Dr. Krushna Chandra Mishra PDF

LangLit
IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189
An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal

POST+2 LEVEL ESL WRITING TEACHING USING NON-FICTION
READING
DR. KRUSHNA CHANDRA MISHRA,

Associate Professor,
Department of English,
Rajiv Gandhi University,
Doimukh-791112,
Arunachal Pradesh
ABSTRACT
This paper considers various types of reading and writing assignments that
post+2 students are expected to encounter. Certain useful strategies for
mastering the order of new challenges they pose have been discussed for
non-fiction text material reading and comprehension. Reading-Writing inter-
relatedness as language skills forms the basis of the major approach adopted
in this discussion.
Introduction:
ESL writing teaching at post+2 level using non-fiction reading is very useful for a variety of
purposes. Models taken from eminent writers from India especially as important national
heroes, freedom fighters, visionaries and architects of modern India ,democratic leaders and
statesmen like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru do well justify as to how youth of the country do
stand to gain significantly from an exposure to the dynamic orientation of thought and ideas
as Nehru held and expressed. Besides this, there is the style dimension about which non-
fiction writing teaching has to be acutely careful. The B.A. level anthology compiled by
Professors Ganeswar Mishra and Sarat Chandra Satapathy of Utkal University in the Orient
Longman published Selections from Nehru has been discussed here for a model in this paper
to justify why non-fiction teaching at post+2 level ESL writing teaching does have a definite
and serious use .Also, this paper seeks to put in focus emerging challenges for the students of
the collegiate education level considering the academic and professional needs that they are
expected to face. Objectives and Methods of Non-fiction Teaching relevant in the context of
Post+2 level classrooms with focus on Reading-supported ESL Writing have been discussed
with limited ,but necessary focus on Comprehension development as it is crucial to transform
reading experience into writing effectiveness.
Post+2 Level ESL Teaching Scene :

By the end of +2 class , a significant portion of students’ determined and planned
consideration in pursuing higher education is concentrated on career opportunities .English
coming as a definitely proven language of global employment opportunities , and skills and
competencies in handling the same in all practical life situations claimed to be offering
individuals a better edge to bargain for higher pay package, it is but obvious that ESL
teaching syllabus is under obligation to cater to students’ future needs .What thus almost in
all universities occupies the focus is providing for components in prescribed study materials
which may be in good time duly certified against reliable testing, evaluation and grading
provisions to conclusively equip students with a fair degree of visibly and satisfactorily
Vol. 6 Issue 3 72 February, 2020

Website: www.langlit.org Contact No.: +91-9890290602
Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI
LangLit

owned ease at communicating effectively in English. Present day corporate house-led job
market’s singular emphasis on performance from employable English using computer savvy
youth workforce in the Liberalization-privatization-globalization (LPG) era has put severe
demands on ESL syllabus making as a responsive and future-bound exercise that innately
strikes to be uniquely convincing to higher education aspirants to hold their motivation and
sustained interest in picking up good English communication skills. It is here that overt and
decisive focus on grammar teaching in most places still being in practice, resorting to
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) with a process-bound reading-based skills-
implanting and up-gradation in students is seen as an encouraging trend in recent times.
Understanding that the world of work is a prose-based world of communication, this trend to
realistically wake up and respond in demanding life situations is additionally and usefully
swinging into ESL classroom communication training practice. In terms of reading matter,
thus there is in use non-fiction prose writing for teaching and examination. Students
understand reasonably long texts and reproduce the same in classroom informal teaching-
time revision work and comprehension tests. Also, both short and long answer type questions
on the pieces done bring out the levels of mastery learning demonstrably achieved by
students thereby making non-fiction teaching classes those of focussed attention on what is
done and articulate participation in discussions led in the classroom. Good English through
exposure to writing by established essayists and writers thus is developed through non-fiction
teaching leaving youth empowered in appropriate ways to think critically and respond to
emerging real-life challenges in the most practical and mature ways.
This paper covers the types of reading and writing assignments that post+2 students are
expected to encounter. Accordingly, suggestion for a variety of useful strategies for mastering
these new challenges has been offered to make students more confident at different writing
jobs assignments that challenge them.
When it comes to handling reading and writing assignments, it is quite convincing to follow
the general line that reading qualitatively impacts writing.Non-fiction prose teaching has also
to toe this very established approach to writing development through adequate and significant
exposure to reading of quality texts that matter. University syllabi in India at post+2 stage
higher education seem to wed this very productive and practical consideration while making
room for non-fiction prose teaching.A cursory look at syllabi in English for the
Undergraduate teaching programmes across India is enough to vindicate this observation.
Career-bound post+2 level non-fiction teaching classroom in real and concrete terms has to
be convincing that time spent in the class is well spent. Issues of real life as found reported on
a daily basis on the international media as forming in fair measure the actual demanded
thought content t be developed in students in being effectively sought to be done through
non-fiction works done extensively in the classroom do go to signal that routine teaching is
well keeping pace with the critical demands of the world of work as students tumble out into
professional careers later soon. That environmental thinking, scientific developments, social,
cultural, political movements, economic planning , national integration ,communal harmony,
gender sensitivity, international cooperation etc. form the world of thought of a mature
thinking adult global citizen needs to stand out from what ESL classroom non-fiction
teaching offers in its gambit. Individual level success of students through group discussion
and effective demonstration of critical reasoning skills in the classroom and outside it in

LangLit

several forums of voluntary participation in debates and essay writing competitions etc
towards evidence of powerful communication is the need that the students have to find fully
addressed through non-fiction text analysis and execution by their teachers who in turn
appropriately unitise and sub-unitise text contents and facilitate effective planned
comprehension-bound student-participated exploratory analysis of content with correlated
present host of crises and opportunities of the changing world.
In a post+2 environment, academic expectations change from what students may have
experienced upto +2 level. The volume of practical writing work they are expected to do is
significantly increased. When reading longer textual passages spanning pages over highly
engrossing study hours, strategies for studying efficiently and managing time arise as most
important. Alongside quantity, the quality of the work also drastically changes. It remains no
more enough to understand course material and summarize and reproduce it for examination
purposes. Rather, the challenge involves serious engagement with new ideas by reflecting on
them, analyzing them, critiquing them, setting up connections, drawing conclusions, or
finding new ways of thinking about any given subject. Educationally, moving ahead into high
stake exercises, students have to face the real heat that various professional careers ahead are
to pose.
Against the above position, Objectives and Methods of Non-fiction Teaching seem proper
to be discussed. Objectives would thus be classroom teacher-mediated non-fiction doing to
involve students in motivating discussion with relevant contemporary matter in focus to be
dealt at fair length to enrich appreciation of the text , to make them open up and volunteer to
participate in and carry forward the discussion using all relevant group discussion norms of
decency and rational discourse-making, to lead in-depth revision with active student-help to
sail deeper and wider across the text, to focus on sustained conversation skills with maturity
of content quality contribution, to lead the classroom to a stage where nobody feels left out,
lagging behind and lost, to bring students the sense of empowerment that is due contextually ,
to have the vocabulary strengthening goals achieved by students with proper mastery of
sentence structures to offer evidence of active vocabulary use capability in related
comprehension test and elaboration, to help students have correct spelling and pronunciation
of words in their sentence-specific environments, to enable them to make confident writing
successes in given situations.
Methods used would be to have covert grammar teaching with attention to rules of grammar
and usage, to use group discussions on text content and related matter, to have extensive
conversation or dialogue provision using textual units or related matter, to have question-
answer mode in frequent use to aid and verify learning mastered and for intensive content
revision for short and long answer-making both in spoken and written formats, to use
appropriate technology to use with students to have a better text-transaction experience with
audio-visuals and computer or multimedia, to allow in bilingual set-ups scope to have
judicious use of MT(L1) and translation to elucidate texts without encumbering the situation
with a heavy dose of it as might work conforming to enough English-getting norms.
Examination and evaluation of non-fiction teaching would have to verify through student oral
and written presentation as to how effective has been their mature grasp of the content done
with application to real world situations in analysis of matter, answer organization, word-
limit consideration and fluency and flair at executing thought in its critical flow.

LangLit

Improving Comprehension being a very important goal to be achieved at post+2 stage
Undergraduate English teaching, time devoted to covering reading assignments by students
against a set purpose for reading has to overcome the challenge of ascertaining actual
understanding of all the information contained in the text by systematically processing the
reading assignments that are fairly straightforward or in some cases longer or more
complex. Non-fiction prose teaching plan mostly has to handle the challenge effectively
since the text material prescribed would be the whole basis whereon student reading-writing
effectiveness would ultimately manifest.
For all expository writing—that is, nonfiction, informational writing—first comprehension

goal is to identify the main points and relate any details to those main points. Post+2-level
texts being challenging, monitoring reading comprehension by stopping periodically and
assessing how well the material being read is understood arises as a great necessity to help
students improve extent and levels of comprehension by determining the strategies that
work best in their individual cases and thus need to be put most into practice .
Non-fiction materials come in a wide variety including the Textbooks with summaries,
glossaries, comprehension questions, and other study aids, Nonfiction trade books mostly
excluding the study features characterizing textbooks, writings in Popular magazines,
newspapers, or web articles mostly intended for a general audience coming from all interest
backgrounds, and Scholarly books and journal articles with specialists in a given field being
the target audience .In all cases of text comprehension challenge ,finding the most
important idea that the writer seeks to communicate helps students see how the details
presented in the reading have been organized. That enables them to relate the reading to
concepts previously learned in class or gathered through other reading assignments. On being
able to identify the main point and the supporting points, details, facts, and explanations that
develop and clarify the main point, students are in a more confident position to claim that
their grasp of the material read is far more complete. Gradually, students would discover with
confidence that they have successfully circumvented the reading difficulty faced across the
whole variety of non-fiction prose text materials. The language and writing style, familiarity
of the topic discussed etc. are matters that come to be answered when these emerge in course
of combating various types of text that students handle.
Writing assignments at the post-secondary level have a general goal of building a sound
foundation of writing skills. Over time, these assignments prove to be serving a different
purpose than the typical writing assignments of the +2 level, where generally the focus is on
imparting a firm grounding in writing in different modes and formats of personal writing,
expository writing, creative writing, and writing short answers and essays for examination.
The post+2 level writing or composition aims for a marked transition to higher-level
writing assignments indicative of critical thinking and analytical ability involving various
contemporary social and other issues. Also assignments aim at training for professional
writing in a given field depending on the stream – arts, science or commerce -- to write a lab
report, a case study, a literary analysis, a business plan, or an account of a personal interview.
Writing in line of the standard conventions and set formats for those types of written products
is a necessity here in conformity to the prescribed syllabi. Personal and creative writing
assignments for post+2 college and university courses and writing emphasizing expository

LangLit

writing -- writing that explains or informs, and persuasive writing assignments taking
positions on any given issue and canvassing for the same supporting the ideas with reasons
and evidence require a higher standard of intellectual involvement and exercise .Upgrading
caliber for the said attainment of acceptable standards is an implied challenge for the syllabi
in general and non-fiction prose teaching in particular as every individual component in the
syllabi has to contribute harmoniously towards securing the overall academic goals
envisioned under the syllabi.
Post+2-level reading and writing assignments differ from high school and post-secondary
level assignments, not only in quantity but also in quality. Effective comprehension
strategies, and active reading strategies stimulating, stabilizing and deepening the
understanding of the text with writing assignments laying greater emphasis on learning to
think critically about various things are what appear necessary to be .
Importance of a solid everyday vocabulary in spurring success in writing does not need to be
overstressed. In this sequence, learning new words and avoiding common word errors is
really a top priority. An exposure to experienced writers and established names in non-fiction
prose writing selections is quite certain to convince students that deliberate, careful word
selection and usage can lead to more polished, more meaningful work. Hence, word choice
and vocabulary-building strategies to improve writing as indirect, but practical goals of non-
fiction reading are to be given due attention in the total scheme of teaching English at the
post+2 level.
The English language teaching with thrust on expanding the stock of English words at the
command of the students for purposes of active use in writing contexts guards against
commonly confused words. Words having more meanings are to be dealt with especially in
relation to their use contexts. Non-fiction prose selections have to help confront such
difficulties with students, when in doubt, being properly guided to effectively use
dictionary.Thus,when the need to choose the correct word according to its spelling and
meaning in the context is properly answered, writing would have greater clarity and
misusing confusing words would be eliminated. The value of effective communication on
account of paying proper attention to vocabulary is always in clear expression that is
achieved by conscious avoidance of misuse of words. Consistent use of the right words in
right contexts improves quality of communication and makes room for appreciation from
the participating other parties .By keeping a list of frequently misspelled words, students can
become aware of their spelling problems and work to improve by spelling them correctly.
Spelling improvement in non-fiction prose teaching classes as a mission is set to be
successful when lists are drawn up for frequently misspelled words and remedial and
corrective exercises are promptly and neatly kept in place and minutely monitored. Mastering
the material as needed in terms of vocabulary development for effective writing development
programmes in post+2 level non-fiction prose teaching classes thus is to be realized to focus
on spelling during the editing and revising step of the writing process. Simultaneous
significant attention to proper organizing of the piece of writing and developing effective
paragraphs, and then working down toward the smaller—but equally important—details like
spelling and punctuation are to be followed up with the prescribed non-fiction text material as
model.

LangLit

Developing skills of writing paragraphs with an individual writing style developed with
one perspective or angle of vision pursued meticulously throughout and with the spelling
and word choice issues masterfully overcome is one very distinct goal behind confidence-
building exercises for students through English non-fiction teaching at post+2 level where
doing prose implies presenting models of writing that cover a whole range of contemporary
social,political,economic and cultural issues and that cater to the areas of interest of the youth
for whom immediately a little afterwards direct dabbling in practical matters of the life and
the world acquires singular importance.In this context,it is natural that reading is to be aided
by good comprehension and students are thus expected to respond to the questions by
referring to and also reflecting on their experiences with the non-fiction text material.
Students are also expected to write in the free-writing mode —writing without (overly)
considering formal writing structures, but always conscious that other mature users of the
language need to be comfortable to read the new text understanding the ideas expressed
therein.Students are also expected to put across Ideas in their Own Words and Paragraphs --
writing piecing ideas together to form summaries and paragraphs, while offering convincing
evidence of mastery of the fundamentals of sentence construction, punctuation and clear
organization such that the reader gets the information passed on in the blocks of the text
produced and finds the communication free from writing errors. Whether it is an email or
writing a report or essay, it is the responsibility of the writer to present thoughts and ideas
clearly and precisely, writing in complete sentences to ensure that communication is
unimpeded in any way.
Reading and Writing Interrelatedness as skills:

As we are considering strategies of post+2level ESL writing teaching with reading of non-
fiction prose text materials, it is quite essential to talk of research showing interrelationship
existing between the two important language skills. Effective literacy programs enable
students to move between reading and writing, and involve them in speaking and listening
experiences which support and extend their literacy learning and skills (Christie, 2005).
Tierney and Pearson (1983) believed that "at the heart of understanding the reading/writing
connection one must begin to view reading and writing as essentially similar processes of
meaning construction" (p. 568). In the same vein, Petrosky (1982) noted that "reading,
responding, and composing are aspects of understanding, and theories that attempt to account
for them outside of their interactions with each other run the serious risk of building reductive
modules of human understanding" (p. 20).
In L2 literacy contexts, Krashen's (1984) argument that "it is reading that gives the writer the
'feel' for the look and texture' (p. 20, cited in Hirvela, 2004) paves the way leading writing
researchers and instructors to the vision of reading/writing connection.
Listening, speaking, reading, and writing, the four skills of language, are inter-related.In
particular, listening/speaking and reading/writing are interdependent pairs, the latter being a
clever human extension of the former. If ability in half of a communications pair languishes,
so does ability in the other half. To comprehend our perceptions and communicate forcefully,
then, we would do well to speak in response to what we hear, and write in response to what
we read.

LangLit

If writing is half of a reading/writing equation, then reading taught together with writing
would logically accommodate all reading styles. First of all, by writing while reading,
students could learn to organize their thoughts (Wells, 1993). Second of all, after habitually
writing in response to reading, they could learn to clarify and refine their thoughts (Brookes,
1988). By using a reading/writing approach, a teacher could supply students with the
directives that would lead them to become adept readers.
Students are required to regulate their reading habits. To help in this act, the teacher could
initiate self-monitoring by students for a reading assignment by raising “process questions”
throughout with previous reading activities to keep the students aware of their reading
habits: how long they read at a time, how fast they read, under what conditions they read best,
how they react to unknown words or concepts, etc. (Kirby et al, 1986).Teachers are not to
stifle a student’s attempt to respond to a reading (Nelson, 1990).
The Reports - Reading Next (2004) and Writing Next (2007) - on the importance of the
reading-writing connection affirm that students’ reading and writing abilities are
complimentary and growth in one skill inevitably leads to growth in the other (i.e., students
become better readers by strengthening their writing skills and vice-versa). The author
Francine Prose, in her book, “Reading Like a Writer” (2006), holds that long before there
were creative-writing workshops and degrees, aspiring writers learned to write by reading the
work of their predecessors and contemporaries.
Selections from Nehru - a sample Non-fiction Text-book for Post+2 level students :
Selections from Nehru edited by Ganeswar Mishra and Sarat Chandra Satapathy published
by Orient Longman in 1999(Rpt.2001) forms a textbook for making Jawaharlal Nehru
accessible to students with elaboration with evidence on how the anthology is admirably
representative in the sweep and canvass, how all major aspects of life in the modern world
have been realistically and vividly touched by the illustrious leader and visionary writer,
statesman and freedom hero , loving father and a decent human individual. All objectives,
methods of teaching, examination and evaluation in relation to the text have been
corroborated here to offer for non-fiction text selection and prescription .Vocabulary,
grammar, comprehension, short questions, long writing demands, application of textual
knowledge etc as aspects of language efficiency goals have been sought to be exemplified
with the anthology.
Conclusion:
The best way to become a good writer is to become an avid and intelligent reader. While
reading each essay carefully, it is necessary to take note of the content and the structure as
well as the thesis statement, topic sentences, and supporting evidence. These would
contribute to shaping the student response to the essay and to shape the writing that has to
follow it and/or to develop on the very basis of it. Non-fiction prose in English language
teaching at the post+2 level in Indian situation has particularly to be re-oriented in this
manner to ensure learning of English so that on leaving post+2 level of college and university
education, students should find themselves confident in all practical matters of reading
,writing and comprehension .

LangLit

All the activities arranged before, during, and after a reading and all the specific writing
assignments made along with the reading are based upon the premise that students assimilate
their perceptions of a text most fully by writing in response to reading. Through activities
such as notetaking, goal-setting, and various response-writing activities, students clarify their
thoughts. Completing a non-fiction reading/writing assignment, they have to satisfy
themselves that they have good comprehension of the material and also by effectively
integrating their real life experiences they can produce writing that would be qualitatively
rich modeled much upon the non-fiction texts they have read – in style, vocabulary and
meaning construction.
REFERENCES
1. Brookes, G. (1988). “Exploring the World through Reading & Writing.” Language
Arts, 65(3), 245-53.
2. Christie, F. (2005). Language education in the primary years. Sydney: UNSW Press.
3. Hirvela, A. (2004). Connecting reading and writing in second language writing
instruction. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
4. Kirby, K. et al (1986). “The Reading Journal.” Forum for Reading, 18(1), 13-19.
5. Mishra, Ganeswar and Sarat Chandra Satapathy(Ed.).(1999/Rpt.2001).Selections
from Nehru.NewDelhi:Orient Longman.
6. Nelson, C. (1990). “Writing as a Response to Reading.” Learning Package No. 5.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.
7. Petrosky, A. R. (1982). From story to essay: Reading and writing. College
composition and Communication, 33, 19-36.
8. Prose, F. (2006). Reading Like A Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and
for Those Who Want to Write Them. New York: HarperCollins.
9. Tierney, R. J., & Pearson, P. D. (1983). Toward a composing model of reading.
Language Arts, 60, 568-580.
10. Wells, M. C. (1993). “At the Junction of Reading and Writing.” Journal of Reading,
36(4), 294-302.
11. http://cdn.lexile.com/m/uploads/positionpapers/TheReading-WritingConnection.pdf
12. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/englis
h/literacy/
13. readingviewing/Pages/teachingpraccycle.aspx
14. http://iteslj.org/Articles/Tsai-ReadingWritingConnection.html
15. https://patternbasedwriting.com/elementary_writing_success/connecting-reading-and-
writing/


Dr. Krushna Chandra Mishra PDF

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Dr. Krushna Chandra Mishra PDF

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

LangLit

IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 ISSN 2349-5189

An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal