How to Teaching Writing

HOW TO TEACH WRITING

I. INTRODUCTION

Students need to be personally involved in writing exercises in order to make the learning experience of lasting value. Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while at the same time refining and expanding writing skills, requires a certain pragmatic approach. The teacher should be clear on what skills he/she is trying to develop. Next, the teacher needs to decide on which means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area. Once the target skill areas and means of implementation are defined, the teacher can then proceed to focus on what topic can be employed to ensure student participation. By pragmatically combing these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning.

II. CHOOSING A TARGET AREA

Choosing the target area depends on many factors; what level are the students? What is the average age of the students, Why are the students learning English, Are there any specific future intentions for the writing (i.e. school tests or job application letters etc.). Other important questions to ask oneself are: What should the students be able to produce at the end of this exercise? (a well written letter, basic communication of ideas, etc.) What is the focus of the exercise? (structure, tense usage, creative writing). Once these factors are clear in the mind of the teacher, the teacher can begin to focus on how to involve the students in the activity thus promoting a positive, long-term learning experience

III. PLANNING THE CLASS

The teacher can begin to consider how to involve the students by considering what type of activities are interesting to the students: Are they preparing for something specific such as a holiday or test?, Will they need any of the skills pragmatically? What has been effective in the past? A good way to approach this is by class feedback, or brainstorming sessions. By choosing a topic that involves the students the teacher is providing a context within which effective learning on the target area can be undertaken.

Finally, the question of which type of correction will facilitate a useful writing exercise is of utmost importance. Here the teacher needs to once again think about the overall target area of the exercise. If there is an immediate task at hand, such as taking a test, perhaps teacher-guided correction is the most effective solution. However, if the task were more general (for example developing informal letter writing skills), maybe the best approach would be to have the students work in groups thereby learning from each other. Most importantly, by choosing the correct means of correction the teacher can encourage rather discourage students.

IV. APPROACHES TO TEACH WRITING

There are several approaches to teaching writing that are presented by (Raimes, 1983) as follows:

a. The Controlled-to-Free Approach

In the 1950s and early 1960, the audio-lingual method dominated second-language learning This method emphasized speech and writing served to achieve mastery of grammatical and syntactic forms. Hence teachers developed and used techniques to enable student to achieve this mastery. The controlled-to-free approach in is sequential: students are first given sentence exercises, then paragraphs to copy or manipulate grammatically by changing questions to statements, present to past, or plural to singular. They might also change words to clauses or combine sentences. With these controlled compositions, it is relatively easy to for students write and yet avoid errors, which makes error correction easy. Students are allowed to try some free composition after they have reached an intermediate level of proficiency. As such, this approach stress on grammar, syntax, and mechanics. It emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency or originality.

b. The Free Writing Approach

This approach stresses writing quantity rather than quality. Teachers who use this approach assign vast amounts of free writing on given topics with only minimal correction. The emphasis in this approach is on content and fluency rather than on accuracy and form. Once ideas are down on the page, grammatical accuracy and organization follow. Thus, teachers may begin their classes by asking students to write freely on any topic without worrying about grammar and spelling for five or ten minutes. The teacher does not correct these pieces of free writing. They simply read them and may comment on the ideas the writer expressed. Alternatively, some students may volunteer to read their own writing aloud to the class. Concern for “audience” and “content” are seen as important in this approach.

c. The Paragraph-Pattern Approach

Instead of accuracy of grammar or fluency of content, the Paragraph-Pattern-Approach stresses on organization. Students copy paragraphs and imitate model passages. They put scrambled sentences into paragraph order. They identify general and specific statements and choose to invent an appropriate topic sentence or insert or delete sentences. This approach is based on the principle that in different cultures people construct and organize communication with each other in different ways.

d. The Grammar-Syntax-Organization Approach

This approach stresses on simultaneous work on more than one composition feature. Teachers who follow this approach maintain that writing cannot be seen as composed of separate skills which are learned sequentially. Therefore, student should be trained to pay attention to organization while they also work on the necessary grammar and syntax. This approach links the purpose of writing to the forms that are needed to convey message.

e. The Communicative Approach

This approach stresses the purpose of writing and the audience for it. Student writers are encouraged to behave like writers in real life and ask themselves the crucial questions about purpose and audience:

Why am I writing this?
Who will read it?

Traditionally, the teacher alone has been the audience for student writing. But some feel that writers do their best when writing is truly a communicative act, with a writer writing for a real reader. As such, the readership may be extended to classmate and pen pals.

f. The Process Approach

Recently, the teaching of writing has moved away from a concentration on written product to an emphasis on the process of writing. Thus, writers ask themselves:

How do I write this?
How do I get started?

In this approach, students are trained to generate ideas for writing, think of the purpose and audience, write multiple drafts in order to present written products that communicate their own ideas. Teachers who use this approach give students time to tray ideas and feedback on the content of what they write in their drafts. As such, writing becomes a process of discovery for the students as they discover new ideas and new language forms to express them. Furthermore, learning to write is seen as a developmental process that helps students to write as professional authors do, choosing their own topics and genres, and writing from their own experiences or observations. A writing process approach requires that teachers give students greater responsibility for, and ownership of, their own learning. Students make decisions about genre and choice of topics, and collaborate as they write.

During the writing process, students engage in pre-writing, planning, drafting, and post-writing activities. However, as the writing process is recursive in nature, they do not necessarily engage in these activities in that order.

V. PROCESS WRITING ACTIVITIES

The following process writing activities can be used:

a. Pre-writing: A Place to Start

Pre-writing, the first stage in the writing process, begins long before the writer puts thoughts into writing. The experiences, observations, and interactions that students have prior to entering the classroom have an impact upon what they will write and how they will write it. Within the classroom, pre-writing prompts and activities can be integrated into the writing process as scaffolds by teachers to help students generate ideas for their writing and to practice the thinking skills inherent in the activity.

To initiate thinking and generate possible writing topics, it is important for students to explore ideas for writing topics using a variety of pre-writing strategies, such as the following:
- Brainstorming
- Constructing thought webs and graphic organizers
- Interviewing a person knowledgeable about the topic
- Engaging in peer or teacher-student discussions and conferences
- Listening to music
- Reading about and researching the topic
- Free writing or timed free writing about the topic
- Viewing media such as pictures, movies, and television
- Listing and categorizing information
- Reflecting upon personal experience
- Examining writing models
- Responding to literature
- Role playing and other drama techniques
- Asking the 5 Ws--who, what, where, when and why.

To explore topics about which to write, the teacher may post suggestions on the bulletin board for student reference. He/she may invite students to add their own pre-writing strategies to ideas such as the following:

1. Brainstorming about people, places, and feelings

Write down or tell a partner the names of people you could describe, then quickly and briefly describe each one. Name several places you have visited and list descriptive words for each place. List and describe some memorable feelings you have had, and explain the situation in which they occurred.

2. Talking and listening in pairs or groups

Take turns telling about an interesting person, thing, incident, or object. Encourage the listeners to ask questions and add ideas. Record possible writing topics or ideas as they arise during the discussion.

3. Looking at art

Study paintings, photographs, drawings, or sculpture in magazines or art books. It may even be useful to take a trip to a local museum or art gallery. Jot down notes and questions about the artwork, the artist and the subject, and any topic ideas that come to mind during the observation. It may help to talk over your information and ideas with a partner or small group. Explain to a partner the stories in the art works.

4. Listening to music

Listen to music you like best or a variety of new and unfamiliar music. Listen to tape recordings or to the radio, closing your eyes and letting the music paint pictures in your mind. Record these images as you listen, or turn off the music and quickly record your ideas. It may be helpful to tell the story you have imagined to a partner or group.

5. Role playing

Pretend to be any character, ask peers to act as other characters, and dramatize an event or incident, and what happened as a result of that incident or event.

6. Observing with all senses

Be aware of all that is happening around you, in the classroom, at home, in restaurants, in malls, and wherever you go. Listen closely to conversations of the people you observe, and try to capture the details of their manners and dress. Observe for issues, problems, or achievements in your community. Jot down ideas and notes as you observe them or as soon as possible after your observations.

7. Listing ideas and information

List such things as the activities that interest you, the sports you play, the clubs that you belong to, and the community and world issues that you know about from the media.

8. Reading

Read such things as nonfiction books, novels, magazines, stories, newspapers, and poems. Jot down ideas that occur to you as you read and list questions you might investigate further. Keep track of interesting vocabulary, story plots, and characters.

9. Newspaper searches

Read the stories and captions that catch your interest. Jot down ideas for writing a newspaper article or ideas that can be developed into other kinds of writing.

10. Author visits

As the authors share their writing and discuss the craft of writing, students gain further understanding of the writing process and possibly get ideas for their own writing.

Pre-writing prompts or activities planned by the teacher can serve as writing scaffolds for inexperienced writers who have difficulty accessing their own feelings, ideas, experiences, and knowledge. Teacher-planned pre-writing activities, such as the samples that follow, give students a place to start and make them become aware of places from which to get ideas in the future. Students who have a place to start with will be more motivated to continue developing their ideas and their own writing voices.

b. Post-writing: Preparing To Go Public

When students have an authentic audience and purpose, they want to rework their written drafts, polishing them for presentation or publication. Going public means taking a huge risk; the student's self-esteem is on the line, so the decision about how and with whom to share their writing must be up to the student writer. Teachers may encourage students to share certain pieces or determine the number of pieces that students are required to share or publish within a set time period, but ultimately the decision about which pieces to share, and with whom, should be left up to the writer.

To prepare a final, polished draft, students may write in legible handwriting or use a word-processing program to prepare a polished written work. Then their writings go to public through
1. Sharing
2. Publishing
3. Using a portfolio

c. Sharing

Students may share their written work. Sharing is a useful post- writing activity since it provides students with an immediate audience. Some examples of sharing students’ writings include

1. The author's chair, which provides opportunity for students to share their writing aloud with the whole class;
2. Sharing in small groups or with a partner; and
3. Using bulletin board space assigned to a specific genre or to a class of students.

At times, students should be provided with opportunities to decide if they wish to share their written work, and whether they will share in pairs, in small groups, or with the whole class.

d. Publishing

Students may choose to publish their writing. Some examples of publishing formats include:
- Class booklets
- School or local newspapers
- Yearbook
- Writing contests
- Magazines

e. Using a portfolio

To decide if the written work will be placed in the student's assessment portfolio, teachers can negotiate with students to generate guidelines about the number and variety of pieces that they are required to place in their portfolio for assessment and evaluation purposes. Contracts may be useful to address individual student needs and abilities. Students should be involved in making choices about which of their written pieces will become part of their portfolios.

f. Mini-Lessons

At some point during most writing classes, in a 5-10 minute mini-lesson (length depends upon the procedure, concept, skill, or convention to be taught), the teacher provides students with information necessary for their writing. Mini-lessons about language usage and conventions such as spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation are necessary; however, they should emerge from the students' writing or the curriculum objectives, rather than being arbitrarily determined by the teacher. It is important to allow time for students to practice concepts introduced in mini-lessons within the context of their own writing.

The decision about what to teach in a mini-lesson depends upon the selected objectives as well as upon the students' needs and interests. The following lists provide examples of topics that may require mini-lessons.

Writing Process Procedures

1. Pre-writing activities
2. Writing rough drafts
3. Self-reflection
4. Participating in writing groups
5. Peer and teacher conferences
6. Writing folders and assessment portfolios
7. Revising and editing final drafts
8. Sharing and publishing.

Literary Elements and Devices

1. Plot
2. Characters
3. Main idea/theme
4. Setting
5. Narrative hook
6. Point of view
7. Flashbacks
8. Foreshadowing
9. Comparisons (e.g., analogies, metaphors, similes)
10. Personification
11. Alliteration
12. Rhyme and repetition.

Language Conventions and Mechanics

1. writing sentences
2. varying sentence structure (adding, deleting, substituting, moving, and combining)
3. writing opening and concluding paragraphs
4. writing descriptive paragraphs
5. punctuating items in a series
6. using the apostrophe
7. choosing titles
8. punctuating dialogue
9. selecting appropriate words (e.g., to show fear, suspense, bravery, or other characteristics).

Writing Formats and Genre

1. Friendly or business letter
2. News article
3. Short story
4. Haiku poetry
5. Personal experience narrative
6. Science fiction.

Some mini-lessons may be planned for the whole class because the teacher has determined the need for students to have specific information that supports their learning or the unit of study. Other mini-lessons may be provided to individuals or small groups as the need arises. If the concept to be taught is complex, the teacher should provide instruction in steps, allowing students the opportunity to practice each step before putting them all together.

Teachers should keep records (e.g., lesson plan sheets, anecdotal notes, checklists) of mini-lesson topics and to whom they were presented. Students may also be required to keep records of mini-lessons received (e.g., handouts, notes, checklists), for future reference.

g. Supporting and Managing the Writing Process

To support and manage a writing process workshop, teachers should take time to ensure that students understand how the classroom structure and instructional activities work together. It is important to create an atmosphere that allows and encourages students to feel safe taking risks in order to develop a community of writers who support each other and share with each other (the teacher is a part of this community).

The teacher should be sure that
- desks are arranged in clusters or tables are used to accommodate four to six students.
- resources which will assist students as they write (e.g., dictionaries, language study texts, literature as models, and samples of student writing) are provided on a specified shelf.
- the writing process information is displayed on bulletin boards.
- the areas designated for specific activities (e.g., peer conferences, writing and publishing tasks) are set in the classroom.

Of course, the teacher plays an interactive role and builds scaffolds as needed. He/she should model the various writing formats and conventions of the writing process, and provide the needed help as each student is writing. As a member of the community of writers, the teacher also writes and shares his/her writing with the students. For instance, while the students are engaged in pre-writing, the teacher may do her/his writing on a chart for the students to observe. This models the process, as well as the specific format or conventions being used.