TEA

HBEL 3103

TEACHING OF WRITING

2.1 DEFINITION OF WRITING

According to Nunan,(2003)
Writing are physical and mental act. - Its about discovering ideas, thinking about how to : communicate - develop them into statements and paragraphs that will be comprehensible to a reader

Writing has dual purpose- to express & impress. - Writers must select the most advantageous medium for their writing -Each types has a different level of difficulty which determined by its objectives.

Writing is a process and also a product. - The writer creates, plans, writes various drafts, revises, edits and publishes. - The audience reads is a product.

2.2 BACKGROUND TO THE TEACHING OF WRITING

Until the early 20th century : Writing instruction was quite strict. Teachers responsible to convey the rules and principles for exemplary writing. Students wrote in response to selected written texts- by complying with the conventions of good writing. Essay graded for grammatical accuracy, effective organisation and content.

THIS IDEA IS SHOWN CLEARLY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITYS ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS OF 1874

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Each candidate will be required to write a short English composition, correct in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and expression, the subject to be taken from such works of standard authors as shall be announced from time to time. The subject for 1874 will be taken from one of the following works: Shakespeares Tempest, Julius Caesar; and Merchant of Venice; Goldsmiths Vicar of Wakefield; Scotts Ivanhoe and Lay of the Last Minstrel. (Bizzell, Herzberg & Reynolds, 2000)

Students practise by reproducing models of writing and not expressing their own ideas and writing creatively. Formerly, writing was utilised to show that students were competent in grammatical rule rather than having knowledge about a certain topic. Students ability to generate, plan, revise, edit and compose writing demonstrated his/her ability to write. 1960s : writing instruction began to include the complete process of writing (invention, drafting, feedback and revision)

1966 : Robert Kaplan introduced the idea of rhetoric ( comparison of different types of writing in terms organisational patterns) He claims: Each language and each culture has a paragraph order unique to itself, and ... part of the learning of a particular language is the mastery of its logical system. (Kaplan, 1966).

Contrastive rhetoric

2.3 STUDENTS WRITING NEEDS

Peter Elbow and Donald Murray proposed 3 methologies when conducting writing lessons : Expressivism, Cognitivism, Constructionism a. Expressivism - students write openly & personally without bothering about grammar, spelling or punctuation - teachers as facilitators - Peter Elbow called- free writing - Aimed :- getting pupils to relax - to reassure them in the act of writing - to help them not to be afraid to make errors -But in traditional academic settings- personal writing is discouraged because : - students from some cultures -will unfamiliar with this style. - see the topics as inappropriate in an academic environment - However reading responses, journal-keeping and quick writing are common in ESL/EFL writing classroom.

b. Cognitivism - begins in 1970s due to interest in cognitive science and the sociology of language - Uses critical thinking and problem solving Students define problems -investigate them -presenting their arguments and finally consider logical conclusions Encourages : brainstorming, drafting, conferencing among students and with the teacher. The important stage in writing are editing and proofreading

* Editing -To examine text with the intention of improving the flow and quality of writing. * Proofreading - To examine text looking for spelling errors, punctuation errors, typos and obvious errors, such as the unintentional use of there when it is clear the correct word is their.

c. Constructionism - Writers were seen as belonging to discourse communities - The language and form of writing arose from the target community - For 1st language speaker : it means direct instruction in academic discourse. - For 2nd language writer : to learn the skills- help intergrate into the new language community and into the academic community.

2.4 FOUR PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING WRITING (NUNAN : 2003)

2.4.1 Understand Your Students Needs for Writing - Teachers have to understand both and to communicate aims to students in ways that are comprehensible to them. 2.4.2 Make Arrangements for Students to Write - Teachers have to evaluate writing activities in class - Writing should integrated into the syllabus. - Provide students the opportunity to try out different types of writing.

2.4.3 Provide Constructive and Meaningful Feedback - When writing comments on students papers, make sure they comprehend the terms and symbols you use. - Take time to discuss - Be careful with the tones of comments ( consider their feelings) - Feedback should not necessitate correcting their writing ask them to check their errors and correct them on their own.

2.4.4 Explain to Your Students How Their Writing Will Be Evaluated - Develop a statement about what is valued in the students writing. - 3 general types of rubrics
Weighted Rubric
-similar to unweighted but It breaks the writing skills into categories and subcategories.

Non-weighted Rubric
- Provides descriptions of writing quality by level across other writing criteria

Holistic Rubric
-describes in general terms the qualities of excellent, good, fair & unsatisfactory assignments. -can be tied to grades or stand in their own.

Refer to Page 20-24

Students can help to form a rubric. Ask them - the value of writing - what features make writing enjoyable to read. - what features distract from that enjoyment. Benefits from the discussion : 1. Give students a voice in evaluation of their own work. 2. Provides a common vocabulary where they can discuss their writing.

2.5 PRINCIPLES FOR PLANNING WRITING TECHNIQUES

a. Integrate Routines of Exemplary Writers

Students should : concentrate on the purpose for writing; ascertain and check the audience; have an outline for the writing; do freewriting when generating ideas; proceed from a prepared outline; request feedback; do not be tied to specific grammatical rules or mechanics of writing; and when revising, be responsible and persistent.

b. Match Process and Product

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Teachers should guide students through pre- writing, while writing, revising a few drafts, editing, proof reading and the final product. Get feedback to the writing both from the students peers and the teacher to ensure that the final writing product will be a clear, coherent and comprehensible piece of writing.

c. Consider Students Cultural Background

Conduct : a diagnostic test on their writing capability a simple questionnaire to elicit their knowledge of writing conventions.

d. Link Reading to Writing

Teachers must provide adequate and relevant reading materials to be used as models for their writing. Provide a frame for them to model their writing.

e. Equip students with authentic writing

- Ensure that there is a real purpose and audience for it. - Authenticity for the writing can be made by shared-writing with peers, publishing the masterpiece, writing real letters to relevant authorities outside the class, writing advertisement, script writing for a class drama presentation or by responding to anonymous peers problems on the bulletin board.

f. Compose according to the steps in the process writing approach - 3 steps for composing: pre-writing, drafting and revising. - The pre-writing stage stimulates the generation of ideas through skimming and scanning, brainstorming, clustering, discussing, freewriting and groupwork. * The foremost stages : drafting and revising. Drafting : freewriting, planning, outlining, categorising, revising, peer feedback, editing and proofreading recursive cycle.

2.6 CLASSROOM WRITING TECHNIQUES TASKS -Learning to write is more than creating a final product. -It is the learning of a series of skills leading to that product. . 2.6.1 Invention Techniques - Provide activities that allow them to think on paper. a. Brainstorming - individually ,in pairs or in groups. - students list all the ideas related to a topic, - they can choose those they are most interested in, or feel they can write most proficiently about. b. Word mapping - more visual form. - students begin with an idea at the top or centre of a blank piece of paper. c. Quick-writing - begin with a topic, then write rapidly about it. - give a time limit, usually 10 to 15 minutes - instruct them not to erase or cross out texts, to keep writing without stopping, and to just let the ideas and words come out without concern for spelling, grammar, or punctuation.

2.7 WRITING: DRAFTING, FEEDBACK AND REVISING a. Drafting - Students need to focus on the development of ideas and the organisation of those ideas more than the development of perfect grammar, punctuation, or spelling.
b. Feedback - Make comments more on the ideas and organisation than on the grammar and spelling - The instructor can also utilise peer feedback. Students exchange papers and provide each other with comments on the papers contents.
- (REFER FEEDBACK FORM- PAGE 30)

c. Revising -Teacher talks about the process of reorganisation, developing ideas and so forth, as separate from editing for grammar or spelling.

2.7.1 Proofreading and Editing Students should read for mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation,etc. Help each other to proofread and edit. Teacher - minimize her involvement - should not correct a students draft by supplying all the correct forms of words, punctuation etc. If a students essay is not well developed, do another round of quick-writing or brainstorming to further generate her/his ideas. Even though spelling and punctuation may not be of prime concern early in the process, students should, make corrections any time they notice them, and not wait until the last step.
(Read 2.8 Writing In the Classroom -Samples of students writing page 34-39)

SUMMARY

In this topic, you have read about the many influences on writing instruction and have also been introduced to general techniques for writing and evaluating student writing. The most important principle, however, is to learn to adapt these ideas to the many different situations in which students write. Many people falsely believe that writing is a talent that is present in the lucky few, and cannot be taught to the rest. Fortunately for both native speakers and non-native speakers alike, writing is a teachable and learnable skill, and the instructor can play an invaluable role in making this skill an enjoyable one. First, the instructor can help the student understand the context of their writing assignments by discussing who the audience are, and what their expectations are. The instructor also aids the students in understanding the purpose of the writing assignment. Is it to demonstrate knowledge of new vocabulary or grammatical structures? Is it to show creativity in thinking? Is it to report events accurately? Defining the purpose for writing assists students in completing assignments in different contexts. Finally, helping students understand the process of writing by guiding them through the steps of generating ideas, drafting, review, revision, and evaluation will help demystify writing and make it an important part of their learning of English. In addition, by reflecting on your own experience as a writer, and as a student of writing, you can help illuminate the path that your own students will walk on as they become proficient writers of English.