Writing
From my point of view, writing activities are very important and useful tool for students’ improvement. It’s very beneficial for learning vocabulary, especially when they have to do the writing as their homework. Using dictionaries, they can see the particular word they need to use in their writing and they need to write the word down, of course. The more ways of learning the better for students.
Personally, I like writing in case I can write my own opinions but when comes to “formal writing” I’m not so keen doing it. But still, even the formal writing helps me to improve my English.
As a teacher, I use writing activities in the process of teaching as well. I start with filling in some forms and then I teach writing a simple email to a penfriend, a postcard, invitation etc. After these informal emails or letters I try to deal with formal writing which I would say is not more difficult than informal writing, but I’ve found it less interesting for my students – they are probably like me :-).
There are some interesting activities recommended in the Reader, especially “fast-write” is the one I would like to use in my classroom, because it could be really funny and whenever I can use a funny activity I don’t hesitate for a moment.
In addition to that, I hold the idea that students should do the writing activities predominantly on computers, because in real life they hardly ever write hand written letters. Unfortunately, my students don’t have the opportunity to use computers during the class, which is not a very big problem for them but for me it’s therefore quit demanding to correct some of the letters, because there are always students whose handwriting makes me feel that I correct letters from extremely experienced doctors. Moreover, the correction itself is a time-consuming part of my teaching. There are 12 students in my classroom and it really takes a lot of time to correct their letters or emails properly. On the other hand, I am well aware that it’s just a part of my job but the point of that was to say that the problem could lead to the fact that some teachers avoid writing activities like the plague.
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Some examples of my students' written work with correction
Examples of writing tasks in textbooks
Writing for linguistic purposes:
Source:
Oxenden, Clive, and Latham-KoenigChristina. New English File:. Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2010. Print.
Process writing:
A process approach
Process approaches to writing tend to focus more on the varied classroom activities which promote the development of language use: brainstorming, group discussion, re-writing. Such an approach can have any number of stages, though a typical sequence of activities could proceed as follows;
Stage 1
Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion. Students could be discussing qualities needed to do a certain job, or giving reasons as to why people take drugs or gamble. The teacher remains in the background during this phase, only providing language support if required, so as not to inhibit students in the production of ideas.
Stage 2
Students extend ideas into note form, and judge quality and usefulness of ideas.
Stage 3
Students organise ideas into a mind map, spidergram, or linear form. This stage helps to make the (hierarchical) relationship of ideas more immediately obvious, which helps students with the structure of their texts.
Stage 4
Students write the first draft. This is done in class and frequently in pairs or groups.
Stage 5
Drafts are exchanged, so that students become the readers of each other's work. By responding as readers, students develop an awareness of the fact that a writer is producing something to be read by someone else, and thus can improve their own drafts.
Stage 6
Drafts are returned and improvements are made based upon peer feedback.
Stage 7
A final draft is written.
Stage 8
Students once again exchange and read each other's work and perhaps even write a response or reply.
Source:
"TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC." TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2016.
Oxenden, Clive, and Latham-KoenigChristina. New English File:. Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2010. Print.
Model writing:
A product (model) approach
This is a traditional approach, in which students are encouraged to mimic a model text, which is usually presented and analysed at an early stage. A model for such an approach is outlined below:
Stage 1
Model texts are read, and then features of the genre are highlighted. For example, if studying a formal letter, students' attention may be drawn to the importance of paragraphing and the language used to make formal requests. If studying a story, the focus may be on the techniques used to make the story interesting, and students focus on where and how the writer employs these techniques.
Stage 2
This consists of controlled practice of the highlighted features, usually in isolation. So if students are studying a formal letter, they may be asked to practise the language used to make formal requests, practising the 'I would be grateful if you would…' structure.
Stage 3
Organisation of ideas. This stage is very important. Those who favour this approach believe that the organisation of ideas is more important than the ideas themselves and as important as the control of language.
Stage 4
The end result of the learning process. Students choose from a choice of comparable writing tasks. Individually, they use the skills, structures and vocabulary they have been taught to produce the product; to show what they can do as fluent and competent users of the language.
Source:
"TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC." TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Dec. 2016.
Source:
Koenig, Christina Latham, Clive Oxenden, and Paul Seligson. New English File elementary. Oxford: Oxford U Press, 2012. Print.
Creative writing:
Hello, you!
Write a letter to your future self. What do you want to say?
"Home." WTD. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Dec. 2016.
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An article about "How to teach writing":
www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/planning-a-writing-lesson
