Unit 12 Teaching writing

Unit12TeachingWritingAimsoftheunitInthisunitwewilldiscusshowteacherscanhelpstudentsdeveloptheirwritingskills.Wewillfocusonthefollowing:What,whyandhowdowewrite?AcommunicativeapproachtowritingProblemsinwritingtasksinexistingtextbooksandclassroomteachingAprocessapproachtowritingMotivatingstudentstowriteDesigningwritingtasksWritingthroughtheInternetWhatdowewrite?journals;diaries;notes,learningnotesessays;reportsmenus;fillinginforms;answerquestionaires;etc.Howdowewrite?e.g.diarieslearningnotesSolitary(individualwork)e.g.projectworkpostersCollaborative(groupwork)Whendowewrite?preparecurricularvitaapplyforapositionjoinasportsclubWhydowewrite?ToconveymessagesTokeeparecordofwhatisinourmindselfcreationCommunicationmeaningToconsolidatewhatwelearnedlanguagelearningaccuracyforformethodorapproachofteachingwritingTwoapproachestowritingthecommunicativeapproachtheprocessapproachtheteachingofwritingshouldfocusontheprocessratherthantheproduct,andthatallthewritingtasksshouldhavecommunicativepurposes.12.2AcommunicativeapproachtowritingToengagestudentsinsomeactofcommunication.Thismeanseitherwritingforaspecificrecipient,orengaginginanactofcreativewriting.Somewritingactivitiescanbebetween“writingforlearning”and“writingforcommunication”.Task:Readsomewritingactivitiesanddecidewhichactivitiesarewritingforconsolidatinglanguage,whicharewritingforcommunication,andwhichareforboth?product-orientedmethodT:givesatopic/aselectionoftopics,asetofrequirements,atimelimit;Ss:finishthetaskwithinthetimelimithandinthefinalproductOldproduct-orientedmethodofteachingwritingpaysgreatattentiontotheaccuracyofthefinalproductbutignorestheprocess,whichthestudentsgothroughtoreachthefinalgoal.Ifthestudentsfailtoproducesomethingsatisfactory,theyaretoldtodoitagain.ProcessapproachtowritingGuidethestudentsthroughtheprocessofwriting.Whatistheprocessofwriting?Whatdostudentsandtheteacherdo?Beforewriting:1.creatingamotivationtowrite2.brainstorming3.mapping4.freewriting5.outliningAfterwriting1.editing2.revising3.proofreading4.conferencingP213-221CreatingamotivationtowriteHaveaclearpurposeorareasontowriteThetopicforwritingshouldbeFamiliarMeaningfulrelevanttostudents,lifeandinterest.Tothinkfreelyandputdownallpossibleideasthatcometotheirminds.BrainstormingSmokingWriteacompositiononthetopicof“Smoking”badforhealthcauselungcancerexpensivebadfornon-smokerspollutetheaircausefiredangerouswastemoneysmokinginpublicplaceindoorsmokingsmokinginpublicplacesMappingtoselecttheusefulideastoseehowtheseideascanbeputtogetherinacoherentorlogicalwaySmoking1.Badforhealthcauselungcancerbadfornon-smokers2.Expensive·WastemoneySmoking3.Pollutetheairindoorsmokingsmokinginpublicplaces4.Dangerous··causefire··…Mapping-11.badforhealthcauselungcancerbadfornon-smokers3.pollutetheairindoorsmokingsmokinginpublicplaces2.expensivewastemoney4.dangerouscausefire…Mapping-2Freewritingfollowingmappinggiven10to15minutesdonotneedtocaretoomuchaboutspellingorgrammardevelopfluencyinwritingOutliningWriteamoredetailedoutline.Anoutlineusuallyillustratesthemainorganizingstructureandthemostimportantpointsofessay.Themainideaofeachparagraphwithtopicsentencesandnotesforsupportingdetails.AnintroductionandaconclusionDraftingthedevelopmentofideasaremoreimportantEditingReadthroughtheirwritingsandchecktheclarityofideasorthelogicaldevelopmentoftheirarguments.Studentscheckcarefullythegrammar,spellingandpunctuationoftheirwritings.Peereditingandself-editingHelpraisetheirawarenessabouthowtodevelopideasandhowtowriteclearlywiththehelpoftheirknowledgeingrammar,spellingandpunctuation.Notsimplyfinderror,buttonegotiatemeaningandimprovingwritingneedteacher’sguidanceNotestopeereditorsYouareofferingsuggestionsasacoach,ahelperandafriend.Yoursuggestionsshouldencourageratherthandiscourage.Bespecific.Saying‘goodidea’doesnothelpthewritermuch.RevisingAddingnewpointsordeletingirreleventfacts;Correctingerrorsinspelling,punctuation,grammarorchoiceofwords.ProofreadingReadthewritingagaincarefullyforanymistakesingrammar,spelling,punctuation,orcapitalization.ConferencingAprivatemeetingbetweentheteacherandeachindividualstudent.ThefeaturesofprocesswritingFocusontheprocessofwritingthatleadstothefinalwrittenproduct;HelpstudentwritersunderstandtheirowncomposingprocessGivestudentstimetowriteandrewritePlacecentralimportanceontheprocessofrevisionLetstudentsdiscoverwhattheywanttosayastheywriteThefeaturesofprocesswritingGivestudentsfeedbackthroughoutthecomposingprocesstoconsiderastheyattempttobringtheirexpressionclosertointention;Encouragefeedbackbothfromtheinstructorandpeers;Includeindividualconferencesbetweenteacherandstudentduringtheprocessofcomposition.ProblemsinwritingtasksTheyaremainlyaccuracy-based.Theyaredesignedtopractiseacertaintargetstructures.Thereisinsufficientpreparationbeforethewritingstage.Thereisnosenseofaudience.Thereisnosenseofauthenticity.Studentsaregivenideastoexpressratherthanbeinginvitedtoinventtheirown.Thereisnoopportunityforcreativewriting,particularforexpressingunusualororiginalideas.Manyofthemaretest-oriented.Failtohaveacommunicativeelement.Howtodealwiththem?Weshouldwriteaboutsth.foraparticularreason.Forexample:Writeaboutourfavoritesportsorhobbies.(1)Wanttojoinasportsclub.(2)Applyforapositionasasportscommentator.Motivatingstudentstowrite1.Makethetopicofwritingascloseaspossibletostudents’life.2.Leavestudentsenoughroomforcreativityandimagination.3.Preparestudentswellbeforewriting.4.Encouragecollaborativegroupwritingaswellasindividualwriting.Motivatingstudentstowrite5.Provideopportunitiesforstudentstosharetheirwritings.6.Provideconstructiveandpositivefeedback.7.Treatstudents’errorsstrategically.8.Givestudentsasenseofachievementfromtimetotime.Writingthroughe-mailE-mailprovidesaperfectmechanismforstudentstosubmitdraftsandforteacherstolookthemoverattheirconvenienceandsendthembackwithcomments–once,twice,orseveraltimes.NewideasaresharedpromptlyandcanberespondedtoquicklyTeachercaneasilystoreallthedraftsofadocumentforlaterreviewandanalysisoftherevisionprocessIndividualstudentcanreceivecommentsfromallpeers.Thisincreasesthechancesofexchangingandsharingideasamongthestudents.Studentshaveafeelingofreal-timewriting.Theyfeeltheyarewritingforrealpurposesofexchangingideas.ConclusionTwoapproachestowriting:thecommunicativeapproachandtheprocessapproach.Theteachingofwritingshouldfocusontheprocessratherthantheproduct,andtheallwritingtasksshouldhavecommunicativepurposes.Learningtowriteismoreimportantthancreatingafinalproduct.Wow!!!