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NEW IDITION
Donn Byrne
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Longman Handbooks f or Language Teacher s
Donn Byrne
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Longmoni!!
London and New Yor k
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Teachlng
Wrltlng
Sldlls
New Edi ti on
[,ongman
GrouP UK Limited'
Lort-gntan
Hotrsc' Burnt l l tti l l , Harl otr'
655.'1 f.1/20 2JE. England
i ,ri ,.tttori ored
Compani cs
Ihrottgl totrt
l l tc vorl d'
, O
Longman
GrouP UK Li mi t ed
19E8
f,tt ,lioir,t resert'ed; no part o.f this
publication
nnt"be reproduced'
stored in a relrteral syslern'
u,l ' |,routrri tted
i n an.v
.[ornt
or b1' ..artt'
tttcut,ts, el .ectroni c.
ntechani t' al ,
photocopri ng'
recordtng'
or ot tter)t' tsc'
,,ri,iri,t the'
prior u'r'iircn
perrnissiort o-[ thc Ptrblisher's'
Fi rst
publ i shed 1988
Si xt h i mpressi on
1993
Bri ti sh Li brary Catal ogui ng
i n Publ i cati on
Data
Bvme, Donn, 1929-
-Teachi ng
wri t i ng ski i l s' -New
ed' -
fi""g*it
handlooks
for language teachers)'
i. Eriglish language-Writing-Stud.v
and teachi ng
I . Ti t l e
808' , . 042' , 07
PE1404
r sBN 0- 58e- ?' 1b51- 5
Library of Congress
Cataloging
in Publication
Data
Bvrne. Donn.
1929-
Teachi ng
wri trng ski l l s'
frong*i"
handbooks
for language teachers)
i ncl ul es
bi bl i ographi es
and i ndex'
, .
i . engl i ttt l anguage--Study
and teachi ng-Forei gn
,p;;kd
t. Engiistr"
tanguage-Rhetori
c.-.Studv an d
;;;;hl;;.
i. rnltitt'
tanluale-c-omposition
and exercises
--StuOy-unO teachi ng'
I' Ti tl e' II'
!erl e^s,^
pE1128. A28938 i 988
808' , ' 042
87- 4238
I SBN 0-582-7465
l -5
(Pbk. )
Produced
by Longman
Singapore
Publishers
Pte Ltd
Printed in SingaPore
ra
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Acknowledgements
We are
grateful to the following
for
permission to reproduce
copl ri ghl i l l ustrati ve
materi al :
Cassell
PLC fbr page 39
(top) (TakenAom the Foundation Series'
t4tririns I by Louise
wooitj;'iollins
Publishers
for page 24 (Taken
rt"^?nrh,
r,rsi i tn
gooi {'
t bv Vi ncent' Fol l and Cri pwel i ;
Macmillan
Pubiishers
Li-it.o io.
page 58
(Taken from wr.iting in
';;;i;;i;t
Anita Pincas; Thomas
Ne6ol and Sons Limited for
pages
;;";;; i4rl Functr
pruii.utlo"t
Limited
for page 94; Reprinted
bv
oi trti *i "t
oi unl t.oF.ai ui e
synal cate'
Inc for pages 2l and 122'
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Contents
Preface
1 The nat ure and purpose
of wri t i ng
1. 1 What i s wri t i ng?
1. 2 What do we wri t e?
1. 3 Speech and wri t i ng
1.4 Why writing is difficult
1. 5 Learni ng t o wri t e: mot her t ongue and f orei gn l anguage si t uat i ons
compared
1. 6 Why t each wri t i ng?
Discussion/Exercises/References
2 Learni ng t o use t he resources of t he wri t t en l anguage
2.1 Understanding how the written language functions
2.2 The reseurces of the written language
Discussion/Exercises/References
3 General pri nci pl es f or t eachi ng wri t i ng
3. 1 Approaches t o t eachi ng wri t i ng
3.2 The state of the art
3. 3 The rol e of gui dance
3. 4 The needs of t he l earners
Discussion/Exercises/Refere nces
4 Wri t i ng i n t he earl y st ages
4. 1 Some basi c consi derat i ons
4.2 Copying as a writing acrivity
4. 3 Rei nf orcement act i vi t i es
4. 4 Sent ence l i nki ng act i vi t i es
4. 5 Communi cat i on act i vi t i es
4. 6 Wri t i ng f or f un
Discussion/Exercises/Refere nces
5 Devel opi ng ski l l s
5. 1 The i mport ance of demonst rat i ng progress
5. 2 Rei nf orcement act i vi t i es
5. 3 Sent ence l i nki ng and sequenci ng act i vi t i es
5. 4 Repr oduct i on exer ci ses
5. 5 Communi cat i on act i vi t i es
5. 6 Wri t i ng f or f un
Di scussi on/ Exerci ses/ Ref erences
i i i
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E
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E
E
E
E
ts
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10
6 Cont ext s
f or wr i t i ng: t he use of t ext s
6. 1 The t ext as cont ext
6. 2 ComPr ehensi on
act i vi t i es
( r . 3
Not e- t aki ng
and summar i si ng
Di scussi oni Exe
rci ses/Refe
re nces
7 Cont ext s
f or wr i t i ng: t he use of vi sual mat er i al
7. 1 Some gener al consi der at i ons
1 .2 The rol e of the teacher
7. 3 The use of vi sual mat er i al : some exampl es
Di scussi on/Exerci ses/References
I nt egr at ed ski l l s
8. 1 The i mpor t ance
8. 2 Pr oj ect wor k
8. 3 Ski l l sequences
of i ntegrati ng ski l l s
8.4 Si mul ati ons
as a framework
Di scussi on/Exerci ses/References
for rvri ti ng acti vi ti es
Wr i t i ng at t he
post - i nt er medi at e
l evel
9. 1 Pr obl em ar eas
9.2 Remedi al work: the val ue of a functi onal approach
9.3 Free wri ti ng: some suggested
procedures
Discussion/Exercises/Refere
n ces
Correcti ng
wri tten work
10. L Errors and mi stakes
1,0.2 Teacher and student correcti on
10:3 Correcti on
Procedures
D iscussion/Exe rcises/Ref ere nces
Wr i t i ng act i vi t i es f or chi l dr en
11. 1 Reasons f or t eachi ng wr i t i ng
I 1. 2 Wr i t i ng act i vi t i es
Di scussi on/Exerci ses/References
Teachi ng t he Engl i sh scr i Pt
12. 1 The needs of t he l ear ner s
12.2 Letter shapes
L2.3 Procedures for teaching script
Di scussi on/Exerci ses/References
Appendi x: Cohesi ve devi ces
Bi bl i ogr aphY
l ndex
11
12
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Preface
The mai n purpose of t hi s book i n i t s revi sed edi t i on remai ns unchanged: t o
show how vari ous ki nds of wri t i ng act i vi t i es, bot h gui ded exerci ses t o devel op
part i cul ar ski l l s and communi cat i on t asks i nvol vi ng f ree expressi on, can be
bui l t up i nt o a coherent wri t i ng programme. Through such a programme i t i s
intended that the learners should not only make systematic progress, through
their growing mastery of the written language, but also see how writing is used
for the purpose of communication.
The book has been ext ensi vel y revi sed t o ensure t hat i t ref l ect s current
met hodol ogi cal pract i ce. I nt egrat ed ski l l s, hi ghl i ght ed even i n t he f i rst edi t i on,
now have a chapt er of t hei r own. The number of exampl es has been expanded
throughout, so that the book can be used for resource material. In particular,
the activities in the Writing
for/un
sections should prove a useful and flexible
addition for any teaching situation. Correcting written work and teaching
handwri t i ng have now been expanded i nt o chapt ers, and t here i s a compl et el y
new chapt er on t eachi ng chi l dren.
The subst ance of t hi s book i s based on. t eacher-t rai ni ng courses, semi nars
and l ect ures gi ven over t he l ast f i f t een years. A seri es of semi nars on t eachi ng
writing which I had to give in Latin America in the early seventies set me
thinking about the subject, while the interest and encouragement of the
students of
' Course
317' on
' Composition'
which I taught at Concordia
University, Montreal, in 1976, obliged me to give my views on teaching writing
a little more cohesion and coherence. However, a spell back in the classroom,
with adolescents and children, made me appreciate once again what every
teacher knows: that it is not enough to do the' right' things. The
' writing
for
fun' activities came directly out of that experience.
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1. 1
What i s wri t i ng?
The nature and
purpose
of writing
When we rvri t e, we use graphi c s1' rnbol s: t hat i s, l et t ers or combi nat i ons of
l et t ers whi ch rel at e t o t he sounds rve make when we speak. On one l evel , t hen,
wri t i ng can be sai d t o be t he act of f ormi ng t hese symbol s: maki ng marks on a
f l at surf ace of some ki nd. But wri t i ng i s cl earl y much more t han t he product i on
of graphi c symbol s,
j ust
as speech i s more t han t he product i on of sounds. The
symbol s have t o be arranged, accordi ng t o cert ai n convent i ons, t o f orm words,
and words have t o be arranged t o f orm sent ences, al t hough agai n we can be
sai d t o be
' wri t i ng'
i f we are merel y maki ng l i st s of words, as i n i nvent ori es of
i t ems such as shoppi ng l i st s.
As a rul e, horvever, we do not wri t e
j ust bne
sent ence or even a number of
unrelated sentences. We produc e a sequence of sentences arranged in a
particular order and linked togetlter in certain ways. The sequence may be very
short
-
perhaps onl y t rvo or t hree sent ences
-
but , because of t he way t he
sent ences have been put i n order and l i nked t oget her, t hey f orm a coherent
whol e. They f orm l vhat we may cal l a' t ext ' .
Not a great deal i s known about i ndi vi dual met hods of composi ng a t ext ,
but most peopl e
-. prof essi onal
rvri t ers among t hem
-
woul d agree t hat i t i s
usual l y nei t her an easy nor a spont aneous act i vi t v. Somet i mes wri t i ng comes
easi l y, i f we are i n t he ri ght
' mood'
or have a cl ear and perhaps pressi ng need t o
express somet hi ng, but as a rui e i t requi res some consci ous ment al ef f ort : we
' t hi nk
out ' our sent ences and consi der vari ous ways of combi ni ng and arrangi ng
t hem. We reread rvhat we have rl ri t t en as a st i mul us t o f urt her wri t i ng. Ot her
common pract i ces are maki ng not es, draf t i ng and revi si ng. We may even
rvri t e
several versi ons of a t ext bef ore \ \ ' e are sat i sf i ed wi t h t he resul t . Not i cc' f or
exampl e, how t he rvri t er correct ed and modi f i ed hi s draf t of t he t ext t ' rt t page2.
The reason f or t hi s i s t hat we are wri t i ng
f or
a reader. Wri t i ng i nvol ves
t he
encodi ng of a message of some ki nd: t hat i s, we t ransl at e our t hought s l nt o
l anguage. Readi ng i nvol ves t he decodi ng or i nt erpret at i on of t hi s mcssaqe.
But . exceDt on t hose occi t si ons nhen rve are wri t i ng f or oursel vs5
-
l rt l r
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
1. 2
What do we
wri te?
1. 3
Speech and
wri ti ng
2
shoppi ng l i st may h: t ve been f or t hi s purpose
-
t he reader i s someone who l s
not physi cal l . v present . Thi s, af t er al l . i s why we normal l y choose t hi s part i cul ar
channel of communi cat i on rat her t han t he more common one of speech. And
because our reader i s not
present .
and i n some ci t ses may not even be known t o
us, we have t o
ensure t hat what we
write can be
underst ood wi t hout
any f urt her hel p
f rom us. Thi s i s t he
reason for the care
we have t o t ake
wi t h wri t i ng. I t i s
by t he organi sat i on
of our sent ences
i nt o a t ext , i nt o a
coherent whol e
which is as explicit
as possi bl e and
compl et e i n i t sel f ,
t hat we are abl e (or
hope to be able) to
communicate
successfully with
our reader through
the medium of
wri t i ng.
It is helpful to keep in mind some of the many uses we are likely to make of
wri ti ng. For exampl e, on a personal l evel , most of us use wri ti ng to make a note
of somethi ng (thi ngs we have to do or want others to do, l i ke our shoppi ng l i st),
and to keep records of thi ngs we want to remember. We send messages and
wri te l etters to fri ends, and a few of us keep di ari es. Most of us have to fi l l i n
forms from time to time (especially applications
-
for example, for insurance
-
or questi onnai res) and occasi onal l y we wri te formal l etters (for exampl e, i f
u' e change our
j ob).
Apart from thi s, the amount of wri ti ng we do regul arl y wi l l
rel ate to our professi onal l i fe. Some mi ght spend a good deal of ti me wri ti ng
l etters, i nstructi ons. reports. etc. For others thi s wi l l onl y be an occasi onal
acti vi ty.
Few of us, on the other hand, are l i kel y to spend any ti me wri ti ng poetry
A compari son between speech and wri ti ng shoul d hel p us to understand some
of the di ffi cul ti es we experi ence when we wri te. The tabl e on the next page
hi ghl i ghts the mai n di fferences. Note, however, that i t does not take i nto
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or fiction. And, outside the classroom, we never write
' compositions'
(My daily
t;;
routine, My
favourite
pastime, etc.
)
of the kind that are still a feature of many
--
exami nati onsl
Fr
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T-h.ere{6ire ninety cases of polio occurri' ig
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A
t l r ct wi t h par t i cul ar I ot s of t he vacci ne6
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THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF WRI TI NG
account certain situations in which the spoken language is used, such as
t el ephoni ng and l ect uri ng.
Al t hough wri t i ng i s cl earl y much more dependent on how ef f ect i vel y we
use t he l i ngui st i c resources of t he l anguage (see 1. 4. 2), i t woul d be wrone t o
concl ude t hat al l t he advant ages are on t he si de of speech. Whi l e i t i s t ru! t hat
i n wri t i ng we have t he t ask of organi si ng our sent ences caref ul l y so as t o make
our meani ng as expl i ci t as possi bl e wi t hout t he hel p of f eedback f rom t he
reader, on t he ot her hand we do not normal l y have t o wri t e qui ckl y: we can
rewrite and revise our sentences until we are satisfied that we have expressed
' our
meani ng. Equal l y, t he reader i s i n a more pri vi l eged posi t i on t han t he
listener to some extent: he can read at his own pace and reread as often as he
l i kes. I n t hi s way, t hen, some of t he di sadvant ages
of communi cat i ng t hrough
t he wri t t en medi um are of f set .
SPEECH
WRI TI NG
1 Takes pl ace i n a cont ext , whi ch
of t en makes ref erences cl ear
(e. g.
'
fhatth i ng ov er th ere'
I
1 Creat es i t s own cont ext and
t her ef or e has t o be f ul l y expl i ci t
2 Speaker and l i st ener ( s) i n
cont act . I nt er act and exchanqe
r ol es
2 Reader not pr esent
and no
i nt er act i on possi bl e
3 Usual l y per son addr essed i s
soeci f i c
3 Reader not necessari l y known t o
wri t er
4 l mmedi at ef eedback gi ven and
expect ed
( a)
ver bal : quest i ons,
comment s
. . . mur mur s, gr unt s
( b)
non- ver bal : f aci al
expr essi ons
4 No i mmedi at e f eedback possi bl e.
Wri t er may t ry t o ant i ci pat e
r eader ' s r eact i ons and
i ncorporat e t hem i nt o t ext
5 Speech i s t r ansi t or y. I nt ended t o
be under st ood i mmedi at el v. l f
not , l i st ener expect ed t o i nt eract
5 Wr i t i ng i s per manent .
Can be
reread as of t en as necessarv and
at own soeed
Sent ences of t en i ncompl et e and
somet i mes ungr ammat i cal .
Hesi t at i ons and pauses common
and usual l y some r edundancy
and r epet i t i on
6 Sent ences expect ed t o be
car ef ul l y const r uct ed, and l i nked
and or gani sed t o f or m a t ext
7 Range of devi ces (st ress,
i nt onat i on, pi t ch, speed) t o hel p
convey meani ng. Faci al
expressi ons, body movement s
and gest ur es al so used f or t hi s
pu rpose
Devi ces t o hel p convey meani ng
ar e punct uat i on,
capi t al s and
under l i ni ng ( f or
emphasi s) .
Sent ence boundar i es cl ear l y
i ndi cat ed
TEACH
I NG \ ^JRi TI NI G SKI LLS
1. 4
WhY
wr i t i ng
i s
di ffi cul t
1. 4.
1
Psychol ogi cal
probl ems
1 A 1
Li ngui sti c
probl ems
1 . 4 . J
Cogni ti ve
probierns
A
we can norv begi n t o underst and
why wri t i ng i s a di f f i cul t
act i vi t y f or most
peopl e. bot hi nt hemot her t ongueandi naf or ei gnl anguage. Weshal l l ookat
i rr"
i rour"rns
whi ch are caused by rvri t i ' g under t hree headi ngs
-
psychol ogi cal ' I i ngui st i cand. ogni t i u. - al t hought hesei nevi t abl yover l apt o
some ext ent .
Speechi st henat ur al andnor mal medi umof communi cat i onf or usi nmost
ci r cumst ancesandaccust omsusbot ht ohavi ngSomeonephysi cal l ypr esent
when
we use l unguug"
and t o get t i ng f eedback
of some ki nd. Wri t i ng,
on t he
other hand.
is essentially
a solitary activity
and the fact that we are required
t<;
write on our own, without the possibility
of interaction
or the benefit
of
f eedback. i ni t sel f makest heact of wr i t i ngdi f f i cul t .
oral communi cat i on
i s sust ai ned
t hrough
a process. o. f i nt eract i on
and' except
in special
circumstances.
such as a lecture,
t^he participants
help to keep it
goi ng. Because
speech
i s normal l y
spont aneous'
we have l i t t l e t i me t o pay
at t ent i on
ei t her t o or qani si ng
our sent ence
st r uct ur e
or t o connect i ng
our
sent ences:
t o some
"i t . nt
t he l at t er i s mai nt ai ned
t hrough
t he process of
i nt eract i on.
We repeat .
backt rack,
expand
al d so on, dependi ngon
how
peopl er eact t owhat wesay' I ncompl et eandevenungr ammat i cal ut t er ances
usual l y
pass unnot i ced.
Some of t hese f eat ures
are i l l ust rat ed
i n t he sampl e
of
conversat i on
u' hi ch has been t ranscri bed
bel ow:
Pet e,
you composed
t hi s
pi ece at t he
pi ano' l s t hat how
you
nor mal l Y
wor k?
Al ways,
Up t o t hi s poi nt , al ways'
l t may be t hat
Ti gf ' ] change
t n
t he f ut ur e, when t
f el
mor e i nt o,
you know' wor ki ng
f r om
r. i urct . r
wi t f r synt n' uri t t t t ,
but at t he moment
I do wri t e at t he
pi anp. Act ual l y
r oi on; t . . - . ' r
har dl y r eal i secl
l ' d wr i t t en t hi s unt i l I
had !
( Laugns. t One oi t hose t hi ngs
t hat
j ust dr opped out of t l r e
skv I
Wel l , how di d
You
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f l avour t hat we
; ; ; ; i J
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number '
and' er m'
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wher e my f i ngei s t ook me' . r eal l y'
you kn. o. w' Er ' we ' ' '
i , f nuOi n i nt r o l ' d l ' ' f i uut ; ut t noodl i ng
and doodl i ng at t he
pi ano wi t h t hi s ' ' '
l sound
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As we have seen,
we al so have a consi derabl e
range of devi ces
at our di sposal
.
t ohel pget our meani ngacr oSS. I nwr i t i ng, wehavet ocomp. exT: "- I ^": : l : .
absence
of these features:
we have to t
""p
the chamel
of communi cati <l n
open !
t hr oughour ownef f or t sandt oensur e' bot ht hr oughour choi ceof sent ence-
structure
and by the way our senten..,
ur" linked
together and sequencecl'
thai
!
the text we produce can be i nterpreted
on i ts own' E
We grow up learnrng
to speak and in normal
circumstances
spend much of our i
t i medoi ngi t . Weal soappear t ospeakwi t hout muchconsci ousef f or t or - .
thought and generally
we talk becau,"
*. want to, about matters which are of
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THE NATURE AND PURPOSE
OFWRI TI NG
interest or relevant to us socially or professionally. Writing, on the other hand
is learned through a process of instructiorz: we have to master the written
form
of the language and to learn certain structures which are less used in speech,
or
perhaps not used at all, but which are important for effective.o.muni.ution
in
writing. We also have to learn how to organise our ideas in such a way that they
can be understood by a reader who is not present and perhaps by a reader who
is not known to us.
Finally, writing is a task which is often imposed on us, perhaps by
circumstances. This not only has a psychological effect; it may also cause a
problem in terms of content
-
what to say. Being at a loss for ideas is a familiar
experience to most of us when we are obliged to write.
1.5 So fa' r we have looked at writing in general, without drawing any distinction
Learning to between writing in the mother tongue and writing in a foreign language.
write: mother Clearly, however, there are important differences, particularly in the learnine
t ongue and si t uat i on, and at t ent i on i s now drawn t o t hese.
f orei gn l anguage Most chi l dren l earn t o wri t e i n t hei r mot her t ongue at school , general l y
situations between the ages of five and seven. By this time they have a well-developed
compared command of t he spoken l anguage, adequat e at l east t o t hei r soci al needs, but
their experience of the written language is still very limited. Most children will
of course have been exposed to it to some degree through being read to aloud.
writing itself, however, is a totally new experience for most of them.
Most children acquire this new skill fairly laboriously. On the other hand,
they are required to make regular use of it, both in classes devoted to writing
practice and, as their education progresses, in other lessons (history,
geography, etc.) which involve some form of related and purposeful written
work. Certain types of writing, particularly those which involve projection into
adult-type roles, tend to cause them difficulty. Many children, in fact, simply
do not enjoy writing, partly because of the nature of the task and partly
because, out of school, it has little value for them as a form of social
interaction, although in most cultures the ability to write carries prestige. Very
few children succeed in becoming really proficient at writing and many cease to
use this skill once they leave school, or use it only occasionally-for specialised
purposes (e. g. f i l l i ng i n f orms).
In the light of this, we should, as foreign language teachers, be able to
make certain assumptions, subject of course to cultural variations, and to avoid
making others. Most of our students will already be familiar with the process of
writing, unless they are very young, in which case writing will not
-
and should
not
-
figure very prominently in the foreign language programme. Thev may
have to learn a new script but writing itself will not be a new experience for
them. They are also likely to have had a fairly wide experience of written
language through reading in their mother tongue. They may also be at an age
when they can learn through reading and perhaps the written language has
come to have some psychological value for them as a form of support when
l earni ng somet hi ng new.
We shoul d not assume, however, t hat t hey are prof i ci ent at wri t i ng i n t hei r
mot her t ongue, or t hat t hey al ready possess t he necessary organi sat i onal ski l l s
f or wri t i ng ef f ect i vel y. Nor shoul d we assume t hat t he abi l i t y t o wri t e i n t he
mot her t ongue can be t ransf erred t o t he f orei gn l anguage, al t hough some
_5
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG
SKI LLS
1. 6
Why teach
wr i t i ng?
gl obal t ransf er, as wi t h readi ng abi l i t y, of t en seems t o t ake pl ace (t hat i s,
i eopt e
who are hi ghl y l i t erat e i n t hei r own l anguage easi l y become l i t erat e
i n
nnoi her; . I t i s al so possi bl e t hat t he st udent s' previ ous experi ence of l earni ng t o
wri t e and of pract i si ng wri t i ng i n t hei r own l anguage was f rust rat i ng or
unrewardi ng.
At f or t hei r at t i t udes t owards l earni ng t o wri t e i n a f orei gn
l anguage.
we are rarel y i n a posi t i on t o make any assumpt i ons at al l : t hese may
,un"g" fiom no interest at all to a firm belief in its value to them as learners.
One very significant factor which affects writing in the foreign language
cl assroom i s t hat . even i f we del ay t he i nt roduct i on of wri t i ng f or some t i me
(see 4. 1), t he amount of l anguage whi ch t he l earners wi l l have at t hei r di sposal
i o, *ri t i ng wi l l be very l i mi t ed
-
so l i mi t ed t hat i t mi ght seem t o make i t
impossible to introduce any meaningful form of writing practice' At thesame
time, the learners, being more mature than they were when they learned to
write in their mother tongue, are conscious of the limitations which the foreign
l anguage i mposes on t he expressi on of t hei r i deas. To resol ve t hi s probl em i t
will be necessary to strike some sort of balance which prevents them from going
beyond their linguistic attainment in the foreign language and yet will still
provi de t hem u, i t h wri t i ng act i vi t i es whi ch sat i sf y t hem on an i nt el l ect ual l evel .
Cl earl y i t i s possi bl e to l earn to speak a forei gn l anguage wi thout l earni ng how
to wri i e i n i i and for many of our students, perhaps even the maj ori ty of them,
writing will be the skill in which they are not only least proficient, even after
considerable
practice, but also the one for which they will have the least use.
The situation is not so very different in the mother tongue, aS we have already
Seen, except for those of us who use writing in some professional capacity'
Because, therefore, writing is a skillwhich is both limited in value and difficult
to acquire, we should be very clear about our purpose in teaching it'
tn ttre early. stages of a course oriented towards oral proficiency, writing
serves a variety of, pedagoglcal purposes:
(a) The introduction
and practice of some form of writing enables us to
provide for different liarning styles and needs. Some learners, especially
thor. who do not learn easily through oral practice alone, feel more secure
if they are allowed to read and write in the language. For such students,
writing is likely to be an aid to retention, if only because they feel more at
ease and rel axed.
(b) Written work serves to provide the learners with some tangible evidence
that they are making progress in the language. It is not likely to be a true
i ndex of thei r attai nment, but once agai n i t sati sfi es a psychol ogi cal need'
(c) Exposure to the foreign language through more than one medium,
especially if skills are properly integrated, appears to be more effective
than relying on a singie medium alone. Even at an elementary level there
are many opportunities
for activities that effectively integrate skills'
(d) Writing provides variety in classroom activities, serving as a break from
orat *ori (and is therefore a quieter and more relaxed time for both
students and teacherl ). At the same ti me, i t i ncreases the amount of
language contact through work that can be set out of class.
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Di scussi on
Exercises
THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF WRI TI NG
(e) Wri t i ng i s of t en needed f or f ormal and i nf ormal . t est i ng. Al t hough i n
general oral abi l i t y shoul d be measured t hrough oral t est s, i n pract i ce we
are of t en obl i ged by ci rcumst ances, such as t he amount of t i me we have at
our di sposal and t he number of st udent s t here are i n t he cl ass, t o use some
f orm of wri t t en t est . I n some cases, of course, a wri t t en t est may even be
appropri at e: f or exampl e, maki ng not es whi l e l i st eni ng.
These considerations strongly suggest that, while we should still concentrate
on
aural -oral ski l l s i n t he earl y st ages, we can make good use of wri t i ng, as part of
an integrated skills approach to language learning. Although at this stage
writing activities will be largely a reinforcement of language learned orally*
,
this
need not imply that writing has to be an unsatisfying or even rigidly controlled
acl i vi t y (see 3. 3). I t can al so be t aught i n such a way t hat i t prepares t he
learners for more realistic forms of writing at a later stage.
As the learners progress to the intermediate stages of language learning,
the pedagogical factors which we have noted above still apply but, in addition,
we can provide for written work on a more extensive scale and in particular
integrate it more effectively with other skills (see Chapter 8). At this level, the
written language itself will also provide contexts for learning
-
through
readi ng
-
and wri t i ng act i vi t i es may be rel at ed t o t hese. At t he same t i me,
bot h here and at t he post -i nt ermedi at el evel , wri t i ng may become a goal i n
itself . Although in language programmes which do not have a specific
orientation we are not in a position to predict which students are likely to have
a need for writing as one of the outcomes of their course, most students will
have to do some form of written examination and this will increase their
motivation to learn to write well. In addition, we can identify and concentrate
on forms of writing which have a proctical value, the relevance of which should
be easily apparent to the learners. Specific needs can also be met because
writing practice can to some extent be individualised.
Cl earl y, however, t he si t uat i on i s so compl ex t hat t here i s no one set of
answers, al t hough t hi s appl i es t o t he t eachi ng of ot her ski l l s t oo. But on
pedagogi cal grounds al one i t rvoul d seem t hat wri t i ng i s a ski l l wort h
devel opi ng i n t he f orei gn l anguage. Our probl em i s how t o do t hi s i n such a way
t hat t he l earners see t he purpose of wri t i ng and make measurabl e progress
t hrough t he perf ormance of real i st i c and rel evant t asks.
Whi ch of t he di f f erences bet ween speech and wri t i ng, l i st ed i n t he t abl e on
page 3, do you t hi nk are especi al l y i mport ant when t eachi ng wri t i ng?
From your own experi ence of t eachi ng (or l earni ng) a f orei gn l anguage, do
you agree that writing is worth teaching on pedagogical grounds alone?
I t was sai d i n 1. 1 t hat rve do not know much about i ndi vi dual met hods of
composi ng a t ext . Not e dorvn some of t he t hi ngs you do when you are wri t i ng
and compare t hem wi t h a f ri end.
*Thi s
t erm i s used here and el sewhere t o ref er t o l anguage whi ch i s present ed and pract i sed oral l y
( f or exampl e. t hr ough di al ogues and r el at ed act i vi t i es) . I t does not i mpl y t hat t he l ear ner s have not
seen t he wri t t en [ orm.
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
References*
2 We produce a sequence of sentences . . ' linked together in certairt ways '
Rei ead 1. 1 and make a l i st of some of t he l i nki ng devi ces used.
Make a l i st of t he t hi ngs you use wri t i ng f or' Arrange t hem as f ol l ows:
!a
4
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PE IISONAL
PftOFEs5IONAL
Compare
your list with a friend.
Wri te out a versi on of the conversati on
normal written
Prose
stYle'
The corrected draft on page 2 comes from J Barzun and HF Gtaff' The
Modern Researcher
(1970). The transcript of spoken English on page 4
comes from the Davi d Freernan Show (i 985), i n whi ch Davi d Freeman
interviews
professional musicians'
On wri ti ng see J Bri tton i n A Davi es (1975): Teachi ngWri ti ng;
F Smi th
(1982), S i (rashen
(198a) pages 4-19 and Y Zamel (1981 and 1983).
bn paralinguistic features see D Abercrombie in J Laver and S Hutcheson
(1,91 2) : P ar al an g uag e .
bn tne ways in which languages organise thought patterns in different ways
see R B Kaplan in K Croft (1980): Cultural Thought Patterns in Inter-
Cultural Education.
On the pedagogical
value of writing see C Bratt Paulston (1972) pages 33-6'
For a more extreme view of the value of teaching writing see M Sharwood-
Smi th
(1,97 6)pages I' 7
-19.
i
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references are to books and arti cl es l i sted i n the Bi bl i ography on page 153
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Learning to use the resources of
the written language
2. 1 One of our ma
j or
t asks i s t o f ami l i ari se f he l earners wi t h t he devi ces t hat are
Underst andi ng needed f or ef f ect i ve communi cat i on t hrough t he medi um of wri t i ng. I n ext ent ,
how the written this is not unlike the task we have in teaching the appropriate use of stress and
l anguage i nt onat i on f or oral communi cat i on. I n bot h cases an awareness of how
functions language functions as a communication system can only be taught through
adequate exposure to the language and through activities which lead to an
underst andi ng of t he devi ces whi ch t he l anguage empl oys. Of t he t wo,
exposure i s t he more i mport ant .
For this reason, reading will play an extremely important part in the
devel opment of wri t i ng abi l i t y because, al t hough i n i t sel f i t wi l l not produce
good wri t ers. i t appears t o be an essent i al pre-condi t i on. Readi ng may of
course be a goal in its own right and in any case islikely to be a more important
one t han wri t i ng. But t he t wo ski l l s can and shoul d be devel oped i n cl ose
col l aborat i on. I n any case, t rue underst andi ng of a t ext
-
any t ype of t ext
rangi ng f rom an i nf ormal l et t er t o t he f ormal exposi t i on of some hi ghl y f act ual
t opi c
-
depends on an appreci at i on of t he devi ces whi ch t he wri t er has
empl oyed i n order t o convey hi s meani ng t hrough t he medi um of wri t i ng. Thi s
appreci at i on i s an i mport ant st ep t orvards ef f ect i ve wri t i ng.
To devel op t hi s underst andi ng i t i s not enough t o f ocus at t ent i on on t hose
bi t s of i nf ormat i on whi ch t he reader can easi l y ret ri eve f rom t he t ext at a
superf i ci al l evel of underst andi ng. Thi s t ype of act i vi t y may be a usef ul
expedi ent f or cert ai n ki nds of orai pract i ce, but i t does not si gni f i cant l v hel p t he
l earners t o underst and how t he rvri t er i s get t i ng hi s meani ng across, and
t heref ore. i n t he l ong run, does not cont ri but e great l y t o readi ng ef f i ci ency. We
need t o get t hem t o exami ne t he t ext at a much deeper l evel . I n t i me i t i s hoped
t hat t hey rvi l l begi n t o do t hi s more or i ess i nt ui t i vel y.
Two exampl es of horv t ext s can be deal t wi t h f or t hi s purpose are
qi ven
on t he next page.
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
2. 1. r
Per sonal
communi cat i ot -t
The f i r st exampl e u' e shal l exar ni ne i s a l et t er . The t ext i s a pi ece of per sonal
communi cat i on:
t he u' ri t er knou' S hi s reader and u' e may assume t hat he had
reasons f or n, ri t i rt g t o hi m. rat her t hzrn speaAi ri g t o l -ri m di rect l y (f or exampl e,
on t he phone) .
92 M ou.t'd Roa<l
Lcvr{.rnt
NWIO
3YE
Octobc,r
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What, then, are the ki nds of thi ng we can do i n order to get the l earners to
l ook at thi s l etter as a pi ece of personal communi cati on? A possi bl e approach i s
outl i ned here.
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T
LEABNI NG TO USE THE RESOURCES OF THE WRI TTEN LANGUAGE
(a) What is the writer's purpose?
That i s, we want t he st udent s t o deci de why Ni ck i s wri t i ng t o Mi ke. I f t hey
can recogni se t hat Ni ck i s apol ogi si ng
and gi vi ng hi s reasons (or excuses! )
f or not doi ng somet hi ng, t hen t hey have i di nt i ni o t t re overal l
communi cat i ve purpose of t he l et t er. I n t hi s case i t i s f ai rl y obvi ous, but i n
ot her cont ext s i t may be harder t o el uci dat e. The poi nt or t ne act i vi t y i s t o
demonst rat e t hat underst andi ng
t he wri t er' s communi cat i ve purpos. i , un
essent i al part of underst andi ng t he t ext .
(b) How does the writer achieve his purpose?
Here we get t he st udent s t o consi der some of t he ways i n whi ch t he wri t er
does this. For example,
how does he apologi.se?
How does he try to assure
Mi ke t hat he i nt ended t o come t o hi s part yi Ho* does he assure hi m t hat
he tried to get in touch with him? whar is the significance of: well, I
couldn't refuse, could I? and I know you needeimy record.s? why does he
mention that he had such a boring evening himself? It is through questions
of this kind that w: can begin to get the students to understand why the
wri t er wrot e cert ai n t hi ngs and expressed t hem i n a cert ai n way.
(c) How does the writer establish and maintain contact with his reader?
Here we can get t he st udent s t o l ook bot h at t he l anguage i n general and at
particular expressions
to draw their attention to the ways in which he does
this. In this letter it is done partly through the informal
style, which reflects
certain features of conversational
English (for example, the use of
contracted forms such as wasn' t, couldn' t and ellipsis: sorry I wasn,t able)
and partly through appealing to his reader directly with: well, I couldn,t
refuse, could I? and I hope you,ll understand..
(d) what typical
features
of written English are there in the text?
Here we wi l l get t he st udent s t o l ook at f eat ures such as l i nki ng devi ces,
sent ence st ruct ure and i nt er-sent ence
st ruct ure. whi l e we woul d not
expect t o f i nd a great manv sampl es wi t hi n t he cont ext of an i nf ormal l et t er
such as t hi s (t he t hi rd sent ence provi cl es t he best exampl e. wi t h cohesi on
t hrough t he use of t he pronoun he and t he st ruct ure of t he sent ence i t sel f ),
we want them to appreciate that this is not speech written d.own,horvever
informal the style may be and horvever much it reflects certain features of
conversat i onal
Engl i sh. To rei nf orce t hi s poi nt , we mi ght get t hem t o
t ransf orm t he l et t er i nt o a conversat i on, whi ch, even t [ ough i t i s
hypot het i cal , wi l l underl i ne t he di f f erences bet ween t he t wo medi ums of
communi cat i on.
A conversat i on bet ween Ni ck and Mi ke mi ght have gone
somet hi ng l i ke t hi s:
Nrcr: Look, Mi ke. I ' m t erri bl v sorry I coul dn' t get t o your part y . . .
I rrrp: Yeah . . . why di dn' t you phone?
Nl cx: Wel l , I di d t r y. . . I j ust
coul dn' t get t hr ough . . .
I rrre: So what happened, t hen?
Nrcx: wel l , j ust
at t he l ast mi nut e . . . I rvas j ust
about t o l eave i n f act . . .
and t he phone rang and. ri ' el l . I ' ve got t hi s f ri encl i n Teheran. vou
see, and. . . ( et c. l
l 1
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG
SKI LLs
2. r . 2
Non-personai
communi cati on
Fi nal l y, we mi ght get t he st udent s t o compare t hi s l et t er wi t h a f ormal not e
of apol ogy. such as t hi s:
I r egr et t hat I was unabl e t o at t end t he par t y
t o whi ch you so ki ndl y i nvi t ed me, due t o
ci r cumst ances
beyond- my cont r ol . Fl ease
accept
my si ncer e aPol ogi es.
We mi ght al so ask them to consi der the ci rcumstances i n whi ch such a
note mi ght have been wri tten and why. unl i ke Ni ck' the wri ter does not go
i nto the reasons for hi s not goi ng to the party'
N
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For our second exampl e, u' e shal l l ook at a pi ece of exposi t ory wri t i ng. * Unl i ke
-<
t he t ext i n7. 1. . i , i t i s not addressed t o a person known t o t he wri t er'
t -
El ect r i ci t y i s t he most usef ul f or m of ener gy t her e i s. l t i s easy t o
pr oduce; ' i t can be t r ansmi t t ed over l ong di st ances; i t i s cl ean t o use
and i t has no smel l . Above al l , i t i s conveni ent '
The el ect r i ci t y
pr oduced by nat ur e
-
l i ght ni ng
-
i s a di f f er ent
ki nd of el ect r i ci t y f r om t hat whi ch f l ows t hr ough an el ect r i c l i ght
bul b. l t i s cal l ed st at i c el ect r i ci t y, because i t exer t s a f or ce whi ch i s
st at i onar y. l t i s easy t o demonst r at e el ect r ost at i c at t r act i on' Rub a
comb on i he sl eeve of
your j er sey. Thi s wi l l char ge t he comb wi t h
st at i c el ect r i ci t y, and i t wi l l now pi ck up smal l pi eces of paper .
The ot her ki nd of el ect r i ci t y needs t o f l ow i n or der t o have any
ef f ect . The el ect r i ci t y i n a bat t er y, f or exampl e, wi l l not make a l i ght
bul b gl ow unt i l bul b and bat t er y ar e l i nked by wi r es t hr ough whi ch
t he ei ect r i ci t y can f l ow. Thi s ki nd of el ect r i ci t y i s of t en cal l ed cur r ent
el ect r i ci t y; t He wi r e' channel ' t hr ough
whi ch i t f l ows i s known as t he
ci r cu i t .
Thi s ki nd of text i s cl earl y
very di fferent from the one i n2.1.1. As we have
noted, the wri ter i s not addressi ng anyone i n parti cul ar, at l east not anyone
known to hi m personal l y. However, we must assume that he has some sort o.f
readeri n mi nd. and that thi s i s rel evant to the way he wri tes. We mi ght begi n.
therefore, by tryi ng to get the students to i denti fy what sort of person thi s i s. If
we exami ne the text. we fi nd that the wri ter i s presenti ng some basi c
i nformati on on rhe subj ect of el ectri ci ty. The reader he i s addressi ng, then,
whom he keeps i n mi nd throughout, i s presumabl y someone who knows l i ttl e
or nothi ng about the subj ect. and hi s purpose, hi s communi cati ve
goal , i s to
inform him of some basic facts.
Havi ng establ i shed the wri ter' s i ntenti on. we mi ght then get the students
to considerhow
he goes about presenting these basic facts to the reader. We
coul d begi n by i nvi ti ng them to consi der, i n a general way, on the basi s of thei r
experi ence. what we normal l y do i n a si tuati on l i ke thi s when we want to get
*Fr om
The Sampson Lou' Gr eat Wor l d Enc- vcl opaedi a
( 1975) '
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LEARNI NG TO USE THE RESOURCES OF THE WRI TTEN LANGUAGE
across some i nf ormat i on t o a person who i s unf ami l i ar wi t h t he subi ect .
Some usef ul quest i ons t o ask t he st udent s woul d be:
-
How important is it to sequence the various pieces of information? (What
happens, f or exampl e, i f t he vari ous pi eces of i nf ormat i on are j umbl ed
up?)
-
How does it help to compare and contrasl certain items?
-
What is the purpose of. giving examples?
-
How important is it to define new terms and how do we do it?
We can then move from the general experience of the students to an
examination of the text itself. At this stage some useful questions to ask would
be:
-
How has t he wri t er sequenced hi s i nf ormat i on?
-
Hai he separat ed one pi ece of i nf ormat i on f rom anot her? (How has he
done i t ?)
-
Has he made any compari sons or cont rast s? (How do t hese hel p t he reader
t o underst and t he subj ect mat t er?)
-
Has he def i ned any t erms? (Horv has he done i t ?)
Our exami nat i on of t he t ext al ong t hese l i nes shoul d hel p t he st udent s t o see, i n
particular, that the structuring of the second and third paragraphs is quite
del i berat e: t he wri t er mi ght have gone about i t i n a di f f erent way but what he
chose to do was to deal first with one type of electricity and then with another,
cont rast i ng t he t wo ki nds and support i ng each wi t h exampl es.
We can draw attention to the overall structure of the text through some
sort of di agrammat i c anal ysi s. For exampl e:
Para l: Introductory statement about the value of electricity
Support i ng st at ement s as exampl es of i t s val ue
Para 2: First type of electricity contrasted with the second
Def i ni t i on of t erm
Exampl e
Para 3: Second t ype of el ect ri ci t y
Exampl e
Del i ni t i on of t erms
Even a si mpl e breakdown l i ke t hi s rvi l l hel p t he st udent s t o appreci at e not onl y
that the text has an identifiable structttre but also that it is this structure,
t oget her wi t h t he l anguage t hrough rvhi ch i t i s real i sed, t hat enabl es t he wri t er
t o communi cat e ef f ect i vel y wi t h hi s reader.
Fi nal l y. we can get t he st udent s t o l ook at some of t he l i ngui st i c devi ces
whi ch t he i vri t er has used. Some of t hese serve t o uni f y t he t ext , whi l e ot hers
real i se t he organi sat i onal st ruct ure out l i ned above. These devi ces are
exami ned i n great er det ai l i n2. 2. 2. Here, however, we mi ght not e t he vari et y
of ways in which the writer presents his examples to the reader.
Puru l : He uses a seri es of support i ng st at ement s.
Paru 2: He makes a di rect appeal t o t he reader t o carry out a si mpl e
exper i ment .
Pura 3: He provi des a concret e exampl e.
I J
r L n v t r l l r u
I . L , J
Pedagogi cal
i mpl i cat i ons
2. 2
The resources of
the written
l anguage
_-E
We shoul d al so note horv i re uni fi es hi s text
kind of . . . This kind of . . . and through the
al ternated
*' i th repeti ti on of the key l exi cal
through devi ces such as The otl tar
use of the pronoun form i r
ttent electricitt' .
We cannot pretend that anal l ,si s of texts al ong these l i nes rvi l l b,y i tsef enabl e
the studenti to l earn to u,ri te effecti vel y. Thi s can onl y be achi eved through
adequate exposure to the rvri tten l anguage backed up by appropri ate practi ce'
But, gi ven the probl ems of expressi ng onesel f through the medi um of wri ti ng'
i t woul d seem that some expl i ci t exami nati on of how we communi cate through
wri ti ng i s an i ndi spensabl e
part of the programme' In parti cul ar, i t serves to
make ihe students aware that any piece of writing is an attempt to communicate
something:
that the writer has a goal or purpose in mind; that he has to establislt
and maintain contact v,ith his reader; that he ltas to organise his material and that
he does this through the use of certain logical and gramn"tatical devices.
We shal l of course have to exami ne a great many di fferent ki nds of wri ti ng
and i t i s assumed that the anal t,si s of texts al ong these l i nes woul d be an
ongoi ng acti vi ty. carri ed out at di fferent l evel s of di ffi cul ty at di fferent stages of
the"pro"grarn.n..
In the earl y stages we shal l have to use the students' mother
tongu. i or thi s purpose. otherrvi se they may mi ss the fi ner poi nts of the
anal ysi s. Later on, we shal l al so want to refi ne our two types of wri ti ng and
.rtubl i rh sub-types: di fferent ki nds of l etters" reports. narrati ve texts and so on'
But the basi c di sti ncti on whi ch has been drawn
-
between those si tuati ons i n
whi ch the wri ter i s addressi ng someone he knows and those i n whi ch he i s
writing in some kind of institutional capacity
-
is a fundamental one. Each
type oT wri ti ng has i ts own val ue, both i n terms of devel opi ng wri ti ng ski l l s and
for the learners
PersonallY.
When we speak of the u,ritten language and its resources, this should not be
taken to imply that we can draw any sharp dividing line between the language
used i n speech and the l anguage used i n wri ti ng. Rather, we have two
i ndependent but i nterrel ated forms, embodi ed, at the l evel of phonol ogy and
graphol ogy. i n two di fferent medi ums. Both the spoken.and the wri tten forms
can draw on the same l i ngui sti c resources of the l anguage, i ts grammar and
lexis, but the extent to which they draw on Some lesources rather than on
others relates largely to the nature of the two channels: speech as the languaee
of i mmedi ate communi cati on; wri ti ng as the way of maki ng contact at a
di stance.
Thus, certai n types of sentence structure, such as non-restri cti ve cl auses
(for example: This type of clause, which is rarely heard in speech, is quite
common in writing) are more typical of the rvritten language, butthey may
occur i n speech. However, to take the exampl e of non-restri cti ve
cl auses,
speech has i ts own wav of handl i ng parentheti c constructi ons. For exampl e:
ilrit
ryp,
of clause
-
you don' t often hear it in speech
-
is quite common in
writing.
Si mi l arl y, most sentence-l i nki ng devi ces and those used to express l ogi cal
rel ati onshi ps al so occur i n the spoken l anguage but, because of the nature of
the channel (the i mmedi acy of the l i stener, the possi bi l i ty of i nteracti on), thel '
are l ess frequent than i n u,ri ti ng, where they are essenti al for the constructi on
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Graphological
resources
LEARNI NG TO USE THE RESOURCES OF THE WRI TTEN
LANGUAGE
of a t ext whi ch has t o be underst ood wi t hout f urt her hel p f rom t he wri t er.
I n general , t heref ore, i t can be sai d t hat our purpose i n sel ect i ng cert ai n
types of sentence structure rather than others und in making greater use of
l i nki ng and ot her devi ces i s det ermi ned by t he need t o make i he meani ng of t he
text as explicit as possible. Thus in speech an utterance such as:
John may go.
is clear. In writing, however, we may have to use a different kind of modal
const ruct i on whi ch does not depend on i nt onat i on.
For exampl e:
There is a possibility that John will go.
Si mi l arl y, i n speech:
John didit.
i s cl ear, but i n wri t i ng we can hel p our reader by usi ng an al t ernat i ve
const ruct i on such as:
I t was John who di d i t .
I n t he wri t t en f orm of t he l anguage, t hen, t here i s great er rel i ance on t he
structural elements alone and this, together with the time the writer has for
organi si ng hi s t ext , account s f or t he hi ghi : r f requency of cert ai n st ruct ures.
These include spelling, punctuation
and other devices which the written
l anguage makes use of i n order t o convey pat t erns of meani ng. Thi s sect i on i s
not intended to provide a spelling or punctuation guide but rather to assess the
value of these features as part of the resources of the written form of the
language and therefore their relative importance in a writing programme.
(a) Spelling
Nlastery of the writing system includes the ability to spell. However,
because i n Engl i sh t he rel at i onshi p bet ween sound and symbol i s a
compl ex one,
*
spel l i ng i s a probl em f or many users of t he l anguage, nat i ve
and non-nat i ve speakers al i ke, and most of us are obl i eed t o consul t a
di ct i onary f rom t i me t o t i me. whi l e we do not want t o-encourase t he
l earners t o be i ndi f f erent
t owards spel l i ng, we shoul d acknowl edge t hat
mi s-spel l i ng rarel y i nt erf eres wi t h communi cat i on
-
i n f act , Engl i sh
spel l i ng was not st andardi sed unt i l t he ei ght eent h cent ury
-
any more
t han, on a phonemi c l evel , mi st akes of pronunci at i on great l y af i ect
i nt el l i gi bi l i t y.
I t i s i nappropri at e,
t heref ore. i n a wri t i ng programme,
t o adopt t oo
prescri pt i ve an at t i t ude t owards spel l i ng. Thi s t ends t o be encouraged by
t he f act t hat wri t i ng i s open t o i nspect i on and i s used i n t est s and
\
examinations. Responsibility for ensurin g an adequate masterv of spelling
shoul d be di vi ded bet ween t he t eacher and t he l earner: i t i s t he t eacher' s
responsi bi l i t y t o provi de gui dance i n key areas, t hrough rul es, si nce
Engl i sh spel l i ng i s by no means unsvst emat i c and much hel p can be gi ven i n
*There
are f ort y-f our phonemes i n Engl i sh and t rvent y-si x l et t ers of t he al phabet . I n t he
ort hographi c s)' st t -m' l et t c-rs are combi necl t o f orm di f f erent symbol s (e. g. n and ng) whi l e some
svmt r ol s cl o doubl c dur v ( c. g.
- ] , r epr escnt s
bot h t hc r i l and l i l phoncmes) i
15
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
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t hi s way, rvhi l e i t i s t he l earner' s t ask t o consul t a di ct i onarv f or gui dancc '
Thi s habi t rvi l l be great l y encouraged bv dran' i ng at t ent i orl t o mi st akes
rat her t han correct i rl g t hem
(see Chapt er 10). On t he whol e. however.
spel l i ng ef f i ci ency and i rnprovent ent
i s l i kel y t o rel at e t o readi ng (i . e. t he
amount of exposure) and t hi s agai n emphasi ses t he i mport ance of readi nc
i n devel opi ng wri t i ng abi l i t Y.
(b\
Purtctuatiot"t
Except i n a f ew areas. t he convent i ons
governi ng t he use of t he vi sual
devi ces known as punct uat i on are f ai rl y wel l est abl i shed, al t hough
punct uat i on has never been st andardi sed t o t he same ext ent as spel l i ng.
At t i t udes, t heref ore, t end t o be f ai rl y prescri pt i ve, ext endi ng even i nt o
areas where vari at i on i n usage i s t ol erat ed. The resul t of t hi s i s t hat t he
l earners are i ncl i ned t o t reat punct uat i on as somet hi ng t hat can be done
mechani cal l y
and as an
' ext ra'
rat her t han as an essent i al part of t he wri t i ng
syst em.
The cornrnunicatit,e value of punctuation needs tobe demonstrated-
For exampl e, i t i s preci sel y because t he reader expect s sent ence
boundari es
t o be marked
(wi t h a capi t al l et t er at t he st art and a f ul l st op, or
Some equi val ent devi ce, at t he cl ose) and because he expect s quest i ons t o
be si gnal l ed wi t h a quest i on mark, even t hough t he presence of t hi s symbol
*uy b. redundant i n most cases, t hat t hese convent i ons cannot be i gnci red.
Si mi l arl y, at a hi gher l evel , t he reader expect s t o have paragraphs marked
f or hi m, normal l y by f i ndi ng t he openi ng sent ence i ndent ed and t he rest of
the line after the last sentence left blank. These conventions tell him that
t he wri t er i nt ends t hi s set of sent ences t o be t aken t oget her. On t he ot her
hand, wi t h devi ces such aS commas and semi -col ons, t here i s great
vari at i on bot h i n how t hey are used and t he ext ent t o whi ch t hey are used'
and this should be freely acknowledged.
We should also admit that there
are areasof difficulty for most of us, such as the use of hyphens in
compound nouns. where recourse t o a di ct i onary i s t he onl y sol ut i on'
I n t he area of punct uat i on. t hen, we can best hel p t he st udent s i f we
provide them with guidance that is not too rigidly prescriptive, and at the
Same time encourage them to consider the effect on the reader if, for
example, sentence and paragraph boundaries are not marked. Likewise.
i nst ead of cri t i ci si ng a sent ence or a paragraph f or bei ng
' t oo
l ong' , we
mi ght ask t hem t o consi der whet her i t pl aces a st rai n on t he reader i n any
*uy. So-. punctuation devices admittedly call for a cautious use (for
exampl e, t he use of excl amat i on marks and dashes) and here t here i s no
harml n t el l i ng our st udent s t o use t hem spari ngl y. On t he ot her hand, i t
woul d be wrong t o deny t he l earners an expedi ent such as underl i ni ng
words or phrasi s t hat cal l f or speci al emphasi s, si nce t hi s i s t he equi val ent
of i t al i ci sat i on i n
Pri nt .
(c) Other graphological resources
Ot her graphol ogi cal resources whi ch f orm part of t he wi de range of devi ces
avai l abl e t o us i n t he wri t i ng syst em i ncl ude t he use of headi ngs, f oot not es.
t abl es of cont ent s and i ndexes. These wi l l not be rel evant t o al l our
st udent s. but at l east t hev shoul d be aware t hat a headi ng enabl es t he
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Rhetorical
resources
LEARNI NG TO USE THE RESOURCES OF THE WRI TTEN
LANGUAGE
writer to give his reader some advance notice of what to expect, while a
footnote enables him to extract a supplementary piece of information
from
t he t ext and st i l l make i t accessi bl e t o t he reader.
This term is used to refer to all the devices which are needed in writing in order
to produce a text in which the sentences are organised into a coherent whole, in
such a way that they fulfil the writer' s communicative purpose. This section is
intended to provide a brief survey of these resources. A more detailed list,
together with examples, is given in the Appendix.
Rhetorical devices are looked at here under three headings logical,
srammatical and lexical.
Logical devices
Logical devices are words or phrases which indicate meaning relationships
bet ween or wi t hi n sent ences. These i ncl ude t hose of addi t i on, compari son,
contrast, result, exemplification and so on (some of these we have already
looked atin2.2.2). It is through devices such as these that the.writer is able
to organise his ideas and to help his reader follow him from one sentence to
anot her.
To express addition, we may, for example, use the co-ordinator and,
but other devices are available to u' s, such as/urthermore, moreover,
besides, in addition (to . . .), what is more, etc. The appropriate use of one
of these devices tells the reader that two sentences are intended to be taken
t oget her. For exampl e:
The public library has 21,000 books which can be taken out on
loan. In addition, there is a reference section of over 6,000
vol umes.
Similarly with the relationship of contrast: this may be signalled through
the co-ordinaror but or by using however, yet, while, on the other hand, etc.
For exampl e (t o cont i nue t he sequence above):
. . . In addition there is a reference section of over 6,000 volumes.
Many of the books in this section, however, are not kept on the
shelves and are only available to the public on request.
Through the use of however the writer has signalled a difference between
the part of the library which contains the books that can be borrowed (and
are on t he shel ves) and t he ref erence sect i on, where some books are st ored
separat el y.
We have seen i n 2. l . 2how i mport ant t hese devi ces are i n present i ng
ideas so that the text has a clear structure. This helps the reader to follow
the writer' s thought. In certain types of text, it would be extremely difficblt
to organise the content effectively without the appropriate use of devices
for enumeration (first(ly), in the
first
place, second(ly) . . .
finally,
last of all,
etc.) and for summarising (in short, on the whole, etc.).
Grammatical devices
Equal l y i mport ant f or t he cohesi on of a t ext are t he l i nks est abl i shed by
cert ai n grammat i cal devi ces. such as t hose, f or exampl e, whi ch si gnal
( a)
( b)
17
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rel at i onshi ps bet rveen sent ences bv means of . back ref eret t ce (or anaphora).
Ther e ar e sever al i nst ances of t hi s t ype of l i nki ng i n t he t ext i n 2. I . 2. For
exampl e:
Here t he l i nk bet ween t he sent ences i s est abl i shed t hrough t he use of
the pronominal form it. The examination of almost any text will reveal that
this is an extremely common way of binding sentences together and giving
a t ext cohesi on. I t i s not a devi ce, however, whose val ue i s i mmedi at el y
appreci at ed by non-nat i ve users of t he l anguage.
Back reference binding two sentences together may also be effected
by means of. a deictic, such as a demonstrative adjective or pronoun or an
art i cl e. For exampl e, i n (a) above we had:
I n addi t i on, t here i s a ref erence sect i on of over 6, 000 vol umes. Many
of the books indfriE6ilon. however. . . .
I n t he t ext i n 2. 7. 2wehad:
' will
charse the comb
wi t h st at i c el ect ri ci t v.
Tftls links the second sentence with the whole of the precedi ng one.
Compare, for exampl e:
Go to the
need.
rel erence sect l on. is where you will find the books you
st at i c el ect ri ci t y.
Here the link through this ts only with part of the preceding sentence: the
reference section
The text in 2 .1.2 also provides an example of the anaphoric use of. the .
Rub
with
Here the use of. the signals to the reader that the writer is referring to the
comb menti oned i n the previ ous sentence.
Finally. we should note that sentences are frequently linked through a
change of word or phrase order: for exampl e, by pl aci ng a word or phrase
i n the front
posi ti on
i n the sentence:
Go t o t he reference library. you wi l l fi nd the books you need.
John worked i n the l i brarv between
l i brary . . .
Elefiricitf is the most useful form of energv there is.
can be t ransmi t t ed over l one di st ances
(et c.
).
1970 and 1975.
i 8
the
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2. 2. 3
Pedagogi cal
i mpl i cati ons
LEARNI NG TO USE THE RESOURCES OF THE WRI TTEN
LANGUAGE
(c) Lexical devices
Al most any t ext di spl ays a great deal of cohesi on on a l exi cal l evel .
To
some ext ent t hi s mi ght be f el t t o be i nevi t abl e, but nevert hel ess
t hi s i s
another significant way in which sentences are linked together.
Key words, for example, are often repeated: erectriii|
occurs ten
t i mes i n t he t ext i nz. r. z al t hough i t i s al so repl aced by i r t o gi ve
grammatical cohesion. Key items are also repeated in different forms:
thus, in the text in2.I.2 we have not only electricity but also electric
and
electrostatic. Another common device is the use of a synonymous
word or
phrase. For instance, in the first example in (a) above we have books in the
first sentence and volumes in the second.
The pedagogical problems we are faced with in this area are clearly
considerable. For the most part, oral work will have focused mainiy on a
mastery of sentence structure, which in itself is a formidable learning task, with
little or no attention being paid to the way in which sentences are linked or
sequenced. I n any case, as we have seen, t he nat ure of t he medi um cal l s f or a
different kind of organisation, much more rigorous than in speech, so that,
even if the learners are
familiar
with some of these devic"s, they will still have
t o l earn how t o use t hem i n wri t i ng. The wri t i ng programme requi res,
therefore, both an extensive understandihg
ofthese resources and considerable
practice in using them in appropriate forms of written expression.
Analysis of texts can contribute significantly to the learners' understanding
of these devices. In particular,
we might note that many students are simply noT
aware, for example, how the use of the pronominal
forms and other
subst i t ut i on devi ces cont ri but e t o t he cohesi on of a t ext (i n t hei r mot her t ongue
the subject pronominal forms such as he, she, it, they may even be optional
elements in sentence structure). The use of adverbial words and phiases in the
front position in the sentence (referred
to on page 1g) will probably require
specialteaching, since on the whole this will have been discourage dfoi orat
product i on. I n oral work, i t i s of t en a probl em t o get t he l earners t o use: There
was a book on the table,whereas..
on the table there was a book misht be the
appropri at e f orm i n a wri t t en sequence of sent ences.
The l ogi cal devi ces may al so present probl ems on a concept ual l evel . The
learners have to understand not only the semantic differences between one
t ype of devi ce and anot her, but al so t he di f f erent shades of meani ns bet ween
one i t em and anot her, si nce t hey are not al l f reel y i nt erchangeabl e, -There
i s
obviously considerable danger, therefore, in exposing the stirdents to too many
of t hese devi ces at one t i me (f or exampl e, i n t he f orm of a l i st ). Thei r
i nt roduct i on i nt o t he wri t i ng programme
must be gradual and syst emat i c. At
t he same t i me, however, si nce a[ t he devi ces
-
l ogi cal , grammat i cal
and
l exi cal - occur si mul t aneousl y i n a t ext and si nce sent eni es i nt ended t o be
\
t aken t oget her commonl y di spl ay more t han one l i nki ng f eat ure, i t does not
seem feasible or even desirable to try to deal with these different kinds of
l i nki ng devi ces separat el y. Thi s probrem i s rooked at asai n i n 3. 3.
r9
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG
SKI LLS
Di scussi on
Exerci ses
References
Ln2.L 1 (d) you have the begi nni ng of a
Mi ke. Suggest how i t mi ght conti nue.
Read the following text carefullY:
Smoki ng,
conversat i on bet ween Ni ck and
1
)
Do you agree t hat readi ng i s an i mport ant
f i t ct or i n l eachi ng rvri t i ng?
Wt ry i s i t i mport ant t o t rv t o get st udent s t o underst and a wri t er' s
communi cat i ve
PurPose
?
Do you agree t hat i t i s necessar)I
t o pay at t eut i on t o spel l i ng and
punct uat i on?
i . . o- your experi ence of t eachi ng
(or l earni ng) a f orei gn l anguage. do you
t hi nk t hat t he rhet ori cal devi ces l i st ed i n2. 2. 2 coul d be pi cked up (e. g. f rom
readi ng) or need t o be t aught s1' st emat i cal l l ' r
Repeat Exercise 2 on
Chapter 1.
page 8, which you first attempted after reading
E
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F-r
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=
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Srfoki ng$hi cl may
be a pl easure for some pe-ropl e. i s a source of
se ri ous d i scrc-m f o rt to t@fe I I ows .
lFu
rtFe m e di c a I a ut h o rit i e s e x p re ss
thei r concern about the effect of smoki ng on the heal thl not onl j l of those
who smokelU[falsolthose
who must involuntarily inhale the contribution
of the smokers to the atmosPhere.
As you are doubtless aware, a considerable number of our students
have
joined together in an effort to pelsuade the university to ban
smoking in the classrooms. I believe they are entirely right in their aim'
However, I would hope that it is possible to achieve this by an appeal to
reason and to concern for others rather than by regulation'
Smoking is prohibited by City by-laws in theatres and in halls used
for showing films as well as laboratories where there may be a fire
hazard. Elsewhere, it is up to your own good sense.
I am therefore asking you to maintain
' No
Smoking' in the
auditoria, classrooms and seminar rooms where you teach. This proof of
your interest for their health and well-being is very important to a large
number of our students.
In the fi rst paragraph, back reference has been i ndi cated by means of a ci rcl e
and an u.ro*. Other l i nki ng devi ces have been boxed. Mark the rest of the
text i n the same waY.
1 On the importance of teaching comprehension of a text, see A Davies and
H G Widdowson in J P B Allen and S Pit Corder
(1974) Reading and
Writing.
2 Ontp"lling, see J Pealce in P Doughty, J Pearce and G Thornton (1972)
Spoi en ondWri tt,z. For spel l i ng rul es, see R A Cl ose
(1975) and E Abbott
( 1 e7e).
3 On punctuati on, see R Qui rk
et al (1972) and R A Cl ose (1975).
4 On ihe rhetorical resources of the written language, see A Tadros in
D L Bouchard and L J Spaventa
(1980) and V Horn (1972). The division into
l ogi cal , grammati cal and l exi cal i s based on the descri pti on gi ven by Tadros.
For more extensi ve treatments of cohesi on. see R Qui rk
(1912) Sentence
Connecr i on and M A K Hal l i day and R Hasan ( 1916) .
2
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3. 1
Approaches t o
t eachi ng wri t i ng
a t l
- 1 . l . I
Focus on accuracy
General
principles
for teaching writing
\
At t empt s t o t each rvri t i ng
-
si nce t he t i me when st udent s were merel y gi ven a
t opi c of some ki nd and asked t o produce a
' composi t i on'
wi t hout f urt her hel p
-
have usual l y f ocused on some part i cul ar probl emat i cal aspect of t he rvri t i ng
si t uat i on. Some key approaches are exami ned bel ow.
Mi st akes show up i n rvri t t en rvork (especi al l v
si nce t hi s i s usual l i , ' subj ect t o
ri gorous' correct i on' ) and not unnat ural l y come t o be regarded as a maj or
trg* f*"q,
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@ 1986 Unr l ed Feat ur e Syndr cat e. t nc
XINE I{UNORED AXD NI}IEIY.
Tr{,O uJ0R05 T} 60 |
21
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
I
.iE
!z
pr obl em. I t was assumed t hat st udent s made mi st akes because t hcy wer e
al l owed t o rvri t e rl ' hat r/ ro, u' ant ed. and accuracy-ori ent ed approachcs herve
t heref ore st ressed t he i mport ance of cont rol i n order t o el i mi nat e t hem f rom
wr i t t en wor k. St udent s ar e t aught how t o u' r i t e and combi ne var i ous sent cnce
t ypes and mani pul at i on exerci ses l i ke t he one bel orv arc used t c-r
gi l ' e
t hem t hc
experi ence of u' ri t i ng connect ed sent ences.
A
( 1)
man
( 2) wal ked ( 3) down t he st r eet ' A
( 4) gi r l ( 5) was wai t i ng f or
hi m out si de a
( 6)
shop. As he appr oached, she smi l ed
( 7) and sai d'
' Hel l o.
How ar e you?'
( 1) t al l , young, wel l - dr essed
( 2) wi t h a bear d, i n a bl ack hat , wi t h sungl asses
( 3) r api dl y, hur r i edl y, i mpat i ent l y
( 4) pr et t y, f ai r - hai r ed, dar k- ski nned
( 5) i n hi gh- l r eel ed shoes, wi t h an umbr el l a, i n a pi nk hat
( 6)
chemi st ' s,
gr ocer ' s, bi cYcl e
( 7) pl easant l y, at t r act i vel y, i n a f r i endl y manner
Gradual l y the amount of control i s reduced and the students are asked tq
fr
exerci se meani ngful choi ce
(i n
the exampl e above they do not have to thi nk
and they cannot make mi stakes). At a sti l l l ater stage. they ma1' be gi ven a
!'
good deal of gui dance wi th l arrguage and content. but al l owed some --/
6pportuni ti es for sel f-expressi on.
' =
Thi s control l ed-to-free approach was very much a product of the audi o-
ts
l i ngual peri od, wi th i ts emphi si s on step-by-step l earni ng and formal
-,
correctness. Many such schemes were careful l y thought out and. al though no
.y
l onger fashi onabl e, they produced many useful i deas on how to gui de wri ti ng.
F
In contrast, thi s approach encol l rages stl l dents to wri te as much as possi bl e and
ts
as qui ckl y as possi bl e
-
u' i thout worryi ng about maki ng mi stakes. The
_
,
i mportant thi ng i s to get one' s i deas down on paper. l n thi s way students feel P
that they are actual l y wri ti rtg. not merel y doi ng
' exerci ses'
of some ki nd; thev -,
wri te what theywant to wri te and consequentl y wri ti ng i s an enj oyabl e
P
e.xperience
fr
Al t hought hi sappr oachdoesnot Sol VeSon} eof t hepr r r bl emswhi ch
students have u,hen thev come to wri te i n a forei gn l anguage (see 4.1), i t drau' s Y
attenti on to certai n poi nts we need to keep i n mi nd. Many students wri te badl ' v'
i
because they do not u' ri te enough and for the same reason they feel i nhi bi ted
G
rvhen thei r pi ck up a pen. Most of us wri te l ess wel l i f we are obl i gett to wri te
E
about somet hi ns' Af l uenc1' - appr oach. per hapschannel l edi nt osomet hi ngl i ke
keepi ng a di ary. can be a useful anti dote.
P
T-hi s approach stresses the i mportance of the paragraph as the basi c uni t of
E
wri tten expressi on and i s therefore mai nl y concernedto teach students how to
F
const r uct andor gani Separ agr aphs. I t uSeSavar i et yof t echni ques, si ngl yandi n
combi nati on. sui h us'
P
-
formi ng paragraphs from
j umbl ed
sentences,
F
-
wri ti ng paral l el paragraphs;
>a
-
devel opi ng paragraphs from topi c sentences (wi th or wi thout cues)
----
*
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3. 1. 2
Focus onfluency
3. 1. 3
Focus on t ext
22
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3. 7. 4
GENEBAL PRI NCI PLES FOR TEACHI NG WRI TI NG
Once again this approach identifies and tries to overcome one of the central
problems in writing: getting students to express themselves effectively at a level
beyond t he sent ence.
In real life, as we have seen, we normally have a reason for writing and we
Focus on purpose write to or for somebody . These are factors which have often been neglected in
teaching and practising writing. Yet it is easy to devise situations which allow
students to write purposefully: for example, they can write to one another in
the classroom or use writing in roleplay situations.
Although, like fluency writing, this approach does not solve specific
problems which students have when handling the rvritten language, it does
motivate them to write and shows how writins is a form of communication.
3.2 Although some writing schemes and programmes have tended to rely largely or
The state of the exclusively on one or other of these approaches, in practice most teachers and
art textbook writers have drawn on more than one and have combined and
modified them to suit their purpose.
In recent years classroom methodology has been heavily influenced by the
communicative approach, with its emphasis on task-oriented activities that
involve, where possible, the exchange of information and the free use of
language, without undue concern for mistakes. Receptive skills are also given
more prominence and students are exposed to a wide range of spoken and
written language. A good deal of recommended writing practice directly
reflects the main concerns of this approach, although in practice both teachers
and textbook writers deal with the classroom situation pragmatically and
therefore retain a good deal of controlled practice. In general, however,
attention is paid to motivation and there is usually some room for self-
expressi on, i ven at t he l ower l evel s, as t he . *u*i I . , on page 24 show.
No less interesting and significant are some of the
' side
effects' of the
communi cat i ve approach. For exampl e:
-
St udent s get more opport uni t i es t o read (and al so t o read more i nt erest i ng
and nat ural l y wri t t en t ext s) and t hi s ki nd of exposure t o t he wri t t en
l anguage i s benef i ci al t o wri t i ng.
-
Bot h l i st eni ng and readi ng mat eri al have rel at ed act i vi t i es (see 6. 3. 1), many
of whi ch l ead t o i nci dent al wri t i ng of a nat ural ki nd, such as not e-t aki ng.
This in turn can lead on to further writing, such as using the notes to write a
report . The f act ual nat ure of much readi ng and l i st eni ng mat eri al i s al so
usef ul f or rel at ed wri t i ng act i vi t i es.
-
Learners are encouraged t o i nt eract and t he act i vi t i es requi red f or t hi s of t en
i nvol ve wri t i ng (e. g. quest i onnai res, qui zzes, et c. ). Many of t hese act i vi t i es
i nvol ve an el ement of
' f un' ,
so t hat st udent s of t en enj oy wri t i ng (wi t hout
perhaps real i si ng i t ).
-
St udent s are encouraged t o work t oget her i n pai rs and groups and t o share
wri t i ng t asks. Thi s removes t he f eel i ng of i sol at i on whi ch bot hers many
l earners.
I n spi t e of t hese. advances, however. rvri t i ng ski l l s are st i l l rel at i vel y negl ect ed
i n many courses. Obj ect i ves are rarel y spel t out as cl earl y as t hey are f or oral
LJ
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
_v
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wor k and t her e i s an over al l l ack of gui dance f or t he svst emat i c cl evel opnl ent t l f
\ \ , r i r t en abi l i t y.
I t i s l i kel l ' . t her ef or e. t hat nt any t eacher sr vi l l r l eed t o l ook f or
wavs of suppl ement i ng
t he i r cour scbooks i f t hct ' \ \ ' ant t he i r st udent s t o bccot ' ne
pr ; f i ci cnt i J wr i t i ng. Thi s. i n anv case. r vi l l al u' avs be necessl l r v. as wi t h or al
wor k. when t r yi ng t o meet t he i ndi vi ci ual needs of cer t ai n gr oups of st udent s.
i r t l hi s
l t , l { t , r :
l r t :
\ \ l t o j s j t
I i r r ,
l t ' l l t , r -
,
Cal^
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o
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Read and write
at
J
Read St eve' s car d t o hi s mot her
; r l l r l ; r n . u t ' r l h l q u e s l i o n s :
I \ \ ' hl t i s St eve doi ng' ?
2 \ \ ' hat i s Jor r r r r l oi t . t g' /
3 \ \ ' hr r t t l o t ht ' r ' do t ' r ' t ' r v dar "l
4 What i . Sr r n Sebr r st i an I i ke?
A
=
\ \ ' r i t e vot r r o*' n hol r dal ' post car d
24th
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3. 3
The rol e of
gui dance
GENERAL PRI NCI PLES FOR TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG
I n vi ew of t he many di f f i cul t i es wi t h whi ch t he st udent s are f aced i n l earni ng
how t o wri t e a f orei gn l anguage. t he f undament al pri nci pl e of gui di ng t hem i n
vari ous ways t owards a mast erv of wri t i ng ski l l s, and somet i mes cont rol l i ng
what t hey wri t e, i s not one we can l i ght l y di smi ss, even i f t he pri nci pl e has t o
some ext ent been mi sappl i ed (f or
exampl e, i n t ryi ng t o el i mi nat e mi st akes).
Rat her, we shoul d consi der more caref ul l y what ki nd of gui dance we shoul d
gi ve t hem, part i cul arl y i n rel at i on t o t he vari ous probl ems t hey have when
wr i t i ng ( see 1 . 4) .
On a l i ngui st i c l evel , si nce our ai m i s t o devel op t hei r abi l i t y t o wri t e a t ext ,
one way of hel pi ng t he st udent s. and t heref ore of provi di ng gui dance, i s by
usfng the text as our basic
formot for
practice, even in the early stages. While
t hi s does not rul e out some sort of sent ence pract i ce, whi ch may be necessary
f or t he mast erv of cert ai n t ypes of compound and compl ex sent ence st ruct ure,
best practised through writing because they are most commonly used in writing
(see 4. 4), we do not need t o bui l d i nt o t he wri t i ng programme a st ep-by-st ep
approach which will take the learners in easy stages from sentence practice to
the production of a text. With the text as our basic format for practice, we can
t each wi t hi n i t s f ramervork al l t he rhet ori cal devi ces
-
l ogi cal , grammat i cal
and l exi cal - whi ch t he l earners need t o mast er. Whi l e we must be caref ul not
t o overwhel m t hem wi t h t oo many di f f i cul t i es at any one t i me (see 2. 2. 3), t here
is no apparent justification for attemptirlg to separate features of the written
l anguage whi ch go nat ural l y t oget her.
By usi ng t ext s (l et t ers and report s, f or exampl e
-
even di al ogues i n t he
earl y st ages) as our basi c pract i ce f ormat , rat her t han some ot her uni t such as
t he sent ence or even t he paragraph, we can make wri t i ng act i vi t i es much more
meani ngf ul f or t he st udent s and t hereby i ncrease t hei r mot i vat i on t o wri t e wel l .
The text provides ct settirtg vvithin which they can practise, for example, sentence
compl et i on, sent ence combi nat i on. paragraph const ruct i on, et c. i n rel at i on t o
lo-nger stretches of discourse. In this way they can see not only why they are
ryriting but also lvrite in a manner appropriate to the commttnicative goal of the
text.
Thi s, t hen. i s one wav of hel pi ng t he l earners: by maki ng wri t i ng t asks
more real i st i c, by rel at i ng pract i ce t o a speci f i c purpose i nst ead of aski ng t hem
t o wri t e si mpl y f or t he sake of rvri t i ng. I n order t o f i nd our cont ext s f or rvri t t en
work, we shal l al so need t o expl ore opport uni t i es f or i nt egrat i ng i t ef f ect i vel y
wi t h ot her cl assroom act i vi t i es i nvol vi nq not onl y readi ng but al so speaki ng and
l i st eni ng. Wri t i ng t ends t o
get
rel egat ed t o t he l evel of exerci ses part l v because
i t i s t reat ed as a compendi um t o t he l esson rat her t han as a rvort hwhi l e l earni ng
act i vi t y i n i t sel f . Whi l e i t i s conveni ent , as we have acknowl edged (see 1. 6 (d)),
t o be abl e t o set rvri t t en rvork as homework and whi l e wri t i ng may not come
very hi gh on t he l i st of pri ori t i es. t hi s does not mean t hat i t cannot t ake i t s pl ace
as part of a nat ural sequence of l earni ng act i vi t i es.
A l vri t i ng act i l ' i t y, f or exampl e. can deri ve i n a nat ural rvay f rom some
pri or act i vi t y such as i l conversat i on or somet hi ng read. As i n real l i f e . i t can be
t he consequence of a cert ai n si t uat i on. We see an advert i sement f or a
j ob, f or
exampl e, whi ch i nvol ves rent l i rt g. We t al k about i t and perhaps phone up about
i t . rvhi ch i nvol ves . speuki ng and l i sreni ng. We t hen deci de t o appl y f or t he
j ob
-
whi ch i nvol ves wr i t i r t g. Al t hough. per haps, we cannot compl et el y i nt egr at e
r. vri t i ng rvi t h ot her act i vi t i es rvi t hcrut a racl i cal change i n mat eri al s cl esi gn (see
25
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG
SKI LL5
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8. 3), t here i s much \ \ 1e can do t o rel at e i t more ef f ect i vel y t o ot her cl assrcl om
act i vi t i es: f or exampl e. b1' ext endi ng t he cont ext s u' hi ch we have set up f or oral
work, t hrough si mpl e rol e-pl ay act i vi t i es, t o provi de a meani ngf ul set t i ng f or
wri t i ng act i vi t i es as u, el l . I n t hi s \ \ ' aV we can hope t o overcome Sof f l e of t he
di f f i cul t i es rvhi ch t he l earners have u' i t h rol e proj ect i on f or wri t i ng t asks.
So f ar we have l ooked at gui dance i n t erms of u' hat ki nd of f ramework
-
l i ngui st i c and cont ext ual
-
\
/ e
can provi de i n order t o make wri t i ng t asks
more purposef ul rat her t han i n t erms of t he act ual support we can gi ve t he
st udent s i n order t o ensure t hat t hev compl et e t hei r t asks wi t h reasonabl e
success. Si nce t he maj or part of t hi s book i s concerned wi t h an expl orat i on of
t he vari ous t echni ques and procedures we can use, at t hi s st age we shal l onl y
stress that we need a v,hole range of techniques. each appropriate to specific
goal s and needs. Vari et y i s i mport ant , as i n oral work. Thi s i s essent i al f or t he
sake of i nt erest : t he l earners get bored i f t hey are const ant l y asked t o perf orm
t he same t ype of t ask. But anot her si gni f i cant f act or i s t hat cert ai n t echni ques
are ef f ect i ve f or devel opi ng part i cul ar wri t i n-e ski i l s. For exampl e. t ext s (read
or heard) provi de t he ri ght sort of cont ext f or not e-t aki ng: t hey nct onl y l ead
on t o meani ngf ul wri t i ng t asks but al so provi de a model f or t he ki nd of wri t i ng
expect ed. Vi sual mat eri al . on t he ot her hand. properl y used (see Chapt er 7)
provi des a more open-ended f ramework f or wri t i ng act i vi t i es of di f f erent ki nds
at di f f erent l evel s, but i t i s l ess sui t ed f or el ement ary wri t i ng act i vi t i es t han i s
of t en assumed. Part i cul ar ki nds of vi sual mat eri al . such as di agrams and t abl es,
are val uabl e f or devel opi ng organi sat i onal ski l l s. Cl earl y, t hen, our approach
shoul d be as ecl ect i c as possi bl e, usi ng t hose f orms of gui dance rvhi ch are
appropriate to different kinds of writing at different levels of attainment.
One t hi ng t hat needs speci al emphasi s, however, i s t hat gui dance need not
-
i ndeed shoul d not
-
i mpl y t i ght cont rol over what t he l earners wri t e. I f .
f or
exampl e, we accept t hat errors i n speech are not onl y i nevi t abl e but are al so a
nat ural part of l earni ng a l anguage, t hen we shoul d accept t hat t hey wi l l occur,
and t o some ext ent shoul d be al l owed t o occur, i n wri t i ng t oo. Unl ess t he
learners are giveri opportunities to write what they want to write, they will
never l earn t hi s ski l l . As i n speech, when we provi de opport uni t i es f or f ree
expressi on, errors wi l l occur, but t hi s i s a si t uat i on whi ch we must accept .
Perhaps it is largely out attitude towards these errors that is wrong: because
t hey occur i n wri t i ng, we f eel t hat t hey must be correct ed, whereas i n speech,
perhaps because i t i s more t ransi ent , we are i ncl i ned t o be more t ol erant .
This is far from suggesting that free expression is the solution to learning
t o wri t e: on t he cont rary, t he l earners have need of gui dance, as t hey do wi t h
oral work. They must al so be encouraged t o l ook cri t i cal l y at what t hey wri t e
and taught to draft, corlect and rewrite. But since no approach to teaching
wri t i ng has yet been devi sed whi ch wi l l t ake t hem smoot hl y f rom wri t i ng under
cont rol t o f ree expressi on. i t seems reasonabl e t o provi de some opport uni t i es
for writing freely, even in the early stages, as we do for oral work. This will not
onl y enabl e us t o see whet her t he st udent s are maki ng any real progress; i t wi l l
also ensure that thev becom e learners rather lhan leaners.
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3.4
The needs of the
l earners
GENERAL PRI NCI PLES FOR TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG
In this section some of the main issues of Chapters 1-3 are reviewed. They are
now presented in the form of guidelines for a writing programme.
(a) Teach the learners how to write.
The ability to write is all too often assumed, especially if the learners are
mature, can write reasonably well in their mother tongue and have also
acquired some proficiency in the spoken language. But oral skills
-
both
listening and speaking
-
have to be taught, through appropriate
techniques and through appropriate forms of practice. Since the spoken
and written forms of the language are not the same and since writing is a
different way of communicating from speech, it follows that writing skills
require special teaching too.
(b) Provide adequate and relevant experience of the written language.
We work on the principle that oral ability requires a firm foundation in
listening and that the latter must be on a broader basis than speaking.
Similarly, writing has to be preceded and accompanied by wide exposure
to appropriate models of written language. If the learners have only seen
dialogues in their textbooks and narrative prose in their readers, they
cannot be expected to produce other varieties of the written language
appropriate, for example, to letters,or reports.
(c) Show the learners how the written language
functions
as a system of
communication.
Exposure toJhe written form of the language by itself is not sufficient. The
learners also have to be made aware of how we communicate through the
written medium and how this differs from speech. In particular, they need
to be shown that any piece of writing, whether or not it is addressed to a
specific reader, has a communicative purpose. They need to understand,
therefore, how the resources of the written language are used to fulfil this
purpose, by establishing and maintaining contact with the reader in order
t o get one' s
' message'
across.
(d)
Teach the learners how to write texts.
'
' ' '
W. have already seen that writing, at least in any significant form, involves
the ability to organise sentences into a coherent whole or text. Most
writing practice should from the start aim to teach those devices of the
written language (as identifiedin2.2.2) which are needed to write various
types of text. The practice of these devices should, wherever possible, be
within the framework of a text which has a definite communicative goal, so
that the learners see the purpose of what they are writing. The learners
must also be given opportunities to practise organising their ideas to
form acceptable paragraphs.
(e) Teach the learners how to write different kinds of texts.
The learners cannot be expected to master all the different varieties of the
written form of the language. Many of them, in any case, would not be
rel evant t o t hei r needs, t o t he ext ent t hat t hese can be i dent i f i ed i n a
wri t i ng programme. At t he same t i me, i t i s not enough t o t ry t o t each t hem
a ki nd of
' neut ral '
general purpose f orm of wri t t en expressi on. As i n
27
TEACHI NG
WHI I I N( j b KI L L S
E
speech, they have to some extent at l east to be abl e to sel ect an approprl ate
si yl e, formal or i nformal , dependi ng on *' hat they are wri ti ng about and
rvhom they are addressi ng. and to be abl e to present thi s to the reader i n an
appropri ate form. such as a l etter or a report. Al though i t cannot be sai d
ttrat ttri s i s easy. manv of the di ffi cul ti es rvhi ch the l earners have i n thi s area
ari se because of the nature of the wri ti ng tasks: for exampl e, si mpl y bei ng
asked to wri te a paragraph out of context. Al so, thi s ki nd of task does not
encourage them to thi nk of rvri ti ng as communi cati on. Li kewi se, i t mi ght
be noted, our goal shoul d not be to teach di fferent ki nds of wri ti ng (such as
narrati ve, descri pti ve, exposi tory and so on) but rather to see that these
are practi sed wi thi n the wi der context of a text. For exampl e, a l etter may
i nvol ve some' nar r at i on' ( see
t he l et t er i n2. I . 1) or ' descr i pt i on" whi l e a
report mi ght provi de the setti ng for some exposi tory wri ti ng.
(f) Make writing tasks realistic and relevant.
All too often writing tasks lack reality for the learners because they do not
gi ve them the feel i ng that they are wri ti ng to or
for
somebody. They are
done sol el y as a form of exerci se for the benefi t of the teacher, who reacts
to them more l i ke a
j udge than a genui ne reader! The use of texts as the
basi c format for practi ce (see (d)) i s onl y part of the sol uti on. We must al so
attempt to identify those forms of writing which are most likely to be
rel evant to the l earnerS' needs, such as vari ous types of personal
communi cati on
(notes, l etters) and' i nsti tuti onal ' communi cati on
(formal
l etters, reports) and to establ i sh cl assroom contexts for practi si ng them (as
suggested i n 3.3. Thi s aspect i s further devel oped i n 4.5 and 5.5). Thi s does
noi rule out the possibility of other kinds of writing (for example, creative
writing, such as stories, although of course at a fairly low level), provided
the moti vati on for thi s ki nd of work can be establ i shed'
(g) Integrate writing with other skilk.
Writing tends to be the
' Cinderella'
of the four skills (at least at the lower
l evel s) and i s often rel egated to the end of the teachi ng uni t and used
mai nl y for homework. Thi s i s unl i kel y to make the l earners want to wri te.
Where possi bl e, we shoul d i ntroduce wri ti ng acti vi ti es that l ead natural l y
onto or from the use of other ski l l s, so that the l earners see wri ti ng as a real
acti vi ty.
(h)
Use a variety of techniques and practice
formats-
Thi s i s i mportant because the l earners get bored wi th the same type of
acti vi ty (however worthyl ). Al so, as we have Seen, some techni ques and
formats are appropriate to certain levels. For example, letter writing is
especially suitable for use in the early stages because it permits the learners
to make some use of the spoken forms of the language within a new
framework.
We must al so recogni se that, i n terms of devel opi ng wri ti ng
skills, we cannot be sure how effective any single technique is.
(i) Provide approPriate suPPort'
We have al ready noted (i n 3.3) the i mportance of gui dance and how,
broadl y, i t can be i nterpreted i n the wri ti ng programme i n a vari ety of
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Di scussi on
GENEBAL PRI NCI PLES FOR TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG
ways. I t has been argued t hat gui dance shoul d be t empered wi t h
opport uni t i es f or f ree expressi on. we shoul d remember, however, t hat
writing tasks are generally imposed and that the learners may not have
ei t her t he rel evant i deas, when t hi s i nvol ves some cont ri but i on on t hei r
part, or be sufficiently stimulated by the tasks to think of them. The
problem is further compounded by their having to work on their own.
Clearly there are many solutions to this problem and they need to be
explored in a ffexible way. In particular, however, the use of techniques
and procedures which have proved valuable for oral work, such as pair and
group work, need to be examined within the context of the writing
programme. There seems no reason why, in the classroom at least, writing
need be a sol i t ary act i vi t v.
(j) Be sympathetic!
we have considered at length the many problems involved in writing and
these are freely acknowledged to prevail when we write in our mother
tongue, not only in a foreign language. Except in specialised programmes,
heavily weighted in favour of reading and writing skills, we cannot expect
too high a level of proficiency. with the help of a programme which takes
t he l earners' probl ems i nt o account , we can hope t o make wri t i ng a more
rewarding activity for them, both in terms of attainment and satisfaction.
But we need t o surrender our rol e as
' j udges' ,
except when wri t i ng i s bei ng
tested or examined, and view what the learners write as attempts, however
inadequate, to communicate. There is always a great temptation, perhaps
a natural inclination, to concentrate on what is wrong in a piece of writing,
mainly because, as we have already noted, it is there for us to read and
reread. But if we are to be truly readers rather than
judges,
we should
perhaps look not so much at what the learnershave
failed
to achieve but
rather at what they have actually succeeded in doing.
1 whi ch of t he approaches descri bed i n 3. 1 do you t hi nk i s most i mport ant ?
whv?
Q
What reasons are given for taking the text as the basic format for practice?
.
Do you agree wi t h t hi s proposal ?
3 From your own experience of teaching (or learning) the written form of a
f orei gn l anguage, do you agree t hat f ree expressi on, as wel l as wri t i ng under
cont rol , shoul d be a f eat ure of t he wri t i ng programme, even i n t he earl y
st ages?
4 I n t he gui del i nes f or a wri t i ng programme i n 3. 4 why are t he f ol l owi ng poi nt s
emphasi sed?
(a) The learners have to be exposed to different varieties of the written form
of t he l anguage.
(b) The l earners have t o be set real i st i c t asks.
(c) The l earners' ef f ort s need t o be vi ewed sympat het i cal l y.
Do you agree wi t h t hese vi ewpoi nt s?
29
Exerci ses
References
Exami ne any textbook of your own choosi ng to see what ki nds of gui ded
wri ti ng exerci ses are provi ded. In parti cul ar, consi der whether the textbook
wri ter tends to rel y on a l i mi ted range of exerci se types and whether he gi ves
the l earners any opportuni ti es for free expressi on.
Rewri te the exerci se i n 3.1.1 so that a meani nsful choi ce has to be made
from the i tems provi ded.
For surveys of teaching writing, and in particular the use of guided writing,
see C Bratt Paulston (1912).
Also A Raimes and M Sharwood Smith in
D L Bouchard and L J Spaventa (1980) and W Slager in The Art of TESOL
(1982). Other accounts of teaching writing may be found in G Broughton et
al (1978) and A Raimes (1983). For a description of the
' fluency'
approach
see Bri ere (1966).
The controlled writing exercise on page 22 comes from DH Spencer Guided
Composition Exercises (Longman1967). Not all the exercises in this book
are manipulative.
For the purpose of writing this chapter, the following courses were surveyed
for writing activities: B Abbs and I Freebairn Strategies (various levels) ,
(Longman); S Axbey Journeys (Longman); J Bl undel l Vi sa (OUP);
D Bolton and L Peterson Breakaway (Nelson); J CarmichaelWay Ahead
(Penguin); M Ellis and P Elhs Counterpoint (Nelson); J Harmer Meridian
(Longman);B Hartley and P Viney Streamline English (OUP); R O' Neill
Kernel (Longman);M Palmer and D Byrne Track (Longman); M Swan and
C Walters The Cambridge English Course (CUP); M Vincent et al Time
for
English (Collins) and N Whitney Checkpoint English (OUP).
The illustrative material on page24 comes from M vincent et al Time
for
English (Collins ELT 1984) top; M Palmer and D Byrne Track (Longman
1982) centre left;J CarmichaelWay Ahead (Penguin 1985) centre right, and
J Harmer Meridian (Longman 1985) bottom.
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4. 1
Some basi c
consi derat i ons
Writing in the early stages
In the early stages of a language course,
*
the principal factor which affects both
the quantity and the kind of writing that can be done is the small amount of
language that the learners have at their disposal
-
language which to a large
extent they have acquired orally and to a lesser degree through reading.
The weighting, in favour of dialogue or narrative/descriptive type texts,
may vary from one coursebook to another, but by and large we may assume
that at this level patterns typical of the spoken language have been selected and
that these are presented in contexts designed to promote oral fluency. We
should also remember that the actual input of language is likely to be fairly
slow: the students are learning how to understand and how to make themselves
understood through the spoken medium. This is a situation which we have
already contrasted with the one in the mother tongue classroom, when the
l earners f i rst go t o school (see 1. 5).
One sol ut i on t o t hi s probl em woul d be t o del ay t he i nt roduct i on of wri t i ng,
at least in any significant form, until the learners have a much greater command
of the language, in the form of a plateau on which written work could be much
more easily based. However, if we adopted this solution, we should fail to
satisfy needs which the learners have in the early stages and which can be met
th;rcugh writing: reinforcement of material learned orally, variety of activity in
the classroom and increased contact with the language through work that can
be done out of class (see i .6) . These are good reasons for introducing writing
and it would be wrong to ignore them. In any case, although we have to work
mainly within the limits of language which has been learned for oral purposes,
it is possible to introduce a small number of items needed specifically for
*The
fi rst 75-90 hours or approxi matel y the fi rst year of a secondary school course. In some
countri es i t i s common for school chi l dren to have had some orevi ous i nstructi on i n the l ansuage
(e.g. at a mi ddl e school l evel ) where the focus has been mai nl y on oral ski l l s.
J 1
wri tten work. These wi l l enabl e us to make wri ti ng acti vi ti es more i nteresti ng
and al so pave the way for more effecti ve wri ti ng practi ce at a l ater stage.
Al though most wri ti ng at thi s stage wi l l be under control , we can and shoul d
avoi d mani pul ati ve procedures whi ch do not encourage the l earners to thi nk
about what they wri te and whi ch i n any case do not hel p them to understand
how the wri tten l anguage functi ons. We must al so i ntroduce acti vi ti es whi ch,
however si mpl e, demonstrate that wri ti ng can be used for the purpose of
communi cati on. Our obj ecti ves at thi s stage, however, must necessari l y be
modest.
The following goals are suggested:
(a) Writing actit'ities should satisfy immediate needs by providing the learners
with opportunities
for
handling, through the medium of writing, language
which they have learned orally.
For thi s purpose. i t i s suggested that we shoul d use di al ogue wri ti ng as the
mai n type of acti vi ty. Thi s i s a type of text whi ch the students are fami l i ar
with; it provides a context for reinforcing and practising sentence structure
and to some extent al i ows them to be creati ve.
(b) Writing activities should also be
forward-looking
b1, beginning to
familiarise
the learners with patterns of language typical of the written medium: in
particular, some of the devices needed
for
linking and sequencing sentences.
For this purpose, letter-u,ritirzg offers a format which has many advantages.
If the letters are informal, the language used can to a large extent be based
on what the learners have already learned orally, but at the same time we
can i ntroduce a smal l number of l i nki ng and sequenci ng devi ces (see 4.4).
For the most part, then,
' exerci ses' to
practi se these devi ces wi l l be
embedded wi thi n the contexts of l etters. An i mportant poi nt to note i s that
the students will also be learning something new through writing: for
exampl ei the Iayout of a l etter, modes of address and certai n openi ng and
--1
closing formulas.
=
(c) Writing activities should also give the learners opportunities to communicate rt
through wr iting and, equally important, simply to enjoy writing.
-a
Although we cannot afford to neglect other types of writing activity in the
---
cl assroom si tuati on, i n the end for many students enj oyment may prove to =
be the most moti vati ng factor.
F
You will need to get the nght balance between these various types of activity So
-
-:
as to meet the needs of vour
parti cul ar
students.
F
E
After sel ecti ngthe appropri ate wri ti ng acti vi ty (see 4.3 for exampl es):
F
(a) Decide how to present the activity to the class.
i
For example, in the early stages, it will help to do a certain amount of
' -
writing with the students, on the board or overhead projector. This is
=
especially useful for the type of activity described in 4.4, where the
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students are learning something new, such as the use of certain connectiver
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The mai n
f eat ures
of the rvriting
programme
4 1 ' . ' '
The role of the
teacher
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( c)
WRI TI NG I N THE EARLY STAGES
or t he l ayout of a l et t er (et c). I n part i cul ar, i t al so provi des an opport uni t y
to discuss alternative answers. reasons for certain choices and so on. On a
simple levelwe can thus begin to demonstrate that writing is a thinking
process.
Prepare the students orally.
This should be regarded as a standard procedure for writing activities in
the early stages (and later when introducing any new type of activity).
Make sure, through a number of worked examples, that the students know
exactly what they have to do. Do not, however, go through the whole task
orally because this will leave the activity without any element of challenge
and reduce interest in the actual writing task.
Decide how the writing task should be carried out.
An activity may be done individually, in pairs or in small groups.
Collaboration on a task, for example, will help to reduce the feeling of
i sol at i on whi ch we not ed i n 1. 4. 1. St udent s al so t end t o get more i nvol ved
in an activity if they are allowed to talk about it together rather than sit in
silence. Some activities may be begun in pairs or in groups but concluded
on an individual basis. In the early stages it would seem appropriate to
allow many of the tasks to be done collaboratively except when feedback
on individual progress is needed.
Decide on correction procedures.
It is not essential or even desirable to examine everything the students
write, although many students will want to have their work looked at.
However, they can be asked to exchange their completed work and to
evaluate one another' s efforts. This helps to train them to look at written
work ciitically, as readers, and will help them to view their own work in the
same way at a later stage in the course. Work can also of course be
discussed on a class basis and the students asked to make their own
correct i ons.
In the course of the writing pro_qramme we shall be asking the students to carry
out various kinds of activities. Some of these will of course have more
permanent val ue t han ot hers, provi di ng, f or exampl e, an i ndex of t he i earners'
progress i n t hi s ski l l , whi l e ot her t hi ngs t hey wri t e may be needed f or ref erence
purposes (see, f or exampl e, 4. 2. I ). The quest i on, t heref ore, of how t hei r
arrange t hei r wri t t en work i n t hei r books i s an i mport ant one. I n any case, i f
t he st udent s are al l owed t o be casual , i mposi ng no sort of organi sat i on on t hei r
wri t t en work, wri t i ng i s bound t o seem l ess purposef ul .
I deal l y, perhaps, wri t t en work shoul d be done on l oose l eaf sheet s and
arranged on a f i l e, whi ch has been di vi ded i nt o appropri at e sect i ons.
Al t ernat i vel y, one or more exerci se books may be used f or t hi s purpose. For
exampl e, one book or one sect i on of a book mi ght consi st of ref erence mat eri al
whi ch can be used f or oral act i vi t i es; anot her mi ght cont ai n work whi ch has
been done t o devel op a mast ery of sent ence st ruct ure, sent ence combi nat i on
and sent ence sequenci ng, whi l e a t hi rd one mi ght be reserved f or pi eces of
wri t i ng whi ch demonst rat e t he communi cat i ve val ue of wri t i ng (f or exampl e,
(d)
4. 1. 3
The organisation
of written work
J J
4. 2
Copyi ng as a
wri ti ng acti vi ty
4. 2. 1.
An example of
meaningful
copying
copi es of the acti vi ti es suggested i n 4.5). In thi s way, al l the materi al whi ch the
students produce is accessible both for future use or reference.
Some discussion of the value of copying is necessary because it is sometimes
presented as the first stage in a writing programme. This of course will be the
case i f the l earners have probl ems at the graphol ogi cal l evel (that i s, i f they
have to learn new graphic symbols or how to write from left to right). This
aspect is dealt with in Chapter 12.
Equal l y commonl y, however, copyi ng i s hel d to be val uabl e because i t
helps to teach spelling or to reinforce sentence structure. For example, we
sometimes write words and sentences on the board and ask our students to
copy them down. At the beginning of the course, such an activity may have a
certain novelty value, and can of course serve to introduce the learners to the
written form of what has been learned orally. But the novelty will soon wear off
and copyi ng wi l l then become
j ust
one more cl assroom routi ne. Besi des, what
the l earners copy tends to get l ost i n a
j umbl e
of notes made i n the same way.
One may well wonder whether this activity
-
like reading aloud
-
is not often
j ust
a way of fi l l i ng i n a l i ttl e ti me i n the l esson.
Yet copyi ng need not be a poi ntl ess acti vi ty. Most of us woul d agree, on
the basi s of our own experi ence of tryi ng to l earn somethi ng new, that copyi ng
is an aid to retention. Furthermore, in real life, we frequently copy things down
in order to have a record of them: for example, we copy addresses, the times of
trains, telephone numbers as well as other bits of useful information or
material for which we think we may have a future use. For example, we quite
often make copies of songs and poems. The students can be asked to make
their own copies of this type of material in a special notebook.
Copying, then, canbe presented to the learners as a meaningful activity,
particularly if we can get them to see it as a way of making a record of
something which is not otherwise available to them (i.e. it does not appear in
the textbook) or is not available to them rnthe
form
in which they have copied
it (i.e. they havebrought together certain data which is distributed in various
lessons in their textbook). We must also demonstrate to them, through some
activity either at the time or later, that they have done the copying to some
purpose.
Vocabulary is an area which gives the students various kinds of learning
problems, including spelling. It is also an area where it can be useful for them
to have reference lists, in the form of lexical sets, such as clothes, furniture,
food, etc. Let us take one such set
-
furniture
-
and see how we can present
the compilation of a list of items as a purposeful copying task. The following
steps are suggested.
(a) Ask the students to draw a plan of a house which includes the following
rooms: ki tchen, si tti ng-room, di ni ng-room, bedroom and bathroom. Ask
them to write in the names of the rooms on their plan.
(b) Ask them to dictate to you a list of items
-
furniture and some smaller
objects (such as lamps, telephone, vase of flowers, etc.)
-
which could be
found in any of these rooms. Write these on the board, asking the students
to tel l you how to spel l them.
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34
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4. 2. 2
Other copying
activities
WRI TI NG I N THE EARLY
STAGES
(c) Ask the students to use the list on the board to compile five lists, one for
each room of their house, on a rough piece of pup"i. Each list should
contain items which might be found in that .oom. An item may of course
appear i n more t han one l i st (e. g. chai r).
(d) Ask the students to put the items in each list in alphabetical
brder and to
copy these lists into their exercise books. Each fisl should appear under its
appropri at e headi ng (e. g. ki t chen, si t t i ng-room, et c. ).
(e) Ask the students to compare their lists with those of other students in the
class.
Thus, what the students have compiled in their exercise books is a small
reference section on furniture, which they should be encouraged
to keep up to
date by adding new items as they learn them. Although the aclivity was
primarily a copying one
-
we may of course also allow them to include items
which were not on the board
-
it also involved thinking: they had to divide up
the list on the board, decide which items to include moie than once and also to
put them into alphabetical
order.
Now that the students have made their reference list, which might be only
one of many topic areas dealt with in the same or in a similar way, they should
also be given an opportunity to use it: either in a writing activity, perhaps at
some later stage, or in an oral activity for which reference to suctra list might
be called for. For example, lists of this kind are useful for certain types of
language game which involve vocabulary repetition (such
as variations
on: ^I
went to the market and I bought . . .).
Notice that some of the activities in 4.2.1 mainly involve copying (e.g. (a)-(c))
since the students do not actually have to contribute to the text.
(a) Putting a list of words in alphaberical order
(b) Putting a list of words in their coruect sequence
For exampl e, days of t he week, mont hs, numbers.
(c) Putting words in categories
For example, arranging a list
of words under headinss:
(d) Doing puzzles
For example, here are the
names of 1l count r i es:
Brazil, Egypt, England,
France, Greece, I ndi a, I t al y,
Peru, Portugal, Spain,
Turkey.
Complete the crossword.
Which countries are not
t here?
35
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
A' s l i st
4. 3
Rei nforcement
activities
4. 3. 1
Dialogue writing
(e) Playing Bingo
Thi s i nvol ves sel ect i ve copyi ng and i s an excel l ent way of revi si ng
vocabul arv set s (e. g. col ours. occupat i ons.
cl ot hes, et c. ) t hrough a game'
SJ
frG
>.4
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ts
14
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ts
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Wri te, wi th the hel P of suggesti ons
from the cl ass, 12-16 i tems on the
board (e.g. for cl othes:
i acket,
hat,
shi rt, socks, etc.). Ask the students
to copy any words from the list.
Then read out the words from the
list lrr any order. The first student to
hear al l hi s words read out cal l s out
BI NGO!
From these suggesti ons i t shoul d be cl ear that copyi ng need never be a
bori ng acti vi ty! Some of the fol l owi ng acti vi ti es. parti cul arl y di al ogue
wri ti ng, al so i nvol ve copyi ngl the students do not actual l y have to
contri bute to the text.
Various ways of reinforcing language learned orally in the early stages are
suggested bel ow:*
(a) Writing parallel dialogues with the help of keywords
Read this dialogue:
e: Gi ve me that book,
Pl ease.
n: Whi ch one?
a: The bi gbne
-
on t he t abl e.
n: Here you are!
a: Thanks verY much
Now use these keywords to write similar diaiogues:
(a) umbrellaired/behind/armchair
(b) box/small/on toP of/cuPboard
(c) hammer/h eavy lnearlwindow, etc.
(b) Completing
a dialogue, choosing
from
a list of
iumbled
sentences
Use these Sentences, which are not in the correct order, to complete the
dialogue below:
I' ve never seen you there At Cl arkson' s
I usual l y take mY car Do
You
l i ke i t?
Mi ne' s Jenni e
Mv name' s Bob.
I
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B:
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jacker
t) J l l st
shlrf
tocks
1uercoa,t
l earr'
glpres
t,ueafer
pul,lover
shoes
hat
overcoA.t
tockS
36
*These
and al l other exampl es i n the book are i ntended to i l l ustrate types of acti t' i ry. The actual
I anguage used i n t he exampl es does not r el at e t o any par t i cul ar cour sc'
L
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WRI TI NG I N THE EARLY STAGES
a: Where do you work?
B:
e: Real l y? I work t here t oo.
B:
e: Wel l , i t ' s a bi g pl ace and I onl y st art ed l ast week.
B:
R: I t ' s not bad. Besi des, I can now go t o work by bus.
B: . . . .
e: Do you? Wel l , perhaps you can gi ve me a l i f t !
The st udent s may al so be asked t o wri t e a cont i nuat i on of t he di al osue.
(c) Putting sentences in order to
form
a dialogue
I nst ead of provi di ng a di al ogue f rame, as i n (b), al l t he sent ences are
j umbl ed
up. I t hel ps t o number t he f i rst i t em, however, and al so t o l i mi t
t he number of i t ems t o (say) ei ght .
(d) Provide the students with a dialogue
frame,
similar to (b), which they have
to complete with ideas of their own.
For this type of activity the students are given a model text of some kind and
are asked t o wri t e a si mi l ar t ext wi t h t he hel p of cues. These may be verbal as i n
the first example below or visual as in the second. The text may recycle items of
spoken or written language and can be used as an introduction to organising
ideas in the form of a paragraph.
( a)
4. 3. 2
Parallel writing
Address
it-"
6"To;
? 7 Hei ght
'
Age
-r-1
-.-za
:' ;,;,,*
OccuPati on
Read and write
A
'l
Read t hi s, t hen copy and compl et e t he i nf ormat i on.
Pet er Smi r h i s t hi r t y- ni ne year s
ol d. He i s a t al l man
wi t h br own eyes and br own hai r . He i s a busi nessman
f r om Engl and but he l i ves i n Amer i ca.
5
Wr i t e a
about Jane Cr een.
Narne
^fi";n",nn,{{{o.--
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occu,arron
Lo/ ou,
of
eyes
tddress
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cotour
or
hair
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or
hai r
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37
( b)
Read about Sn' i t zerl and:
a) Nol v l vri t e
abot rt . ^\ t rst ri i l ' l l sc t hcse nt l t cs:
nor t h: Ger many i t t r cl Czechosl ovaki a /
cast :
Hungar y
/
sout i r : \ ' ugosl avi i r and I t al y
, /
n' est
Srvi t zerl and /
7 nri l l i on
; '
Cert nan
b) Now wri t e about Yot l r
or\ rn count r\ ' .
Srvi t zerl and
i s i n Europe. I t st ands bet n' een
Germany i n t he nort h, Aust ri a i n t he east , l t al l '
i n t he sout h and France i n t he rvest . About 5j
mi l l i on peopl e l i ve i n Swi t zerl and and t hel ' speal <
French, German or I t al i an.
{tttro
SWI TZER-
LAN D
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
4. 3. 3
Dictation as a
reinforcement
activity
4.4
Sent ence l i nki ng
acti vi ti es
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The purpose of this short section is to indicate where dictation belongs in a
writing programme. Clearly it differs from the reinforcement activities
described above, because it involves listening and the ability to transform what
is heard into its written form. However. since a dictation should be based on
language with which the students are already familiar through other contexts
(that is, it is essentially a re-presentation of known language items), it can be
useful as an alternative reinforcement activity.
The difficulties which students have with this type of exercise should not
be underestimated. An alternative approach to the' conventional' dictation is
to provide the students with an outline, in the form of an incomplete text,
which they filIin from what they hear read aloud. This permits a more natural
form of delivery, although less writing is involved. Texts uged for dictation may
also be in the form of notes and short letters, thus adding to the realism of the
act i vi t y.
Our goal through this type of activity is to begin to familiarise the students with
the cohesive devices which are used in composing a text. They can then begin
to combine structures which they have learned orally to form an acceptable
sequence in writing. For this purpose, in order to make any headway, it will be
necessary to introduce a selected number of linking devices and to practise
these through writing. A basic kil at this stage might consist of the following:
Co-ordinators and, but, or, so
Conjunctions although, when, until, so that (etc.)
Sequencers then, after that, meanwhile, first, next, finally
Linkers moreover, however, therefore, as a result, in fact, of
course. on the other hand. etc.
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WRI TI NG I N THE EARLY
STAGES
some procedures for practising these are suggested below. Although
this
should normally be done within the context of a text, such as a letter, this does
not preclude some initial practice for the purpose of familiarising the students
with linkingsentences, as in the first example below.
(a)
TYy and
j oi n
these parrs of sentences correctl y to make one sentence each trme
-
use hnes like thrs:
Mary lkes tennrs.
I work rn slunmer
I go on hohday r n wl nr er
I hke my
l ob
She doesn' t hke l ootba]l
He hkes brg crtres
Tony hves i n London.
I work rn a bank.
E
l-h;;;l
t " - " " * " 1
The students then have to write four true sentences about themselves.
The students complete a short text, rning suitable linking words or phrases
from
a given list.
For example:
complete the letter below. use suilable words or phrases
from
this box:
although and by the way so that
also because however that
and but so that
(b)
Not i ce t hat ' exerci ses' l i ke
these, in the form of a compiete
text, also serve to introduce the
student to such points as the
layout of a letter, different
modes of address and
salutation, etc. Examples of
these should be written up on
the board and the students
asked to copy them into their
notebooks for reference. It is
important, therefore, to
incorporate a range of such
features which will be useful to
the students when they
themselves are asked to write
letters (as communication
t asks, f or exampl e).
/a+n sedwLq
qcl.L r/rr/ tpu addrtrs,
...
qou
aom"niia tdmz. Of coptrse
I .i.
!rq,
.,. ytu,^i// cot"z try
nit/< its souia.
/ Li*c m.ot'ruw house, . . .
;t Ls very
u.tisl/. ,. irt Lrruar a' marn rrrld .
. , .
,-tno1
be/'rcon is a,t. tiu back of
thihoi'se,... ldan't h"earr a,r1'4
r
vwise a.t ru46
trorvL is a't-thz frw,t
.-.. sfu tet/'
...
shz
ca*it skep/". . .
,the
send's y-ttr-
lur best wisfus, Writz sswt. /aot:
l,oTkkt4g
fwAtr."d
to hearing
lron
yil.Ati ittz best.
yttyrs,
99 North RaaA
BLw4ey
)ctobsr 7 19..
Dea,rTom,
i
Al.d*r
i
3v
E
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
4. 5
Communi cat i on
acti vi ti es
(.) The students complete a text bt, inserting cluttses artd serttences
frorn
u
juntbled list of itents (see (b) page 34) in the correct places.
For exampl e, t he
' out l i ne' f or
t he second par agr aph i n t he l et t er above
coul d be
present ed
as f ol l ows:
al t hough because
However . . so. . . . But . . . . . and
t hat . . . . . Bvt hewav.
Throughout t hi s st age. whi l e rvri t i ng act i vi t i es are st i l l t o a l arge ext ent servi ng
t o rei nf orce oral work and rvhi l e t he f oundat i on f or wri t i ng ski l l s i s st i l l bei ng
I ai d (as i ndi cat ed i n 4. 1 . 2), i t i s nevert hel ess i mport ant t o show t he st udent s
t hat wri t i ng can be used f or t he purpose of communi cat i on. The act i vi t i es
whi ch we set up f or t hi s purpose are necessari l y si mpl e i n f orm and l i mi t ed i n
scope but t hey wi l l serve t o mot i vat e t he st udent s t owards l earni ng how t o
express t hemsel ves t hrough u' ri t i ng. Some exampl es are gi ven bel ow.
(a)
The students write instmctions v,hich other students in the class (or the
teacher!) have to carry out.
For exampl e:
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They may al so
carri ed out. Thi s i s
Next . . . Af t er t hat ,
be asked to u' rite a sequence of instructions to be
a useful device for practising items such as First . . .
. . . For exampl e:
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irrsrt
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t1.14
bLa,okOsa,Hr.
40
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These i nst ruct i ons may be gi ven t o anyone i n
Al t ernat i vel y, t hey may be addressed t o someone
a not e or short l et t er. For examol e:
WRI TI NG I N THE EARLY STAGES
t he cl ass t o perf orm.
by name, i n t he f orm of
( b)
Activities along these lines are particularly useful for practising
structures and items of vocabuiary which have recently been taught for oral
purposes.
The students write to one another to ask
for
information.
The st udent who get s one of t hese request s can si mpl y wri t e t he
i nf ormat i on on t he same pi ece of paper. Thi s enabl es t he act i vi t y t o go at a
much f ast er pace
-
whi ch i s part of t he f un!
Ask the stltdents to write short messages to one another in the
form
of a note
or short letter.
For exampl e:
( c)
Dra,r M*rq,
I Lihe qowr Taow cLress. W l+e,re
otid
yow
-tury
.i!
?
Y'otrrs,
Ayun
I
Dearr Anm,,
lted,tt,esd'ag
Drw,y
.a
plcfllyz oJ a Trroh,kq/l lf,i ti,ryi4.A
tTL a bo'x. a,fl^d, ti's wmrri*Q a- b-{g /.ra,f:
Yqwrt
Ft,;d
P S lt's a brg lrt ot+lrry !
Wha's ycLW
fr'uowrtfu
smgetr?
l,Yh;ro/+ monfh ^K/rx r4orL born in?
J
41
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
-=
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:-
These
' messages' must
be answered by t he st udent s t o whom t hey are
addressed. For examPl e:
This activity can quickly generate a flow of correspondence round the
cl ass.
(d) Ask the students to write short letters to one another which involve some
form
of roleplay.
For example, they may send one another invitations to a party, together
with a request to bring certain items. Relevant language may be written on
the board as a guide. For example: Would you like to . . .? Will you plecse
br i ng . . . ?
Deart' FreQ,
l,Yculd I4nI,L Li,kL to corrte to Yn q
parrft/ aw'5a't<urda'q
Juurle 9 7 lt"
'starrts
of
"ryM
o'"o{-oc'h
lf
taou, oan avvte, wW
qau- p{"easz-
b-"tg s,i,x, p
I'afus,'
fu .un
j l'a-sies
arn'd,
Sovng v-&@T--oLs.
Eert wisl'tes,
Yturrs,
fiaa,ry
As wi th the' messages' i n (c), these i nvi tati ons must be answered.The
person to whom they are addressed can accept the invitation or decline to
come, giving his reasons. If he accepts the invitation, he should say
whether he can bring all the items requested or only some of them. The
activity may be extended to include giving or asking for directions to get to
somebody' s house.
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4. 6
Wri t i ng f or f un
WRI TI NG I N THE EARLY STAGES
The activities in this section are not intended to help develop the learners'
composition skills
-
because as a rule they will not be writing a text in a
conventional sense. For the most part they will be writing things
-
questionnaires, puzzles, programmes, for example
-
which they can do
something with. Usually they will be working together, in pairs or small groups,
and this will involve talking as well as writing. Students usually enjoy these
activities because they see the point of doing them, like those in the previous
section, and also because in a small way, even at this elementary level, they get
the opportunity to express themselves imaginatively.
(a) Writing questionnaires
The students, preferably working in pairs, write questionnaires which they
can use to interview one or more other students in the class. Notice the
various types of questionnaire.
Questionnaires
can focus on specific topics and even particular items of
language. This need not make the activity less enjoyable.
Writing quizzes
Students enjoy writing questions. in the form of a short quiz, on a text they
have
j ust
read (as an al t ernat i ve t o
' comprehensi on
quest i ons' i n t he
bookl ). They shoul d work i n smal l groups f or t hi s and t hen exchange t hei r
qui zzes wi t h anot her group.
( b)
Hove gou got a- dog?
F/ TVD 5O' I FOUE WHO: NAME
ca.*t plat/ thz guitar
alutagr goes to btd early
has o ffiher attd a
pister
likes
qeng
frT
walhs
it intereited irL tcih4ce
GROUPS
WRI TE
QUI ZZES
GROUPS EXCHANGE
QUI ZZES
AND
WRI TE ANS\ \ ' ERS
GROUPS
CHECK
ANSWERS
I n t he same way t hey can wri t e qui zzes whi ch i nvol ve rememberi ng or
+J
TEACHI NG
WHI I I N( J >I \ I LLD
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l ooki ng f or i nf ormat i on gi ven
f orm of revi si on! ) or
' general
Haa
otd' r.s B/K'k7
i n previ ous uni t s i n t he coursebook
(a usef ul
knoi l l edge' qui zzes.
2 Ca4L Pen ng sPea-/e SPa,rtisl't'?
(d) Writing programmes
The st udent s,
worki ng i n grouPs
t o share t hei r i deas, u' ri t e a
TV/radio
Programme
to cover a
possi bl e eveni ng' s ent ert ai nment '
Each st udent t hen makes hi s own
copy of t he
Programme,
whi ch
can be used for
Pairwork
act i vi t i es, such as t el l i ng
Your
part ner what
You
saw or l i st ened
t o t he
Pr evi ous
eveni ng or
agreei ng u' hi ch
Programmes
t o
wat ch or l i st en t o t hat eveni ng.
2 Whal, langu.age do rhz! speak h+ ?r*zil ?
(.) Writing
Puzzles
The students.
u,orki ng i ndi vi dual l y or i n pai rs, wri te one or more puzzl es
l i ke these. whi ch thel ' gi ve to other students to answer'
WH AT
It Li,ves
i,/( thl
/t loos not Laae
I S I T?
sga . /f nn's te'rt, artns.
alty
bonzs. lf i,s kaL efr'lh I
I n t he Same way, st udei rt s can wri t e
' secret
messages' f or one anot her i n
some ki nd of code, whi ch ot her st udent s have t o i nt erpret .
R
60
6. t 5
7.ts
TV ChnnneL 1
6.0 Ne.A/s
6.io Sci.ence:
Tl+e San
Sporls Report
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cafr'hl
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frcmoe?
3 Ca4'L bi'rcLs see
c.o'/"or'*s?
CANT OUCO
MEAN OSET rt4EAT ELEV ENOC lOCK
44
8. O
8.30
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WRI TI NG I N THE EARLY STAGES
Writing jumbled
texts
The students work in pairs or small groups to write a dialogue or a four-to
five-sentence story sequence, which they then cut up into separate
sent ences and gi ve t o anot her pai r or group t o put t oget her.
I t r ,rrct5 eta.r-p-. I
A / ,
-
t v lr(.,/L
c.ot
</drrt,
t s
(0 Writing role descriptions
Normally, when we want students to do a roleplay activity, we give them a
description of the role we want them to play. However, even at an
elementary levelthe students can write simple role descriptions for one
another. Incidentally, they involve little use of cohesive devices.
Give the students pictures
(male or female faces) as a
stimulus and a list of the
i t ems t o be i ncl uded (e. g.
name. age. nat i onal i t y,
j ob.
i nt erest s, et c. ). Each st udent
writes a role description for
one other specific student in
the class. This is important
because it adds to the fun:
the students usually write in
some unusual features for
t he part ner t hey have chosen
or been gi ven!
(g) Wririrtg mysterv stories
For t hi s act i vi t y t he st udent s
are gi ven a seri es of quest i ons
whi ch t hey must answer i n
order. For example: Who was
the person? Where was slhe?
What was slhe doing? What did
slhe say ? What did slhe do after
that? Each student then takes it
i n t urns t o answer a quest i on.
When the first student has
answered hi s quest i on, he f ol ds
t he paper over so t hat t he next
st udent cannot see what he has
wri t t en (and so on). When al l
t he
quest i ons
have been answered,
7r"u'*":*w'
After
thot he slept!
Yow a're Maryt Aom t"L&h.
Yw a,re /hh,t//- tlree.
Thsy a,re all qr,r[s.
Yo;rr hutsba;d's rua,rnz Ls
8 ill a4rd fu i,s o tazL
dri4v,r. Yawr hobbizs are
A
futrvtorvw'rfh,by o!%
\N0s
on \op of \he
Ynourfra \n .
#e u.a.s o{4t2//r'g
his
\ \
.
t
( (
z
Y\O Sol,d"
OotY\g vYv
r-t l o-t so \ ' )
Tlrrru
fu unvfcthpd.
TV.
t he st udent s unf ol d t he sheet of paper and read t hei r mvst erv st orv
.15
TEACHI NG
WHI l l NU >Kl L L r
4. 7
Wri ti ng i n cl ass
frouoi/l
/ a+n ntt wetl todayl
Wtrot s/tlp wdd la,st rualct,
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v
y
(h) Writirtg imaginar,r- diaries
THE PRI ME
MI NI STER' 5 PI ARY
I had a. bad' &rza+n-
about a b*nh, H
fhzVedf{zfrffi
lrke mzl A?rd
lao+t Ukz 4E
eeaVtzl
I a,m,gst'/-19 ttryl+ ary-q
Affi?riaa!_My
@W
Art
The students may of course be asked to keep real diartes
-
at this stage or
perhaps sl i ght l y l at er on i n t he course. but t hey wi l l not want and shoul d
not Ue asked t o show t hese t o one anot her. On t he ot her hand, wri t i ng t he
imaginarV diary for a famous person of their choice or for a fictitious
chai act er i s somet hi ng t hey wi l l be wi l l i ng t o share and wi l l very l i kel y
st i mul at e t hei r i magi nat i ons. The st udent s shoul d work i n pai rs or groups
(al t hough t hi s i s an act i vi t y t hey coul d equal l y wel l do on t hei r own). They
may like to continue writing about their character from time to time.
(i) Writing abour pictures
This is an activitY esPeciallY
intended to stimulate the
imagination and self
expression. The students will
need a picture showing a
situation that is likelY to
suggest different
interpretations. Ask them to
talk about their
Picture
and to
decide what the situation is
about . Then get t hem t o wri t e
down their ideas
-
without
L. . * .
worrying too much about sentence connection. They should then compare
their ideas with those of another group.
Instead of pictures, you can use speech bubbles drawn on the board. For
example, about this one the students might write: A boy is in a shop. He
wants an i cecream. Hi s mother buys one but i t i s smal l . So he says:
"
. .. .. ..."
The activities in the last two sections are intended to be done in class. Some
could even take up a fair amount of time. This should require no
justification
because generally the students are also talking. However, the important thing
is that activities of this kind change students' attitudes towards writing: they
come to see how they can communicate through writing; how they can use
writing purposefully and how it forms a natural part of certain activities. In
addition toihis, you can also work with the students either collaborating with
them on a task or
j oi ni ng i n an acti vi ty (e.g.you shoul d al so wri te to your
students and get them to write to you for the activities in 4.5; you can also write
. t ' r '
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46
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Di scussi on
Exercises
References
WRI TI NG I N THE EARLY STAGES
quest i onnai res, qui zzes, et c. ). You wi l l al so get opport uni t i es t o check t hei r
work informally while the activity is still fresh in their minds. This is very
different from the typical teacher role of correcting homeworkl
Reread 4. 1. 1 and 4. I . 2. What advi ce woul d you gi ve a f el l ow t eacher (or
intending teacher) about setting up writing activities in the early stages?
From your own experience, do you agree that copying is an aid to retention
in language learning?
From your own experience of learning to write in a foreign language, do you
think enough attention was paid to activities:
(a) to practise linking sentences and sequencing ideas;
(b) to show how you can communicate through writing;
(c) t o show how wri t i ng can be enj oyabl e?
What is your view of the value of dictation as a writing activity?
Fxamine any coursebook to see what provision it makes for the presentation
and practice of linking devices in the early stages.
Examine any coursebook to see what provision it makes for meaningful
copying.
Devise a parallel writing activity, for use in the early stages, similar to those
i n 4. 3. 2.
Devise an exercise in linking sentences, for use in the early stages, similar to
t he one i n 4. 4 ( b) .
Suggest a writing activity,
to be used in the early
stages, which could be
based on t hi s mao.
t q H S- TREET
-rArroN
Devi se an act i vi t y whi ch coul d be used i n t he earl y st ages t o l et t he l earners
enj oy wri t i ng.
On t he i mport ance of get t i ng t he l earners t o eval uat e one anot her' s wri t i ng
see C Brumf i t i n S Hol den (ed. ) (1983).
For wri t i ng i n t he earl y st ages, see G Abbot t and P Wi ngard (1981) Ch. 6;
J Harmer (1983) pages 65-75 P Hubbard et al (1983) pages 61-71 and
A Pi ncas ( 1982a) pages 18- 21 and 91- 101.
For exampl es of wri t i ng act i vi t i es i n t he earl y st ages see T Hedge (1983a);
A Pi ncas
(1982b)
and L Woods
(1986).
Examples of writing activities in this chapter have been taken from
J Harmer: Meri di an (Longman 1985) (4. 3. 2 (a)); L Woods: Wri t i ng I
(Cassel l i 986) (1. 4 (a)) and M Pal mer and D Byrne: Track (Longman 1982)
( 1. 2. 2 ( d) and 4. 3. 2 ( b) ) .
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5. 1
The i mportance
of demonstrati ng
progress
5. 1. 1
The main features
of the writing
programme
Developing
skills
At t he post -el ement ary t o i nt ermedi at e l evel , * i t i s essent i al t hat .
whatever the scope of the writing programme, it should not lose direction and
momentum. This means that the writing programme must be carefully planned
to develop a mastery of new skills, which the learners can use for a continually
expanding range of tasks. At the same time, since writing will still be guided to
a lirge extent, we need to make the activities as varied as possible, avoiding a
monolithic approach which relies on a limited range of exercise types.
(a) The writing programme should continue to provide opportunities
for
reinforcing language learned orally.
At the ru-. ii-e, however, we may assume that the learners' are being
exposed to a greater amount of written language either through the type of
texts in their coursebook or through supplementary redding. At this stage,
therefore, the amount of dialogue writing should be gradually reduced,
although it should not be abandoned altogether, partly because it is one
way of getting the students to write material which they can use themselves
-
for oral work, for example
-
and partly because dialogue writing may
be one of the requirements of the examination. However, as the main
format for reinforcement
practice at this level, we can now begin to make
greater use of informal letter-writing, since this provides a convenient and
appropriate way of re-presenting material learned orally and of course by
this stage the learners are already familiar with this type of writing.
(b) The writing programme should be designed to include a greater range of the
resources of the written language.
The basic kit, suggested in 4.4 should be expanded to incorporate, for
*90-225
hours or approxi matel v the second and thi rd years ofa secondary school course. The
suggesti ons i n thi s i hapter must be read i n conj uncti on wi th Chapters 6 and 7 on the use of texts
and vi sual materi al .
48
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5. 1. 2
The role of the
t eacher
5. 2
Rei nforcement
acti vi ti es
DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
exampl e, bot h a wi der range of conj unct i ons used i n compound
and
compl ex sent ence st ruct ures and ot her l i nki ng devi ces. At t he same t i me,
we must i ncrease t he l earners' awareness of rhet ori cal devi ces such as
compari son and cont rast , def i ni t i on, exempl i f i cat i on, et c. (see t he
procedures suggest ed i n2. 1. 2) and t hei r abi l i t y t o use t hese. For t hi s
purpose, we should now begin to introduce a certain amount of
institutional-type writing, such as formal letters and reports. As at the
previous stage of the programme, when the students were introduced
to
writing informal letters, this component will teach them something new
through writing and willtherefore increase their interest and motivation.
(.) The amount of control over what the learners write should be reduced.
At t hi s st age t hey shoul d l earn t o respond t o
' cues'
whi ch st i mul at e t hei r
imaginations but leave them relatively or completely free to decide what
they actually write and how they organise their ideas.
(d) The range of communication tasks should be extended.
Thus, alongside the guided writing activities suggested in 5.2-5.4, the
learners are also given opportunities for free expression. These will to
some extent involve greater reliance on roleplay techniques.
It has been emphasised that this is a delicate and crucial stage of the writing
programme. I t i s especi al l y i mport ant , t heref ore, t o:
(a) Get the right balance of writing activities.
For example, with regard to dialogue writing, this should be reduced
considerably unless it is an examination requirement. At the same time, it
is important to extend systematically the sentence linking and sequencing
component of the programme described in 5.3. No real progress will be
made unless this is done.
(b) Ensure that the type of writing activiry* and the
formats
used to practise these
are sfficiently varied so that the students do not get bored.
Practice materials may have to be selected and adapted from a varietv of
sources.
(c) Gattge carefully the amottnt of guidance required.
I t i s l i kel y t hat t he amount of oral preparat i on f or many wri t i ng act i vi t i es
can now be reduced. The amount of i ndi vi dual wri t i ng may al so be
i ncreased, especi al l y when t he st udent s approach t he t i me when t hey wi l l
have t o do a publ i c wri t t en exami nat i on. For cert ai n act i vi t i es, however, i t
has been suggest ed t hat pai r and group work wi l l st i l l be ext remel y
val uabl e.
The need to provide opportunities for practising what has been learned orally
cont i nues t hroughout t hi s st age. al t hough t he i ncreasi ng use of t ext s ot her t han
di al ogues now makes i t possi bl e t o i nt roduce wri t i ng act i vi t i es whi ch are based
more di rect l y on a readi ng t ext (see Chapt er 6). As we have not ed. di al ogue
wri t i ng has al most out l i ved i t s usef ul ness as a wri t i ng act i vi t y and. i f rve
cont i nue t o use i t , we must l ook f or f resh ways of
present i ng
i t t o t he l earners.
49
J
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F
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5. 2. r
Di al ogue
wri t i ng
The suggest i ons f or rei nf orcement act i vi t i es
qi ven
bel ow are cl assi f i ed
accordi ng t o t he t 1' pe of n' ri t i nq i nvol ved.
(a) The students are gitten a ntodel dialogue, togetller v' itlt cues.for v' ritirtg
parallel versiorts.
Thi s t ask i s much f reer t han t he one i n 4. 3. 1: i t i s gui ded rat her t han
cont rol l ed and t he st udent s can sel ect f rom t he cues provi ded. I n t he
exampl e bel ou' . whi ch f ocuses on of f eri ng advi ce. t he st udent s al so have t o
modi f y t he f orm of t he cues (f or exampl e, t he. v must use t he
-l ng
f orm
af t er How about . . . ?)*
Read this dialogue:
e: What ' s up. Mi ke?
s: I don' t know what t o do t hi s eveni ng.
a: Wel l , u' hy don' t you go t o t he cl ub, t hen?
B: Oh, t hat ' s not much f un, i s i t ?
e: Wel l . hou' about comi ng t o t he ci nema u' i t h me?
B: Hm, / f t cl sounds l i ke a much bet t er i deal
Nov, choose any of these ideas
(or use ones of vour own) to v' rite similar
dialosues:
go and see (Jane) go for a walk
hel p me cook t he supper si t and read t he paper
have a game of cards wri t e some l et t ers
hel p me wash t he car go and wat ch t el evi si on
(b) The students are given an incomplete dialogue, together u,ith instructions
for
completing it. These do not specify the actual words to be used.
Complete this dialogue:
A: . . . . . . . . . . ( Sug gest doi ng somet hi ng)
n: Oh, al l ri ght . I f t hat ' s what you real l y want t o do.
A: . . . . . . . . . . . ( Enqui r e about B' s wi shes)
B: Don' t know. Go t o t he ci nema, perhaps.
A: . . (Ob j ect
t o t hi s i dea)
B: Oh, al l r i ght . t hen. Let ' s
Now write
(2)
similar dialogues of
vour
own.
(c) The students write the complete dialogue. They are given an outline or' map'
of the dialogue, but none of the actual words to be used.
A
Gi ve your phone number .
Ask who i s speaki ng.
Per suade A.
Conf i r m ar r angement s
and end conver sat i on.
*As
f or Chapt er 4, i t shoul d be ke pt i n mi nd t hat t he l anguage used i n t he exampl es does not r el at e
t o anv
par t i cul ar cour se.
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Say who you ar e.
Ask about A' s heal t h.
Tel l B about your heal t h.
50
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I
DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
Anot her possi bi l i t y i s t o gi ve t he st udent s a' scenari o' .
Mr A has an appointment with Mr B in a big office block.
when
he enters the building, he announces his arrival to the receptionist,
who speaks to Mr B on the phone. The receptionist then tells Mr A
how to get to Mr B' s office. Mr A gets out of the lift on the wrong
floor. He meets an employee, who offers to take him to Mr B' s office.
when he get s t here, Mr A, who i s now rat her l at e, makes hi s excuses
and expl ai ns what happened.
It may be felt that this is rather a long way round to get the students to
write a dialogue but remember at this stage we are looking for ways of
providing guidance without control. Both the dialogue
' maps'
and
' scenarios'
direct the students towards certain uses of language, and thus
prevent the production of rambling and often trivial dialogues, but at the
same time require them to think of the actualwords which will fit the
situation. when they translate the scenarios into dialogue form, they can
also write some narrative commentary in the form of stage directions. It
shoul d be not ed t hat bot h di al ogue
' maps'
and' scenari os' can be used at
different levels of language attainmgnt, depending on the sophistication of
t he t ask i nvol ved.
(d) The students write a dialogue
for
w-hich the setting is defined and some
suggestions are given
for
the language to be used.
For example:
You are in a restaurant with a
friend.
You are looking at the menu, trying to
decide what to have. write the conversation you have. You may use these
phrases:
Howabout . . . ?
What shal l we have t o . . . ? I wonder what . . .
Haveyouever . . . ? Whydon' t we. . .
Thi sl ooks. . . Let ' sask. . .
For act i vi t i es (b) t o (d), i t i s suggest ed t hat t he st udent s shoul d be al l owed
t o col l aborat e. ei t her i n pai rs or i n smal l groups, at l east f or t he i ni t i al st age
of t he act i vi t y, when vari ous possi bl e f orms of expressi on can be di scussed.
Thus, t he st udent s' t al k over' t he di al ogue t oget her, work out a rough
versi on and t hen. i f t hey l vi sh, each produce t hei r own f i nal versi on.
By t hi s st age t he st udent s are al readl ' f ami l i ar wi t h wri t i ng i nf ormal l et t ers. but
exampl e, we can t each new rvays of begi nni ng and endi ng l et t ers. we can al so
see t hat t he st udent s are gi ven syst emat i c opport uni t i es t o pract i se wri t i ng
l et t ers whi ch have. overal l . a speci f i c f unct i on such as maki n_q an apol ogy
(a
compl ai nt , an excuse), sendi ng congrat ul at i ons, gi vi ng di rect i ons, et c. ,
and at t he same t i me show horv such t asks rvi l l requi re very di f f erent uses of
l anguage on di f f erent occasi ons and i n part i cul ar how t hese depend on t he
rel at i onshi p bet ween t he *' ri t er ancl t he person he i s acl dressi ns.
That ' s( r at her ) . . .
5. 2. 2
I et t ers
Wri t i ng not es and t here are vari ous t hi ngs we can do t o gi ve t hi s act i vi t v a new sl ant . For
51
TEACHI NG
WRI I I NG 5KI LL5
I
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(a) The stutlents ore giverl o tnodel text, togethet' h)ith cues
for
v)rititl7 parallel
versiotls.
Thi s i s si mi l ar t o 5. 2. 1
( a) . The cues mav be phased out so t hat t he st udent s
produce t hei r ou' n versi ons. For exampl e:
Read the
follox' ing.
It is an extract
from
a letter.
l ,
n l , t
Uca/l'Jdn'rL,
to
l6dle ot'iifiyout
(i)
[Jse these notes to write a letter to a
friend
v,ho wants advice about a
holiday:
go to . ./do not stav in the town itself/find a quiet hotel
just
outside the town/get a room with a good view/make a booking as early as
possi bl e.
(ii)
Use these notes to write a letter to a
friend
who wants advice about how
to
find
a new
job:
try to get a
job with a new firm/do not go to an agency/buy a paper which
has ads f or
j obs/ .
(lli) Write a letter to a
friend
who wants advice about how to learn
(a
foreign
l anguage).
(b) The students are given an incomplete text, with suggestions or instructions
about how to complete it.
This activity can be particularly useful for practising specific items of
l anguage, such as t he
-i ng
f orm, as i n t he exampl e bel ow.
You are introducing yourself to a penfriend. Complete this letter with
reference to vour own likes and dislikes, etc-
That rulnrllds mz- g/ot'L oLtkad'
rrty a'drice a,bou,f
bryag a c.a/r. foirna1,gt
f !
r* yy,
l( got
a'qfu. secan'd-
/'ts4'Ld 6rc .' E ut aoitt qo A; ont
gf"t/tose
b{.q
fir.t
tE Tru
to qst mr
fi'orn
i,/- fiarnrs"tD' sc// his-carrVrhmteh't, Mahz
tLt/re tiwt {hure s rffi'tunq wanq wfr,fl'Ltf,
(f
@//rs1l ln
fi'{
yot'L
Jh,i^/d gilt
a rue.c}t6rrt'ic
lfuw /'d' ti'lto to tillqolt son^erhi*r'q ahowtrrlt/se/f
. 0* nf
ne
thin^cs I l;'hz d.oi'toq-tnost fufuen
ftu,vefine-!) k'..... - Tht a/'sn
vai
tu4"d
6/ . . .1. o a
'l
qwife tikl. . -.. 0t wel'L, alrlwgh lw
,*i ir^t
qo-'sol at it. Cn cliz drhorr
Lwnd', l'tttwf, ue'rl Lnt*esfzd'
in ettli^ei
ov' . . . . . n'or do / ,aAl,b L;fu . . - - . At
fu
- - - - -)
I *hsclute/q h,s,tc //tl
52
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(c)
DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
The students complete
a text by expanding
notes.
The notes in this
example are within
the framework of a
letter, the theme of
which is assumed to
relate to a topic
explored through a
lesson in the
coursebook.
Complete this letter.
Use the notes to write
the second and third
paragraphs.
Activities like those suggested in (b) and (c) lend themselves well to
related writing tasks within the context already established. For example,
the students may be asked to write a short reply to Bob' s letter based on
cues like the following:
Write back to say that yott are interested in Bob's proposal but ask
for
more
information about the
following
points:
-
how much i s t he rent ?
-
what ot her expenses are t here?
-
what arrangements are there for having guests?
-
is it easy to find parking near the flat?
-
who are the other people in the flat?
(d) The students write the complete text. They are given guidance
for
the content
but not
for
the language to be ttsed.
For exampl e:
You bought a bottle of perfume or after-shave lotion after seeing an
advertisement
for
it. It gave you a skin complaint. Write a letter to the
firm
which made the prodttct, saying:
-
what you bought (i nvent a sui t abl e name)
-
where you saw the advertisement and what the advertisement claimed
(e. g. good f or t he ski n)
-
why you bought a verv large bottle
-
how it affected your skin
-
what the doctor said
-
why you want your money back
Dea,rJarh,
I hza'rqotu are oh,ort'4+n4
aowr
jab
shorcty,'l lw,ue a nryg-ain-/ W@ da,'t't
qol't' 6rxz and. l*ue tt A,L ur? At f,/pe
'1rr4?r41'rri
fh%ea'r-fou,, a/ t+: tlA.rug
thu
/&t,
bat enzpar'torL is
luuirtT a.b
tlu ond q thz m.*tet.
la.,ge
fkt /f"r--
boa"--ows
f
ov.e bq
l/rvbg
-rc'urn
/
ltt'kLe,n e,k
f
ne,ot-
(?h.be
I
hu4
a'rza,ttgerne.nls as
fulows./
shprc alL
o"atns*//", exa'nf'k
/
Arl -^'4
f-od.
It all ^rrTlu rut
vezry we{L. Arod
"f
cot ut (-
tlwre'S 6fi2 qt1at. a.drn n faq e'.
q an- ca'n & whaflfio Likz hgr<., Let-wr-
'/a4aw
afuat i't 6s sowt-a-t
poit;,U-e.
Yo*o,
B"O
53
TEACHI NG
WRI I I NU 5KI LL5
Wri t i ne short
r pnr ) l ' t q
The st udent s ma)' al so be gi ven a gui ded i nt roduct i on t o wri t i ng report s. For
t hi s, gui dance shoul d f ocus chi ef l v on t he organi sat i on and orderl y present at i on
of i deas.
(a) ,4s a prelininary step. the students complete
fornts
similar to this one.
A penf r i end
agency has sent
you t hi s f or m.
Compl et e i t wi t h
det ai l s about
you r sel f .
(b) The students are given a model text, together with cues
for
writing parallel
versiotts.
Read this short reportl
Alan is very practi cal. but he is a/so rather untidy. For example, he is
very good at repai ri ng t hi ngs, such as bi kes, but he never put s hi s t ool s
away afterwards.
Now write sintilar reports, using these adjectives or others of your own
choice:
careless hard working lazY rude
cl ever ki nd ni ce si l l Y
The students may also be given outlines and asked to write reports on
ot her st udent s i n t he cl ass. For exampl e:
. . . ( Nar r l a) i sver y . . . and asar ul e ( he) i sal so. ' . . For exampl e,
"
. .
On t he ot her hand.
(he) can be . . . and somet i mes
(he) i s al so . . . .
The i nf ormat i on f or report s may al so be deri ved f rom compl et ed
f or ms, si mi l ar t o t he one i n
( a) .
1-
fr
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Reg. Of f i ce: 29 Bol sover St r eet , London W' 1 .
Pl ease wr i t e l egi bl y. l t ems 1- 6 shoul d be compl et ed i n
caoi t al l et t er s.
4 Nat i onal i t y
5 Rel i gi on
7 Educat i on
B How l ong have you been l ear ni ng Engl i sh?
9 Wher e di d you l ear n i t ?
10 Have
you ever vi si t ed Engl and?
1 1 l { so, gi ve det ai l s
12 fui ef statement of i nterests and hobbi es
13 Reason{ s} f or want i ng a penf r i end
14 Det ai l s of t ype of penf r i end r equi r ed
54
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(c)
DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
The students are given a moder text and, after
focused
practice (e.g.
identifiing advantages and disadvantages)
are asked to write a parallel
one.
Look at t he det ai l s of t hese t wo beaches. wri t e a report about whi ch
beach
would be suitable for a new hotel. rJse
although and because.
ADVANTAGES DI SADVANTAGES
bea ut i f ul
easy t o get t o
ver y r ougn sea
smal l beach
Sunset Beach
' ; : . ; -: -. t i : -: ' -' *. ' -
-
2 i / . .
,
. ,
Yz2;t
'"i
.
ffi2,;',7:
',,',,.;'
' ' 1-. . )r1. rJf . i ; r
' ; . ri , ?
. : ' ' -
l ong sandy
beach
c a i m s e a
r at her f l at
no mai n r oad
5. 3
Sent ence l i nki ng
and sequenci ng
activities
It has been suggested that this component of the writing programme
should be
extended and strengthened by varying the formats for prictice to include
formal letters (for this the students must be given appropriate models) and
report s, and by expandi ng t he basi c ki t of l i nki ng devi ces. Thi s may be done by
drawi ng syst emat i cal l y on t he i t ems i n t he Appendi x. Suggest i ons i or act i vi t i es
are gi ven bel ow.
(a)
The students complete a short,r.r, ay using suitable linking words
or
phrases.
we can use this type of exercise for various purposes.
First, to
familiarise
the students with a wider range of linking devicis from the expanded
basic
kit. After this, thev mav be asked to serect
from
a listwhich is more
ext ensi ve t han t he number of i t ems omi t t ed f rom t he t ext . Fi nal l v. t hev
may be asked to sttppl.v their ovvn tinking devices. An example rrom ttre
second st age (i . e. choosi ng f rom a more ext ensi ve l i st ) i s gi ven bel ow.
use suitable linking devices
from
the box to complete the text below:
al so
although
and
and
because
but
but al so
for
f or t he moment
however
i nci dent al l y
i n part i cul ar
i n t hi s way
i nst ead
meanwhi l e
not onl y
on t he ot her hand
since
therefore
too
Janet west ' s si st er i s an ai r host ess f or a f amous i nt ernat i onal ai rl i ne,
. . . Janet want s t o become one . . . , she i s st i l l t oo young:
t he
mi ni mum age f or an ai r host ess i s t went y. . . . Janet i s ont y
i ui t
over
si xt een.
. . . shehast akenaj obi n
anof f i ce. . . . she. . . at t endseveni ng
cl asses. . . . , she want s t o i mprove her French and Spani sh, . . . f orei gn
l anguages are an essent i al qual i f i cat i on f or an ai r host ess.
. . . , Janet i s gai ni ng experi ence t hrough her present j ob.
. . . t he
of f i ce whereshe works i s at ravel agency. . . . she i s l earni ng. . . how
t o deal wi t h peopl e . . . qui t e a l ot about t he pl aces she one dav hopes
t o vi si t .
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
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I
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I
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j.a
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lz
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F
-
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ts
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ts
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( b)
Agai n t he st udent s l nav be asked t o do t hese t asks i n pai rs or i n smal l
groups. So t hat t hey can di scuss t he vari ous possi bi l i t i es. I t shoul d be
emphasi sed t hat t here need be no one Correct versi on. What i s i mport ant i s
t hat . i f t he st udent s choose an i t em whi ch di d not appear i n t he ori gi nal
versi on, t hey' shoul d consi der ri ' het her t hi s af f ect s t he meani ng of t he t ext
and i f so. i n u' hat u' a, v.
At this stage \\' e mav also use incomplete texts to get the students to
consi der ot her semant i c l i nks t hrough grammar and l exi s. For exampl e, t he
f i rst paragraph of t he t ext above mi ght be present ed wi t h t he f ol l owi ng
i t ems omi t t ed.
Janet West ' s si st er i s an ai r host ess f or a f amous i nt ernat i onal . . . , and
Janet want st o become . . . t oo. At t he moment . . . . i sst i l l t oo young: . .
f or an ai r host ess i s t went v and . . . i s onl y
j ust over si xt een.
Al l t he i t ems omi t t ed- ai rl i ne, one, she, t he mi ni mum age, Janet '
whi ch woul d appear as part of a much l onger l i st , are ones whi ch
cont ri but e t o t he srammat i cal and l exi cal cohesi on of t he t ext .
The students combine sentences so that Thsy
form
an acceptable sequence.
The l i nki ng devi ces t o be used may ei t her be provi ded or t he st udent s may
be asked t o suppl y t hei r own. For exampl e:
Join these sentences in anv, suitable t4)a)t so that they
form
a sequence. Use
' she'
in place of
' Janet'
v,here appropriate.
1 Janet i s gai ni ng experi ence t hrough her present
j ob'
2 Janet works in a travel agency.
3 Janet i s l earni ng how t o deal wi t h peopl e.
4 Janet is learning quite a lot about the places she one day hopes to
vi si t .
The students rex' rite texts v,ithin the
framework
of a related outline'
For exampl e:
Read this text. Then contplete the text below so that the same ideas are
expressed in a different w'a\':
There are two sides to the work of stuntmen. They actually do most of
the things vou see on the screen. For example, they
jump
from high
buildings. However, they do not fall onto hard ground but onto empty
cardboard boxes covered wi t h a mat t ress.
The work of stuntmen . . . to it. They actually do almost . . . which you see
t hem . . . , such as. . . . But i nst eadof . . . , t hey. . . ont o car dboar dboxes
whi ch . . . .
The students
form
texts
from
a list of
jumbled sentences.
See 4. 3. 1 (c), u' here t he st udent s f ormed a di al ogue i n t hi s way, and 4. 6
(e), where t hey wrot e t hei r own t ext s. Whi l e t he purpose of t hi s act i vi t y i s
t o get t he st udent s t o t hi nk about sent ence sequenci ng, i t must not become
\ L /
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I
DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
j ust
a puzzl e. Narrat i ve t ext s usual l v have a f ai rl y t ransparent
sequence
and t heref ore provi de a good st art i ng poi nt . You can provi de some
f ramework of ref erence. as wi t h t he map i n t he act i vi t y bel ow. As a f i nal
st age, use exposi t ory t ext s wi t h a cl ear openi ng' t opi c' sent ence. ot herwi se
t he f i rst sent ence shoul d be i ndi cat ed.
Look at the map. John lives at 7, Elm Lane. He' s having a party. What
directions must he give to his
friends?
Put these instructions in the ripht
order. Number them I to 7.
Wal k al ong unri l
1' ou
get to the l i brary.
V/ al k around t he pond t o Hazel bank Road.
I
I Gct of f t he bus ar The Gr een Al an.
Turn ri ght i nt o El m Lane .
I Tur n r r shr i nt o Fi r t r ee Lane.
. l
Number 7 i s on the l efr.
Go over t he bri dge.
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57
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
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The st udent s can be gi ven a di agram whi ch shows how t he i deas i n t he t ext
have been organi sed. For t he act i vi t v bel ow, t he st udent s have al readv
seen a
paral l el t ext .
Her e i s a pl an of t he f i r st par agr aph i n Exer ci se l . Use t hese
sent ences t o wr i t e a par agr aph about London wi t h t he same pl an'
Edi nbur gh
The East End has a l ot of char m,
ol d gr ey bui l di ngs.
London i s Engl and' s capi t al ci t Y.
I r i s ver y di f f er ent f r or n t he West
shops and l ovel y gr een par ks.
I t s ol d name was Londi ni unr.
London has many shops, r est aur ant s and t heal r es and of i er s a
l ot t o vi si r or s.
f Thi s means t he of t he bol d man.
Sentences can be broken dorvn i nto cl auses to draw further attenti on to the
l ogi cal structure of a text. For exampl e:
Use these sentences to write a paragraph about the pygmies. Change the
order and add any necessar)' punctuati on.
They can move easi l f i n the forest
and they are not afrai d of i t
The forest i n the centre of Afri ca i s a dangerous pl ace
Pygmi es knou' t he f orest wel l
because they are verY smal l
A bi g pygmy i s onl Y l m 40cm tal l
but the pygmi es are haPPY there
The students do exercises which specifically direct their attentiotl to the way
ideas are organised in a text.
Thi s may be done i n a gui ded form at the start, wi th the hel p of
i nformati on presented i n tabul ar form, together wi th exampl es of the ki nd
of text whi ch the students are requi red to wri te. For exampl e:
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DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
Study the two texts, which are based on information given in the table. Then
write similar texts of your own. to
form
part of a letter telling someone
how
to get to a place.
Destination Al ternati ves
I z
Time
for
I
alrport
sports ground
motor show
theatre
hospital
port
coach taxi
t ube bus
t axi t ube
on foot taxi
bus on f oot
boat bus
Vzhour
10 mi ns
5 mins
7+ hour
*Use
any sui t abl e peri od of t i me
You can go to the airport either by coach or by taxi. If you go by
coach, i t t akes at l east hal f an hour. By t axi , on t he ot her hand, i t t akes
only ten minutes. For that reason, I suggest the second possibility.
There are two ways of getting td the sports ground: either by tube or
by bus. By tube it only takes ten minutes, while if you go by bus, on the
other hand, it may take you over twenty minutes. My advice to you,
t hen, i s t o go by t ube.
(0 The students write texts based on a model that has a clear logical
develooment.
This may be shown For example:
2
DI
1_
2_
SADVANTAGES
Shari ng a f l at has cert ai n advant ages. For one t hi ng, you do not have t o
do all the housework yourself . Besides, it is also cheaper. On the other
hand, you may not have much pri vacy and, moreover, i t may be noi sy.
Al l i n al l , i t i s probabl y bet t er t o l i ve on your own!
The st udent s are t hen gi ven t opi cs whi ch can be wri t t en about wi t hi n a
si mi l ar f ramework. For exampl e:
1 Li vi ng i n a bi g ci t y
2 Owni ng a car
3 Working in an office
4 Bei ns a housewi f e
t hrough a di agram.
TOPI C
Fl at shari ng
ADVANTACES
CONCLUSI ON
59
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
5. 4
Repr oduct i on
exerci ses
5. 5
Communi cat i on
acti vi ti es
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These resembl e di ct at i ons, i n t hat t he st udent s have t o i i st en t o a t ext whi ch i s
read al ourl t o t hem. However. i nst ead of bei ng asked t o t ake t hi s down
segment by segment . u, hi ch makes di ct at i on a someu' hat art i f i ci al exerci se, t hey
l i st en t o t he compl et e t ext a number of t i mes (usual l -v t hree or more) bef ore
t heyar easkedt ou' r i t e. Thei ' ar et henr equi r edt o' r epr oduce' t het ext t hey
have heard as accurat el y as possi bl e. but t hey may f i l l i n wi t h t hei r own words
u, here t hei r memorv of t he ori gi nal f ai l s t hem'
Li ke di ct at i on. t hi s t ype of act i vi t y al so i nvol ves caref ul l i st eni ng and t he
transformation of u' hat is heard into its written form. However, it focuses much
more on graspi ng t he overal l meani ng of a t ext and i n part i cul ar how one
sent ence rel at es t o anot her. We can al so make our own
' rul es'
f or t hi s act i vi t y.
For exampl e. t he st udent s may be al l owed t o make bri ef not es duri ng t he f i nal
readi ng. Al t ernat i vel y,
we may wri t e key words and phrases on t he board,
to remind the students of some of the main ideas. In either case' we thus ensure
that the activity does not become
just a test of memorY. We may also write a
framework of linking words and sequencing devices on the board, so that in
ef f ect we gi ve t he st udent s a st ruct ural ' skel et on'
around whi ch t he t ext can be
' reproduced' .
At t hi s st age. i t i s i mport ant t hat communi cat i on
act i vi t i es shoul d mat ch t he
growing u6itity of the Iearners to express themselves through the written form
6t ri r. t i nguag. . They shoul d. t heref ore, i n t he f i rst i nst ance be on a much
more extensive scale.
compared with the modest
tasks of sending messages
and not es (see 4. 5. Thi s
type of activity, however,
where t he st udent s u' ri t e t o
one another in the class can
still be used provided that
they are asked to
Produce
something more
subst ant i al . ). TheY must
also be more challenging.
Wi t h t hi s t ype of wri t i ng
activity, the students maY
of course make mistakes, as
wi t h f ree oral expressi on.
but t he i mPor t ant t hi ng.
from the point of view of
motivation, is to
demonstrate that writing is
a purposeful activitY.
!-
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You should also encourage and help the students to find penfriends as a way of
extending communication
practice. From time to time you can also conduct all
or part oi t h. l esson ent i rel y t hrough t he medi um of wri t i ng so t hat t he st udent s
. "ut t y appreci at e what i s i nvol ved i n gi vi ng and recei vi ng i nst ruct i ons. request s,
et c. i n t hi s way.
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5. 5. 1
Roleplay activities
( a)
DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
I n t he act i vi t i es bel ow, more use i s now made of rol epl ay, al t hough
not t o
the exclusion of other activities where the students write as themselves. The list
of suggestions below, which is intended to indicate typical activities rather than
to be exhaustive, frequently involves some form of collaboration in the writins
t ask.
The Estate Agency
Divide the class into two. Sub-divide one half into three or four groups,
depending on the size of the class. Tell each of these groups that they
represent an estate agency. They should also find a name for their agency.
Their immediate task is to devise a form on which they can record
i nf ormat i on about t he houses or f l at s whi ch t hei r' cl i ent s' wi l l gi ve t hem
when t hey come t o see t hem.
Tel l t he st udent s i n t he ot her hal f of t he cl ass t hat t hey are peopl e who
want t o sel l t hei r houses and t o buy anot her.
Each of them should write some notes describing the house they want
to sell. It may be the house they actually live in or an imaginary one. They
should also have some idea of the house they would like to buy.
The
' clients'
then choose which agency they want to go to. They are
interviewed by a member of the agency and fill in the form, on the basis of
which a final description of their house is worked out. These descriptions
are then written up and displayed, and can be r' ead by those who want to
buy a house.
The activity may be repeated at a later stage with the roles reversed.
Instead of estate agencies, secondhand car firms can be used as an
alternative setting.
The Magazine Advice ColLtmn
Wri t e t he names of a number of magazi ne
' advi ce
col umns' on t he board.
These should be discussed rvith the class so that they know what kind of
' probl ems'
each one deal s wi t h.
Then ask al l t he st udent s i n t he cl ass t o wri t e t o one of t he advi ce
col umns, aski ng f or hel p wi t h a personal probl em. They can do t hi s
anonymousl y i f t hey pref er.
Di vi de t he cl ass i nt o smal l groups, each one represent i ng t he st af f of
an advi ce col umn. Di st ri but e t he l et t ers among t he groups, maki ng sure
t hat no one get s hi s own l et t er. and ask t hem t o wri t e repl i es t o t hese
l et t ers. These repl i es shoul d t hen be gi ven t o t he st udent s who wrot e t o t he
col umn.
Al t ernat i vel y, bot h t he l et t ers and repl i es may be wri t t en up as rval l
sheet s. so t hat t he whol e cl ass can read t hem.
The News Desk
Ask each st udent i n t he cl ass t o wri t e t wo or t hree i t ems of news (real or
i magi nary). Each i t em shoul d not be more t han about 50-60 rvords l ong
and dupl i cat e copi es shoul d be made of each i t em.
Di vi de t he cl ass i nt o gr oups, each r epr esent i ng a' News Desk' .
Di st ri but e t he i t ems of nervs among t he vari ous desks (because t he-v-
ar e i n dupl i cat e. mor e t hun one' desk' wi l l get t he same i t em) and ask each
( b)
(c)
61
TEACHI NG
WHI I I NU sKI LL5
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( e)
group t o edi t t hei r i t erns so as t o produce a ne\ \ ' s bul l et i n. whi ch can t hen
be r ead al oud t o t he cl ass.
(d) Joh vacal t ci cs
Di st ri but e a l i st of
' j ob
vacanci es' i n f i ve or si x bi g f i rms and ask each
st udent t o wri t e a l et t er of appl i cat i on f or one of t hese
j obs (gi vi ng
per sonal det ai l s. r eal or i magi nar y) .
Divide the class into groups representing each of these firms and ask
them to write their replies. In these, they should suggest a date and time
for an interview or say that the vacancy has already been filled, etc.
Complaints
Select from magazines a variety of ads for well-known products and paste
t hese on t o cards. Ask each st udent i n t he cl ass t o choose one of t hese ads
and t o wri t e a l et t er of compl ai nt about ei t her t he product or t he ad t o t he
f i rm concerned.
Di vi de t he cl ass i nt o groups. each represent i ng a bi g f i rm responsi bl e
f or advert i si ng a number of t hese product s. Then di st ri but e t he l et t ers t o
t he appropri at e f i rms and ask t hem t o di scuss and wri t e t hei r repl i es. These
shoul d be sent t o t he
person u' ho wrot e t he l et t er of compl ai nt .
Campaigns
Di vi de t he cl ass i nt o groups and ask each group t o deci de on some act i on
t hey woul d t ake t o i mprove t hei r t own: f or exampl e, by pul l i ng down a
certain building; by providing a facility of some kind, such as a new
swimming pool, or tennis courts: by widening a street, etc. Each group should
then announce, in the form of a press report, what they propose to do.
Each student in the class is then invited to respond to one or more of
these proposals: for example, by writing to the press; by writing, in
collaboration with two or more other students, a public protest or a notice
cal l i ng f or a meet i ng t o prot est agai nst t he proposal . or by wri t i ng
anonymous letters to the persons concerned with the proposal'
Notices
Di vi de t he cl ass i nt o groups. Ask each t o draw up a not i ce on a gi ven t opi c:
f or exampl e, st art i ng a pop group or cl ub; st art i ng a prot est agai nst . . ' ,
raising funds for . . .. etc. At least two groups should work on the same task
so that they can compare their notices.
Rules and regulations
Divide the class into groups and ask each group to draw up a list of rules
and regulations to control a certain situation: for example, safety
precautions (fire, hygiene, etc.) for a holiday camp. After each group has
finished drawing up its list of rules and regulations, ask them to compare
these with those of other
groups.
Market research
Divide the class into groups. Ask each group to draw up a market research
quest i onnai re f or a cert ai n product . Each st udent shoul d t hen use one of
t hese quest i onnai res t o i nt ervi ew ot her st udent s i n t he cl ass'
(f)
(g)
( h)
( i )
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I
DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
5. 5. 2
( a)
Our t own
Report wri t i ng
Di vi de t he cl ass i nt o groups. Gi ve each group t he t ask of descri bi ng
one
act i vi t i es
f eat ure of t hei r t own. Foi exampl e:
-
places of interest
-
sports facilities
-
good pl aces t o eat at
-
l ocal i ndust ri es, et c.
-
ent ert ai nment f aci l i t i es
Each group shoul d wri t e t hei r descri pt i on i n such a way t hat t he
f eat ure descri bed sounds at t ract i ve t o someone vi si t i ng t he t own. Each
st udent shoul d al so make hi s own copy of t he descri pt i on.
Then f orm new groups. maki ng sure t hat t hey cont ai n at l east one
represent at i ve f rom each of t he ori gi nal groups, and ask t hem t o wri t e a
f ul l report on t hei r t orvn based on t hese descri pt i ons. The report may be
accompani ed by a map shorvi ng t he l ocat i on of vari ous pl aces of i nt erest ,
et c.
(b\
Public interviews
Ask a student who is rvilling to be interviewed to come to the front of the
cl ass. Ask t he ot her st udent s t o quest i on hi m about some experi ence,
pl easant or unpl easant whi ch he has had, and t o make not es.
Di vi de t he st udent s i nt o groups, ask t hem t o compare not es and t o
compi l e an account of what rvas sai d by combi ni ng vari ous i deas. When t he
groups have f i ni shed wri t i ng t hei r versi ons. t hese shoul d be read al oud and
compared.
(c)
Private interviews
Ask each student in the class to intervierv another student about some
experi ence whi ch he has had. and t o make not es. Each st udent shoul d t hen
write a rough version from his notes and show this to the person he
i nt ervi ewed bef ore wri t i ng up t he f i nal versi on.
(d) Book reports
Ask each st udent t o wri t e a report on a book he has read. I f t here i s a cl ass
l i brary, he shoul d choose a book f rom t hi s and pl ace t he report he has
wri t t en i nsi de t he book f or t he gui dance of prospect i ve readers. I f t here i s
no cl ass l i brary, t he book report s may be ci rcul at ed among t he st udent s i n
t he cl ass i n a f ol der. Si mi l arl y, t he st udent s may be asked t o report on new
records or on f i l ms t hev have seen.
(e)
l,/oticeboard
Ask t he st udent s t o wri t e ads or not i ces f or t hi ngs rvhi ch t hey woul d l i ke t o
sel l or t o buy. These shoul d be pi nned on t he cl ass not i ceboard or
circulated round the class in a folder. The noticeboard may also be used as
t he l ocat i on f or some of t he act i vi t i es suggest ed i n 5. 6, e. g.
' probl ems' ,
graf f i t i . j okes,
or si mpl y
' hel l o'
messages t o ot her st udent s i n t he cl ass.
(f) References
Ask each st udent i n t he cl ass t o request at l east t wo ot her st udent s t o wri t e
hi m a charact er ref erence. The vari ous ref erences shoul d t hen be
ccl mpared rvi t h one anot her.
63
5. 6
Wri ti ng for fun
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Ask each st udent t o wri t e a cont ri but i on f or a cl ass rval l sheet
-
i t ems of
cl ass neu, s. i t ems of general i nt erest . Di vi de t he cl ass i nt o t hree orf our
groups and ask t hem t o edi t t he vari ous cont ri but i ons. They must al so
deci de hou, t hese u' i l l be arranged on t he u' al l sheet . These rval l sheet s.
when compl et ed. shoul d be di spl ayed f or t he cl t her st udent s t o read.
We can go on usi ng many of t he act i vi t i es suggest ed f or f un wri t i ng i n Chapt er
4. I n f act i t i s i mport ant t o do t hi s because i t demonst rat es t o t he st udent s horv
much more t hev can
get
out of an act i vi t y as t hei r prof i ci ency i n t he l anguage
i ncreases. Amongst t he act i vi t i es suggest ed. i t i s especi al l y i mport ant t o go on
usi ng quest i onnai res and qui zzes, j umbl ed
t ext s, rol e descri pt i ons (see al so (d)
bel ow), i magi narl ' di ari es and u' ri t i ng about pi ct ures and speech bubbl es. For
wri t i ng about pi ct ures i n part i cul ar we can begi n t o expect more t han
j ust
a f ew
sent ences and i deas i ot t ed dou' n.
(a) Posing problems
The st udent s. u' orki ng i n pai rs or smal l groups, t hi nk up probl em si t uat i ons
such as:
What w,ould
1' ou
do if . . . . . (the
school caught
fire
I vou becarne Prime
Minister tomorrow' I you had to live without water
for
a month I . . . .)?
We need (f 1,000) at once.t Can you suggest some wa,rs of gening or ntaking
money?
They t hen send t hese probl ems t o one or more ot her pai rs or groups f or
t hei r sussest ed sol ut i ons.
(b) Writing clues
for
crosswords
For t hi s t he st udent s, worki ng
i n pai rs or smal l groups. are
given a crossword puzzle
(perhaps made up b,v another
O
group) l i ke t he one here.
They t hen have t o wri t e t he
' cl ues'
(whi ch vou rvoul d
normal l i ' be gi ven t o comPl et e
the crossu' ord puzzle). These
can be l i t eral . e. g. f or school :
You go there to study, or
amusing, A place where they try
hard to teach you things.
o
Alternatively, the
' clues'
can consist of a series of sentenceS, ,9. It' s a very
unpleasant place where they try to teach you things. It's like a kind of prison.
You go there when
t-ou
are (six)
and you are
' free'
when you are (sixteen).
After that, it is usuallv difficult to get a
job
. . . . .
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64
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(c)
) EVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
Instructions
for
a game
For t he si mpl e board game bel ow, t he st udent s, worki ng i n groups,
can
wri t e t hei r own i nst ruct i ons f or movi ng round t he board. For exampl e:
A I f you have somet hi ng t o eat i n your bag, go back 2 squares.
B I f you went t o bed bef ore 10 o' cl ock l ast ni ght , go f orward 3 squares.
C Unless you know how to ride a bike, go back five squares.
To play this game, the students take it in turns to throw a dice, movins
round the board first from left to right, then right to left (etc, followin!
the
arrows). when they land on a square, they look at the instructions (giien
in alphabetical order) to find out about their move. The first
plaver
to
reach
' home'
i s t he wi nner.
For this activity the students, therefore, have to write instructions for each
l et t er of t he al phabet on t he board.
Role descriptions
This is a more advanced version of the activity described in 4.6 (f).
The
students have to produce descriptions which could be used for simple
simulation situations (based perhaps on characters in the coursebook). The
t ext i nvol ves more sent ence l i nki ng and sequenci ng t han t he earl i er
activity, but is still a relatively straightforward piece of writing. once
again, the role description is intended for a specific person and should aim
t o be amusi ng.
ST
( d)
You.r na'me ls Ja<X.q
Sna-rohu, Yot+ A,ved in thz
d&age u.Awnyowher
a. r.h)^/o{,
yo*r
/hth/,r
wd,s frrc slwVfteepar a,//d. qor+ diiln't hd,ve
/r'rt/o/.L vnonog . tVat ,1o{t * ?;4rh. a,nd ,/ow
wont to vha,kz
e
/st
{
cnarryes. Fot-e;Arfk,
A
goat
noL
(f* husba,nd. likes d,rA*;ng
/.
..)
A supet'n"a,,'-p4 (
ff" want to be a/Uz to shop
qui akhl
/ .
, . . . )
4 blg
fctin'
,An;*, (/*, Li*z. to tua.,ve a- M
4
L cwol . wr . d- / . . . , )
ART B K L F o A T
V R
O X C H L
v
. P
V
Z. F o J Z Y D S
A N w K C X V
V
P
I F M T O H B HOM
65
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Scenarios
The st udent s, u' orki ng i n groups, rvri t e
' scenari os' l i ke
t he one i n 5. 2. 1 (c)
or short st ori es whi ch t he1, gi ve t o one anot her t o deci de how t o act out .
Not i ce t hat t he scenari o has opport uni t i es f or t al k but does not gi ve any of
t he act ual words. Thus we have an act i vi t v whi ch devel ops as f ol l ows:
Itnccurate accoLttlts
The st udent s, worki ng i n groups, wri t e a descri pt i on of a wel l -known
person, pl ace or t hi ng or an account of an event whi ch cont ai ns some
del i berat e mi st akes of f act . The groups t hen exchange what t hey have
wri t t en and t ry t o det ect t he i naccuraci es.
Jumbled stories
This is similar to 4.6 (e), except that the students, working in groups, have
to write two short stories of about four to six sentences each. The stories
can be about t he same person or a si mi l ar event . The st ori es are t hen cut
up i nt o separat e sent ences and gi ven t o anot her group t o sort out i nt o t he
t wo ori si nal st ori es.
TWO TALL STORIES
Make t wo st ori es wi t h t hese sent ences:
(a) The woman who u' as si t t i ng behi nd t he el ephant coul dn' t see.
(b) "I ' m not surpri sed. " t he el ephant sai d. "The cof f ee' s not very good. "
(c) "He' s read t he book. " t he man sai d. "Now he want s t o see t he f i I m. "
(d) A man once t ook hi s el ephant f ri end t o t he ci nema.
(e) The wai t er gave one t o hi m and t he el ephant drank i t .
(0 One day an elephant went into a caf6 and asked for a cup of coffee.
(g) "Why have you brought t hi s el ephant i n here?" she asked.
(h) "We don' t see many el ephant s i n here, " t he wai t er sai d.
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(g)
GROUPS DI SCUSS AND WRI TE SCENARI OS
GROUPS EXCHANGE SCENARI OS
GROUPS WORK OUT AND \ \ TRI TE
DI ALOGUE. ETC.
GROUPS ACT OUT SCENARI OS
66
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DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
(h) Jigsaw writing
Cut up any sui t abl e pi ct ure: i t shoul d have a cl ear overal l st ruct ure and
some, but not t oo much, det ai l . Gi ve one such pi ct ure t o each group
and
ask t he st udent s t o work i n pai rs t o work out a descri pt i on of one or more
pi eces. They shoul d not l ook at one anot her' s pi eces. When t hey have
wri t t en out t hei r descri pt i ons, t hey shoul d put away t hei r pi eces and t ry t o
work out what the picture as a whole looks like from what they have
wri t t en. When t hey have descri bed, oral l y or i n wri t i ng, t he compl et e
pi ct ure, t hey can check t hi s agai nst t he vi sual .
(i) Instructions
for
drawing a map or picture
The st udent s. worki ng i n groups, have t o draw a si mpl e map or pi ct ure l i ke
t he ones bel ow. They t hen work out t he st ep by st ep i nst ruct i ons f or
drawi ng t hese. For exampl e. f or t he pi ct ure:
1 Draw t wo t rees, one on t he l ef t of t he pi ct ure and t he ot her on t he ri ght .
2 There is a rope between the two trees. It is about four feet from the
ground.
3 Draw a man on t he rope. He i s wal ki ng f rom l ef t t o ri ght . He i s weari ng
a hat and he has a st i ck i n hi s hand and . . . . . , et c.
They must decide how much detail fhey want to include (they can of course
change their picture at this stage) but they must make sure that their
instructions are clear.
The groups t hen exchange i nst ruct i ons and t ry t o draw one anot her' s
pi ct ures. As a f i nal st age t hey check t hei r pi ct ures agai nst t he ori gi nal ones.
U)
Headlines
Gi ve each group one or more headl i nes, l i ke t hose shown on t he next page.
These can be i nvent ed or t aken f rom real newspapers. Ask t he st udent s t o
di scuss and wri t e out t he rel at ed st ory. At t hi s l evel (and f or t he purpose of
t hi s act i vi t y) t he st udent s shoul d not be asked t o t ry t o wri t e a newspaper
account of t he st ory. The i mport ant t hi ng i s f or t hem t o use t hei r
i magi nat i on. I deas i t re mr)re i mport ant t han f ormal l y correct l anguaee. l f ,
67
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hog, eycr ,
t he he adl i nc c0l 1e s f r r l t t t a r eal l l e\ \ ' spaper . vou ci l l l cc) l l l par e
t hci r ' er si r ) ' \ \ ' i t h t he . r i gi . al .
l f al l gr oups ha' e t he same headl i nes'
you
cri n al so conl pare Versi ons across t he cl l t ss'
Real or
act i vi t y.
i magi nary book t i t l es can al so be used t o st i mul at e a si mi l ar
For exampl e:
I
t
}J
|/
. _1
!-
Di scussi on
[4Rs
cnEr
J
U ST FRIENDS
(k) Graffiti
Most students l i ke to wri te on wal l s from ti me to ti me: thi s acti vi ty may
encourage
t hem t o be more creat i ve!
Gi ve t he st udent s some exampl es of i magi nat i ve
graf f i t i . I i ke t hose
bel ow.
JOO-AIVD
DIE
HEALTHIIR
rl
tteogrqpn),
ry,ififfiffi,f A,,
is everyvvhere
il[r'ffi)k
iurr,rs
Atcw
Then ask them (individuallv, in pairs or groups) to try their hand at writing
their own graffiti. It sometimes helps to suggest an event or a location'
Say whet her you agree or di sagree wi t h t he suggest i on
t hat :
(a) di al ogue wri t i ng shoul d be cont i nued;
i Ui rorn. t ormal l et t er u' ri t i ng shoul d be i nt roduced'
Gi ve reasons.
, f l ?
68
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I
Exercises
References
DEVELOPI NG
SKI LLS
I n what ways do many of t he wri t i ng t asks proposed i n t hi s chapt er i nvol ve
a
much cl oser i nt egrat i on t han at earl i er st ages wi t h ot her l anguage act i vi t i es
i n
t he cl assroom? Do vou agree wi t h t hi s devel opment ?
Many of t he act i vi t i es proposed i n t hi s chapt er woul d i nvol ve more cl ass t i me
bei ng spent on wri t i ng. Do you t hi nk t hat t hi s woul d necessari l y be a wrong
way of usi ng cl ass t i me? Gi ve reasons.
Many of t he act i vi t i es i n 5. 5 and 5. 6 are l i kel y t o resul t i n t he st udent s
maki ng mi st akes. Does t hi s worry you?
Devi se ot her exerci ses si mi l ar t o t hose i n 5. 2. I f or pract i si ng di al ogue wri t i ng
at t he post -el ement ary l evel .
Devi se an exerci se si mi l ar t o t he one i n 5. 2. 2 so t hat t he cues are phased out
and t he st udent s are asked t o wri t e t he f i nal t ext unai ded.
wri t e an exerci se, si mi l ar t o t he f i nal one i n 5. 3 (d). Af t er you have
j umbl ed
up the items, give the exercise to a friend for checking.
Thi s i s t he compl et e t ext f or 5. 3 (a):
Janet West' s sister is an air hostess for a famous international airline and
Janet wants to become one too. However, she is still too young: the
minimum age for an air hostess is twenty and Janet is only
just
over slrteen.
For the moment she has taken a
16b
in an office. But she also attends
evening classes. In particular, she wants to improve her French and
Spanish because foreign languages are an important qualification for an air
host ess.
Meanwhile Janet is gaining experience through her present
job.
For the office she works in is a travel agency. In this way she is learning
not only how to deal with people but also quite a lot about the places she one
day hopes to visit.
Now complete the exercise at the end of 5.3 (a) to practise grammatical and
l exi cal cohesi on.
Devise a rewriting activitv. based on the text in 4 above, similar to one in
5. 3
( c) .
From vour own experi ence of t eachi ng (or l earni ng) a f orei gn l anguaee.
suggest ot her act i vi t i es si mi l ar t o t hose proposed
f or 5. 5 and 5. 6.
On gui ded wri t i ng see A Pi ncas (1982a) pages I 0Z-9 and S Hol den (ed)
( 1983) pages 49- 57.
For t he t echni que of i nt ervi ewi ng t he cl ass see N coe i n S Hol den (ed)
(1983). Al so L Wi ner on conduct i ng a l esson t hrough wri t i ng.
For wri t t en communi cat i ve act i vi t i es see J Harmer (1983) pages 132-140.
For wri t i ng act i vi t i es at t hi s l evel see T Hedge (1983a and 1983b); T Jupp and
J Mi l ne ( 1980) ; A Pi ncas ( 1982b and 1982c) and L Woods ( 1986) .
Exampl es of wri t i ng act i vi t i es i n t hi s chapt er have been t aken f rom: D Byrne
Funct i onal Comprehen^sl on (Longman 1986 new ed. ) 5. 2. I (a); 5. 2. 2(b) and
( c) ; 5. 3( a) - ( c) and ( e) ; J Har mer i l t er i di an ( Longman 1985) 5. 2. 3( c) :
T Hedge Pen t o Paper (Nel son 1983) 5. 3(d) f i rst exampl e; M
pal mer
and
D Byrne Track J (Longman 1983)5. 6(b), (g) and (i ) and A
pi ncas
wri t i ng i n
Engl i sh 1 (i vl acmi l l an 1982) 5. 3(d) second exampl e.
69
6. 1
The text as
context
6. 2
Compr ehensi on
acti vi ti es
Contexts
for writing:
the use of texts
Text s
-
read or l i st ened t o
-
of f er a nat ural cont ext f or a wi de range of
wri t i ng act i vi t i es. We of t en read or hear somet hi ng and react by maki ng a not e,
f or exi mpl e. or wri t i ng a l et t er. However. our response mi ght equal l y wel l be
oral and i tri r t i nO of l i nked reacti on. wi th a vari ety of ski l l s taki ng pl ace, wi l l be
deal t wi th under Integrated ski l l s i n Chapter 8. Thi s chapter wi l l be more
narrowl y concerned wi th the i mportant, though often negl ected, ski l l s of note-
taki ng and summari si ng. Fi rst, however, we wi l l l ook bri efl y at vari ous types of
comprehensi on acti vi ty. si nce thi s can al so be a useful and effecti ve way of
pr or i di ng wr i t i ng pr act i ce.
Comprehensi on ei erci ses on a text are a wel i -establ i shed way of provi di ng
wri ti ng practi ce of vari ous ki nds, and i t i s not the purpose of thi s secti on to
exami ni the wi de range of possi bi l i ti es i n thi s area. Many such exerci ses can be
done oral l y: f or exampl e. quest i ons on a t ext , deci di ng whet her st at ement s are
true or fal se, etc. It ma1' l se conveni ertr to ask for these to be done i n wri ti ng but
t hi s i s not i nt ri nsi c t o t he t ask. On t he ot her hand, t here are cert ai n si t uat i ons i n
rvhi ch i t rs appropri ate to choose u' ri ti ng as the medi um of response.
Thi s i s parti cul arl y the case u' here exerci ses requi re the students to
exami ne the meani ng of the text very careful l y: for exampl e, i f they are asked
to deci de u,hether there i s suffi ci ent evi dence i n the text to support certai n
statements or whether certai n statements are i mpl i ed by the text. In cases l i ke
thi s the students cannot be expected to respond qui ckl y because they are
probabl y havi ng to exami ne the meani ng of several sentences i n order to fi nd
t he answers.
Getti ng the students to wri te out answers of thi s ki nd i s al so a way of
encouragi ng them to use wri ti ng for acti vi ti es whi ch requi re thought and
preci si on
-
preci si on whi ch perhaps can onl y be attai ned after several
at t empt s. Oral work i s not of course precl uded: t he st udent s can col l aborat e on
t hese t asks and t here can be some whol e cl ass f ol l ow-up'
70
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CONTEXTS FOR WRt Tt NG: THE USE OF TEXTS
Some t ypes of comprehensi on
t ask may al so cal l f or t he product i on
of t wo
or more sent ences: t hat i s. a short t ext of some ki nd. Thi s, f or e. xampl e,
, i gh,
be t he t ype of re-wri t i ng exerci se suggest ed i n 5. 3 (c) or drscussron t ype
quest i ons whi ch cal l f or t he l earner s' owt ' t responses t o cert ai n i deas expressed
i n t he t ext . Exerci ses of t he l at t er ki nd are especi al l y val uabl e
because
i rr. v
-
al l ow t he wri t t en medi um t o be used f or t he . *pr. rri on of personal
opi ni on
wi t hi n a cont ext provi ded by t he t ext .
Anot her t ype of rewri t i ng exerci se f requent l y used i s t he gui ded
summary,
i l l ust rat ed i n 6. 2-1 bel ow. Thi s can be a usei ul preparat i on
f or summary wri t i ng
based on more ext ensi ve t ext s (see 6. 3. Z).
6' 2' 1
Some t ypes of gui ded summary rvri t i ng are very much more cont rol l ed
t han t he
Gui ded summary
one bel ow' For exampl e, t he si udent s are gi ven t he act ual sent ences t o be used
wri t i ng: an
i n t he summary and merel y have t o l i nk t hl se wi t h appropri at e
connect i ng
example
words and phrases, which are also provided.
Althougir this gives the students
pract i ce
i n cont i nuous wri t i ng, i t does not t each summari si ng
ski l l s, rvhi ch
must
involve some form of note-taking.
Notice in the example beiow guidance
fir
-
the summary is provided through questions
on the texi, to which it is suggested
that the answers should be in note
form.
Today, air traver is far safer than driving a car on a busy motorway.
But there is a danger that grows every year. Airliners get laiger and laiger.
Some can carr.y
-over
300 passengers.
And the air itseribecori.,
nror. uiJ
more crowded. If one giant airliner crashed into another in mid_air. 600
lives could be lost.
From the moment an airriner takes off to the moment it lands, every
movement is watched on radar screens. Air traffic controllers
tell the pil,ot
exactly when to turn, when to climb and when to come down. The air
traffic controllers around a busv airport like London-Heathrow
may handle
2500 pl anes a day. Not al l of t hem act ual l y l and at t he ai rport . Any prane
that flies near the airport comes under the orders of the controllers there.
Even a smal l mi st ake on t hei r part coul d cause a di sast er.
Recently such a disaster almost happened.
Two large jets
rvere flying
towards the airport.
one was carrying
69 puss.ngers
and had come from
Toronto. The.other was carrying 176 passlng..riro*
chicago. An air
traffic controller noticed on his radar icreenihut the two planes were too
cl ose t o each ot her. He ordered one t o t urn t o t he ri ght and t o cl i mb. But
he made a mi st ake. He orderecr t he wrong prane t o Jo t hi s. So, i nst ead of
turning away from the second plane, tne nist plane turnecr torvards it.
Fi f t een seconds l at er i t f l ew di rect ry i n f ront oi t t . second pl ane. They
avoi ded each ot her by t he smal l est part of a second. The di st ance bet ween
t hem was l ess t han t hat of a l arse swi mmi ng pool . Thi s i s an exampl e of t he
danger t hat grows everv year.
Describe the disa.ster thut olntost hoppened. write one paragraph
of about eighty
words.
Answer these questiorts irt note
fonn
to get yoLtr pomts;
1) What were t he t u' o pl anes doi nc at t he t i me, /
2) Where had t hev corne f rom' l
3) What di d an ai r t raf t i c conrrol l er t l o ancl rvhvJ
71
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TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
6. 3
Not e-t aki ng
and
summar i si ng
-1)
What was t he resul t ' l
-5) What \\' as narro\\' l v avoi ded' l
Thi s t ype of act i vi t v i s a usef ul f i rst st ep i n get t i ng st udent s t o make not es
i vhi ch t hey wi l l do somet hi ng u' i t h. l t does not . of course, shou' t hem how t o
make not es. whi ch i s a probl em rve rvi l l now l ook at .
The rel evance of t he ski l l s of not e-t aki ng and summari si ng* t o wri t i ng t asks at
t hi s l evel shoul d nou' be apparent : t hel ' are a common f eat ure of many wri t i ng
act i vi t i es u' hi ch rel at e i n some wav t o what we have read or heard. si nce we
of t en make a not e of cert ai n i deas and t hen re-present t hem i n some ot her
f orm. These. t hen. are i mport ant ski l l s f or t he l earners and i t i s essent i al t hat
t hev shoul cl not be l ef t rvi t h t he i mpressi on t hat t hey are art i f i ci al
' cl assroom'
act i vi t i es. whi ch are of l i t t l e pract i cal val ue except f or t he purpose of passi ng
exami nat i ons. and t hi s t oo onl y i f t hey are execut ed accordi ng t o cert ai n
f ormul as. Thi s appl i es part i cul arl v t o summari si ng. Yet t hi s i s how t hel ' are
commonl v present ed and pract i sed: t he st udent s are asked t o t ake not es wi t h
no speci f i c purpose i n mi nd and t o u' ri t e summari es i n a wav u' hi ch i nvol ves
bot h di st ort i on and cont ort i on. l t i s not deni ed t hat t here i s an i mport ant
el ement of cont rol and di sci pl i ne (or at l east sel f -di sci pl i ne) i n t hese act i vi t i es,
bur t he purpose of t hi s can best be brought home t hrough meani ngf ul act i vi t i es
rat her t han by procedures mechani cal l y appl i ed.
I t shoul d al so be cl ear t hat t hese are ski l l s t hat cannot be f ul l y devel oped
until the learners have reached a certain proficiency in the language, although it
wi l l be argued t hat u' e can and shoul d f i rst present t hem on arecept i ve basi s.
That i s. t he l earner s are shon, n what not es and summari es l ook l i ke i n rel at i on
to an ori gi nal text. There are al so si mpl e tasks whi ch the l earners can be asked
to perform before thev carrv out acti vi ti es on a more extensi ve scal e.
To appreci at e
j ust hou, di f f i cul t t hese ski l l s are, even f or t he nat i ve user of
t he l anguage. u' e woul d do wel l t o consi der what i s i nvol ved i n t hem. Wi t h
not e-t aki ng. f or exampl e. we have t o be abl e t o i dent i f y key i t ems i n a t ext .
whi ch i s i n i tsel f a searchi ng test of comprehensi on and cl earl .v much more
di ffi cul t i f u,e are l i steni ng rather than readi ng, when at l east we have the
opport uni t y t o scrut i ni se t he t ext at l ei sure. We ai so have t o be abl e t o reduce
or compress these i tems i n a way that i s at l east suffi ci ent to al l ow us to retri eve
t hei r ori gi nal meani n-q. The t ask of meani ngf ul abbrevi at i on cal l s f or a good
knowl edge of how t he l anguage works. Li kewi se t he abi l i t y t o re-present t hese
key i deas i n such a wav t hat t hev const i t ut e an accept abl e t ext . wi t h
appropri at e sent ence-l i nki ng and sequenci ng. i s much cl oser t o advanced t han
gui ded wri t i ng. Whi l e i t mav be t rue t hat , when we are summari si ng' t he t ext
provi des us u' i th the
' content'
of what we wri te. i n many respects i t i s more
Oi f ncul t t o operat e u' i t hi n t he const rai nt s of someone el se s t hought s t han t o
produce our own.
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conveni ence, not e-t aki ng i s used t o ref er t o t he act i vi t y bot h of maki ng not es on a t ext whi ch
has been read and of t aki ng not es on a t ext whi ch has been heard. I t i s acknou' l edged t hat not e-
t aki ng i s i t sel l a
f orm
of suLmari si ng. Hou' ever, summari si ng i s used here t o ref er t o t he act i vi t l ' of
, e-pri seut i , t g n , ho. t . r versi on of t hC ori gi nal t ext . al t hough not accordi ng t o any set prcscri pt i on.
such as usi ne a gi ven numbe r of
q' ords.
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6. 3. 1
Not e-t aki ng
CONTEXTS FOR WRI TI NG: THE USE OF TEXTS
I t has been suggest ed t hat t he i ni t i al phase of not e-t aki ng* shoul d consi st
mai nl y of showi ng t he l earners what not es l ook l i ke and of demonst rat i ng t hat ,
al t hough t here are no magi c f ormul as. si nce not e-t aki ng i s t o some ext ent a
personal act i vi t y, t here are a number of wavs of reduci ng a t ext t o not es so t hat
t he f undament al i deas i n i t are not l ost . We shoul d st art , t heref ore, by showi ng
how notes relate to a text. For example, we can present both a text and a set of
not es and exami ne horv t he wri t er arnved at hi s not es.
John Smi t h, who was born on December 6, 1957, i s a secondary school
t eacher. Hi s wi f e' s name i s Jovce. Thev have t hree chi l dren: one son and
two daughters.
We may also usefully contrast one set of notes with another. For example:
Ja*
frurl4 Btrn
: b.l2,t/ .fec.
scho4 tqa'ohtr
WLJA t)yu
I son Z earyh,tuls
By compari ng t wo possi bl e set s of not es we can ask t he st udent s t o i dent i f y
rvhat i nf ormat i on has been preserved i n bot h and what ot her i nf ormat i on each
wri t er has i ncl uded or omi t t ed. We can al so exami ne some of t he devi ces whi ch
have been used. For exampl e. t he exami nat i on of even short set s of not es l i ke
t hese reveal s t hat we can omi t pronouns. auxi l i ary verbs, art i cl es and
connect i ves. and t hat we can al so use numeral s and symbol s. We can al so begi n
t o l ook at t he quest i on of abbrevi at i ons. of whi ch t here i s onl y one exampl e i n
t he not es (sec. f or secondary) and di scuss how t hi s was made (i . e. i n t hi s case,
by t aki ng t he f i rst svl l abl e of t he rvord) and whet her ot her ones are possi bl e (f or
exampl e. scl z. f or school ).
I t wi l l al so hel p st udent s t o be shorvn di f f erent ways of set t i ng not es out .
For exampl e, t he model bel or v does not commi t t hem t o anv par t i cul ar or der .
and. perhaps more i mport ant . al l ou' s addi t i onal rel at ed i nf ormat i on t o be
added i n at t he ri ght poi nt . especi al l v i f you are readi ng a l ong t ext . For
exampl e. wher e John Smi t h n' as bor n. t he name of t he school he t eaches i n and
t he subi ect s. et c.
' *-f hi s
can [ re hcgt rn at an cl t rl i c' r st agc i l nd prl ct i sct l
c\ l ( ' n\ i \ L' r r ( ) l c- l i l ki ng : r c t i r i t i c s.
J
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f
worritd.,wi,th I ril/./n-an,
econdaty
2 da.uqhters
l r t r nt t i r nc t ( ) l i r ne r r s l pr cpl r r l t i ( ) n i { ) r I n( ) r c
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l n addi t i on t o aski ng t he st udent s t o exami ne set s of not es al ong t hese
l i nes, we ma1, t ake a number of t ext s and di scuss how we mi ght arri ve at a set of
not es: f or exampl e. \ \ ' e can underl i ne kev i t ems. bracket words or phrases t hat
can be omi t t ed. and consi der possi bl e cont ract i ons. Fi nal l y. we can work out
v' i th the students a possi bl e set of notes.
Anot her usef ul act i r, i t v. t o be carri ed out wi t h f ai rl y l ong t ext s. i s t o ask
t he st udent s t o i dent i f l ' t he mai n i deas i n a t ext . For exampl e. as a f i rst st ep. we
can gi ve t hem a l i st of t he mai n i deas. present ed i n random order, and ask t hem
t o put t hese i n t he order i n u' hi ch t he1, ' are deal t wi t h i n t he t ext . Subsequent l y,
t hey may be asked t o i dent i f l , t he mai n i deas f or t hemsel ves.
At t hi s st age. t oo. u' hen *' e f i rst ask t he st udent s t o t ake not es, i t i s hel pf ul ,
bot h i n order t o f ocus t hei r at t ent i on on speci f i c aspect s of t he t ext and t o
ensure t hat t hey keep t hei r not es short . t o gi ve t hem some sort of f ramework
u' i t hi n whi ch t o u' ork. i n t he f orm of a chart t o be compl et ed. The act i vi t i es on
page 75 show how i t i s possi bl e to focus the attenti on of the students on
part i cul ar aspect s of a t ext (i n t hi s case. one f or readi ng f ol l owed by a rel at ed
one f or l i st eni ng t o). r. rhi ch are t he poi nt s t hey need t o make a not e of .
St udent s enj ov t hi s ki nd of act i vi t l , ' because i t i s i nt ri nsi cal l y more enj oyabl e
t han si mpl y maki ng a st ri ng of not es. Equal l y i mport ant . however, t he use of
chart s obl i ges st udent s t o be conci se.
Mani ' games and gamel i ke act i vi t i es i nvol ve keepi ng not es, and t hi s i s
anot her way of bri ngi n-q home t o t he st udent s t hei r real i mport ance. One
act i vi t y i n part i cul ar u, i l l be f ound usef ul : t hi s i s a vari at i on on Descri be and
draw.
Instead of tryi ng to drau' a pi cture whi ch
someone descri bes for them wi thout
t hei r bei ng abl e t o see i t , t he st udent s
make not es as t hey l i st en. They can t hen
compare notes and subsequentl ,v. ei ther
i ndi vi dual l y or i n col i aborati on. carry
out one of the fol l owi ng tasks:
-
descri be the pi cture oral l y;
-
draw the pi cture;
-
wri te a descri pti on of the pi cture
Usual l y the students feel more
comfortabl e maki ng notes as a fi rst
stage (rather than bei ng asked to try to
draw the pi cture strai ght off) and, of
course, the acti vi tv does gi ve them an
i mmedi ate use for the notes they have
made.
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B. c. D . . . l i st en, ask quest i ons
and make not es
B, c , D. . . c ompar enot es
B. c, D . . . use not es: t al k. drar. i '
or wri t e
74
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Bea
BY CAB
I t onl y t a
BY COA
f ast and
dur i ng t he
a pl easur e i n i t sel f . The moder n, hi gh-
speed t r ai ns ar e qui et , comf or t abl e and
ai r-condi t i oned. You can eni oy a good
meal dur i ng your j our ney.
Or you can
t r avel over ni ght . Take your car on t he
t r ai n wi t h you. St ar t your hol i day f r esh
and r el axed.
BY AI R
The f ast est way t o t ravel . There are
several f l i ght s f rom London every day,
and regul ar servi ces f rom many
European ci t i s.
CONTEXTS FOR WRITING: THE USE oF TEXTS
1 Use i nformati on i n the text to compl ete thi s
tabl e. If there i s no i nformati on. put
a
quest i on mar k.
2 How woul d you t ravel i f you want ed t o do
t hese t hi ngs?
ar wat ch a f i l m on t he j ourney
b) t ake your car t o Scot i and wi t hout dri vi ng i t
c) get t o Scot l and as qui ckl y as possi bl e
3 Li st en and answer:
NI r Smi t h want s t o go t o Scot l and. so he goes t o a
t ravel agency. The t ravel agent t el l s hi m
di f f erenLways of t ravel l i ng. Horv does NI r Smi t h
deci de t o go t o Scot l and? Why?
4 Mr Smi t h want s t o know how l ong i t t akes
t o get t o Scot l and. What does t he t ravel
agent t el l hi m? Li st en t o t he conversat i on
agai n and compl et e t hi s t abl e:
How l ong?
t r al n
pl ane
coach
5 Compl ete thi s tabl e:
WAYS OF TRAVELLING TO SCOTLAND
(for
one
person)
qui ckest
cheapest
most comfortable
Scot l and i s
di f f erent .
I t ' s exci t i ng.
I t ' s easy t o
get t o. and
i t ' s cheap
t o t ravel
ar ound i n.
There are
pl ent y of
t ravel
bar gai ns.
M
L
overni ght
meal s
LAN
coaches r un ever y day f r om
ot her bi g ci t i es. They ar e
You
q' Cn
wat ch f i l ms
i r r you can sl eep i n
over ni ght se
75
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
6. 3. 2
Summari si ng
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Sy' st emat i c
t rai ni ng al onc t hcse l i nes u' i l l ensure t hat t he st udent s are
adequat el y preparedf or
not e-t aki ng' At t he same t i me' we can al so
demonst rat e t he pract i cal t ' al ue of not e-t aki l g: f or exampl e. by maki ng sure
t hat t he st udent s
exerci se t hi s ski l l when rve gi ve t hem i nst ruct i ons f or
act i vi t i es. i ncl udi ng
homeu' ork.
whi ch t hey have t o carrv out at a l at er dat e' I n
t hi s way. i t i s hoped. t hev u, i l l be abl e t o see t hat not e-t aki ng
i s a purposef ul
act i vi t y.
Sunmari si nC
-
produci nC a short ened versi on of a t ext rvhi ch has been read or
heard
-
i s best vi ewed as a ski l l whi ch i s real i sed t hrough di f f erent ki nds of
\ \ , ri t i ng, rat her t han as a speci al . f o, 77? of wri t i n g' Report s on speeches and
nti nttti s of meeti ngs are summari es: so are obstracts of arti cl es and svrtopses of
books. At one end of t he scal e, summari es may be qui t e l engt hy document s: at
t he ot her. no more t han a f ew i i nes. One f act or rvhi ch det ermi nes t he l engt h of
a summary i s t he act ual amount of space rvhi ch t he u' ri t er of t he summari sed
versi on has at hi s di sposal . A report on a meet i ng. t o be read and st udi ed bv
t hose who were not present . ma\ I have no prescri bed l engt h' u' hi l e a report on a
meet i ng u, hi ch has been u ri t t en t o be publ i shed i n a ne\ \ ' spaper may have t o be
f i t t ed i nt o hal f a col umn or l ess. Anot her f act or i s l he purpose f or whi ch t he
summarv has been u, ri t t en: i t may' be i nt ended t o provi de a record of some
event , i n rvhi ch case brevi t v wi l l not be t he mai n concern' On t he ot her hand.
corrci seness i s l i kel y t o be i mport ant i f i t i s i nt ended t o serve as a gui de f or
someone who does not have i i me t o read t he ori gi nal t ext or who wi shes t o f i nd
out u' het her i t i s wort h readi ng'
Al l t hi s. of course. i s a l ong u' av f rom summari si ng
as i t i s t radi t i onal l y
pract i sed i n t he cl assroom. but t here woul cl seem l i t t l e poi nt i n pract i si ng t he
i t i t t ut al l unl ess we can rel at e i t i n some wa, v t o real i st i c act i vi t i es l i ke t hose
descri bed above. A more f l exi bl e vi ew of sunmary u' ri t i ng wi l l not onl y make i t
a more purposef ul act i yi t y f or t he st udent s; i t wi l l al so enabl e us t o work wi t h
di f f erent ki nds of mat eri al . bot h spoken and wri t t en. and of very di f f erent
l engt hs. I t wi i l f ui t her enabl e us t o demonst rat e t hat . al t hough i n a summari sed
versi on we are al wa), s concerned t o preserve essent i ai i nf ormat i on
-
t he mai n
i deas
-
how u, e do t hi s i s af f ect ed bot h by t he purpose i n maki ng t he summary
and t he amount of space at our di sposal '
Through note-taki ng
we have al ready to a l arge extent l ai d the foundati ons
for summari si ng;
i n parti cul ar, through acti vi ti es such as i denti fyi ng the mai n
poi nts i n a text
i r..
6. : . 1
)
. Because at the start tt i s conveni ent to work rvi th
i ai rl l , short t ext s (l i ke t he one i n 6. 2. 1). we have t o be caref ul t o avoi d set t i ng
unreal i st i c t asks whi ch rl oul d i nvol ve t he compressi on of mat eri al whi ch i s
al ready succi nctl y expressed.
Hou' et' er, the students maY be asked to gi ve a
. "ru*d, oral or wri t t en. i n a gi ven number of sent ences rat her t han a set
number of words. Thi s encourages t he st udent s t o make t he best use of t he
number of sent ences
at t hei r di sposal '
As wi t h not e-t aki ng.
we must al so sf t ow t he st udent s
what vari ous ki nds of
summari sed
versi ons of a t ext l ook l i ke. Thi s can be done i n a number of ways'
For exampl e.
we may rei at e t hi s act i vi t y t o t he i nt ensi ve st udy of t ext s (whi ch i s
o. o61*on act i vi t y ai t hi s st age), bv set t i ng t hem a readi ng goal i n t he f orm of a
summarv. whi ch asks t hem t o deci de whet her t he summary accurat el y ref l ect s
t he mai n i cl eas i n t he t ext . we ma1' al so compare, as wi t h exampl es of not es.
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CONTEXTS FOR WRI TI NG: THE USE oF TEXTS
t wo or t hree summari es of di f f erent l engt hs, so t hat t he st udent s can deci de t o
what ext ent t he essent i al i deas of t he ori gi nal have been ret ai ned i n each. and
how t he l engt h of t he summari sed versi ons may af f ect bot h what i s i ncl uded
and how i t i s expressed.
However, t he pract i cal val ue of summari si ng can onl y be f ul l y brought
home i f we work wi t h f ai rl y' l ong t ext s. How t hi s i s done must of course . . l ut .
t o t he l evel and i nt erest s of t he st udent s. They may be asked t o wri t e abst ract s
of chapt ers of books t hey have read. For exampl e. t he communi cat i on t ask i n
5. 5. 2 (d) mav be ref ormul at ed so t hat t hey wri t e
' bl urbs'
f or t he books rvhi ch
t hev have read. I n some cl asses. i t mav be more usef ul t o work wi t h t ext s rvhi ch
are heard rat her t han read. For exampl e, some di al ogues where t he speakers
are deal i ng wi t h a wel l -def i ned t heme, such as maki ng pl ans, l end t hemsel ves
wel l t o report i ng act i vi t i es t hrou-sh rvhi ch summari si ng can be pract i sed. I ncj eed
t he t ask of wri t i ng a not i ce. based on what t he speakers have sai d, i s a
f orm
of
summarv, wi t h a speci al communi cat i ve purpose. I f l i st eni ng f aci l i t i es are
avai l abl e, t he st udent s, di vi ded i nt o t wo hal ves, may be asked t o l i st en t o t wo
report s on a t own or on an acci dent , broadl y t he same but di f f eri ng i n det ai l s.
They may t hen be asked t o wri t e summari sed versi ons of what t hey have heard
and subsequent l y t o compare t hese so as t o i dent i f y t he si mi l ari t i es and
differences.
But t o demonst rat e f ul l v t he pract i cal ' appl i cat i on
of summari si ng rve shal l
probabl y have t o rel v mai nl v on act i vi t i es rvhi ch i nvo. l ve some f orm of rol epl ay.
For exampl e. t he
' est at e
agencv' act i vi t v suggest ed i n 5. 5. 1 ( a) i s wel l sui t ed t o
t hi s purpose. Each st udent mav be asked t o rvri t e a comprehensi ve descri pt i on
of t he propert y he wi shes t o sel l . rvhi ch i s t hen si ven t o ot her st udent s.
pref erabl y rvorki ng i n pai rs or smal l sroups, t o
' edi t '
i n such a way t hat t he
descri pt i on f i t s i nt o a gi ven amount of space f or t he purpose of advert i si ng.
Si mi l arl y t he st udent s mav
be gi ven, or asked t o wri t e.
' art i cl es'
of di f f erent ki nds such
as news report s, soci al event s,
book and f i l m revi ews. l et t ers
t o t he edi t or . et c. , f or whi ch t he
l engt h i s not speci f i ed. A
sel ect i on of t hese i s gi ven t o
each group of st udent s,
t oget her wi t h t he l ayout f or t he
page of a newspaper as shown
i n t he di agram. Thei r t ask i s t o
f i t t hese pi eces of wr i t i ng ont o
t he page. Thev have, t heref ore.
t o consi der bot h where t o pl ace
t hei r art i cl es, rvi t hi n t he l i mi t s
l ai d down, and t o modi f y t hem
as necessary, whi ch mi ght
i nvol ve ei t her expansi on or
r educt i on.
R4@
&e@sprnqNumber
77
TEACHI NG WRI TI NG SKI LLS
Di scussi on
Exercises
References
Through act i i , i t i es al ong t hese l i nes (and ai so wi t hi n t he broader cont ext of
si mul at i ons, see 8. 4). t he ski l l of summari si ng may be pract i sed and devel oped
i n a real i sti c way. The requi rements of exami nati ons may demand that thi s ski l l
shoul d be used i n a much more l i mi t ed way. such as maki ng summari es i n t he
tradi ti onal sense, for rvhi ch the purpose mav not be at al l apparent, but these
need not be al l owed t o di st ort t he rvay we t each and pract i se t hi s ski l l i n t he
cl assroom.
1 Make a l i st of the thi ngs you use note-taki ng and summari si ng for' Arrange
these under two headi n gs:
frequent
and occasi onal . Compare your l i st wi th a
f ri end.
2 From your readi n g of.6.3.2. do you agree that summary wri ti ng i s an
i mportant and val uabl e acti vi tY?
3 How effecti ve do
1' ou
thi nk the fi nal acti vi ty i n 6.3.2 woul d be for teachi ng
summary wri ti ng?
1 Exami ne any t ext book at an appropri at e l evel t o see what at t empt i s made t o
pract i se not e-t aki ng and summary wri t i ng. Are t he act i vi t i es wel l present ed?
2 Do t he exerci se i n 6 . 2. 1 .
3 Make not es on t he t ext i n 6. 2. 1, usi ng t he di agr am model shown i n 6. 3. 1. Do
you thi nk i t i s more sui tabl e for thi s type of text than conventi onal forms of
note-taki ng?
4 Fi nd a sui tabl e pi cture and try out the Descri be and note i n 6.3.1 wi th some
fri ends. What di ffi cul ti es di d you have?
1 The texr on pageTl comes from R o' Nei l l : Fl i ght (Longman 1973).
2 Onnote-taki ng see JB Heaton i n S Hol den
(ed) (1977) Keep i t short and JB
Heat on (I 975) pages 18-28.
3 On summari si ng see M Donl ey (1975).
4 The i l l ustrati ve materi al on page 75 comes from M Pal mer and D Byrne
Tracki
(1983).
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7. 1
Some gener al
consi derat i ons
7 . T. T
Types of vi sual
mat eri al
Lt . 2
The use ancl abuse
of vi sual mat er i al
Contexts
for writing:
the use of visual material
At f i rst gl ance, vi sual mat eri ai of f ers an dt t ract i ve and st i mul at i ng f ramework
f or wri t i ng pract i ce. especi al l y i f some f orm of pi ct ure Sequence i s used, and f or
t hi s reason no doubt t he l earners general l y respond f avourabl y t o t asks whi ch
rel at e t o some ki nd of vi sual cont ext . On t he ot her hand, i f we consi der t he
kind of writing activity which often results from the use of visual material
-
narrat i ve and descri pt i ve
' composi t i on' wi t h
no speci f i c goal i n mi nd, except
that narrative tasks could be said to take the form of telling a story
-
it is clear
t hat vi sual mat eri al can easi l y l end i t sel f t o t he pract i ce of wri t i ng f or wri t i ng' s
sake. of a ki nd t hat has no communi cat i ve val ue and whi ch wi l l not cont ri but e
si gni f i cant l y t o t he devel opment of rvri t i ng ski l l s. Part of t he probl em at l east
seems t o be t he l evel at whi ch vi sual mat eri al i s general l y used: f or t he most
part , t hi s i s at a f ai rl y earl y st age of t he course, when' pi ct ure composi t i on'
wri t i ng i n part i cul ar t ends t o be accorded a speci al pl ace i n t he programme. As
rve have seen. vi sual mat eri al canbe appropri at el y used i n t he earl y st ages, t o
suppl ement ot her f orms of pract i ce. but what needs part i cul ar consi derat i on i s
i t s use at a more advanced l el ' el , where t he I earners need gui dance rat her t han
cont roi and where t he cont ext s i t of f ers can be more f ul l y expl oi t ed. The mai n
concern of this chapter will be to identify the kinds of writing activity which can
be deri ved f rom di f f erent t ypes of vi sual mat eri al at t he post -el ement ary l evei .
We may di vi de vi sual mat eri al i nt o t rvo mai n cat egori es:
(a) Pictorial: this category includes single pictures and picture sequences.
(b) Plans, maps, diagrams: diagrams include material such as graphs and
chart s (i . e. t hey cont ai nTSgl t res and perhaps a f ew i t ems, such as headi ngs,
i n words).
By i t s verv nat ure vi sual mat eri al provi des a much more open-ended
f ramel vork f or l anguage pract i ce t han t ext s. The vi sual cont ent does of course
cl et ermi ne t o some e. \ t ent t he l anguage rvhi ch can be used. part i cul arl y' i n t he
79
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l cxi cal ar ea. al t hough er en her c u' e r r r c not t i cd t o un\ i st : t of i t ent s. l n ot her
rcspecl s. horl ' eve r. \ \ e are f rec t t l expl oi t t he mat cri al as we u' i sh. I / i e speci al
edt,ontuge o.[ thi s i .s that ve con rtse the sente pi ecc o.f materi ul at di fferent l evel s
and al so
for
di .fferert t\ pes o.f x' ri ti rtg.
On t he ot her hand. t he verv f act t hat vi sual mat eri al i s open-ended has i t s
dangers. There i s t he ri sk t hat t he l earners u, i l l i nt erpret t he vi sual cont ent i n a
more sophi st i cat ed u' av t han t hei r prof i ci encl , ' i n t he l anguage permi t s. Thi s
mav i nvol ve some f orn of ment al t ransl at i on. l vhi ch i n t urn resul t s i n
i nappropri at e and i ncorrect expressi on. Even i f errors are not our mai n
concern, i t i s undesi rabl e t hat t hey shoul d resul t f rom t he l earners f ai l i ng t o
make f ul l and proper use of t he l anguage t het ' have acqui red: bot h oral and
u' ri t t en pract i ce must . as one of i t s goal s. ai m t o shorv t he l earners how t he, v can
express t hemsel r. ' es *' i t hi n t he l i mi t s of t he i anguage t hey know. Wri t i ng t asks.
t heref ore. have t o be rerv caref ul l l ' def i ned and t he l earners gi ven appropri at e
preparat i on f or t henl .
I f vi sual mat er i al i s used at t oo el ement an' a l evel . i t al so t ends t o
encourage et f orm of u ri t t en expressi on u' hi ch i s remot e f rom u' ri t i ng i n any real
sense. At best . i t mi ght be descri bed as a ki nd of comment ary on rvhat can be
seen i n t he pi ct ure. Thus. f or exampl e. t he l earners are i nvi t ed t o produce
sequences usi ng t he Present Cont i nuous. For exampl e John i s at t he bus st op.
He i s w,ai ti ng.for rhe bus. The bus i s cortti ng and John i s gcti ng to get on i t. Now
he i s getti ng on the bns. etc. Al though i t mi ght be argued that the l earners wi l l
get more sat i sf act i on f rom rvri t i ng sequences of t hi s ki nd rat her t han produci ng
si ngl e sent ences. t hi s t vpe of wri t i ng u' i l l not benef i t composi t i on ski l l s. On t he
cont rary, i t mi ght even t o some ext ent be harmf ul because i t al l ows t he l earners
t o bel i eve t hat t hel ' can u' ri t e u' i t hout t he use of appropri at e l i nki ng and
sequenci ng devi ces. I t i s. surel r' . much bet t er t o use al t ernat i ve f orms of
pract i ce (as suggest ed i n Chapt er 4) rat her t han t o encourage t hem t o wri t e i n a
u' av whi ch i s i nappropri at e t o t he rvri t t en f orm of t he l anguage.
Vi sual materi al cl earl v has great potenti al as an
4j d
to devel gpi ng wri ti ng ski l l s
and can provi de both contexts and sti mul ati on for a vari ety of acti vi ti es but,
unl ess i t i s properl -u- used, i t ma-v create more probl ems than i t sol ves. It i s
essent i al , t heref ore. t o do t he f ol l owi ng:
(a) Identify and de_fine an appropriate writing task which relates to the theme of
the vi sual materi al .
The st udent s mav of course be gi ven a choi ce or be asked t o work on
di f f erent but perhaps compl ement ary act i vi t i es. I t i s unl i kel y t hat t he
wri t i ng t ask u' i l l cal l f or anv f orm of st rai ght narrat i on or descri pt i on,
whi ch i s an aspect u' hi ch may be expl ored through oral preparati on for
wri t i ng. On t he cont rar! ' , t he wri t i ng t ask shoul d have a cl earl y def i ned
f orm (a l et t er. a report . et c. ), u' hi ch wi i l deal wi t h t he t heme f rom a
par t i cul ar angl e or r i er vPoi nt .
(b) Identi fy the l enguage whi ch the l earners wi l l need i n order to carrv out the
task.
As f ar as possi bl e. l anguage di f f i cul t i es shoul d be ant i ci pat ed at t he oral
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The rol e of the
teacher
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7. 3
The use of vi sual
mat er i al : some
exampl es
? a l
/ . J . 1
Usi ng a map t o
practise paragraph
construction
CONTEXTS FoR WRI TI NG: THE USE oF VI SUAL MATERI AL
preparat i on st age and f urt her expl ored, i f necessary, t hrough
suppl ement ary exerci ses. I n order t o do t hi s, i t wi l l general l y be necessary
act ual l y t o wri t e out a versi on of t he wri t i ng t ask t o see what l anguage
i t
ent ai l s.
(c) Decide how to prepare the learners
for
the writing task.
The cl assroom preparat i on
st age i s a del i cat e one. As was not ed i n
(b)
above, we want t o ensure t hat t he l earners have t he necessary l anguage
f or
t he t ask t hey are set . At t he same t i me, t he wri t i ng act i vi t y must neve; be
si mpl y a repl i ca of t he oral preparat i on, ot herwi se t here i s no chal l enge
i n
t he act i vi t v. I f t he wri t i ng t ask i nvol ves deal i ng wi t h t he t heme present ed
f rom a di f f erent angl e or vi ewpoi nt , t he probl em i s l argel y resol ved,
because the learners have to decide how to restructure and select from the
l anguage pract i sed at t he oral preparat i on st age.
This section contains some examples of how visual material may be exploited
at
the post-elementary level for different kinds of writing task.
The f ol l owi ng act i vi t y i s based on a si mpl e map l i ke t he one shown bel ow,
which may be drawn on the board or reproduced on a transparency for use on
bLUE. Rny
H ARf3OU R
N
E
V
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L
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N
T
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D
HAR
Bouq
STRT6T
FilG
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81
t he overhead proj ect or. I t has been f ouncl ef f ect i ve i n get t i ng t he st udent s t o
expl ore ways i n rvhi ch a paragraph can be organi sed. I n part i cul zt r. t hey have t o
consi der bot h t he necessar)' and possi bl e sequenci ng of cert ai n sent ences and
di f f erent ways of l i nki ng t hese sent ences.
Each st udent , or pai r of st udent s, i f t hey are asked t o work t oget her, i s
gi ven a card whi ch cont ai ns a pi ece of i nf ormat i on about t hree of t he pl aces
shown on t he map. Trvo exampl es of such cards are gi ven bel ow.
Thn fu,ul'dim'q
'/n
Hwrbourr llcad
beh'v<-e.rt CLryttral t?o-dd.
a4uL Ne++'
noa"d iS th.e rna/r/2,c,.t.
Tlu Libra,ry t4/c7s bttik
i44 1935.
ln, one 6fr
Pa/arce Ciz<r'mn'
rhw4 shou/
(//l
Thl marrkp't
Ls aPen
f^on'L
I a.t r"-
tt 2 p.m on
Th c suaerm,ardesf
s e// s a// ki'ryut/ s
6f
fu,e^,ce7/t
_ftth
The i nformati on wri tten on the cards i s obtai ned by
paragraph descri bi ng each of t hese pl aces. For exampl e,
market runs as f ol l ows:
breaking down a
t he descri pt i on of t he
Fred Ca;/t' Ls aLso
tf fh.e
Palarz Cune.m(z
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7. 3. 2
Vi sual sequences
for the production
of di al ogues
CONTEXTS FOR WRI TI NG: THE USE OF VI SUAL MATERI AL
The building in Harbour Road between Central Road and New Road is the
market , whi ch was bui l t i n 1875. I t sel l s f i sh, veget abl es and f rui t . I t used t o
sell meat, but that is now sold in the supermarket.
The market is open from
8 a. m. t o 2 p. m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fri days, and f rom 8 a. m. t o 5
p. m. on Sat urdays.
The information which appears on ten different cards is as follows:
1 The bui l di ng i n Harbour Road bet ween Cent ral Road and New Road i s t he
market .
2 The market was bui l t i n 1875.
3 The market sells fish.
4 The market sel l s veget abl es.
5 The market sel l s f rui t .
6 The market used t o sel l meat .
7 Meat i s now sol d i n t he supermarket .
8 The market is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
9 The market i s open f rom 8 a. m. t o 2 p. -. on weekdays'
10 The market i s open f rom 8 a. m. unt i l 5 p. m' on Sat urdays.
The students are then invited to identify a building which the teacher points to,
such as the market. Only one student is' able to do this and he therefore informs
the rest of the class. This statement is clearly the opening sentence of the
paragraph. Another piece of information which might relate to this is then
called for. Since the students do not know what is on one another' s cards,
several suggestions are likely to be made until it is agreed that the most suitable
piece of informationis: The market was built in 1875 . However, it cannot
foilow on from the first sentence in the form in which it appears on the card and
suggestions are invited as to how it should be linked to the preceding sentence.
This may be either with which, as in the original version, or with lr (that is to
say-. The buitding . . . is the market. It was built in 1875). It should be noted that
most of the statements on the cards have to be modified in some way.
And so t he const ruct i on of t he paragraph cont i nues. Not i ce t hat we are
not concerned to reconstruct the original text in its exact form. On the
cont rary, i t i s f ar more i mport ant t o get t he st udent s t o consi der accept abl e
alternatives. For example. the text might continue: The market sells
fsh.
It also
sells
fruit
ancl vegetabies or even: The market sells not only
fish
but also
fruit
and
vegetables.
The completed description of the first place may be written up on the
board. Af t er t hat , t he st udent s can be asked t o make not es whi l e t he act i vi t y i s
in progress and to write up the descriptions afterwards. They will find this
easi er t o do i f t hey are worki ng i n pai rs.
Visual sequences of the kind depicted on page 84, where the dialogue is
i mpl i ci t i nt he si t uat i ons, have t o be i nt erpret ed rat her t han descri bed. There
are t wo mai n ways i n whi ch t he di al ogue el ement may be' ext ract ed' :
6J
TEACHI NG WRI TI NG SKI L L S
( a) 1- he st Ll dent s l t l i t r be l i r st askecl t o sa\ uhi t l t hcV t hi l l k t he pi ct ur cs r t r c
about . For er anr pl e. i n Pi ct ur e A. t he \ \ onxl n. u' hom u' e u' i l l cal l Mr s Bl r l l .
wanrs some susar. (l Vl ry' does she need i t ?) She asks her husband t o go and
get i t . (What v' ords does she r. rse?) Perhaps at t he st art her husband i s
rel uct ant t o go. (l l ' f t r' ? Vl hat i s he doi ng?
)
So she has t o persuade hi m'
(What does . sl . t e sa1, ?) The st udent s are t hen i nvi t ed t o suggest vari ous
possi bi l i t i es f or e ach l i ne of di al ogue.
84
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CONTEXTS
FOR WRI TI NG: THE USE OF VI SUAL MATERI AL
(b) Al t ernat i vel y,
t he di al ogue may be cued by provi di ng t he f i rst l i ne of t he
exchange. I n t he exampi e bel orv, whi ch rel at es t o Pi ct ures A and B, t he
t eacher t akes t he part of Mrs Bal l . and t he st udent s
gi ve her husband' s
responses.
r: Wi l l you go t o t he grocer' s and get some sugar, pl ease?
s:
(But I ' m wat chi ng a f oot bal l mat ch on TV' )
r : Wel l , i f you don' t go, I can' t make a cake'
s: ( Oh, i n t hat case' I ' l l gol )
r : Now. I needsomeot h; r t hi ngsaswel l
. . . sal t , cof f ee. . ' Her e' sal i st '
s:
( I don' t need a l i st ! )
The st udent s may be asked t o suggest several al t ernat i ves f or bot h
speaker s.
For examPl e:
MRS B: I need some sugar. Can you go and get me some?
MR B: Now? I was
i ust
readi ng t he paper'
Or :
MRS B: Woul d, vou mi nd goi ng t o t he grocer' s f or me?
IuR B: What do
You
want?
MRS B: Wel l , l ' ve r un out of sugar ' ' '
Nt R B: I ' l l go t hi s af t ernoon. I ' ve got t o go i nt o t own'
IVIRS B: Yes, but . . .
Thus, when t he st udent s come t o wri t e up t hei r di al ogues, t hey can sel ect
from the different suggestions
that have been given or produce similar ones
f or t hemsel ves'
The next t hree pi ct ures may be si mi l arl y expl oi t ed
t o produce, f or
exampl e, a short conversat i on about gardeni ng and t he weat her (c)' Mr
Ball ordering the things he rvants from the grocer
-
but forgetting the
sugar (D) and a conversation about the news (E). Picture F involves
asling' for and giving directions and is therefore an important picture which
shoul d be expl Ji t edl n
dept h (see bel ow). Fi nal l y, i n G and H. we have t he
conversation
betrveen N{is Ball. rvho is angry because her husband has
t aken such a l ong t i me. and her husband, who t ri es t o make excuses
-
onl y t o f i nd t hat he has f orgot t en t he sugarl
For Pi ct ure F, i t i s suggest ed t hat one or more model di al ogues shoul d
f i rst be bui l t up wi t h t he hel p of t he cl ass, t o pract i se l anguage rel evant
t o
aski ng f or and gi vi ng di rect i ons. For exampl e, we mi ght st art wi t h a very
si mpl e di al ogue:
NI AN: Excuse me. Can you t el l me t he way t o t he st at i on?
rvrR s: Yes. Cross ou. r t h. road. go as f ar as t he nervsagent ' s and t hen t urn
l ef t .
MAN: I s i t a l ong wa, v?
. rrcx: Oh, about hal f a mi l e'
The purpose of produci ng t hese di al ogues, i t shoul d be emphasi sed,
i s t o
rehearse t he t ari guage rvhi ch t he st udent s wi l l need f or t hei r rvri t i ng t ask'
When t hey comJ t o o' ri t e up t hei r di al ogues, t hey shoul d be encouraged
t o
pr oduce
ver v di f f er ent
ver si ons'
The di al ogues $' ri t t en about i ncl i vi dual pi ct ures i n t he sequence
maY
85
I L A U H I N ( J WI { I I I I \ b S K I L L J
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7 . 3. 3
Ot her uses f or
vi sual sequences
be f urt her el aborat ed t o f orm a short pl ay, di vi ded i nt o scenes and wi t h
appropri at e
' st age
di rect i ons' . Thi s i s best done as group work. The
exampl e bel ou' shows t hat t hi s can be done i n f ai rl y si mpl e l anguage:
Scene I Mrs Bal l i s cooki ng i n the ki tchen. She.fi nds that she does not have
any sugar.
rrrns n (cal i l ng her husband): Jackt.
There i s no artsv' er.
MRS B: JACKI
MRB (comi ng i nt o t he ki t chen): Yes. What i s i t ?
MRS B: Oh ! I ' r' e run out of sucar. Coul d
)' ou
go t o t he shop and get me
some?
MR B: But I u ant ed t o ( et c.
)
What ever t he f i nal out come i n rvri t i ng, you can use vi sual sequences l i ke t he
one i n I . 3. 2 and t he short er one bel ow f or a range of oral act i vi t i es bot h t o
prepare f or u, ri t t en u' ork and t o i nvol ve t he st udent s i n t he mat eri al (u' hi ch we
must never assume tobe i ntri nsi cal l y moti vati ng, however attracti ve i t may
appear t o be). For exampl e:
-
specul at i on: Get t he st udent s t o gi ve t hei r own i deas about t he peopl e and
t he set t i ng ( who t hey ar e; wher e t hey ar e, et c. ) . See 4. 6 ( i ) .
-
rol epl al , and dramati sati on' . Get the students to work out how they woul d
present peopl e shown i n the pi ctures and how they woul d act out some or
al l of the sequence . (See bel ow for rel ated wri ti ng acti vi ti es.
)
-
di scussi on: N{ost pi cture sets wi l l sti mul ate some ki nd of di scussi on. For
exampl e. husband-wi fe rel ati onshi ps for 7 .3.2 and monsters for the set
bel ow.
*\'?
-;z'((').$i
Some key wri t i ng act i vi t i es wi l l be:
-
notes: The students shoul d make a note of anv i mportant i deas whi ch come
up duri ng oral u' ork.
-
di arl , enui es: The students wri te up an account of what happened from the
vi ewpoi nt of one of t he peopl e i n t he sequence. Not i ce t hat t hi s i nvol ves
sel ect i ve report i ng. For t he sequence above, don' t f orget t he di ary of t he
monst erl
-
rol e descri pti ons: The students wri te rol ecards for one another i f they are
goi ng t o act out t he sequence. See 4. 6 (t ) and 5. 6 (d). They can al so wri t e
scenar i os ( see 5. 6 ( e) ) .
-
l etter wri ri ng: Si mi l ar to the previ ous acti vi ty. Agai n the acti vi ty wi l l i nvol ve
sel ect i ve report i ng
-
and. i f you do not wi sh t o bore t he person you are
wri t i ng t o
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real i st i c summari si ng!
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coNTEXTS FoR WRI TI NG: THE USE oF VI SUAL
MATERI AL
-
report s
(art i cl es,
et c.
): Thi s
wi l l depend on t he cont ent of t he sequence.
The
st udent s coul d wri t e one f or t he one above. For exampl e: rur, I , ToNSTER
l HAr cAME ro LUNCHI Report wri t i ng i s di scussed i n det ai l i n 7. 3. 5.
None of t hi s precl udes more basi c oral work (quest i on and answer, t rue-f al se
st at ement s, et c. ) and more basi c wri t t en work (sent ence l i nki ng, paragraph
compl et i on), whi ch may be necessary wi t h cert ai n cl asses.
Much wi l l depend on t he f orm i n whi ch t hi s i s avai l abl e (book, di spl ay chart ,
t ransparency), and al so how much you want t he st udent s t hemsel ves t o
cont ri but e i deas. Wherever possi bl e, unl ess you want t o gi ve t hem t he t ask of
exact description (which can be a challenging activity if it is presented in the
ri ght way), you shoul d wel come rhe opport uni t y of get t i ng t he st udent s t o
cont ri but e i deas. They are cert ai nl y l i kel y t o enj oy i t more t han i f t hey are
al l owed t o descri be onl y what t hey can see.
Here are some ways of presenting a four-picture sequence so as to
st i mul at e t he st udent s' i magi nat i ons:
7 . 3. 4
Techniques for
present i ng vi sual
sequences
7 . 3. 5
Usi ng vi sual
mat eri al f or report
writing
(a) Show the
first
and last picture.
The students
fill
in what
happened in between.
(b) Show the middle two picrures.
The students supply the
beginning and the end.
(c) Show the last picture only. The
stLtdents decide what happened
before.
(d) Show the
first
picrure on[y. The
students decide what happened
after that.
trtrtrtr
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I f f or any reason you cannot use i ncompl et e sequences, you can ask t he
students lo contintte the story.
For t he use of
j umbl ed
sequences. see 7. 3. 8 ( h) .
The picture on page 88 could of course be used for a variety of writing
act i vi t i es. I t coul d be expl oi t ed f or t he product i on of di al ogues, such as one
bet ween t he t wo cycl i st s or bet rveen t he l orry-dri ver and t he mot or-cycl i st i f an
acci dent i s narrowl y avert ed, or f or l et t er-wri t i ng. For exampl e, an, r' of t hose
i nvol ved i n t he i nci dent mi ght rvri t e a l et t er about i t at some subsequent dat e.
Report wri t i ng has been chosen t o demonst rat e t hat , i f vi sual mat eri al i s used
at t he post -el ement ary l evel , i t has
_ereat
pot ent i al f or f ormal rvri t i ng t asks.
A si ngl e pi ct ure has been chosen f or t hi s purpose t o shorv t hat , properl y
expl oi t ed. i t can be
j ust
as ef f ect i ve i n provi di ng a cont ext f or t hi s t ype of
rvri t i ng act i vi t y as pi ct ure sequences. I n f act , t here i s even some advant age i n
usi ng a si ngl e pi ct ur e. because i t i s mor e open- ended: t he out come. an acci dent
87
I T A U H I N U WH I I I N ( l 5 I \ I L L S
or [ I near aCci dent . i s not acl ual l vr / l r t l l t and \ \ ' c can t hcr ef ( ) r e cl cci dc l i r r
our sel ves u' hat f or m i t nr i cht t ake.
On the assumpti on that an acci dent di d take pl ace, u' e mi ght set as a
u' ri t i ng t ask a newspaper report of some ki nd. Ot her possi bi l i t i es are report s
made by the l orry-dri ver (for exampl e, i n connecti on wi th an i nsurance cl ai m)
or by a pol i ceman i nvesti gati ng the acci dent. For thi s, the events we can actual l y
see i n the pi cture
-
a l orry approachi ng a sharp bend i n the road, two cycl i sts
t al ki ng as t he-V overt ake t he l orry and t wo men on a mot or-cycl e. whose
at t ent i on i s di st ract ed bv a pl ane t hat i s l andi ng. comi ng i n t he opposi t e
di rect i on
-
are l i kel v t o be ref erred t o i n some way i n t he report but not
necessari l y i n t hei r chronol ogi cal order. At t he oral preparat i on st age.
t heref ore. we can get t he st udent s t o descri be t hese event s wi t hout any ri sk of
prej udi ci ng t he wri t i ng t ask.
Our cl assroom present at i on shoul d al so ai m t o arouse t he i nt erest of t he
st udent s i n t he t heme and at t he same t i me t o hel p t hem wi t h some of t he
l anguage t hey wi i l need i n t he report . We mi ght begi n. f or exampl e, rvi t hout
necessari l y ref erri ng t o t he pi ct ure at al l . bi r di scussi ng some of t he t hi ngs t hat
cause acci dent s. These can be l i st ed on t he board:
Causes of acci dents
-
fast dri vi ng
-
carel ess dri vi ng
(f or exampl e: . . . .
-
mechani cal def ect s
-
weat her condi t i ons
-
pedest ri ans
Exampl es of t he l anguage used t o descri be road acci dent s can be gi ven or
el i ci t ed.
Features of acci dents
-
vehi cl es col l i de/ get damaged/ run peopl e over/ knock peopl e down
-
peopl e get ki l l cd/ i nj ured, / t aken t o hospi t al . et c.
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Usi ng
di agrammat i c
mat eri al s
CONTEXTS
FOR WRI TI NG: THE USE OF VI SUAL MATERI AL
Wecant henr el at et hesei t emst owhat i sshowni nt hepi ct ur eanddeci dewhi ch
ones appl y, or mi ght appl y cl ependi ng. on
t he out come
of t hese event s' I t i s at
t hi s poi nt t hat we . un
i . ,
i t . . t o. t t o deci de,
af t er consi deri ng
several
suggest i ons,
what act ual l y
happened'
I f t he st uden, ,
n. "o i urt t t . r hel p wi t h wri t i ng report s
of t hi s ki nd, t hen we
canwor kout ont heboar dwi t ht hemoneaccol nt of t heacci dent andaskt hem
t ousedi f f er ent f act si nt hei r ver si on. For exampl e, wemi ght begi nbydeci di ng
onasui t abl eheadl i neandshowi ngt hat t hi si sf ol l owedbyani mpor t ant pi ece
of i nf ormat i on.
CYCLIST
KILLED
ON AIRPORT
ROAD
onecycl i st waski l l edandanot her badl yi nj ur edw. hent heycol l i dedwi t ha
motor
cycle on the road to Winton Airport
yesterday afternoon'
We can then show that at this point we would probably use information
provi ded
by t he pi ct ure' For exampl e:
. . . The collision occurred
near a sharp bend in the road about two
mi l esf r omt heai r por t . Accor di ngt ot hedr i ver of t hel or r y, whi chwas
travelling
towards
the airport at the time' the two cyclists ' ' '
I nt hever si onwhi cht hest udent sar easkedt owr i t e, t heout comeof t he
pi ct ure mi ght be t hat t he dri ver of t he l ot ry hi t s t he t ree, and i s ki i l ed or badl y
i nj ured.
t hrough
t ryi ng t o avoi d t he mot oi -cycl i st s.
Thi s wi l l st i l l al l ow t he
st udent s
t o use some of t he l anguage
of t he rehearsed
versi on, but at t he same
time they will have io make quite slgnificant
changes.
In this way' none of the
chal l enge
of t he wri t i ng act i vi t y i s l ost '
we have al ready
seen how maps can be used f or cont rol l ed
and gui ded wri t i ng
( seea. 3( b) and5. 3( d) ) . r vhi l eear l i er i nt hi schapt er ( 7. 3. 1) amapwasusedt o
gu' o. pur agr uphor gani sat i on. . TheSamemat er i al canbeusedat al at er st age
f or f reer
wri t i ng act l vi t i es.
such as rvri t i ng a l et t er t o advi se someone
how t o get
t o your house o, *t r". . t o meet , vou
i n t own. These, t oget her
wi t h graphs l i ke
t heonebel ow( seeExer ci ses, Pageg; 1) pl ansof r oomsandbui l di ngsandbus
and train timetables
can be ur.d fo. a variety of activities
which will encourage
st udent s
t o wri t e preci sel t , . For exampl e,
t here may be more t han one rvay of
descr i bi ngar oomor advi si ngar out e- but at l east i t wi l l becl ear i f t he
st udent s
have got t he i nf ormat i on
across'
t he st ucl ent s
rvi l l ncccl f or cert ai n
f ormal
npes
of
-
i nvol ve i n part i cul rt r
t t re use of f unct i ons
n' pi cal
of
89
N, l uch of t he l anguaee
n hi ch
r vr i t i ng.
such as r ePt l r t s'
ui l l
r \ ND ENl PLOYI " ' i E, NT
FOR STAN- | ON
GREEN
l ocl r l l r cnl l l l or ccl
c() nl l l l Lt t c r\
r et i r et l
r.rrtc ntpl Iovccl
POPULATI ON
K-^\ i
ary;
t gt i I 198
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I t r AUn l l \ u v v n r I l r \ u o ^ r L L J
t he u' ri t t ert l anguage. such as del t ni l t g. cort ' l pari ng and cont rast i nq.
exempl i f yi ng (et c. ). The pract i ce of t hese (see 9. 2) can hel p t o gi ve a new sl ant
t o t he programme and enabl e us t o cover ol d ground i n a new way. Vi sual
mat eri al i n t he f orm of pl ans and di agran-rs can be very usef ul f or t hi s purpose.
The exampl e bel ou' shows how t he di agrammat i c represent at i on of a t own
can be used t o i nt roduce some of t he l anguage needed f or wri t i ng a t ext whi ch
i nvol ves t he syst emat i c cl assi f i cat i on of dat a and al so t o st ruct ure a paral l el
wri t i ng t ask f or t he st udent s t o carry out .
*
The di asram bel ow shows t he st ruct ure of a t own cal l ed Brunt on.
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Wi t h t he hel p of t he di agram we can el i ci t f rom t he
st udent s t he t hree mai n areas i nt o whi ch t he t own i s di vi ded
and u' here t hey l i e i n rel at i on t o one anot her. Thi s mai ' be
done bv aski ng quest i ons. For exampl e: How many part s does
the tov,n
fall
into? What are they? Where are they? With the
hel p of t hi s i nf ormat i on $' e can gi ve a general descri pt i on of
Brunt on i n our openi ng paragraph. Some key l anguage i s
i ndi cat ed i n i t al i cs.
Brunt on/ al l s i nt o t hree mai n part s: t he i ndust ri al est at e.
the residen ttal area . and the commercial sector . The
residential area lies betw,een the industrial estate on the north
side of. the town and the commercial sector on the south.
f-
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As a next st ep. \ \ ' e mi ght show t he st udent s how one part of t he t own may
be systematicail,v described. For exampie, the residential area. This is partly
structured through the diagram, but the students are also invited to make some
suggest i ons f or t hemsel ves. Agai n usi ng appropri at e quest i ons, we can bui i d up
a description as follows:
The residential area consists of. a
housing estate and a park. The
former
is
made up of two main t,vpes of buildings:
detached houses and biocks of.flats. The
latter has some excellent facilities.
These include a footbali ground, a
swimming pool. a tennis court and a
chi l dren' s pl ayground.
fownerciaL
tect2r
lwdustrial
fstate
*Thi s
does not cover al l t he l anguage needed f or *' ri t i ng t ext s u, here t he mai n f unct i on i s one of
cl assi f i cat i on. Some i t ems can be more ef f ect i vel y present ed and pract i sed t hrough t ext ual model s.
For a mor e compl et e uni t . see 9. 2. 1.
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CONTEXTS FOR WRI TI NG: THE USE OF VI SUAL MATERI AL
The st udent s now have t he key l anguage needed t o descri be t he t rvo
remai ni ng part s of t he t own al ong t he same l i nes. Agai n t hey can cont ri but e t o
t he t ext by suggest i ng, f or exampl e, t he mai n t ypes of i ndust ri es. shops and
offices to be found in these two areas.
For t hei r paral l el wri t i ng t ask. t he st udent s are gi ven a di agram of a t own
with a different structure as shown in the second diagram on page 90.
The students may also be given an outline for the beginning of their
report , t oget her wi t h a remi nder of t he key l anguage i t ems whi ch may be used,
al ong t he f ol l owi ng l i nes:
Title
Para I
Town + relative positions
Relevant language
fallsiis divided into, lies between. on the (west) side of
- 4 1
t . J . t
Ot her usef ul vi sual
mat eri al s f or
writing activities
Para 2
Residential area --f-
L-
Housing estate --l-
L-
:
t ypes of bui l di ng
:
facilities Park
E -------t:
Relevant language
consists of, includes, the former/latter
(a) Ads: These must occupy a speci al pl ace f or a number of reasons:
-
t here i s a wi de vari et y of t hem;
-
t hey are wi del y (and f reel y) avai l abl e:
-
st udent s respond t o t hem.
If you are collecting or making ads, cover key areas such as
jobs,
accommodat i on, t hi ngs f or sal e. hol i days, l anguage school s. f ood, cars and
cl ot hes
-
but al so i ncl ude i n your col l ect i on any ads t hat are part i cul arl y
st ri ki ng and memorabl e.
Wiiting activities rvill normally involve some roleplay such as writing
for more information (e.-e. in connection with holiday accommodation)
maki ng an appl i cat i on (e. g. f or a
j ob
or f or a pl ace i n a school );
wri t i ng
l et t ers of compl ai nt (e . g about f ood ads) ,
et c.
(b) Programmes. . For exampl e. f or ci nemaS, t heat res, f est i val s, TV and radi o
(see
+. 0
(d), where t he st udent s made t hei r own). These can be used f or
pl anni ng act i vi t i es rvhi ch i nvol ve maki ng not es or wri t i ng short report s'
or
f or rvri t i ng l et t ers (e. g. suggest i ng t he programme f or a dav out )'
9I
TEACHI NG
WNI TI NG SKI LLS
/ . J . 6
Wri t i ng f or f un
( c) X4enus: These ar e nr ai nl v usef ul f or or al i nt er act i on i - r ut can bc used t o
st i mul at e a u' ri t i ng act i vi t r . such as descri bi ng a verv good n-real vou have
had. whi ch has a nat ur al bui l t - i n sequence.
Vi sual mat eri al has been used f or a number of
' f un'
wri t i ng act i vi t i es i n earl i er
chapt ers. See, f or exampl e. 4. 6 (d) TV/ radi o programmes: 4. 6 (f ) rol ecard
pi ct ures: 4. 6 (i ) pi ct ures f or i nt erpret at i on and specul at i on (an act i vi t y whi ch i s
especi al l y val uabl e as st udent s make progress wi t h t hei r wri t i ng); 5. 6 (h) j i gsaw
wri t i ng and 5. 5 (i ) i nst ruct i ons f or drawi ne a pi ct ure or a map.
Some ot her act i vi t i es are suggest ed be l orv. The f i rst t hree i nvoi ve t he use
of smal l pi ct ure cuecards (usual l y showi ng a si ngl e obj ect such as a pi ece of
f ur ni t ur e, an i t em of cl ot hi ng. an ani mai . et c. ) .
(a) Picture linking
The st udent s. u' orki ng i n eroups. are gi ven (or are al l owed t o choose f rom
a l arger number) t hree t o f our pi ct ures. around u' hi ch t hey have t o make
up a st ory. The obj ect s shoul d not have any obvi ous connect i on. so t he
st udent s are encouraeed t o be i maei nal i l ' g
-
and even absurdl
(b) Losr and
f ound
Each st udent i s gi ven t rvo cards
( e. g. a dog and a pai r of shoes)
and uses one of t hese t o rvri t e a
not i ce about somet hi ng he has
l ost and t he ot her t o \ \ ' ri t e a
not i ce about somet hi n-e he has
f ound. The cards are t hen
redi st ri but ed and t he not i ces
read out . The st udent s respond
by sayi ng' That ' s mi ne! ' or ' I ' ve
got i t ! '
(c) Desert Island messoges
After the students have played
t he Desert I sl and game (t hat i s.
when t hey i magi ne t hey are
marooned on an i sl and and have
t o deci de hou t her ui l t use
( 3)
obj ect s such as a hammer. cl ock.
mi rror), t hey can be asked t o
wr i t e messages t o put i nt o a
bot t l e and t hrow i nt o t he sea.
They can also be asked to write
t hei r di ary f or part of t he t i me
t hey are on t he i sl and.
(d) How much can yoLt remember?
Each group of st udent s i s gi ven a pi ct ure, whi ch t hey l ook at f or about a
mi nut e. They t hen t urn t he pi ct ure over and. worki ng i ndi vi dual l y, wri t e
down as manv t hi ngs as t hey can remember about t he pi ct ure. They t hen
TO THE PET'O^/ WHO flND,M$!
Please tulL my
fa-twiLy
I
a'rru Safe
,
well
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t ' t t t
hof f y/
/ d. ort T wanr
tc, bi res
/05T Ow srnallwhik doq.
Its nant k l4aggte.
WAftlVINC /t'barhs a lot
anC
bLrcs I
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CONTEXTS FOR WRI TI NG: THE USE OF VI SUAL MATERI AL
( e)
(f )
use these notes to work together to build up a complete description of the
fi.tur"
(orally or in writing;, *iti.t they compare
with the actual picture'
Who is it?
Eachgr oupi sgi venapi ct ur eof af amousper son( or pl ace) andhast owr i t e
a prec;se description of it. ttr. descriptions
are then passed round the
other groups. who try to identify the people
(or places)'
Life story
Each group is given a picture of a face (not anyone known)
and has to
make"up
the liie story;f the person (e' g' who (he) is; what.(he) does for a
living; tt lng, that have happened to (him)) ' The students should of course
aim io be as imaginative
as possible'
(g) Cartoons
The students
work in pairs or gloups to write captions or speech bubbles
for cartoons or other suitable
pictures'
(h) Jigsaw stories
Gi veeachgr oupacut uppi ct ur ecomposi t i onsequence( see7. 3. 4) , sot hat
each student or pair of ,iuo.nt, in thegroup
has one.picture.
Each student
or pair then wriies down what their picture shows. The students then put
away their pictures and use their noies to try to work out what the
complete sequence
is about by exchanging
information'
(i ) Ads
Gi veeachgr oupof st udent sapi ct ur eshowi ng, f or exampl e' acar or a
hot el andaskt hemt owr i t eanexagger at edadver t i sement f or i t .
( i ) Post car ds
^- + ^ ^^. i ^^ . A
( aqAr
r cut f r om a
Give each student a postcard
(made by pasting a plctur(
magazine or travel biochure onto a piece of card) and ask them to send a
message ro someone else in the clasi (this may include you!). They may do
this aslhemselves
or in the role of a famous person (e.g. singer, actor,
pol i t i ci an . . . ).
I What are some of the advantages
and disadvantages
of using visual material
as a framework
for writing practice?
2 Doyou agree that. on the"wtrote,
it is better to use visual material
at the post-
el ement arY
l evel ? Gi ve reasons'
1 Most
,picture
composition'
material available
in published
form is intended
for use at a fairly .i.,n.nr"ry
level. Examine
any set of material
of your own
choosi ngandseewhet her i t coul dbesuccessf ul l yexpl oi t edat amor e
advanced
l evel .
2 With reference
to the activity described
inl.3' 1, write a description,
similar
to the one of the market. of another
place (for example,
the supermarket
or
the Palace cinema) and then divide up the text into statements
which can be
si t ed on t he st udent s' cards
(as shown on page 82)'
93
Di scussi on
Exercises
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
References
I dent i f y some rvri t i ng t asks u' hi ch coul d be set on t he f ol l owi ng pt ct ure
composi t i t -rn sequence. These shoul d be i n t he f orm of di al ogues. l et t ers or
report s. Suggest t he ki nd of preparat i on t hat mi ght be needed f or any one of
t hese t asks.
5
6
Select any piece of visual material and show how it could be used for a report
wri t i ng act i vi t y al ong t he l i nes suggest ed i n 7. 3. 5.
Suggest some uses f or t he graph i n7. 3. 6'
Work with a friend and try out one or more of the activities in 7.3.8. Can you
suggest other activities along these lines?
For examples of visual material for writing activities, see JB Heaton (i966);
D Byrne (I 967); JB Heat on (1975); C Fl emi ng (1975); R Ri dout (1975);
D Byrne (1976); LA Hi l l (1978); L Markst ei n and D Grunbaum (1981);
JB Heat on ( 1986) ; D Byr ne ( i 988) .
Other composition books that contain useful visual material are: T Hedge
(1983a, 1983b and 1985); R Kni ght (1986); A Pi ncas (1982b and 1982c)
L Woods
(1986).
For techniques for exploiting picture composition material imaginatively see
D Byrne (1987) Picture Composition: A Fresh Look.
The picture in7.3.5 is from JB Heaton Beginning Composition through
Pictures (Longman I975); the picture sequence in 7.3' 3 is from M Palmer
and D Byrne Track3 (Longman 1983) and in Exercise 3 from G Fleming
Guided Composition
(Hodder and Stoughton 1975).
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8. 1
The i mport ance
of i nt egrat i ng
ski l l s
lntegrated skills
The need to integrate skills in language learning has alreadv been stressed and
in many respects this is not a new feature of the writing programme. In fact,
many of the communication activities and
' fun'
writing activities in Chapters 4
and 5 integrated talking and writing (and sometimes reading) in a natural way.
See
,
f or exampl e, quest i onnai res and qui zzes i n 4 . 6 (a) and (b)
,
rol epl ay
act i vi t i es i n 5. 5. 1; scenar i o wr i t i ng i n 5. 6 ( e) ; j umbl ed st or i es i n 5. 6 ( g) and
writing instructions for pictures and maps in 5.6 (i). The key factor with many
activities is how you get the students to work: pair and group work offer many
more opport uni t i es f or i nt egrat i ng ski l l s, as t he si mpl e anal ysi s bel ow shows.
The act i vi t y i s drawi ng a pi ct ure or a map.
I NDI VI DUAL WORK
Ss ct r t t t par e pi ct ur cs (
:
t l l k)
PAI R/ GROUP WORK
Ss compar e pi ct ur e s
I f , t heref ore, you want t o i ncrease t he amount of ski l l i nt egrat i on i n vour
dai l y
t eachi ng
-
and t hi s i s wort hrvhi l e because i t al l ows t he l earners t o ase l anguage
rrat ural l , v. not j ust prac' t i se i t (not i ce horv i n manv of t he ri ct i vi t i es l aneuage i s
S I cl rarvs and rv' ri t es
S I exchances i nst r uct i ons t vi t h
S2
rcads and drarvs
Ss t al k. dr ar v and r vr i t e
Ss exchanqe i nst r uct i ons r vi t h
ancl t her
gr oup
Ss r eacl , t al k and dr au
95
TEACHI NG WRI TI NG SKI LLS
8. 2
Proj ect work
8. 2. 1
Organising a
project
used t o get sornct l t i ng drnt e)
--
I nake sure
You
use pai r and group work f or
r cadi ng and u r i t i r t s act i \ i t i es.
For manv cl asses t hi s mav be enough. At t he i nt ermedi at e l evel . however,
vou rvi l l probabl v \ \ ' ant t o i ncrease t he amount of f l ue r-rcy rvork you do wi t h
your st udent s and t hree rval ' s i n whi ch you can do t hi s t hrough i nt egrat ed ski l l s
act i vi t i es are di scussed bel ou' .
Proj ect work cannot be neat l v def i ned because i t t akes so many f orms. I t
usual l y i nvol ves some research (t hrough i nt ervi ewi ng and readi ng) I i t of t en
i nvol ves goi ng out of t he cl assroom (al t hough t hi s i s not essent i al ) and i t al most
al ways i nvol ves di scussi on.
The process
-
carrying out the project
-
is clearlv important because of
t he act i vi t i es t he st udent s have t o undert ake; but equal l v t he producl
-
some
ki nd of document
-
u' i l l
qi ve
t hem a great deal of sat i sf act i on. Wri t i ng may
t ake pl ace at bot h st ages: al ong t he u, a. v (f i l l i ng i n quest i onnai res, maki ng
not es) and at t he f i nal st age \ \ ' hen wri t i ng up t he prol ect . (For our purpose we
woul d avoi d one t hat resul t ed. f or exampl e. i n drawi ng pl ans or maps, t hough
t hi s coul d be a l egi t i mat e proj ect i n i t sel f . )
I n t he l anguage cl assroom i t i s i mport ant t hat proj ect work shoul d gi ve t he
st udent s opport uni t i es f or l anguage use and devel opment . At t he same t i me i t
wi l l hel p t hem on a broader educat i onal f ront t o devel op:
-
communi cat i on ski l l s: when i nt ervi ewi ng and report i ng back;
-
research ski l l s: when readi ngl
-
soci al ski l l s: u' hen di scussi ng, col l aborat i ng.
Somet i mes f or proj ect u' ork t he st udent s wi l l have t o use t he mot her t ongue
(e. g. when t al ki ng and readi ng), but t he out come i n wri t i ng wi l l al ways be i n
Engl i sh.
Although this is largely a matter of common sense (since there are no
' rules'
for
something that does not have a set form), projects have to be carefully planrred
and sustained. The teacher' s role is crucial especially in presenting the project
and involving the students in it, and in ensuring that it does not break down.
You mav l i ke t o f ol i ow t hese st ages:
PRES ENTATI ON AS. D DI SCUSSI ON
PRELI } 1] \ , , \ RY AC' i l \ ' I TI ES AND DI SCUSSI ON
PROCESSi NG OF MATER] ALS
ACTI VI I I ES
PRODUCTI ON
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INTEGRATED SKILLS
one of the things you may have to do with the students
at the start is to show
t hest udent showt o. op" nup' at opi c' Onewayi st oget t hemt omakeachar t
si ml ar
t o t he on. ur. d f or not e-t aki ng i n 6. 3. 1,
whi ch wi l l i nvol ve t al ki ng and
*riting. For example,
if the topic for ihe project is Food, a chart might look
l i ke t hi s:
tlleats and
tiws
-
Ot0rt C01,1,/trry
\
-
n;a;r,
utA
,iLt
l, -rifarolns
f ale a,n'/. /'ts hibulton'
Sodal
a'tPe([s
-
part+es
-
CLLSttTrts
'dryitrt'k-
Ch*,Ygt
=-sh,rpt
-
od,rfuislng
-Stnal,/slwPs rs.
fupenn'atrkots
. sfrelt mat*.ets
At the presentation
stage, it should be enough to establish some main aspects
and then divide the students into groups to discuss and develop them' The
grorrp, may work on all aspects simultaneously
or on one particular aspect
onl y. I nei t her casenot e- t ut l ngwi l l bei nvol ved( per hapst oget her wi t hsome
initial reading).
At this point the Scope of the project should be agreed: for
example,
it could ue decided to limit or extend its scope. This may depend on
research
opportunities
(opportunities
for going.out of the classroom,
available
readingn1ut.riul,
etc.) oriimply
the interests of the students.
when this has been agreed and the work distributed
among the groups' .
the student,
.un U.gin *oit on the main activities.
If this involves interviewing'
(for example,
about eating habits, attitudes, social behaviour),
questionnaires
will have to be devised, arid this involves
precise writing' If these involve
readi ng
(as some . *^i "f y
wi l l , whet her i n Engl i sh or t he mot her t ongue)'
t he
students
must be prepared to summarlse
and re-present
what they have read'
;";il
also tranilating
from the mother tongue into English'
At some point thelroups
will have to report back o-n their research
to date
and also to agree what tieir frnal product wililook like. It is assumed
that this
wi l l be a brochure
or bookl et of some ki nd, consi st i ng
of t ext and i l l ust rat i on'
which will be attractive enough for someone
to want to read.(e.g
:Td.":::",.
another
class). The studentt
*ltt then have to do a good deal of writing
up and
editing of their material.
If they are asked to work *ltttln the constraints
of a
cert ai n l engt h (si xt een
pages), i hey rvi l l probabl y have t o do a cert ai n
amount
of summarising.
They *ititraue to do some thinking about
the actual
Oncilt
.
/,aca/l'/nlortad
,
ftralu,/aofi//r"
97
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
8. 2. 2
Suggestions
for
proj ects
present at i on of t hei r mat eri al . so t hat t he end-product does l ook at t ract i ve. Al l
i ni r
-
apart f rom provi di ng a f ramework
f or i nt egrat i ng ski l l s
-
wi l l nrake
u' r i t i ng a mot i vat i ne act i \ i t \ .
Your i nvol vement t hroughout u, i l l be i mport ant but mai nl y as a
consul t ant , as f or ot her f orms of group act i vi t y. The st udent s shoul d be
encouraged to ask for your advice (for example, where they can find relevant
referencL material. In some class situations
you may actually have to provide
it) and for your help with their English (depending on their level and the extent
to which you *unt ih.. to rely on themselves). The responsibility for the final
product must of course be their own.
The suggest i ons f or proj ect s bel ow have been roughl y grouped under headi ngs
but i nevi t abl y t hel ' overl aP.
(a)
' Newsmag'
This is a long term project. perhaps extending over the whole of the school
year, whi ch i nvol ves researchi ng
(e. g. vi si t s t o ne\ \ ' spaper of f i ces, readi ng
about the history of nervspapers and magazines) and writing material for a
hybri d product
-
a combi nat i on of a cl ass newspaper and magazi ne' I t ems
t o be i ncl uded are art i cl es, creat i ve wri t i ng, revi ews, f un f eat ures
(crosswords. puzzl es.
j okes), ads, speci al t opi c areas (e' g' sport ) and
i l l ust rat i ons. Even i f
1' ou
omi t t he out si de vi si t s, whi ch woul d be pri mari l y
of educat i onal i nt erest unl ess you have access t o Engl i sh medi um
newspapers,
the advantage of this project in the English language
classioom is that it has something to offer everyone in the class.
(b) Projects that could be done mainly through reading
(in and out of class) and
sharing of knowledge
Food. anal 1, sed i n t he previ ous sect i on, coul d be done mai nl y i n t hi s way'
Some ot her t opi cs are:
-
time
-
money
-
transport
-
uses of mat eri al s
(e. g. pl ast i c, paper' et c' )
-
clothes
(c) Projects that could be done mainly through intervievving
family
and
friends
-
eat i ng habi t s
-
l ei sure (perhaps subdi vi ded i nt o sport and hobbi es)
-
TV vi ewi ng habi t s
-
shopping habits
(d) Projects int,olving real or imaginary planning
-
devel opi ng f aci l i t i es i n one' s t own (see 5' 5' 2
(a))
-
devel opi ng an i magi narY i sl and
-
pl anni ng an i magi nary t ri p t o t he moon, down t he Amazon. across t he
Sahar a. et c.
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8. 3
Ski l l sequences
d . J . 1
Oral work l eadi ng
to guided writing
INTEGRATED
SKILLS
-
pl anni ng an i deal t own, shoppi ng cent re, house, school , cl ub,
recreat i on ground, et c.
I n real l i f e we do not use l anguage ski l l s i n any set order
-
cert ai nl y not i n t he
order that they often appear in textbooks: listen
--+
Speak
--+
read
--+
write. We
use Skills aS and when we require them. For example, we See an ad in the paper
(f or a
j ob or a hol i day); we may t al k about i t t o someone or ri ng up or wri t e a
letter about it. (We may of course simply forget about it!) This
' chain'
of
activities could go on
-
and onl Importantly, however, it can provide a model
for integrating skills in a realistic way at a post-elementary level and,
incidentally, provide natural contexts for writing. Once the mechanism for this
is understood, it is not difficult to set up a chain of activities in this way.
I n t hi s exampl e, a conversat i on provi des t he set t i ng f or a not e-t aki ng t ask,
which the students perform simultaneously with the
' characters' .
They are then
shown how these notes were used to write a notice, which was the reason why
the notes were made, and are subsequently asked to write a second notice
themselves. Thus all four skills are practised in a
fully
integrated way'
I Bitt Hatlida;'- and Jane Stokes, his girlfriend, are planning to go on holiday
together. They want to travel round Br,itain together because Bill, who is an
Australian, has not seen much of the country. They are in Jane' s
flat
and they
are talking about their plans.
JANE: . . . Wel l , I don' t want t o go by t rai n. But why don' t we hi re a car?
BI LL: Hm, i t ' s very expensi ve, vou know. Andyou can' t dri ve! . ' ' But
you' ve gi ven me an i deal Perhaps we coul d get a van.
:eNs: You mean buy one?
BrLL: Yes, a secondhand one. One of t hose bi g ones.
rrNr: But , Bi l l , t hey cost a l ot . . . and besi des, t here are onl y t wo of us.
BI LL: Look, we onl y need about si x peopl e. You, me, and f our more. We
can share expenses. I t ' s a marvel l ous way t o see t he count ry
-
campi ng, st ayi ng i n host el s . . .
: eNe: Mm, but how do we
l t nd
f our peopl e? Put an ad i n t he paper?
BI LL: No, t oo expensi ve. Li st en. I ' l l put a not i ce up on t he boar d at col l ege.
There' s one near t he bookshop.
*
And what about t hat newsagent ' S
near t he record shop? They have ads i n t he wi ndow.
: eNe: OK. t hen. Wel l . I suppose rve ought t o make some not es . ' ' .
l,t, Bitt ttnd June continue to talk.** Jane makes notes. Listen, and make a note
of tlte irnportant poirtts.
: eNE: Ri ght , her e' s some paper . . . and a pen. I ' l l make t he not es'
BrLL: CK. Wel l . f i rst . . . must be abl e t o dri ve. Af t er a] rl , , vot t can' t and I
don' t want t o dr i ve al l t he t i mel
rANE: . . . has t o be abi e t o dri ve. And we want peopl e who l i ke a si mpl e
l i f e. Af t er al l . rve' re goi ng t o camp and st ay i n host el s.
BrLL: Yes. def i ni t el v no l uxuri es! Have you got t hat down?
' ' Bi l l
wor ks i n a col l cgc' bookshop ancl Jane r r or ks i n a r ecor d shop.
' * ' Thc
st t t r. l cnt s hr' l t r t hc convcrsat i t l n l hi ch i t l l l orvs.
99
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
8. 3. 2
Readi ng l eadi ng to
free writing
2 Thi s i s the noti ce w,l ' ti ch Bi l l pur up
on the col l ege noti ceboard Il l e
follov,ing
day.
2a l ,l ow wri te the noti ce v' hi ch Jane
Stokes took to the nen' sagert' s.
Her tel ephone nuntber at the
record shop i s 874 9192 and her
number at honte i s 675 3245.
Y)u! Y,u! Y?u! ew Y,u!
ARE rou /SEnqEEP /8 AND
25?
cA//
yoq
DR.VE ?
cAN YOU
cooKT
/ AM
TRrING To
oScAN/sE
A FOUK W'EFK TR|P ROUN?
BR|TAIAI IN A YAN
PLACES FOR rcUR lNOBF PEOPLE
,T ANY NATIONALITY l ELCOME !
x No LuxUR/ Esf
X 'HARE ALL FYPE^/'E,/
* TMALL cHABcE'-
flseao*-
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B;4 Hatli'da'<t
d.lege &od{*IeP
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r nnr : i - I ang on! Yes. and anot her t hi ng . . . t hey ought t o shar e t he cooki ng
t oo. I ' m not goi ng t o do i t al l !
t srLL: Shoul d be abl e t o cook. t hen. Ri ght . What el se?
. rnNE: Shal l u' e t el l t hem about t he cost of t he t ri p?
BrLL: Mm. ves. Let ' s sar' . . . about f 2*5 each. Pl us expenses.
JANE: . . . f 25 and share al l expenses. What about age?
BI LL: Good poi nt . Hou, about . . . ei ght een t o t went y-f i ve? And not al l
Engl i shl
: eNr: Or Aust ral i an ! So . . . ei ght een t o t went y-f i ve . . . any nat i onal i t y.
That shoul d encourase peopl e.
Br LL: . . . Do vou t hi nk t hat ' s al l ?
: eNs: Can' t t hi nk of anl , t hi ng el se. We' ve got qui t e a f ew not es.
BrLL: OK. t hen. i ' 11 u' ri t e out t he not i ce f or t he board at col l ege.
JANE: . . . And I ' 11 do t he one f or t he neu' sagent ' s . . .
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In thi s exampl e, the sequence opens wi th a readi ng acti vi tv. It i ncl udes gui ded
as wel l as free speaki ng and u' ri ti ng tasks. It shoul d be noted that, at the end of
the sequence, the students themsel ves deci de what happens.
1a Terry Barnes, a teenager*, i s getti ng ti red of hi s
job
at Holford Natural Products, so he decides
to l ookfor a new one. He sees fhese ads i nl he
Hol f or d News,
100
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Per sonnel Manager , HNP, Hol f or d.
LAB. ASST. 16- 21. Pr ev. exp. desi r abl e. Gd. pr ospect s
f or r i ght per son. Tr af al gar Tobacco Co.
Hol f or d 7997 Ext . 5.
JUNI OR
ACCOUNTS CLERK t o work f or East ern
Bus Co. 5 day wk. 9-5. 30. Prev. exp. not essent i al .
Typi ng an advant age. Appl y i n wri t i ng.
SI I ORTHAND TYPI ST
*The
st udent s have background i nf ormat i on about Terrv f rom anot her part of t he st or)'
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I NTEGRATED SKI LLS
1a Terry first rings up the Trafalgar Tobacco
Company. Li sten to hi s conversati on wi th the
secretarY.
SECRETARY:
Ext ensi on 5. . . Mr Pl at t ' , s
secret arY. Who' s sPeaki ng,
Pl ease?
TERRY: Oh, my name' s Bar nes. I ' m r i ngi ng
about t hat vacancY
You
advert i sed
i n The Hol f or d News. . '
Whi ch one was t hat , now? Was i t
f or a l ab assi st ant ?
Yes, t hat ' s r i ght . , .
Wel l , l ' m af r ai d we' ve al r eadY f i l l ed
t hat vacancy. I ' m very sorry'
Oh, wel l , t hanks ver y much.
GoodbYe.
sECRETARY:
GoodbYe.
1c Terry next ri ngs up the Eastern Bus.C.ompany'
He i s totd bv the secretary that the
i ob
i s sti l l
avai l abl e,
but that he must appl Y i n wri ti ng'
Suggest what they actual l y sai d to each other'
2t, Complete
this letter which Terry writes to the
Eastern Bus ComPanY.
Thi s i s the l etter whi ch Terry got f rom Mr
Davi s, the manager of the Eastern Bus Company'
SECRETARY:
| tsf{l { Y .
SECRETARY:
TERRY:
2e
I am l Ti t i ng i c a- DPl Y
Cl er k t
! hi c h ?' - s
' d' / " : Lr s ed
l i l ov sau:
- ho, ol d You
are
- vhere You
a:e vori l :6
- Hhat
i ob You. do
- vi e' uher ; r ou have i aa any pr evt ous
exPel i ence
of accc' J: s
- vhei ner
You
cal i : - e
l ' y i cr : e: cl ass t eache: zt
' i ol i : : C
t oEl r ehensi ve'
l j : r T l l ehr p- n, v; . 11 sel d i ' ou
a r ef er en: e i i you r ec- ui r e one'
i cur s f ai : : f ui 1; ' ,
7 Earna+
T. ! a: nes.
Jul y 10
f r r t he
; c' c
ci Jui cr Accout s
i n T: e ; : : l i cr C l l evs.
J Ul , y f o
Dear Mr Bar nest
t hank you f or your l et t er of i ul y l O' I shoul d } l ke
you t o cone f or sn i nt er yi er on Fr i day JuLy 21 at l O' l O'
Cou) , d you ol ease t el ephone r y 9ec! et ar y and conf i r n t hi s'
Your s si ncer eLY'
S. Dazn's
S. Dav i s .
i 0i
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
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Terry phones Mr Davi s' secretarY. He expl ai ns
why he i s ri ngi ng and conf i rms t hat he can
come. Suggest what Terry and t he secret arY
sai d to each other.
Terry i s bei ng i ntervi ewed by Mr Davi s.
Suggest what Terry sai d.
MR DAVr s: Ri ght , Ter r y" Si t down. Tel l me
somet hi ng about
Your sel f .
TERRY:
MF DAVI S:
TERRY:
MR DAVI S:
| t r nn T .
MR DAVI S:
Wel l , t hanks ver v much f or comi ng
al ong. \ { e' l l l et
You
know somet i me
next week.
And how l ong have
You
been i n
Your
pr esent
j ob?
Oh ! l ' m sur pi ' i sed
you want t o l eave,
t hen.
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Wel l , l ' ve had a wor d wi t h Tom
Newman. But I ' d l i ke t o sPeak t o
your pr esent empl oyer s. l s t hat al l
ri g ht ?
TERRY:
MR DAVI S:
TERRY:
3e Mr Davi s fi natl y deci des to offerTerry the
i ob'
Thi s i s the l etter he wrcte.
Jul y
J0
n ^ ^ - m^ - * ,
U Y i l L E L L J
t
I am pl eased t o be abl e t o of f er you t he
j ob of
Jr : ni or Account s Cf er k at a. st ar t i ng sal ar y of t 100 a veek'
Woul d. you pl ease conf i r n t hat t hi s i s accept abl e'
Can you al so } et us know vhen you woul d be f r ee t o st ar t ?
Your s si ncer el y,
S. Da,<n a
Sam l avi s.
Write Terry's replY, accepting or declining the
j ob.
The fottowing week, Terry meets Carol Davis,
a gi rl he was at school wi th. She i s the
daughter of Sam Davi s. Terry tel l s Carol what
he has been doi ng recentl y. Suggest what he
sai d.
4a Afterwards, Terry real i ses that he' qui te l i kes'
Carol. He decides to write to her. Write the
l et t er whi ch he sends her.
4c Write Carol's reply.
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8. 4
Si mul at i ons
as a
f ramework
f or
wri t i ng act i vi t i es
8. 4. 1
Devi si ng
a
si mul at i on
I NTEGRATED SKI LLS
Many of t he wri t i ng act i vi t i es proposed and di scussed so f ar have i nvol ved an
el ement of rol epl ay. That i s t o say, t he st udent s
are asked t o assume t he part s
of di f f erent
charact ers.
(See, f or exampl e' -5' -5' l and 8' 3)' The use of
si mul at i ons
enabl es us t o t ake t hi s ki nd of rvork a st age f urt her bot h by
provi di ng a f ramework f or i nt egrat ed l anguage
work i n. whi ch t he l earners
itr"*r"tu-"s
provide a larger
' input'
of the data from which the writing activities
are derived and by allowing them, where this is appropriate
to the situation' to
be themselves
within a defined setting. This latter feature has an obvious
advantage
when we are working with groups of learners who share certain
prof essi 6nal
ski l l s and i nt erest s and who are l earni ng
a f orei gn l anguage wi t h
i he. e p. i *ari l y i n vi ew. si nce mot i vat i on
rvi l l be i ncreased t hrough t he
ut i l i sat i on
of t hei r speci al i st
knowl edge.
wi t h non-speci al i st
groups, however'
whet her adul t s or ai ol escent s,
we shal l probabl y have t o cont i nue t o rel y
l argel y on rol epl ay, al t hough
we may be abl e t o i nt roduce a cert ai n amount of
rol"e simulation,
where the learners react to the task as themselves'
For
exampl e, i nt hesi mul at i ondescr i bedi n8. . l . 2bel ow, somest udent si na
, . . ondury
school cl ass can pl ay t he part of t eenagers,
whi l e ot hers wi l l be asked
t o t ake on adul t rol es. For our present purpose' what i s more i mport ant i s t he
extent to which the activities which they are asked to carry out generate
meaningful
and relevant opportunities.for-rvriting'
At this level' simulations
would siem to be ideal, p.&laing
guidanie, in the form of a well-defined
setting.
which gets as neir to reai life as \\' e can hope to in the classroom' as
wel l ai mot i vat i onf or
execut i ng
t he wri t i ng t asks'
Whi l e care must be t aken wi t h t he const ruct i on
of a si mul at i on'
especi al l y i f we
want t o ensure t hat i t l eads nat ural l y t o cert ai n wri t i ng t asks, t hi s need not be
vi ewed as a compl ex
t ask. By def i ni t i on.
t he si mul at i on
wi l l i nvol ve t he
discussion
of a specific
problem or set of problemt: uld the context within
which this takes place must be clearly defined for the learners' To do this in a
natural
way and, no less important,
to activate all the language skills' we must
provide the learners
with an adequate amount of background
information'
Thus, i n t he si mul at i on
desci i bed i n 8. 4. 2, t he probl em t o be di scussed
rel at es t o t he Hol f ord Art s cent re,
whi ch has been cri t i ci sed f or f ai l i ng t o
p, ""i o. t he publ i c wi t h t he ri ght ki nd of cul t ural
programme'
I n addi t i on,
t o
add an el ement of spi cy i nt erJst t o t he si t uat i on,
i h. C. nt t " i s al so accused of
allowing
certain
,undeiirable
happenings'
to take place on the premis"t.
T:
settingis
a public meeting, at whl;h invited speakers
as well as members
of the
public discuss trr.r. proUiems. tt is left to the participants'
through
what they
say wi t hi n t he l i mi t s of t hei r rol es, t o deci de on t hese i ssues' Thus t he speakers
t hl msel ves
provi de t he raw subst ance f or t he wri t i ng act i vi ri es.
Toest abl i sht heset t i ng, t her ei sacer t ai namount of backgr ound
i nf or: mari on,
devi sed by t hJt eacher,
whi ch consi st s of mat eri al bot h t o be
l i st ened
t o and read. The ot her component
cont ri ved by t he t eacher
i s t he
specification
of the roles of the participants.
This is done, through
role cards '
whi ch ei t her def i ne or suggest , i "p"ndi ng
on t he rol e t o be pl aved, t he l i ne t o
be f ol l owed
by each part l Jpant .
We ma1: al so.
ei t her on t he rol e cards or
t hrough a prel i mi nary
oral t ri el i ng,
het p t rre l earners
wi t h cert ai n i t ems of
l angrri gewhi ch
t hey can use i n t he di scussi on'
The si mul at i on
descri bed
i n 8. 4. 2 i s perhaps a l i t t l e di f f erent
f rom most
103
rl
F
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TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
8. 4. 2
An example of a
si mul at i on:
t he
Holford Arts
Centre
because i t has been del i berat el r, st ruct ured t o creat e a i ' ari et y of wri t i ng t asks.
At t he st art , u, hen t he publ i c di scussi on opens,
q' e
have t x' o ki rt ds o. f
performers. There are those u' ho q.reck at the meeting. Some of these have
cl earl y def i ned rol es. t o gi ve t he di scussi on a cert ai n di rect i on. whi l e ot hers
have a more open-ended i nvol vement , t hus ensuri ng t hat t he out come i s by no
means predict;ble. There are also those rvho /lsrerr rvith a view to reporting the
p. o. ""i i ngs f rom vari ous angl es. For exampl e, t hey represent t he press, t he
i adi o and i ert ai n pressure groups. However. t hose who speak i n t he di scussi on
are subsequent l y
; recvcl ed'
i n vari ous ways So t hat t hey t oo have a wri t i ng t ask
t o perf orm. Thi s. t o some ext ent , i s a quest i on of expedi ency' si nce t he purpose
of itre simulation is to inr,olv e ever))one in the class, for which an average size of
t hi rt y has been assumed, i n some f orm of wri t i ns act i vi t y'
(a) Background informarion
(i) This is a street maP of Holford.
(ii) This is an entr\) in theEast Anglia Guides'
Hol f or d Popul at i on: 60, 090 Cambr i dge 62
London 1 03
A pl easant mar ket t own si t uat ed on t he Ri ver
Hol t . Mai nl y agr i cul t ur al . Good wal ki ng counl r y
Pl aces of hi st or t c i nt er est : Hol t on Abbey ( 1122)
and St . John' s Chur ch
( 1237) Ot her
pl aces t o
see ar e t he new Shoppi ng Cent r e
( 1 969) and t he
Hol f or d Ar t s Cent r e ( . f ounded i n 1975) l ndus-
t r i es i ncl ude: cosmet i cs, t obacco and l i ght
engi neer i ng.
Hot el s Hol f or d Ar ms, Mar den Hot el and Penr i dge I nn.
Rest aurant s Hol f ord Arms and The Count ry Krt chen.
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\ 6/ Hol l of d Ar ms
O an" *o, , "ra News oJi ce
@ er. t u' n aus companv
104
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I NTEGRATED
SKI LLS
$D
fhis is an extract
from
an article on Holford which appeared inThe
Cambridse Gazette.
Some even say t hat t here i i roo
much money around i n Hol ford
and not enough cul t ure.
Thi s l ast cr i t i ci sm i s st r anr e
i n vi ew of t he f act t hat Hol l oi d
has a fl ouri shi ng Arts Centre.
Set up i n 1975. l ar gel y on t he
i ni ti ati ve of a few dedi cated
i ndi vi dual s, i t has al r eady si ven
Hol ford several fi ne oro-duc-
t i ons, i ncl udi ng Pi nt ei ' s The
Caretaker. It has al so made a
documentary on the theme of
r aci al i nt egr at i on whi ch was
wel l recei ved at a nati onal fi l m
f est i val . . . .
(iv) This is a conversation between Dan Graves, senior reporter onThe
Holford News, and Ted Raines, a young localfarmer.
TED: Are you sorry you came back to live in Holford, then, lvlr
Graves? Af t er al l t hose years i n London, I mean.
neN: Sorry? No, not for a moment. I was glad to escape from the
place !
rED: St i l l , you must f i nd i t al l changed . . .
orN: Well, yes, it certainly has changed . . . all these industries for a
st art . But at l east peopl e have pl ent y of work t hese days. And
the facilities are so much better. After all, there aren' t so many
towns that have a shopping centre like ours.
TED: But t here' s not much goi ng on, i s t here? Don' t you f i nd i t rat her
dul l ?
DAN: But t here' s a l ot goi ng on! Just t ake t he Art s Cent re, f or
exampl e.
rED: Yes. that has attracted quite a lot of attention lately!
oeN: Mm, I don' t t hi nk peopl e underst and what t hey' re t rvi ng t o do
t her e.
rED: Wel l , personal l y, I don' t see t he poi nt of i t . Af t er al l . rve have a
perf ect l y good dramat i c soci et y al ready.
oex: That ' s exact l y what I mean! I t ' s not
j ust
a bi gger and bet t er
dr amat i csoci et y. . .
rED: Some peopl e say i t i sn' t bet t er!
DAN: . . . they do lots of other things down there . . .
TED: Hm, so I ' ve hear d!
orr: I suppose vou' re comi ng t o t hi s meet i ng on Fri day ni ght . aren' t
you?
rED: Oh yes, I ' l l be comi ng al ong t o t hat al l ri ght . I l i ke l i st eni ng t o a
good argument ! Besi des, I can t ake a l ook at t he pl ace at t he
Same t i me.
D. l N: Yes, you cert ai nl y shoul d t ry t o f i nd out more about t he pl ace
whi l e you' re t here . . .
j ust
what t hey do and don' t do. As f or al l
t hi s t al k about . . . . r vel l . I
i ust
t hi nk i t ' s a l ot of . . .
. . . Li ke many ot her t owns i n
t hi s par t of t he count r y.
Hol f or d i s
' on
t he move' .
There are new factori es and
offi ces as wel l as a fi ne shoppi ng
cent r e. whi ch was bui l t i n 1969.
And, wi th the l aree new hous-
i ng estate on the i orth si de of
the town, Hol tbrd has begun to
spread out i nto the surroundi ng
count r ysi de.
I ndust r y has br ought pr os-
per i t y t o Hol f or d. al t hough
many peopl e ar gue t hat i t has
al ready begun to spoi l the es-
senti al character of the town.
105
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TEACHI NG WRI TI NG SKI LLS
(v) Tl ti s i s rl te rtoti r:e i nvi ti ttg peopl e to a publ i c tneeti ng at the Hol ford Arts
Centre.
\ I I
I I OI - F- ORD AR' I ' S CE\ I - RE
- \
pu[ - . l r c r l cct i ng r r i l l l r c hcl r i l i t l l t c ccnt r . e
t r t t Fr i dar . f unc l 6 6 - i ( ) pnt
t l r o s c i n t c r c s t c t l i n t l i s c r r s s r r r g t h c u c t i r i t i e s o l ' l h c
CCnt r c l t r c c 0r t i i l r l l - r i r t r i t ct i t ( ) i l t l cl t ( l
S. f ) l r r i s ( C' hl r i r nt un
)
(b) Briefitrg
Af t er t he present at i on of t he backsround i nf ormat i on. i nvol vi ng bot h
l i st eni ng and r eadi ns and per haps al so i ncl udi ns some r el at ed or al wor k.
t he st udent s are readv t o be bri ef ed about t he probl em t o be di scussed and
t he vari ous rol es t hev have t o pl ay.
The publ i c meet i ng i s i nt ended i n t he f i rst i nst ance t o gi ve Tony Cross.
t he di rect or of t he Art s Cent re. a chance t o expl ai n u' hat t hei r work i s
about . At t he same t i me. a l ot of publ i c cri t i ci sm i s expect ed. I t i s
ant i ci pat ed t hat t hi s wi l l cent re on t \ \ o mai n i ssues:
(i ) t hat t he Cent re does not gi ve Hol f ord t he ri ght sort of
' cul t ural '
programme.
(i i )
t hat t he Cent re i s f requent ed bv t eenagers. u' ho go t here t o mi sbehave
in various \\' avs.
As expl ai ned i n 8. 4. i . t hi s si mul at i on has been st ruct ured so as t o i ncl ude
' speakers'
and' report ers' . The speakers (see' Rol e cards' bel ow) are as
f ol l ows:
couNCrLLoR sAI{ DAvrs: Chairman of the meeting
T cRoss: Director of the Arts Centre
K RIXoN: Principal, Holford Comprehensive
c s
porrERToN:
Secretary, Holford Amateur Dramatic Society
J TAYLoR: Youth Welfare Officer
M
plArr:
student at Holford Polytechnic
K FosrER: student at Holford Polytechnic
All of these have well defined roles. In addition, there are five adult
rol es and f i ve t eenage rol es, represent i ng t he publ i c present at t he meet i ng.
The number can be increased or reduced according to the size of the class.
These rol es are more open-ended.
The provision for reporters (that is, those who will listen during the
discussion and rnake notes) is as follows. Two students share each role and
collaborate afteru' ards on the writing task. This is also a way of ensuring
maxi mum cl ass i nvol vement .
L BARoN: reporter on The Holford News
r JENKS: reporter on The Cambridge Gazette
J WISEMAN: reporter for East Anglia Radio
w TRAILL: representing Holford Comprehensive School magazine
r sMIrH: representing Holford Amateur Dramatic Society
J srorr: Youth Freedom Movement
P BLAKE: Secr et ar v t o t he meet i ns
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(c) Role cards
Assi gni ng t he vari ous rol es t o t he st udent s al so f orms part of t he bri ef i ng
sessi on. The rol e descri pt i ons bel ow i l l ust rat e onl y a cross sect i on of t he
parts played by the students, except for the reporters, which are given in
f ul l .
Mai n speakers
Members of the public
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T CROSS
As Di rect or of t he Hol f ord Art s Cent re,
your
mai n t ask i s t o expl ai n i t s wor k and t o r ef er t o
some of i t s achi evement s
si nce i t was set up'
Do t hi s conci sel y. You shoul d st r ess t hat
put t i ng on
pl ays i s onl y
part of t he Cent re' s
work Jnd t hat you are not i n compet i t i on
wi t h
t he Amat eur Dramat i c Soci et y. Ref er t o
accusat i ons
whi ch have been made agai nst
t he Cent r e
( f or
exampl e,
you may r ead an
anonymous
l et t er
you have
j ust
r ecei ved) but
mai nt ai n t hat t her e i s no t r ut h i n t hem'
9:
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ror
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PI aYS'
K FOSTER
You ar e a member of t he Ar t s Cent r e and one
of i t s st rongest
support ers'
Li ke many ot her
st udent s ai t f , " eot yt echni c,
you have-been
i Ot " t o do a l ot of t hi ngs t hr ough
t he Cent r e
whi ch ot her wi se
woul d not have been
possi bl e. Gi ve some exampl es'
l f you wi sh'
uou
* uy al so di ssoci at e
your sel f f r om some
of t he t hi ngs whi ch have been done t her e'
S JAMES
You ar e a t eenager who r ecent l y l ef t Hol f or d
Comor ehensi ve.
You bel i eve t hat t he Cent r e
does l i t t l e t o hel p peopl e of your age and you
woul d l i ke t o see mor e money spent on
i mpr ovi ng t he f aci l i t i es of t he Yout h Cl ub.
M BRI DGES
On t he whol e you appr ove of t he Ar t s Cent r e
and t hi nk t hat i t does good wor k' However ,
you do not l i ke t he way t he di r ect or r uns t he
Cent r e: he i s t oo aut ocr at i c' \ " ou t hi nk t hat
t her e shoul d be a commi t t ee, wi t h member s
of t he publ i c on i t , t o deci de pol i cy. You al so
bel i eve some of t he st or i es about what goes
on i n t he Cent r e:
your t eenage chi l dr en t al k
about i t al l t he t i me.
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WRI TI NG SKI LLS
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W TRAI LL
Your mai n t ask i s t o r epor t t he meet i ng f or
Hol f or d Compr ehensi ve School magazi ne. I n
your account , you shoul d f ocus i n par t i cul ar
on mat t er s whi ch concer n t eenager s. You ar e
al so ver y ambi t i ous, and you woul d l i ke t o be
a r epor t er when you l eave school . You hope
t hat t he account you wr i t e wi l l cat ch t he
at t ent i on of t he edi t or of The Hol f ord News,
t o whom a copy of t he school magazi ne i s
se nt .
J WI SEMAN
As a report er f or East Angl i a Radi o, your
mai n
t ask i s t o pr oduce
a shor t account of t he
meet i ng whi ch wi l l appeal t o l i st ener s of Easr
Angl i a at One, a l i vel y l unch- t i me pr ogr amme
of news and vi ews. I n t hi s connect i onl vou
may al so wi sh t o i nt er vi ew, f or exampl e, t ne
Di r ect or of t he Cent r e af t er t he meet i no.
T JENKS
As a report er f or The Cambri dge Gazette,
your mai n t ask i s t o wr i t e an account of t he
meet i ng f or next week' s edi t i on. Make sur e
t hat
you i ncl ude t he mai n poi nt s. Per sonal l y,
you woul d l i ke t o see an Ar t s Cent r e, si mi l ar
i o t he one i n Hol f or d, i n Cambr i dge and
you
shoul d t her ef or e dr aw at t ent i on t o i t s
achi evement s
and
pl ay down or i gnor e some
of t he cr i t i ci sms of t he Cent r e.
P BLAKE
Your
t ask, as secr et ar y
t o t he meet i ng,
i s t o
wri t e. a
conci se
but accu rat e report
on t he
meet i ng,
t o serve as a record
f or f ut ure
-
ref erence.
l f you
are not sure of any po-i nt
made
at t he meet i ng, you
can check i t wi t h
t he spea ker . onr"rri . d
af t erwarOs.
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E. xpl oi t i ng t he
si mul at i on f or
wri t i ng t asks
Di scussi on
I NTEGRATED SKI LLS
The mai n purpose i n descri bi ng t he const ruct i on of t hi s si mul at i on i n det ai l and
i n part i cul ar showi ng t he
' i nput '
requi red f rom t he t eacher was t o demonst rat e
t hat i t provi des a powerf ul f ramework f or a vari et i ' of wri t i ng t asks' For
exampl e, bef ore t he meet i ng. t hose who have been i nvi t ed t o speak wi l l want
t o make Some not es on what t hey propose t o Say. At t hi s St age, t o ensure t he
i nvol vement of t he whol e cl ass. i t i s suggest ed t hat t he report ers shoul d l ook at
vari ous ki nds of wri t i ng rel evant t o t hei r t asks. For exampl e, news report s,
l et t er s t o t he edi t or , not i ces. et c.
Whi l e t he si mul at i on i s act ual l , v t aki ng pl ace. everyone i s f ul l y occupi ed,
ei t her i n speaki ng or i n l i st eni ng and t aki ng not es. Af t er t he si mul at i on. t he
report ers are engaged i n wri t i ng up t hei r vari ous account s.
At t he same t i me. however. we have t o provi de wri t i ng act i vi t i es f or t hose
who spoke at t he meet i ng. Cl earl y t hi s rvi l l depend t o some ext ent on t he act ual
out come of t he meet i ng, whi ch i s by no means predi ct abl e, but , as a general
guide, activities along these lines are suggested:
(a) The chai rman of t he meet i ng may be asked t o work wi t h t he secret ary on
t he t ask of edi t i ng and wri t i ng up t he f ormal account of t he meet i ng.
(b)
The Di rect or of t he Art s Cent re (dependi ng on t he out come of t he
meet i ng) may ei t her wri t e hi s l et t er of resi gnat i on or work out a new st yl e
programme of act i vi t i es f or t he Cent re. Thi s may be done i n col l aborat i on
rvi t h, f or exampl e, one adul t and one t eenage member of t he publ i c and
wi t h one of t he st udent s f rom t he Pol yt echni c.
(c)
The Yout h Wel f are Of f i cer, t oget her wi t h t he Pri nci pal of Hol f ord
Comprehensi ve and t wo or t hree members of t he publ i c, i ncl udi ng
t eenagers, may be asked t o drarv up a proposal t o i mprove t he f aci l i t i es of
t he Yout h Cl ub.
(d) The Secret ary of Hol f ord Amat eur Dramat i c Soci et y mav work rvi t h hi s
represent at i ve at t he meet t ng on t he l et t er t o The Hol f ord Neves or on t he
ci rcul ar l et t er. dependi ng on rvhi ch t ask i s t aken up.
(e) One st udent f rom t he Pol yt echni c. t oget her rvi t h t wo or more members of
t he publ i c. mav draw up t hei r proposal f or a revi sed Art s Cent re
proqramme. t o be submi t t ed t o t he Di rect or f or consi derat i on.
(f ) Ot her members of t he publ i c. adul t s and t eenagers, mav be asked t o l vri t e
ei t her l et t er s t o t he pr ess or ' anonvmous' l et t er s
t o var i ous peopl e, such as
t he Di rect or of t he Art s Cent re or t he Secret arv of t he Amat eur Dramat i c
Soci et y. maki nq accusat i ons agai nst t hem.
I t shor-rl d be cl ear t hat t here i s no di f f i cul t y i n devi si ng i nt erest i ng rvri t i ng t asks
f or et , err-ot t e i n t he cl ass. Al l of t hese t asks deri ve qui t e nat ural l v f rom t he
si mul at i on. The resul t of t hi s i s t hat rve end up wi t h a consi derabl e body of
mat eri al . produced by t he st ucl ent s t hemsel ves, whi ch can be read al oud or
ci rcul at ed round t he cl ass and rvhi ch i s of real i nt erest t t l evervone.
1 Do
-, -ou
agree wi t h t he i mport ance at t achecl t o ski l l i nt egrzrt i on at t hi s l evel ' /
I f
i , ou
cl i sagree. can vou ri
qg. t t
ot her wavs of ensuri ng t hat rvri t i ng act i vi t i es
are purposef ul ' ?
I Exan-ri ne any t ext book of vour ou' n choosi ng t o see rvhat at t empt i s nt acl e t o
i l t esr at e ski l l s at t hi s l evcl . Consi t l cr i n par t i cul ar r vhet her r vr i t i ns f ol l or vs
ot l
109
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TEACHI NG WRI TI NG SKI LLS
Exerci ses
Ref erences
--)
nat ural l y f rom t he ot her act i vi t i es. especi ai l y oral work. or whet her i t t e nds
t o be present ed as a homeu' ork t ask.
Can you see anv probl ems ari si ng f rom t he suggest i ons f or proj ect work i n
8. 2? Do
), ou
t hi nk t he advant ages out wei gh t hese?
Do you think the simulation outlined in 8.4 provides sufficient guidance for
t he wri t i ng act i vi t i es i nvol ved? I f you want ed t o gi ve t he st udent s more
gui dance, how woul d you do i t ?
Whi ch of t he di f f erent t ypes of act i vi t y suggest ed f or i nt egrat i ng ski l l s do you
f i nd most at t ract i ve? Why'
Exami ne any t ext book t o see what provi si on i s made f or proi ect work. Coul d
some of t he act i vi t i es suggest ed be devel oped i nt o smal l proj ect s?
Draw a chart similar to the one on page 97 for any of the topics suggested in
8. 2. 2 ( a) .
Show how you woul d present and devel op f or cl asswork any of t he
suggest i ons i n 8. 2. 2 ( a) .
Anal yse t he sequence of act i vi t i es i n 8. 3. 2. f oi l owi ng t hi s model . Thi s wi l l
hel p you t o underst and t he underl yi ng mechani sm.
TEXT OUTLI NE OF CONTENT
- 1
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TB reads ad i n Hol ford News
TB ri ngs up Trafal gar Tobacco Co
Readi ng
Li steni ng
5
6
Now const ruct a si mi l ar sequence of your own. Thi s may be much short er
t han t he one i n 8. 3. 2.
Write role descriptions for other speakers in the simulation in 8.4.
Suggest some al t ernat i ve rol es f or t he
' report ers' i n
t he si mul at i on i n 8. 4.
together with related writing activities.
On i nt egrat ed ski l i s see D Byrne (1986) Ch. 11 and A Mat t hews et al (eds. )
( 1985) pages 32- 4 and126- 40.
For project work see D Byrne (1986) pages 733-7 . This section also contains
more i nf ormat i on about ' Newsmag' . Suggest i ons f or devel opi ng an
i magi nary i sl and are gi ven i n A Mat t hews et al (1985) pages 726-3I . A
useful book on proiect work generally is D Waters (1982), from which the
chart for Food on page97 has been adapted.
For ski l l sequenci ng see D Byrne i n K Johnson and K Morrow (1981). The
f i rst sequence i n 8. 3. 1 i s based on D Byrne and S Hol den Goi ng Pl aces
(1980); t he second sequence on D Byrne and S Hol den I nsi ghr (Longman
1976). For mat eri al based on t hi s model see D Byrne and S Hol den Fol l ow I t
Through (Longman 1978) and Going Places (Longman 1980). Also R White
Write Away (Nelson Filmscan 1987).
On simulations see K Jones (1982). For a simple introduction see D Byrne
(1986) pages 725-8. The simulation in 8.4 is based on D Byrne and S Holden
Insight (1976). Comparison with the original material will show how
t ext book mat eri al can be adapt ed f or t hi s purpose.
SKI LL
110
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9. 1
Pr obl em
Writing at the
Post-intermediate
level
It is often assumed that, once the learne* have acquired a reasonable
profrciency in written expression, further practice in this skill can be given
mainly thiough tasks in the form of some kind of
' composition'
or
' essay' '
The
students ur" giu.n a topic or a theme and are expected to express themselves at
some l engt h on i t i n order t o demonst rat e t hei r abi l i t y t o wri t e. I t mi ght seem
that, having avoided this type of activity at earlier stages of the programme' we
are obligeJto fall back on it at this level in order to give the learners extensive
practice in their hard won skill.
Since compositions and essays are still a feature of many public
exami nat i ons, cl earl y we shoul d not deny t he st udent s some preparat i on f or
t hi s t ype of t ask. Thi s aspect i s consi dered i n 9. 3. We must al so at t empt t o see
rvhat skills are practisecl through this kind of writing and whether the same
skills can be more effectively practised in alternative ways' At the same time, it
rvould be wrong to accept this kind of writing activity as one of the main
outcomes of the writing programme. For one thing, it is a form of writing which
i s rarel y pract i sed out si de t he cl assroom or exami nat i on hal l ' One needs onl y t o
ask: when di d I l ast wri t e an essay? Besi des, f or most of uS, i t present s an
ext remel y
di f f i cul t t ask, even i n our mot her t ongue' and even more So i f we are
asked t o do i t agai nst t he cl ock. There woul d seem l i t t l e poi nt ' t heref ore, i n
i nf l i ct i ng t hi s t ype of wri t i ng act i vi t y on t he f orei gn l anguage l earner, whose
prof i ci ency i n wri t i ng i s unl i kel y t o mat ch t he t ask'
I t rvai not ed above t hat we woul d need t o consi der al t ernat i ve l vays of
devel opi ng ski l l s pract i sed t hrough composi t i on and essay wri t i ng. These we
*oy
"rru*e
t o be part i cul arl y t hose ski l l s i nvol vi ng t he abi l i t y t o organi se
i deas
i n a sust ai ned pi eci of wri t i ng. But organi sat i onal ski l l s, whi ch cert ai nl y
need
f urt her pract i ce at t hi s l evel , can be equal l y wel l devel oped t hrough act i vi t i es
rvhi ch i nvol ve some real i st i c f orm of expressi on, such as l et t er and report
wri t i ng. React i ng t o a si t uat i on t hrough wri t i ng. f or exampl e. a l et t er of
prot es"t . rvi l l requi re argument . u' hi l c t he marshal l i ng of rel evant f act s t o
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TEACHI NG
WRI I ' I NG SKI LLS
suppor t t hi s ar gument \ \ ' i l l i nvol r , e or gani sat i onal ski l l s. Unl i ke composi t i or - l
wri t i ng i n t he t radi t i onal sense. hou' ever. t he l earners can be more f ul l y
i nvol ved i n t hi s t ype of ur i t i ng t ask. r hr ough sor ne ki nd of r ol epl ay. and can
appreci at e i t s rel evance t o real l i f e. I n t erms of devel opi ng rvri t i ng ski i l s.
t heref ore. t he l earners' needs can be f ul l v met t hrough f urt her pract i ce i n l et t er
and report wri t i ng.
Composi t i on and essay u' ri t i ng al so provi de opport uni t i es f or u' hat i s of t en
cal l ed' f ree expressi on' : t he l earners are al l orved t o sav what t hev l i ke on a
gi ven t opi c or t heme. \ \ / hi l e i t i s t rue t hat at t hi s l evel cont rol of what t he
l earners wri t e (except f or remedi al purposes, see 9. 2) woul d be i nappropri at e.
we still have the responsibilitv for providin_e them with an adequate context for
wri t i ng act i vi t i es. I deal l r, , t hi s ki nd of f ramework shoul d be provi ded t hrough
act i vi t i es such as t he si mul at i on descri bed i n 8. 4. rvhi ch have t he f urt her
advant age of f ul l i , i nt eerat i nq al l t he l aneuage ski l l s. I n pract i ce, beci i use of t he
short age of cl ass t i me. ue mav have t o be sat i sf i ed r. i ' i t h much l ess. I t i s st ressed.
hou' ever. t hat wri t i ng t asks shoul d not . si mpl l , f or t he sake of conveni ence. be
di vorced f rom ot her cl assroom act i vi t i es u' hi ch i nvol ve l i st eni ng, speaki ng ancl
readi ng. The l i nk u' i t h readi ng i s t he most easi l y est abl i shed. and of course
commonl y pract i sed at t hi s l evel , i f onl y i n t he f orm of aski ng t he st udent s t o
u' ri t e about somet hi ng t hev have read. but t he cl ose associ at i on of speaki ng
and l i st eni ng wi t h u' ri t i ng i s l ess common. Yet a cl ass di scussi on, f or exampl e,
can provi de an excel l ent spri neboard f or wri t i ng act i vi t i es: i deas have been
di scussed. poi nt s of vi ew expressed and. u' hat i s especi al l v i mport ant , i nt erest
i n t he t opi c has been aroused. Al l t hi s. especi al l y i f t he l earners have been
asked t o make not es duri ng t he cl ass di scussi on. can l ead on qui t e nat ural l v t o a
vari et y of wri t i ng act i vi t i es i n t he f orm of l et t ers, report s, newspaper art i cl es
and so on. Si mi l arl v. proj ect -t vpe work, carri ed out i n smal l groups over a
peri od of t i me. provi des excel i ent opport uni t i es f or ski l l i nt egrat i on. The
l earners have t o di scuss t he cont ent of t he proj ect and i nvari abl y have t o do a
consi derabl e amount of readi ng f or i t . whi l e t he wri t i ng up of t he proj ect i s i n
i t sel f a purposef ul act i vi t \ ' .
The possi bi l i t y of i ndi vi dual i si ng wri t i ng pract i ce was not ed i n i . 6. At t hi s
Ievel, as the learners become increasingly aware of how writing may relate to
their future needs (for example. for occupational purposes, for academic study
or perhaps only for personal communication), motivation can be increased by
paying particular attention to these. If, for example, a group of students in the
class express a particular interest in learning commercial correspondence,
because they feel that this is the type of writing which will be, or is most likely
to be, of relevance to them. even the setting of fairl,v
formal
tasks becomes
more acceptable. Needs for individualised writing practice can to a large extent
be met through the use of self-instructional material, with the students working
t oget her i n pai rs or groups.
A final point to keep in mind is that, as we allow the learners increasingiy
more opportunities for self-expression through writing, we must view what
they write as attempts to communicate something.We owe it to the students, of
course, to correct and evaluate their work to the extent that this will improve
t hei r perf ormance especi al l y i n exami nat i ons, si nce t hese are of t en wei ght ed i n
favour of written skills. but it u' ould be wrong to destroy both their interest and
confidence in writing through excessive correction. One thing we can do is to
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The main features
of the writing
programme
9. 2
Remedi al wor k:
t he val ue of a
f unct i onal
approach
WRITING ATTHE POST.INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
separate tasks which are designed to improve
their examination
performance,
and which therefore can be viewed more critically,
from those intended to
devel op communi cat i on
ski l l s on a broader basi s, such as t he act i vi t i es whi ch
fo.med part of the simulation in 8.4. For these in particular it is important that
the teacirer should not be the only consumer and, in the classroom situation,
t hi s means t hat t he st udent s shoul d be wri t i ng/ o r one anot her' Thi s el ement of
having something to communicate to somebody
is naturally-present
in activities
like simulations
and projects: because there is a diversity of task, the students
are genuinely interesiedin
knowing what others in the class have written' And,
because of their involvement
in the activity, they are likely to be as critical of
what has been written aS we rvould ourselves. The difference'
however, is that
they react as readers rather than as
ittdges
'
(a\
Provision should be made
for
remedial work'
It is suggested in
g.2thatone
way of doing this is using a functional
upp.ou.tr to writing skills. This component
of the writing programme will
also ensure that th; learners are givin further help with the problem of
organising
their written expression at the level of content'
(b) Opportunities for free
expression should be increased'
This does not imply, horvever. that the learners should simply be set tasks
for writing, in thi iorm of topics or themes' It is suggested
that a
framework
for writing activiiies should be established
through the use of
activities like those in Chapter 8'
(c) Writing activities shottld be in the
form
of realistic tasks such as report and
letter writing.
Most of these formats for writing practice have been only superficially
explored at previous stages and ihere are therefore opportunities
for
aeating wittr these in depth at the post-intermediate
level, instead of
resorting to some typ. ot..ruy
*iiting to give extended
practice in writing'
proficiency
in ,p".id. varieties of writing may also be developed to take
individual n".d, into account. It should be kept in mind that this aspect of
the writing programme must be supported by exposure to appropriate
models through the reading programme'
(d) Examination
requirements shottld not be neglected'
Other components of the programme
will ensure that the learners continue
to extend their range of *.iting skills but, to the extent that mastery of
specific forms of wiiting, such as essays' is a feature of public
exami nat i ons, t heseneedsmust bet akeni nt oaccount '
It is inevitable
that some remedial
rvork will become necessary at this stage '
^
While it is possible to select and repeat certain activities from earlier stages
of
the programme, the adoption of a iunctional approach to writing skills has
cert ai n advant ages.
I n general , i t can be used t o gi ve a new sl ant t o t he
:
programme,
, ol hut f a, i i l i ar ground can be expl ored i n a new way' The same
l s
no l ess t rue of oral ski l l s, rvhere a si mi l ar needi s l i kel y t o be f el t . Thus.
rvhereas
at previ ous st ages, rei nf orcement
act i Vi t i es may have f ocused mai nl y
on
I t 1
TEACHI NG WRI TI NG SKI LLS
9. 2. r
Expressing
comparison and
cont rast : a
specimen unit
st ruct ural i t ems. \ \ ' e can norv. f ort he purpose of rcnl ecl i al u' t l rk. revi ew t hese
i t ems under t he umbrel l a of part i cul ar l anguage f unct i ons, such as exprrcssi t l i l
request s, suggest i ons. i nvi t at i ons, et c. I t i s not suggest ed t hat al l t l t i s wi l l be
t ot al l y new t o t he l earners; i t i s t l l e s-r' s/ enzari c t reat ment of t hese f unct i ons.
bri ngi ng t oget her l anguage rvhi ch t he st udent s have al ready mast ered. rvhi ch i s
l i kel y t o be di f f erent . I n part i cul ar, howet ' er. i t wi l l enabl e us t o expl ore i n
great er dept h ot her f unct i ons. rvhi ch occur t vpi cal l yr i n l onger st ret ches of
l anguage, such as compari ng and cont rast i ng, general i si ng, exempl i f yi ng'
def i ni ng See t he Appendi x. Sect i on A f or a comprehensi ve l i st of t hese.
Mast ery of t hese f unct i ons u' i l l be especi al l v val uabl e i n hel pi ng t he st udent s t o
organi se t hei r wri t t en expressi on.
An exampl e of a uni t of u' ork. deal i ng rvi t h compari son and cont rast . i s
gi ven i n9. 2. 1. \ [ / hi l e i t i s not suggest ed t hat t he cont ent i s sui t abl e f or al l t ypes
of l earners, t he procedures are l i kel y t o be of general val i di t y. Thus. t he
st udent s are f i rst exposed t o a t ext $, hi ch exempl i f i es t he vari ous i t ems of
l anguage needed t o express compari son and cont rast . Thei r at t ent i on i s drawn
t o t he key i t ems. u' hi ch i ncl ude some al t ernat i ve f orms. al t hough i t i s not
suggest ed t hat t he st udent s are bei ng Qi ven an-v more t han a
' basi c
ki t ' . As a
second st age, t hey are ei ven opport uni t i es f or usi ns t hese i t ems oral l y, . So t hat
t hey can expl ore t hei r use i n a f ai rl y f l exi bl e way. At t hi s st age. cert ai n
di f f i cul t i es shorv up whi ch were not perhaps ant i ci pat ed t hrough t he readi ng
t ext . Fi nal l y. t he st udent s are gi ven an appropri at e wri t i ng t ask. whi ch shou' s
how the function of comparison and contrast relates to a specific
communi cat i ve purpose.
(a) Study the language of comparison and contrast in the report below:
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KEY LANGUAGE
in many woy,slin
some respects/to
some extent. al i kel
si mi l ar, both, each,
like, similarlyl
l i kewi sei i n the
same way, bal ,
dissimilarldifferentl
unl i ke, compared
withlin comparison
with, while, on the
other hand, unlike,
difference between,
howeverl i n
constrast/on the
contrary
Exhead and Portsea are two towns on the
south coast whi ch are i n manl ,wrzys very
much alike. Thev are both old towns and
eachhas a l ar ge har bour .
Ll ke Portsea, Exhead has a popul ati on of
approxi matel y 120,000. It al so has a growi ng
number of l ocal i ndustri es. Si mi l arl y
,
Portsea
i s expandi ng on the i ndustri al front, too.
Bul i n ot her r espect s t he t wo t owns ar e qui t e
dissimilar. For one thing, contpared u'ith
Portsea. Exhead i s a much more attracti ve
pl ace. For thi s reason i t i s a popul ar hol i day
resort i n summer, whi l e Portsea, on the other
hand. attracts very few vi si tors.
Unl i ke Portsea. Exhead has extended i ts
hotel faci l i ti es because of the touri st trade.
One striking difference between the two
towns i s that Exhead has l ocated i ts new
i ndustri es on an estate outsi de the town. In
Portsea, however, there are even factori es
near t he har bour ,
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REPORT ON EXHEAD AND PORTSEA
714
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WRI TI NG AT THE POST-I NTERMEDI ATE LEVEL
(b) For t he next st age, t he st udent s are gi ven a bi o-dat a cue-Sheet and work i n
pai rs, cont rast i ng and compari ng any t wo of t he peopl e descri bed. For
exampl e, t hey make st at ement s l i ke: I n many wavs, J H Smi t h and A P
Wheeler are very mL4ch alike. They were both born in 1939, they are both
married, etc. Or: Compared with Michael Webb, Andrew Wheeler is a rich
man!
Notice that, at this stage, the students have to identify the points of
compari son and cont rast , as wel l as use t he appropri at e I anguage.
l i ane
l at e ci t si r t h
l ' . ar i t ai st at us
n ^ ^ , , - ^ + i ^ n
L u r u P 4 u r u r r
I nc one
i l l or t s
Ct h e r i n t e r e s t s
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w L U u v o L r v r r
I ncome
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l l o r n r . l mi i h
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/ a
, a ^ a r h F r h l - 1 Y
i , - ar r i ed
2 chi l ci . r en
( 1 son, 1 daught er )
' I eacher
: . 10
, { 00
p. a.
For d Si er r a
f a n r i c s n l I
t o " ^ ^
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" u r 4 v s ! r r r r 5 t
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( r
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t heat r e, phot ogr al : ; r ,
col l ect i ng
Name
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l i ari - t al s t at us }l arri ed
Andr ew Pet er ' r heel er
L p r t t 1 1 ) ) )
i n h i l d r e n
Ar chi t ect
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For d Si er r a
r n l f
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, r L U u u 6 a d P ' r J
( 4 sons, 1 daught er )
mooe r .
/
Name
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l ' I ar i t a1 st at us
O n c r r n a i i o n
-
I nc orne
; -. .
Ct her i nt er est s
Mi - chaeL i { ebb
Decer nber 12 19r 5
Si ngl e
Teacher
t l 000 p. a.
: i a t i t r a d a ( t
9 S6
mo t e l )
None
Ca n c i n g r ' b r a v e l l i n g
Ot her i nt er est s
115
TEACHI NG WRI TI NG SKI LLS
9. 3
Free wri t i ng:
some suggest ed
procedures
(c) For t hei r f i nal t ask. t he st udent s are si ven dat a i n t abul ar f orm. They are
asked t o rvri t e a report on one of t he cars i n each of t he t wo groups,
recommendi ng t hi s car as t he' best bu1". The. v have t o compare and
cont rast t hi s car u' i t h ot her ones i n t he same group. rvhere t hi s i s
appropri at e.
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The main concern of this last section is to suggest some procedures which
st udent s can use when t hey have t o cope wi t h t he t ask, whi ch very f ew of us
find easy, of producing a text in the form of a
' composition'
or an
' essay'
on a
gi ven t opi c, ei t her i n an exami nat i on or i n a si mi l ar si t uat i on. That i s, i t i s
assumed that the students have no special motivation for writing about the
topic and that they have not been given any special preparation for it through,
for exampie, a class discussion, as suggested in 9.1. It should be noted, however,
t hat we are not concerned rvi t h
' reci pes'
or' f ormul as' f or wri t i ng model
compositions or essavs but rvith procedures such as outlining, drafting and
improving drafts. fhese form part of any writing task for which the students
have not been helped u' ith the actual structuring of the text they have to
produce. For example. for the u' riting activities derived from the simulation in
8. 3, t he st udent s are gi ven bot h t he
' cont ent '
and t he f ormat (art i cl e, l et t er,
report, etc.) which thev have to use, but they have to organise the data for
themselves. Man.v students in fact write less well than they are able to simply
because these or similar procedures have not been sufficiently stressed.
It is not claimed that there is any one way of going about the writing of a
t ext (t hi s was acknorvl edged i n 1 . 1
)
. What i s i mport ant , however, i s t hat
students should appreciate the importance. for example, of making notes and
drafting. They must accept that this is a normal part of writing. The fact that
t hey cannot al wavs do t hi s u' hen t hey are asked t o wri t e agai nst t he cl ock i n an
exami nat i on does not i nval i dat e t he Drocedures.
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CITROEN RO\IIR V0LV0
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WRI TI NG AT THE POST-I NTERMEDI ATE LEVEL
For t he purpose of i l l ust rat i ng t hese procedures, a part i cul arl y uni nspi ri ng
composi t i on t opi c has been chosen: Descri be a pl ace whi ch seems much more
neglected and sad than when it was new.
I n at t empt i ng t o wri t e about a t opi c l i ke t hi s, we are i mmedi at el y f aced
wi t h t wo probl ems: who we are wri t i ng f or, whi ch, aS we have Seen, nat ural l y
i nf l uences how we wri t e. and what t o wri t e about . I n normal ci rcumst ances t he
f i rst probl em woul d never ari se at al l , si nce, out si de t he cl assroom, we do not
wri t e unl ess t here i s some reason f or doi ng so. For t hi s t ype of wri t i ng, st udent s
are of t en exhort ed t o' i magi ne' a reader. Thi s may t o some ext ent be hel pf ul i f
t he st udent s al so t hi nk of t he t ask i ni t i al l y as f ormi ng part of , l et us say, a l et t er
or a report. This at least gives them some purpose for writing about the topic in
t he f i rst pl ace and can serve t o st i mul at e some i deas on i t . And i f t he st udent s
are t o' i magi ne a reader' , i t had best be
' ot her
st udent s i n t he cl ass' . who are at
least real for them. Students do tend to rvrite better if they know that other
peopl e i n t he cl ass are goi ng t o read what t hey have wri t t en. Hence t he
importance of having a display board of some kind in the classroom.
I n t erms of procedures, t hen, our st art i ng poi nt i s real l y t he probl em of
what t o wri t e about : t hat i s, get t i ng some i deas on t he t opi c. Underst andabl y
st udent s of t en f eel t hat t hey have not hi ng t o say at al l , al t hough, i f t he t ask
were preceded by a short cl ass or group di scussi on, a number of i deas woul d
-
certainly be thrown up. In the absence of tttis. the students need to stimulate
themselves and this can be quite effectively done by asking oneself clttestions
about the topic and noting down anv ideas that occur. As a first step, then, it is
suggest ed t hat t he st udent s shoul d:
(a) List possible ideas.
One i dea very of t en sparks of f anot her. I n any case, most peopl e f i nd i t
helpful to get something down on paper. It is better than staring at blank
paper! Maki ng an
' i deas' chart
(see 6. 3. 1 and 8. 3. 1) i s one way of get t i ng
st art ed, and i t has t he added advant age of bei ng f l exi bl e. You can expand'
l i nk, number i deas i n a rvay t hat i s di f f i cul t i f you are maki ng not es i n a
convent i onal wav. Here, f or exampl e, are t he resul t s of t ryi ng t o deci de
whi ch
pl ace
t o rvri t e about .
Da' t:
br*t
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Lro/4i a/
Blrgo Ha//!
L6ed to
p'odu.cet
m, b+kzs
emPq
wru{ins brukg.rL
la'nAstte
hotuda'l4
'41re"rleact1)
'lwe/y
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J e ,Lfi,ffl-elltal !
fltn doktnalr4/
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df
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qrartevard I
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TEACHI NG WRI TI NG SKI LLS
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The wri t er pl ay' ed around wi t h several i deas. House di d not l ead
anywhere;
f arnt
di d. but he deci ded t hat he \ \ ' as soi ng i n t he wrong
di recti on. Both theatre and
factorl '
had some potenti al , but i n the end the
rvri t er deci ded t hat he coul d do more u, i t h hot el . Horvever. he can easi l y go
back and devel op t hem l at er i f he get s nowhere wi t h hot el (and i t i s much
easi er t o t ransf er i deas f rom one pl ace t o anot her by means of arrows).
(b) Sel ect and expand one i dea.
The wri t er has deci ded t hat he can do somet hi ng wi t h hot el on t he basi s of
personal experi ence. Agai n, i t hel ps t o do t hi s i n chart f orm
-
perhaps
merel y expandi ng t he f i rst one i f t i me i s short .
57llu-ot
c,ruwd^ed
-
(ho4
"to
bo{hrtm{hs
htbl'zl)
ALn a'godplace
to eat
""lLt
Lrf":.dances/ FulLa/ Iitfe: da,,
p*&s1"rtungs
frr
oh;lnne'tu
ti :,
e)
IelLt as tottt'
ai cott//:
no'Ft da!/
| ...
l / ' ' /
L)
,/e,.t bae,k ow
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, . PEE5TNT
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Ah',r-stenpQ:
iurt dorei
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J ^ - - t s
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'Dead:/Lo
tttz
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sgokz'at hin/6)
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Food- aulull
PA ST
@)
At tlsed so
qo
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sqrft4nei lrh,;a.as
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f / 0r EL
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6)
0 m'rcr ta4,rl' :
qro/ut',
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t6/L
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Or
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Oz lea't
uqotd bealt
/ oplt/a4' ttri'd/"
ftrru/l4l
(+01
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bard*rsn4qkotetd
Place g3noful,tal
ruzr. d,o-ti14..
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w
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,@rrlt/ptacz:
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I
Sizz
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v. Hg
v td4'ge
qa'rdar
-lba;ms
to bea;/'t
(c)
Make an outline.
Not everyone f i nds i t necessary or even hel pf ul t o make a pl an or out l i ne.
For some i t i s i nhi bi t i ng and prevent s i deas f rom f l owi ng. I n any case, i n
some si t uat i ons (such as t he exami nat i on room) t here may not be t i me. I n
t hat case. you can number t he i deas i n t he chart i n t he order you t hi nk you
woul d l i ke t o i ncorporat e t hem i n t he t ext . Thi s al so ensures t hat not hi ng
i mport ant i s l ef t out .
118
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However, some
students find making
an out l i ne hel pf ul f or
organi si ng i deas,
especially for
identifying and
developing an
opening and closing
paragraph, which will
make a great
impression on the
reader. Students
should at least be
taught how to do this,
even if they do not
make use of it everY
time they write a
composition.
(d)
Write a draft.
Writing a draft is a
key stage in the
product i on of a t ext
and the students
should normally be
required to do this as
a mat t er of course.
The purpose of the
outline in (c) is to
provide a scaffolding
for the draft version.
However, st udent s
shoul d not f eel t hat
they must necessarilY
keep t o t hei r out l i ne:
a piece of writing
somet i mes' t akes
of f '
and goes i n a
completely different
di rect i on, and t hey
may find it more
productive to follow
this new line of
devel opment . General l y
draf t s shoul d be wri t t en
qui t e qui ckl y
-
because t hey wi l l be
reworked and
corrected afterwards.
WRITING AT THE POST.INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
t . r e
f cr
20 year s
-
user i t o gc , ^. l t h. Dar ent s
)ra"A Sl amI 1
i r : , r c 2 i l cnt ecl " t o see Sea, l i eu i t ot el . l t seC : a be
bes:
, ) n t : ct n
( nea) I aTaays bookee up. l uLL ci
1. i . f e: nar i t l ' - cus r esl : aur ant and Ccr . ces. l t : : : r ;
c. r r cr gei enl t er t . i nnent s i n gar den
f or
chi l Cr er . .
Pat a 4 Ar yi uei . 1. r . h' ol . Jdny seasor . P1- ece aLno: :
er vl y ! ! i l osl ; Ly oLi ccupLes. Fcsl dur cnt i - ' ' i : e
cer e: o- r , l ! Tct ei i eser t ed by i C.
?att 4 !,-;er!thi nE vun cToum: rccns t-eei ed.
r ei eccr cl : . ; , r g / out si Ce t oo. Gar i en cot p"' et ei ' i
neg"- . caeC. l ' "i ke ; ungl e
!
?ar c S
( Cor , ci usl on) Fet t pLace hai gr cum o1- . i
( ! : , ' <e
cn' , er s/ guest s) ' M' i st cke ; o go back.
'
Esccaei ' ner t nor ni ng.
) . a l ar " i : Eo l , i eai i ed t a ga on a ui si t : o 9oxl e' 1. ! ut ' : ct ' er : e
cl t ays Lsei t : c t cke us t c: : hi ' ; se' asi t e t c' ' n
i ct
al i ?. ' L1m4r
h. ol ! i ci ; , b, L. t i hoc t o: been back xh' er e f cr ct ; er r [ e\ t t
! eq! s-
- pc: : : . cul dr Li l ucnt et i t o see t he Seet : eu i ot ; e' L uh' : : ' : t e
c" : xcys: : a- , t ed. l n: bse dcys i t Das t e! ' r t ex qnd cer : ci ' t ' : ! i : h' e
best rr. !cur,. :t ucs al aa1s crcuCed i ur:r' g l al i i aT aet:cr' .
i kere xere
7ar:--e;
tni Car.ces at the uee!:er"d cnd the c' -zers
t sed t o ar r at ge sgect c! ent er t ci nr ent s l cr
: i : e chi l dr e' t
t . ' \ e
: c r : : r .
, t t : . ) l e; ) . e ; ai ur i ai ! but - ; he i wt ei t a; ci r : ca; er c- ' 1 . ;
j ex t or e: ec21, e, r cst l ' 1 cl i : c' t pi es, ot ' t ' i ' : e: i c=er " ' t t l z ' - a! '
: t t e: : e: : . x' r , e: e t as sc t i eai ! - ecpl e cl e ! ' - e' : r j cci i ' : : : " : " ce
: ni bi , : ; t : o' cl ocl ' - t he pl - ace xcs can?Le, eLr i eser i e' j
) l ! ! ' aaa i epr es- " o- i r e: i t h' ai r - ' t beer : : e' : ct ' ct e4. f ol r : : : r ' s'
l l ' . e c; t : s' - ce cj
+' ke
hot a! t as j ust ae buc. | ' as
qsvi ' : ' : : ' : z: ' :
ccr t | ' e: : "
1
t eg' : eet ei : t o or e bot i ' " evei t c ' - : t r i ' L- cl css cr
; 1: t :
I
:::e:' e :r., rct' ;.
I
f e, : : i ; t t : i ' . a
c l ac e h- ad i i r c Ll t c : ' i , ' " l i ' ' ' : t Le: e: : " ' ^ | :
' : e, : : : i : e: : !
: er ' t ct : e : hey : i " i i t ot r c: i . : t a
' : a.
- cr : I i : : i ' : t
uas c rl e:,:.' r-e to gc bt:!- tr-C i dectJei :c::c' <; ty e::' ' ::e !h' e
i c
:' .cui t": rotr",ro.
119
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
(e) Corre ct at t t l i nt pr rt t e t l t e t l rut l .
I n par t i cul ar t he st udent s shoul d check f or mi st akes t hr ough a car ef ul
reacl i ng of
q, hat
t hev have wri t t en. Thev shoul d al so revi e rv t he t ext f rom
t he poi nt of vi eu of expr essi t l n and or gani sat i on.
?
A th*t t;"*
: ; ot Long/ ago I d"eci d"ed" t o
, go
on a u' Lsi t t o BorLey. )ur parent s
, ? l n' , d4
claays used to take us tc ihis
f' ;easid.e
toum
f.or
ouT su/mneT
2OquftJ aat
^
f-
sit't'we
ry I
i . c! ; / al . t sl Ai t t t hoC ro! b: an back t herel f or ouer t aent A
aearS
,
l//76 <
U//r147/5
i f part i euLarl yf uant ed
. o see t he Seaui eu Hot eL uhere ue
?";bf ;t' r-*"11' --"-'
r
btune*' ,c' *ta&oL
cLuaus st au6d. . I n 1: hose i eys t t ao"l un"y ne}. , a| ' t d. cert ai nLy
t he
ttuott"eqn/r;*hot
L l,crY
l.the
bet : l : h t ot m. I t t scs aLu: Vsf gr-ouded
Curi ngf hoLi aay
season.
ft"; uere parti,es and. dcrces at the ueekend" and the oLmers
tro a,t.L othrf,
^sed t o orrong$p; ; i l i
?"; ; ert ai nmer! )f or
t he chi Laren
-
( " " n t he
qaTaen.
)
I arciued on a saturi,av but the hoteL uas aLmost ernptyf
A
'- ?e'Asfu
f eu
mor e peopl e, most l yl r - _i
" i " p{ nt ,
ar y, i ued Lat er i n t he day.
/rnrsa 6.*-o'"oL9'2ry1o"4!
-
tW lW
: ut euer yuhe' r e Das sc i ec: ! TeopTe ct e t hei r
l f ood
i nf si l enee
'te'tfu*r*nlt
and by t en o' el ock t he' &- i as
co*pLet el y deser t ed'
/ ,w./t
ba/*
("ry
ry
b^4.-'L.
l ( a
"oo"7deP7es, s. ed
ne:
- - t
hadn' t been d"ecorated"
1o, YnorrQ
, I ierrt {.i
a. wa,l'k
/ri ' ,n' -oi t' si de
of the 7"ote1'
' :as j ust
as
conpLet eLy
negLect ed: no one bot her ed
fl,ouers
any moYe.
/t
seunrcL btnz-
' +4+*
t nai t f r pLace
i "' ad
grot nt ol d, Li ke t he peopLe uho
uent thereQ Perhaps they di'd not not'Lce i't
*tmiJirifu
/'raaL bze.n . :'.
)
.ve7e 1-
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| /.
i.6' "-*Lii"ke to go back end I decLded to make my escapef(he
bad. The gardenrf,Won
-
(T'
t he grass or
PLant
,orntrO)
r20
f oLLoui ng
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WRI TI NG AT THE POST. I NTERMEDI ATE LEVEL
(0 Write the
final
version.
The t ext bel ow i s a modi f i ed versi on of t he draf t i n (d). I t i ncorporat es
many of t he changes made i n (e),
but i t i s not
j ust
a
' f ai r
copy' because
Some new i deas occurred whi l e t he f i nal versi on
was bei ng wri t t en.
A short uhi Le ago, I deci ded t o go on a ui si t t o BorLey, uhere
our paTents used to take us euerA year
for.
ouIl sul rner hoLi dnys.
But that uas tuenta
aears
ago
-
and I had not been back si nce
t hen.
I rmtst admLt I uas parti cuLarLy curi ous to see the Seaui eu
Hot eL, uhere ue aLuays st ayed. I n t hose dnys i t uas t he neDest
and. by
far
the most popuLaT VtoteL i n toum., al uays uerA cTouded
duri ng the hol i dau season and
fuLL
of Li fe. There uez' e parti es
and" dnnces at the ueekend, and the odl tey,s used to apange tea
anC other,
tentextai nments'
i n the garden
for.
the chi l dren. For
us, of course, t hi s was t he speci aL at t ri et i on!
I aTri ued. on a saturday and al though i t uas the ni ddLe of
t he hoLi daa season, t he hot eL uas aLmost compLet eLy ernpt y. I t
uas a bad. si gn! Later i n the fua, o
i eu
more guests arTi .ued.
They uere most Ly eLderl y coupl es. At di nner, peopLe at e i n
si Lence and. by t en o, cl ock t he hot eL uas cornpLet eLy desev' t ed.
Conpared. utth the oLd d.ays on a Saturd-a.y ni ght, tk"e pLace
seemed Li ke a graueYard!
I uent back t o mA room
-
but t l nt depressed me eDen more: i t
h-ad not been d.ecorated
foz,
years. I deci ded to take a uaLk
round" the gard.er,, but thi s aas no better. It uas not
i ust
the
ou_t si de of t he hot el , uhi ch aLso needec pai nt i ng. Tk' e gaTdens
-
t hose LoueLy gardens!
-
uere cornpLet el y negl ect ed: no one
bothered. to pLant any
fl ouers;
no one bothered euen to cut the
grass !
It seemei L to me tl nt the pLace Ltad si r,rpl l J gI,oLn oLd
-
aLong
ai th the ori neTE and the peopl e uho uent there. Perhaps theu
di d. not noti ce uhat had happened, but I_ di d. It had been a
great ni stake to go back, of course, anC I dcci ded to mo,ke ny
esca?e as soon as I coul d i n t he morr"i ng'
t21
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
I i \ l r l ( ) \ \
Di scussi on
Exercises
Ref erences
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To sum up. i t i s suggest ed t hat t he st udent s shoul d be t aught a set of
procedures (summari sed i n t he di agram), u' hi ch u' i l l hel p t hem not
onl y when t hey are u' ri t i ng about t opi cs l i ke t he one deal t wi t h
above but al so rvi t h an1' ki nd of
' f ree'
u' ri t i ng. I n part i cul ar. t hese
procedures shoul d t ake i nt o account t he i mport ance of maki ng
not es, wri t i ng out l i nes. draf t i ng and correct i ng draf t s bef ore t he
f i nal versi on i s wri t t en up. As t hey become more experi enced, t he
st udent s wi l l no doubt want t o modi f y t hese. I n part i cul ar, duri ng
exami nat i ons, t hev may not have t i me t o t ake a pi ece of wri t i ng
t hrough al l t hese st ages. However. t he experi ence of havi ng l earned
to make notes. to write drafts and to correct them will stand them in
good st ead. And t hey wi l l appreci at e. i t i s hoped. t hat , because i t i s
a t hi nki ng process. u' ri t i ng i s not
j ust
a quest i on of i nspi rat i on' : i t
al so general l y i nvol ves a great deal of hard work and organi sat i on.
I n what sense i s most of
t he wri t i ng we do i n
' real
l i f e' ever real l y f ree? How
useful a preparation for it
i s cl assroom composi t i on?
Do you agree that there
are many effective
alternatives to the
conventional
'
composition' u' riting
activity? What are they?
What is your view of the
functionally-oriented
writing activiti6s suggested
i n9. 2?
O 1986 unded Feat ure Syndrcat e. l nc
Examine any coursebook to see what provision is made for remedial writing
act i vi t i es.
Make a l i st of t he t hi ngs you do (e. g. maki ng not es, draf t i ng, et c. ) when you
have to write, for example, a report or any complex piece of writing.
Compare your procedures ri' ith a friend.
In the light of what
you
have read. make a list of what you consider to be the
best twenty controlled, guided and free writing activities. Compare your
' Top
Twent y' wi t h a f ri end.
On what students do when they have to write (in the mother tongue) see
S Krashen (1984) pages 12-19.
For writing activities at the intermediate level and beyond, see J Arnold and
J Harmer Advanced Wrtting Skills (1978); N Coe et alWriting Skills (1983);
M Carrier Writing (1981); E Glendinning and H Mantell Write ldeas (i983);
J O' Driscoll Penguin Advanced Wriring Skll/s (i984); D Jolly Writing Tasks
(1984) and A Pincas Wriring in English J (1982).
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10. 1
Errors and
mi st akes
10.2
Teacher and
st udent
correct i on
10
Correcting written work
When we see something wrong with a pie' ce of written work, we must first try to
decide whether it is an error or a mistake. Broadly, learners make errors when
they try to do something with the language which they are not yet able to do.
For example, they often make false generalisations (they use a regular instead
of an irregular form, such as throwed instead of. threw) or they transfer from the
mother tongue (they write: The people is angry instead of The people are
angry). These are two major sources of error. Mistakes, on the other hand, are
slips of some kind. The students have learned something, but perhaps they
have temporarily forgotten it or are tired . . . or, we feel, are
just
being
carel ess.
Although in practice it is sometimes difficult to decide if something is a
mistake or an error (after all, we may think we have taught the students
something but perhaps they did not learn it)
,
it is important to try to decide.
Clearly, for example, if students have not learned something, we cannot expect
t hem t o correct i t f or t hemsel ves. On t he ot her hand, i t i s perf ect l y reasonabl e
and pedagogicaily sound to get them to correct their own mistakes. And it is
certainly no use getting cross with the students if they keep on making certain
errors. The lesson we can learn from these is that the students need to learn
something, whether or not the syllabus or the coursebook has provided for it at
t hi s st age, and t he best way we can hel p t hem i s by gi vi ng t hem t he opport uni t y
t o l earn i t . Learners' errors, i n short , can hel p shape our t eachi ng (and
cert ai nl y our remedi al t eachi ng).
I t has al ready been suggest ed t hat we shoul d not be undul y preoccupi ed wi t h
the detection and correction of mistakes in written work. Effective expression is
not the same as accurate expression. Accuracy is normally measured in terms of
correct grammar, spel l i ng, et c. , si nce t hese are t he areas whi ch t end t o get t he
most at t ent i on when a pi ece of wri t t en work i s bei ng
' correct ed' .
But a pi ece of
wri t t en work whi ch has a number of mi st akes i n i t mav nevert hel ess convey t he
L : )
TEACHI NG WRI TI NG SKI L L S
10. 3
Correcti on
procedures
u' ri t er' s communi cat i ve purpose perf ect l . v adequat el y, u' hi l e anot her pi ece.
superf i ci al l y f ree f rom mi st akes. does not . The same i s t rue of oral expressi on.
But , as we have not ed. t here i s a t endency t o scrut i ni se ri ' ri t t en expressl on
more cl osel y because i t i s readi l y accessi bl e t o caref ul i nspect i on. I t i s t here f or
us t o read and reread and consequent l y we t end t o see mi st akes.
Cl earl y, however. \ \ ' e cannot i gnore mi st akes al l t he t i me. St udent s expect
t o be i nf ormed of t hei r progress and t he correct i on of mi st akes. by what ever
procedures are used. rs one u' ay of doi ng t hi s. Equal l y, however. i f we i ndi cat e
t he ways i n whi ch a pi ece of rvri t i ng i s def ect i ve, we shoul d al so poi nt out i n
what wavs we t hi nk i t i s successf ul . For exampi e, we shoul d i nf orm t he st udent s
(not l eave i t t o be assumed by an absence of comment ) t hat t hey have made
good use of connect i \ / es or punct uat i on devi ces. et c. Thi s posi t i ve f orm of
f eedback need not add much t o
your
work: t he st udent s can be gi ven a
checkl i st of i t ems and t hel ' can see at a gl ance i f t hey are maki ng progress f rom
t he ones t hat have been t i cked of f .
Bef ore u' e l ook at vari ous correct i on procedures. rve need t o st ress once
agai n t he i mport ance of get t i ng t he l earners t hemsel ves t o i dent i f y and correct
mi st akes. Ul t i mat ei y t hev u' i l l have t o exami ne. eval uat e and i mprove t hei r
own work: t hi s i s part of t he process of draf t i ng. correct i ng and wri t i ng f i nal
versi ons, whi ch was descri bed i n 9. 3. But t hi s i mport ant cri t i cal abi l i t y wi l l not
devel op unl ess t he l earners are gi ven t he opport uni t v t o exerci se i t f rom a much
earlier level. There willbe occasions when you wiliwant to correct all the mistakes
in a piece of written work (see 10.3 for ways of doing this). Equally, however,
there will be occasions when you can leave it to the students themselves.
For a start, to get them into the habit of looking critically at a piece of written
work which has not been corrected by the teacher, they can work in pairs or
small groups to try to identify any mistakes and only then to consult with you.
This procedure will not work perfectly on all occasions, but it will at least get
the students into the habit of checking a piece of written work for themselves.
Vari ous correct i on Drocedures are exami ned bel ow.
(a)
Correct all the mistakes.
This is of course the traditionai approach to the correction of written work.
It is time-consuming for the teacher and discouraging for the students
-
at
l east i f t he. v get t hei r u' ork back covered wi t h red i nk. Apart f rom t hat '
there must be some doubt about how effective this form of correction is.
Some st udent s l earn not hi ng f rom i t : ot hers are more i nt erest ed i n why
somet hi ng i s u' rong rat her t han t he correct i on i t sel f . I f
. vou
can correct
somet hi ng i n cl ass. u' hi l e t he st udent s are st i l l engaged i n wri t i ng and
everyt hi ng i s f resh i n t hei r mi nds, t hi s i s l i kel y t o be more ef f ect i ve t han
l ooki ng at a mass of correct i ons several days af t er t he event .
Overal l , unl ess t he educat i onal syst em obl i ges you t o carry out t hi s
ki nd of correct i on. vou shoul d consi der al t ernat i ve approaches.
(b) Correct mistakes selectiv e[1' .
That i s, you do not at t empt t o correct al 1 t he mi st akes i n a pi ece of wri t i ng,
but onl y t hose i n cert ai n areas. such as t enses or art i cl es, ei t her because
t hi s i s where t he st udent s part i cul arl y need hel p or because you have
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(c)
CORRECTI NG WRI TTEN WORK
decided to focus attention on these for a while. Certainly this approach is
more positive than total correction
-
in practice, of course, most teachers
exerci i e some f orm of sel ect i on
-
but i t probabl y needs t o be backed up
by some f orm of remedi al t eachi ng (see bel ow).
Inclicate mistakes so that the students can correct them'
Thi s i s normal l y done by underl i ni ng t he mi st akes and usi ng some ki nd of
symbol to focus the attention of the students on the kind of mistake they
have made. For a possi bl e l i st of t hese, see bel ow'
SYMBOL
MEANI NG
EXAMPLE
S
I ncor r ect spel l i ng
ss
I r eci eued
j our
Let t er .
ul
o.
Wr ong wor d or der
w. o.
We knou ueLL t hi s ci t y.
w. o.
ALuays I an haPPY here.
T
Wr ong t ense
I
f
Lt e ai LL come, i t ui LL
be t oo Lat e.
c
Concor d Subj ect and ver b do
not agr ee
q
Tao poLLceryf_has- come.
c
The neus- are bad today .
VF
Wr ong f or m
w ?
We uant t hat
You
come,
w7
That t abLe i s oux,
sl p
Si ngul ar or pl ur al f or m wr ong Ile need more infornotion?.
L
Somet hi ng has been l ef t out
Theu sai df uo, urorn.
" l _,
He kLt me onl sl ""cu1-deY
lr
tl
Somet hi ng i s not necessar Y
cl
It uas too nt' Lcl t di ffi cuLi .
?m
NA
Meani ng i s not cl ear
- 7n
Come and' rest u"Jt h us
f or
a ueek.
The uieu
fron
here i' s uerY
?n
suggebt i ue.
The usage i s not aPPr oPr i at e
NA
Hn
@
ne t o si t doum'
P
Punct uat i on wr ong
t t 7
hhats
Uour
name
p
He asked me uhat I uer' ' t ed?
I i -' )
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
Usi ng a l i st of t hi s ki nd, vou can get t he st udent s. i ndi vi dual l y. i n pai rs or i n
smal l groups. t o i dent i f y at l e ast most of t he mi st akes f or t hemsel ves' I f
t hey cannot . t hen t hey si roul d consul t you. Thi s approach cert ai nl y makes
t hem more aware of t he ki nd of mi st akes t hey are maki ng and i s t heref ore
l i kel y t o resul t i n somet hi ng bei ng l earned. You do not need of course t o
i ndi Cat e al l t he mi st akes. I n pract i ce. however, i t does not sol ve al l t he
probl ems. For exampi e, i f st udent s are l ef t t o i dent i f y mi st akes f or
i hemsel ves, t he1, ma-V not bot her. Even i f t hey work i n groups, some f orm
of conf i rmat i on
may, be needed and t hi s coul d t ake up a l ot of cl ass t i me i n
a l arge cl ass.
I f your t eachi ng si t uat i on permi t s. you coul d t ry t o i mpl ement a st aged
approach f or get t i ng t he st udent s t o correct t hei r own work'
St age 1 Underl i ne t he mi st ake and di agnose i t b, v u' ri t i ng t he appropri at e
symbol i n t he mar gi n.
St age 2 Underl i ne t he mi st ake but do not di agnose i t '
St age 3 Di agnose t he mi st ake by u' ri t i ng t he symbol i n t he margi n but do
not shou' g' her e i t i s i n t he l i ne.
St age 4 Put a cross i n t he margi n (f or each mi st ake)'
St age 5 Put a cross agai nst each l i ne wi t h a mi st ake but do not i ndi cat e how
many mi st akes t here are.
(d)
Let the students identifl' and correct their own mistakes'
This is not a procedure that you are likely to be able to follow all the time.
occasi ona] l 1, . hou' ever , Voushoul dbepr epar edt ohandover t hewhol e
business of correction to the students
-
which their will generally do
scrupul ousl y and u' i t h enl oyment .
Ot her t hi ngs you can do t o hel p st udent s when t hey make mi st akes are:
(a) Expl ai n a mi st ake.
For exampl e. you can wri t e a comment i n t he margi n or at t he end of a
piece of wlritten tr,ork. This procedure is especially useful for drawing
attention to recurrent mistakes in a particular area and when you are able
t o l ook at st udent s' work i n cl ass.
(b)
Indicate to the students that the,v ,should consult vou about a mistake'
This may be used as an aiternative to (b) and (c) above. Very often the
students themselves can suggest the correction when their attention has
been drawn t o a mi st ake.
(c) lJse the mistake as a basis
for
remedial teaching.
This procedure should be followed if a sufficient number of students in the
cl ass have made a mi st ake t o warrant general correct i on. Al t ernat i vel y,
you can set i ndi vi dual remedi al work. Remedi al t eachi ng may t ake t he
iorm of an explanation, where this is felt to be sufficient, or exercises, oral
or wri t t en. whi chever Seems t o be appropri at e, desi gned t o correct t he
mi st ake.
Teachers tend to place their faith in one type of correction
procedure rather
t han anot her. I n part i cul ar. manv do not accept (or onl y accept wi t h some
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4.
I
Di scussi on
Exercises
CORRECTING WRITTEN WORK
mi sgi vi ng) sel f -correct i on
procedures. I n general , however, al t hough i t i s
important
to give the students opportunities to correct written work so that
t hey devel op a sel f -cri t i cal
at t i t ude, i t does not seem t hat one approach i s so
intiinsically
superior
that it can be used all the time and you should therefore
draw on the various approaches
to suit the needs of your students'
1 Do you think that the distinction made between errors and mistakes is
important?
2 From your own experience
of teaching
(or learning)' d:
Io"
think that
detailed teacher correction
of written work is effective? Give your reasons'
3I nmedi umt ol ar gesi zedcl asses( i . e. over 30st udent s) , what pr obl emsdo -
you see in getting-students
to correct
their own work?
l Devi seyour ownset of cor r ect i onpr ocedur es. Youcanmodi f yt hel i st on
page 125.
2Useyour cor r ect i onsymbol st oi ndi cat et hemi st akesi nt hef ol l owi ngpi ece
of writing, which is in the form of a letter'
fu/A dea
l'tott/ a/rcyow. / a'rtr'
vh'/
qord b4tuf oivc'rry
"ru'o/t'
hir;L
in rhese d,ags,
Pe'r+w7s
I as/e ftw,t fhe
6{orrffl4'ti'C
yne
aw,ckh
(b^'t Irw [,tlec.
q:o+h ar
-d4;do'rsl)
'
Soinrlirnq
I m,wst ts tdl
YzLL.
lchwwle in,p/^t
YnthLn a
Ubtlt 6,^d I
'qs"fo
worte
'int'
b,zn te . I nni r"*t'ctt',
3x'c^t,r19
{or
rhis ! I hoPe to gain
"more
a't barn/?.
L of rne
fo fuaue a/'L
You'r
TtE ts.
/ arrn, cn@1y
to,kruow
them. EoLipue
rVL(
,
I
T,4/L'A/4/L,
Youn''
fi'e;"rt'c/ ,
"pa,rl.o-
127
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
Ref erences
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2
For usef ul qener al cui dance on cor r ect i on sr - e RJ Wi ngf i el d ( 197- l ) . For
st udent correct i on see CJ Brumf i t i n S Hol den (1983) Corrcct i rrq Y' ri t t (l l
work. The i deas i n thi s chapter owe a good deal to these trvo arti cl es. See al so
R Whi t e ( 1980) pages 106- 9 and. l Har mer ( 1983) pages 1, 10- 1.
For correct i on symbol s see J Wi l l i s (1981) pages 112-3 and L Dangerf i el d i n
A Mat t hews et al (eds) (1985) pages 195-8.
Aboywrote
a
poem
NICHOI.AS CTIAPIVTAN
A boy u' r ot e a poem.
I t was f r om honr ewor k f r om cl ass,
LI e wr ot c about cl i f f ' t ops,
And how t l r c u i nds
l r i r ss
He
j ust l ct i t I t o*'
f r om hi s head t o hi s pen,
But hi s spcl l i ng *' as bad,
" C, do t hi s agai nl "
A boy wr ot e a poem,
And t hor r ght of hi s nr ar k.
And t hi s t i me he chccker l i t
And wr ot e of t he d: r r k.
He changed and cor r ect er l .
Gave i t i n t he next day,
He got "B+
Good effort"
and t hr ew i t away.
Nicholas Chapman is 12 and attends
Queen
Katherine School, Kendal,
Cumbria.
Publ i shed i n t he Ti mes Educat i onal
Suppl ement 16. 8. 85.
r28
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11. 1
Reasons for
teachi ng wri ti ng
11
Writing
activities
for children
The age group we have in mind here is that of
gupils
i9.".trt
7-8 years old' who
have
,Jnly reclntly started elementary school. Since children at this age are
good at learning orally and are still learning to write in their mother tongue, we
i""d to explain and perhaps
justify why we should want to teach them to write
in another language at this stage, apart from perhaps
just giving them a few
routine copying exercises. Won' t ii
just be yet another learning burden for
t hem? I f i i weri , t hen i t mi ght be bet t er t o keep wri t i ng t o an absol ut e
minimum.
But it does not liave to be a burden, as we shall see when we look at
the various types of activity proposed, especially if we k-eep in mind the many
good reasoni it .r. are for teaching writing at this age ' Some of these apply to
l -. u. n. r, of al l ages. A number, however, are pecul i ar t o chi l dren'
( a) Chi l dr enusual l yenj ol , wr i t i ng. Thi si spar t l ybecauset heyhaveonl yl ust
started to write in their mother tongue. Even activities like copying still
have a cert ai n novel t Y val ue.
(b) Most children expect to be taught to write (and read of course) ' This is one
^
of the things youhave to do rvhen you go to school and they see it as part of
l earni ng a l anguage'
(c) chi l dren,
l i ke ol der st udent s
-
but even more so, need a break f rom oral
wor k. Theyenj oyt al ki ng. of cour se. but t heysoonget t i r ed, eveni f you
keep changing' ttLe
activiiies.
Writing activities provide a very important
quiet (or relatively quietl) period-foi them in the lesson, after which they
usual l yr et ur nt oor al r vor kr ef r eshedandl essr est l ess.
(d) wri t i ng gi ves chi l dren an opport uni t y
t o work at t hei r ownpace.
whi ch i s
' '
u. ru , . i J*i ng f or t hem. Remember
t hat t here can be very bi g di f f erences
bet rveen l earners at t hi s age because t hei r mot or ski l l s are st i l l devel opi ng'
(e)
Access to the rvritten language sometimes
clears up difficttlties
rvhich
r29
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
11. 1 . 1
Some gui del i nes
for teaching
writing to children
chi l dren have u' hen l earni ng oral l . v. Somet i mes t hey cannot t el l you about
t hese di f f i cul t i es because t hey are not even aware of t hem t hemsel ves.
(f) Writing activities provide an opportunity
for
personal contacr. This again is
very i mport ant f or l earners of t hi s age, who are St i l l get t i ng used t o t he
cl assroom envi ronment . When t hey are wri t i ng, you can go and work wi t h
t hem i ndi vi dual l y (at l east wi t h t hose who need and want t hi s at t ent i on),
sort out difficulties and encourage them. This is sometimes more important
than the writing activity itself.
(g) Childre n like and need to have a record of many of the things they do in the
cl assroom
-
of di al ogues t hey have pract i sed and songs t hey have sung.
Agai n t hi s i s i mport ant because, al t hough t hey l earn qui ckl y, t hey f orget
qui ckl y t oo. You shoul d not f orget t hat t hey l ead very busy l i ves
-
i n and
out of school !
(h) Children need the extro language contact that writing can provide.
especi al l y t hrough some sort of homework act i vi t y. Thi s i s essent i al i f t here
i s a l ong gap bet u' een one l esson and t he next . Homework, of course. need
not be a burden. For exampl e, i f chi l dren are asked t o i l l ust rat e a song (see
1I . 2. 1( i ) bel ow) . t hi s u' i l l hel p t o keep t hem i n t ouch wi t h t he l anguage
(t hey are very l i kel , v t o be heard si ngi ng i t t o t hemsel ves as t hey draw! ) as
wel l as bei ng enj ovabl e.
(i) Children need somethirtg to show their parents. Parents are usually pleased
when they hear their children utter a few words in a foreign language but
they are usually more convinced that they are making progress (even
perhaps if they are not) if they have tangible evidence in the form of
written work. They usually expect homework to be in the form of writing
t oo.
The main purpose for going into the reasons for teaching children of this age to
write is that they lvill
help us to see how we should go about it. Two things
especially should be kept in mind. First, rvriting must not impair oral fluency.
There is no reason why this should happen provided the pupils get plenty of
opportunities for hearing and using English and if writing is treated as an
extension of oral work. Secondly, we should not try to teach aspects of the
written language which learners at this age cannot be expected to understand
and cope with. For example, they are too young to do sentence linking
activities (except in the few instances that these can be turned into a kind of
game) and t he ki nd of t ext s t hey wri t e are more l i kel y t o be i magi nat i ve t han
coherent. Remember that the pupils are still learning how to organise their
i deas i n t hei r mot her t ongue.
(a) Give the pupils plent;' of opportunities
for
copying.
This willhelp them feel at ease with the written language and should also
provi de t hem wi t h records of t hi ngs t hey may need, e. g. l i st s of words,
copi es of songs, poems and di al ogues.
(b) Give the pupils adequate opportunities to use orally learned language in
writing.
I n short , t hey wi l l need a f ai r amount of cont rol l ed pract i ce. part i cul arl y t o
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The organi sat i on
of wri t t en work
11. 2
Wri t i ng act i vi t i es
WRI TI NG ACTI VI TI ES FOR CHI LDREN
rei nf orce key st ruct ures and vocabul ary. Thi s need not and shoul d not be
bori ng. (I n f act , most workbooks f or chi l dren t ry t o make t hi s t ype of
act i vi t y i nt erest i ng and enj oyabl e. )
(c) Provide activities which the pupils can do at their own speed.
Some pupi l s wi l l f i ni sh an act i vi t y very qui ckl y (and cal l out f or at t ent i on! ).
You should be prepared to extend the activity (by some form of parallel
writing) or have an extra activity ready (which need not be a written one).
Slower pupils should as far as possible always be given the opportunity to
finish an activity in some form (that is, they must not be left feeling that
t hey have f ai l ed, ot herwi se t hey may begi n t o get di scouraged).
(d) Work with the pupils wherever possible.
Writing activities provide a break for the pupils
-
but not, as a rule, for
the teacher! Some pupils will actually need your help. With all of them
writing will provide an opportunity to get to know them a little better
personal l y.
(e) Make sure that the pupils begin to see writing as a means of communication.
This can be done mainly by getting the pupils to write to one another in
cl ass (see 17. 2. 3 and 11. 2. 4), whi ch i s an act i vi t y t he l earners part i cul arl y
enj oy at t hi s age.
(f) Encourage the pupils to be creative.
This should balance controlled and language-focused activities suggested
i n (b). At t hi s age t hey have pl ent y of i magi nat i on and t hey shoul d be
encouraged t o use i t .
(g) Make writing activities enjoyable.
This is the most important provision. Remember that many pupils are
just
starting on a programme which may last for years. It would be a pity if they
were turned off at this early age through boredom or failure. You must try,
t heref ore, t o ensure t hat t hey get as much f un out of wri t i ng as t hey do
f r om ot her act i vi t i es.
See al so 4. 7. 3 . At t hi s age t he pupi l s wi l l normal l y be maki ng use of
workbooks or act i vi t y books. Thi s i n i t sel f wi l l hel p t o keep t oget her a good
deal of t hei r wri t t en work. Somet i mes, however, mat eri al has t o be cut out and
a folder will be useful for keeping together this and other looseleaf material.
As a rul e at t hi s age i t i s bet t er t o ask pupi l s t o work wi t h exerci se books
(rat her t han a f ol der f or everyt hi ng). The ki nd of exerci se book t hey use (i . e.
t he di st ance bet ween t he l i nes) may al so be i mport ant f or wri t i ng. Pupi l s wi l l
need at least two exercise books: one for vocabulary lists and related activities
(e. g. Word Bi ngo) and t he ot her f or copi es of di al ogues, songs and poems,
whi ch t hey shoul d be encouraged t o i i l ust rat e. They may al so need one f or
proj ect work such as maki nq an i l l ust rat ed di ct i onary.
These have been di vi ded i nt o f our groups
-
copyi ng. pract i ce wi t h words,
pract i ce wi t h sent ences and creat i ve rvri t i ng
-
but t here i s i nevi t abl y some
overl ap bet ween t hese groups.
131
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG
SKI LLS
11. 2. 1
Copf i ng
(a) Joirting up dors to
form
v' ords
Thi s very basi c act i vi t y can be
usef ul i n t he earl y st ages.
partly to give the
PuPils
practice in forming the letters'
More t han t hat , however, i t
gives the pupils the illusion
that they are
Producing
the
words for themselves. It is of
course an activity they are
familiar with through
Puzzle
books that contain hidden
obj ect s i n pi ct ures.
Finding rhe word that is different
The pupils are given sets of 4-5
words like those in the diagram
and are asked to find and write
out the word that is different.
This combines reading with
writing. Children enjoY the
problem-solving
asPect of this
(d) Completing crossh)ord
puzzles
The pupils use or select words
from a list to comPlete simPle
crossword puzzles like these.
The puzzles can be more
extensive as the
PuPils Progress.
Joi n t i r e dot s ond ci r cl e
t he number .
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(c) Labelling items
For this the pupils use words listed for them in a box to identify and label,
for example, individual objects, peopie in a group, objects in a Scene' etc.
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(e) Finding words
The pupils have to find and write out words which have been
' hidden'
in
boxes l i ke t he one bel ow. The words may bel ong t o a set (e. g. ani mal s,
clothes, etc.) and at a later stage may form a sentence, such as an
instruction. The pupils can also make their own wordboxes, working
i ndi vi dual l y or i n groups, usi ng words whi ch t hey have been gi ven.
(f) Filling in speech bubbles
The pupils have to fill in speech bubbles by matching the sentences with the
situation. The activity is more interesting if the pictures form a sequence.
(g) Forming dialogues or stories
from ittmbled
sentences
See 4. 3. 1 (c) f or t hi s act i vi t y. Thi s makes a good pai rwork or group act i vi t y
and can be based on somet hi ng t he pupi l s have al ready heard.
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WFI TI NG SKI LLS
1r. 2. 2
Word activities
( h) Playing v,ord bingo
See 4. 2. 3 (e) f or t hi s act i vi t i ' . Thi s i s a l i e-v act i vi t v f or l earners at t hi s l evel
because vocabul arv set s need t o be kept f resh i n t hei r mi nds t hrough
const ant revi si on. I t hel ps wi t h pronunci at i on as wel l as spel l i ng, because
t he pupi l s can t el l
1' ou
whi ch words t o wri t e on t he board and t hen hear you
read t hem out . You can al so pl ay' phrase bi ngo' wi t h t he pupi l s, but be
careful that this does not present problems for slow copiers.
Making copies of songs, etc.
The pupi l s make t hei r own copi es of di al ogues. songs and poems (i . e. any
key ref erence mat eri al ) i n a book set asi de f or t hi s purpose and provi dd
t hei r own i l l ust rat i ons. Thi s agai n i s a very i mport ant act i vi t y. Most pupi l s
exhi bi t a good deal of i magi nat i on when i l l ust rat i ng mat eri al of t hi s ki nd.
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For the activities in this section the pupils
spel l ) t he words t hey need.
(a) Completing crosswords
Thi s i s si mi l ar t o 11. 2. 1 ( d)
except that the pupils are not
given any of the words. They
may, however, be gi ven pi ct ure
clues (perhaps placed next to or
l i nked t o t he rel evant souares t o
be f i l l ed i n).
have t o provi de (i . e. t hi nk of and
a b/'a<'h ha,t
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WRI TI NG ACTI VI TI ES FOR CHI LDREN
(b) Labelling items
Thi s i s si mi l ar t o 11. 2. 1 (c), except t hat t he pupi l s have t o provi de t he
words. They can al so be asked t o draw or compl et e t he pi ct ures needed.
For exampl e, t hey may be asked t o l abel i t ems i n a zoo or f ri dge whi ch t hey
have drawn.
(c) Making lists
For exampl e, t he pupi l s maY be
asked to compile lists of:
-
t hi ngs t hey woul d l i ke t o eat ;
-
count ri es t hev woul d l i ke t o
vi si t ;
-
animals they would like to see
(or have as pet s) (et c. )
They can then comPare their
choices with a friend.
(d) Classifying items
The pupils have to identifY and
then arrange in categories (the
headings wiil normallY have to
be provided or at least worked
out with the class beforehand)
t hi ngs t hat t hey can see i n a
I twtld ti,ke ,o h'atrc
pl ct ure.
(e) Completing texts
That is, the pupils put in the missing words. The texts can be dialogues they
have practised, stories accompanied by a picture sequence or songs' poems
and ri ddl es whi ch t hey have heard (et c. ).
Sal l y goes r ound t he . . ' . . ,
Sal l y
goes r ound t he. . . . . ,
Sal l y
goes r ound t he
" . ' .
on a Sat ur daY. . , . . l
Correcting sentences or texts
These should be accompanied bv a picture so that the
mi st akes of f act (not grammar). For exampl e:
pupils are correcting
There i s a boat i n t he
Pi ct ure.
Tl,urrv a/re frlrd b{at;
A gi r l i s goi ng home. She' s got a
bot t l e i n her hand.
( t) n t?na/l d"g
(z) t*o elzpl,wnts
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(1) n pa,rrot
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135
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI L L S
1r.2.3
Sentence acti vi ti es
(g) Making u' ords
The pupi l s are gi ven one l ong
word and. worki ng i n pai rs or
smal l groups, see how manv ne\ \ '
words t hey can make f rom i t .
They somet i mes l i ke t o l ook
through books to try to find
words (and this is a good u' av of
get t i ng t hem i nt erest ed i n cl ass
readers).
(h) Making notes
Thi s i s part i cul arl y i mport ant duri ng a game when t hey may need t o keep a
record of what obj ect s t hel ' have won or whi ch ani mal s t hey have seen (i f
t he game t akes t hem t o a zoo or a saf ari park). Usual l y t he i t ems t o be
not ed are words. but somet i mes phrases have t o be wri t t en down. I f much
wri t i ng i s i nvol ved, pupi l s shoul d work i n pai rs (i . e. one act ual l , v-' pl a-vi ng.
t he ot her nraki ng not es) so as not t o sl ot l ' t he
game down.
The purpose of these activities is to reinforce key items of structure (often
t oget her wi t h a good deal of vocabul ary). There i s no reason why t hi s ki nd of
manipulative pradtice need be boring (in an-v case most children enjoy
repet i t i on). Most workbooks provi de good act i vi t i es f or t hi s ki nd of pract i ce.
but you may need to supplement this. In any case the suggestions below will
help you to see if the workbook has left out any useful areas of activity.
(a) Writing parallel texts
That is, the pupils have a model and have to write one or more parallel
versions. This is particularly useful if the pupils write dialogues which they
can then practise with one another. Later on, they can be asked to write
short narrative sequences (5-6 sentences) which will give them some
practice in basic sentence linking (and, but, so) and sequencing
ffirst,
then,
after that).
(b) Completing speech bubbles
Thi s i s l i ke 11. 2. 1 (f ), except t hat t he pupi l s now have t o suppl y t he
sentences for thernselves.
(c) Wriling sentence sequences
Thi s i s a devi ce f or get t i ng t he pupi l s t o wri t e sent ences usi ng t he same
st ruct ure. For examDl e. t hev use t he davs of t he week t o wri t e about
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t hemsel ves or perhaps a charact er f rom t hei r coursebook. Al t hough t hi s
i nvol ves repet i t i on, t here i s al ways room f or i magi nat i on!
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For this activity the pupils have to write some sentences which provide
i nf ormat i on, f or exampl e, about one of t he charact ers i n t he coursebook or
about a topic. It often involves repetition of a structure (and can be used
j ust f or t hat purpose) and may be done wi t h ref erence t o a pi ct ure.
Notice that in the examples below the pupils also practise incidentally
pronomi nal ref erence.
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?afenl's got a f{6eope-
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(e) Completing
qttestionnaires
For this the pupils work with questionnaires that have been prepared for
t hem. I t can be a usef ul way of di sgui si ng some very basi c quest i on
pract i ce. The pupi l s can of course use such quest i onnai res t o quest i on one
anot her.
(0 Making notes
Thi s i s si mi l ar t o keepi ng records whi l e pl ayi ng a game. NI any act i vi t i es
i nvol ve keepi ng some ki nd of recorcl i n t he f orm of a l i st . For exampl e,
t he
pupi l s can be asked t o wri t e down. i n sent ence f orm. t he di f f erences
t et ween t rvo pi ct ures or t he number of mi st akes t hey can f i nd i n a pi ct Lrre.
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
( s \
\,\./
W ritin g questio nn ai res
Thi s i s si mi l ar t o (e) above except t hat t he pupi l s have t o rvri t e t he
quest i onnai res as u' el l . See a. 6 (a) and (b) f or det ai l s. Young l earners
enj oy t est i ng one anot her! You must , however. check t hat t hey can answer
t he quest i ons t hemsel ves. Al so, when i nt ervi ewi ng, because t hel ' are
sl ower at wri t i ng t han adol escent s and adul t s. t hey need t i me t o record
answers and preferably should sit down to do this so that they write neatly.
Re c o r din g p e r s o nal inf o rmatiort
Young l earners l i ke t al ki ng and u' ri t i ng about t hemsel ves and t hey rvi l l
very happi l y wri t e down personal dat a (names, age, address. f ami l y
det ai l s. et c. ) or make l i st s of t hei r possessi ons or l i kes and di sl i kes. The
act i vi t y can be used f or some el ement ary sent ence l i nki ng pract i ce-
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(i) Writing notes
See 4. 5, whei e t hi s act i vi t v i s descri bed i n det ai l . That i s, t he pupi l s wri t e
to one another (and to you) in class. This is a key activity for young
learners because it gets them to write quickly. Thus in five minutes they
can get a lot of writing practice sending and answering notes. For sentence
pract i ce (see, 11 . 2. a
@)
f or more creat i ve wri t i ng) t he pupi l s can:
-
ask for something (e.g. one of a number of picture cards which another
pupi l has i n f ront of hi m) I
--
ask for some personal information;
-
ask about a character in the coursebook. etc.
-/
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11. 2. 4
Creative writing
activities
WRI TI NG ACTI VI TI ES FOR CHI LDREN
Pupils at this age need plenty of opportunities to use language imaginatively.
Unl i ke many ol der l earners, t hey are al ways wi l l i ng t o show you t hei r work
and
t o ask' Can I say t hi s?' , so t hat f ewer mi st akes occur t han mi ght be expect ed.
Let pupils work together in pairs or small groups wherever possible.
(a) Writing notes
See 11.2.3 (i). For this activity, however, give them tasks that will require
l onger sequences. For exampl e:
Fei doY
Dear El eno,
Please
olrsw
W a picfure o?
a ry\ontfer. ft hos b;g eyes
G^ ol la
nq
leefh stn4-lhsre
ts
htz
i,t
i\
t vno$h.
lt
hqs
a vef v l on
ql ai f . Thonkyo, - , ,
/
.,
)or.g<
Dem, #orns,
Go
b Vhe-futof
Dr"a-
ct{ussrwwt .STord
ov.',
d, ch).r.jT.,e/^,*"A
H*Ffy
l'rr-o.r,
'
r
l W
(b) Writing about pictures
See 4.6 (i) for the basic idea behind this activity. Choose pictures that will
encourage the pupils to use fantasy and rehearse the idea orally first so that
they understand the kind of thing you want. Pupils can also draw pictures
for one another to write about.
(c) Writing rolecards
See 4.6 (f) for a description of this activity. The pupils can ask someone to
be a character from the coursebook or an animal!
Yor+
Cu&
- t \ l
l-of DOtd, !
Yoq
ere
q caf .
Yo, qf
q
l o(
qna
*yo,n
qr?
verS
{aL.
?o,A 66annof
"furt
anol
l ot |
. cqn\ of
cl -i ,
b .
You
(
i
ke,
5l <.,?ta
3.
(d) Making up stories
See for example 4.6 (e). You can start by asking the pupils to write short
dialogues, rvith two speakers, which they should then cut up and give to
anot her group t o pi ece t oget her. Then l et t hem t ry t hei r hand at very
si mpl e st ori es (5-6 sent ences), whi ch t hey shoul d al so cut up f or anot her
gr oup t o pi ece t oget her .
For Gca,o
(
Yor, a*<,fr^l"y7bln.
/n"
wrz arle'1\ta rto^,
t6al
Ytu
vT%'
139
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
1
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( e) Writing nottces
See 7. 3. 8
(b). You can gi ve t he pupi l s smal l pi ct ure cards f or t hi s act i vi t y or
l et t hem use t hei r own i deas (i . e. t hey may pref er t o wri t e about t hi ngs t hey
woul d act ual l y l i ke or t hi ngs t hey have). chi l dren very of t en l i ke t o
exchange things so the activit)' can be authentic. The pupils can also write
rules and regulations for their classroom, for example, or for a club or
recreation park.
I l@fte te/h'
qlA
AsCon' x
bcrk s.Wl w
vnfi\ftt f)(:t/m
?.
I
fArqmt
a- bolJ.k
RULE5
FoR ouR PLAYPARK
doavt,
qw,+r*'Fws
gloa,lr-l
I
6e happy!
Mqke I l6rof noiset
I
2
3 Do nof brinq
your
moartter
o?-'fAther !
(0 Writing book reports
See 5. 5. 2
(d). When t he pupi l s have reached t he st age of usi ng cl ass
readers
-
or even looking through them
-
they can be asked to write 2-3
sentence
' reports'
on them. The reports should be pasted at the back of the
book for other puPils to read.
lf's
a very qcrod
book.
I tike'if.
BvI
i t l s
sqd.
lf- fs
qbouf
o
. r l
9t (
I anq
(g) Writing messages
See 7.3.8 (c) for the basic idea. The pupils will happily enter into writing
messages from other Strange places: the moon, the bottom of the sea, a
bal l oon, t he mi ddl e of t he desert , et c.
Dgatr M unu a'fi'e Da'd',
I VJre- t*rn- pirfitn<'s
't/rL
fh^ts ba*, AlL
t*rz stottl
th r1,Gt
verl
tn[orc*fing.
I oarit fi'/r^irrW
i.t.
140
I an,
u'nd.o/r the- ,t'a'l lt ts
t'uft' lvn'<' a'v'aL Zhene
uft m,aflw bt'q frrs+L. I lltu)e a
lrt af ftenda
Oft'g
#envd t'sJo,rt" ooCo*,t's. He
irs ,at'rng
th:'i^ l,fa'rfu*!
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I
WRI TI NG ACTI VI TI ES FOR CHI LDREN
Wri t i ng messages can al so be done i n post card f orm (see 7. 3' 8 (j )) and t hey
can al so be wri t t en i n code.
Write out the complete code.
A: V C=X E=Z
B: W D: Y
Then write messages like this.
Mony Hoppy Returns of the DoYl
AVerv HoppV BtrthdoY!
HJ I YVT
YZVM IDX F,
DO'N HT WDMOCYI/T
J
I
NVO PMYVT KGZVNZ XJHZ
OJ HT KVMOT
TJ PM N,
vl l t /
Hoppy Brrthdoy to
You
!
Very BestWrshes
f or your Bi rthdoy!
Don' t forget to get your pupils to send birthday messages when it is
someone' s birthday. The preparation of the card can be done as
homework.
Make a birthday card for a friend. Draw a picture and write a message.
(h) Project work
One useful and enjoyable project for learners at this age is to get them to
make their own picture dictionaries. The pupils can work on their own or
in groups (even if they work in groups, so as to help one another, they may
like to make their own copy). For the dictionary, they will need an exercise
book. They can draw t hei r own pi ct ures or cut sui t abl e ones out of
magazi nes. The i nt ent i on i s not t o get t hem t o keep a record of al l or even
-on1' of t he words t hey have l earnt but onl y t o wri t e about i t ems t hat
i nt erest t hem. They shoul d wri t e sent ences about t hei r words (not
1 , l 1
t t l
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
Di scussi on
Exercises
References
def i ni t i ons) and
rvritten.
f rom t i me t o t i me eo back and add t o what t hey have
aAffit io*rrs Ronng.tle-
l nr t l 5 &
l t * v v t v ' n' :
t Y" t t r f v L'
' r
r r v ' ; : u. ' '
is'a
vsrA old' robh
it
, Ror"tty
liu-e's
i rr,
rn5
a"fd' In,
Most pupi l s al so enj o, v maki ng a cl ass wal l sheet
(see 5' 5' 2 (g))' whi ch
will provide u fo.ut for a number of writing activities, e.g' little stories,
capt i ons and bal l oons f or pi ct ures.
j okes and ri ddl es (et c. ). Bot h t he
picture dictionary and the $' allsheet should be spread over a school year
i unl ess
t he pupi l s are worki ng i nt ensi vel y, e' g' on a summer course)'
Many of t he proj ect s suggest ed i n8. 2. 2 can easi l y be adapt ed f or
younger l earners.
Do you think it is either necessary or desirable to teach young lealners to
write in a foreign language?
Would you give children opportunities for creative writing early on in the
course or would you restrict them (for example) to copying and
reinforcement activities?
What are the things
1' ou
would do to make sure that children really enjoy
writing?
How ilportant do,vou think it is to ensure that children' s written work is
neat and t i dy?
Examine any children' S course to see what provision is made for writing
activities. Is there a workbook? If so, are the u' riting activities (a) interesting
(b) usef ul ?
Suggest ot her act i vi t i es f or each of t he f our sect i on s I 7 . 2. 1. -11 . 2. 4 .
Make a list of the projects in 8.2.2 which could be adapted for children and
work out how you u' ould develop one of them.
on t eachi ng young l earners t o wri t e see o Dunn (1934) and S Hol den (ed)
(1e80).
io. u .ung. of writing activities, see D Byrne Roundabout
Resource Book
and related Workbooks (Modern English Publications);
M Iggulden et al
sam on Rqdio 321
(Longman); K Johnson Now
for
English (Nelson)l
Kaleidoscope
(MacMillan) and Snap ! (Heinemann).
The illustrations in IL}.I (a) and (e) are ftom Sam on Radio 321;the
illustration in71.2.7
(f) has been adapted from Kaleidoscope;I' he
i l l ust r at i ons i n 11 . 2. 1( c) and ( d) ; 77. 2. 2 ( a) and ( f ) ; 11. 2. 3 ( i ) and 11 ' 2. 4
@)
are from the Roundabout Workbooks.
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4
12.1
The needs of t he
l earners
12
Teaching the English script
All students whose native language doei not use the Latin script will have to be
taught the symbols needed for writing English. In some circumstances you may
also want to improve the handwriting of those who already use the Latin script.
In order to be able to do this effectively and, no less important,
sympathetically, you will need to inform yourself of the learners' areas of
di f f i cul t y. Four possi bl e
' probl em
areas' are not ed bel ow.
(a) The st udent s have t o l earn t he shapes of t he new symbol s. Thi s i s not
j ust a
quest i on of t eachi ng t he l et t ers of t he Engl i sh al phabet , t he order of whi ch
is mainly irrelevant for teaching purposes. Instead, some decision has to be
taken how to group the symbols together for effective practice, taking into
account f eat ures whi ch al l ow compari son and cont rast . For exampl e, t he
btter A. may be derived from the letter C
;
the letters A- and O. on the
ot her hand, need t o be cont rast ed.
(b) The st udent s have t o l earn t wo set s of symbol s: l ower and upper case (t hat
i s, smal l l et t ers and capi t al s). Agai n, a deci si on has t o be made whet her t o
t each bot h set s of symbol s t oget her or whet her t o t each f i rst t he smal l
l et t ers and t hen t he capi t al s.
(c) The st udent s may have t o l earn t o wri t e i n a new di rect i on: t hat i s, f rom
l ef t t o ri ght i nst ead of f rom ri ght t o l ef t . Thi s wi l l onl y appl y t o cert ai n
groups of l earners (f or exampl e. t o Arab st udent s but not t o t hose whose
nat i ve l anguage empl oys one of t he Devanagari scri pt s of t he Nort h I ndi an
l anguages). Thi s physi cal aspect of mast eri ng t he new scri pt i s not t o be
underest i mat ed.
(d) The st udent s may have t o l earn t he posi t i on of t he symbol s of t he scri pt i n
rel at i on t o t he rul ed l i nes. Essent i al l y t he Engl i sh scri pt may be vi ewed as
si t t i ng on t he l i ne and ext endi ng upwards and downwards, whi l e t he
s-vmbol s i n t he Devanagari scri pt s, f or exampl e,
' hang' f rom
t he l i ne above'
I +J
t-/
-d
v.
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
12.2
Letter shaPes
12.3
Procedures for
teachi ng scri pt
1 t he e gr oup: e, i , u, t 5
2 t he c group: c. a, d 6
3 t he o group: o, w 7
4 t he n gr oup: n, m, x, v 8
t he r group: r. s
t he / gr oup: l . h, k, f . b
t he
7
gr oup:
j , p, y
t he z gr oup: z,
E,
p
7 l , J
8 S, G
9 Y, Z
Anot her key f act or u, i l l . of course. be t he age of t he l earners. Adul t l earners
rvi l l want (and wi l l probabl v need) t o l earn more qui ckl v and wi l l t heref ore
requi re concent rat ed pract i ce. u' hi ch t o a l arge ext ent , gi ven t he ri ght
gui dance, t he1, can provi de f or t hemsel ves out of cl ass. For chi l dren, t he
programme shoul d be spread over a much l onger peri od. Whi l e i t i s assumed
t hat t hey wi l l al ready have mast ered t hei r nat i ve l anguage scri pt , t hey wi l l
probably still have some handwriting difficulties and not all their motor skilis
will be equally well developed. Hence the need for copying activities as
suggest ed i n i 1. 2. 1. Young l earners wi l l al so benef i t a good deal f rom
handwri t i ng act i vi t i es t hat gi ve t hem t he opport uni t y t o pl ay, and t hey wi l l
al most cert ai nl y need some ki nd of workbook.
For t he purpose of t eachi ng t he shapes of t he new symbol s, we need t o i dent i f y
groups of letters u' hich can be effectively and conveniently taught together.
Vari ous groupi ngs have been proposed (see not es on sources). One, f or
exampl e, proposes t en groups. as shown bel ow. Upper and l ower case l et t ers
are t aught t oget her, i nt egrat ed wi t h punct uat i on pract i ce.
1 i . l , t 6 f . s. r
2 v, w, b 7 c, e, o
3 u, y( +?and! ) 8 a, d. g
4 n, m, h 9
j , q, "
5 k, p ( + . and
, )
10 z ( + numer al s)
Another approach has eight groups, each identified by a letter, for the lower
case symbol s.
E
-
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v
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E
fLzA
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1
).4
!-
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f-1
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r
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Capitals are taught separately and are divided into the following nine groups:
1 C, O, Q, A, E
2 N, M, K, H
3 U, V, W, X
4 P, R, B
5 D, L
6 T, F
numerals
-_4
f.-
-4
V
I
4
.J
IT
-.1
Ir
-_1
f,.d
144
Awareness of groupings such as these is useful if you want to do remedial work
in certain areas (for example. you may find that some students are consistently
miswriting or confusing some symbols).
At the start, most students will need to be made aware of some of the
important differences between writing the English script and writing in their
native language. For this purpose, if they are asked to write something in their
own language and to note some of the essential movements, a broad
comparison can be made between this and writing in English. You will also
need to draw attention to the positioning of the right forearm on the desk, at
something like 80", and the flexible movements of the wrist to produce anti-
clockwise motions, which sometimes give students a lot of difficulty. You must
be prepared t o demonst rat e t hese poi nt s. Two' warm up' act i vi t i es shoul d al so
be not ed:
Z
f-
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fr
L
a-l
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r t Jl
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I
TEACHI NG THE ENGLI SH SCRI PT
(a) Rhythmic patterns
To get the students used to some of the characteristic shapes of the English
script and the movements needed for making them, you can ask them to
draw rhythmic patterns like those shown below. They are particularly
important for students who are having to learn to write from left to right
(for whom even drawing horizontal lines across the page is a useful
activity). Rhythmic patterns can relate to some of the basic shapes of the
l et t ers, as i n t he examPl e bel ow:
f f i
vwxz
ffi hl am.n"bp
W LLtU,y
w
cLcd, eqo
g
o1.
Many teachers prefer to get their students to draw these patterns on blank
paper. For children the activity can be presented as a game, such as
climbing up and down mountains.
(b) Writing in air
It generally helps, whatever the age of the students, to practise tracing the
shape of the letters in the air. This helps them to concentrate on the way a
letter is formed and enables them to go on practising as long as they like.
For this activity draw a large version of the letter on the board, with
arrows indicating the directions to be followed, and then demonstrate the
movements yourself . The students can make large movements first of all,
gradually making smaller ones. Students who are accustomed to writing
from left to right can be helped by being asked to make a series of strokes
or circles which start on the left and move towards the right.
The example below shows how letter formation in the air can be
presented in a fun-like way for children:
(a) Give the students clear and carefully made models to
follow.
Draw these on the board if a workbook is not available. In any case' a
model on t he board, drawn by you, wi l l hel p t o concent rat e at t ent i on.
You
must always be prepared to demonstrate script.
f
j s
72.3.1
Some basic
procedures for
teaching script
' {
t*
L
1,45
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
J
F-
)
v
-)
E
-)
u
)
--1
-)
H
1
u
)
-
-)
IJ
-)
]1
1
u
1
u
)
--J
1
u
1
--/
1
)-/
)
f</
-_l
lr-J
:l
I.J
:l
H
:l
=
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_)
IJ
-)
--J
1
I-.
:l
IJ
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-_J
I-r
-_l
IJ
-)
I.J
-)
I.J
-_J
!,-{
-J
L-{
-l
=-l
( d)
(b) Sftow the students n' here to begin the strokes
from
u,hich each letter is made
(tlrcre may be more than one stroke).
For examol e:
(c) Get the students to practi se several speci mens of each l etter.
Get the students to practi se the new l etters i n combi nati ort tvi th previ ousl y
Iearned ones.
These may be si mpl y pat t erns of l et t ers or words, phrases and short
sent ences.
A matter which rpquires careful attention is the actual positioning of the
symbol s on t he l ower hori zont al l i ne. At t he st art i t wi l l probabl y hel p t he
st udent s t o pract i se wi t hi n t he l i mi t s of an addi t i onal rul ed or dot t ed l i ne, as
shown bel ow.
L-a-Lg.
Some teachers, however, argue that any ruled lines at the start make it more
difficult for the students to write well because it restricts the size of their script,
and they therefore prefer blank paper.
On the whole, it would seem better to separate the teaching of capitals
from lower case s1' mbols. This permits the kind of grouping according to shape
as shown in the second example on page t44.It also takes into account the
many differences between a lower case letter and its upper case counterpart
(f or exampl e, r and R, g and G).
I n addi t i on. t here are some ot her f act ors whi ch need t o be consi dered. I n
the first place, we shall need to decide how early in the course to introduce
writing practice. Should we get the students to practise making the shapes of
the letters very early on, even before they can read, perhaps as a break from
oral work, or shoul d u' e u' ai t unt i l t hey are f ami l i ar wi t h t he symbol s t hrough
146
'f
rI
6
-
-
-
-
-z
-z
Jz
-)
Di scussi on
Exerci ses
References
TEACHI NG THE ENGLI SH SCRI PT
some f orm of readi ng recogni t i on pract i ce? Al t hough t here i s cl earl y no one
answer t o t hi s quest i on, on t he whol e, i f t here i s t i me f or t hi s act i vi t y, whi ch i s
essent i al l y a ki nd of drawi ng exerci se, i t woul d seem a good i dea t o i nt roduce
t he st udent s t o t he mechani cal probl ems of act ual l y maki ng t he symbol s as
soon as possible. Younger learners enjoy this kind of activity, while adult
students may actually need to have accelerated instruction in both reading and
writing in order to become literate in the foreign language as quickly as
possible.
^fhe
pace of that part of the writing programme where the students are
being taught the symbols will relate to the age level of the learners. The work
of younger learners, for example, should be carefully supervised in class,
although this does not rule out a certain amount of practice as homework.
Adul t st udent s, on t he ot her hand, mi ght wel l be gi ven cycl ost yl ed sheet s
cont ai ni ng appropri at e copyi ng mat eri al , so t hat , af t er an i nt roduct i on t o t he
items to be practised, they continue to work on their own out of class.
We must also decide what kind of script we are going to teach. Do we
teach them some form of cursive writing from the Start or do we delay the
introduction of this until they have learned to print? Again, the age factor is
relevant: younger learners are probably best taught the printed form first. On
the other hand, there is no great harm in introducing from the start a kind of
modified cursive, of a kind rvhich is easy to write and easy to read and which
st ands very cl ose t o t he pri nt ed f orm. I n maki ng a deci si on, we have t o t ake t he
needs of the learners into account: adult students, for example, would probably
be intolerant of anything less than cursive, since this is the only form they can
envi sage t hemsel ves usi ng.
1 Which would you prefer?
(a) to teach capitals and lower case letters together or separately;
(b) to teach a print script first or a modified cursive.
Give your reasons.
2 How important is the teacher' s own handwriting as a model? Would you be
prepared t o change yours t o hel p your st udent s?
1 lvtake a list of any difficulties that your students have (or might have) with
t he Engl i sh scri Pt .
2 Choose some of t he l et t ers of t he Engl i sh al phabet (capi t al s and l ower case)
and work out t he st rokes needed t o f orm t hem.
Two usef ul art i cl es on t eachi ng t he Engl i sh scri pt are GK Pul l um (1971) and
BH Seward
(1972).
The first group of symbols on page 144 is from J Bright and R Piggott
Handwriting
(CUP 1976);the second is from BH Seward (1972).
Some useful materials for teaching English script are J Bright and R Piggott
Handwriting
(CUP I976); D Cobb It' s Fun to Write (Longman 1984)
R Philpot Engtish Handwriting
(Collins 1983) and P Smith and A Inglis New
Nel son Handwri t i ng
(Nel son 1981). The f i rst and l ast books ment i oned
provi de det ai l ed gui dance i n t he f orm of t eachers' books.
The illustrative material in i2.3 (a) comes from ly' ew Nelson Handwriting..
Ot her i l l ust rat i ons i n 12. 3
(b) and 12. 3. 1are f rom I t ' s Ft t n t o Wri t e.
.t-
- t -
*t
)-
-z
I +/
Appendix: Cohesive devlces
The purpose of this appendix is to provide a more extensive reference list of the
rhet ori cal f eat ures di scussed i n2. 2. 2. I t i s i nt ended t o serve as a checkl i st of
items which should gradually be learned in the course of a writing programme
going up to the intermediate level. For more complete treatments, see Quirk et
al (1972) and Halliday and Hasan (1976).
A Logical devices For ease of reference. the logical connectors listed below are given in
alphabetical order. Some examples are also provided.
(a)
Addition
again equally in fact
also further
(more)
moreover
and i n addi t i on (t o . . . ) t oo
and t hen i ndeed what i s more
besides
Examples:
The house faces north, so it never gets the sun. .A/so, it is rather damp.
The children do not like one another. Moreover, they often quarrel and
start to fight.
She hardly ever goes to the theatre. In
fact,
she has not been for months.
(b) Comparison
compared witfr in the same way similarly
in comparison rvith likewise
Exampl es:
I used to work fifteen hours a day. In comparison with that, my present
job
is more like a holiday!
The doctor advised him to give up smoking. Similarly,he recommended
him to eat much less and take plenty of exercise.
(.) Contrast and concession*
besides naturally still
but nevertheless whereas
however of course while
in contrast on the contrary yet
instead on the other hand
*
Some oi these i tems i mpl y both contrast and concessi on (for exampl e: however)
,
whi l e others,
such as on the contrary, on lhe other hand, are more clearly concerned with contrastive
rel ati onshi ps between sentences. On the whol e, however, i t seemed more conveni ent to subsume
these i tems under one headi ns.
148
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AppENDtX:
COHESTVE
DEVTCES
Exampl es:
He di d not show anyone t he papers. I nst ead, as soon as he got a chance. hc
burnt t hem.
She i s not as pret t y as she used t o be. Nevert l t el ess, she i s st i l l a verv
at t ract i ve gi rl .
Hi s f i rst novel t ook hi m onl v a f e*' n' ecks t o u ri t c. *' / l i l c hi s nc\ t onc t o. k
over a
year.
(d) Enumeratiott
f i r st ( l y) ( second( l v) .
et c.
)
finally
i n t he (f i rst ) pl ace
Exampl es:
(e) Exemplifi.cation
as (evi dence of . . . )
for example
for instance
l ast ( ) n
t ( ) [ r t r t ' ( t l r r r t )
next t o ( [ r g{ i 11 11i 1h;
mor c i nr pr l r t l nt t hcr r
such as
t hus
to show what (I mean)
Hi s
j ob
i nvol ves a number of t hi ngs. Fi rsr, he i s responsi bl c f or
sencral
admi ni st rat i on i n t he of f i ce. Secondl y, he has t o l ook af t er t he hnanci al si de
of t he busi ness . . . Fi nal l y, he has been asked t o bui l d up out si de cont act s.
There were several good reasons for changing the plan. To begin with, it
i nvol ved a l ot of money. On t op of t hat , i t needed t oo many peopl e.
l et us (t ake t he case of . . . )
Exampl es:
Most countries do not grow enough food for their needs . Let us take the
case of the United Kingdom.
Most people are superstitious in some way. Thus, a lot of people believe
t hat t he number 13 i s unl uckv . . .
(0 Inference
i f not , . . . ot her wi se t hen
i n (t hat ) case t hat i mpl i es
Examples:
He left the country the same day. In that case, he must have had his
passport with him.
You must get some more petrol. Otherwise, we will not have enough to get
us t o t he next t own.
(g) Summary
in all in short on the whole
in brief in conclusion to sum up
Exampl es:
She spends a l ot of money on cl ot hes. She i s al so f ond of buyi ng expensi ve
j ewel l ery.
I n short , she i s ext remel y ext ravagant .
L,
r49
TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
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(h)
The car i s not new but i t i s i n good condi t i on. The pri ce t oo i s very
reasonabl e . On t he v, hol e, I t hi nk i t i s qui t e a good bargai n.
The f i l m has a very unusual pl ot , wi t h pl ent y of act i on. Bot h t he act i ng and
photography are excellent. To swn up, this is a film you should not miss.
Time"
af t er (a whi l e) bef ore (t hat t i me) si nce (t hen)
afterwards finally so far
at first
in the end then
at l ast meanwhi l e (uP t o) (t hen)
at (t he same t i me) next
Exampl es:
He tried to open one of the small windows. At
first
it remained firmly
cl osed but . i n t he end, af t er a great deal of ef f ort , he managed t o open i t a
few inches.
. . . and t he f i re has f i nal l y been brought under cont rol . Several men are
st i l l mi ssi ng . Meanv, hi l e t he causes of t he expl osi on are st i l l bei ng
i nvest i gat ed.
Result
accordingly for that reason
then
as a result hence
therefore
consequent l . v t he (consequence) of t hat i s . ' . t hus
Exampl es:
Most people were opposed to the scheme on the grounds that it was too
expensive. Accordingllt, it is now being re-examined to see if costs can be
reduced.
Seven inches of snow fell during the night. blocking most main roads. ,4s a
result, traffic conditions have been chaotic.
In the past, no one has taken his advice very seriously . Hence, it is very
probable that he will not be inclined to help on this occasion'
(j) Reformulation
in other words that is (to saY)
rather to put it more (simPlY)
Exampl es:
Towards the end of the party he got up and danced on the table. In other
words, he made a complete fool of himself .
Most people felt that the project was not worthwhile in proportion to the
amount of time it would take to complete it and equally the financial
expenditure involved. To put it more simply, it was a waste of time and
monev.
*That
i s, i ndi cati ng temporal rel ati onshi ps. Thi s i s a very open-ended group of devi ces, as the
number of bracketed i tems shows. For exampl e, i nstead of. at the same ti me, we may have' . at that
timelat that moment.
( i )
150
Lt
4
--r'l
APPENDI X: COHESI VE DEVI CES
(k) Repl acement
agai n (bet t er) st i l l
al t ernat i vel y on t he ot her hand
Exampl es:
I t i s ver y l i kel y t hat we shal l go bv car . er . cn t housh i t i s a l or r g dr i r c.
because we shal l need some means of t r anspor t r r hi l c \ \ ' c l r r c r hcr c.
Al t ernat i vel y, we mi ght f l y out and hi rc a car t vhcn rrc urri vc.
I f t hi ngs get any wor se, we mi ght have t o ar r anse a publ i c nr ccr i ns r ( )
di scuss t he mat t er. Bet t er s/ i / / , we coul d even organi sc a dcnronst ri t t i on.
(l)
Transition
as far as . . . is concerned now
asf or . . .
t ot ur nt o. . .
i nci dent al l y
wi t h (ref erence) t o . . .
Exampl es:
We can l eave most of t he det ai l s of t he proposal unt i l t he next mect i nc.
Now, as
f ar
ds money i s concerned, t hi s needs caref ul consi derat i on.
In the end, he decided to sell his car. Thrs, incidentally, proved to be a
mi st ake.
In this section there are further examples of the devices referred to in2.2.2(b)
and2. 2. 2(c).
(a) Use of pronominal
forms
to replace noun phrases
Napoleon was a great soldier. He was also a great administrator.
John bough t a new car. I t cost a l ot of money, but i t goes a l ot bet t er t han
hi s ol d one.
John and Marlt are,eoing on holiday to Brazil. Their friends are very
envi ous.
He decided to take some heavy shoes with him. He thought that these
would be useful in case he went walking.
(b) Use of pronominal
forms
to replace adverbials (noun phrases of time and
place)
He left the
following
day. He knew then that he was not coming back.
We called on them soon after breakfast. We should have realised that rhls
was a bad t i me f or a vi si t . *
I deci ded t o t ake my books back t o t he l i brary. When I got t here. l f ound i t
was cl osed.
*Noun
phrases are al so used as repl aci ves. For exampl e: John was born
j rt sr bef ore t he war. AI t l t at
t l r ne hi s Dar ent s l i ved i n London,
*)
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and l exi cal l i nki ng
devices
1 <. 1
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-)
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TEACHI NG
WRI TI NG SKI LLS
(c) {Jse of pronominal
forms
to replace clauses or selttetlces
Some students work all night
iust
before an exan"L. Iftis is a sreat mistake.
John has
just resigned. 1l u' as quite unexpected.
Not i ce t hat i n t he exampl es above t he pronomi nal f orms al l ref er back t o
something
previously mentioned. They may also refer forward. For
exampl e:
This is what you should do. You should be very
frank.
My advice is as
follows.
Be very
frank.
(d) Use of determiners
(the, this, that, etc.) to refer back to a previous noun
phrase
Thieves broke into a jeweller' s shop in North Street last night. The thieves
entered the shop through a small back window.
I bought a pocket calatlator last
}' ear.
That calculatorhas proved very
usef ul .
Former and latter are used to refer back to one of two previous noun
phrases.
John and Tombothtook part in the play. Only the
former
has had any real
experience of acting. The latter had never even been on the stage before.
(e) Repetition of key words
These particular train services are not used very much by commuters. As a
rule, commuters rend to travelmuch earlier.
(f)
(lse
of synonyms to avoid repetition
These cars were first made in 1972. When they were first produced
,
they
were not verv popul ar.
If you have any thoughts on the subject. please let me know. I shall be
interested to hear your ideas.
(g) Use of a construction implying whole-part or part-whole relationship
You will need to take some rools with you. You can get a hammer, a saw
and a screwdriver from most big department stores.
Large cars and lorries are not advised to use this route. These vehicles
shoul d t ake t he ot her road.
(h) Use of related word
forms
Seven people have been arrested so far. The arrests were made late last
ni ght .
(i) Use of parallel structures
It is possible that the plan will succeed. 1r ls equally possible that it will fail.
.14
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I
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The Art of TESOL Sel ected Arti cl es
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Index
J
--
J
v
. )
H
- l
. )
H
_)
L '
- l
. - z
>.a
- l
- - 1
v
- )
-J
. )
H
2
,-4
_2
P
. 2
F
I
*
- - 1
v
v
a-
P
ts
-
v
t-
-F
1
P
--1
F
-1
-
I
-
._1
=
.<
-
-1
!-
-1
-
-1
_k
-1
-r-
4
-
F
I
r<
Approaches
to teachi ng
wri ti ng 21-3
Chi l dren,
teachi ng \A' ri ti ng to
-
activities
l3I-12
-
gui del i nes 130-1
-
reasons 129
-30
Coherence
1-2. 10-14. 27
Cohesi on 17
- 19
. 27
Cohesi ve
devi ces 17-19.
148- 1- s2
-
grammati cal 17-18
- l exi cal
19
-
l ogi cal 17
-
pr act i ce of 38- 40. 55- 9
Communi cati on
-
acti vi ti es i n earl v stages
40-2
-
acti vi ti es at post-
el ementary l evel 60-4
-
non-personal 12-14
-
personal 10-12
Communi cati ve purpose 9-14
Comprehensi on 70-2
Control l ed wri ti ng 21-2
Copyi ng 34
-
activities 34
-
6. 132- 4
-
eval uati on of 34
Correcti on 123-7
-
procedures 124-7
Di al ogue wri ti ng
-
reasons f.or 32,48
-
rei nforcement acti vi ti es
36- 7. 50- 1
-
vi sual cues for 83-6
Di ctati on 38
-
dicto-comp 60
Drafti ng 1,716-22
Errors and mi stakes 123
Essay wri ti ng 1 11-13, 116-22
-
al ternati ves to 1 1 1-13
Fun wri ti ng acti vi ti es 43-6.
6 J - R
q 7 - ?
Functi onal wri ti ng. for
r emedi al wor k 113- 6
Gui dance. rol e of defi ned
25-6
Gui ded wr i t i ng, exampl es of
36- 40. 50- 9, 71- 2, 83- 6.
89- 91, 99- 102
154
Gui del i nes f or t eachi ng
writing2T
-29
Handwr i t i ng 143- 7
Integrated ski l l s 9-5-109
Learners. needs of 27-29
Letter \\' ri ti ng
-
i n earl y stages 40-2
-
at post-el ementarv l evel
51- 3. 60- 1. 99- 102. 109
Mi stakes 21-2. 29. 12-I
-
6
N{other tongue. l earni ng to
u'rite 5
Not e- t aki ng 73- 6
Note-wri ti ng 40-2. 5 1- 3
Orthography see Spel l i ng
Paragraph uri ti ng 55-9. 81-3
Paral l el *' ri ti ng 37
-
8
Proj ect work 96-9
Punctuati on 16
Readi ng. i mportance for u' ri ti ng 9
Rei nforcement acti vi ti es
-
i n earl l ' stages 36-,10
-
at post-el ementary l evel 49-55
Kemedl al wor x l l J- 0
Report wri ti ng 54,63-4
-
vi sual cues for 87-9
Reproducti on exerci ses 60
Rol e-pl ayi ng acti vi ti es (see al so
Si mul ati ons) 61-2, 99
-109
Scri pt, teachi ng of 143-7
-
pr ocedur es 111- j
Sent ence l i nki ng and sequenci ng
-
i n ear l y st ages 38- 40
-
at post-el emen' rary l evel 5-5-9
Si mul at i ons 103- 9
Ski l l sequenci n g acti vi ti es 99
-102
Speech. compar ed u i t h u r i t i ng 2- 3
Spel l i ng 15- 16
Summary wri ti ng 71-8
Texts
-
as practi ce format 25, 32
- a n a l v c i s n f 1 0 - 1 4
Vi sual mat er i al T9- 93
-
di agr ams 89- 91 . 113- 16
-
fun wri ti ng 92-3
-
maps 81- 3
-
paragraph organi sati on 81-3
-
pi cture sequences 83-7
-
report u' ri ti ng 87-9
-
r ol e of t eacher 80- 1
-
scqucnces f or di al ogue wr i t i ng
83- 6
-
techni ques for presenti ng 87
-
use and abuse of 79-80
Wr i t i ng
-
communi cal i ve teachi ng 23-4
-
compared wi th speech 2- 3
-
control l ed 21-2
-correcti on
of.123-7
-
forei gn l anguage compared wi th
mot her t ongue 5- 6
-
f or f un
. 13- 6,
61- 8, 92- 3
-
gui ded, exampl es of 36-40, 49
-59,
7 1- 2. 83
-
6, 89- 91, 99
*r 02
-
gui del i nes for teachi ng 27-9
-
nature of 1-2
-
probl ems i n 4-5
-
programme for
-
i n earl y stages 32
-
at post-el ementarv l evel 48-9
-
at i ntermedi ate l evel 113
-
reasons for teachi ng 6-7
-
recent i rends i n teachi ng 21-3
-
rhetori cal features of 17-19.
148-52
-
use of rol e-pl ay for teachi ng 61-2,
99-109
-
use of si mul ati ons for teachi ng
i 03- 9
-
use of vi sual materi al for teachi ng
19-93
-
uses of 2
Wri tten l anguage
-
communi cati ve purpose 9-14
-
graphol ogi cal resources 15
-17
-
rhetori cal resources 17-19