See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/354118597

Methods And Significance of Pre Writing Activities In Acquisition of Writing

Skills

Article · November 2020

CITATIONS READS

0 7,096

2 authors:

Dhanya m. Alamelu .C
VIT University Vellore Institute of Technology Chennai
2 PUBLICATIONS   18 CITATIONS    23 PUBLICATIONS   62 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Alamelu .C on 25 August 2021.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

Methods And Significance Of Pre Writing

Activities In Acquisition Of Writing Skills
M.DHANYA1& Dr. C. ALAMELU2

1
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Social Sciences and Languages Division, Vellore Institute of Technology,
Chennai.
2
Professor, Social Sciences and Languages Division, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai.
Email:- dhanya6chn@gmail.com

Abstract-

Effective Writing Skills are a key determinant of students’ success at college and their
subsequent careers. Pre-writing can serve as an effective method to develop writing skills by facilitating
the thinking and structuring of ideas, before the actual writing activity commences. Prewriting can help
learners develop clear reasoning, organize their thoughts and effectively deliver the final written
product.There are various pre-writing methods like focused free writing, mind mapping, brainstorming,
listing and outlining, that teachers can utilize based on learner needs and preferences. Though all
methods have their own pros and cons, teachers would need to choose those methods that will enable the
best possible outcomes for learners. This paper dwells into the various methods and techniques used by
teachers in imparting writing skills among students at the tertiary level and the relative preferences
among teachers and learners for each of these methods.

Keywords: Prewriting, Free Writing, Mind Mapping, Brainstorming, Listing, Outlining.

INTRODUCTION

Writing can be defined as a blend of Process and Product (Sokolik, 2003). While Process can be
explained as the steps involved in generating ideas, views and opinions, the Product is the culmination
of all these in the written form. An effective teaching methodology for writing needs to integrate the
insights from Product, Process and Genre approaches. (Badger and White, 2000) Harmer emphasis
writing to be as important as speaking, listening or reading (1998). Writing can be viewed as a very
intellectual part of language learning and unlike speaking, listening or reading; it is a skill that demands
substantially greater amounts of efforts to be mastered. According to Zhang and Chen (1989), writing is
the ability of a person to effectively comprehend ideas through a combination involving conception,
6763

grammar, vocabulary, rhetoric and other parts of the language.

Literature Review

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

Writing as a challenge spans not only in the areas of generating and organizing ideas but also in
translating these ideas into a comprehensible text. According to Richards (2002), one of the most
difficult skills for L2 learners to master is “Writing”. Writing involves highly complex skills. L2 writers
would need to pay close attention to both higher-level skills like planning and organizing and lower
level skills such as spelling, punctuations and vocabulary.

Learners become more frustrated while writing, when they are lost with words. Learners engaged in a
productive task can become very frustrated when they just do not have the words or the grammar they
need to express themselves. This can make writing a cumbersome process. (Harmer 2007).We need to
involve the students in writing process. In the ‘real world’, this typically involves Planning, Drafting,
Reviewing and Editing (Harmer1998).

One of the primary reasons why students don’t like to write is that they see writing as a chore, as a
dreaded work, and as something that needs to be ‘get done with’; they do not see themselves as writers
(Cohen & Cowen, 2010). Students are also not aware of the benefits of learning the written language
leading to a general apathy in acquiring these skills. Thus teachers play an important role in creating a
model that imparts these skills in a fun and invigorating fashion (Cohen & Cowen, 2010) and thereby
encourage students to view writing as a self-fulfilling activity then merely being a curriculum
requirement.Improvement of writing skills is an invaluable investment that learner can make for their
future. It is thus important, that students master writing skills in English, considering the fact that it has
indeed become a globally accepted language today for communication and professional success greatly
depends on one’s ability to use the language effectively especially in Speaking and Writing. “Writing”
can only be learnt and not taught, through an intentional effort on part of the students. There are several
tools and techniques to acquire writing skills, but there is no “one size fits all” solution to this challenge.
In their pursuit of imparting writing skills, most academicians rely on the tried and tested methodology
which involves three phases viz. Pre-writing, Writing Exercise and Review; and all the techniques and
tools fall into one or all of these stages.

STAGES IN WRITING

Writing is an active process which is a culmination of the writer’s own psychological and social
experiences. It commences with the writer’s intention to write, the collection and collation of ideas, and
resulting in them taking the written form. There is hardly any writing that is done impromptu, and
preparation is key to an organized form of writing. To achieve the best results, effective writers need to
extensively plan, execute and review their writing with tenacity. There are broadly 3 stages in writing,
which elucidates these processes:
6764

Phase 1: Pre writing phase (preparatory)

Phase 2: The actual writing phase/ exercise

Phase 3: Post writing or review

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

PRE-WRITING

Pre-writing is the first stage of writing. It is a preparatory stage, where students are encouraged
to collect their ideas about the topic under consideration and provided with a conducive platform to
promote a free run of their ideas. This can also be described as the initial stage of development in
writing. As a process it can be considered to be an exercise similar to a woodcutter sharpening his axe
before cutting a tree. The sharper the axe, the more effective the woodcutter becomes. Similarly teachers
and students would need to focus a major part of their efforts and time on Pre writing. Pre -writing can
be done through a range of activities which could be customized to suit the topic under enquiry and the
relative knowledge of the students.

Pre-writing is a combination of various activities like Brainstorming, Debating, outlining etc. According
to Williams J (2003) ‘students involved in writing need to engage in the activities contained in the
various stages of the process approach: namely, pre-writing activities such as brainstorming, collecting
ideas, discussing; the drafting stage, and the revising and editing stages”.

Pre writing Activities some of the popular pre writing activities are

 Brain storming
 Clustering/Mind mapping
 Outlining/Listing
 Journaling/Questioning
 Free Writing

Most of the above activities are versatile in nature and can be applied from primary to graduate schools
with equal effectiveness. In pre writing, teachers and students can decide their own activities based on
what interests them the most, and which activity can provide that best ideas or opinions on the topic
which is to be written. Sometimes it could be a combination of two or more activities as well.

SIGNIFICANCE OF PRE WRITING

Pre writing techniques teach students to write down their ideas quietly in raw form, without
undue concern about surface errors and form. Pre-Writing strategies according to Barnhardt (1997), can
have a significant positive influence on the student’s ability to write essays.

In pre writing activities, the teacher plays the role of a facilitator, guiding students through their
6765

thoughts without introducing the teacher’s own views or opinions At times the teachers may also
summarize the points being discussed to keep track of the conversation. However in the best interests of
the students learning, it is desirable to leave even summarization to the students themselves. Here
students play a more active role than the teachers; however teacher plays the role of a catalyst.

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

Pre Writing Activities:

Brainstorming

The term brainstorming was popularized by Alex Faickney Osborn in his book “Applied
Imagination” (1953). Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which efforts are made to find a
conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members.
It is an informal method of generating ideas by a number of students as part of a group activity. The
teachers can give out a topic of interest to the students and ask them to form groups. These various
groups huddle and generate ideas which are written down by an elected scribe. These ideas could be
either simple words or phrases or occasionally complete sentences. Most often these ideas are random
yet deliberate. They may not be concrete on their own, but can be supported through meaningful
arguments consequently.Brainstorming as a pre writing activity has several advantages. It is
collaborative in nature where each students is given chance to voice their own ideas, without any bias or
judgment, every idea about the topic is accepted in its own merits. Acceptance or rejection of an idea
only happens as a result of democratic decision. Brainstorming works equally well for students at
different levels of education, primary to graduation. An almost infinite no of ideas can be generated
through brainstorming which can be catalogued by the learners with assistance from their teachers
.These catalogues could be in any fashion (like pros and cons of the topic under description) with each
of them having a unique label. Post brainstorming students could be asked to logically frame their
writing the labeling being done. In this way, students will be able to not only, benefit from the collective
idea generation process, but also structure these into a coherent written form. Another important aspect
of brainstorming is that it focuses on the writing process rather than the end “product”. The semantics
and grammar in brainstorming are not critical as that of the content itself.

Clustering or Mind Mapping

It is another popular form of pre- writing activity which allows students to explore the
relationship between ideas. Clustering or mind mapping usually follows brainstorming or could also be a
standalone activity. Rico (1983) defined clustering as a “non-linear brainstorming process akin to free
association”. Clustering motivates students to explore the relationship between ideas. Here learners’
form words and ideas related to a stimulus provided by the teacher.

Clustering usually involves a more pictographic display of ideas where the topic under study is
written in the centre of a page/writing board .This is usually encircled or underlined. Then students write
various words, sub-ideas or phrases related to the main idea. As the discussions evolves more sub ideas
are generated which are also written down. In the final stage, the main ideas and sub ideas are connected
6766

through lines. These lines could be normal ones or dotted ones, each indicating a weak or strong
relationship. The resulting schema is an excellent representation of ideas and their inter-relationship with
the main topic.

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

Clustering in a way is an extension of brainstorming. Students find it exciting to explore

relationship between ideas as it is more visual and dramatic in its view. The teacher here plays a more
active role as they need to not only precipitate ideas but also encourage students to link those ideas,
meaningfully. Similar to brainstorming, the focus here is on the process rather the end product. A
significant advantage of clustering over brainstorming is that it provides students with more aspects to
write about in terms of relationship rather than just a set of ideas. Clustering also helps in polishing the
inputs received through brainstorming. Clustering in effect provides a mental picture of the generated
ideas and their connectedness. One of the advantages of clustering is that it works particularly well for
visual learners. It helps students distinguish between ideas in terms of their relative importance. The
process of clustering also builds a student’s ability to organize his or her ideas. However, the most
important advantage is that students can now see potential paragraphs being formed.

Outlining/Listing

Outlining is a pre writing activity that enables to distinguish and sort the main idea from the
supporting ideas (or details).This method is otherwise called listing. Here the students list the possible
main topics and then create a sub list of things in each of the main topics. Sloane(2004) points out that
“a list could consists of the main topic of regional dialects and then sub lists would be regional dialects
you know or have experienced.” An example of an outline is given below for easier understanding.

1. Choosing a career path after high school (Engineering or Arts)

2. Engineering

a. Preparing for engineering entrance

b. Choosing the right college & stream.

3. Arts and Science

A) Choosing between Non-Science and science stream

b) Career options or job options after studies

Outlining is a pre-writing activity that provides a formal structure to the topic being considered. It is a
very user friendly technique as one does not need to craft full sentences but instead select only the most
promising ideas and start to look for connections between them. Outlining narrows the field of enquiry,
structures the ideas and provides the learner clarity on how to present a convincing, logical argument in
the written form. According to Hofer (1998), among pre-writing strategies, Outlining content or relating
6767

concepts within content are among the cognitive learning strategies that individuals use to write better.

Journaling /Questioning

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

It is another interesting pre writing activity though it may not be the most popular among
students or teachers. In this method, students are required to ask 6 questions, viz. Who, What, When,
Where Why and How. .This is similar to the questions that a journalist would ask before writing an
article or news story. Journaling is an exploratory technique, which forces the learners to answer basic
questions on relationship between the different ideas. In a way it is an extension of the mind mapping
technique. While in mind mapping the relationships are desired, here the casual effects are also explored
and explained. The role of a teacher is significant as he/she needs to be equipped with adequate
knowledge of the topic being journaled.

In the activity, the answer to these questions form the basis of the composition. Thus journaling a
useful method develop a great deal of information about a topic very quickly. The teacher here needs to
train the students in asking focused question such that the responses are also clear and un-ambiguous.
Gorreell (1996), “students should use a focused, fully phrased questions as the basis for pre writing, as
oppressed to a thesis sentences which can more easily lead hem astray”.

Free Writing

Freewriting is the most often used form of pre writing activity. It is also one of the most
convenient methods that can be deployed instantly by teachers. It is a process of generating a lot of
information by writing nonstop. It allows the students to focus on a specific topic, but forces them to
write so quickly that they are unable to edit any of their ideas. Free writing helps the students to get in
touch with the big picture without actually getting side tracked by the intricate details. It is a nonlinear
activity, which relies heavily on the right hemisphere of the brain and deals with abstractions and
concepts. However there is an impeding calling in the technique. According to Mouser (2000), as soon
as “you begin to organize, edit and censor ideas, you have moved to the left side of the brain, where
linear thinking happens. At this stage the thoughts get blocked.” Thus it is best for teachers to use a free
writing exercise at the beginning of the class as a way of getting the brain in your gear (Darling 2004),
rather than try it after having discussed about the topic in hand. Free writing is a quasi-random process
of collecting thoughts and ideas, which often provides students the courage to take the risks of exploring
on ideas beyond the formal boundaries of expression, without actually realizing it. According to
Saskatchewan Education (1997) this can result in discovery of new Ideas, Concepts, Insights and view-
points that we were not known before”. Thus free writing can often lead students to an exciting and
imaginative new direction.

Objective

The aim of the current study is to understand the effective methods of prewriting activities which help in
6768

acquiring L2 writing skills through the perspectives of students and teachers.

RESEARCH QUESTION

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

1. What kind of pre-writing activities will help in improving writing skills according to the
perception of students?
2. What kind of pre-writing activities do teachers use to enhance the writing skills of the students?
3. Is there any similarity between the choice of pre- writing activities chosen by teachers and
Students?

METHODOLOGY

A field study was done and a questionnaire was prepared for data collection. The purpose of the
questionnaire was to find out the prewriting activities that help in the acquisition of writing skills. A
total of 21 teachers and 69 students were taken as a sample for the study from Arts and Science Colleges
in South Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The students and teachers were administered the questionnaire
and asked to respond appropriately. The responses were validated through discussions with the
respondents to ensure that they had interpreted the questions correctly, before providing their views. The
students were asked to rank their priorities from 1 to 5 with “1” being the least priority and “5” being the
highest priority. The frequencies were tabulated from the responses and the percentage was calculated to
find the preferences.

FINDINGS

The students and teachers were asked to prioritize their Pre-Writing activities among Freewriting Mind
Mapping or Clustering, Journaling or Questioning, Outlining (or Listing), Brainstorming to improve
their writing. The preferences of Prewriting according to students and teachers responses are listed
below in Pie Charts 1 and 2 below respectively:

Fig 1: Chart indicating Student Preferences

6769

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

From the Fig 1, it’s observed that among students, the highest preference is for brainstorming activity at
34%. Outlining or Listing as a technique was preferred by 23% of students. Free writing is observed as
the third most preferred technique, with 19% of the student respondents favoring the same. Journaling
and Mind-Mapping as techniques, find very few takers as per our study. It is also encouraging to note
that none of the students had shown any aversion towards writing or pre-writing in general.

Fig2:ChartIndicatingTeacherPreferences

TEACHER PREFERENCES
Freewriting
Don’t use 19%
prewriting
29%

Mind
mapping/clustering
14%

Brainstorming
10%
Journaling/question
Listing ing
0% 28%

From the Fig 2, it’s observed among teachers 28% of teachers prefer Journaling and Questioning as a
pre-writing activity with Freewriting being the second most preferred at 19%. It is also to be noted that
29% of teachers don’t use any prewriting activities at all because they think it’s time consuming and
requires additional preparation.

Student Preferences Teacher Preferences

Prewriting activities
(in %) (in %)
Freewriting 19% 19 %
Mind mapping/clustering 13% 14 %
6770

Journaling/questioning 11% 28 %
Listing/Outlining 23% 0%
Brainstorming 34% 10 %
Don’t prefer prewriting 0% 29 %

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

Table -1 Comparison of pre writing activity preferences by students and teachers

The Table 1, depicts comparative preferences among the students and teachers with respect to
prewriting activities. It is observed most students, 34% of respondents, prefer Brainstorming as a
prewriting activity, while only 10% of the teachers seem to be inclined in using this technique. The
second most preferred technique among students is the Listing or Outlining technique, while none of the
teachers seemed to vouch for this option. A clear disconnect is also visible in teachers preferring the
Journaling/Questioning technique (at 28%), while it is ranked lowest by students at 11%. A popular
belief among teachers that students don’t prefer any form of prewriting also loses its validity, when it is
observed that none of the students have expressed their dislike for prewriting activities.

CONCLUSION

In the context of the study conducted here, it is evident that there is a need for teachers to use
Prewriting activities as it help students focus and develop their writing skills in a structured and
collaborative manner. From this study, there is difference in opinion between teachers and student with
respect to their preferences to pre-writing techniques. While Teachers think Brain storming as an
activity will disturb the classroom environment and the learner’s attention, students seem to prefer this
more than any other activity.

Teachers need to focus more on Brainstorming as a technique though it requires more planning and
classroom management perspective, rather than always use mind mapping simply because they are
simpler to implement. However at the same time it doesn’t call for abandoning other forms of pre-
writing activities, but recommends a more balanced approach considering student preferences, the
teacher’s ability and overall curricular requirements.

REFERENCES

1. Ates, S., Yildirim, K., & Yildiz, M. (2010). Opinions of classroom teachers and prospective
classroom teachers about the learning difficulties encountered in the teaching process of reading
and writing. Elementary Education Online, 9(1), 44-51
2. Applebee, A.N., Langer, J.A., & Mullis, I. (1989). Crossroads in American education: A
summary of findings. Princeton NJ: Educational Testing Service.Belbase,Madhav Raj, (2017)
3. Badger, R. & White, G. (2000).A Process genre approach to teaching writing. ELT Jour-nal,
Vol.54:153-160.
4. Cohen, V.L., & Cowen, J.E. (2010). Literacy for children in an informational age: Teaching
6771

reading, writing and thinking. Belmont, CA: Thomson.

5. Coleman, J. (2010). Elementary teachers’ instructional practices involving graphical
representations. Journal of Visual Literacy, 29(2), 198-222.

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

6. Efficient ways to improve students writing

(2017)https:/www.uww.edu/learn/improving/restiptool/)
7. Gee, J. P. (2001). What is literacy? In E. Cushman, E. R. Kintgen, B. M. Kroll & R. M.
(Eds.),Literacy: A critical source book (pp. 525-544). Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.
8. Gillespie ,Amy and Graham,steve(2016)Evidence based practices for teaching writing
http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Better/articles/Winter2011.html
9. Hillocks, G. (1987). Synthesis of research on teaching writing. Educational Leadership, 44, 71-
82.
10. Harmer, J. (1998). How to Teach English. England: Addison Wesley longman Limited.
11. Harmer, J.(2007) The Practice of English Language Teaching: Cambridge, UK: longman.
12. Illinois State Board of Education. (1989). Preparing students forthe IGAP language arts
assessment. Springfield IL: Illinois State Board of Education.
13. Kellogg.T.Ronald&RaulersonIII.A. Bascom(2007)Improving the writing skills of college
students.psychonomic bulletin &Review,P237-242.
14. Kieft, M., Rijlaarsdam, G., Galbraith, D., & van den Bergh, H. (2007). The effects of adapting a
writing course to students’ writing strategies. British Journal of Educational Psychology,77, 565-
578
15. Larson, J. & Marsh, J. (2005). Making literacy real: Theories and practices for learning and
teaching. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
16. Li, D. (2007). Story mapping and its effects on the writing fluency and word diversity of students
with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 5(1), 77-93
17. Mogahed.M.(2013)Planning out pre-writing activities http://www.academicjournals.org/IJEL .
Vol no 4(3),pp60-68.
18. Moline improvement inliteracy education program: Project MILE. Moline IL: Moline School
District #40.
19. NyasimiNyang’AuBenard (2014) challenges students face in learning essay writing skills in
English language in secondary schools in manga district,Nyamiracounty,Kenya.
20. NeltaChoutari Nepalese ELT Practitioners meet the world.https://wordpress.com.
21. Patthey-Chavez, G.G., Matsumura, L.C., & Valdes, R. (2004). Investigating the process
approach to writing instruction in urban middle schools. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy,
47(6),462-478.
22. Rico, G.L. (1983). Writing the natural way. Los Angeles CA: J.P. Tarcher. Steele, J.L.,
&Meredith, K. (1991.
23. Rao, Z. (2007). Training in brainstorming and developing writing skills. ELT Journal, 61(2),
100-106
6772

24. Smit,David Strategies to improve student writing. Tomorrow’s professor posting Stanford
university
25. Towell, J. L., & Matanzo, J.B. (2005). Children as authors and illustrators: A demonstration of
the writing process. Mentoring Literacy Professionals, 376-389

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

 Solid State Technology
Volume: 63 Issue: 2s
Publication Year: 2020

26. Tracy, B., Graham, S., & Reid, R. (2009). Teaching young students strategies for planning and
drafting stories: The impact of self-regulated strategy development. The Journal of Educational
Research.
27. Williams, J. (2003) Preparing to teach writing: Research, theory, and practice, Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Third edition.

6773

Archives Available @ www.solidstatetechnology.us

View publication stats