Lesson 3: Writing

Learning Outcomes:
This Unit, therefore, aims to help future pre-service teachers to:
A. discuss the nature, process, and mechanics of writing;
B. explain the rationale behind the teaching of writing; prepare writing tasks that would suit
their target learners;
C. design learning plans in writing instruction;
D. and propose assessment activities that will not only develop the learners' writing skills but
also motivate them to write.

There are challenges and complexities of writing, emphasizing the need for focus, precision,
and skill when crafting written content. It acknowledges that writing leaves a lasting document
for critique, which can be intimidating for some individuals.
The difficulties are faced by students, especially those who must write in a language other
than their native one, and those who are reluctant to review and revise their work.
The importance of mastering writing skills, particularly for future language teachers. Given that
effective writing instruction can be challenging, especially when teachers may not feel
adequately prepared for this task due to a historical emphasis on reading instruction. It
highlights the need for language teachers to equip themselves with knowledge and strategies
for teaching writing effectively.

Writing can be considered the most effective means of communication because glimpse it
could promote and perpetuate an idea. We may recall how the ancient forms of writing like the
cuneiform, the hieroglyphs, and the baybayin give us a of the world in the past. We also
document important events by putting them into writing. Indigenous knowledge, skills, and
traditions are preserved and perpetuated by codifying or writing them. As important as it is,
writing is a skill that needs to be taught effectively.

Purposes of Teaching
Writing Writing is often taken as a task integrated with other communication skills like reading.
Harmer (1998:79) offered four purposes of teaching writing, namely: "reinforcement, language
development, learning style and as a skill of its own."

a. Reinforcement. Writing is considered as one of the ways of helping language learners

remember and even improve their fluency in the target language. Your lessons in the
principles of teaching may remind you that learning best happens when more senses are
used. So, writing the linguistic codes may help one to nuance sound-spelling similarities and
differences or commit to memory important concepts they have read or listened to.

b. Language Development. Harmer (1998) asserts that learning a language is a process. He

recognized that writing, like the other communication skills, is done in stages or procedural
steps. For instance, a language. learner has to choose a topic and considers some factors in
doing so, whether the communication task is listening, speaking, reading or writing. The
thought processes involved in these steps form part of the language learning experience.

c. Learning Style. Our understanding of Gardner's Multiple Intelligence- theory would tell us
that students differ in the way they learn. Some may learn better when engaged in receptive
communication activities like listening and reading, while others learn better when engaged in
production activities like speaking and writing. Some may be quiet in the discussion but are
passionately expressive when asked to write.
d. Writing as a skill. It has to be taught for its being. Writing as a skill cannot be acquired or
mastered overnight.

On a similar note, Graham, MacArthur, and Fitzgerald (2007) have offered four principles in
writing instruction. They reminded us that "writing is essential," and as such, we are
challenged to "do a better job in teaching it: we need to know what skilled writing looks like"
and must have a collection of "effective writing procedures for teaching writing."

a. The essence of writing. Writing, according to Graham et al. (2007), is an effective and
versatile means of communication. It allows us to persuade our audience or explain to them
ideas as simple as cooking your favorite food or following a diet regimen. It also offers a
venue for self-expression, whether in a creative or critical form of writing. As language
teachers, it is one of the most commonly used tools for assessing language proficiency and
academic performance. As they aptly said: "The power of writing resides in the many ways it
can be used. It is essential to school success and has increasingly become a central
component of daily life in industrialized societies." (Graham et al.2007:3)

b. The need for effective writing instruction. Having pointed out the essence of writing,
Graham et al. also emphasized the need for writing. instruction that is grounded on research.
They stressed that "Our instructional efforts in this area need to be informed by what is known
about the factors that foster writing development and proven methods for promoting such
development(p.3)." In our context, we are aware that we have fared poorly in national and
international language assessments. Among the recent researches regarding our learners'
writing skills is the one done by Saavedra (2020: ) which abstract revealed the following:

Based on their experiences and observations while teaching writing to the pupils, the following
was recorded:
1) lack of vocabulary in the target language;
2) difficulty in conveying and organizing ideas;
3) pupils' perception that writing is a hard task;
4) lack of motivation and interest in writing, and
5) the difficulty in spelling, grammar and sentence construction
These are the reasons why many elementary pupils have poor writing skills in English and
Filipino, These factors can be attributed to the first languages of the pupils (Chabacano,
Bahasa Sug, and Cebuano), where English and Filipino are considered as L2 only. Despite
the effort of teachers, they acknowledged that elementary pupils' writing skills still did not meet
the standard in writing.

As future language teachers, these pieces of information would serve as our compass in
designing our learning plans, our even the curriculum itself. syllabus, or even curriculum itself.

C. Knowledge of effective writing. As earlier established, our own knowledge and skills are
the limits to the things we can teach to our students. It is imperative, therefore, that we equip
ourselves with the content and procedural knowledge in teaching writing. Graham et al.
contend that "If students are to become good writers, we need to help them become strategic,
knowledgeable, and motivated writers who are not hampered by inefficient or faulty
transcription and sentence construction skills." (p.5)
D. Effective writing procedures for teaching writing. We are also challenged to research
beyond the context and reality of our learners' writing skills. We must equip ourselves with the
different perspectives on the nature of writing and the pedagogies of writing instruction.

Perspectives on the Nature of Writing and Writing Instruction

Writing as a means of communication has the potential to change not only one's worldview
but the world itself. Famous works like Noli Me Tangere (1887) of Jose Rizal, An Inconvenient
Truth (2006) by Al Gore and Greta Thunberg's social media posts on climate change can just
be a few of the examples of the power of writing.

Yagelski (2018:8) purports the four ways of understanding writing. He said that: "Writing is a
powerful means of communication; Writing is a way to participation; Writing is a unique way of
thinking that helps us learn, and Writing is a way to understand ourselves and the world
around us."

Our view on the nature of writing influences the way we approach the teaching-learning
process in our classroom. We may view it as something personal so that some writers indulge
their idiosyncrasies when they write. For example, others would want everything quiet and
clean in their writing space before producing a writing output. Others want to engage in
stimulating activities or get exposed to some scenery or ambiance to produce brilliant writing
ideas. However, it is nothing but a myth to believe that you need inspiration in order to write
effectively. As a skill, it can be developed through constant and correct practice.

There are two major schools of thought in viewing writing instruction: writing as cognitive
ability vs. writing as a sociological phenomenon and writing as a product vs. writing as a
process.

1. Writing as Cognitive Ability vs. Writing as a Sociological Phenomenon..

a. Cognitive ability. To view writing as a cognitive ability means taking into account both the
writing ability and the linguistic proficiency of the learner (Weigle, 2014). In this case, writing
ability refers to the learners' knowledge and skills of the writing process, which includes
choosing a topic, generating and organizing ideas with consideration of the context and
audience, and polishing structure and style of presentation of writing outputs, among others.
Language proficiency refers to one's knowledge of the linguistic codes, be it in LI or L2. For
some students, this may demand knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, among
others.
b. Sociological Phenomenon. This view on writing, according to Weigle (2014:224),
recognizes that writing is "done for a purpose. is directed at a specific audience, and is part of
a broader set of literacy practices... shaped by a particular culture and setting." As writing
teachers, we need to inculcate among our learners that "written texts do not exist in isolation"
and that they have to be a "member of a discourse community." A discourse community
defines the rules of writing or sets of expectations for a written output. For instance, we are
now aware of technical writing, creative writing, professional writing, business writing, and
many more.

2. Writing as a Product vs. Writing as a Process

a. Writing as a Product. If we take this view in teaching writing, we are more concerned
about the students' output. Also called genre writing approach, this perspective in teaching
writing pays attention to the correctness of the students' grammar or their structure. Dirgeyasa
(2016, citing Thoreau, 2006) defines genre-based writing as a kind of writing which "has a
typical style, particular target of readers, and a specific purpose." As classified by Tompkins
(2008), writing genres include Journal writing, biographical writing, letter writing, expository,
narrative, descriptive, poetry, and persuasive writing.

Zakime (2018) finds the product approach in teaching writing time-efficient because its
primary aim is accuracy; therefore, the teacher has a focus skill to correct. Teacher who uses
this approach usually asks learners to read model texts for analysis and templates for writing.
Zakime provided the following key items, which she attributed to her CELTA mentor Mellissa
Lamb, as a guide for analysis: Content, Lexis, Organization, Grammar, and Style (CLOGS).
This is followed by controlled writing activities that would lead them to think of their own topic
to develop using the pattern they saw from the model text. After student writers have thought
of their topic, they will organize their ideas and write t final output. Because of its focus on
fluency, this perspective in writing instruction is most useful as a reinforcement or
development activity.

b. Writing as a Process. This view takes into account the different stages of writing as a way
of developing writing skills. Writing as a process, according to Langan (2014:41), involves five
basic steps, namely: pre-writing, organizing ideas or outlining the paper, drafting, revising, and
editing.

Pre-writing. This step involves choosing the topic and the generation of ideas for writing.
Choosing a topic is crucial, especially if the writing activity is done within the given class time.
As teachers, we need to guide students in deciding on topics that they are knowledgeable of
and interested in. They also have to be reminded that the topic they have chosen is narrow
enough to done within the given time frame.

Langan further offers four pre-writing activities, which include: freewriting or writing without
restrictions, listing, brainstorming, and clustering.

Organizing ideas. In this stage, we assist our students in planning or outlining the ideas they
have generated during the pre- writing stage.

Writing the draft. This refers to the development of the key ideas outlined in the previous
stage.

Revising. Effective writers re-read their work to revise content and structure. This stage asks
the writers to check the substance of their claims and the smooth flow of the development of
their ideas.

Editing. This stage in writing prepares the writing output for final submission. This requires
polishing of grammar, mechanics, and style. This also asks students to revisit the writing
format required by their teacher..

With these processes in mind, we need to remind our students that effective writing considers
subject, audience, and purpose in order to put the message across (Langan, 2008).

Subject. This is the idea that we want to talk or write about. We cannot produce anything, if
our knowledge is limited. We need to have a considerable collection of ideas in order to carry
out a discussion intellectually. To enrich our content knowledge, we need to read, observe
and listen. A person who is an effective reader, a keen observer, and a sensitive listener
never runs out of ideas to write..

Purpose. Influential writers purposely utilize their extensive collection of ideas. They may
inform their readers about the latest facts, convince or persuade them to embrace a new
concept or technology, or humor them with entertaining stories. Our writing purpose guides us
in organizing our ideas and choosing the language to use in writing. It also helps us decide
the length of our discussion and the style of presentation.

Audience. A writer always has an audience in mind. In the school set up, the audience can
be the teacher who reads and grades the writing output or fellow students who share the
same passion on the chosen subject. Just as your purpose determines your language and
style of presentation, the audience plays a crucial role in shaping your writing style and
organization. Age, profession, cultural background, and gender, among others, contribute a lot
in deciding your topic, our method of presentation, and language to use in writing.

The Mechanics of Writing

Writing in the second language begins in understanding the writing system and the mechanics
of writing. For our learners who may have to negotiate between requisite in learning to write
can be daunting. Olshtain (2014) lists the following eir mother tongue, which is not necessarily
Filipino, and English as their L2, this echanics of writing:

a. Letter recognition is the ability to distinguish a letter from the other letters in the alphabet
and is a foundation in learning to read and write the language. For example, a Filipino learner
who has memorized the alphabet song may not necessarily know the symbol of each letter
when it is removed from its regular sequence.

b. Letter discrimination is the ability to distinguish similar-looking letters.

c. Sound-to-letter correspondence. This mechanics in writing refers to the matching of the

sound with the letters or symbol. English phonetics can be a challenge to Filipino learners
because they have sounds of phonemes that do not correspond with their sound, i.e. the /f/
sound being spelled as 'gh' in the word laugh, the voiced and voiceless 'th' in though and
thought.

d. Word recognition. The complex sound-to-letter correspondence often results in the

learner's problem in word recognition, which is the ability to quickly identify and read the
written word.

e. Basic rules of spelling. An effective writer demonstrates fluency in spelling, but to some of
our learners, this could be a tedious task, especially if they have not mastered the first four of
these mechanics.
Aside from understanding the complex mechanics of writing our target language, we also
need to learn the writing system itself, which according to Olshtain (2014), can be classified
as either meaning-based or sound-based. Meaning-based system can be exemplified by the
Chinese and the Japanese Kanji, where the graphic character represents real-world meaning.
The sound-based system, like the English language, uses the alphabet where the symbol
represents a sound. It is also crucial to know the writing system directions that affect the way
we learn writing. Some languages are written in columns, like the Chinese and Japanese or
from right to left, like Arabic, or from left to right like Filipino and English.
3.3 Assessment in the Context of Teaching Writing
-To assess writing as a product means looking into the students' ability to observe proper
mechanics, correct sentence construction, coherence, and cohesion.
-To assess writing as a product is to look into the writers' ability to produce written outputs that
are audience and purpose-driven, credible, and substantive.
-Formative evaluation monitors students' progress and is often informal and qualitative. On
the other hand, summative evaluation gauges the students' level of competence vis-à-vis a
mandated or expected standard.
-Summative evaluation is often a challenge for teachers who handle heterogeneous classes
with different backgrounds and abilities.
- Assessment is more favorable than testing, it takes into account the context of the learners
and finds ways of helping them forward. On the other hand, testing is associated with the
traditional, like the multiple-choice type of gauging the learner's level of competence. This may
not be the ideal way of assessing writing but a necessary skill to develop among learners who
need to take standardized tests in their college admission or national assessments.

Purposes of Writing Assessment

We have established in the previous lesson that writing can be an effective tool for learning.
Calfee and Miller (2007:284) reiterated the value of writing in their claim that writing "reveals
thinking with unusual clarity. The results are portraits that students construct in demonstrating
their understanding of a topic, revealing their capacity to 'go beyond formation given." So
while writing can be an assessment in itself, it must also be assessed accordingly because of
the following reasons as offered by Tompkins (2008:78).
 Reflect the students' growth as a writer
 Guide writing instruction
 Substantiate the grade-level standard met by the learner
 Evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional program
 Inform students and parents about students' achievement

How to Assess Writing

Writing as a process is recursive, and as such, assessment is best done in every stage of the
process. To instill the basic strategy of plan-draft- revise-edit, teachers need to monitor their
performance and strategy of plan draft revise their graded assessment. Feedback, according
to Clark (2010:59), mentoring dialogue that helps the learner's repeated attempts to be
articulse), is "marking of pupils' written work should be positive, encouraging and indicative of
future steps.

In correcting students' errors, we need to make them understand the implications of their
mistakes and balance it with feedback on the positive achievements of the piece. Weigle
(2015) classified the types of feedbacks that we can offer to our student writers. They are:

a. Written comments. This is the most commonly used feedback mechanism where teachers
write their corrections either on the texts using symbols for editing or indicate comments on
the margins of the student's paper. This is helpful in correcting on the spot the errors
committed by the learners. However, it can be time-consuming for the teachers and
intimidating for the students.
b. Individual conference. This type of feedback is useful for process writing, where teachers
have to assist student writers in every stage of the writing process. The conference is usually
focused on the students' ability to comply with the given task, i.e., choosing a topic and
narrowing the focus, ensuring that developing ideas support the topic statement. This requires
the student's ability to listen and take note of the comments in their writing journal; otherwise,
they would not get the feedback correctly.
c. Recorded feedback. This is an alternative conferencing, especially if the class is big and
individual conferencing would not be viable. The teacher will check the outputs and audio-
record her comments to the students for the students to listen and follow. But in places where
technology is scarce or unavailable, this does not work.

Other assessment strategies that may work in the writing classroom would include
observation, collection of writing samples, keeping records, and writing checklists (Tompkins,
2008).
 Observation can be used in monitoring the learner's writing habits, problems in executing
the process, interaction with peers during collaborative or peer writing activity.
 Collection of writing samples can be done by the teacher or the students themselves.
Posting writing exemplars on the wall is affirming for the learners. However, it would be
best if the learners themselves collected their written outputs in a portfolio. The collection
includes the drafts and the final output as well as the ones they consider as the worst and
the best-written output. The learners can reflect on their development as a writer.
 Anecdotal records note down the teacher's comments on what they have observed or
read from the students' outputs as evidence of learning.
 Checklists for the students and teachers to assess if the outputs have responded to the
given prompts or defined objectives.

In the context of the Philippine classrooms, where teachers handle big classes with learners
coming from diverse backgrounds and levels of competence, they need to employ strategies
that could lighten the arduous task of assessing writing. Some of these are:

 Focus on a specific aspect or competency (Harmer, 1998). This strategy that adheres to
the principle of 'less is more' requires the teacher to orient the students on the target
competencies that the writing program or activity aims to achieve. Since it is impossible to
correct all aspects of fluency simultaneously, the teachers and students can agree to
focus on vocabulary, spelling, and mechanics, or subject-verb agreement on the next. If it
is a big task, linguistic focus can be coupled with one stage of the process at a time.
 Agree on the list of written symbols (Harmer, 1998). As the teachers focus on the specific
aspect of competency, they also can tell the students the codes used in correcting the
errors. For beginner and intermediate learners, the following codes would be useful:
SP -spelling error
WO - error in word order
P -punctuation error or problem
T -Tense of the verb
WW -wrong word missing word.
[] -incorrect word
WF -error in word form
~ -error in combining two words into one
/ -signal for run-on sentences
Source: https://elttguide.com/the-most-useful-10-symbols-to-use-for- correcting-students-
writing
 Peer correction and feed-backing. This strategy is not only time-efficient but promotive as
well of the 'self-regulation' in writing. Self-regulation, according to Zimmerman and
Risemberg (1997:76), refers to "self-initiated thoughts, feelings, and actions that writers
use to attain various literary goals, including improving their writing skills as well as
enhancing the quality of the text they create." Enlisting the students' participation in the
feedbacking activities not only lightens the teacher's load in checking outputs, it also
challenges the learners to grasp the expected competencies, It helps promote both the
habit of learning to write and writing to learn.

This peer correction, according to Clark (2010:61), is not intended for grading, but the
students have to be oriented on what to assess in their classmates' work. Taking the role of
the target audience, they are supposed to look into "what they thought was good, what they
did not fully understand, what could be improved and how." They also should be warned
about patronizing their friend's work because it would defeat the purpose of peer correction.

 Utilize technology. Word processors are already equipped with editing features that can
be helpful in polishing the text in terms of grammar, structure, and mechanics. Some
schools have softwares like Turnitin and Grammarly that can detect not only linguistic
errors but also plagiarized texts. Teachers can encourage learners to use these
technologies.
When to Assess Writing
Writing assessment is ideally paired with instruction, so teachers do not stack written outputs
for wholesale checking. Timely feedbacking is meaningful not only for the teachers but, more
importantly, for the learners. It allows them to reflect on the mistakes they can avoid, ask for
clarification on the comments given or solicit suggestions for improvement. While we do not
disregard the common practice diagnostic tests that assess the learners' level of competence
prior to instruction, we are more concerned about the formative assessments that monitor
students' progress.

How to Grade Written Outputs

Grading students' output depends on the type of assessment is given. If it is testing the
learners' linguistic competence, then grades can be taken from the actual scores they get
from the test. However, if the assessment is intended to monitor students' progress in learning
the writing process or responding to a writing task, the teacher can use rubrics to evaluate the
learners' performance.

A rubric is an assessment tool that defines the criteria to be evaluated and the rate
given to each criterion. In designing rubrics, a teacher must also be clear on the criteria of
assessments. Calfee and Miller (2007) listed the following as the essential criteria for
evaluating writing outputs: Idea refers to the substance or the student's knowledge and
command of the topic chosen. Organization is the student's logical organization and use of the
appropriate presentation pattern (i.e., exposition, cause-effect, problem solution).

 Voice means that even if the students may have researched some of the ideas used in
writing, they still managed to surface their point of view or personality as a writer.
 Sentence fluency is the writer's competence in observing lexical and syntactical
structures.
 Convention refers to the learners' mastery of grammar, spelling, and mechanics.
 Presentation refers to the overall style of the writer.

A rubric comes in two general types: the holistic and the trait rubrics. A holistic bric,
which assesses the output based on a single scale for all the identified riteria, is time-efficient
in terms of preparation and easy to use for the rater. However, it does not give specific
feedback for the learner on what area to improve. The following are examples of a holistic
rubric.

Target Competency: Articulating thoughts through written communication final paper/project.

Above Average: The audience can easily identify the focus of the work and is engaged by its
clear focus and relevant details. Information is presented logically and naturally. There are no
more than two mechanical errors or misspelled words to distract the reader.

Sufficient: The audience is easily able to identify the focus of the student work, which is
supported by relevant ideas and supporting details. Information is presented in a logical
manner that is easily followed. There is minimal interruption to the work due to misspellings
and/or mechanical errors.

Developing: The audience can identify the central purpose of the student work without little
difficulty, and supporting ideas are present and clear. The information is presented in an
orderly fashion that can be followed with little difficulty. There are some misspellings and/or
mechanical errors, but they do not seriously distract from the work.
Needs Improvement: The audience cannot clearly identify the central ideas or purpose of the
student work. Information is presented in a disorganized fashion causing the audience to have
difficulty following the author's ideas. There are many misspellings and/or mechanical errors
that negatively affect the audience's ability to read the work.

Source: Types of Rubrics https:/resources

depaul.edu/teaching-coromons'teaching-guides/feedback-grading/rubrics Pages/types-of-
rubrics.aspx