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Teaching Writing: Written Accuracy Than There Is For Accuracy in Speaking
Teaching Writing: Written Accuracy Than There Is For Accuracy in Speaking
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as a means of getting the students to attend to and to practise a particular language point or as a method
of testing it;
- as an end: tasks that invite learners to express themselves using their own words, state a
purpose for writing and often specify an audience (e.g. narrating a story, writing a letter)
- both as a means and an end: purposeful and original writing is combined with the learning
or practice of some other skill or content (e.g. a written response to the reading of a controversial
newspaper article, the writing of anecdotes to illustrate the meaning of idioms, etc.)
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This is a stage in the teaching of a grammar structure, which will be discussed later in the course. However, the three main
stages in such an activity are: presentation (where T illustrates and explains the main use of the grammar item by using
relevant linguistic contexts familiar to the SS), practice (where SS have to make up sentences using the newly explained
item either in the patterns modeled by the T during the presentation stage or in other easy-to-use patterns; also called the
accurate reproduction stage), and production (also called the immediate creativity stage, where the SS make up examples
of their own using the new grammar item in contexts of their own choice or suggested by the T).
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the SS feedback and allows the teacher and the whole class to focus on grammar points if such focus is
necessary.
Written communicative techniques and activities / tasks
It is often easier to provide opportunities for spoken communication in the classroom than it is
for the written medium. Frequently, writing is relegated to the status of homework. This is a pity since
writing, especially communicative writing, can play a valuable part in the class.
a) Relaying instructions, b) Writing reports and advertisements, c) Co-operative writing,
d) Exchanging letters, and e) Writing journals are only a few of the written communicative
techniques that we can use in the classroom. These techniques and one or more illustrations of specific
activities / tasks for each of them are described in more detail in what follows.
a) Relaying instructions
One group of SS has information for the performance of a task, and they have to get another group
to perform the same task by giving them written instructions.
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This activity is especially appropriate for beginner SS and is most enjoyable.
c) Co-operative writing
These are activities where SS actually write things together, where the process of co-operation is as
important as the actual fact of the writing itself.
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Stage 3 – The SS are instructed to continue the story by writing the next sentence.
Stage 4 – The SS give their piece of paper to the next student on their left. They should now
continue the (new) story they have in front of them by writing the next sentence, and so on until the
first paper reaches the last but one student. Now the T tells the SS to write the penultimate
sentence.
Stage 5 – The stories are now returned to their originators. They must write the concluding
sentence.
Stage 6 (Optional) - The SS can read the resulting tales to the rest of the class.
Another alternative to this activity is not to supply the original sentence. Of course, there can be
written different other kinds of stories on various topics.
d) Exchanging letters
This technique offers the SS a good chance to practise real written communication.
Activity 2 - The agony column (suitable after the SS have been working on the language of
advice, at all levels)
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The SS write letters to ‘agony columns’ (those parts of newspapers and magazines where supposed
experts give advice on everything from marital problems to trouble with neighbours). In this
activity, SS invent some problem and then have it answered by other members of the class.
Stage 1 – The class and the T discuss ‘agony columns’, getting examples from the SS’ knowledge
or by looking at some authentic ones taken from British and American newspapers and magazines.
Stage 2 – The T arranges the class into small groups and asks each group to think of a problem and
then write a letter.
Stage 3 – The letters from each group are then given to another group who has to consider the best
answer and write a reply.
Stage 4 – The replies are then given to the original groups to consider. The T can put them into a
folder which can be passed round the class.
Other writing activities / tasks: Copy of pp. 164-166, Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching,
CUP, 1999.
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