Teaching writing

Writing
 Content
1. Literacies
2. Approaches to student writing
3. Creative writing
4. Writing as a collaborative activity
5. Building the writing habit
6. Writing-for-learning, writing-for-writing
7. The roles of the teacher
8. Writing sequences
9. Portfolios and journals
10. Writing activities
 1. Literacies

Handwriting is crucial for communication, especially for students

1 with native-language orthography who may struggle with English
letters. Encouraging improvement is essential to influence reading
comprehension.

Spelling is a challenging task for English students, but improving

2 involves focusing on common spellings, exploring pronunciations,
studying rules, listening to recordings, and reading from written
models.
 Example
Handwriting : Brain Development
• Handwriting stimulates brain development.
• Involves hand-eye coordination and language skills.
• Not fully replaced by typing.

Spelling plays an important role in writing.

• Correct spelling helps communicate
effectively,
• Improves language skills
 1. Literacies
Layout and punctuation:
• Different writing communities and languages have
their own specific rules for punctuation and layout 3
that vary across genres.

Text construction
4 • Text assembly and coherence.
• Genre sequence and cohesion.
• Cohesive devices like lexical chains and pronouns.
2. Approaches to student writing
1

Source: British Council

5 stages of process approach writing
1
1. pre-
2. drafting 3. revision
writing

4.
4. editing
publication
 Genre
•Students need to know the genre in which they are going to write
that is a part of the prewriting phase.
•Essential features of genre writing:
+ Think carefully about the context they are writing for
+ Identify the audience they are writing for
+ Look at how typically effective examples of writing in the genre
are constructed.
 3. Creative writing
What is“creative writing”?
-> imaginative tasks, such as writing poetry, stories and plays

Why students should write this “imaginative tasks”?

->Most notably feature, the final outcome is often seen as an
achievement, leading students to take pride in their work.
take great pride correct and appropriate language
self-discovery

kind of achievement strive harder

personal experiences input-output cycle

 input-output cycle

class notice
website board

anthologie class magazines

 “Writing imaginatively is not difficult.”
-> ‘build the writing habit’, providing students with
motivating, straightforward (short) tasks

short story personal essay

4. Writing as a collaborative activity
Collaborative writing, whether focusing on the writing process or genre
study, offers benefits such as enhanced reviewing and idea generation.

Collaborative writing can be facilitated through physical or virtual means,

allowing for group participation and small changes during the writing process.

reviewing idea online offline

For example

Teacher asks students to:

put into small groups (3-4)
write a short article
Share around
Feedback
 4. Writing as a collaborative activity

1 2 3

Online platforms like

Physical or virtual means Writing, research,
Facebook, Twitter and
(allowing for group
Tiktok(where students to discussion, peer
participation and small
share their work, ask evaluation, and group
changes during the writing
questions, and offer pride, can be highly
process)
feedback) motivating and
rewarding for students.
 5. Building the writing habit
Identifying Barriers: Students may lack confidence and enthusiasm in writing due to various
1 reasons such as limited experience in writing in their first language, feeling like they have
nothing to say, or struggling with generating ideas.

Promoting Writing Habit: Encouraging regular writing practice is crucial to normalize writing in
2 the classroom. Activities like quick writes, responding to music, or dictating half-sentences can
help build enthusiasm and confidence in writing.

Building Fluency: Incorporating quick write activities into lessons can improve students'
3 writing range and speed. Providing time limits and encouraging continuous writing without
looking back or crossing out words can help students develop fluency.

Providing Patterns and Schemes: Offering models or frameworks for writing, such as
4 postcard-writing or simple poems, can give students confidence, especially at lower levels, by
providing structure and support.
 5. Building the writing habit
Using Pictures as Stimuli: Utilizing pictures as prompts for writing activities, such as describing
5 images or creating stories based on them, can stimulate students' imagination and engagement
in writing

Implementing Writing Games: Incorporating writing games, such as story reconstruction activities
6 or group story creation, can make writing enjoyable and foster collaboration among students.

Focusing on Enjoyment and Practice: Emphasizing writing for fun and practice rather than
7 solely as a skill can motivate students to engage more in writing tasks

Providing Adequate Support: Ensuring students have enough information, language support,
8 and ideas to complete writing tasks without feeling overwhelmed or lacking direction is
essential. However, balancing support with fostering creativity is also important.
 5. Building the writing habit

Encouraging Creativity: While providing support and guidance, it's important not to stifle
9 students' creativity by overwhelming them with too many ideas. Encouraging them to explore
their own thoughts and ideas while writing is crucial.

Continuous Improvement: By consistently providing interesting and enjoyable writing tasks,

10 along with appropriate support and guidance, educators can help students develop their
writing skills and build a lifelong habit of writing.
6. Writing-for-learning (1), writing-for-writing (2)

1 2 Example

Writing-for- Writing-for- Writing-for-learning:

learning is writing is aimed at
training their ability Write three sentences using the 'going to'
writing aimed at
to write, improving future tense.
helping
writing skills
students learn
language or Writing-for-writing:
- Build writing skills ->
testing their use Writing-for-writing Write a short story about a magical
language as often as is adventure.
proficiency appropriate
 7. The roles of teacher

a. Motivator
- One of the principal roles in writing tasks
- Requires special and prolonged effort
 7. The roles of teacher

b. Resource
- Ready to supply information
and language where necessary
 7. The roles of teacher

c. Feedback provider
- Giving feedback on writing
tasks demands special care.
- Responding positively and
encouragingly, especially to the
content of what the students
have written.
7. The roles of teacher
Feedback and error correction

•Strategies for correcting may vary.

•If students are not able to self-correct,

do some additional focused work on
the area giving problems.
 8. Writing sequences
1 2 3 4

Circulate and
Put the When they have prompt the
students in chosen their students with
individual or time period, your own Discuss what
pairs or small ask them to suggestions. Help they will put in
groups and ask have ideas them with any the thesis of
them to choose about what language they their topic.
a topic. they choose. are having
difficulty with.
 8. Writing sequences
5 6 7 8

Depending on their Ask students to

level, discuss with reread the entire Comment and
them about how Allow time for essay to check evaluate essays
they want to students to the structure and according to set
develop their write their logic to correct standards and
ideas. essays grammar, syntax, requirements.
and spelling
errors.
 9. Portfolios and journals
• The use of portfolios, particularly the European Language Portfolio (ELP),
in educational settings aims to assess and encourage students' language
learning.
• Portfolios are seen as a fairer alternative to final exams and promote pride
in students' work.
• The ELP comprises a Language Passport, documenting linguistic and cultural
identity; a Language Biography, allowing students to set goals and reflect
on language learning experiences; and a Dossier, where students keep
examples of their work.
• The use of reflective journals, listening logs, and negotiated terms for
responding to student writing are also highlighted as valuable tools in
language education.
 10. Writing Activities
Writing activities should align with the lesson's theme, requiring students to
demonstrate their understanding through words, sentences, or paragraphs.

Accuracy Activities: Students understand the structure and language features. The
teacher should focus on correcting the structures and language
features focused on in the lesson.

Fluency The teacher set up a similar activity where ‘free’ or uncontrolled

Activities: practice is offered to students. Student practice again without
immediate feedback and allows the student to follow on from
practice activities and examples.
 Accuracy Activities

Beginners Elementary

• Writing letters • Completing simple forms

• Spelling practice • Writing short stories

• Personal information • Memory games

• Completing fill-in-the-blank exercises • Defining words from images

 Accuracy Activities

Intermediate Advanced

• Writing longer stories • Advanced versions of previous tasks

• Rewriting news headlines • Technical vocabulary practice

• Drafting essays/speeches • Exploring literary genres

• Writing and speaking for a minute • Academic text structures

about an object
• Speed writing
 Fluency Activities
Beginners Elementary

• Writing personal information • Explaining the meanings of

• Free writing practice with letters,
words, and simple sentences
• Writing short thank-you letters
• Daily diary writing
• Drawing comic strips
symbols/images
• Writing freeform letters/emails
• Writing simple newsletters/emails
• Social media-style personal diaries
• Designing postcards
 Fluency Activities
Intermediate/Advanced

• Rewriting news headlines into complete sentences

• Speed writing: given a word or topic, write as many

sentences as possible in 2 minutes

• Correcting punctuation in unpunctuated texts

• Writing academic paragraphs

• Crafting essays