those who do receive instruction.

  The advance-organizer argument

Grammar instruction might also have a delayed effect. The researcher Richard
Schmidt kept a diary of his experience learning Portuguese in Brazil. Initially he had
enrolled in formal language classes where there was a heavy emphasis on grammar.
 
When he subsequently left these classes to travel in Brazil his Portuguese made
good progress, a fact he attributed to the use he was making of it. However, as he
interacted naturally with Brazilians he was aware that certain features of the talk —
certain grammatical items — seemed to catch his attention. He noticed them. It so
happened that these items were also items he had studied in his classes. What's more,
being more noticeable, these items seemed to stick. Schmidt concluded that noticing is a
prerequisite for acquisition.
 
 The grammar teaching, he had received previously, while insufficient to turn him
into a fluent Portuguese speaker, had 5 primed him to notice what might otherwise have
gone unnoticed, and hence had indirectly influenced his learning. It had acted as a kind of
advance organizer for his later acquisition of the language.

 The discrete item argument

 Language seen from 'outside', can seem to be a gigantic, shapeless mass,
presenting an insuperable challenge for the learner. Because grammar consists of an
apparently finite set of rules, it can help to reduce the apparent enormity of the language
learning task for both teachers and students. By tidying language up and organizing it
into neat categories (sometimes called discrete items), grammarians make language
digestible.
 
  (A discrete item is any unit of the grammar system that is sufficiently narrowly
defined to form the focus of a lesson or an exercise: e.g. the present continuous, the
definite article, possessive pronouns).

 The rule-of-law argument

It follows from the discrete-item argument that, since grammar is a system of
learnable rules, it lends itself to a view of teaching and learning known as transmission. A
transmission view sees the role of education as the transfer of a body of knowledge
(typically in the form of facts and rules) from those that have the knowledge to those that
do not. Such a view is typically associated with the kind of institutionalized learning
where rules, order, and discipline are highly valued.
 
The need for rules, order and discipline is particularly acute in large classes of
unruly and unmotivated teenagers - a situation that many teachers of English are
confronted with daily. In this sort of situation grammar offers the teacher a structured
system that can be taught and tested in methodical steps.

 The learner expectations argument

Regardless of the theoretical and ideological arguments for or against grammar
teaching, many learners come to language classes with fairly fixed expectations as to
what they will do there. These expectations may derive from previous classroom
experience of language learning. They may also derive from experience of classrooms in
general where (traditionally, at least) teaching is of the transmission kind mentioned
above.
 
On the other hand, their expectations that teaching will be grammar-focused may
stem from frustration experienced at trying to pick up a second language in a non-
classroom setting, such as through self-study, or through immersion in the target
language culture. Such students may have enrolled in language classes specifically to
ensure that the learning experience is made more efficient and systematic. The teacher
who ignores this expectation by encouraging learners simply to experience language is
likely to frustrate and alienate them.

Different Approaches to Teaching Grammar

APPROACHES TO TEACHING GRAMMAR
1.      The Deductive Approach
2.      The Inductive Approach
Technical Writing Defined
Technical writing is a specialized form of exposition: that is,
written communication done on the job, especially in fields with specialized
vocabularies, such as science, engineering, technology, and the health sciences. Along
with business writing, technical writing is often subsumed under the heading
of professional communication.
 
The Society for Technical Communication (STC) offers this definition of technical
writing: "the process of gathering information from experts and presenting it to an
audience in a clear, easily understandable form." It can take the form of writing an
instruction manual for software users or detailed specifications for an engineering project
—and myriad other types of writing in technical, medicine, and science fields. In an
influential article published in 1965, Webster Earl Britton concluded that the essential
characteristic of technical writing is "the effort of the author to convey one meaning and
only one meaning in what he says."
 
Technical Writing, sometimes called business writing, is writing for a specific purpose
and with a specific goal. Usually its goal is to inform/instructor persuade/argue.
Technical writing can really be considered transactional writing because there are two
people or groups involved in the communication. One party has a clear goal to inform or
persuade the other party. This is real-world writing in every sense. You may not be aware
of how much it already impacts your world through textbooks, instructions, web sites,
and communications from many businesses and service organizations.

Why Technical Writing is Important?

Why is technical communication important and what will you use it for? Technical
writing will be used by most college graduates as a regular part of their work. It is much
more likely that you will use technical writing than either academic or creative writing
unless you specifically enter those fields. A few examples of why you will likely need
these skills include: getting a job – preparing a resume or curriculum vitae, cover letter,
application, and portfolio; doing your job – preparing memos, letters,
reports, instructions, case reports, reviews, assignments, descriptions, etc.; and keeping
your job – communicating with management, co-workers, peers, patients/students/public.

Characteristics of Technical Writing

Here are its main characteristics:
Purpose: Getting something done within an organization (completing a project,
persuading a customer, pleasing your boss, etc.)
Your knowledge of the topic: Usually greater than that of the reader
Audience: Often several people, with differing technical backgrounds
Criteria for evaluation: Clear and simple organization of ideas, in a format that meets the
needs of busy readers
Statistical and graphic support: Frequently used to explain existing conditions and to
present alternative courses of action 

Difference Between Technical Writing and Other Types of Writing

 The "Handbook of Technical Writing" describes the craft's goal this way: "The goal
of technical writing is to enable readers to use a technology or understand a process or
concept. Because the subject matter is more important than the writer's voice, technical
writing style uses an objective, not a subjective, tone. The writing style is direct and
utilitarian, emphasizing exactness and clarity rather than elegance or allusiveness. A
technical writer uses figurative language only when a figure of speech would facilitate
understanding."
 
 Mike Markel notes in "Technical Communication," "The biggest difference between
technical communication and the other kinds of writing you have done is that technical
communication has a somewhat different focus on audience and purpose."
In "Technical Writing, Presentational Skills, and Online Communication," computer
science professor Raymond Greenlaw notes that the "writing style in technical writing
is more prescriptive than in creative writing. In technical writing, we are not so much
concerned about entertaining the audience as we are about conveying specific
information to our readers in a concise and precise manner.

Defining Technical Communication

Technical communication is a broad field and includes any form of communication that
exhibits one or more of the following characteristics:
Communicating about technical or specialized topics, such as computer applications,
medical procedures, or environmental regulations.
Communicating by using technology, such as web pages, help files, or social media sites.
Providing instructions about how to do something, regardless of how technical the task is
or even if technology is used to create or distribute that communication.
 
The value that technical communicators deliver is twofold: They make information more
useable and accessible to those who need that information, and in doing so, they advance
the goals of the companies or organizations that employ them. The following examples
illustrate the value of the products technical communicators produce or the services they
provide.
 
Software instructions help users be more successful on their own, improving how easily
those products gain acceptance into the marketplace and reducing costs to support them.
Medical instructions help patients and care-providers manage a patient’s treatment,
improving the health of the patient while reducing costs and risks associated with
incorrect care.
Functional specifications and proposals help one group of technical experts communicate
effectively with other technical experts, speeding up development cycles, reducing
rework caused by misunderstandings, and eliminating risks associated with
miscommunication.
Training programs provide people with new or improved skills, making them more
employable and their organizations and products more efficient and safer.
Well-designed websites make it easier for users to find information, increasing user
traffic to and satisfaction with those websites.
Technical illustrations clarify steps or identify the parts of a product, letting users focus
on getting their task done quickly or more accurately.
Usability studies uncover problems with how products present themselves to users,
helping those products become more user friendly.
 
The following is a partial list of the different jobs within technical communication:
 Technical Writers & Editors
 Indexers
 Information Architects
 Instructional Designers
 Technical Illustrators
 Globalization & Localization Specialists
 Usability & Human Factors Professionals
 Visual Designers
 Web Designers & Developers
 Teachers & Researchers of Technical Communication
 Trainers and E-Learning Developers
  
What all technical communicators have in common is a user-centered approach to
providing the right information, in the right way, at the right time to make someone’s life
easier and more productive.

Types of Technical Documents

 
Traditional Documentation
User guides, manual, ‘How to’ guides and the like are the most common types of
technical documentation, and they are the ones that always come to people’s mind when
someone says, “technical documentation”.
 
User Guides
User guides help people use a particular system like a piece of hardware or software.
They provide clear and sensible information on common questions that users may face.
User guides can also contain information on possible malfunctions and ways to fix them.
It describes features, possibilities, and use cases of this software documentation tool.
 
Product Manuals
Product manuals are created to describe basic operations of a product, its main features,
general maintenance, and more. Here is an example — a page from a wristwatch manual:
 
API Documentation
Technical writers create API documentation where they describe instructions about how
to effectively use hardware (SCPIs), web-API, or software API. Usually, API
documentation contains all the information required to work with the API, details about
classes, functions, arguments, and the like, supported by examples and tutorials. API
documentation aims to help clients or users implement API and understand how it works.
This type of documentation help businesses, for example, make it easier for users to
interact with the code.
 
Science Papers, Research, and Reports
Technical writers also work with professionals from other spheres like medicine, science,
aerospace, engineering, and so on. Speaking of science and medicine, researchers write
papers with the results of their work, but those results can be hard to explain to the broad
audience, so authors ask tech writers to help them interpret and organize findings. These
are published in journals, and because of that accuracy and content organization are very
important — and tech writers are best for this job.
 
Technical writers also assist business owners to help them create reports because clarity
and accuracy of content are also required.
 
Technical Marketing Documentation
Technical writing includes marketing content as well. Tech writers can create easy-to-
interpret and concise articles which help clients understand how to properly operate a
product. White papers, case studies, proposals are the examples of technical marketing
documentation.
 
White Papers
The main goals of a white paper are to highlight a company’s success and help to
promote the products or services of a company. As a marketing tool, white papers collect
information on facts and logical arguments why this company and its product are the
best. White papers usually focus on new solutions to an old problem, or the benefits of a
B2B product or service.
 
Case Study
A case study is an analysis of a company, product, or a project that identifies a solution or
situation that contributed to failure or success. Case studies allow potential buyers to see
your product in action. They focus on a customer’s experience to show how a particular
product, or a service can help you and your business.
 
Proposals
Technical writers also create proposals for B2B companies. Technical writers help to
persuade the reader to approve a proposed project or implement a proposed plan. It may
contain recommendations, results of surveys, technical background, information about
feasibility, and so on

The Technical Writing Process

Just like any other business activity, technical writing can be boiled down to a process – a
set of high-level steps. These five steps are Plan, Structure, Write,
Review and Publish. These high-level steps are the common elements in virtually every
technical writing project – really in any business writing project – big or small.
 
STEP 1 – PLAN
‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’
All projects need to be planned – at least at some level. Whilst you don’t have to go
create a detailed Gantt chart for every technical writing project, it certainly helps if you
answer some of the following questions before you put pen to paper. The results of this
planning may be as simple as some bullet points jotted down in your notepad – or you
may find that simply going through this as a mental exercise is sufficient.
 
When you are planning to write technical documents, you should ask yourself:
Scope – How many documents do I need to write? What are their key characteristics?
Am I going to publish them in multiple formats – if so, are there any production
requirements I should be aware of?
Timing – How long do I need to schedule for review cycles? What’s the final deadline?
Process – What are the high-level steps that I need to follow to create the documents?
 
Along with these basic questions (which apply to almost any project – not just technical
writing) there are some specific writing-related questions that you need to consider in
your documentation project:
Audience – who am I writing for? Do they have a sophisticated command of language?
What are their education levels?
Reviewers / Subject Matter Experts – these are the people who will lend their technical
expertise in the creation of the documents and review them for accuracy
Existing information
Style guide / templates
Etc.
 
STEP 2 – STRUCTURE
A structure is the backbone of your document – the hierarchy of headings that define the
logical order that it will progress. Structure is essential to successful documents, and it’s
something that you should develop before you start writing. A well-structured document
is one that has had thought go into it beforehand, which means you’re less likely to need
to rehash it later.
 
It is important to understand that structure isn’t a straitjacket – it will evolve and change
as you write and review the document. After you publish, you may end up with a very
different-looking document to the one you envisaged – that is perfectly normal and there
is nothing at all wrong with it. There are several common structural approaches when it
comes to technical documents:
Narrative structure – The traditional approach – intro, body, conclusion
Process-based structure – Common in technical documentation such as procedures and
user guides
Library structure – A collection of articles on a common topic, loosely structured
System-based structure – Describing the components of a system such as an auto manual
 
Whatever approach you choose, you will need to work with your subject matter experts
to understand how the structure you’ve developed will accomplish the purpose you have
set out to do – whether it’s explaining how a product works, how to carry out a
procedure, presenting information in a tender or sales document, and so on.
 
STEP 3 – WRITE
Writing is where you convert your bare-bones table of contents and notes into a series of
drafts, culminating in a draft that is ready for formal review. Contrary to popular
impression, writing is only about 20-30% of the process in a well-planned document –
much of the effort goes into planning, structuring, and reviewing your work. In fact,
the more time you spend planning and structuring your work, the less time you are likely
to spend on writing.
 
There are a few time-honored (as well as some new) techniques that technical writers
draw on:
KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)
Plain English
Five Ws (and One H)
Inverted pyramid
Verb-noun structure
Active voice
 
These techniques will help you write better documentation – documentation that your
audience finds useful, engaging and a pleasure to read. Of course, to apply these
techniques, you need to have a decent grasp of the English language.
 
(The technical writing process is about is how to apply your writing and project
management skills to the task of producing high quality documents in a way that hits the
mark, resonates with your audience, and achieves your deadlines.)
 
At this stage, engaging your subject matter experts means a lot of informal one-on-one
discussions – or even workshop-style if you have a large group of them. At this stage,
you should be asking your experts to contribute raw material, review and / or test what
you have written and so on. Remember – at this stage, it’s all loose and informal – the
formality comes in the next step, Review.
 
STEP 4 – REVIEW
The review is the polishing stage. It is where your document gets the trial by fire, so to
speak, of having others formally review it, as well as undergoing another very important
task – editing and proofing.
 
If you have not already done so, you will now need to define who’s responsible for
reviewing what (also called a Review Matrix) or validating it if you’ve been proactive
and defined it during the planning step – which you should aim to do.
 In the Review step, there are several discrete activities going on (depending on the type
of document being written):
 Review by subject matter experts
 Testing a procedure / instruction to make sure you / a subject matter expert can follow the
steps
 Peer review by a colleague
 Editing and proofing
 
The point of all these activities is to apply the appropriate level of quality control to
ensure your document is accurate, useful, usable, and so on – in other words, good
enough to publish. It’s not uncommon for documents to spend most of their time in the
review step – and by the end, they can be completely unrecognizable compared to how
they started.
Review also involves an element of writing – documents will be reviewed, then revised.
High-profile documents – the ones where it really pays to put the effort in to making sure
they’re perfect – will be reviewed and revised many times before they’re ready to
publish.
 
STEP 5 – PUBLISH
Publishing can be a complicated process – or it can be extremely easy. Publication
happens when writers manufacture and launch the final product. This might be as
straightforward as emailing an approved document to your manager or uploading it to a
content management system or intranet. On the other hand, it might involve some
complicated logistics. It also includes discussion of more advanced scenarios such as
print production and translation. The technical writing process is supported by activities
and tools.
 
Technical Writing Process explains each of the steps above in detail, linking each high-
level step with the detailed activities and tools needed to accomplish them. This is shown
in the full version of the technical writing process diagram:
 
By applying the steps, activities, and tools in the technical writing process – and
customizing it to suit your project – anyone with a sufficient level of writing skills can
successfully create technical documentation or learn how.
 
What are the ABC's of technical writing?
 Accuracy - must be tactful in the recording of data, statement of calculating mathematical
figures.
 Brevity - it's easier to grasp the main idea of the report written if you have a brief report.
 Confidence - a writer must be decisive or sure of what is he writing about.

The Seven Levels of Editing

Any piece of writing has no single version that you can say it is ‘superior’. Instead, there
are different options and a broad range of strategies that you can use to improve content
or text. These tactics are known as the 7 levels of editing. They enable the editor to
respond to a draft and produce a publication that is of high-quality. They are performed
without necessarily following any order and you don’t need to use all of them.
Light copyediting/Proofreading
It is more concerned with the text’s visual characteristics and it’s the lightest level of editing.
Light copyediting/proofreading only deals with glaring and minor errors such as punctuation
corrections, grammar, and spelling.
Medium Copyediting
The medium copyediting also includes level 1, in addition to addressing consistency and
correcting a few of the finer details. They include ensuring word choices are appropriately
used, logical and consistent usage of abbreviations, structural formatting (e.g. headings) and
numbers.
Stylistic Editing
At the stylistic editing or level 3, the writer’s style is addressed which includes over-usage of
certain phrases or words, wordiness, tone appropriateness, and organizational structure (or
lack of transitional phrases). At this level, the length of the sentences, punctuation and tone
formality will change if the text is published.
Structural Level
At level 4, major changes will take place and the editor will now look beyond the sentence
level. The focus will shift to the internal structure of the paragraph. Are the ideas in the
paragraph fully explained or logical? Are the paragraphs too few or many? Is the order of
information ideal? At the structural level, the editor is still limited to work on what is
provided in the existing text.
5.Substantive Editing
At this level, the editor goes beyond what is provided in the content and investigates the
context of the writing piece such as the targeted audience, writing purpose, where the text
will be published and the intended accomplishment of the text by the author. The editor
can even change the introductory text or general approach to make it more appropriate.
More details or content can also be added, or minor rewriting conducted.
 
6.Revision Editing
At the 6th level, the text will not need other options of editing, for instance, you cannot
proofread a content that requires revision. Revision means that the writer or the author
will have to change or modify some of the decisions he or she made in the original text. It
can also require changing the text’s structure, redefinition of the purpose or the content’s
audience, reworking on the content substantively or doing away with what does not work
in the content.
 
7.Rewriting
At the rewriting level, it usually means writing over the text again or changing what had
been written by the author. It also means changing the structure, tone, style and
sometimes even a substantive content portion. It can involve returning to sources and
performing new research. It doesn’t necessarily mean fixing the writer’s or author’s text
but starting over it or part of it again.
The writers or the authors and the editors need to know the 7 editing levels to have
precise discussions of what their texts need to look better. The author will be able to
easily agree on editing costs. These editing levels will also provide a framework and
understand what needs to be done to analyze and develop editing expertise.

Technical Communication and other Forms of Writing

Technical communication has a specific audience and is purposeful, usually intended to
solve a problem for that audience. One area that really sets technical communication
apart is that it is quite often collaborative. Technical communication is also focused on
readability issues, not only the use of clear writing, but also page design and graphics.
The excellence of technical writing is judged by clarity, accuracy, comprehensiveness,
accessibility, conciseness, professional appearance, and correctness.
 
There are seven principles to guide technical writing: remember your purpose (to inform
or persuade), remember your audience (their concerns, background, attitude toward your
purpose), make your content specific to its purpose and audience, write clearly and
precisely (active voice, appropriate language to audience), make good use of visuals
(good page design and graphics), and be ethical (truthful, full disclosure, no plagiarizing).
 
Technical communication serves both explicit, or clear, and implicit, or
implied, purposes. Explicit purposes include to provide information, to provide
instructions, to persuade the reader to act upon the information, or to enact or prohibit
something. Implicit purposes include establishing a relationship, creating trust,
establishing credibility, and documenting actions. Most technical communications are
based on a problem statement which gives your document a clearly stated objective for
your benefit as well as your readers. The problem statement defines the problem, by
doing more than simply stating your topic, it goes on to explain what about that topic is at
issue. For example, if your topic is career guidance then your problem could be the fact
that many adults need help identifying a career that suits their strengths and abilities and
the solution that your document will present is to create a comprehensive clearing house
that helps people identify career paths through military, vocational training, and higher
education.

Careers and Study

People can study technical writing in college or technical school, though a student doesn't
have to earn a full degree in the field for the skill to be useful in his or her job.
Employees in technical fields who have good communication skills can learn on the job
through feedback from their team members as they work on projects, supplementing their
work experience through taking occasional targeted courses to further develop their
skills. Knowledge of the field and its specialized vocabulary is the most important piece
for technical writers, just as in other niche writing areas, and can command a paid
premium over generalist writers.