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    Brown Writing

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    Liyan Lilin Lestari
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    TEACHING WRITING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, you will be able to: + understand asues and concepts in [edagouical researc that are sated to teaching wing + apply principles of designing svrting techniques to your own Tesson designs itd {0 Your fbeervation of others + appecctate some of the unique lifculis involved in teaming to recognize some basic principles ‘rite effectively fd formats for evaluating and + analyze types of written language, ea micro and macrosklls sad f99eS ‘of elassoom writing performance The psycholinguist Erie Lenneherg (1967) once noted, in a discussion of species specific” human behavior, that human beings universally leara 10 walk and to talk, But that swimming and writing are culturally specific, learned Dchaviors, We learn to swim if there isa body of water available and usually only if someone teaches us. We learn to write if we are members ofa literate society and usually only if someone teaches us, Just as there are nonswimmers, poor swimmers, al excellent swimmers, 6? it is for writers. Why isn't everyone an excellent writer? What is it about writing that blocks so many people, even in their own native language? Why don't people learn to write “naturally” as they learn to talk? How can we best teach secon language learners of English how fo write? What should we be eying to teach? Lets look at these and many’ other related questions as we tackle the last of the four skills” RESEARCH ON SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING 390 Trends in the teaching of writing in ESL and other foreign languages have, not surprisingly coincided with those of ing of other skills, especially listening, And speaking. You will recall from earlier chapters that 38 communicative language teaching gathered momentum in the 1980s, teachers learned more and more about how to teach fluency, aot just accuracy, how to use authentic texts and contexts in the classroom, how to focus on the purposes of linguistic communication, and how to capitalize on learners intrinsic motives to learn, ‘hove sime trends and the principles that underginled them also applied to advances inthe teaching of writing in second language contexts ‘orn 21 Teaching Wing 391 (Over the past few decades of research on teaching writing to second languaze leamers,a number of isues have appeared, some of which remain controversial in spite of reams of data on second language writing. Here is a brief look at some of those ise, 1. Composing versus writing | simplistic view of writing would assume that written language is simply the ‘graphic representation of spoken language, and that written performance is much like oral performance, the only difference lying in graphic instead of auditory signals. Fortunately, no one hokls this view today. ‘The process of writing requires n entirely eliferent set of competencies and is funamentally diferent fem speaking in ways that have already been reviewed in. the last chapter. The 1d distance of writing, coupled with its unique rhetorical conventions, indeed make writing as different from speaking as swimming is from walking. ‘One major theme in pedagogical research on writing is the nature of the composing process of writing (O'Brien, 2004; Sila & Brice, 2004). Writen products ate often the Felt oF thinking, drafting, and re require sped sing procedures tha ized skills, skills that not every speaker develops naturally. Further, students exhibit a number of different styles and preferences in their composing processes (Chen, 2005). The upshot of the compositional nature of writing his produced writing pedagogy that focuses students on how to generate ideas, how 0 ‘nganize them coherently, how to use discourse markers and shetorical conventions to put them cohesively imto a written text, how to revise text for clearer meaning, hhow to edit text for appropriate grammar, and how to produce a final product 2, Process versus product Recognition of the compositional nature of writing has changed the face of ‘writing clases, A hala century ago, writing teachers were mostly concemed wih the final product of writing: the essay the report, the story, and what that proxiuct, should look" lke. Compositions were supposed to (a) meet certain standards 3f prescribed English rhetorical syle, () eflect accurate grammar, and (c) he organized {in conformity with what the audience would consider to he conventional. A good deal of attention was placed on “model” compositions that students would emulate and on how well a student's final product measured up against a ist of eriteria that included content, ongnization, vocabulary use, grammatical use, and! mechani considerations such as spelling and punctuation, Thee is nothing inherently wrong with attention to any of the above criteria They are stil the concern of writing teachers, But in due course of time, we became better attuned t0 the adv age given to learners when they were scen is ‘when thei own individual intrinsic motives were put atthe center of learning, We began to develop what snow termed the process approach to writing instruction Process approaches do most of the following (adapted from Shih, 1986) ae weir own composing process iateges for prewriting, drafting, and rewriting; + give students time to write and rewrite ral importance on the process af revision iscover what they want to say 28 they write sive students feedback throughout the composing process (not just on the final product) as they attempt to bring their expression closer and closer to age fecdack from both the instructor and peers wividual conferences berween teacher and student during the process of composition, shape you cin personally appreciate what it means @ be asked to wit something saya letter to a itor an article for a newsleter a paper fora course you're taking—and to allow the very pracess of putting kleas down on paper to transform thoughts into words, co sharpen your main ideas, to give them structure and coherent organization. As your frst draft goes through perhaps several steps of revision, your thesis and developing ideas more and miore resemble something that you would consider final product. Ifyou have done this, you have used your own process approach to writing, - ‘You may also know firsthand what i is like to try to come up with a "perfect final product without the above process. You may have experienced “writers severely hampered any ‘certain evel of anxiety building within you as you f sSouimsy have ls cy that ode ged by he tees gadedand ete WH idvaotag ofthe nt ofthe writen cae (ante Converstom ca be panned tnd hen an united ute of evans tre release) ge stents a hance tink they wee, Anoticr way of Putin wig indeed thong proces Ove thee decade ag, eter bow (1978) expressed the concept process wong nn tec fo dc te govon ats ou ure eu Wha ou want dnt sawing you dp 1). bow and ny exper see then have not thts en of wing taka bow 13.1, Used proaches etre he ellowing pics ate fom Hed 25 + allowing students to discover their own voice (see *7 below) nd fluency activities + tasks that engage learners in meaningful writing + giving writers a sense of audience ancl authentic tasks wd POAT AA Teaching Wong 398 + encouraging invention, preweiting,and revision strategies + providing formative feedback through conferencing The current emphasis on process writing must of course be seen in the perspective of history and furure developments (Casanave, 2004; Hedgcock, 2005, GrBrien, 200; Silva & Leki, 2004). Some research (Atkinson, 2003) has already Claimed that we are now in a post process” era, while others (Matsuda, 2008) ae ‘more circumspect by noting that the concept of post process, infact, only rejects the dominance of process at the expense of other aspects of writing and writing instruction” (Matstia, 2003, pp. 78-79). As in most language-teaching approaches, ble for you to go ton extreme in emphasizing process tothe extent Juct ditninishes in importance. Try not to let this happen! The ‘the ultimate goat isthe reason that we go through the process Of prewriting, crafting, revising, and editing. Without that final product firmly in ‘ew, we could quite simply drown ourselves ina sea of revisions, Process is not the ‘ends itis the means to the end, 3. Contrastive thetoric Robert Kaplan’s (1966) article on contrastive dhetoric has been the subject of much discussion and debate ever since. Kaplan's thesis was that Fanguages (and their cultures) have different patterns of written discourse. English discourse ng to Kaplan (p. 1), is schematically described as proceeding in straight ntic whiting in @ zigzag formation, Oriental [sc] writen discourse in a spiraling line, and so forth (see Figure 21.1). “The point of Kaplan’s conclusions about how we write was, of course, tat English bring with them certain predispositions, which come from thet ir-writing. If English writers get ra" around the point, then a Chinese fer some difficulty in learning to write o the point, and Chinese writ ho is tearing English will en English discourse, e 21.1. Patterns oF written discourse Kaplan, 1966, p. 14) Romance Russian English aK sa 398 “There were problems with Kaplan’s study (Casanave, 200; Connor, 2002) some fof which Kaplan has recently responded to (Kaplan, 2005). His diagrams ancl Conclusions were simplistic and overgeneralized. Simplistic, Because he based his Conclusions about English discourse on style manuals rather than using data front factual writing in English. Overgeneralized, because one cannot conclude th: English writers consistently use a “strightline” attack on a thesis and certainly ‘cannot make any generalization that applies, for example, to all Oriental languages. Furthermore, without a nativespeaking English control group. one cannot determine if the “dificulty"of his sample data is simply the dficulty any inexperienced writer might encounter in learning to write ‘Nevertheless there was and stil i a ring of truth (o Kaplan's claims, as bot Kaplan (2005) himself and Connor (2002) have noted. Infact, Connor has done much to move contrastve rhetoric out of the quagyite in which it had been lodged for Jong" (Casanave, 2004, p41, No one ean deny the elfect of one's native culture, or ‘one’s predispositions that are the product of perhaps years of schooling, readin, ‘writing, thinking, asserting, arguing, and defending. In our current paradigm. of attending carefully to schemata and scripts, native nguage patterns of thinking and ‘writing simply cannot be ruled ou, A balanced position on this issue, then, would ‘uphold the importance of your carefully attending to the rhetorical first language interference that may be at ply ip your students writing. But rather than holding dogmatic or predictive view (hat certain writers will experience difficulty because oF their native language), you would be more prudent to adopt a “weak” position (see PLLT; Chapter 9) in which you would considera stadent’s culturaliterary schemat as only one possible source of difculty In recent years new research studies have appeared that tackle the issue of ccontrastive shetoric (Casanave, 2004; Connor, 2002). According to Connor,a theory ‘of contrastive rhetoric is influenced by more than first language patterns; factors such as linguistic relativity, theory of shetoic, text linguistics, discourse types and fgenres, literacy, and translation all contribute toward a comprehensive theory of Thetoric. One important conclusion from this renewed wave of research is the significance of valuing students’ nativelanguagerclated rhetoric traditions, and of guiding them through a process of understanding those schemata ‘while not attempting to eradicate them. That selfunderstanding on the part of students may then lend itself to a more effective appreciation and use of English rhetorical conventions 4, Differences between L1 and 12 writing In the 1970s, esearch on second language writing was strongly influenced by previous research on native language writing. Assumptions were made that the Composing processes in both instances were similar if not identical. But i is imperative for teachers to understand that there are in fact many differences between the to, as Tony Silva (1993) so cleaely demonstrated in a comprehensive survey of L2 writing Silva found that L2 writers dit! less planning, and that they ‘were less fluent (used fewer words), less accurate (made more errors), andl Tess 1 Teaching Weteg 395, effective in stating goals and organizing material, Dillerences in using appropriate ‘grammatical and rhetorical conventions and lexical variety Were also found, among, other features The questions that are currently being addressed in this area Hedgeock, 2005) center on differences between L1 and L2 writing and sorting out appropriate approaches to 12 writing. Some pedagogical implications of these questions are tht ca its important to determine appropriate approaches to writing instruction for L2 writers in different contexts, (b) writing teachers need to be equipped to deal ‘effectively with the sociocultural and linguistic differences of L2 stents, ancl (©) the assessment of L2 writing may need 0 take into account the fundamental differences between most LI and 12 writing, 5. Authenticity ‘Another issue in the teaching of writing surrounds the question of how much ‘of our classroom writing is “real” writing (Casanave, 2004; Hedgcock, 2005; iva & Tsiee, 2004). That is, how authentic are the classtoom writing exercises that we ask ‘students to perform? One could addtess this question by asking how much writing the average collegeeducated person in Western society actully does,and what kind fof writing. Ewould venture to say very litle, and that litte amounts to filling out forms, writing telephone messages, e-mailing, and occasionally dashing off letter ot posteanl, In the era of electronic communication (video, hone, computer ete.) we are less and less called upon to compose, Twas recently consulted by a friend whe is studying to be certified as a realtor. Piet of his certification examination involvee The prospect frightened hi te? In school, writing is a way of Hie 2 simple one. of two-page written ess So, why do we want students 10 w Without some ability to express yourself in writing, you don't pass the course Across the age levels ftom clementary school through university graduate courses, ‘we write in order to succeed in mastering the subject matter. In English for ‘Academie Purposes (EAP), writing ranges from short phrases (as in filtin-he blank tests), to brief paragraphs (asin essay question exercises and tess), to brief reports fof many different kinds, to a fulHlength research paper. In yocationaltechnical ing English in connection with a trade 0: English (where students are st ‘occupation, students need to fill out forms, write simple messages, write certain ‘conventional reports (for example, a bid on a contract,an inspection report), and at the most “creative” end of the continuum, write a brief business letter In adult ‘education and survival English classes filing out simple forms and questionnaires may be as sophisticated as students’ needs get. This leaves FAP as the major Consumer of writing techniques, especially writing techniques that concern themselves with the composing process: development of ideas, argument, logic ‘case and effect. teas Pltrige (200) aptly describes in a survey of teaching EAP “Another way to look a the authenticity issue in classtoom writing sco stnguish between real writing and display writing. Real writing as explained by Ann Raimes 991, 6 weiting when the reader doestt know the answer and genuinely wants information, In many academic/school contexts, however if the instructor isthe sol NE cA a reales writings primarily forthe display ofa student's knowledge, Written exeribe, cratemer essay-and other writing in test situations are instances of spay writing cg ave ae teachers incorporate more feal writing in our classrooms? In some ways, yes IE ESL courses srive (0 be more content-based, themie-based of wahmted, seadents are more likely to be given the opportunity co convey genie eee mation on topics of intrinsic interest, But diplay: writing iS aot total vMajatie. Writing fo display one's knowledge is fact of fe inthe classroom an pr geting your stents to perform well in display writing exercises, they can fa ets that wil help them to succeed in further academic pursuits 6. Responding to student writing sine gradual recogaition of writing a a process of thinking and composing way ‘a natural by-product of CLT, With its emphasis on learnercentered instruction avatudent negotiation, and strategiesbased instruction that values the aaertay of learners’ pathways to success, CLT is an appropriate Focus for process Wun As students are encouriged (in reading) (0 bring their own schemata Faeee derstanding texts,and in writing to develop their own ideas offer their aca oiteal analysis and find their own voice (sce #7 below), the role of teacher orrte be one of faeitator and coach, not an authoritative director and arbiter. i tratative role of the writing teacher has inspired research on the rote of the teacher asa respondee to students writing (Casanave, 2004; Ferris & Hedgecock, Joos, Heageock, 2005; Siva & Brice, 2004). As a facibtator, the teacher offers uldance in heping stdents fo engage inthe thinking process of composing bt Ei spit of respect for student opinion, must not impose hi o her own thous aaaaeent writing, However, as Joy Reid (1994, p. 273) pointed out, our penchant for lnnacr aie approaches to commenting on student writing may bave one Cm) pearecad of entering the conversation of composing and drafting, instead ol Helping students negotiate between their interests and purposes and the cereences and intentions oftheir academic readers, many teachers have retreat, dacrdsoff approach to student writing” Short of “appropriating” studeat tex sree aes used feedback that respects stents values and Delis. Dana Ferris {i907 offered useful guidelines for making teacher commentary more effective For example, Ferris found that when teachers (a) requested specific information ant {o) made summary comments on grammar, more substantive student revisions eo than avhn teachers (2) posed questions and (b) made positive comment ‘We are sill exploring ways to offer optimal feedback co student writin, 7. Voice and identity oie saad ost of several of the above topées, espevilly the last one is the eave of how to preserve the cultural and social identities of students bur at the sme vane to teach English Language writing conventions. This issue is espectaly acute rine eave of EAP writing programs where a major goal is for students (© writ eceptable academic prose in their respective subject-matter fckls Patridge, 2008) reer niting courses, however, the problem is also significant as course 1.21 reaching Wtng 397 designers and insinuctors must attend co “the soctally and politically situated Contexts of writing and how these contexts influence both how writing gets done sha the end produits of writing” (Casanave, 2004, p.84). In some ways the isu is ‘one of authenticity; mentioned above, and in other ways i has overtones of critical Derlagogy (ace Chapter 26). Recent rescarch indicates that some progress is being, Pode toward focusing stadents on writing for meaningful purposes within theit ‘own soctopoliical contexts (Atkinson, 2003; Casanave, 2003), and not just creating writing assignments that will orce certain rh orical competencies These seven categories comprise just a few of the many intriguing current questions in teaching writing. BY acquainting yourself with these issues, you will exin to gain an appreciation of some of the challenges of becoming an effective writing teacher, ‘TYPES OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE In Chapter 20, on pages 462-363, were some 30-0dd types of writen language “forms” As you consider an ESL class that you might he teaching, how many of these {types of writing wil your student be tkely to produce themselves? Those types that they will indeed need, ether for further study of English or for their ultimate aeadiemic/vocational goals, should then become the prime focus of real writing i your classroom CHARACTERISTICS OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE: A WRITER'S VIEW In Chapter 20, some characteristics of written I yguage from the perspective of 1 reader were set forth. Lets revisit those from a writer's viewpoint 1, Permanence ‘once something is written down and delivered in its final form to its intended audicnce, the writer abdicates a certain power: the power to emend, 10 clarify, & Mthdrawe That prospect is the single most significant contributor to. making Witing a scary Operstion! Student writers often feel that the act of releasing Written work to an instructor is not unlike putting themselves infront of afin Nuad, Therefore, whatever you can do as a teacher, guide, and facilitator to help aa students to revise and refine their work before final submission wil help ge them confidence in theie work 2, Production time The good! news is that, given appropriate stretches of time, a walter ean indeed ecome 2 good" waiter by developing efficient processes for achieving the firal paduct The bad news that many educational contexts demand student writing retin time limits. or writing for dsplay"ax noted in the previous section (examination POAT ATA ARTA ULL 398 ‘writing for example). So, one of your goals, especialy if you are teach av context, would be t0 tin Your students to make the best possible use of such tink imitations, This may mean strificing some process time, but with sufficient trainin. in process writing, combined with practice in display’ writing, you can help your students deal with time limitations, 3. Distan ‘One ofthe thorniest problems writers fice is anticipating their audience. That anticipation ranges from general audience characteristics to how specific won phrases, sentences, and paragraphs wil he interpreted, ‘The distance factor requires ‘what might be termed cognitive” empathy in that good writers can"rea”"their own ‘writing from the perspective of the mind of the targeted audience. W be able to predict the audience's general knowledge cu specifi subject matter knowledge, and very i will be interpreted. crs need 1 and trary schemata, sorta, how the choice of kang 4, Orthography Everything from simple greetings 10 extremely complex ideas i8 cap through the manipulation of a few dozen letters and other written symbols, Sometimes we take for granted the mastering of the mechanics of English writing by our students. If students are nonliteate in the native language, you must bey at the very beginning with fundameatals of reading and writing, For literate students, i their native language system is not alphabetic, new symbols have toh produced by hands that may have become accustomed t0 another system, Ifthe native language has a different phoneme-geapheme system) (most do}, then some attention is due here 5. Complexity In the previous chapter, the complexity of written—as opposed to spoken language was llustated, Wi learn how to remove redundancy (which mi not jibe with their frst Language rhetorical tradition), how to combine sentencss, how to make references to other elements in a text, how to create syntactic ata! lexical varietyand much more 6. Vocabulary As was noted in Chapter 20, written language places a heavier demand on vocabulary use than does speaking. Good writers will learn to take advantage v the richness of English vocabulary 7. Formality \Whedier 4 student Is miling our a questionnaire of writing @fulLblown ess the conventions of each form must be followed. For ESL students, the most difficult and complex conventions occur in academe writing where students have to learnt hhow to describe, explain, compare, contrast, ilustrate, defend, eiicize, and are ere 2 Teaching Wing 399 MICRO- AND MACROSKILLS FOR WRITING Following the format from the previous tree chapters, micro: and macroskils for ‘writing production are enumerated in Table 21. Table 21.1, Micro- and macroskils for writing Microskills 1. Produce graphemes and ethograpic pattems of English 2. Produce writing at an ecient rate of speed to suit the purpose Produce a aceeptable core of words and use appropiate word order paren 5. Expres a pasticular meaning in diferent grammatical forms. Macroskill 6. Use cohesive devices in writen discourse 7. Use the rhetorical forms aad conventions of written discourse, {8 Appropriately accomplish the communicative fanetions af writen texts according to form an purpose 19, Convey links and connections between events and communicate such relations as main ides, supporting idea, new information, given information, generalization, and exempiiication 10. Distinguish betveen itera and implied meanings when writing 11, Correctly convey culturally specific releences inthe context of the we 12 Develop an use a bat aurence’ interpretation, using prewrting devices, writing with laency in the first ats, using paaphnases and sybonyers,soiciing pee and instructor feck, and ‘sing feedback for revising and ein 7 writing sateges, such as accutately assessing the ‘TYPES OF CLASSROOM WRITING PERFORMANCE While various genres of written texts abound classroom writing performance is, by comparison, limited, Consider the following five major categories of classroom ‘writing performance 1. Imitative, oF writing down [At the beginning level of learning to write, students wil simply "write dowa the orthographic code” Some forms of dictation fall into this category although dictations can serve to teich and test higherorder processing as well. Dictations typically involve the following steps TIERRA EEE EERE el 400 a, Teacher reads & short parageaph once of twice at normal speed. », Teacher reads the paragraph in short phrase units of three or four words each, and each unit i followed by a pause . During pause, students write exactly what they hear {Teacher then reads the whole paragraph once more at normal speed $0 students can check their writing Scoring of students’ written work can utilize a number of rubrics for assigning points. Ustaly speling and punctuation errors a considered as severe as grammatical errors. 2, Intensive, or controlled ‘Writing is sometimes used as a production mode for learning, reinforcing. or testing ial concepts. This intensive writing typically appears in controlled written grammar exercises, This type of writing does not allow much, if any Creativity on the part of the writer. 'A.common form of controlled writing isto present a paragraph to students in ‘which they have to alter given structure throughout. So, for example, they may be asked to change all present tense verbs to past tense: in Such a case, students may heed to alter other time references in the paragraph Guided writing loosens the teachers control but still offers @ series a stimulators. For example, the teacher might get students (0 tell a story just viewed ‘on a videotape by asking them a series of questions: Where does the story tike place? Descrie the principal character. What does he say tothe woma nother form of controlled writing is a dicto-comp. Here, a pa read at normal speed, usually two or three times; then the teach rewrite the paragraph to the best oftheir recollection ofthe reading. In one of several variations ofthe dicto-comp technique, the teacher after reading the passage, puts key ‘wonls from the paragraph, in sequence, on the chalkboard as cues forthe Students asks students 3. Selfwriting ‘A significant proportion of lassroom writing may’be devoted to self writing. or ‘writing with only the self in mind as an audience. The mos sient instance of ‘category in classrooms is note taking, where students take notes during lecture for the purpose of later recall. Other ing may be done in the margins of books and on odd seraps of paper Diary or journal writing also falls into this cxteyory. However, in circumstances a dialogue journal, in which a student records thoughts, fe and which an instructor reads and responds to, while ostensibly nas two audiences in entry from a journal written by an advanced PSL student from the teacher's response (contributed by Lauren Vanett and Dona PORTA AAA fe 21.2. Journal entry-—advanced student from China Journal Entry Yerterday at about eight o'clock I was sitting on front of my table holding a fork and eating tasteless noodles which I usually really like to eat but I lost my taste yesterday because T didn't feel well: I had w headache anda fever. My head seemed to be broken« I sometimes felt cold iometimey hot. T dida’t feel comfortable tanding up andl didnt feel comfortable uitteng down. Thated eveything around me. It seemed to- ime that | got a great prewuue from the atmosphere and I could not Breathe Iwas so Heepy since T had taken ome medicine which functioned, ay awantibiotic. The room was so quiet: Iwas there by myself and felt very solitary Thivdinner reminded me of my mother. Whenever I was sick iwv China, my mother always took care of me and cooked: rice gruel, which haw to- cook more than three houry and it very delicious, I thinks I would be better Nery soon under the care of my mother. But yesterday, I had to cook by myself even though I was sick, The more thought, the less I wawted to- eat, Half anhour paued. The noodles were cold; but I waw stil ittonge there-and thinking about my mother, Finally I threw out the noodley and went to-bed. Meng Ling, PRE Teacher's Response: ‘This is a powerful piece of writing because you really communicate ke“... eating tasteless noo dles ...", “my head seemed to be broken . +¥0 cook more than three hours and is very deliciou ‘the reader to picture exactly what you were going through. The other strong point about this piece is that you bring the reader full circle by beginning and ending with “the noodles” Being alone when you are sick is difficult. Now, | know why you were 60 quiet in class. if you want to do another entry related to this one, you could have a diologue with your “sick” eelf. What would your healthy” self say to the “sick” self? le there some advice that could be exchanged about how to pre- vent illness or how to take care of yourself better when you do get sick? Start the dialogue with your “sick” self epeaking first. 402 Display writing 1 was noted eatlier that writing within the school cu ricular context isa way of lie. For all language students, shorcanswer exercises, essay examinations, an even research reports will involve an element of display. For academically bout ESL students, one ofthe academic sis that they need fo master is a whole array display writing techniques 5. Real writing While virtually every classroom writing task will have an clement of dspy writing in it, some classroom writing aims at the genuine communication et ‘messages to an audience in need of those messages. The two eatewories of rel an display writing are actually two ends of a continuum, and in between the tia ‘extremes lies some combination of display and real writing, Theee subcategories iastate how reality can be injected: Academic. The Language Experience Approach gives groups of students ‘opportunities to convey genuine information to each other. Contentbased instruction encourages the exchange of useful information, and some of this learning uses the written word, Group problemsolving tasks, ‘especially those that relate to current issues and other personally relevant topics, may have a writing component in whieh information is genuinely sought and conveyed. Pecrediting work ads to what would otherwise he an audience of one (the instructot) and provides real writing opportunity, In certain FSP and FAP courses, students may exchange nev information ‘with cach other and with the instructor b. Vocational/technical. Quite a variety of real writing can take place in classes of students studying En for advancement in their occupation, Real letters can he written; genuine directions for some operation or assembly might be given; and aetual forms can be filed out. ‘These Possibilities are even greater in what has come to be called “English in the Workplace,” where ESL is offered within companies and corporations © Personal. In virtually any ESL clas, diaries, letters posteands, notes, Personal messages, and other informal writing can take place, especially Within the context of an interactive classroom, While certain tasks may be somewhat contrived, nevertheless the genuine exchange of information ‘ean happen PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING WRITING SKILLS (Out of all of these characterisiex of the written word, along wit sero and macroskills and research issues.a number of specific principles for teaching writing, skills emerge 1. Incorporate practices of -good” writers. his Fist guideline is sweeping, But as you contemplate devising a technique that has a writing goal init, consider the various things that efficient writers do, and sce if your technique includes some of these practices. For example, good + focus on a goal or main idea in writing + perceptively gauge their audience, + spend some time (but not coo much) plan + easily let their first ideas low onto the pape, + follow a general organizational plan as they write, + solicit and utilize feedback on theit wrt + are not wedded to certain surface structures, + revise theie work willingly and efficiently. + patiently make as many revisions as necded 2, Balance process and product. Because writing is a composing process and usually requires multiple drafts before an effective product is ereated, make sure that students are carefully led through appropriate stages in the process of composing. This includes careful attention to your own role asa guide and as. responder (sce #8). Atthe same tn don't get so caught up in the stages leading up to the final product that you lose sight of the ultimate attainment-a clear articulate, wellorganized, effective piece of writing. Make sure students see that everything leading up to this final creation was worth the effort, 3. Account for cultural/literary backgrounds. “Make sure that your techniques do not assume that your students know Es rhetorical conventions, If there are some apparent contrasts between students are trying to teach, Lry to help students to ve traditions and those that yo understand what i is, exactly, that they are accustomed to and then, by degrees, bring them o the use of acceptable English rhetoric, 4, Connect reading and writing, Clearly, students learn to write in part by carefully observing what is already written. That is, they learn by observing, or reading, the written word. By reading and studying a varity of relevant types of text, students can gain important insights both about how they should write and about subject matter that may become the topic oftheir writing 5. Provide as much authentic writing as possible. Whether weting i real writing oF for display. ean stil be authentic in tha che ents the a -d overtly, and purposes for writing are clea tothe students, the audience is speciied overt there is at least some intent to convey meaning, Sharing writing with other students in the class is one way to add authenticity: Publishing a chss newsletter, 408 writing letters to people outside of class, writing a script for a skit or dramatic presentation, writing a résumé, writing advertisements—all these can be seen as authentic writing 6. Frame your techniques in terms of prewriting, drafting, and revising stages Process writing approaches tend to be framed in three stages of writing. The prewriting stage encouriges the generition of ideas, which can happen in + reading (extensively) a passage + skimming and/or scanning a passage + conducting some outside research + brainstorming (see below) + listing Gin writing —individualy) + clustering (begin with a key word, then ad other words, using free association) + discussing a topic or question + instructor initiated questions and probes + frecwiting (see below) Examples of brainstorming and freewri O'Day, 1991), are shown in Figure 21-3 The drafting and revising stages are the core of process writing. In traditional approaches to writing instruction, students either are given timed inclass ‘Compositions to write from stat to finish within a class hour, or they are given homework writing assignment. The fist option gives no opportunity fr systematic drafting, and the second assumes that if students did any drafting a all they wool Simply have 10 learn the tricks of the tide on their own. In a process approich, rafting is viewed as an important and complex set of strategies, the mastery of fn takes time, patience, and trined instruction, ‘Several strategies and skills apply tothe drafting/evising process in writing ng, from Challenges (Brown, Cohen. & + getting started (adapting the freewriting technique) + “optimal” monitoring of one’s writing without premature editing and diverted attention co wording, grammar, etc.) + peerreviewing for content (accepting/using classmates’ comments) + sing the instructors feedback + editing for grammatical errors + “reacaloud technique Cn small groups or pairs students read thei almost final ats to each other fora final check on errors, low of Kes, et.) + proofreading Teaching Wing 405 Figure 21.3, Brainstorming and ireewrting tom Brown, Cohen, & O'Day, 1991, pp. 4-5 GENERATING IDEAS + Brainstorming Present o fare job. Have you taught about the changes that might ocr in your fl To help YoU thnk abuts queson, you are going to make two Isso ens concerning chonges a ‘your field or in the field you plan to enter. " Drascroxs: Use your knowledge an! imagination to follow these steps. 1. Prepae wo sheets of paper withthe fallonsng: 2. What changes have occured in my fel inthe last twenty years? Your field toys date 1b. What changes dol expec to occur ny field in the rext weny yeas? Your fed the date twenty eas orn ne 2. As quickly as posible think of as many ideas as you canto anesthe question on sheet a 2. Take between five and en minutes ist every ie hat cares your mind Dono evauate your ideas. That wll come fates | 3. When yu have ten down everything yu can think go ver thelist evaluate what you have write Cross ut the ideas tt do 4. Repeat his proces top 2 and 3) fr shetb Tis proces, calle brainstorming, i usu technique in wring because it permis you to | approach atopic with an open mind” Because you dont judge your ideas as they emerge free yourself 0 come up with ideas that you might steven know you had. Brainstorming so of several diferent says ta begin writing. Inthe following pages, we will induce som ‘methods that wil help you to explee ideas hat yu might wa o ite about + Working in a Group. Inthe preceding exercise you worked nual using bri sh your own de _goup where you shire your anton des wt the es othe roup mens, By dig hs, ‘each of you will have an opportunity to further expand your own ideas, * Dasxcriows Form a small groupie to ive people). Use the follwing guidelines for your group 1. Toke tens resng your lite of changes in your field to each othe, 2. Compare your clasemates iss o your, ooking fo lis andl ferences fist that are sina, "2 Mark the changes cn yo Bb Add your ist nev eas of chang thot apply to your fl youp, select thre changes that applied to the felds ofeach group member, you have ime, you can dscus these thee ideas Herre a 407 he student book of Challenges, lusteating ‘editing from the drafting and revising Figure 21.4 is another sample fro some of the above strategies, especially peer seages, {Choose a eporter fom your group to shave your hve changes with the est of the cas Hee isan example of what the compared ls ofa group ofthe tens might ook Tikes Novice that each ist has some ideas tat ave been crossed out. These teas ha ales tw eliminate! by the student inthe fst step ofthe brainstorming exerelse because they did fy The changes that wets sina in each ist have been labeled Figure 21.4, Adltional wing strategies (ron H.D. Brown, Cohen, & O'Day, 191, pp. 42-85) TESSON 3 — eee Ese Composin EiSeation increase ® ‘Seber aching tole ‘neat i ers puters ecard keeping | more respons ‘Simp fr sont meen ar alacag chanes ‘verten Fisher dpm terger tan see On Your OWN ed hasinons In this unit you have rea about he issues surrounding the predicted population explosion. You ave ato word with mporant wing techniques such as showing and Using fc and statistics, ets now ty to apply what you have learned to the writing proces ier beets + Freewsiting develop your thinking about You ha ‘THE FIRST DRAFT Dtcrions: Follow these seps to generate further ideas 0 thi topic Choosing a Topic From you is of changes, choow one idea that interested you ‘Wit that idea at he top of clean sheet of pape 3. forten minute, write about ths top without tapping. Ths means that you shoul be writin A Explain the information intaduced inthe following bar sph Blethen! paragraphs ofthe acl “The Words Utban Explosion, the author raises he question rihat dette population explosion might be in He future. Imagine your ity, own ite nthe yar 2025. Imagine tht the population predictions, in ac, come te, Pace yours inthe scene, and describe what you something corsa 2. Write down everyting that comes to your mind 1b, Do not judge your ides. Do not wort about your speling and grammar Gif youron out of hinge tay, comtinae wring whatever comes to your mind Note: Nice how ier these topics ate from ane another The fis pic asks you to wrt an explnaton which analyzes a graph. The second topic asks fora description. Think about the pos tach tpi How do you thik these purposes wil feet the tone ofeach piece? Tis process is ale feewriting, Its designed to help you fee ides that you might nat eal that you fave. An important aspect of eewrting i that you write without being concerned about ‘Spelling, puncuaton or plammar. OF course, these elements of wating ae important, but student res inhibit the re len of their eas. Fro@wting isa techni te generate idea It should be used as 9 eploning, as an ntl exploration ofthe ideas that you have about a topic ‘ou can xe sour feerting to help you get sated with related tasks, Infact, you might want to eer this tecuriting when you are doing ther writing tasks ater i ths unt. Therein, ye ould puts andl aber freeing ha ou dort.» otebook that yu can re © when you ing ise or tre asgrent TEE +