Teaching Writing

Writing is one of the powerful modes of communication. It is a complex process that allows writers to explore thoughts and ideas, and make them visible and concrete. As E. Olshtain states, writing encourages thinking and learning for it motivates communication and makes thought available for reflection. When thought

is written down, ideas can be examined, reconsidered, added to, rearranged, and changed. Successful written communication is extremely important in the modern world as interaction takes the form of not only traditional paper- and-pencil writing but also the most advanced electronic mail.

Features

According to its role in the process of communication writing is initiative (+speaking), not reactive (as reading and listening).

Writing is a productive skill, a developed or acquired ability to produce and reproduce some information in written form.

The product of writing is a written text; the result is the ability to produce a written text; the subject of writing is someone's thought expressed in written form.

B1 Threshold Level (the level of school leavers) in writing is categorized by two features. The first feature is the ability to maintain interaction, getting across the information in a range of contexts. The second is the ability to produce a range of texts on familiar matters. A student must possess such a vocabulary, grammar, spelling competence to express himself/herself appropriately both in official documents (such as questionnaires, blanks, forms and announcements), and in everyday writing (such as congratulatory forms, reports, informal letters). Besides, learner must avoid ambiguity und vagueness in his/her writing, delivering the message and his/her opinion efficiently almost on any topic.

Though the nature of writing as a skill used to be underestimated in language teaching, the written aspect of a foreign language has gained more significance nowadays. Traditionally, writing was viewed mainly as a means of teaching grammar or sentence structure, an effective tool for practising language patterns, “a fairly one- dimensional activity” (Ch. Tribble). Nowadays we realize the importance of writing in human interaction, and the first reason why writing is included in a foreign- language syllabus is that people frequently have to communicate with each other in a written form in real-life situations. T. Hedge differentiates six types of every-day writing, important in real life intercourse:

personal writing (diaries, journals, shopping lists, recipes, etc.),

public writing (letters of enquire/complaint/request, form-filling, etc.), creative writing (stories, poems, autobiography, etc.), social writing (letters, invitations, notes, instructions, etc.), study writing (reviews, reports, essays, taking notes from lectures, etc), institutional writing (contracts, posters, specifications, etc.).

Writing, together with reading, is both a useful mechanical skill and a learning strategy on the one hand, and a means of communication on the other. While writing with an effort to express some ideas, the constant use of eye, hand and brain is a unique way to reinforce learning.

At the same time the view of writing as purely 'writing to learn' reflects the principle of Audoilingual theory, where writing is seen as a written form of spoken language, the basis for oral fluency, not as a means of communication in itself. Thus skill-using activities aimed at ‘learning to write’ are neglected by this approach. Instead learners are proposed to produce correct texts or "products" in which accuracy is all-important. This approach to writing is known as product approach. The limitations of product approach are on its concentration on the result rather than on the process of writing. By focusing on form and structure product approach at the same time neglects the process of composing this form and structure. Modern researchers stress the shift from language-focused writing activities to learner-centered tasks which help to create the atmosphere of communication in the language classroom. Writing is viewed as an interactive language process where learners are guided and taught how to write rather than what to write. This process approach focuses on discourse-level activities rather than sentence-level ones. Tasks for process approach include story writing, cooperative writing, or peer correction of subsequent drafts. Different researches show that writing as a process includes the following activities:

•setting the goal for the written communication;

•assessing the reader;

•gathering information and generating ideas;

•organizing writing a draft;

•revising, editing and proofreading.

Nowadays the distinction between these two approaches seems to be less clear and teaching writing combines both approaches, with slight emphasis on product writing as far as beginner learners are concerned. It is possible, then, to teach writing in classroom using different approaches and a variety of activities. Moreover, the attention should be given both to the linguistic-accuracy level and to the message-transmission level. It is the combination of content and organization with accepted formal features that will lead learners to better utilization of the writing skill in their future use of English.

Дата добавления: 2017-01-13