CELTA Online Unit 19 End Notes

A wide variety of issues involved in developing students’ writing skills have been considered in this unit,
including what constitutes a written genre, different approaches to developing the skill and a look at
how to give feedback on the written work students produce. Here are some key points to take away
with you.

 Writing is more than just the written production of the students’ knowledge of lexis, grammar,
punctuation and spelling, and the organisation of these elements into sentences. There is also
formality, organisation of ideas, layout, and language to consider. These are the key elements
which constitute written genres.
 There is a range of ways to develop students’ writing skills. These include using a model text and
getting students to write more than one draft of their writing. The key is to plan a lesson with
both your students’ needs and their learning preferences in mind.
 There is a range of considerations when giving feedback on students’ written output. Feedback
on both the content of the text – the message it conveys – and the elements which help to
construct the message (e.g. layout, organisation, formality and language) needs to be given.
There is a variety of ways of doing this, including looking at the texts with the students in class,
the teacher marking the work at home and the use of a correction code.