Unit 12 Teaching Writing一、What, why and how do we write1. Writing tasks in reality:We write to get things done and to form and maintain social relationships. In reality, there is a great variety of things we write, for example,letters,journals,notes,instructions,posters,essays,reports,menus.Filling in forms, similar tasks and answering questionnaires are also writing.2. Reasons for writing in reality:We write for various reasons, such as to convey messages or to keep a record of what is in our mind.There are other reasons why we should get students involved in writing in a foreign language.Writing can give a voice to shy students as writing can serve as a medium through which less confident students can communicate with their teachers.Moreover, writing can be less threatening for anxious students as it gives them time to think about their meaning and purpose.Writing can also raise awareness of how language works.Through writing, students will become more familiar with the linguistic and social conventions of writing in English.3. Ways to write:①As to the way we write, there are collaborative and solitary writing. Some people never put down a word before rehearsing the sentence many times in their mind, while other people write down anything that comes to their mind before they start drafting and then do a lot of editing and proof-reading.②ELT writing vs. Writing in realityComparing writing in our English teaching classroom with writing in reality, it is easy to find two major differences.First, writing in ELT classroom is often seen as a means to consolidate language that is recently studied while we write for communication in reality to convey messages or for self-creation.Second, in the ELT classroom, especially in traditional pedagogy, writing often goes this way: the teacher gives a topic or a selection of topics, a set of requirements, and a time limit. The students finish the task within the time limit and hand in the final product. ELT writing tasks lack authenticity. ELT writing tasks focus on the product rather than process, ignoring planning, drafting, rewriting stages.So we should make students want to write in the first place, then teach them how to write.二、A communicative approach to writing 交际写作法Mechanical writing activities do not by themselves motivate students. To motivate students, it is necessary to engage them in some act of communication. In short, students can be motivated by authentic writing tasks that have some communicative elements.With different audiences and different purposes, the writing piece could vary greatly.Some writing activities can be between ‘writing for learning’ and ‘writing for communication’.三、Problems in writing tasksMany writing tasks, in existing textbooks and in classroom teaching, fail to have a communicative element due to the following deficiencies:①They are mainly accuracy-based;②They are designed to practice certain target structures;③There is insufficient preparation before the writing stage;④There is no sense of audience;⑤There is no sense of authenticity;⑥Students are given ideas to express rather than being invited to invent their own;⑦There is no opportunity for creative writing, particularly for expressing unusual or original ideas;⑧Many of them are test-oriented.四、A process approach to writing 过程写作法A process approach to writing is the process the teacher provide help to guide students through the process that they undergo when they are writing. The process approach to writing does not only pay attention to what students do while they are writing, it also attaches great importance to what they and the teacher do before they start writing and after they finish writing.1. The features of the process approach to writing:Brown summarises the features of process writing as follows:①Focus on the process of writing that leads to the final written product;②Help student writers understand their own composing process;③Help them build repertoires of strategies for prewriting, drafting, and rewriting;④Give students time to write and rewrite;⑤Place central importance on the process of revision;⑥Let students discover what they want to say as they write;⑦Give students feedback throughout the composing process （not just on the final product）to consider as they attempt to bring their expression closer and closer to intention;⑧Encourage feedback both from the instructor and peers;⑨Include individual conferences between teacher and student during the process of composition.2. The main procedures of process writing:（1）Creating a motivation to writeOnly when students have a clear purpose or a reason to write, will they feel motivated or eager to write.（2）BrainstormingStudents work together to brainstorm ideas for writing, students can list all the ideas related to the topic on a piece of paper or on the blackboard.（3）MappingMapping helps students organize these ideas. Mapping will give students the opportunity to select from the list those useful ideas to be included in their writing and also to see how these ideas can be put together in a coherent or logical way to present a convincing argument.（4）FreewritingFreewriting refers to the stage when students start writing freely about the topic following mapping. Freewriting can help students develop fluency in writing.（5）OutliningAn outline usually illustrates the main organizing structure and the most important points of the essay.（6）DraftingThe development of ideas is more important than getting grammatical structures, punctuation or spelling correct. （7）EditingEditing is the stage when students read through their writings and check the clarity of ideas or the logical development of their arguments.Editing may take two forms: peer editing and self-editing. Peer editing refers to students’ editing of each other’s writings, while self-editing refers to students’ editing of their own writings. Both editing activities are beneficial for improving students’ writing skills as both processes can help raise their awareness about how to developideas and how to write clearly with the help of their knowledge in grammar, spelling and punctuation.（8）RevisingRevising is the stage when teachers guide students to make necessary improvements in both organization and contents based on either self-editing or peer editing.（9）ProofreadingAt this stage, students should be guided to read their writings again carefully for any mistakes in grammar, spelling, punctuation, or capitalization.（10）ConferencingConferencing refers to a private meeting between the teacher and each individual student. It is important for teachers to talk face to face with students about their writing, pointing out their strength and weaknesses.3. Using the Internet to promote process writing:Research indicates that students prefer to submit drafts one at a time to the teacher and revise their work after seeking comments or advice from the teacher.1) Advantages of an e-mail based writing scheme:①E-mail provides a perfect mechanism for students to submit drafts and for teachers to look them over at their convenience and send them back with comments—once, twice, or several times. The teacher can store all the drafts for later review and analysis of the revision process.②In an e-mail based writing scheme, the students can not only send their writing to the teacher, but also send their work to each other simultaneously so as to receive comments from all peers.③When writing through e-mail, students have a feeling of real-time writing, writing for the purpose of sharing ideas with their teacher or classmates. Therefore, new ideas are shared promptly and can be responded to quickly.2) Two reasons against promoting the use of e-mail in the teaching of writing:①Students don’t have access to computers, let alone e-mail.②Teachers don’t have the technology for running the e-mail list.Other useful ways: Blogging, BBS, Moodle.五、Motivating students to writeAs writing can only be improved by constant practice, we believe that the way to motivate students to write is a key point to the successful teaching of writing.Principles of helping teachers motivate students to write:①Make the topic of writing as close as possible to students’ life;②Leave students enough room for creativity and imagination;③Prepare students well before writing. Pre-writing activities will help students broaden their views and encourage a generation of ideas;④Encourage collaborative group writing as well as individual writing;⑤Provide opportunities for students to share their writings;⑥Provide constructive and positive feedback;⑦Treat students’ errors strategically;⑧Give students a sense of achievement from time to time.Motivation is very important in language learning. No matter what methods teachers use, motivating students is always very important in teaching writing.。
