Prewriting

 Prewriting can be defined as any structural experiences that influence active

student participation in thinking, talking, writing, and working on the topic under
focus in a writing lesson.
 Such activities or experiences, which can be group work or individual effort, may
be oral, written, or experiential in nature.
 They include the following:

1. oral group
2. brainstorming
3. looping
4. cubing
5. debating
6. outlining
7. oral reading
8. interviewing
9. visits to places of interest in the school locality
10.clustering
11.dialogue writing
12.freewriting
13.fantasizing
14.oral compositions
15.classical invention
16.silent reading
17.extensive or intensive
18.lecturing
19.use of pictures to stimulate students

 Most of these prewriting activities can be successfully taught from the senior-
primary to the graduate-school levels.
 The most effective way to do this is to guide students through each of the activities
in the classroom rather than just lecturing or telling them about the activities.
Students should also be made to realise that prewriting activities are not merely
gimmicks to get started.
 Most of the activities, like brainstorming, fantasizing, freewriting, etc., can be used
over and over again when the actual composition/writing is being done.
 Prewriting techniques, activities, and strategies

Oral Group/Individual Brainstorming

This involves the use of leading questions to get students thinking about a topic or idea
that is under focus. The questions could be written on the chalkboard and each student is
asked to think out answers to them. The teacher allows an interval of some minutes to let
students think. Then he can randomly choose students to tell the class their answers or
reactions or responses to the questions. The teacher writes the answers on the board.
These answers are then copied by each student for subsequent use in his essay as he
deems fit. Brainstorming is therefore a group technique for stimulating creative thinking.
Individual students can also use this technique to generate material for their writing, once
they master it. In fact, competent/good writers use brainstorming to generate ideas, bits
of text, etc., before they set out to write, and they continue to use it while writing. So
brainstorming is a versatile thinking tool that can be used at any stage of the writing
process.

Clustering
Clustering has been defined as a “prewriting technique that enables the writer to map out
his/her thoughts on a particular topic or subject(s) and then to choose which ones to use”
(Carr 1986:20). Rico (1986:17) defines clustering as a “non-linear brainstorming process
that generates ideas, images and feelings around a stimulus word until a pattern becomes
discernible.” A teacher can go through the following steps in teaching students how to
cluster:

1. The teacher explains what clustering is. It is akin to brainstorming, the difference
being that our focus/scope is narrowed down to a specific word(s) or idea (the stimulus
word) in clustering.

2. Next, the teacher circles the stimulus word(s) on the board—for example, energy—
and asks students to say all that comes to their minds when they see that word. All types
of responses should be encouraged. The teacher clusters these responses on the board as
they are made, with the nucleus word energy in the centre and all responses radiating
outwards. The teacher then tells the students that they often have many ideas floating in
their brains and that the best way to harness such ideas is to cluster them quickly on
paper; otherwise, some will escape their short-term memory.
3. Now the teacher can ask the students to cluster a second word for themselves. The
clustering process should be timed—say, one or two minutes. Then students can be asked
to write a short paragraph using their clusters.

4. After writing, ask students to give a title to what they have written. This technique can
be used at all levels of the educational system from primary to tertiary, to help create in
learners a sense of “can do.” In fact, I have used clustering to stimulate and motivate two
of my children in the primary school (primary 5 and 6) on several occasions with
startling results. For most of the prewriting activities, the learners’ first language (L1)
should be utilised to facilitate the learning process. If at any point of eliciting responses
to a stimulus word, a learner gets stuck because of vocabulary deficiency, the teacher can
encourage the learner to use the L1 to name the object or concept he has in mind.

Looping
This technique entails writing nonstop (without fear of errors or self-censorship) on
anything that comes to one’s mind on a particular topic (Spack 1984:656). After writing
for a while, the writer stops, reads, and reflects/thinks about what he has written, and
then sums it up in a single sentence. He can repeat this procedure two or more times to
generate ideas or bits of texts for his writing.

Cubing
This activity involves a swift or quick consideration of a subject from six points of view:

1. describe it
2. compare it
3. associate it
4. analyse it
5. apply it
6. argue for or against it

The students can be taken through a practical session where a subject—for example,
Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) or Energy or Armed Robbery—is taken, and
materials and ideas are generated on it for use at a later date. The teacher can give the
following tips on what the students are expected to do when cubing to generate materials
(Spack 1984):

● Describe it: Examine the topic or object closely and tell what you think it is all about.
● Compare the topic or object to some others you have come across before, i.e., What is
it similar to? Different from?

● Associate it with something you are familiar with already, i.e., What does it remind
you of?
● Analyse it by telling how it is made if it is an object.
● Apply it, tell what can be done with the object or topic, how it can be used to improve
the society or your learning, etc.
● Argue for or against it, i.e., take a stand, give a reason(s), any that come to your mind,
for supporting or being against the topic or object under focus.

By the time the students have gone through these steps of cubing, they should have
generated a lot of ideas and materials from which they can write their first drafts.

Classical Invention
This technique is based on the Aristotelian notion of topics. Spack (1984:652) defines
topics as different ways of viewing a subject. Winterowd (1973:702) defines topics as
“probes or series of questions that one might ask about a subject in order to discover
things to say about that subject.” Thus, a student using classical invention as a prewriting
technique can ask and answer questions about the topic at hand that are grouped
according to Aristotle’s topics:

1. definition
2. comparison
3. relationship
4. circumstance
5. testimony

The teacher can give the following tips on how to use classical invention:
Definition: How does the dictionary define the object or notion or topic under focus?
Comparison: What is the topic, word, object, etc., similar to? Why? What is the topic,
word, or object different from? In what ways?
Relationship: Ask questions about cause and effect.
Circumstance: Ask questions about feasibility or practicability.
Testimony: Ask questions about primary and secondary sources of occurrence or
recording.

Debating
This is the act of orally presenting two sides of an argument or topic. It can be used to
generate ideas, thoughts, concepts, notions, and opinions about any topic under focus.
All the advantages that go with active oral use of language by students make debating
worthwhile for stimulating students to write. Oral language use enhances writing ability,
for according according to Wells and Chang (1986:30):
Oral monologue provides an opportunity to develop some of the skills of composing—
planning, selecting, marshalling and organising ideas—skills that are necessary for
writing, and it does so in a medium in which learners feel more likely to be successful.
Interviewing
This is another prewriting activity that students can be taught to use in generating ideas
for writing. Johnson (1986:11) says that asking students to interview each other helps to
establish a relaxed atmosphere for writing. The students can be given guidelines on what
to ask each other.
Procedure: Students are asked to interview someone sitting near them. Each student is
given five minutes to ask questions and jot down notes about the other student’s
background and interests before reversing roles for another five minutes. Then they can
be given 15 minutes to organise a rough draft of their notes. Next, they read their drafts
to their partners for reactions and suggestions so that misconceptions can be corrected
and information can be added or deleted.
The teacher can end the hour/lesson with a few tips for revising what has been written—
such tips as focus on something special about the person’s hobbies, skills or unusual
background, future goals, etc.

This technique reduces the fear of writing and the feeling of inadequacy that students
sometimes have. It gets them talking, laughing, and sharing their writing efforts. It is
therefore a good way to get to know each student as well as to introduce the concept of
writing as a process. This technique can be used with all categories of student writers—
even with graduate teachers in workshops/seminars on the teaching of writing as a
process.

Fantasizing/Meditating/Mind Transportation
These techniques are the same thing in practice; they only go by three different names.
They require students to make a voyage into a fantasy world while they are sitting
quietly in class (see Dakelman 1973:51-52 and Shuman 1983:52). The teacher first
requires students to put away all other books, materials, etc., from their desk tops. Only
their rough/first-draft exercise books/paper, pen or pencil, and erasers should be on their
desks. Complete silence is required and maintained. Then the teacher offers possible
topics, such as:
If you had one wish, what would you choose?
If you were the military/civilian governor of this State, what would you wish to be
remembered for?
If you were the Head-boy/Head-girl of this school, what would you wish to be
remembered for?

The teacher and students then sit quietly for some minutes to reflect on such questions.
Next, the teacher asks students to write down in their exercise books all they fantasised
or meditated about. These initial drafts are then responded to by peers and/or the teacher,
then reworked and rewritten before being handed in for final assessment by the teacher.

These techniques are well-suited for providing a mood that makes students want to write.
The typical Nigerian secondary classroom is rather sterile and unstimulating for students
and so cannot be relied upon to give learners creative stimulus and impetus. So the
teacher ought to know and use several ways to create a quiet and tranquil atmosphere in
which students can think and write.

Lecturing
This is one prewriting exercise that can be used to stimulate and motivate students to
write across the curriculum. It involves the use of an “expert” in a field related to the
topic under focus to do the lecturing rather than the English-language teacher himself.
The teacher first tells the students the topic billed to be treated in the next writing lesson.
Then he gets in touch with the “expert” who will do the lecturing. Students could be told
to read about the topic if it is one in which resource materials are available in the school.
On the day of the lecture, the teacher gets the class set in a quiet atmosphere for the guest
speaker. The students may be told to write down a few tips from the lecture if they wish.
At the end of the lecture, students are encouraged to ask questions, contribute their own
ideas, and disagree or agree with the speaker’s ideas or those of their peers. After this
sharing process, the teacher thanks the guest speaker and can end the lesson by assigning
the topic for homework. Topics like the following can be handled using the technique of
lecturing:
The Koko Toxic Waste Dump episode and its implications for man and his environment
in the Niger Delta of Nigeria
The Acquired-Immune-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) scare
The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and its effects on the Nigerian citizenry,
etc.

These are just a few of the topical issues in Nigerian society today. Students from the
senior secondary class upwards will be eager to write about such topics, and can do so
fluently if proper prewriting activities are used to stimulate their thinking and creative
powers. Lectures by outsiders who are knowledgeable about such topics are ideal.

Reading
In a well-integrated English Language Arts programme, the four language skills are often
interdependent even when treated in separate headings for ease of teaching. So silent
reading or extensive reading is a useful tool for generating ideas for writing as well as a
means of exposing the students to the vocabulary, idioms, conventions, and nuances of
written language (Smith 1982).

Reading as a prewriting activity also offers opportunities for teaching writing across the
curriculum, since a topic read in, for example, a social studies class can generate ideas
for a topic in the writing class. All the other subject areas, like the sciences, arts,
technical and technology subjects, can provide useful prewriting reading activities. A
novel or a section of it can be read as a prewriting activity.
It has been found that “certain novels provide adolescents with marvelous springboards
for writing experiences” (Reeves 1986:37). For example, in the Nigerian situation,
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart contains a lot of incidents that can be read as prewrit
ing activities. The wrestling match between Okonkwo and Amalinze the cat readily
comes to mind. Students (especially boys) can read that section of the novel and then
write a version of it as if they were Amalinze or Okonkwo. The girls can read the section
on Ojiugo and Ezinma’s nocturnal visit in company of the priestess of Aghala to the
Shrine of Aghala, the goddess of fertility. The girls can write as if they were Ezinma or
Ojiugo.

The possible uses of reading as a stimulating experience to teach writing across the
curriculum and for generating materials to write on are diverse and inexhaustible. The
teacher and his students should explore as many as they can and use them to enhance
students’ writing. Reading and writing are two skills that mirror each other, and they
ought to be taught in such a way as to complement each other (Smith 1982).

Group Discussion
This is a technique most teachers are already familiar with and should use extensively in
language classes. Its usefulness in a writing class is aptly stated by Oyetunde (1989:46)
when he asserts that oral discussion, during which students are guided to generate ideas
about the topic, should always precede any written assignment. This sensitizes students
to the need to plan the content and organisation of their compositions.

This oral presentation also enables the teacher to find out whether the students have the
necessary vocabulary and language structures with which to express their ideas in
writing.

Group discussion of a topic as a prewriting activity is also useful because it provides the
weaker students with ideas and materials to write on, as well as help get varied
perspectives on the topic at hand.