mpEc

wfufech,anics

cf

Writing t: Khe Art sf Wr{tfmg

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. 2.

Plan and carry out handwriting classes for children; Plan and carry out sentence writing lessons; and

3.

3#,5.:l "ppreciation

that

writing canbea difficutt ski[

to tearn by

INTRODUCTION
This topic introdu."r',r, to the basics,of writing and the teaching of writing. . Undoubtedly, writing is an essential .o**trriication skill as are reading, listening anci speaking but writing is one that has permanence and thus it continues to relay the meaning encoded into it long after the author has rnoved on' The term writing however is a generic one. In Malaysian schools, "writing,, is used to refer to everything from penmanship to academic and creative writing. To some extent this is true because befor" yb.tr pupils can write their thoughis onto paper, they need to know how to extract it from paper. This module works on the basics of writing and l'row to teach it to your p"pitr.

*.

lL

TOPIC

MECHANICS OF

WRilil'.!

;HE ART OF \URITING

a sentence but How is your own perunanship? Try this out. write a short

make sqre that:

(1) (2)

Each alphabet is seParate.

Write it once with all print capitals and once again

cursive.

that it 1S we write everyday and it comes naturaily that we often forget what it not an easy sklu to learn. This activity is to help you remember
was like to learn how to write'

,'l

PENMANSHIP
\

correct letter \\hen a child learns to write, he or she usually begins withNext he or she

letters' formation, and then moving on to writing uniform sized his writing' so when you teach can learn to produce a unilorm slant in her / correct formation, then size' th6m to write, focus on one objective at a time-first, letters, forming letters and then slant. Have them work on several, but not all, emphasize uniform sizethen word.s. Once assigned. letters are formed corrytly, letters, but continue to lower case letter, .onr"irt"nt1y half the size of upfer case continuing to ,"l,rt" correct formation. Then add uniform slant, again, while accomplished' already require children to maintain the correct form and size and sentences' f,oilow this procedure as you add new letters, words,
do behveen rvhole words' It single letters, require the s,ame even spacing as you can be placed n.ifi, young children to use a Popsicle stick or some other tool that one or tn-o fingers)' Check on.the paper for uniform spacing. (I suESest using of eacl-r letter-top to bottom slant by drawing a straight rine lnto.tgt"r tne centre lines should be paraliei if slar'.t rs *niform. Printing ir",ot r"it to right). Al1 those may not require this check if letters, are totT,"f ,::1l".'lt: -:]t::i::-I::1i3' il.*";;;, ;il;;;pears sloppy simply becausg all lette:> .'i''- :"'lr. siant uniformly' or slant a bit look 'rk' il' ' The lines yo.r dru* throughihe letiei shouid more to the right, but not be a mix: / I / \'

'"' oversee their practice so they do not fill d L-.'.:: - ' finish quickly. Praise letters ind r.t'ords tr':1::. ' and rewrite anything unacceptable' \\i'r-= :-'' remembcr that it n'illIctually takc more t':-Young children should use large u ri:-:- ' Letter size is not important at first, irs:'- '

- -'-: -rtl \\'ork simply to - -' '-':'' e ihe student erase

--- l-' time consuming'

'

:' t:'

: irrr better control. - -etting them draw

l?

','::HANICS

OF \URITING

: TH E AR: 0F WRITING

on blank paper :',1-r c-t:i--io-ho1d "fat" markers, crayons., or paintbrushes which ailow less press'-.ru:,.,re r-ised in drawing a solid looking line. Be sure the children use the :ir-..-' ;rip required later for paper and pcncil lt'ork. For those children that ir',sr-.t r,:' uSinS adult pens and penciis, add a finger grip (ar.ailable at many educatior-,.t, sitp''plr'and office supply stores). Or 1ess, simply wrappirrg a few rubber bands r,ea: fhe tip of the pen or pencil may aiso help.
Begin with lines ane'i shapes, encouraging children to draw all vertical lines from the top to the bottom. A1i circular shapes should begin at the 2 o'clock position, moving up, lcft, and around-like the letter c. (Kids tend to start at the top and make egg shapes.) Shapes using straight lines-triangles, rectangies, and squares, should alrvays use individual iines that meet, not a single stroke with an attempt to make "pointy" corners. Every line should be drawn left to right or top to bottom. Vertical lines are drawn first, left side, then right side, and then the

connecting horizontal lines. The horizontal lines on top are first, and all horizontal lines should begin at the 1eft. The children may have their own short
cuts, so these basics do need to be taught.

Next, teach a few lower-case letters and short words. Many chiidren want to learn to write their own name before anything eise. That is fine as long as you are careful to show them the correct form for drawing each letter, only use a capital ietter at the beginning, and then give him samples to trace.
Once letter formation is acceptable, children should practice on paper n,ith u'ide guiding lines in order to learn to control size as well as to develop uniformitv in size. There shouid be solid lines at the top and bottom, a dotted line in the middle, and space before the next guiding lines. You can exercise books r,r.ith this kind of lines in them at good bookstores.

&

Whether printing or writing in cursive, begin with paper that has a dotted middie iine rather than using traditional notebook paper. The center line serves as an important guide and aids in faster achievement of uniformity of size. Handwriting paper is available with lines in a variety of widths. Have the student write something on blank paper so that you can see the size he is most comfortabk: i,r,riting, then use that as your guide, rather than age, to select the most appropriate paper for practice. Write th'e letter or word on the paper a few tir,es for the pupils to trace and then copy.
For best resttll.s, handr,vriting practice should be scheduled every day. It is better to take severai days off after practicing consistentlv for a week or so, then to Lrractice erraticallv. It is also more effective to har-e trvo short practices a day then one long oractice if the child becomes quickiv fatigued when rvritirig. To

TOPIC

MECHANICS OF WRITING 1: THE ART OF !(/RlTlNG

i,-i'rctrnl this, vou could have a decent writing practice session in class and give l,-r-rllr !.uFiis some homework for them to do after school.

potor skiiis develop more slowly, especially in boys, then gross motor skills. Often children, cspecially boys, may fuss about paper and pencil work simply because their hands get tired. Be sure to ha'u'e pupils sitting in a proper writing
position. The flat surface on which their arms can rest comfortably should not be too high or too lsin,r, and their feet should be supported on the floor or on a box, rather than dangling. Improper table height, a siouching or straining body position or dangling feet all sap strength, increasing fatigue.

p-.

Handwriting practice consists of copying, not creating, letters, words and sentences. Separate composition from handwriting by allowing chiidren to dictate or type compositions, turn in work with handwriting that is less than perfect, or copy final drafts during regularly scheduled handn,riting practice instead of the usuai handwriting lesson. Remember that composition requires
pr-rpiis to focus on content and organization, and, during the editing process, on ipelling and punctuation skills. If handwriting perfection is also required, pupils r.,u.h'q are fatigued by handwriting or those who have difficulty with neatness are likely to look for ways to avoid composition assignments. At the very ieast thelz

will compose extremely short works simply to avoid as much handwriting

possible.

as

It is aiso acceptable to a1low pupils to answer workbook questions orally,

avoiding handrvriting to

practice focus on adjusting size or any other difficulties that make attempts to fill in blanks sloppy, illegible, or tediously slow. Increase the total daily time spent on handwriting as an isolated lesson as necssary rather than pressuring the student with hand"writing expectations he is not yet able to meet n'hile l're is n'orking in other subjdcts. As maturity and motor skills allow, you ma\- :equire readable written answers that fit the allotted space. Once you knon' that tl-e student is capable of -,',i-rrr irrot rough drafts) neat work done at a reasonable speed, all final t-ritfcr, can be required to meet the standard you h.t\ | s.:, B- carefr-rl not to set unrealistic standards.

fill in blanks. During handwriting

Ultimately, pupils should be able to take pl',--:-: r.-':::.;i:> n.rite letters, and complete applications with writing that is 'e:,:.. ."-.:. ,.-: iits into the space ,- - -.:.ir-e -"r'riting to sign aliotted. Teach oider pupils who have great r.-' - . - 'itrcus tln printing their names with a mature looking Ctlr:: ' -'- : letters that are neat and small enough for --.--- -

Handu'riting docs not have to be a b-,:narrow objcctir-es, praising efforts t1'..'.t ,-

".:::eting specific and .'. e1l as pointing out

TOF][

l','IECHANlCS OF !ilRlTtNG 1: THE ART OF l(/RtTtNG

errors to be correctei, and schedulingregular, supervised practice, progress can be made much m.ore rapidly than if children ur. 1"ft on their o*n to complete handwriting n'orkbooks. Young children want to n,rite r,t,ell, but are often fruslrated by their on'n lack of coordination and discouraged because it requires so much more effort to please either the teacher or themr"]rr", than they thought it would' older pupils often rush to complete assignments and argue that neafness is irrelevant. In either case, the teacher must be patient, choose reasonable objectives' and stand firm. Legible handwriting ls a worthy causel Good handwriiing skills rnay take y"urc to develop. soJe may argue that hand writing is no longer necessary with the advent and ubiquitous .rr"if computers. This may be true for much work but hand writing will never be eradicated ancl it will always have a place a.d use in everyduy *oJ"rn life.

If a child prefers to write with their left hand, that is not a problem, it simply means
he or she is lefthanded.

Teaching Handwriting Checklist

What to r,r'atch?

$
2.
a

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

- all letters of the same length upper case - all letters of the samerlength
even spacing between letters and between words. The letters all slant in the same direction. The letters are sitting on the same line.

Lower case

Don't rush them.

Be gentle.

4.

Don't criticise. If they make mistake, gently show then the right way of doing the thing they got wrong. CritiJism *ru aurrrpen their lpirits and may even be detrimental to their learning and mastery of pe.rmanship.

5.

children tend have shorter attention span, about 15 minutes at the most.
Take breaks or to break the class

6.
7.

parents, brothers and iriends.

yoyr pupiis have mastered the alphabets, you can move to simple words. The best worcls to start with are their own names. This wilr give the pupils a treirientdous scn-se of achievement to be able to write their o\'\rn names- )'ou can move on to ivriting the of their loved ones:
c)nco-

^ame

I.
$

TOPIC'I

MECHANICS OF \URII:'

_: :?- CF \URITING

Handwriting Activities in

Class

V\4rat activities you can use to teach penmanship in class;

. . . .

imaginary writing: air, water.

Writing on rewritable surfaces: white / black board, sand box

large surfaces: mahjong paper, blank 44.

Pewriting sheets. (see below)

You can also help by helping them to improve their motor skills. Activities thai can heip;

. . . .

playing with lego or other kinds of bulding blocks

manipulate things like strings, shoe laces, ties, plasticine

/ play dough
\

Drawi.g - finger painting

3d puzzles.

etc.

(a) (b)
1

Make a list of safe items/toys that you can use to improve pupii's motor skills for writing.
Plan a iesson based on your item.

.1

"

Writing Sheets

The first step is always the hardest bit the first step is also the most important step in mastering any skill. Imagine you are a school pupil stanng at an empty page for the first time. For a child those empty lines on an otherr,r'ise blank page will seem intimidating. Your teacher may write things ftri \-our to copy on the board but for a child that age copying something ::.rn the board poses a challenge in itself.
Years ago, when i was in primary school, r.r'e ha.i s:c;,;l handwriting exercise books with two sets of lines: a set of paraliel drt,:-'-j --:'es betr,veen the parallel solid lines that we used to pracitce our ha:-.*'..':,ir:i. Today however, the teacher's life is made easier because you can !t: "'. -:--i:tS that give you prepared handr,r'riting worksheets (refer Figure 1.1). S-'':: .

TOPIC

MECHANICS OF !/RITING 1:

Tr

i--

]F

\X,/RITING

allow you to key in the phrases and words that r-ou n-ant so that vou
personalise the exercise sheet.

can

You can start olf by building the child's confidence bv teaching the pupil to write his or her own name- This usually gives the pupil a great ,.r-,i" of achievement: seeing his or her ow'n name in his or her own handrvriting. You mav even want r to make several copies of the worksheet for the pupii to practice on.

Source: http : / /

Figure i.1: Pupil's name in upprgr anC low,er case. 1a,y,r,t,.h and r^, r, : -:: i:.. ..:ksh eets.com

TOPIC

MECHANICS OF \I/R|T|NG

l:

THE ART OF \URITING

names of people who are Having written their own name and a fer,r'important sure that you i*porLnt to the pupils, you can move on to simple words' Make reinforce the sheets to have both upp", i.,d lower case alphabets in thswriting pupil's masterY of the aiPhabets'

lower case' Figure 1.2: Simple words in upper and

SoI*.",http://rarww'handlvritingn'orksheets'com

i\;ItCHANICS OF WRITING 1:THE ;^R] CF \URtTtNG

After your pupils l'.ar e mastered single print letters, \'or-i can begin to work on cursive writine u ith, r'our pupils. You can, if vou \r'ant, start r.t'ith their own names again but not necessaril)'. Here the pupils need not connect the alphabets from the beginning. Ii're idea here is to get them used to the way the alphabets are writterr in the clrrsive writing.

t_
I

It
i

'-.__1 t.'
a
I

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Figure 1.3: Pupil's name in upper and lower case: slanted. Source: http : / / www.hand r.r'ri tingworksheets. com

10

TOPIC

MECHANICS OF WRITING 1:

-H:

ART OF WRITING

After they learn to write the pre-cursive alphabets, you can now move on to actual cursive writing. Here the pupil leams to connect the alphabets to produce cursive writing.

Figure 1.4: Pupil',s name in upper and lower case: solid 1ines. Source: lnttp / / www.handwritingworksheets.com

Another way of guding children's writing is to have dots in specific places on the worksheet. This is to give the pupils reference points for their writing. This helps the.pupil to space thiir aiphabets properly and also to help them manage the
spac on the lines.

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/11 -r l!,r----tl-t-.^l, I - --l I --t I \--l | r-lI1

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-ii- i ?--'l--i i'--' lr/; i ir- t

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r

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---:rrl,---

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Figure

1".5:

Simple words in upper and lon'er case: guided by dots Source: http : / / www'handn' ri ti n lr' trrksheets' com

Tar :

i'1:CHANICS OF \ilRlTlNG 1:

Tt.:,:,:.-:F

WRtTtNG

11

_iaii_r:

1.....i
source: http:/ / u,w,,|'f;H:*1#;fr-n'":'li*i (Accessed 1 /8 / 08)

Finally, penmanship or the art of i,r'riting is truly an artform but it has also become an integral part of our everyday lives. It was the ability to record our thoughts and memories onto a media that brought us out of our caves and to where be are today- We still owe a lot to thls abillty that we so easily take for granted. Some have argued that in the digitai age, there is iess need for handwriting. I believe this is wrong. Consider the f.tt,r." of technology. True, we will probabiy not be rid of the keyboard but we are also reducing the size of our technological gadgets: our smartphones, our PDAs and our handheld computers are so smalll that for many it is becoming impractical to have keyboards orrthem. So technology has recently been moving back to handwriting recognition softwares for our digital tools. Handwriting is coming back simptf Uecauie it is very versatile. We can pick up a stick and write ot't ru.rd or earth, we can bring a pencil or pen around with us and write on paper or anything handy an).wherJat anytime. we will of course be writing on our Lpndheld devices aiso,
More importantly, the ability to write is, and has always been, the mark of the educated' It is a sign that someone has been educated. It is an extension of the natural ability that distinguishes the hurnan being from the animal: the abilit' to language even with a a great degree of displacement: space and time.

(a) co to
(b)

http:/ /www.handwritingworksheets.com handwriting worksheets for 1's11 to practice on.

and prepare

Prepare a few sheets and gauge how long it would take you to write them out. This is to give you an idea of hon, long you need to girze your pupils to do their writing.

tc/

Learn more

http : / / www. iampeth.com /

on about penmanship on your o\.,r-1. Go

less ons. prhn

to

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1Z

TOPIC

MECHANICS OF \(/RlTlNG

l:

THE ARTOF WRITING

s&qs**499eat"ttt"

tt

..t'te*

g46#ss$acs

penmanship is important for pupils to learn to n'rite better' develop specific motor skilis' you To be able to write properly, pupils need to need to help them develop these skiils'

it more meaningful to the Learning to write is more effecive if you can make pupil. you do not need to develoP many things on your own these days because
there are resources that you can use online'

& w * & $ q & 4 t s e & @

& * & w q 6 & 4 & V & 4 & @& & & w & @s

ry

Fatigue

Lower case
PenmanshiP

Formation

Handwriting

Upper case

tefiniti*se *f KffiffiEc ffw Writing

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. 2. 3.

Describe writing definitions, principies, techniques and tasic; Create a scoring grid suitabie for your,sfudents; and

Write feedback based on samples of students'writing

&

tr

INTRODUCTION

This topic gives different Cefinitions of writing. It also provides important aspects of writing such as the principles, techniques, tasks, and a few types of
scoring grids to assess students' writing.

14

DEFINITION OF WRI_iiI.

2,1

DEFINITION OF WRITING

n-hen vou were at the lower Recall what struck you about writing hon' .1id vou feel when You secondary school level' Specifically' were assigned a writing task?

according to Nunan, (2003)' There are three basic definitions of writing

(a)

Thefirstdefinitionperceiveswriting.asP"gaphysicalandamentalact.At u.i.of d"hvering words or ideas the elementary r"rr"i, writing is the ihysical printed on paper ot .u" e-mail in some mode oi ""pr"rsi#, *n"tn", it is writing isihe mind's work of Neverthelesi, message Vped ir,.to o'.o*puter. how to communicate them and to , discovering id";;; thinking about be comprehensible ,develop into statements u'J purugraphs that will
them to a reader.

&)

*ift {dual PurPose, whidr is to The second definition discerns writing "writers ,"1116 the Purpose of express and i*pr"rr. Generally, the audience, who need precise and communicating un'ia"u or feeling io must select the most advantageous comprehensible facts. In short, ,,,irit"tr
mediumfortheirwriting;e.gamemo/agrocery.list,minutesofameeting, writing has ,iory"u.,d tne ilte.iach of these types of
a project pup"r, short ^ a different level oiartit"rty

which is determined by its objectives'

(c)

writing as both a Process and a product' The The third definition recognises ,"rrir"r, edits, and publishes' writer creates, plans, writes variousirafts,
an essay, ietter, a story,

,lTt and This proc"r, oi writing is usually recursive, a synopsis, a comPosition' i_ ^flsYstematic' product,.e.g Finally, what the audieice reads is'a editor' a research report or a letter to the
writing'

to clarify what constitutes The three basic definitions help

As an adult

student, writing assignment'

IqPtc

DEFlNrf ioN oF !(/RiTtNG

15

2".2"

tsACKGROUr{D TO T[-IE TEACHING OF WRITING

skingent set of P;en_li.e:. Exenrplary writing was performed from a set of ruies and principles; t]'ie tt'.rch.., ,r*r" ,.up".,ribre foi convelring thesc rules, and students then u'rote. ir', response to sele'cted written texts, by compiying with the conventions of gocd rr'riting. A student essay was then gria"J rir'grammatical accuracy' effective organisation and content. This idea is shown clearly in Harvard University,s
entrance requirements

h-ritl'': :l"struction goes back a few decades. Nevertheless, up until the eariy tlventieth cent'r\,, *,riti.,g instruction was grounded on a rather
The history of

of

7874:

Each candidate wil! be requirecr to write a short Engrish composition, ,_*r* and expression, fi.," subject to be taken from such works of standard authors as shari bu suhiect for tB74 will be taken from one of the follctwatg works; shakespeare,s

t(,":,Pf:!r:::::o:? gti^*rr,

ur*ornJ";;i;; ,^" ;;r';::;;;

Tempes{, Julius Caesar; ancr Metchant of venice; Gordsmith's vicar wakefield; scott's lvanhoe and Lay of the Last Minstrer.
.r

of

(BizzeII, Herzberg & Reynolds, 2000)

' the topic

grammaticil rule, rather than having knowledge about Mosi importantly, correct sperling, grafiunar, and overall organisafion were the essential evidences of seiond language proficiency. A sfudent's ability to generate, plan, revise, edit and compose writing dernonstrated a studentt ability to write.
discussed-,

writing creatively' Formerly, iriting was utilisJa to show that students were competent in a particular

Prevalent in second language writing instruction are the "rules of r,t,riting,, *.hich touched more on correctness of form over function. In class, students practise br. reproducing models of writing. rather than expressing their or,r.n ideas anci

understanding of rvriting and the teaching of writing began to take place in the began" to include the complete process of writing, namely invention, drafting, feiback, and revision.

In spite of that, it was not until the 1960s that a more comprehensi'e

writing class' writing instruction

on 3:l;::Y,",::.n::1.f 1* y:.y:rl"s rvriting adheres to trre p rinci p les a nd iiT:^t""q1lr" .1;;;' ;##;:":5;:li;: ::-t1'.:'":::1::'* ri7,1 3n * l. i" #:;""' r ji j ;:il :'J,::"ff::""a . :: *':,: 1.of I'a ssoci a k: 1'"j " o ; #;;f;". $':: d *; i rh',"a ;: #;;: ;Jj,'# -lj:l"t:T:,:::T::.' the Iioberr Kaplan introduced :- ? icii:a of co*irastii." "" .n"i.rrt.,;; ilt
i

ns

il

ru*i

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"":l.il.,l,]"i,

16

TOPIC

DEFINITION OF WRITIi\.:

patterns' In his landmark different types of writing in terms of organisaional Eiucation, he claims: "Each essay, Cultural Thoughl Paftems in IntJrcultural olcer unique to itself' and "' part of Ianguage and each ,iltur" has a paragraph masten- of its logical system'" the leaming of a particular languige'is the
(Kapian, 1966).
shon,s the paragraph structures by This idea was illustrated in Figure 2.L, which extensit'^t putoil"i constructions in the speakers of different languagur, r.rurrr"ly and repeated

the Orientai grouP' Semitic group, an indirect approach in Aithough this iliustration is often digressions in Romance and Siivic groups' u""*ing the English language writing criticised for being too simplistic and"fot
tobelinearornormal,itcontinuestoattractattention,andthereisarenewed language (Connor'1996)'
additional interest in the influence of first language on

English

Sernitic
">
z'

riental

Romance Russian
I

t\
! ! I
d

L-+

---t
2 4

Figure 2-L: Contrastive rhetoric

foilowing activity' To test your understanding, please do the

Asawritingteacher,doyoueverconsideryourstudents,writing five. ,1*art If ye!, what are the students'needs? List down
If whether your writing teacher considered vour needs. Yes, writing teachers what were your needs? If not' cotrld vour more effectivelY? have consideied your needs as a learner
Recall

2.

Explain your answer with examples'

r
TOPIC

DEFli.i- l:,. 0F WRtTtNG

17

2,3

STUDENTS' WRITIruG NEEDS

cognitir.ism and principled eclecticism.

writing lessons. Among the methodologies proposed are

Petel Elbor.t'arld Donald Murray, proponents of first langr-rage writing, called for teachers to t.-rke sttrdent writers' needs into consideration when ionducting
expressirrism,

(o)

H::Xfitfi

help them not to be afraid to make errors.

write openly and personally. Writers explore their identities and writing yrocesses in order to take charge of their writing. Teachers act as 'facilitators" who prompt students to write heedlesi of "the rules,' of r,t'riting. To illustrate, Peter Elbow encourages a qrpe of writing called free writing, in which students choose and write on any topic for a iixed periocl of time (usuaily about ten minutes), without bothering about grainmar, spelling, or punctuation. This writing practice is aimed it getting students to reiax and to reassure them in the act of writing, and subseqlently, to

,n" expressivism methodoiogv, students are encouraged

ro

'

Regardless of what many writing teachers think, expressivism is beneficial to lt'riting instruction and this approach has drawn several comrnents from within ESL/EFL. First of all, in some kaglitional academic settings, personal writing is discouraged. Students from some cultures will be unfamiiiar f ith this styie of writing for schooi purposes, or see the topics as inappropriate in an academic environment. However, aspects of this pro."rr, such as reading resPonses, journal-keeping, and quick writing are rrrore and more common in the ESL/EFL writins classroom.

(b) Cognitivism

'

The cognitivist methodology has its roots in the 7970s due to interest in cognitive science and the sociology of language. The psychological processes of composing were seen as prorriding important insights into how students write and 1earn. Critical thinking an-d pioblem solving are given due recognition, particularly, in the writing class. Students define problems, investigate them thoroughly, and then after presenting their arguments, come to consider logicai conclusions. The cognitivist approacn in gSt-/Eficlassrooms is aiso evident in aspects of a proies upproich that encourages brainstorming, drafting, and conferencing among ituaents and with the teacher. Editing and proofreading are seen as a final and less important stage in the working out of the r.t'ntten text.

(c)

Construcfionisrn Thc lhird mcfhod, constructionisrn er ,--,-i ctj t,hen concerns for cjiversitv, bilingLralisrn/Inliltilingr-ia[srri, and pr.-i,.:., issucs iniormed iire teachirig of

18

writing in ESL settings during the 195r,rs ano 1990s. Writers were then seen and as belJnging to " discourse commttnities." ln this 'iew, the language form of-wiiting arose from the targei cgmmunity. For first language speakers in forrial educational settings. this often means direct instruction in academic discourse, which in furn integrates them into the academic community. However, for second-language rvriters, there is a double

burden, that is to learn the skills that rvi11 help them integrate into the new language community as weil as into the academic community.

Most recently, Larsen-Freeman (2000) introduced a methodology termed principled eclecticism. F{ere, teachers are encouraged to consider carefuily in. different approaches, methods and techniques that have occurred or historicaily, and io select those that are most relevant to their classroom individual student's needs.

Based on your understanding, what are _the differences between expressivism, cognitivism and constructionism?

"\

,/

7..4

FOUR PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING WRITING

plan' Generally, to build a house we need an architect to draw a well-structured Nunan (2003) The same goes to writing. The following four principles based on are for tea&ers to consider when planning a writing course.

2.4,1

Understand Your Students' Needs for Writing

for writing' Ponder on the necessity of considering your students'needs

the teacher's The greatest frustration with writing instruction occurs when when the teacher 's objeciives do not concur with the sludents' needs, or which the students learn. objectives do not coincide with those of the school in aims to students in Hence, it is essential to understand both and to communicate have to take ways that are comprehensible to them. Namelr-, do the students

TOPIC

DEFi\:L:ia

ii CF WRtTtNG

19

other courses? Ti s.r, n hich ones? Wili those courses require specific writing skills? If so, n-}..at kurrts of n'riting skills?

2.4.2

Make Arrangement$ for students to write

Also, writing practice should provide students the opportuniiy to t y out different types of nriting, such as short responses to a^literary text,journal entries, letter writing, summaries, poetry, or ut"ry type of writing you find useful in the students' future undertakings, should be extensively practised in the writing class.

"Practice ntakes partect". Just like any other type of skil1s, the same applies to writing. Evaluate n'riting activities in your class; hou'much time is speni ieading or talking about n'riting, and horv much is spent actually writilg? For the .r"rort part, writing practice sessions should be subtly intcgrated into your syllabus.

2,4.3

Provide constructive and Meanlngfut Feedback

When writing comments on students' papers, make sure they comprehend the terrns or symbols you use. Take time to discuss them in clais. Be iery carefui with the tone of your comments. Wren writing comments, consider the student's feelirrgs for we tend to leave out the words th4t cushion the assertiveness of our message. While you may think, -This is not afpropriate, why don't you consider Iooking at it from another perspective." may cause you to write srmplr., " IRRELEVANT' or just "?". Therefore, students can see conunelts such as tliesc as unkind and unhelpful. Feedback need not always be written in the margir,s. You can experiment with different forms such as individuai conferences, tapecl responses,Vped summary responses, and so forth.
Finally, feedback should not necessitate "correcting" a student's writing. In order to promote independent writers, you can provide summary comments that instruct students to check their errors and correct them on theii o\^/n. So, instead of correcting the subject-verb agreement detected in the writing, a coffrrnent at the end rnight say, "There are se\/eral subject-verh agreement errors detected. correct them in the next draft. -

Trr to ]ocate

anc!

zo

TOPIC

DEFINITION OF WRITING

with written with one of the student's sample pap-'er5' erperiment

feedback.

.Find.onegoodid'eathestudenthas,andmakeSomepositive comments about it' .Find'asectionwherethestudentwasnotciear'andwriteSome it' comments that will help her/him clarify

.Id.entifyagrammarproblem,andmakeacoffImentthatwill
helpthestud.entldentffytheprobleminothersectionsinthe
Paper-

on? What other aspects might you comment

2.4,4 '''

will Explain to Your students How Their writing Be Evaluated

normally subjective. .Teachers often The evaluation of students' writing is you watrt to write'" One way for complain, "I just don't und'erstana"wnat statement about what is to combat that feeling is to first ievelop a teachers
questions teachers can ask are: valued. in the stud.ent,s writing."Some is creativity, ot originality of ideas? . a scale of 1-10, how important

On

.Onascaleofl-l0,howimportantisfollowingaparticularwritingoutline

(such as a formal letter, book report' etc')? is grammaticai accuracy? a scale of L-10, how important

On

.Onascaleofl-l0,howimportantisthemechanicsofwriting?
to construct a rubric' a kind of scoring grid These questions can guide teachers that are to be evaluated' This rubric that elaborates th. "f"rr,"nts of writing X"d mechanics in relationship to content should outline the weight of gramma' and

and ideas, as
important.

*"ff "J other features of writing that t'otl find relevant

TOPIC

DEFINITION OF I(/RITING

21

There are three gei-elal tvpes

assignments:

of rubrics that

.!'ori can develop

for

your

(a)

Non-weighted Rubric This type o; rubric provides descriptions of rn,riting quaiity by level across other rt'riting crtteria. A brief example of this type of r.r6.i.1 is shor.vn in Table 2.1:
Table 2.1: Non-weighted Rubric
CONTENTS EXCELLENT
C.OOD POOR

Thorough
discourse.

.
of

. Originality
ideas.

Adequate discourse.
Some relevance to

.
r

Poor nonsubstantive.

topic. Accurate and clear language used most

Good range of vocabulary used with some interesting expressions.

o Not cr:eative. . Very limited

vocabulary.

of the time, with

some slips that does

'

Irrelevant
deas.

not disrupt
meaning.

n Ilardly any
understanding cf topic.

ORGANISATION

Orderly presentation of
ideas.

r LooselyTrganised from paragraph to paragraph.

Ideas
d

isconnected.

. No organisation . Minirnai ilcirt of

ideas.

I I i

j
I

\
ti

. No consistencv
and continuity. GRAMMAR
o

Cramrnar points well presented to convey intended meaning effectively.

o Average

Appropriate
to

presentation of grammar points. Some grammar errors but meaning is mostly clear.

Crammar points not wellpresenied.

Excessive

" .

grammar errors. Meaning is

proficiency
levei.

totally distorted.

3e

2)
with this type of rubric, the teacher would ci'cle or check the level some written has achieved in each of the three categories, and then provide
assignment' comments at the bottom of the PaEe, or on the student's

the student

&)

Weighted Rubric

it breaks the A weighted rubric is similar to the unweighted one, but point value is
writing skills into categories and sub-categories- A specific
assigned to each.

For example, 10 points for "organisation". Therefore, the following

elements are to be taken into consideration'

. . . . .

Has a clear introduction' Have separate paragraPhs' Has a conclusion '

Uses transitions to join paragraphs' Uses transitions when needed within paragraphs'

assign up to two For each element listed, for example, the instructor might examples of the points, for the total of ten. Table ).2 and, Table 2.3.illustrate based on Progress ilrurki.,g scheme based on criteria and marking srheme
respectivelY.

TOPIC

DEFINITION OF I(/RITING

z3

Tabie 2.2: \4arking Scheme Based on Crrteria

15-13 lL-1u 9-7
ctsl

3{
Display very poor control of
l:noreop -*-'b **tr-'

Display confident control of

language.

Di-.r.a.,
j--i -a{i.-\-dL!iri ---,\

Display rnodest control of

language.

Display poor control of

rar 16ud6u.

coLt:ttl irf
n,rr r: cp -.--'ir**n1,.

't^,--,^-^

Language largelv accurate with ferv minor errors,

Language fairly accurate n'ith somc minor

T ^'---,^^^ Ldr rli

udtrU

spelling generally
accuraie.

errors, ferv spelling errors.

sometimes accurate but mistakes more serious; some spelling

Language largely inaccurate lt ith

many spelling
errors.

Language grosslv inaccurate with serious spelling errors.

erlors. Meaning comes

across clearly.

Meaning comes
ACTOSS

Meaning may
be occasionally

Meaning is
sometimes

Meaning is often
unclear and

sahisfactorily.

unclear but not

incomprehensi
ble.

blurred, making reading difficult.

incomprehensi
ble.

Use some

variety of
sentence

Some variety of sentences

Limited variety
of sentences, generaliy simp!
structures.

Hardly any variety of

sentences

No variety of
sentence

structures.

but tendency to use simple

sentences

strucfures at
all.

prevail.

-mainly simple
structures.

t
I

Appr<;priate and varied vocabulary.

Reasonably

appropriate and yaried vocabulary.

Modestly appropriate vocabulary but these are mainly simple. Attempt to link ideas but not quite satisfactoriiy.
Paragraphs do not show unity or signs of
-l----;'-- rrr tB. rd r u Fr

Hardly any
appropriate vocabulary
and no

L:rappropriate

vocabulary and no variety at all

variety.

Able to link
ideas

Able to link
ideas

effectively.

Hardly any attempt to link

ideas.

No attempt to

satisfactorily.

link ideas.

Paragraphs have

Paragraphs

unity and shorv

reasonable evidence of

short'some
,,-i ilry dlu l ur r,. --

Some kind of

I'aragraphing
may be

evidence of

planning.

pianning.

paragraphing is evident but does not show any

haphazard or non-existent.

unity of
plarLning.

z4

ToPlc

DEFINITION

ollryRlMs

Progress' Table 2.3: Marking Scheme Based on

5 =
A

,2
i Fulfill :..
task in a

Fulfill task
competentlY.

Fulfill task
satisfactorilY. Show satisfactorY

l-ulllll

uISK

Do not
task.

fulfill

modestlY. Show

imtteo way.
Show some understanding of the topic.

Show good

understanding of the toPic.

understanding of the toPic. Develop ideas

satisfactoriiY.

understanding of the topic.

Show limited understanding of the toPic.

Develop ideas
ef

Deveiop ideas

Hardly develoP
ideas.

fectiveiY.

with some effort.

Attempts to present view points but not quite
satisfactorilY.

Mere mention of ideas.

Present view

Present view

points
effectivelY.

points
satisfactorilY.

Hardly any attempts to present view point.

No attemPt to
present view

points.

Show mature

Show

treatment of the topic.

satisfactorilY mature treatment of the topic.

Show fairlY mature treatment of the topic.

Immature treatment of the topic.

Shallow and

immature treatment of the topic.

(c)

Holistic Rubric the qualities of excellent, good ' fait' hoiistic rubric describes in general terms A descriptions can be tied to grades or and unsatisfactory assignments. These

stand.ontheirown.Thdinstructorthenchoosesthedescriptionthatfitsthe
4ssignment.Table2.4showsanexamPieofonepartofaholisticrubric.
Table 2.4: Holistic Rubric

The'B'PaPer shows: own . An ability to interPret and develop ideas in the writer's
woros.

o I clear organisational Pattern' . Vocabulary that is adequate in expressing ideas'

.Generallycorrectuseofpunctuationorspelling,althoughwith

occasionai errors' and cloes not interfere lt'ith the Grammar that is usuailY accurate, reader's understanding'

TOPIC

DEFINI;ICN OF WRITING

25

\{4rat is the resuit if you do not properly inform your students how their rt ritrne is er-aluated?

Sfudents can help to form a rubric as well. Take class time to ask them what they value in writing. Ask them what features make lr'riting enjoyable to read and what features distract from that enjoyment. This kind of discussion has two benefits. It does not only give students a voice in the evaluation of their own work, but it also provides a cornrnon vocabuiary with which the entire class can discuss their writing and the writing of others. To assist in this discussion, give students a piece of good writing and a piece of poor writing (from a different class than the one they attend, of course). Ask them to state which is the good piece and which is the poor piece, with an explanation. Then, get them to say why one piece is good and the other piece is poor. In this way, they generate the criteria for good writing.

2.5

PRINCIPLES FOR PLANNING WRITING

TECH N rQU ES

There are six guidelines teachers must adhere to when planning r.t ritjnS techniques, as shown in Figure 2.2. The six guidelines are integrate routines of exemplary writers, match process and product, consider student's culiurai background, link reading to writing, furnish with lots of authentic materials and compose according to the stages of pre-writing, while writing and editing.

*
&

z6

TOPIC

DEFINITION OF \(/RITING

lntegrate routines of
exemplary writers

Match process and Product

Guidelines

for Planning
Writing Techniques

Consider student's cultural background

Link reading to wriling

Equip students with authentic writing

Compose according to the stePS the process writing aPProach

In

Figure2.2:Guidelinesforplanningwritingtechniques

(a) ' Integrate Routines of Exemplary Writers \ / 'Wh; considering a technique to be used as a guideline for your writing
students consideithe routines followed by exempiary writers- To illustrate, normally exemplary writers do the following rogtine. concentrate on the purpose for writing;
ascertain and check the audience;

have an outline for the writing; do freewriting when generating ideas;

a a

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 Teachers shouid guide students through the stages oi the writing process/ namely: pr"- *rif,ng, while writing, revising a ierr- drafts, editing, proof reading ind the finil product. Teachers must aiso erplain and rationalise every step of the composing Process 19 tl" stud.ents, and consequently prorrid" adequate and const*itirr" feedback ir' the n'riting both from the itudents, p".tr and the teacher. This n-iil en-<ure that the finai .writing product *ilt U" a clear, coherent and cor'rpreher*':bLe piece of writing'

TOPIC

DEFINl;l3i'l

WRITING

27

Consider Srud ent's Culfural Background Whatever teachers do, it is important to take into account the students' backgrotLnci kr,t-'"r-iedge, experiences and culturai setting. This can be done by conducting a diagnostic test on their it'riting capability, as well as conducting a simple questionnaire to elicit their knor,r'ledge of writing conventions.

(d)

Link Reading to Writing Before embarkir-rg on the writing per se, teachers must provide adequate and relevant reading materials to be used as models for their writing. This can be in the form of exemplary essays written by senior students or authentic rnaterials extracted from renowned magazines, journals and reports. Additionaliy, during the initial stage, provide a frame for them to model their writing. Gradually, teachers can let them go and they can create their own frame to write. Every genre has a specific fiame with its relevant sentence connectors. To illustrate, a compare and contrast essay must be matched with distinct sentence connectors.

(e)

Eqrip students with authentic *itiog when assigning a writing task, 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 leiters to relevani authorities outside the class, writing ad?ertisement, script writing for a ciass drama presentation or by responding to anonymous pe"r,, p-bl"*, on the bulletin board.
Compose according to the steps in the process writing approach The process writing approach specifies three stepJ foi composing: prewriting, drafting' and revising. The pre-writing stage stimulates the generation of ideas through various techniques such as skimrning and scanning, brainstorming, clustering, discussing, freewriting and

/{\

groupwork.

The foremost stages in the process of writing are the drafting and revising. Most importantly, drafting entails a series of procedure namely frLewriting, plinning, outlining, categorising, revising, peer feedback, editing and proof..udi.,g, whiJh is a recursive cycle. Here, students will write multipie drafti until they ire fully satisfied with the finai product before it is handed to the teacher to be erraluated.

rl

&

28

TOPIC

DEFINITION OF \(/RITING

2.6

CLASSROOM WRITING TECHNIQUES TASKS

in the classroom? What kind of writing technique do you employ

can use to teach writing. This section Presents a few techniques an-d tasks.you ca11ed the process apProach or These-techniques are part of what has been points out: process writing, although as Kroll correctly

term for many types The "process aPproach" serves today as an of rrriting courses..- lfihat the term captures i: 'h" ?'!,'!::^:y::'r[:::::i :";;;;; iJi"*it-g tasks ttuough i cyctical approach rather than through
a

single-shot

aPP

roach'

''

(Kroll' 2000)

E.

drafting' In other words, these activities serve to encourag2btatnstorming' These types of *rit*g, feedback, revising, and editing in a cyclical fashion' than creating a more activities encourage the iiea that leaming to write-is to that product' final product, it i""Ut" learning of a series of skills leading Below are some writing techniques to inspire students'thinking'

2.6.1

lnvention Techniques

mapping and quick writing' lnvention techniques include brainstorming, word students a topic for writing Instructors are of?"r, undecided whether to provide whichever you decide and allowing students to formulate their own topics' use in their assignment. These upon/ students will have to come up with.id:u: 1o to provide. activities that allow ideas will not .orr," fully formed, so it is helpful clevelop their thoughts before them to "think * pup"t." In this way, they can spending time writing a more formal essay'

(a)

or in groups' In a Brairstorming can be done individually or in pairs i]..e' can think of related to brainstormiofi r"rrion, students list ali the ideas ar''; r.' rfhtrr-rt much planning' If a topic, eithei in writing or aloud, quicklrp'rssible topics' no topic is gi'en, then t{e student can brainsitrrr"
1

TOPIC

DEFINITICN OF WRITING

29

Give students plenty of time for this actir.ity, and sometimes clich6d ideas, come eariY in the process. When they have time to get past these ideas, imore top-hitti.uted and original ideas often surface-. Fiom the lists of brainstormed ideas or topics, sfudents can choose those they are most interested in, or feel they can lvrite most proficiently about.

&)

Word nnapping is a more visual form of brainstorming. When students create rvord maps, they begin with an idea at the top or centre of a blank piece of paper. They then think of related ideas or words and draw relationships with a series of boxes, circles, and arrows.
Quick-wrltiog is where students begin with a topic, but then write rapidly about it. You can give the students a time limit, usually 10 to 15 minutei, and 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, granunar, or punctuation. From their piece of quick writing, they then identify key ideas or interesting thoughts 6y underiining them. These ideas are then used in the first draft of tn"i.
"rsays.

(c)

In your opinion, which is the most eff{ctive writing technique and

which is the least effective? support your answers with reasoni.

2;7
(a)

WRITINGT DRAFTIhIG, FEEDBACK AND

REVISING

development of perfect granunar, puncfuation, or spelling.

Drafting After students have developed their topics and ideas, it is time for them to write their first draft. Ample time should be given for the first draft, and students should be reminded that at this point, they need to fclcus on the development of ideas and the organisation of those ideas more than the

(tl)

Feedback

After the draft is handed in, the instructor can make comments, but onlv in keeping with the instructions given to students. Make commelts more on the ideas and organisation than on the grammar anci spelling. At this point, the inskuctor can also utilise peer feedback. Sfucients exchange papers anci provid-e each other with comments on the paper's conLnis.^ If peer

30

TOPIC

DEFINITION OF \ilRITING

conunentary is used, it is best to use some kind of structured feedback form as shown in Figure 2.3:
Peer Comment written bY for Read your partner's paper. Answer these questions:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Is the introduction effective? In what wav? Explain your answer. What is the author's main idea? Restate it here. Does the writer support that idea with evidences? What are the evidences? What evidence is missing, or incomplete? What questions do you have about this writing? Is the conclusion effective? How would you improve it? Do you notice any grafiunar or word choice errors? Underline them.

Girre this sheet back to your partner, and then discuss your answers.
Figure 2.3: Feedback form
(c)

Revising After siudents have received feedback, they tlen begin the process of revising their papers. Note that students often mistake the idea of revision with "iorrecting mistakes" (Sommers, 1980), so you should spend time talking about the process of reorganisation, developing ideas, and so forth, as separate from editing for grammar or spelling.

2,7

.1

Proofreading'and Editing
to

Before the final draft is turned in for evaluation, students should, of course, read for mistakes in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and so forth. Students can help

each other

proofread and edit. The instructor should keep his/her involvement to a minimum. In developing independent writers, it is important that students learn to proof read and edit on their orvn as much as possible.

Besides, a teacher should not correct a student's draft bv supplying all the correct forms of words, punctuation, and so forth. Students are often overwhelmed by the large amount of teacher's writing on their papers, and feel paralysed by what looks like an immense number of "errors."

Although these techniques are presented in a lineai iashion, as mentioned in the introduition to this section, any of these steps can and should be performed, at any stage in the writing process. For example, ir a student's essay is not well developed, doing another round of quick-n'ritir".: irr brainstorming may help to

TOPIC

DEFINITICN OF WRITING

31

further generaie her/his ideas. Even though spelling and punctuation may not be of prime concern earlv in the process, students can, and should, make corrections any time they rroiice them, and not wait until the "1ast step.,,

What is the purpose of proofreading and editing?

To test your understanding, please do the following activity.

Plan an assignment in which you will ask your students to write a short essay about a favourite musician.

7- write the steps of the assignment.

techniques mentioned
process?

For example, which of the wiil you use to help students through the

2.

Describe a peer-review and feedback activity.

Choose a type of rubric or eva.fuation method you might use, and explainwhy you chose that method.

2.9

WRITING IN THE CLASSROOM

In this section, we will first look at exercises from some textbooks that implement the principles described in this topic. These example exercises come frorn different levels. We will then look at short samples of stuclent writing, and possible ways to comment on their writing.

aa C 3r *FE
E

The Writing
Process

In It is helpful for students to discern the purposeand audience for their writing. writing and this topic, students are given a writing thecklist to focus their use it as a guideiine to develop good essays'

3.1

. PURPOSE AND AUDIENCE

Why do you think it is important for students to have a purpose and an audience for their writing?

IOPIC

THE WRITING PROCESS

'?urpose is why ysu are writing. The audience ,for vour u,rihng is the person for whom you write rf" (Koiin,1990). Effective writing is precisely organised, comprehbnsively researched and distinctly presented. When forwarding a memo to a colleague or a specific report to the head of your departrnent, your writing r,n'ill be more effective if you pose to yourself these four questions, which are adapted from Kolin (1990):

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Who will read what I write? (Identify your audience)

Vfhy should they read what I write? (Establish your purpose)

V\hat do I have to say to them? (Formulate your message)

How can I best communicate it? (Select your style and tone)

The four questions posited: who, what, why and how do not operate separately; they are all interconnected. A writer writes for a specific audience, with a clearly defined purpose in mind, about a topic the readers need to comprehend and most importantly in a language suitable for the occasion. A writer who can answer all the four questions is on the right path to writing.

(a)

Know Your Audience

audience. As a writer you

It is the writer's responsibility to know his/her

must ask some questions about your audienc6.

Kolin (7990), proposed some questions that writers can ask themselr.es so as to
form a picture of the audience.

o o . c

V\{ho is my audience?

What is the ,eaderS lob?

What specific duties does my audience have to perform?

What kind of education, social background, and interests does rny audience
have?

r How many people will make up my audience? o How much does my audience already know about
[for exampie the technical procedures/terms]

what

am writing?

r . *

Does my audience need some background information, definition of terms and explanatory visuals?
\Mhat is my audience's reason for reading my work? [for exampie as a progress report/ an evaluation checklist]

Do they want to hirrre a detail or jusi a summar\. of the main points?

44

TOPIC

THE \URITING PROCESS

\44:rat is the attitude of my audience ton-arcis me and my work?

[for example, friendly, skeptical, antagonistic, clisappointed or sympathetic] \Alhat do I want my audience's attitude to be after readi^g *y work? [for example, to Store it for future reference, review it, act on it at once, approve it, agree with it, gather additional information] Have I made clear what I expect next from mY reader?

In short, your answers to these questions will give you a precise outline of your audience and the purpose for vu'riting. Each group of audience wili have different expectations and as the writer you need to understand these differences if you want to provide appropriate information. However, in some cases you are not able to identify all the members of your potential audience. In such cases, you can just assume that you have a general audience and keep your message as
brief, precise and as simple as possible.

(b)

Establishing your PurPose Writing wili be a si.mple process if the writer knows why he/she is writing. The reader's needs and the writer's goal in communicating will assist the ,writer to formulate his/her purpose. It will help the writer to determine exactly what they can and must say. The writer must know his/her goai for comrnunicating the ideas. Reflect what you have written. Rewrite your purpose statement until it states clearly whyTyou are writing to your i"ud"ts and what you want them to do or know. It is convenient to have an overview to guide the reader and act on your communication. For instance, the writer's purpose determines the amount and order of information to include.

(c)

Formulating the Message The writer's message is the Sum of what facts, responses, and fecommendations he/she put in writing. A message includes the scope and details of your communication. Writers should take note that they will have to adapt their message to fit their audience. For technical audiences such aS doctors oI engineers, you may have to provide a complete report with every detail noted in an appendix. Conversely, for the reader-busy executives, a summary of the financial or managerial significance would be sufficient.

\{hy

is it essential for rvriters to adapt their message to fit their audience?

TOPIC

THE WRITING PROCESS

(d)

Choosing your Sryle and Tone Style is hon' something is written which heips to determine how well you communicate n'ith an audience, and how weli they understand and receive your message. Basically, it involves the choices you make about the conskuction of your paragraphs, the length and patterns of your sentences, and the choice of your words. Flence, writers have to adapt their style to take into consideration the different messages, different purposes, and clifferent audiences. If alt your readers are specialists in your field, you may safely use the technical ianguage and symbols of your profession. Nonspecialists, however, will be confused and get annoyed if you write to them in the same way.

Tone in writing, like tone of voice, expresses your attitude towards a topic and towards your audience. Generally r fotJr tone can range from formal and impersonal, for instance a scientific report, to informal and personal such as a letter to a friend. Like style, tone is shown by the words you choose. The tone of your writing is especially important in occupational writin g, for it reflects the image you project to your readers and thus determines how they wiil respond to you, your work and your institution. Depending on your tone you can appear sincere and intelligent, or angry and uninformed. As a writer you have to sound professional and knowledgeable about the topic, and genuinely interested in your readers'opinions and problems.

3.1

.1

Writing Purpose

Basically, all writing serve a purpose, namely to:

(a) (b) (c) (a)

entertain;

inform; or
persuade.

Writing to Entertain

. . .

What is

tl're

purpose in writing to entertain?

\AIho writes to entertain?

F{ow do writers write to entertain?

Example: Write a letter to your best friend relating something that had happened to you. Yorir purpose is to entertain.

46

TOPIC

THE \(/RITING PROCESS

(b)

Writing to inforrn

. . .

What is the purpose of writing to inform? Who writes to inform?

How do writers write to inform?

Example Write one informative ParagraPh. "Let me tell you about my operation."

(c)

Writing to persuade

. . .
,

\\4^rat is the purpose in

writing to persuade?

lArho writes to persuade? Hor,r' do writers

write to persuade?

Example 'Write one persuasive ParagraPh. Example

1:

Some students live in hostels while attending' university. Others choose off - campus housds, rooms, while others live at home. Which do you prefer? List 5 reasons you wouid use to persuade someone based on your preference.
Some people choose to marry young. Others choose to marry when they are already established in their career, while stili

Example

2:

others chgose to stay single. Which do you prefer? List 3 reasons you would use to persuade based on your preference.

Purpose is why you are writing. List down the purpose of writing for the following people:

(i) students (ii) job seekers (iii) teachers (iv) teenagers (") secretary (vi) ne\ rspaper reporter

TOPIC

THE \i,'RiTING PROCFSS

47

3,1

,Z

Audience

The audience for \ our n'riting is the reader, the person for whom you are n'ritirrg.\Alhenet-er \-ou u'rite anything, you shouid alrn.ays ask yourself, "who wiJI read this?" therr vou ask yourseif one more question: 'what does my audience need to knor+, for me to achieve my purposeT
The answers to these tu.,o questions will tell you what information you must provide and i.t,hat you can safely leave out.
NOTE: Tire rcadr:r/audience must know the terms used in the field written. For instance, concepts, definition, vocabulary, and specialised terminologies in the specific area written.
To test your understanding, please do the following activity.
;.;':,.1

.,:,'l

''; ,,t".'jl:,'t

The writing task is aimed at three different audiences. If you are to write about your university iife, what details about your university life would you focus on for each audience.

1.
&

,/

Describe your university life for a pen-pal who is planning to visit you.

Describe your university university in Malaysia.

to another

student

another

Describe your university life to your lecturer.

3.2

TI"!E KVRITIT{G PROCESS

For classroom implementation, the writing process is expiained in this order; from forming intentions, to composing and drafting, an,l finally, cor;:ecting arrd publishing. Writing is recursive because the writer 's moverlrcni frorrr one stage to anoiher is affected by what has gone before and what is anticipated. Each stage influences, and is influen."d by the other. Cenr:ra111r, the I'r'ritinil process is conducted as a group work. The follorving
guidelines ran bt implernented rt hen teachers conduct ihe rvriting process in thei r respcctivr: cl a s,.roorns.

48

TOPIC

V
THE V/RITING
PROCESS

3,2.1 Pre-writing

Stage

During the pre-writing stage, the writer; . clarifies the Purpose for writing;

. is thinking, taiking, drawing, remembering, r

reflecting, searching for

information, and org-anising atl this into rough sections or sequences; and is proposed' tests ideas about content and form, especially when an audience

3.2.2
. . . . . " .

While-writing Stage

This stage is often tYPified bY:

and bursts of writing as ideas seek expression in the form of words, phrases,
sentences;

skills slorv and halting writing by immature writers developing handwriting and beginning to understand conventions of spelling; with frequent re-reading of the text to establish how the work is developing regard to the original Plan; departures from the original

plan;

,/

attention to details such as correcting spelling, punctuation/ or grammar (which can sometimes divert attention from the meaning and progress of the writing);
meaning; revision, arising from a need. to more clearly represent an intended and a focus on clarifying and shaping meaning; this can involve changes to becomes coritent and struciur6, re-shaping or re-crafting until the intention
clear.

3,2.3

Post'writing Stage

and publish In providing an accurate text for readership, the writer needs to edit be given to his or her work. This is a stage for modifications and attention must and the following writing mechanics such as spelling,- punctuation,- grammar, cletails about which the concern for neatn.rr] Th" teacher can herp with final others can writer is still unsure. An essential outcome of publishing is a text that
read easily.

TOPIC

THE WRITING PROCESS

3,2..4 Outcomes
Through publishing, sharing, and reflecting on their own work, writers will find out whether they have fulfilled their intentions for writing. The outcomes of publishing and sharing provide responses that help writers:

' ' .

discover how effective or valuabie their writing has been;

confirm what the writers have learnt about how to write, and their new insights into the world around them; and
prepare for the path ahead.

Figure 3.1 shows the writing process for classroom implementation.

Figure 3.1: A simplified model of the writing process for classroom implementation

50

Basically, producing a written text involves three broad stages, as shown in Figure 3.2.
Select topic

Generating ideas

Organise ideas

Getting feedbacU conferencing

Re

Presentation

Display

Figure 3.2: Writing stages

How many stages are there in the writing process?

TOPIC

THE',',

il-ll,:

PROCESS

51

3"3 RATIONALT FOR PRE-WRITING

Pre-rt'riting refers to strategies you can use to generate ideas beforc' starting the first draft of a paper. Pre-n'riting refers to ali the preliminar\. steps you might take in preparing to n'i'ite. Pre-writing techniques are like the \varm-ups you do before going out to jog - they loosen you up, get you n.ioving, and help you to clevelop a sense of r,t'eli being and confidence. Since pre-writing techniqqes encourage imaginative exploration, they also help you discover n,hat interests you most about your subject. Having such a focus early in the rt'riting process keeps you from plunging into your initial draft u'ithout first giving some thought to what you want to say. Pre-writing thus saves you time in the long run bv keeping you on course.
The preiiminary steps include randomly thinking about the topic, systematically gathering information about it, and sketching out a possible structure for the essay. Pre-writing can help in other ways too because the main aim is to equip you to write a better essav. Your purpose is simply to get ideas down ot-, paPer without evaluating their effectiveness. Writing without irnmediately ',judging what you produce can be liberating because the random associations typical of pre-writing tap the mind's ability to make unusual connections.

js oral presentation because it helps to develop ideas or clarify and enrich original ideas. This can take the form of whole group discussion, pair discussion or small group discussion. Discussion triggers more ideas and help you to refine your thinking. Ilesources such as pictures, charts, articies from journals and newspapers, photographs, slic-ies, comic strips, maps and audio as well as video recording are useful catalvsts to motivate you in generating ideas and thinking.
The most commonly useC Vpe of activity

What do you think is the purpose of pre-writing activities?

The following are

a number of

techniques that teachers can utilise to

encourage students to generate ideas.

(a)

Free

Writing

Free rvriting means i,vriting freely and creatively on the assignment. Your goal is to put dor'r'n every random idea, notion, thought or opinion that pops into your head about the general subject. First, you rvrite dor.t,n the assignment, l'or,c for rvord, on ihe top of the paper. Thcn vou begin the frce r,r'ritjns. If vou get stut-k, virite I'm stuck anri iiecp goi;ii;. Here's an

5Z

example of free writing on a typical assignment: "The special problems that parents face raising children today"

Parents today have tough problems to face. Lots of dangers. Drugs and alcohol for one thing. Also crimes of violence against kids. Parents also have to keep up with cost of living, everything costs more, kids want and expect more. Television? Kids grow up too fast, too fast. Drugs. Little kids can't handle knowing too much at an early age. I'm stuck. I'm stuckl!! Both parents at work much of the day. Finding good day care a real problem. Lots of iatchkey kids. Another problem is getting kids to do homework, lots of other things to do. Especially like going to the malll When I was young, we did homework after dinner, no excuses accepted by *y parents.

After a fruitful session of free writing, your focus is likely to be narrower than before. Now you will have a better idea of what you want to do. In free writing, remember to suspend all hesitations, doubts and fears and simply allow your creatir.e energies to surge. You scribble and jot until you uncover a leaning torvard a particular topic. Then, you freely write further on that narrowed topic untiilou hit a particular part, give yourself a detailed answer, and end up with a tentative controiling idea or thesis for your essay.

&)

Questioning

'/

In questioning, you generate ideas and details by asking as many questions as possible. \Alhat we have in mind here is purposeful talk, where you or your friend ask pointed questions aimed at ferreting out particular subtopics you might find appealing in your chosen subject. Asking questions is an effective way of getting yourself to think about a topic from a number of different airgles. This is because the questions can really help you generate details about the topic. Making a List/ Brainstorming Let your mind wander freely, as you did rvhen narrowing your general subject. This time, though, list every idea, fact, and example that occurs to you about your iimited subject. Use brief n'ords and phases, so you do not get bogged down writing full sentences. Do not \\-orrv rvhether ideas fit together or whether the points listed make sense. The following is an cxamplc of a list that was produced during a t'r.:i:.torrtring session.

(c)

TOPIC

TH: 'i. ? -l'.:

PROCESS

53

. . . . . . . . e .

Trying to raise kids n'hen both parents work. Prices of even'thing outrageous, even when both parents n'ork. Clothes so important. Day care not alrt'ays the answer - cases of abuse. Day care very expensivc. Violence against kids when parents abuse drugs.
Cocaine, crack, AIDS. School have to teach kids about these things.

Not enough homework assigned - kids unprepared. Distractions from homework - malls, TV, phones, stereos, MTV.

Brainstorming can also be conducted as a group activity. Thrashing out ideas with other people stretches the imagination, reveals possibilities you may not have considered on your own. Group brainstorming does not have to be conducted in a formal way and it can be done anywhere.

How does brainstorming benefit yourrstudents during the writing

process?

&

(d)

Diagramming/Mapping/Clustering If you like doodiing while thinking, you may want to try diagramming, sometimes called mapping or clustering. Like other pre-writing techniques, diagramming proceeds rapidly and encourages a free flow of ideas.
Begin by expressing your limited subject in a crisp phrase and placing it in the centre of a blank sheet of paper. As ideas come to you, put them along lines or in boxes or circles around the iimited subject. Draw arrows and lines to show the relationship among ideas. Focus on each idea as sub points and details come to you, connect them to their source idea, again using boxes,lines, circles or arrows to clarify how everything relates. Figure 3.3 is an example of the kind of map that could be drawn to generate material for the limited subject based on the assignment "The special problems that parents face raistng children today". There is nc right or wrong way to do mapping. It is a way to think on paper about ho'w various ideas and detaiis relate to one another. Sometimes you ',viil move from the limited subiect to a kev related idea and all the details it prompts bcfore irior,ing to ihe next ker' iiea; othcr fimes ),ou n,iil inap orrt

54

ali the major divisions of a limited subject before mapping the details of any one idea. In addition to helping generate idea, diagramming can provide an early sense of how ideas and details relate to one another.

Distractions

',

In Raising Children Today

Working

Parehts

l:

b
Drugs

Alchohol Gangsterism

Figure 3.3: Diagramming

(e)
'

Preparing a Scratch Outline A scratch outline is' an excellent sequel to the first four pre-writing techniques. A scratch outline often follows free writing, questioning, list making, or diagramming. Specifically, a rough outline or scratch list can help shape the tentative ideas generated during pre-writing.
As you reread your exploratory thoughts about the limited subject, keep the following questions in mind:

. . o .

What purposehave you decided on?

What are the characteristics of your audt'cntr.?

\iVlrat tone
audience?

wlll be effective in

achiei

-n: \ ollr purpose with your

What

pointof view will you adopt?

Record your responses to these quesfions at

i:t

.,

trLlr pr-writing materiai.

TOPIC

THE ').

3.III\G

PROCESS

55

Now go to work cn ihe rarv material itself. Cross out anvthing not appropriate for your purpose. autiience, tone, and point of vierv; add points that did not criginally occur to r-or-r. Star or circle compelling items that rvarrant further development. Then drari' arrows between related items, )/our goai being to group such material under a cofiunon heading. Finaily, determine what seems
to be the best order for the headings.

A scratch outline makes the writing process more manageable. You are less likely to feel overwhelmed once you actually start writing because you will already have some idea about hor,v to shape your material into a meaningful staternent. Tire scratch outline can and most likely will be modified aiong the rval'.
The pre-writing strategies described so far provide a solid foundation for the next stages of your w.ork. However, invention and imaginative exploration do not end wh.en pre-writing is completed. As you wili see, remaining open to new ideas is cruciai during all phases of the writing process.

Now you are ready to proceed to the next stage of actually writing out the essav. This stage includes drafting, getting feedback, revising and editing.

3,4
q

DRAFTING
,/

After pre-writing, deciding on a thesis, developing and organishg er,idence, you are ready to write a first draft, that is, a rough, provisional version of r.oui essay. Drafting which is the attempt at actualiy writing the essay, usualhbegins after the research and reading have all been done. Writing a draft is not alr,vays so sysl'ematic. Whatever your particular method, drafting is the time
eccentricities. Choose the place to write that is ideal for you, a method of writing that rvorks for you, and the writing instrument that 'you prefer, whether quill pen or laptop computer.

to practise compositional

The first draft should sirnply get something down on paper. Revise this for macro errors and you end up with the second draft. After editing and proofreading this second draft, you type and print out the final draft for submission. Ihe following are some suggestions that will help with the actual w'riting:

. . u

Rervrite your thesis statement at the top of your first page to break the ice and build i-rromentum.

Write your first paragraph, introducing your essay and statii-rg your thesis. If vou are stuck here, move on to the rest of the paper. iroilow )/olir p1an as you r,r.ritc. Begin nrith \.our first main point and r,r'ork on e;t:i: stciir.ln in turn.

56

I
Look over the supporti.ng details listed under the first heading in your notes. Write a topic sentence stating the central idea of the paragraph.

o . .

Turn the details into sentences; use one or more sentences to explain each one. Add other reiated details, facts or examples if they occur to you.
\Alhen you move from one paragraph to the next, try to provide a transitional word or sentence that connects the two.

Write your last paragraph, ending your essay in an appropriate fashion. If you get stuck, set your conclusion aside and return to it later.

Using a computer and word-processing software allows you to compose, save whatever you write, insert new material, delete unwanted material, move sections around, and when you are ready, print out copies.

\{rhat is the consequence of not carrying out the drafting process?

3,5

FE E DBACKTCO N FE RENCT

NG

Conferencing is a very important stage in process writing because writing is social and interactive. It is at this stage that you receive the most guidance on how to improve your writing skills. Through the questions and comments raised by your instructor or peers, you discover, clarify and refine your writing.
Besides feedback from your instructor, collaborative feedback encourages you to take a. conscientious approach to your writing. Your peers' comments can heip you strengthen your writing before it undergoes your instructor's scrutiny. Accepting criticism is not easy. Try to listen with an open mind and take notes of

their observations. Use a system of marginal annotations to help you evaluate and remedy any perceived weakness in vour draft based on the
feedback given.

In your opinion, is feedback/conferencing the stase rthere students need teacher's guidance/comments the most?

_-'l

'l
I I

TOPIC

THE \URITING PROCESS

l l l
l
,]

i l

3,6

REVISING

Revising'is as much a stage in the writing process as pre-writirg, outlining, an md doing the first draft. Rer-ising means re-writing a paper, building on whit has already been done, in order to make it stronger. Revision often involves an upheaval of your draft ds vou change its content and organisation in order:to communicate more effectively.

perfects.
In_

mediocre paper becomes a good paper when it is revised. Revision adds coherence, variety, transition, emphasis and' detaiis. Revision eliminates irrelevance, wordiness and inconsistencies. Revision polishes, hones and

the revision process, you should read the draft quickly to assess its general e-ffect and clarify. Does the draft accomplish what you set out to do? Does it develop a central point clearly and logicu1ly? Does it merit and hold the reader,s attention? Preparing a brief outline of the draft can help evaluate the essay,s overall structure.

After refining the paper's fundamental meaning and structure, it is time to look closely at the essay's paragraphs. It is the macro elements of the essay i.e. especially the paragraph that your focus shouJd be on during the revision. your main aim is to repair any major structurar fla#s in the larger plarts of the essay.
Use the foliowing checklist:

. . . .

Check your opening paragraph. Check your sequence of points. Check for adequate examples and details. Check paragraph transitions.

58

.3.i,7 EDITING
When revising the paper, you probablv spotted some errors in grammar/ the organisation punctuatiorr, oi spelling. Now uit"t yor-, are satisfied with ff the essay, its deve"lopment, and style, it is time to fix these errors' Editing is to check for and correct errors in grammar, Punctuation, and
spelling.

If you

or word-processed 91a typewritten ink, so your new araft with handwiitten annotations, use different colour own work, you corrections will stand out. To be a successful editor of your need two standard tools: a grarnmar handbook and a good dictionary'
are working with pen and Paper o.

After editing you will also need to proofread your

essa-y' Proofreading trick is to read your means checklng your final copy carefully ior mistakes. One to the beginning, material backwaids. If you."ud fto* the end of each paragraph word individually to make SuIe no letters have been ),ou can focus on each up in left out or transposed. This technique prevents you from getting caught when easy to happen the flow of ideas and missing minor defects, which is yot fiut" read your own words many times'

,,.s

What does the editing process entaii?

t,

3.8'

PUBLISHING

is sharing one's writing with an audience' The final products in the should, if possibl", i" displayed ot', tn. bulletin board or published It is an audience' university's newsletter. ThiJ is to reinforce the concept of
Pubiishing

their papers to ensure there necessary to show sfudents why they must proofread are no mistakes in their final copies'

but is indeed very good The process of producing an essay may seem, tedious usually engaged in'. The training for ali types of writing tasks that students are editing and reimportlnce of generating ideai, planning, drafting, revising, *riti^g before the finaf version must be emphasised ilr er-er'rvriting project'

-''l
I

.iiR1TING PROCESS

I I
I

I I I I I

3,9

AN EXAMPLE OF TE-IE WRITING

of the t'riti;rg process is

PROCESS

I I
x

girren. You can try them r.t'ith your sfudents. The topic chosen LS " A Perfect World' . The example shows the process from the pre-writing stage until the publishing stage. The example is suitable for an upper secondary class and has been adapted from Behrman (1995).

A example

il

rl

3"9.1

Pre-writing

Brainstenrning
r

A Perfect World
There are man)/ wonders in this world. But it is far from perfect. Just Iook at a newspaper an)/ day and it is clear that many things are wrong.
l

If

I
l

you had a wish that would turn this tnto a better world, what would you change and how w,ould you change it?
DIRECTIONS: Use the brainstorrning iist below to compile your icleas and thoughts. In the first column, list the things you think are wrong with the world. In the second column, write down how you would change them. This is just a way to get your thoughts down on paper. It's not necessary to use complete sentences. ]ust allow your thoughts to flow frely. Words, phrases, and sentence
fragments are good enough.
BRAINSTORMING LIST THINGS THAT ARE WRONG HOW I WOULD CHANGE THEM?

3.9.2

Pre-writing

- Outline (First Draft)

When you prepare a good outline, your essay almost writes itself. An outline can be done quickiy and help you to be focused and turn into a clear and logical essay. Use your brainstorming list as your source and guide.
Steps in Pre-Writing:

(a)

On a separate paper, write your name, dat'e, and the title, " A Perfect World - Outline."

60

TOPIC

THE \(/RITING PROCESS

(lo)

Write the Roman numeral I. Next to it, write "Introduction". On the next line, write "A - Topic Sentence". Next to this, rvrite a topic sentence for your first paragraph.
On the next line, write "B". Next to this, write a word or phrase that will develop your topic sentence. On the next line, write "C". ltlext to this, write a word or phrase that will develop your topic sentence.

(c)

Choose ihree items from the first column of your brainstorming list. These will be the points you will make in the main section of your essay.

Write the Roman numeral II. Next to it, copy the first point you are going to use from your brainstorming list. On the next line, write "A". Next to this, write a word or phrase you can use to develop this point. On the next line, write "8". Next to this, write a n,ord or phrase you can use to develop this point. On the next line, write "C". Next to this, write a word or phrase you can use to develop this point.

Write the Roman numeral III. Next to it copy the second point you are going to use from your brainstorming list. Follow the same directions as
above for A, B, and

C.

Write the Roman numeral IV. Next to it copy the third point you are going to use from your brainstorming list. Follow the same directions as above for A,B, and C.

(d)

Write "V. Conclusion". On the next line, write "4". Next to this, write a phrase or sentence that restates the topic. On the next line, write "B". Next to this, write another phrase or sentence that adds to your conclusion.

. . ' " . .

Compare your outline with the following sample.

Are there any similarities or differences?

If yes, what are theY?

Wrhy are they different?

Which is better, yours or the sample given?

\Alhy?

--'1

TOPIC

THE \YRITING PROCESS

Exanrple of Pre-Writing0utline Your outline will look something like this:

I.

INTRODUCTION

A. B. C. II. A. B. C. ilI. A. B. C. IV. A. B. C. V. A. B.

Many bad things happen in the world today. It doesn't have to be that way.
We could change this into a perfect world.

FIRST POINT _ HTINGER Many peopie don't have enough food. Even babies die from starvation. Well-fed people are healthier and happier.

SECOND POINT _ IGNORANCE

In some parts of the world, there are no schools. Even in our country, some kids don't get a good education. A good education can lead to a better life.

THIRD

POINT-WARS

./

Lots of people are killed in wars.

There should be other ways to settle arguments.

If everyone refused to fight, wars would end.

.

CONCLUSION

This world could be better that it is. There would not be hunger, ignorance, or war in a perfect world.

3.9.3
o . ' "

Revising and Writing a Final Copy

DIRECTIONS: Correct and revise your draft. Follow these guidelines:

Are your sentences complete? Do subjects and verbs agree?

Check spelling in a dictionary.

Are all of your thoughts expressed in clear and interesting language? Does your first paragraph interesting?

(I on your outline) introduce the topic? Is it

62

. .

(II, III, and IV' on your outline) state Does each paragraph in the main section and develop utp".ls of your "perfect world"? restate and sum up the topic? Is it Does the last paragraph (v on your outiine) as clear and interesting?

write your finai copy below' \Mhen you are satisfied with your revised essay, Indent at the beginning of each paragraph'
activity' To test vour understandin$, please do the following

given' Exchange Choose a topic and follow the outline on Pre-writing it baied on the revising checklist ;;;r essay *ltn u partner and revise given.
Give two reasons for Now, do you think you can write and revise better? your answers.

,/
& & & & & & & b & u & & & 6 & tu & a & & e 4 A & A w'b & * r4 & tu & &
@&

. . .

and audience for In writing, students start off with identifying the purpose the writing. is shown as a recursive cycle Then, the 3 writing stages in the writing Pfocgs-t writing Processwhich is further Jxplalned by the Model of for classroom Also included is an example exercise on the writing Process
implementation.

Audience

Diagramming
Proof-reading
Recursive
Scratch outiine

TOPIC

THE WRITING PROCESS

63

5 3 e 4:.
I t.

a F I

+ {

A t

gS

9 S 4

d q s s * = * i e * & s 4 & e &4

& 6 *

lAtrhat'

happens in post-writing?

L.

Is diagramming like mind-mapping? \Alhat is revising?

3.
+.
5.

l\4rat are the three basic reasons people write?

Why is writing recursive?

What are the four key questions that writers need to ask?

(a) (b)

How can a writer know his audience?

How do aspects mentioned above (question 10 relate to the purpose of writing?

'2.

Pre-writing can be important to start you writing.

(a) (b)

How do the techniques work?

\Atrhich

pre-writing technique also v/orks on structure?

epEc@w

TA7

8ffit19
vv

rlte

'r

By the end of this topic, you should be abie to:

1. 2.

Describe some techniques for teachers to support sfudents in their writing; and

Provide a step-by-step inslruction on how to conduct the five types of writing.

.a\

INTRODUCTION
This topic examines some techniques to support student in learning to write. It gives a comprehensive description of some writing techniques such os, interactive writing, guided writing and independent writing.

4.1

TECHNTQUES TO SUPPORT STUDENTS AS

THEY LEARN TO WRITE

Typically, teachers support or scaffold student's rt'riting as they

demonstrate, guide, and teach. They graduaily pror ide the appropriate amount of support according to their instructional purpose anel students' needs. Sometimes teachers model how experienced r,r'ritcrs u rrte or thev write along with students. At other times they carefully guide chilorerr as they develop ideas for their writing, record ideas on papr': a:..i prtrofread to correct errors. Teachers also provide plenty of time for chr,.t:er-. irr .,i rite independentiy, to experiment with writing, and to practise skills th:.. :-.r', t e::ned.
Fountas and Pinnell (1996), proposed fivc iei e.s . - S--'i-: l:i, movlng from the highest levei to the lowest level of support .r: >: ---lr:l-iS aSSUme mofe and more of the responsibility for themselr es. I.- :- . ..', cls of support are modelled writing, shared writine, interactir..i .. . - r :iiided writing, and

TOPIC

SUPPORTING STUDIN rS TO \(/R|TE

65

independent rr.ridr.S rsee Table 4.1). It is advisable that teachers working with students through secondart' schools use all the fir.e leyels. For instance, when teachers inkociuct a ne\\- ry_rtrng forrn or teach a n'riting strategy or skiil, they use demonstrations or modeled writing. The purpose of Jhe actitity determines which 1evel of support is used. The teacher is less actir.ely involved in directing the n-rifing activity in independent writing, but it-t" quality of instruction that students have received is most obrrious in independent *riti.,g because they are applving what they have learned.
Table 4-1: A Continuum of Teacher Suppori for Student Writers (Fontas & pinnell, 1996)
Modelled Writing
Teacher Shared

Interactive

Writing

Writing
Teacher and

Guided Writing
. Teacher presents a

Independent

Writing

Teacher and

demonstrates
,.,-:+;- ^ :vvrrrulS Ilt

students

students
create the

Whatis
it?

front of students and thinking aloud about

construct the text together; then the

teacher

structured
lesson and supervises as students write.

demonstrates

writing
strategies and

text and share the pen to do the writing. Teacher and

Students use the writing process to write stories,

informational
books, and

writing.

. Teacher also
teaches

skills.

other compositios

Students may
assist by

students
discuss

writing
strategy, or

Teacher

spelling words. Who writes? What

stze

writtng,
conventions.

skill

monitors students'
progress.

.
a
O

Teacher

Teacher

Teacher and

Students

. . .

Students

students Whole class

Small group

groups?

. . . .

Whole class Small group

Pair

Individuals
Language Experience

. Whole class . Small group . Small group . Pair . Pair . Individuais . krdividuals
Predictions

Pair

Individuals

Demonstrations

Approach.

Which activities

Daily news lnnovations

Letters

. Class coilaborations

Writing
centres.

Class ABC

K-W-L charts

Writing
workshop.

books

. Formula
poems

Writing In
journals.
Letters.

66

TOPIC

SUPPORTING STUDENTS

Trl ''. :' Ti

Can students use the writing process for all kinds of writing?

4,1

.1

Modelled Writing

The greatest level of support is when teachers demohstrate or model how .o*p""t.1t writers write *nlt" students observe. Teachers usually decide what they will write and create the text themselves, although they do accept or suggestions from students. Then teachers either write on the white board ,rrJ"ur, overhead projector so that all students can see what is being written. Teachers use modeiled writing to demonstrate writing workshop procedures, such as how to make small books and how to do new writing forms and formats. Often teachers talk aloud or reflect on their writing Processes as thev n.rite to show students how competent writers think as they ale
\vrlrrnF ano rne rypes of decisions they make and strategies they use. Three purposes of modelled writing are as follows:
f ,t

,:i\

" . .

To demonstrate how to do writing activity before;instructing students to do the writing activity independently or in small groups' To demonstrate how to use writing strategies, such as proofreading, monitoring, sentence combining, and revising'
To demonstrate writing conventions and other writing skills'

4.1 .z

Shared Writing

In shared writing, the teacher and students work together to compose a text' As they write, teachlrs demonstrate how competent writers write while the students obserrre. They also teach the conventions of written language- Also, teachers write the texts on the whiteboard so that students can observe what is being written. Likewise, teacher instructs individual students to rn'rite smali parts of the as text to be compiled into a class book.The three purposes for shared writing are
follows:
to demonstrate writing through thinking aloud;
to generate students'ideas; and to create written texts for students rt'ho could noi

rndependently.

TOPIC

SUPPORTING STUDTii TS TC \(/RITE

67

Cne noticeable feaiure that differentiates shared n riting from modelled writing is that the teacher i\ ritcs the text with input from the students. Hor.t'ever, in modelled wriiing, ihe teacher ,.loes everything.

writing in a varief of lvays. Primary teachers often write students' clictation on paintings and brainstorm lists of words on the chalkboard, rvhile secondary teachers may take students' dictation when they make K-W-L charts, drar,,r maps and clusters, and rt,rite class coliaboration
T'eachers can u$lise sliared

poems.

The language experience approach (LEA) is one type of shared writing. It is based on student's language and experiences (Ashton-Warner, 7965; Stauffer, 7970). Studentsdictate words and sentences about their experiences, and the teacher writes the dictation. As they write, teachers model how written language works. The text the class develops becomes the reading material because it has been written with conventional English spetling. Since, the sfudents formulate the language and the content is based on their experiences, they are usually able to comprehend the text easily.

, The steps in the language experience approach as advocated by Ashton-Warner

(1965) and Stauf fer (1970) are shown in Figure 4.1. Frovide Eae *<gro/nd Kn*wiedg*

Discuss and Share the Experience

Dictation

ffiead Text

Widen as"ad *eve[*p the Wriiing and Readi*g Hxperience J*a

I
I

&*semfu!* $si'!t*nee

L--!-,'-.-.-.

C=rds
--i

J.5

u_r..

4.J: -cteps i;r thc langu.rge er.peiience approach

68

(a)

Provide Some Background Knowledge Before Writing The purpose of the background knor,r'1edge is to provide the stimulus for writing. For group writing, it can be an experience shared with peers, story books read, a field trip, or incidents during the semester break. For individuai writing, the stimuius can be any personal experience that is significant to the student.
Discuss and Share the Experience

(b)

Students generate ideas as they talk and reflect on their experience. Through this ta1k, students refine and organise ideas, use more specific vocabulary, and extend their understanding.

(c)

Record the Child's Dictation

Here, teachers conduct dictation for the students' writing. Texts for individual students are written on sheets of writing paper or in small booklets, and group texts are written on chart paper. Teachers print neatly,
words correctly, and preserve student's language as much as possible. It is a great temptation to change the student's language to the teacher's own, in eithcr word choice or granunar, but editing should be kept to a rrlinimum so that students do not feel belittled and discouraged to write.
spe1l

:{

For individual texts, take the student's dictation and write until the student finishes. If the student hesitates, the teache, ,.r.1d, what has been written and persuades the student to continue. For group texts, students take furns dictating sentences. After writing each sentence, the teacher rereads it. For editing purposes, teachers often put a sheet of plastic over class charts so students can underline kev words or other familiar words in the text.

(d)

Read the Text Aloud, Pointing to Each Word Teacher demonstrates how to read the text aloud

with correct intonation. join in the reading. After reading group texts together, Then students
individual students can take turns to reread.
(e)

Widen and Develop the Writing and Reading Expenence Students can be encouraged to draw picfures or scenes to accompany their writing text. This can assist to heighten the underlving meaning of the text that the writers want to convey. When they u'rite individual texts, students can also read their texts to peers. Students can take their own individual texts and copies of the class text home to share rr-ith familr'members.
Assemble Sentence Cards Teachers rervrite the text on sentence strips. , i-.':', tt-'ad and sequence the sentence strips accordingly. When the senfcl'-'- :::il-S are ready, students can cut the strips into individual rvord circ: ..-'.:-. s:ucients can rearrange

(f)

TOPIC

SUPPORTING STUDENTS TO \URITE

69

the wordS dni-1 create new sentences with the n-ord cards. Later the word cards can be acioed to student's word banks. The language experience approach is often used to create texts studenis can read and use as a resource for other n'riting tasks.

4.1

.3

Interactive Writing at the Primary Level

Teachers and children create a text and "share the per(' to write the text on chart paper (Button, Johnson, & Furgerson, 1996). The text is composed by the

gto.rp, and the teacher guides the students as they write the text word-by*ora on a chart paper. Students take turns writing known letters and familiar words, adding punctuation marks, and marking spaces between words. The teacher assists students to spell the words correctly and use written language conventions so that the text can be easily read. All students participate in creating and writing the text on the chart paper, and they also write the text on small white boaids. After writing, students read and reread the text using shared
and independent reading.

During interactive writing, teachers provide instruction and assistance to students as they write. It is quite similar to shared writing except that the
students are doing much of the actual writing.

(a)

Purposes of Interactive Writing Four purposes of interactive writing areas follows:

. .

To demonstrate how to write words and sentences.

To teach how to use capital letters and punctuation marks.

'
"

To demonstrate how to use phonics and spelling pattems to

words.

spelJ

To create written texts for students who could not write independently.

tVhen students begin interactive writing in kindergarten, they r.trrite letters to represent the beginning souncis in words and familiar words sr"tch as tire, a, and is. The first letters that students write are often the letters in their otvn names, particularly the first letter. As studenis learn more about sound-syrnbol correspondences and spclliiri: pattcrns, tirey do tnore of the

70

writing. As they do interactive writing, students gain valuable experience applying the phonics skills and writing the high-frequency words they are
learning.
Once students are writing words fluently, they can do interactive writing in smali groups. Each student in the group uses a particular colour pen and takes turns writing letters, letter clusters, and words. They also get used to using white correction tape to correct poorly formed letters and misspelled words. Students also sign their names in colour on the page so that the teacher can track which students wrote which words.

(b) Suggested Activities for Interactive Writing . Write predictions before reading. . Write responses after reading. . Write letters and other messages. . Make lists. ,. '. . o . . . . q
Write daily news.
Rewrite a familiar story.

Write information or facts. Write

recipes.

'/

Make charts, maps, clusters, data charts, and other diagrams.

Create innovations or new versions of a famiiiar text.

Write class poems. Write words on a wo?d wall.

Make posters.

Interactive writing includes many of the features of Language Experience Approach (LEA), but in interactive writing, students do much of the

writing themselves.

(.)

The Steps in Interactive

Writing

Collect Materials for Interactive Writing Teachers use chart paper, coloured marking pens, n-hite correction tape, an alphabet chart, magnetic letters or ietter cards, and a pointer for interactive writing. Also collect these materials for individual students writing: small white boards, dry-erase pn-;. anci erasers.

IOPIC

SUPPORTING

SI-- r'.-S ;O

\(/RITE

71

" o

Offer Stimu-tus Often teachel.s read or reread model text as a stimulus, but students can also u-iite oaih'news, compose a letter, or brarnstorm information they are iearning tn other subject areas.

Work out a Text Students create a text, often a sentence or tn'o, to use for the r,r'riting activity. The,v repeat the sentence several times and segment the sentence into lt'ords. Students also count the number of n'ords in the sentence. This practice helps children remember the sentence as it is written. Distribute Materials for Students to Exploit Students use individuai white boards, dry- eraser pens, and erasers to write the text individually or together as a class on chart paper. Teachers periodically ask students to hold up their white boards so they can see what the students are writing. Write the First Sentence Word-by-Word Before writing the first word, the teacher and students siowly pronounce the word. Then students take turns writing the letters in the first word. The teacher chooses students to write the letters that represent each sound or spell the entire word, depending on student's knowledge of phonics and spelling. /eachers often have students use one colour of pen for the letters they write and then use another coiour to write the parts of words that students do not knor.r' hon' to spell. ir.,. this way, teachers can keep track of how much writing students are abie to do. Teachers keep a poster with the upper- and lowercase letter> o: the alphabet to refer to when students are unsure about hor,r' to form a letter, and they use white correction tape (sometimes called "boo-boo" tape) when students write a letter incorrectly or write the wrong letter. After writing each word, one student serves as the "spacer." This student uses his or her hand to mark the space between words (and sentences). Teachers have sfudents reread the sentence from the beginning each time a new word is completed. When appropriate, teachers call student's attention to capital letters, punctuation marks, and other conventions of print. Repeat this procedure to wrjte additional sentences to complete the text. \Ahen teachers are using interactii'e writing to write a class collaboration book, this activity can take up to a week to complete.
Display the Completed lVriting Chart on the Class Notice Board

"

\;,

Students reread the completed r,t'riting chart using shared or ir-rdependent reading. Thcy mav also ll.ant to add artwork tc augrnent thr: lt'riting chart. Aiso, students can use the rt'ords and scntences for
oilLer n'i'riing a ctir.i iies.

7Z

TOPIC

SUPPORTING STUDENTS TC

RITE

"t

4.1

.4

Guided Writing

Teachers scaffold or support student's writing during guided writing, but students do the actual writing themselves. Teachers plan structured writing activities and then supervise as students do the writing. For example, when sfudents make pages for a class ABC book or when sfudents write formula poems, they are doing guided writing because the teacher has set up the writing activity. Teachers also guide the writing when they conference with students as they write, participate in writing groups to help students revise their writing, and proofread with students. With incompetent writers, teachers use guided writing to help students choose what they want to write, organise their ideas into a sentence, and then transcribe each word onto paper.
Teachers read with small groups of students and provide assistance as needed. The five purposes of guided writing are:

it

is

. . . .

To scaffold a writing experience. To introduce different types of writing activities. To teach student to use the writing process especially, how to revise and edit. To teach procedures, concepts, strategies, and skills during mini--lessons.

r{

How does guided writing help the weaker students?

4,1 In

.5

Independent Writing

independent writing, students do the writing themselves and often use the writing process to write books. They practice the r.t'riting strategies and skills they are learning.

Often students do independent writing in writing centres and during writing workshop, but they can also use independent writing n hen they write in reading logs, make posters, and do other types of writing activitres.
The six purposes for independent writing are: To provide an authentic context for writing practice.

" o c

To give sfudents opportunities to choose writing topics and forms. To gain writing fluenry and stamina.

TOPIC

SUPPORTING STUDENTS TO WRITE

73

. . o

As a tool for learning, such as when sfudents write in reading logs and other types of journals.
To inake and pubiish books. To document leaming in literature focus units and thematic units.

Students often r,r.rite independently, whether they are writing logs, making projects, or writing books during writing workshop.

in

reading

n :

4 4 tu & k a & 1t 6 & & @ 4 6 4 &i & e & & 4 4 6 *

4 6 & tu & 4 & & rE *

&

This topic describes some levels and types of support teachers can perform in a writing class as a proposed by Fontas and Pinnell (1996) and the Language Experience Approach (Ashton, 7965 and Stauffer, 1970).

& 6 t& b 4 b lt S 4 & & * & I 4 4 4 r'e 4 @ tr t\ &

Nk

& & A & & & * & & & *

Collaboration Independent Interactive

Modelled

e 4 @ q 4 e 6 6 4 4 A 4: 6 /4 4 r' q 4 4 {. & & A,,4

@ A 4 & $ + *

!- :

.!

7.

\Alho writes in rnodelled writing?

2. 3.
/l

Hor,r'does a teacher heip in shared writing?

\Alhat enhances activities are involved in guided writing?

How big are guided writing groups?

5.

\{hich supporting model would you choose to get students to write?

.j&'b!14{4&x6a

Describe how independent people to write.

writing can be used to help larger groups of

2.

F{ow does tfre experience approach (Ashton, 7965 and Stauf fer,1970) make use of prior experience to heip students n,rite?

TopEc Pw

Htf,fiilion
writing and

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. 2.

Devise various techniques to teach grarrunar in

Incorporate the medium of literature to teach writing skitls.

This topic introduces you to some techniques in teaching grammar. You will also learn about teaching writing skills by incorporating tke medium of literature.

7,1

GRAMMAR IN WRITING

Understanding the writing processes have helped us design and implement more effective composition programmes and teaching materials. This is due to the developments in composition theory and research during the past few decades. Confusion about the role of grammar in ESL /EFL writing instruction is a resuit of the paradigm shift in composition theory from a focus on writing products to that of writing processes. Adding to the uncertainty about whether .gru**ur has a place in the teaching of writing are the result of a considerable body of native English speakers' writing research rvhich indicates that formal granunar instruction has iittle or no effect on *'riting improvement (Hillocks,
1e86).

ESL writing teachers know from experience that their students often have difficulties at both sentence and discourse ler el English grammar. Besides, research has provided evidence that ESL lvriters' eirors may negatively affect assessments of overall writing quality. A studr hr' \IcGirt (7984), showed a statistically significant difference between holistic rcrti:rgs of ESL essays with morphosyntactic and mechanical errors of the s-t:t-.. essavs in which errors had

TOPIC 7

INTEGRA-l 3

l'r'3:

SKILLS

175

been corrected. L'. ..,r'.::,..=: ti're difference in ratings for a control group of native English speaker t'S:;'.'" s '.'. .ti'. and lvithout errors was not signiticant.

It seems tl..at mi::t,;'.;gplrfnS about the roie of grammar iI n'riting has resulted from a narro*.lr t-ltlir.,L.ti view of "grammatical instruction" as traditional, decontextualiscd granr.mar lessons with a focus on formal analysis of sentence1eve1 syntax (e.g., ir-pes of clauses) and/or a preoccupation r,l'ith correcting errors. In conirast to this \.ieh', as Widdowson (1988) discusses in his article "Grantnlar, fJ{}r1stnse, and Learning," is one of graminar as .-t resource for
communication, or n'hat Widdowson terms "the adaptation of iexis" (p. i54). In other words, grarrunar is regarded as an aid to language users in accurately communicating their messages, not as some isolated body of knowledge that must be studied for its own sake. Widdowson states that "language learning is essentially gramnTar learning and it is a mistake to think otherwist'"(p. 154). This ciaim might at first seem to reflect a long outdated language teaching methodology, concerned with forms rather than functions of language, and lt,ith discrete sentence-level units rather than connected discourse. However, Widdor.t'son, who is 'known for his work in communicative language teaching (e.g., Widdowson, 7978), is simply stressing that grammar as a component of language enables us to make our meanings clear and precise. For example, in English, word order is an essential determinant of meaning. The scntences 'tcthn Ioves Mary" and "Mary loves John"obviously cfnvey two different messages.

'

This positive orientation toward grammar points to a solution to the problen-r discussed above. If gramrnar is seen as an essential resource for rl'ritc'rs tn the process of shaping accurate and effective communication, ESL w'nting tcachers can use knowledge of grammatical forms and functions to address specific neetis of students and to guide instructional materials development for learners at al1 stages of the writing plocess. in this way, grammar instruction is integrated lr,ith various writing goals; it is presented to learners not just as a prescriptive model 'for error correction but rather as an aid to convey meaning appropriately to intended readers.

What is the role of grariunar in writing?

il:

ffi

&

176

TOPIC

INTEGRATION OF SK;]..S

7,2. GUIDELINES FOR INTEGRATING

instruction.

GRAMMAR INTO WRITING INSTRUCTION

Figure 7.7 shows the six guidelines for integrating granunar into writing

{c} Tex Analysis

{h} Gulded Writierg

Prae

tlse

*t"j$*EL5ruE5
tsLrffi
FAN

iel Sletatiq:st
{d} Text Elleitati*e:

E&:Tg*ffiATIruG

*ffi&fr&MAR

ie] Texi Conversion {f} Text fompleti*r:

Figure 7.1:Six guidelines for integrating grammar into writing instruction

The ESL/EFL instructor will need to assess both learner and instructional variables when deciding what kinds of grammar-based activities are most relevant to particular writing contexts. Celce-Murcia (1985b), suggests that the following learner variables b6 considered in making choices about granunar
instruc{ion:

t n .

ug";

proficiency level; and educationalbackground.

According to Celce-Murcia, for the schema of variabies influencing grafiunar teaching, a focus on formal aspects of language is increasingly useful as writers become older, more advanced in English proficienc)', and more highiy educated.

In addition, the students' backgrounds in grammatical instruction should be

considered, especially with reference to knowledge of grammatical terminology. One of the frequent criticisms of traditional grammar instruction in writing has been its overemphasis on teaching terminologv to students. It is argued that such

TOPIC

INTEGRAIICNJ OF SKILLS

177

insiruction is trm--: - r':.1:-.ir-r9 and often results in confusing students rather than helping them.

I I

In the fielii o- rasic writing for native English speakers, the

prevailirLg reconlmenCation to teachers is to use as lift1e terminology as possible and to keep it as simple as possible (e.g., D'E1oia, 7975; Neuleib & Brosnahan,7987').

\{hile this is ceriainly good adr.ice for teachers'in many ESL/EFL contexts, it
should be noted that some learners of English as a second or foreign language enter the writing classroom with a sophisticated knowiedge of traditional grafiunar.
Since terminology can be useful in providing teacher feedback on syntactic and morphological error patterns in students' writing, an awai:eness of individual learners' knowledge of grammaticai terms is important.

This can be achieved at the beginning of a course by giving students a list of terms and asking them to check ones with whish they are familiar.
Furtherrnore, there will be some basic terms which the writing teacher rvill n'ant to familiarise all students with in order to help them edit their writing. For these, the advice is to keep terminology simple. For example, progressive t-erbs,

gerunds, and present participles in adjective/adverb phrases might be distinguished as -ing,main verbs, -ing modifiers and -ing nouns, respectirrely. Relative clauses couid be referred to as which/who/that-clauses used as . adjectives. Such designations link grammatical functions with actual morphemes or words that student will see in writing so that there is less of a requirement to
memorise terms.

Moreover, instructional variables must be considered in developing graffunaroriented writing activities. As proposed by Celce-Murcia's schema, the more formal the register and the more professional the use of language, the greater the need for focus on form. In most types of academic writing, conformity to standard English conventions of grarnmar and mechanics is assumed; therefore in this regard the ESL/EFL instructor will need to assess both learner and instructional variables. Ii-r short, rvriting iirstructors in secondary and higher education r.vill neecl to help students become aware of the expectations of academic discourse communities.

178

TOPIC

INTEGRATION OF SKi._:

The specific objectives of a writing class will greatlr'influence the ways in which gru*ttrut will be integrated with writing. ln ESL/EFL writing Progranrmes where students ur" plu."d on the basis of diagnostic tests which evaluate syntactic and rhetoricil fluency, some courses may focus particularly on helping siudents to reduce error frequency, while those for advanced writers may be more concerned with the grammatical choices writers make to achieve certain stylistic effects. Thus, coulses desi.gned lot writers with numerous *orphoryntactic problems might include considerable work on editing and on guided writing piactice, with a focus on common grammatical problems such as ierb formr, *ord classes, or articles. Courses for advanced ESL/EFL writers with few grammatical problems, could offer extensive practice in such activities as cont&tualised ,"rit"r,." combining and discourse analysis/evaluation, to help the students achieve greater stylistic sophistication and to heighten awareness of ways in which grammitical choices serve various discourse pragmatic considerations, such as topic emphasis and reader expectations'

In the sections which follow, specific activities and techniques for achieving these
goals will be suggested.

.2.1

Text AnalYsis

The study of text models is emphasised less in the process oriented, studentof centred #riting class than it was in the past when presentationai modes instructio., pr"io-inated (see Hillo ck$, 1976, for an overview of instructional writers to modes). However, exercises based on text analysis can help ESL/EFI' see how particular grammatical/syntactic -features are used in authentic purposes discourse contexts, which are in texts written for acfuai communicative and not just to illustrate grammatical points'

Text analysis can be especially useful as an inductive approach for helping but who stil1 learners who are already familiar with prescriptiYe grammar rules,

oppositions have problems understanding and using appropriatelr- grammatical clauses, such as definite and indefinite articles, restrictive and non- restrictive and present perfcct and past- or present-tense Verh f()rn]s.

TOPIC

INTEGRAT;3I. :|_ SKILLS

179

exercises, the rtriting teacher shculd keep in mind the proiiriencr'1evel of sfudents, avoiding rr riting that might be too cornpiex or lengthr-, ano should look for texts .,r-itl-. anrple instances of the grammatical feature to be analysed. Since finding an appropriate text when needed for a lesson is often difficult, it is useful to create files beforehand of short texts (e.g., magazine and newspaper articles, advertisements) that would be good for examining grammatical features most often problematic for ESL n'riters. At least some texts should represent the kinds of rt'rihng that students will be expected to produce. However, a variety of writing samples can help to keep interest levels high. Especially for less advanced students, advertisements can be excellent sources for iliustrating grarnmatical features; they often incorporate grammatical repetition as a rhetorical device.

In selecting authenhc ierts for inductive

Teachers often assume that the text used has sufficient instances of the particular grammatical item or items. Text analysis in the writing class should be subordinate to actual writing activities; exercises should usually be kept brief. If the instructor decides to incorporate text analysis routinely into classroom or outof-class activities, students couid be asked to purchase differentiy coloured pens or pencils to highlight contrasting functions of different grammatical features.

The following are a few examples of lessons that focus on grammatical features in texts.

,/

(a)

To help students distinguish restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses, ask them to underline restrictive clauses in a text with onc colour pen and non-restrictive. relative clauses with another colour. Flave them circle commas to locate non-restrictive clauses. Ask them to identify which type of relative ciause is more frequent. Elicit functions of clauses (e.g., nonrestrictive used for definition, restrictive which provide cohesion by repeating information previously I given) to point out salient differences in
usage.

(b)

Select a text that illustrates several functions

of the definite article "the" (e.g., second mention, shared knowledge between writer and reader,

uniqueness through post-modification). Uncierline and number only those uses of "the" on rvhich you want students to focus. Present function classifications and ask students to classify each numbered use. A rrariation of this'lvould be to focus oniy on function. For example, students who are familiar n,ith abstract nouns but unsure as to when it is appropriately used

coulC be asked to highlight abstract noun phrases preceded by "the" (inciucling any post-modification) and those '"vith no article, h'ith different colours. In discussion or -writing, elicit the principles that account for use of
the article.

180

TOPIC

INTEGRATION OF SI. .-S

(c)

To help students understand hon' the present perfect contrasts with past and present tenses, find a passage that uses all three. Ask students to mark instances of the three verb types in different ways (using different pen colours or circling, boxing, and underlirLing). Ot"t a blackboard, overhead projector, or handout, present students lvith a time chart including the foliowing categories:

. . . o .

completed events in the past;

er.ents that started in the past and continue to the present;

repeated events in the past;

events in the present (from the writers'perspective); and

any other categories relevant to the text.

Have students complete the chart by writing verbs from the text under each appropriate categor/; then ask them to sumrnarise the uses of the present perfect.

For adr.anced ESL writers, grammatical analysis can be used for

lessons

concerned r,t'ith styiistic options and methods of rhetorical focus such as passive voice. In addition, this approach can be used to demonstrate exceptions to prescriptive rules. For example, advanced ESL students who have been taught to avoid sentence fragments are often confused whe( they encounter them in authentic texts. Text analysis can help to clarify the contexts in which some lypes of fragments are acceptable and to point out how they differ from fragment "ertors" that would be inappropriate in almost any context. As an illustration, the following passage about developments in running shoes, taken from Burfoot (1988), uses repeated noun phrase fragments as a stylistic device.

Or)er the last two decades, we have seen shoes that were light and firm. Shoes with high heels or low heels, wide heels or narrow heels. Shoes that promised motion control and stability. Schizophrenic shoes: firm on one side, soft on the other.

After discussing rhetorical functions of examples such as in the text mentioned, sfudents could then examine sentence fragments in their own writing to see
whether they serve a rhetorical purpose or need to be revised.

In all types of

text-analysis exercises, students can develop greater understanding of how grammar contributes to communication by identifyitg and explaining the meanings or functions of grammatical structures in discourse contexts. These exercises should help students to der-e1op not only their writing

TOPIC

INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

181

but also their: reac.rr-..i::.-,-.. As foliow-up activities, either writing or editing

practice related to th.' ir.rr:L:'Lrfical focus can be assigned.

,2.,2- Guided Writing Practice

Perhaps the most ob\ roLr: f-rlrpose for guided writing with focus on a particular grammatical structtrre rs ttr address grarrunar problems of learners as diagnosed in their writing. In fact, sr)ne discussions of the role of grammar in writing for native English speakers sugeest that grammar study be limited to the elimination of error (D'Eloia, 1975; Kean, 1981). However, for ESL /EFL students, at least, another benefit of guided n'riting exercises requiring the use of certain gramrnaticai constructions, is that such practice can buiid writers' confidence in their ability to use English grammar and slmtax and thus encourage them to develop syntactic compiexity in their writing. Schachter and Celce-Murcia (7977) point out that ESL learners may avoid using constructions they find difficult; they cite evidence from Schachter (1974) that Chinese and Japanese learners avoid producing Engiish relative clauses and from Kleinmann (1977) that native speakers of Arabic avoid using passives in English. Avoidance strategies may be especially common in writing contexts where students' work is graded; these students may avoid constructions they think will produce errors affecting their grades on writing assignments. As a result, the learners may end up using iess effective or less appropriate ways of communic#ing their ideas, as u'el1 as failing to make much progress in developing syntactic maturity.

Many of the following guided writing activities described were used long before process centred approaches to writing became widespread (e.g., see Paulston, 7972; Ross, 1968). However, in the past, these exercises were sometimes presented either in no contextual framework or in the context of a grammaticalhorganised syllabus. Here, they are suggested as components of prert'riting, fevising, or editing stages in the writing process. In other words, the activities should have a purpose other than simply grammar practice; thc grammatical focus should be subordinated to a communicative goal. Decisions as to what types of exercises wili be most helpful shouid be based on the parameters of the learning context, including the demands of major writing tasks and learner needs
assessment.

t1l
,1

at is the purpose of guioed writing practice?

ii
it

li

il

182

TOPIC

INTEGRATION CF SI(ILLS

.2.3 Dictation

American high schooi and college teachers of ESL immigrants who have lived in the United States for a number of years, are fjnding thal some of their students have native-like fluency but that their writing exlibits frequent omissions of bo_und morphemes such as +plural, -3posr"rrirr", cthird p"rron singular, and _ regular past Participles. / forwriters (Shaughnessy, These errors are very cofiunon to native speaker basic 7977). Omissions of some articles and prepositions may also result to some extent from the fact that these words aie generally unstressed in spoken English. In addition, the writing of these student, *uy include words or phrases that are incorrect or unidiomatic, but phonologically similar to correct forms (e.g., "firsteval" for "ftrst of all,- -wou]d of- for '*ouia h.1y'5," "under contrary" for -on th9 contrary!. Dictations can help students to diagnose and correct these kinds of errors as well as others. Their usefulness is not, however, limited to error detection and correction; they may also provide practice in slmtactic constructions that appear to, be inirequently used by students but are appropriate for writing taski and p6frciency levels of the class.

not to put undue emphasis on word endings or function words that are not normally stressed. The third reading, done af a nor*al pace, gives students the opportunity to read over their texts and make corrections. The instructor then shows students the passage visually so that they can check their version with the originai and edit it. If the activity's main objective is error detection/ correction, the instructor could give more specific directions, such as to circle all missed -s third person singular or ed endings. If the goal is to familiarise writers with a particular grammatical feature, such as participial ciauses or past perfect verbs, the students could be asked to underline them; discussion bf tf,"ir meanings
and/or functions could follow.

each phrase to allow studenfs to write. During this reading, care shouid be taken

In the most common procedure for dictation, the instructor reads aloud a short text several times. If the class is working on a composition unit, the text should be reiated to the theme of the unit. The fiist time, the text is read at a normal pace with the students just listening. For the second reading, the teach", pu.rr", lft",

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]', ::

SKILLS

183

7
f
i

"2,4

Text Elicitation
9)

i
I t I I I

I t I
I

advises that the study of the grammatical concept be integrated as much as possible into the process of rvriting so that the student's understanding of a gramrnatical principle is

D'Eloia (1975.

t ! t

transferred to correct production.

t_.

One of her suggestions is to have studerrts develop a topic sentence that establishes a time frame. An example is the following sentence with a present perfect frame: "My parents have (not) had a lot of intTuence on my beliefs and
valLres."

structures." They give as an exampie a rnriting task in which students are instructed to use the hypothetical conditional (i.e., the subjunctive) in explaining , what they would do if they won a million dollars in the lottery.
In text elicitation with a grammatical focus, the instructor specifies both a topic or writing objective and a grammatical construcpn (or constructioirs) to be ttsed. Moreover, surveys and graphs/charts on vaiious topics are good sources for eliciting summaries that utilises comparison/contrast transitions; even adr atrce.l ESL writers often have difficulty using sentence connectors and clause connectors in appropriate syntactic contexts. For exampie, thet, ina) ntrt understand how "in contr ast," a sentence connector, is used differentiv fronr "whereas," a clause corlnector. Summaries of surveys, graphs, and charts can also provide good text-based practice of passive verbs and, depending on the time .frarne, verb tenses such as simple past or present perfect.

As Celcc-Murcia and Hilles (197.8, p:160) note, teachers can take advantage of the fact that -certain writing topics or tasks seem naturally to elicit certain

Prewriting exercises such as brainstorming or outlining could inrrolve lists that use paraliel structures such as phrases or infinitives. For example, as a brainstorming exercise to begin a composition unit on education issues, students in a university writing class were asked to list all the purposes of higher education that they could think of, using infinitive of purpose phrases (e.g., "tcr prepare tar a career"). The grammatical objective here u'as not so tnuch on practicing infinitive phrases as it was on using parailelism as a systematic way of organising information in prewriting.
Studerrts then read an article on the purposes of education, aftcr -n'hich thev coinparc'J the purposcs on their Iists with those ir', ihe article'.

I
ll

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In summary, text elicitation which includes the use of certain grammatical

strucfures can serve a number of purposes:

r r r o
7

to develop syntactic maturity; to familiarise students with grammaticaily based discourse conventions (e.g., the use of passive in survey reports); to provide strategies for organising and displaying information; and to focus on diagnosed structural problems.

.2.5

Text Conversion

In text conversion exercises, students are given paragraphs or short texts which
they must rewrite, changing some feature of the grammatical structure, such as present tense to past tense or direct speech to indirect speech. Exercises of this

tlpe were comrnonly used aS "controlled

7969).

composition" techniques in audioLingual methodologies; they were also used to apPly principles of transformational generative granunar in ESL writing instruction (e.g., Arapoff, As with text elicitation, text conversion exercises for the composition class should reflect iearner needs, including diagnosed grarunar/slmtax problems and writing objectives. Since, as CelCe-Murcia and Hilles (1988, p. 156) point out, these exercises do not involve actual composing but rather provide practice in making structure discourse matches, they should be as relevant as possible to writing problems and/or actual writing assignments.
For e4ample, if students have frequent subject-verb agreement errors in their writing, as a pre-editing exercise they could be instructed to change all third person present plural forms in a text to singular, and to make necessary verb changes. To give students practice using the appropriate register of English for science and technology or research reports, thev could be asked to re-write sentences in a text, changing all sentences with first-person subject pronouns to the passive voice, deleting the agent.
The following is a brief examPle:

I analysed the results of the values stln/er- 2-; spli6tr+-s. First I totalled the responses for each of the four categories. I then ranked the ten vafues in
order of importance.
_____
_

<aiffi

-/

TOPIC

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:[]!LS

185

The results c,: :,-.

. -

.,,'-les survey

responses foi .':.' '-' were then ranke.i u'

were analysed as follows' First' the :he iour categories *'"'" totalled' The ten values
i--'f

irrit'i

importance-

lf

not a1l parts of it can be an actuai text is *sttl, the teacher may find that rewriting every sentence might iransformed. EVcn ir, tcrts created for exercises, example, science texts do not produce an au.kh'aLt-i or Verv artificial text- For this problem' the instructor usually have all sentcnces in passive voice. To solr'e using numbers or underlining' can simpiy m.rrk thc sentences to be rewritten, factors that influence Afterwards, the class might be asked to identify contextuar
use of the Passive.
Sentence Combining

focus of much research and One type of text Jonversion that has been the 20 years is sentence combining' in discussion in the fieid of composition for over Mellon (7969)' often involved , its early stages, this technique, developed by John , in combining a sei of kernel sentences such as the following
exercises Sentence combining can be very useful for practice

of a particulal grammatical phrases'- to. help rt'riters Structure, such as relative ciauses ot pt"po/ttional 'of strategi'es highlighting kt}{o.t become aware of and develof a ,ung" and improving svntactic information, subordinating less importan"t information, caution against ttsing fluency. However, recent"discussitns of this technique
unnatural examples sttch as the one above'

used for sentence De Beaugrande (1985, recommends that writing samples linguage; otherwise' as he so combining shouli resemble naturally occurring 'aptly puts it, "the whole exetcise wili be treatei as Some gratuitous venture into regard each other v'ith inate a bizarre domain of communication where people that students should be kernal sentences"(p.72).DeBeaugrande furineicautions (P' 74)' Most teachers rt"ho taught to avoid 'excessive, ^ridl"d complexity" ui" probably aware that this have used sentence combining with ESL siude.,it confusing or even technique sometimes resultJ in students' producing
incomprehensible sentences'

theory for advanced Perhaps the most useful appiication of sentence combining of thei.r drafts. Students, with help ESL r.t,riters involrres actual revisiorL or editing in their writing where frcim peers and the instructor, can identify Passages tlow of information or greater clarity' sentence conlbining couid achier.,e a better "incir-ide aciciing transitions to express-logical relationships' Combining couli t}^rtor-,', although it r'a;"' resnlt in ,,incither tcchilqr^r la-.t,.i. tln sr:ntcircc conibi;iiirg

186

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shortening rather than lengthening sentences, is proposed by Elbow (1985). First, the students identify a passage in their writing that is problematic. They then "decombine" the sentence, breaking it into sirnpler sentences. (Elbow stresses that the sentences "needn't be pulverized into pure Chomskyan kemels" fpg 2371).In recombining, the students attempt to solr'e whatever the problem was.

Although Elbow's technique is not limited to gramrnar problems, it provides a good approach to rephrasing ideas that are difficult to understand because of sentence structure errors without having to resort
to grammatical terminologY.

This technique could also be used for small group revision tasks, with writing samples selected by the teacher from students' drafts. The teacher could then focus on grammaticai problems corninon to a number of students or could even divide the class into groups according to particular problems and give each group different samples of texts to revise.

What is the difference between text elicitation anditext conversion?

7.2.6

Text Completion

Two of the most corunon types of text compietion exercise/tasks are the cloze passage and the gapped text. In the cloze passage, each blank represents a single *ord to fill in, in the gapped text, the blanks may require one or more words. In a third type of text completion, sentences with similar meanings coded in different *uys are presented and the student uses the discourse context to select
the most appropriate grammatical coding of the information.

CIoze passages can be created either by random deletion of words (e.9., every seventh word is deleted) or by deletion of a specific item (e.g., articles). The second kind of cloze passage is most suitable for grammatical focus (CelceMurcia & Hilles, 7988, p:152)-

The foilowing is an example of a cloze passage; appropriate prepositions.

it

requires students to select

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187

(1)
deterioratior-L t-ri
I

(4\
\-t

affected (6)
(B)

(i0)
(1 1)
-

everyday life's r,atural resources. pt,l'uiitrn giobal problem that has (5) water we drink. quality of (7) land we use. air n'e breathe and (9) to overcome scientific solutions problem have increased (12)

:'r, -itl(jn mav be defined

as (2)

l;

destruction.
Source : Ross, 1984

The text mentioned illustrates the advantage of presenting a passage for practice in article usage rather than a group of unrelated sentences. In the iast sentence, the definite article "the" is needed before both nouns because of second mention; "probiem" IS a partial repetition of "g1oba1 problem," and "destruction" may be interpreted as eithe, u rynorlym for 'ldeterioration" or a suPerordinate term for the effects mentioned in the second sentence.

Students usually enjoy exercises that involve their own writing cloze Passages which are based or, rtrd.t-tt texts can serve as a;.r error corection technique if the writer has produced errors in the grammafical item deleted. Whatever the source, this iype of cloze passage can prorride an excellent context for discussing extra-sententiat syntactic, semintic, or pragmatic features that may influence writers'selections of such grammatical items as articles and pronouns. Since gapped text completion exercises do not specify the number of words requirJd^ior each blarik, they can be used to elicit deleted verbs that include forms with more than one word, such as passives, Progressive aspect, and present perfect. Other grammatical items that could be deieted for gapped exercises are comparatlves and superlatives, phrasal verbs, and logical
connectors.

The third type of text completion, as described by Rutherford (1988), asks the student to consider severai syntactic arrangements that realise essentially the same propositional content, and to choose the most appropriate rendering of the informatibn based on the preceding discciurse context. The following exercise, modelied after Rutherford'J @.240) and based on information from Filosa (1988), is an exampie. The appropriate choices have been indicated.
Clin:ratologists har.e preCicted that the ccntinual rvarming of the earth's surface, knOwn as the "greei-,irouse eifect," could have'Lramatic COnSeqLlflrlces:

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(a)

(b)
caps

(1) (2) (3) (4)

The melting of the polar ice

polar ice could be one result.

One result could be the melting of the caps.

A rise of the sea level would, in turn, be

cause
as

This melting would, in turn

this melting.

caused by a rise of the sea level.

As the sea level rises, coastal flooding

occur.

Coastal flooding would occur would the sea level rises.

Cloud reacfions might lessen to

degree disastrou's effects.

some

Such disastrous effects might be such degree lessened to some by

cloud reactions.

As the example shows, this activity emphasises the importance of context in making grammatical choices. It also demonstrates the significant role of word order in presenting "given" and "new" information in English (Chafe, 7976).This twe of exercise can help advanced ESL students to gain native-like competency in written English. Such writers employ a sophisticated range of syntactic struc'fures but need to develop greater awareness of how grarunar is used to focus information and to achieve cohesion across sentence boundaries. Also, in
courses concerned with writing for academic purposes, this technique can familiarise students with grammatically based discor.r3e conventions such as the use of passive voice in describing research procedures.

7,3

GUIDED WRITING ACTIVITIES

Lets's take a look at guided writing activities in the following paragraphs.

.3.1

Editing

Many of the guided writing activities mentioned can, of course, be incorporated into the editing process of writing. However, the techniques discussed here, unlike the guided writing exercises, have a single focus: to develop student's abilities to detect and correct errors so thht they will become effective self-editors of their writing.
7

,3.2 Error Detectionl(orrection

Exercises

Text-based exercises which involve identifying and correcti.ng the kinds of errors students frequently make in their writing can help intermediate and advanced writers to deveiop systematic strategies for editine. It is, of course, important for the inslructor to analyse students' errors, at ieasi in:r.',rmallY, so that the exercises

TOPIC

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189

are relevant tc tt-... produce the sai:tt -:,

problems. Obviously not all students in a class will

Thus, whenever i-.''i>,r.c.:rrd appropriate, the writing of students in the class should be useo irlr C\cicises; in this way, if a few students do not have the particular error p:-.,'r-en-r, they can contribute via peer correction.
The follou'ing arc SOitt r.ariations of error detection/correction techniques, with an example gir er, ior each; it should be assumed that the examples are excerpted from a text (a prar.rgraph or composition). Usually an authentic text rrLust be adapted in sorne tva\. to make it appropriate for instructional purposes.

(a) A text is constructed with one error in each sentence, and r,r,ith the errors
representing a range of types. Each sentence is divided into three or four parts. The student must identify the section with the error and correct it. Although this task could involve identification only, the teacher should keep in mind that students might choose the section with the error for the wrong reason; therefore, when possibie it is best to have them correct the perceived error also.
Example:

(b)

In a text with different types of errors, students are told the total number oi each kind of error to identify and correct.
Example:
The foilowing text has the following errors:

1 incorrect preposition, 1 verb tense, 1 subject-verb agreement, 1 missing article.

This paper report on survey about values. Our English ciass take the
survev iast week in UCLA.

(c) To focus on just one error type, students

iines. -fhey

are given a text r.vith numbered

are told all of the iine numbers which have a certain

fpe

of error.

Example:

Iden'iifv inLl ,-,.,ri'i.:i .iil of the verb forrn ciror: in ihe follorvirrq icxi
I

iI
$l ffi rF

fl

190

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(a) &) (c)

The Olympics were hold in Seoul, Korea in 1988.

Athletes from all over the worid participated.

The Olympics have inspire many )'oung people to excel in athletics.

For any editing exercise, the teacher should consider carefuily how much guidance students may need to complete the task successfully. All of the variations above provide some direction either by identifying to some extent error location or by indicating numbers of errors and error fPes. Editing tasks
which are not guided in any way can overwhelm students, unless they are quite advanced, especially if the text is a composition; they are also difficult for sfudents or the teacher to correct.

How much

guidance during editing?

should the teacher provide

for

students

.3.3 Read'Aloud Technique

In this procedure, the students simply read their paPers aloud, listening for

errors u.td .ot."cting as they proceed. A variation of this is to have students work in pairs, with each student reading aloud his/her partner's PaPer; the writer can urk th" reader to stop at any time to make corrections. The rationale for this technique is that some students are better able to hear their errors than to see

them; ihir .u.r be a helpfui activity for editing the last draft before the final version of a composition.
7

.3.4

Algorithms

Raimes (1988), developed flow charts, or algorithms, to guide students in editing their grammatical choices. In this procedure, the student responds to a series of questtns about a grammatical item; each answer leads to a narrowing of choices, until at the end a single choice remains. The follorving exampie, from Raimes' (1988: 54) textbook, "Grammar Troublespots: An Editing Guide for ESL Students," is the first part of an algorithm for editing article usage:

TOPIC

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191

Yes

No

Does the corLll-Io:. noun have a With a proper noun, do not use specific, unique re;erent for the a/an. Make sure the noun has a capital letter. Add "the" to Plural writer and the reader? foims. Some singular names of places also ueed "the". Check in a dictionary or ask Your instructor Ilaimes' chart continues with features of countability and number to guide correct selection of an article in context. As can be seen from the example, the algorithmic procedure may be best for more advanced writers who are familiar *ith gru*-utical terminology. It provides a step-by-step Process for self-editing, whicf, makes it more effective than simply a list of grammatical rules'
7 .3

"5

Teacher Correction and Feedback on Errors

Recent research suggests that direct correction of surface errors does not produce significantly betteilesults in EFL student wqiting than less_time-consuming correction measures such as underlining or nig(ligniing errors (Robb et a1., 1986)'

Since students often do not pav much attention to corrections on their final, graded compositions, instructor feedback on errors seems most helpful 1n tfte Ealti"g stages of composing. Even before this, however, the teacher should help indiviluah identify fiequent error patterns and discuss goals for reducing error frequency. in this *uy) a writer, with instructor guidance, -can set reasonable A frequent cornplaint of students during short .objectiver fot improvement. '.olrr", (e.g., a 1 week term) is that they do not notice their writing getting any better. Especialiy for writers who have numerous grammatical problems, limiting intensive work on errors to some of the most frequent or serious ones can build students' confidence and reduce anxiety about grammar problems by giving them a better chance to observe improvement over a short period of time. Although instructors will n.ant to refer to students' writing to identify and discuss grarnnrar problems, they should be careful that grammar focus does not contradiit other types of teacher feedback. When teachers point out errors to be edited on drafts at the same time that they suggest meaning-levei changes, such as further developing a topic, students may be confused as to how they should revise (Zamel,19B5).
"

192

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One method of charting progress in reducing error frequency during a course, is for each student to keep a chronological record of the errors being focused on, with the teacher helping by either coding or underiining them on selected writing assignments, such as final drafts before a paPer is due.

Another method of individualising error correction, recommended by CelceMurcia and Hilles (1988), is the "blue sheet." In this technique, the teacher attaches a blue sheet to each student's paragraph or essay, on which two obvious structural errors are listed. Again, this could be done with drafts preceding final revision. The teacher also refers each lrrriter to exercises in the class grammar text or provides handouts relevant to these errors. (Some ESL textbooks, such as Graham & Curtis, 1986; Raimes, 1988, include text-based exercises.) The teacher then corrects the practice exercises before the writing assignment is revised by
the student.

Writing conferences can provide opportunities for more individualised help with granunar problems in writing. Even if this is not possible, the teacher may be able to hold "miniconferences" with individuals or small groups of students in the cl3ssroom. In conferences, teachers can demonstrate directly the difficuities a readef might have as a result of gramrnatical errors in the student's writing. This setting allows the teacher to act as a collaborator rather than as an error detector or corrector; he/she can help students to identify errors that create reader confusion or misinterpretation of ideas, to develolstrategies for systematic editing of frequent errors, to set goals for improvement, and to assess progress in these goais. In conferences, teachers and students can also discuss possible reasons for errors. The Cohen and Robbns (L976) case studies of writers based on this technique indicate that writers' attitudes about the importance of grammatical accuracy may affect error frequency. Although, as Cohen and Robbins note, students may la'ck metalanguage to describe reasons for structural probiems, they can often provide insight into sources of error that a teacher might hot have considered.

TOPIC

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193

(1)

Is $Tc1i)1Jt-,ii lrrstruction compatible with a process aPProach r,,'ritinql l:r erpl;ining your opinion, include a definition
"gramr-Lar.

to of

(2)

Discr-rss hon- learner variables of age, proficiency leve1, educational role of backgror-rncl, and/or course objectives might influence the giammar rnstruction in writing for Malaysian ESL stuCents. W]-ty is

(3)

it important for grammar exercises to be:

(a) (b) (c) (4)

text-based rather than a series of unrelated sentences;

developed from authentic discourse; and

presented in a comrnunicative context rather practice in grammatical structures?

than only

as

Yor,r are teaching

whose writing generalllihas only minor grarnmatical errors. What types of gru**utically focused writing activities might be most appropriate lo help them further develop their writing abilities?

a class of advanced ESL/EFL students

(5) If one of your students expressed dlappointment

(6)

that you did not correct all of the errors in her final dlafts, how would yor-r respond? What are Some of the advantages of teacher-student c()nference\ ln helping students with grammaticai problems in writing?

l.

Evaiuate one or more grammar-oriented exercises in an ESL composition textbook or workbook according to the following criteria: (a) lVhat appears to be the PurPose of the exercise? Do You think it is pedagogicallY sound? is stiii (b) Is the exercise text-based? If not, do you think appropriate for its purPose?

(c)
1i

Does the language seem authentic?

194

TOPIC

INTEGRATION OF SK:LiS

(d)

If the exercise is included in a content-based or rhetorical framework (".g., as part of a unit on cause/effect), is it
clearly and appropriately related to the larger context?

(e)

If the exercise is not part of a larger context, for what aspect of

writing instruction do you think it would be appropriate?

(0

Does the level of difficulty seem appropriate for

intended learners?

the

2.

Select

a text that you think iilustrates well the use of a particular grammatical structure (e.g., agentless passives, present perfect verbs, presentative "thefe" to introduce information). Develop an exercise to accompany the text that students could complete in small groups as a classroom assignment or individually for homework. Explain the objective of the exercise and the writing context in which it
might be used.

3.,

Examine several ESL/EFL compositions that have numerous and varied grammatical errors. For each, identify two of the most frequent or serious errors. Develop sets of exercises or activities that would help the writer to address these grammatical problCmsMake a list of grammatical elrors you observe in your students'writing that seem to be influenced by spoken English patterns. Create short dictation exercises to focus on these errors or find authentic texts that would be appropriate for dictation.

+.

5.

Interview ESL writing teachers about the techniques, both oral and written, that they have used to provide feedback on grammatical errors in their students' writing. (a) During what stages of composing processes do they address
errors?

&) (c) (d)

Which error feedback and/or correction techniques have they found to be most effective? What student variables have affected the success of techniques
used?

Compare your findings with those oi recent research on the effectiveness of error correction anLl ice!-1back methods.

'ral)ereqJ
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earnleralq +noqp Suqrrrnt rn auop aq upJ +eqg

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o-\\l '\\or.{ a}elal luaod.ro deid',{rois r:oJS'J io luauodruor pus peal arreq iaqr l:-.-.'1 lnoqe a}IJ,vr
e

pue lanqtafqo s,;a1r.irn ar{} }no purJ ual{} pup sluartodtur]l lrr iaqtunu e q8ra.tl

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196

TOPIC

INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

setting.

' Symbols. r lronl. . Theme.

Some of these

will be more significant than the others, depending on the work.

(a)

Plot Factors

Plot can be identified as the sequence of events that

narrative along.

A conventional plot during the opening of a story presents important characters and sets the stage for what happens. Then one or more
controversies develop, some persons set as rivals, others setting characters igainst society, nature, fate, or even themselves. Progressively, action increases to a climax, where events take a decisive or turning point. The ending can do plenty of things; skaighten up thgunanswered questions of the fufure, state a theme, or reinstate some sort df relationship between two rivals. Writers use a number of techniques to arrange plots. For instance, in foreshadowing, the writer hints at later developments, thus creating attraction and developilg suspense. When using another organisational technique, called the flashback, the writer disturbs the flow of events to link ane or more happenings that happened before the point of interruption. In bnef, flashbacks provide necessary information and either craft or work out
suspense.

In clear stages, not every plot develops. In recent times, many modern

stories focus on psychological, not physical conflicts, and lack distinct plot divisions. In some extreme cases, writers may actually leave behind the traditional plot structure and portray events in a disorganised sequence that helps accomplish some literary purpose, like reflecting a character's disturbed state of mind.

of actions and events, but most poems, however, make a philosophical point rather than tell a
Sometimes, a poem comprises a series

conventionally plotted story by portraying a series of images and building

statements.

TOPIC

INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

.q

197

Writing about Plot In writing abo:.r: r,-ot, assist your reaCer to comprehend what is unique about the plot arC hou it serves, rather than sirnply repeat what occurs in the storv, Expialn to 'u'our reader whether it develops susPense, reflects a character's contusion, form a conflict, or illustrate how different lives can
crisscross or e\-en heip uncover a theme.

Answer the folion'ing questions before you start to write:

. o

What are the main events of the story?

Do they expand in typical fashion or differ from it?

What did the writer use, foreshadoin"ing or flashback?

For what purpose?

. . c

Is the plot believahle and successfirl, or does

wealcness?

it display some sort of

Does it include any unique appearance?

ls it parallel to the plot of another story or any type of story?

What plot features could I write about?

What examples from the story would support my opinion?

During investigative research, find out the important events and their relation to your topic. Then, organise the events if the story is disorganised or illogical so that they make sense and ask yourself why that seqtlence \\'as chosen by the writer. Likewise, consider the reason for any use of
foreshadowing or flashback.
Compare the plot with one in another story to show how both expand some main approach by describing anything uniqtre about the plot. To plan a paper on plot, you can either present a thesis backed with examples taken from the text or write a comparison.

(b)

Point-of-viewFactors The point of view is the rrantage point from which the writer of a literary rrvork looks at its events, and he/she may use either a first'pelson or a third-person perspective.

198

TOPIC

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SKILLS

In first-person:.i::.:.- :

>,:'il'.eone

in the work tells u'hat occurs and is

recognised bi,,...:-:: ,-...., - ire, mine, and my. Howerrer, a third-person narrator star-s t--:,.,., '-.::- tile story and is never stated in any rvay' The most frequeni it'::. .- :l:--i-person narration features a narrator who takes part in tlie stc.r' -r, -,'. r.-r this technique puts the reader completely on the a Scene ancl is rrr--.'l'.t for tracing the progress or deterioration of character. The r.:::AiLri may observe it from the sidelines instead of participating r:.. r.he action, an approach that Preserves on-the-scene dir".t-t.r, *,d.-.lo',',s ihe narrator to comment on the characters and the issues. Houe,,-er, the narrator cannot enter the'mind and expose the unspoken thinking of anYone else.

Third-person nalrators do not participate in the action but can examine the whole literary landscape and directly report events that first-person narrators would know only by word of mouth. Most third-person narrators expose the thoughts of just one character. Others, with limited omniscience, can enter the h"eads of ,"rr.rul characters, while stil1 others display fuil omniscience and knor.t, everything in the literary work, including all ,thoughts and feelings of all characters. Omniscience drau' general 'conciusion by allowing the narrator to contrast tr,vo or more sets of thoughts and feelings. Dramatic narration, another type of third-persor{narration, has appeared in contemporary fiction. A dramatic narrator moves about recording th'e characters' actions and words but without revealing anyone's thoughts, just like motion picture camera. This technique is often used in stories with surprise endings.

Writing about Point-of-View

Answer these questions for a paper about point-of-view:

" What point of view is used? Why is it used? o fu it suitable for the situation? Why or why not? c {f the story uses first-person narration, is the narrator
textual evidence suPPorts my answer?

reliable? What

What focus would produce an effective paper? What textual evidence could support its discussion?

Various reasons might rnduce the choice of a particuiar point of view. For instance, to show a iharacter's mental deterioration, a writer might use the first-person. In crder to increase the emotional impact of a storv's climax, a third:persorr might enier tvro miucls to conirast opposing attitudes tor'r'ard som{-'incidcni ur t'ilic: lr() lirinds at rll.

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199

Sometimes, first-person narrators are inaccurate because they offer the reader a twisted view of things. Compare the narrator's version of the facts with what the work othent'ise rer-eals, in order to determine reliability. Papers on point of rriew mainly foliow a cause-and-effect format, which identify the point of view used and then demonstrating its effect on the story and reader with examples. A sense of approaching conflict are built by shifting scenes, which would be difficult to produce with a first-person narrator, who could not move about in this fashion.

(c)

Character Factors In a literary work, the characters sen'e in various ways. Some are centres of physical and mentai action. Others provide humour, act as narrators, provide needed information, act as foils who emphasise more important characters by contrast, serve as symbols, or simply popuiate the surroundings.

Writers tend to portray characters in severai ways. In point-black, some writers notify the reader that the person is cowardly, clever, bad etc. However, mostly writers take an indirect approach by stating how their characters look and act, what they say and think, how they live and how other characters view them. In some way,-some characters stay unchanged; others mature, obtain insight or even deidiorate. Writing about Character
Answer these questions as you start the process of writing about characters:

. . . . n .

What characters show the potential for a paper?

What are thdir most important features, and where in the story are
these features exposed?

Do the characters erperience any changes? If so, how and why do the
changes take place?

Are the characters believable, true to life? If not, why? What focus would produce an effective paper? What textual evidence could support the discussion?

You often lvrite about the main character, but sometimes you might choose the chief adversary or some minor character. Point out how that person interacts witir the main one for a lesser character. Most main characters change ancl lesst'i ones normally do not. But in some cases, a main character rernains firrrtn, .rllowing the rt'riter to make an important point. A writer mighi crt'...ii .r rrrdin character that begins and

200

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TOPIC

ends weak and lit-:.::--:, t.. show that a certain social grouP suffers from the paralysis oi ih.-- ,.. --- \., matter what, just tell the reader whenever you tind out what i-Li::- ::. '.'L-,Lrr character serves. Ask yourself about your * character credibi,r:-, -r he she is true to life. The stereotyped figures merciless witch, k-r-.; ,::ln.ess, smart detectives - do not square r't'ith real life peopie n.ht-r e.re : c.rmplex combination of many personalities. A fulidress creation is ntrr appropriate to every character, but all require enough development io strargh,ten up their roles.

To start vor-rr paper, distinguish your characteris role on personality, support it n'ith illustrations and if possible, foilow the sequence presented bythe writer. Say, tell why and point out the result if a character changes
using supporting examples. Typically, it is a cause-and-effect analysis.

(d)

S"ttiog Factors
The importance of setting is that it estabiishes characters in a time, place, and culfure so that they can think, feel, and act against this background. By describing settings, writers can produce feelings and moods.

,/ joy, dark is forbidden, and thunder Sunny landscapes indicate faith or

suggests carnage. Mainly, setting is used in poetry to create mood. Besides that, setting can also help in revealing a character's personality. Sometimes, settings function as symbois to strengthen the workings of the ctl-ter

A broad slowly flowing river may stand for time or fate, a rocky cliff for strength of a character, a cyclone-swept plain for the
components. overwhelming power of nature. Setting provides a hint to some study about life at times. Lastly, shifts in setting often cause shifts in a character's emotional or psychological state.

Writing about S.tti*g To begin, search for a topic by identifying the settings in the story. Then
answer each question: What are its main features?

*
u,

What does it achieve? Create a mood? Expose a character? Function as a symbol? Strengthen the story's point? How does it accomplish the:{e things?

ln v,'hat wa\rs docs it supploit or get involr'ed r't'ith the story?

I

L)oes the seiiing su-'.:ilr. r'ealistic? trf not, r.r'hv nor?

i
I

i
I I
I

t
11

'.*i:.*-

-3FiC

INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

2A1

'

\.Alhat focus

would produce an effective paper? \{hat textual evidence

would support it?

The impact of setting on mood can be checked by seeing how well the two correspond for each setting. Establish relations between settings and characters. You can predict that a n'riter is using a setting to convey character if an emotionally harsh individual always appears against backdrops of depressingly furnished rooms, duil bars, and rotting slums. Look for links between changes in characters and changes in settings. Point out any shifts in the way the character views the setting if it remains the
same.

Describe the setting and discuss its impact on the story's other component when you write about it, and then support your statement with detailed examples.
(e)

Symbol Factors Writers use symbols - names, persons, objects, places, colours, or actions that have significance beyond their surface meaning in order to strengthen and deepen their messages. A symbol may be very apparent - as a name like Mr. Murky, suggesting the person's character - or quite subtle, as an object representing a universal human emotion.

Certain symbols are private and some cJ^rrentional. A private symbol has special significance within a iiterary work but not outside it. Almost everyone knows what conventional symbols represent; they are deeply rooted in most cultures.

Writing about Syglbols Think and answer the following questions when you examine the symbols in a iiterary work:

o What symbols are used and where do they come out? . Are they private or conventional? o What do they appear to mean? . Do any of them undergo a change in meaning? If so, how and why? . Which symbol (s) could I discuss effectively? e What textual evidence would support my understandirg and
explanation? \44ren you discuss each symbol, state rvhat you think support your position with suitable tertual evidence.

it

means and then

?l
I
:

:02

TOPIC

- )\lLL)

Irony Factors Irony features

realitY, exPectano:-' ': it actuallY mealls sc:l-

.1-r11''! -i'-- -r.

In some cases, Lrtri''\

- :L'slllts rvhen the reader or a character recognises otherwise' something ?S rfi-IPt-rr :i:''i but another character
.'.->

\{riting aboui Ironv

Start by ansn-erinq ti''ese tluestrons:

Where does ironY take Place?

What does it btittg about?

I support it? What could my thesis be, and how could

that say one thing but actuallv In searching for irony, check for statements one chaiacter knows something mean sonrething else, situations in which

the ways characters should do that another does not, and contrasts between harmonises with the expectations' and behave. To see whether the outcome review the Plotare spolen or the events occur to Examine the context in which the words what the irony ironY is intended besides notifying the reader

prove that
achieves.

o) o/

Theme factors

lt can also be some ihe th"me of a literary work is its controlling idea. terms of living, even and
observation or insignt iUout life or the conditions wisdom of humility, or the r,r'orsening as the occurrenc" o"f *i.k"dness, the ptrwer of hatred.

Many}iteraryrt,orkssuggestsseveralthemes.Sometimesthereisone a number of primary motif and ,.rr"irl related ones, and sometimes is reguiarly work, theme unrelated motifs. As the centre of a literary
sufported anci developed by all of the other components Writing about Theme questioirs: Beforeieginning to write, ask and answer these * What are thethemesofthisrvork?Vrhichoftheseshouldlwriteabout? Are thel' stateC or unsiated?

If unstated, lvhat comPonents suppclrt thern?

I
I I

i I
r

'I
I I

i
$

--dk

ICPIC

INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

203

. e

If unstated, what components create them?

\\rhat, rf any, thematic weaknesses are present?

To see whether the themes are stated directly, check the comments of the characters and the narrator. If they are not, to verify them, assess the interaction of characters, events, settings, symbols, and other components. Basically, a paper on theme is an argument, so, after presenting your interpretation, support it with textual evidence.

7.4,2

Writing a Paper on Literature

Success in a literature paper depends on the procedure:

. focusing; . gatheringinformation; . organising; . writingi . revising; and . editing.

,/

You can start off by writing on plot, point of view, character, setting, symbols, irony, or theme. Next, decide upon a suitable topic. For literature papers, reread the work carefully and do a reflection on it.

In gathering information, reread the story again and at the same time, list ail
relevant information that might help develop a character analysis. Prepare . formal topic outline to reflect your discovery.
a

Then, in developing a thesis statement, you might encounter a few difficulties. Based on your notes and following your outline, write a first draft of your essay and proceed with the necessary revising and editing. To add, review the story and verifit your interpretation.

Handling Procedure Quotations should be used when necessary, but not to excess. Do not quote massive blocks of material; just point out brief and relevant passages to support key ideas. Place short quotations, about five lines long, within quotation mark and run them into the text.
Leave out the quotation mark and indent the material ten spaces from the lefthand margin for ionger passages.

:'t4

TOPIC

7 INT:'-=:- l '. l'- SKILLS

_ens

rite your essay in the piSt:.i :aiher than the past tense.

How does writing

guidelines?

iiterature paper enable student to appiy the writing

7.5
Class

MODEI- LESSOru PLAF.E FOR THE TEACI'IING OF GRAMMAR IN WRITING

Level

Iime
Theme

40 minutes

fopic
Skitls

Tom the Banker (Jazz Chant)

1. Responding to questions orally. 2. Listen and read to aiazz chant. 3. Describing about one's job.
WFl-questions (\A4ry, Where, When) and the simple present tense answers.
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: 1. write down 6 WH-question sentences using

Language aspect

Objectives

why, where,

and when, with simple present tense answers correctly based on the given words in the brackets with at least 90 %
accuracy.

Previous knowledge

Students have learnt about other WH-questions (What, Who, Which, Whose) and the simple past and future tense from their previous lesson.
Respect one's job.

l'{oral values

Ihinking skills
Teaching aids

Identifying the main ideas.

Pictnre strips, imager, jazz chant texi, rt'orksheets'

IOPIC

INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

Time

Stages

Teachels Activities

Studen/s Activities
1.

AVA
1.

1. Set induction
(3 minutes)

1.

Teacher conducts

Students study
+L^ '-i^+,,-^ lr rE

Picture strips
imager

occupation quiz n ith the

students.

PrLtuIE

l.

shown.
shador.n'
2. Students answer

2. Teacher shows
Rationale: To stimulate

student's interest in the topic.

pictures of occupations and instructs students to name and spell the job of the person in the shadow pictures. The pictures are shown on picture sbrips one by one on the imager.

the quiz questions.

Suggbsted answers

1. He's a milkman
Spelling

3.

Teacher introduces

today's lesson. Ouestion 1. \4il-rat job does the person in the picture do? Speli the name of the job.
Refer to Appendix A

milkman

nurse

2.

She's a nurse.

Spelling

2. Explanation
(B

minutes)

Rationale:

Teacher distributes texts of jazz chant entitled 'Tom the Banker'to the students. Teacher instructs students to read silentiy and

1. Students read the

T^-., -1-^^r )aLL Ulilar

4azzchant
silently.

text entitle

'Tom the Banker'

2.

1. To enable students to understand and read the jazz chantwith

the correct tune.

2. Students listen to
the tune of teacher reciting the jazz chant.

Imager

understand the jazz chants for 1 minute.

Teacher then instructs

3. Students
read aloud the jazz chant with the right fune.

2. To enable
students to understand the message

students to listen carefully to teacher reciting and tune making (on the table)

of the jazz chants.

Teacher instructs students to read the jazz chant together aloud with the

fromtheiazz
chant.

4. Students Iisten to
teacher's

3. To ensure
students

right tune shown by the

teacher earlier, Teacher explains the

understand the grammar asPect.

explanation about the content of the

jazz chant.

content from the jazz.

WHquestions and the simple present tense from the jazz chant.

5. Students listen
carefully to
teacher's

explanation of the
!-r,-lmnl2r:CnPat *"r'-'

a''."""* in the lazz chant.

206

TOPIC

_ )KILLS

j. Practice and
metacogr,ition
(10

1.

Students get into

their groups.

minutes)

a -r-r-- ":
f-'-r'--!1-.1--a
-

- __i - 1i

Each group writes

their parallel jazz

-1,- . -, ;--,i-Ul : -:-.*

--

-.-:+L

Rationale: To enable students to

.:itr

t- ..

chant with the same tune using the

iie i:,:
work

:-- ::-

-: : :s:e.-i

coilaboratively.

: -,:;t-.-_-rli:--1,,. -.::!--!Ll.'',.i .l'--i,=l t't.f L !'ii-fli. Ft;ntnls

graflunar aspect learnt to describe other different

occupations Students discuss

Crour

tll

n-rile about

with their friends in

their group.
Each group present by reading aloud their completed

1 2
?

a doctor a soldier

r nrrcFmrn
a teacher a shop-keeper a saiior

4 5 6

jazz chant.

3. Once completed,
teacher instructs every

group to read their

iqzz -' '"' ' '' ehanl j",-"

Exampie of parallel jazz chant: Refer to Appendix

C.

l
Students work in pairs to do the task

Application | 1. Teacherdistributes
(7 minutes)

Worksheet

I I
I

Worksheet 1 to students and instructs them to do the task in pairs.

in worksheet

1.

A representative of
Teacher instructs students to write down r.t'hai a person does based on their each group presents

Rationale:
To enable stuclerrts

I Z.

their answer.

apply the knorvleige in the gir'en task.

to

I I I I i t'
i

o..r,pution by using the simple present tense verbs. No. 1 is done as an

example.

I Reter to l4iorksheet 1

TOPiC

INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

zo7

5.

Evaluation
('10 minutes)

1. Teacher distributes Worksheet 2 to the students.

1.

Students listen to the teacher's explanation. Students complete

the tasks by

Worksheet 2

2. Teacher instructs students to

Rationale:
To evaluate student's
understanding.

write down 6 WH-question sentences using Why, Where, and When with its answers in the simple present tense based on the words given in the brackets. No. 1 is done as an example. Refer to Worksheet 2

2.

constructing 6 WHquestion sentences with its answers

using the

grammatical aspect
learnt earlier.

Closure

'1. Teacher wraps up by stating

(2 minutes )
Rationale:
To instill the vaiue of respect towards
one's job.

the importance of respecting

one's job.

Students listen attentively to teacher and take note of the extended activity they should do.

Example,

(a) Students should respect

their school security guard as they look after the security of the school at
night.

(b) Students should respect

the fishermen as they get food for us to eat.

IAZZ CHANT
Tom the Banker Where does Tom live?, He lives near the bank. Where does he work? He works in the bank. When does he work? He works all day, allnight, alI day, all night, in the bank, in the bank, in the great big bank. Where does he sleep? He sleeps in the bank. Why does he sleep all day, all night, all day,', all night, in the bank, in the bank, in the great big bank? Because he loves his monev more than his life, And he loves his bank more than his wife.

&

ffi8

- )\lLL)

Apperrdix B

(1) Question vroros

'.- a

)azz cfiant.

Where, when. .'"ll;' Where - quesi c: i:'e i's to a Place .g \"iine:e cc ;'cu live? When - questicn as<. s about itme' e.g. \iVhen '"vrli the first bus arrive? Why - question for an exPlanation' e.g. WhY are You crYing? Question words from the jazz chant' Where does Tom live? Where does Tom work? When does Tom work? Where does Tom sleeP? Whv does he sleeP in the bank?
Present past' pre;sent and It expresses repeated action (includes the future). Action that is still happen ing e.g. lt rains everY daY^ The earth revolves around the sunShe travels to work bY bus' Simple Present Tense words in the lazz chanl' He lives near the bank' He works in the bank' He works all day, all night, all day' all night' l-ie sleePs in the bank'

't

(2) -SimPle

Tense

'

'/

Becauseheloveshismoneymorethanhislife.
And he loves his bank more than his wife'

TCPIC

INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

Appendix C
Example of parallel Jazz Chant.

John the Soldier

Where does John live? He lives near the camp. Where does he work? He works in the camp. When does he work? He works all day, all night, all day, all night, in the camp, in the camp, in the big army camp. Where does he sleep? He s/eeps in the camp. Why does he sleep all day, all night, al{ day, all nigttt, in the camp, in the camp, in the big army camp? Because he loves his work more than his life, And he /oyes his country more than his wife.

210

,..

]F

SKILLS

Wor ksheet
Name

Date

lnstruction

people do by using the Simple With your partner. t',''iie dolvn what these done as an example Present Tense vei'bs The fii'st one is

What theY do?

3.
',1
;t

Mechanic

7.

Football PlaYer

0.

Butcher

11. Plumber

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INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

211

Teacher's Copy Worksheet

lnstructio n:
With your partner, write down what these people do by using the Simple Present Tense verbs. The first one is done as an example.
1

Who?

What they do?

Bakes cake. Plants vegetables. Teaches students.
Rep airs engine.

1. Baker

2.

Farmer

3. Teacher 4.
Mechanic

5. Musician 6. 7.
Doctor Football player

Plays music.

Treats'sick people.
Plays football Flies aeroplane. Dances on stage

,/

B. Pilot

9.

Dancer

10. Butcher

Sells meat.
Repairs leaking pipe. Cuts hair.

11. Plumber 12. Barber

212

TOPII

SKILLS

Worksheet
Name

Date:

lnstructton

write doi.,n 6 q-ast c:s and answers in the simple Present Tense the about things tnai a:e gcing on in your school. Use the words in brackets to h eiP Ycu Example: \lJhere (schocl boY. staY)

Question.
Answer

\rVhere does the schoolbov stav?

He staYs in the hostel

)

1.

When ( the school cook. work

Question:

Answer

2,

Why (the school security guard, sleeP

Question:

Answer When ( student, sing the national anthem

Question. Answer
)

Where ( school footballer, practice

Question:

Answer
5.

When ( school guard, oPen the gate

Question

Answer
o_

Where ( schoolwarden, live

Question:

Answer

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INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

213

Teacher's Copy Worksheet 2

Name

Date:

Instruction.

write down 6 questions and answers in the simple present rense about things that are going on in your school. Use the words in the brackets to help you.
Example: Where (school boy, stay
)

Question. Where does the schoolbov stav? Answer : He stavs in the hostel.

1.

When ( the school cook, work

2.

Question. When does the school cook work? Answer . Thu *orkr uurruin th" *ornino ,ntir *u"nino. "ook Why (the school security guard, sleep) Question: whv does the schoor niqht quard sreep ail dav?
This is because he works all niqht. When (student, sing the national anthem
)

Answer

Question:

. Thu rtrd*nt rinor th" NutionulAnth"* drrino th* school assemblv.

Answer
Where (schoot footballers, practice
Question. football?
)

Answer

. Th" u"hool footbull", prr"ti"*r

)

school field. When ( school guard, open the gate

Question;

pluvinq footbull ut th"

Answer

He opens the school qate earlv in the morninq.

)

Where (school warden, live

Question: Where does the schooi v",arden live? Answer : She lives at the schoci bar-i-ack

TOPIC

INTEGMTION OF SKILLS

s 6e

a t t t a 6r

ts8*&

@6SS&*&4SSs&$8e

and that Grammar is indeed an essential aspect of written communication as an students in the ESL/EFL classroom should be taught to view granlmar aid to shaping effective and appropriate messages'

. r

As Ponsot and Deen (1982, p. 133) put it, "grammar is clearly not remedial' Like baking Powder, it can'ibe stiried into the cake after the batter has been poured into Pans."
Thus, while concern for grammatical correctness should be integrated with (t its or editing processes, grarrunar in its broader meaning, that is the structural patterns of language, plays a role in all phases of composing.

In selecting and developing grammar-oriented activities for the classroom/

the teacher"should aiways U"* i" mind the students' needs and background as well as the demands of writing tasks.
t

h b & 6 * * *,4

& I & & 4 q & & & 4 & @d q * I

Analysis Conversion

Dictation
Elicitation

TOPIC

INTEGRATION OF SKILLS

215

&q4@@4

t.

\Alhat are the six guidelines for integrating grammar into writing
instruction?
\Mhat do native English speaking teachers recommend? \Alhat do Celce-Murcia and Hillies (1988) recommend?

2. 3.
A

Give two kinds of text compietion exercises. What do Raimes's algorithms do?

'

5.

1.

Construct a basic level English text based on one of the text completion
techniques.

Devise

basic level sentence combining exercise based on Melton's

technique.