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1. TEA
HBEL 3103
TEACHING OF WRITING

2. 2.1 DEFINITION OF WRITING
According to Nunan,(2003)
Writing are
physical and
mental act.
- Its about
discovering
ideas, thinking
about how to :
– communicate
- develop them
into statements
and paragraphs
that will be
comprehensible to
a reader
Writing has dual
purpose- to
express & impress.
- Writers must
select the most
advantageous
medium for their
writing
-Each types has a
different level of
difficulty which
determined by its
objectives.
Writing is a
process and also a
product.
- The writer
creates, plans, w
rites various
drafts, revises, e
dits and
publishes.
- The audience
reads is a
product.

3. 2.2 BACKGROUND TO THE TEACHING
OF WRITING
Until the early 20th century :
 Writing instruction was quite strict.
 Teachers –responsible to convey the rules and
principles for exemplary writing.
 Students – wrote in response to selected written
texts- by complying with the conventions of good
writing.
 Essay graded for grammatical accuracy, effective
organisation and content.

4. THIS IDEA IS SHOWN CLEARLY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY’S
ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS OF 1874
:
Each candidate will be required to write a short English composition,
correct in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and expression, the subject
to be taken from such works of standard authors as shall be
announced from time to time. The subject for 1874 will be taken from
one of the following works: Shakespeare’s Tempest, Julius Caesar;
and Merchant of Venice; Goldsmith’s Vicar of Wakefield; Scott’s
Ivanhoe and Lay of the Last Minstrel.
(Bizzell, Herzberg & Reynolds, 2000)

5. Students practise by reproducing models of writing and
not expressing their own ideas and writing creatively.
 Formerly, writing was utilised to show that students were
competent in grammatical rule rather than having
knowledge about a certain topic.
 Student’s ability to generate, plan, revise, edit and
compose writing demonstrated his/her ability to write.
 1960s : writing instruction began to include the complete
process of writing (invention, drafting, feedback and
revision)


6. 1966 : Robert Kaplan introduced the idea of rhetoric (
comparison of different types of writing in terms
organisational patterns)
He claims: “Each language and each culture has a
paragraph order unique to itself, and ... part of the learning
of a particular language is the mastery of its logical
system.” (Kaplan, 1966).
Contrastive rhetoric

7. 2.3 STUDENTS’ WRITING NEEDS
Peter Elbow and Donald Murray proposed 3 methologies when
conducting writing lessons : Expressivism, Cognitivism,
Constructionism
a.
Expressivism
- students write openly & personally without bothering about grammar,
spelling or punctuation - teachers as facilitators
- Peter Elbow called- free writing
- Aimed :- getting pupils to relax
- to reassure them in the act of writing
- to help them not to be afraid to make errors
-But in traditional academic settings- personal writing is discouraged
because : - students from some cultures -will unfamiliar with this style.
- see the topics as inappropriate in an
academic environment
- However reading responses, journal-keeping and quick writing are
common in ESL/EFL writing classroom.


8. b. Cognitivism
- begins in 1970s – due to interest in cognitive science
and the sociology of language
- Uses critical thinking and problem solving
 Students define problems -investigate them -presenting
their arguments – and finally consider logical conclusions
 Encourages : brainstorming, drafting, conferencing
among students and with the teacher.
 The important stage in writing are editing and
proofreading

* Editing -To examine text with the intention of improving the flow and
quality of writing.

* Proofreading - To examine text looking for spelling errors,
punctuation errors, typos and obvious errors, such as the
unintentional use of there when it is clear the correct word is their.

9. c. Constructionism
- Writers were seen as belonging to discourse
communities
- The language and form of writing arose from the target
community
- For 1st language speaker : it means direct instruction in
academic discourse.
- For 2nd language writer : to learn the skills- help intergrate
into the new language community and into the academic
community.

10. 2.4 FOUR PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHING WRITING
(NUNAN : 2003)
2.4.1 Understand Your Students’ Needs for Writing
- Teachers have to understand both and to
communicate aims to students in ways that are
comprehensible to them.
2.4.2 Make Arrangements for Students to Write
- Teachers have to evaluate writing activities in class
- Writing should integrated into the syllabus.
- Provide students the opportunity to try out different
types of writing.

11. 2.4.3 Provide Constructive and Meaningful Feedback
- When writing comments on students’ papers, make sure
they comprehend the terms and symbols you use.
- Take time to discuss
- Be careful with the tones of comments
( consider their feelings)
- Feedback should not necessitate “correcting” their writing
– ask them to check their errors and correct them on their
own.

12. 2.4.4 Explain to Your Students How Their
Writing Will Be Evaluated
- Develop a statement about what is valued in the
student’s writing.
- 3 general types of rubrics
Non-weighted
Rubric
- Provides
descriptions of
writing quality by
level across
other writing
criteria
Weighted
Rubric
-similar to
unweighted but
It breaks the
writing skills
into categories
and subcategories.
Holistic
Rubric
-describes in general
terms the qualities of
excellent, good, fair &
unsatisfactory
assignments.
-can be tied to grades or
stand in their own.
Refer to Page 20-24

13. Students can help to form a rubric.
 Ask them - the value of writing
- what features make writing
enjoyable to read.
- what features distract from that
enjoyment.
Benefits from the discussion :
1.
Give students a voice in evaluation of their own work.
2.
Provides a common vocabulary where they can discuss
their writing.


14. 2.5 PRINCIPLES FOR PLANNING
WRITING TECHNIQUES

15. a. Integrate Routines of Exemplary Writers
Students should :
• concentrate on the purpose for writing;
• ascertain and check the audience;
• have an outline for the writing;
• do freewriting when generating ideas;
• 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.

16. b. Match Process and Product
-
-
Teachers should guide students through pre- writing,
while writing, revising a few drafts, editing, proof reading
and the final product.
Get feedback to the writing both from the students’ peers
and the teacher to ensure that the final writing product will
be a clear, coherent and comprehensible piece of writing.

17. c. Consider Student’s Cultural Background
Conduct :
 a diagnostic test on their writing capability
 a simple questionnaire to elicit their knowledge of writing
conventions.
d. Link Reading to Writing
Teachers must provide adequate and relevant reading
materials to be used as models for their writing.
 Provide a frame for them to model their writing.


18. e. Equip students with authentic writing
- 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 letters
to relevant authorities outside the class, writing
advertisement, script writing for a class drama
presentation or by responding to anonymous peer’s
problems on the bulletin board.

19. f. Compose according to the steps in the process
writing approach
- 3 steps for composing: pre-writing, drafting and revising.
- The pre-writing stage stimulates the generation of ideas
through skimming and
scanning, brainstorming, clustering, discussing, freewritin
g and groupwork.
* The foremost stages : drafting and revising.
• Drafting :
freewriting, planning, outlining, categorising, revising, pee
r feedback, editing and proofreading
recursive cycle.

20. 2.6 CLASSROOM WRITING TECHNIQUES TASKS
-Learning to write is more than creating a final product.
-It is the learning of a series of skills leading to that product. .
2.6.1 Invention Techniques
- Provide activities that allow them to “think on paper.”
a. Brainstorming - individually ,in pairs or in groups.
- students list all the ideas related to a topic,
- they can choose those they are most interested in, or feel they
can write most proficiently about.
b. Word mapping - more visual form.
- students begin with an idea at the top or centre of a blank piece of
paper.
c. Quick-writing - begin with a topic, then write rapidly about it.
- give a time limit, usually 10 to 15 minutes
- 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, grammar, or punctuation.

21. 2.7 WRITING: DRAFTING, FEEDBACK AND REVISING
a. Drafting
- Students need to focus on the development of ideas and the
organisation of those ideas more than the development of perfect
grammar, punctuation, or spelling.
b. Feedback
- Make comments more on the ideas and organisation than on
the grammar and spelling
- The instructor can also utilise peer feedback. Students
exchange papers and provide each other with comments on
the paper’s contents.
- (REFER FEEDBACK FORM- PAGE 30)
c. Revising
-Teacher talks about the process of reorganisation, developing
ideas and so forth, as separate from editing for grammar or
spelling.

22. 
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
-
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2.7.1 Proofreading and Editing
Students should read for mistakes in spelling, grammar,
punctuation,etc.
Help each other to proofread and edit.
Teacher - minimize her involvement
- should not correct a student’s draft by
supplying all the correct forms of words,
punctuation etc.
If a student’s essay is not well developed, do another round of
quick-writing or brainstorming to further generate her/his ideas.
Even though spelling and punctuation may not be of prime
concern early in the process, students should, make
corrections any time they notice them, and not wait until the
“last step.”
(Read 2.8 Writing In the Classroom -Samples of student’s writing –page 34-39)

23. SUMMARY
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In this topic, you have read about the many influences on writing instruction
and have also been introduced to general techniques for writing and
evaluating student writing.
The most important principle, however, is to learn to adapt these ideas to the
many different situations in which students write.
Many people falsely believe that writing is a talent that is present in the lucky
few, and cannot be taught to the rest.
Fortunately for both native speakers and non-native speakers alike, writing is
a teachable and learnable skill, and the instructor can play an invaluable role
in making this skill an enjoyable one.
First, the instructor can help the student understand the context of their
writing assignments by discussing who the audience are, and what their
expectations are.
The instructor also aids the students in understanding the purpose of the
writing assignment. Is it to demonstrate knowledge of new vocabulary or
grammatical structures? Is it to show creativity in thinking? Is it to report
events accurately? Defining the purpose for writing assists students in
completing assignments in different contexts.
Finally, helping students understand the process of writing by guiding them
through the steps of generating ideas, drafting, review, revision, and
evaluation will help demystify writing and make it an important part of their
learning of English. In addition, by reflecting on your own experience as a
writer, and as a student of writing, you can help illuminate the path that your
own students will walk on as they become proficient writers of English.