Approaches for Teaching

Writing
Approaches for Teaching Writing

Product
Approaches
to Teaching Process
Writing
Genre
 Product Approach
• Focus is on usage and grammar, topic
sentence, paragraphing and rhetorical
patterns of moulding the text.
• A traditional approach, in which pupils are
encouraged to mimic a model text, which is
usually presented and analysed at an early
stage.
• Mechanical drilling rather than creativity
and innovation; drills, fill ins, substitution,
transformation, completion, identifying the
topic sentence and reordering scrambled
paragraph
 Stage 1
• Model texts are read, and then features of the genre
are highlighted.
For example:-
- If studying a formal letter, pupils' attention may be
drawn to the importance of paragraphing and the
language used to make formal requests.
- If studying a story, the focus may be on the
techniques used to make the story interesting, and
students focus on where and how the writer
employs these techniques.
 Stage 2

 This consists of controlled practice of the

highlighted features, usually in isolation.

 So if pupils are studying a formal letter, they

may be asked to practise the language used to
make formal requests, practising the 'I would
be grateful if you would…' structure.
 Stage 3

Organisation of ideas.
 This stage is very important.
 Those who favour this approach believe
that the organisation of ideas is more
important than the ideas themselves and
as important as the control of language.
 Stage 4

 The end result of the learning process.

 Pupils choose from a choice of
comparable writing tasks.
 Individually, they use the skills, structures
and vocabulary they have been taught to
produce the product; to show what they
can do as fluent and competent users of
the language.
 Product Approach: an example
• Learners familiarise themselves with a set of
descriptions of houses (possibly written especially
for teaching purposes) and identify the
prepositions and the names of rooms.
• At the controlled stage, learners produce simple
sentences about houses from a substitution table
• Then learners produce a piece of guided writing
based on a picture of a house.
• At the free writing stage, learners produce a
description of their own house.
Criticism of the Product Approach
 Focus on accuracy: Form has stolen the lime
light by the time little attention is paid to
meaning, function and purpose.
 Artificial teaching: mechanical drills and
imaginative topics.
Topic, purpose and audience are ignored.

 Misleading pupils; establishing a narrow notion

of the writing process and its functions.
 No creative thinking as a result of pupils’
awareness of teacher’s emphasis on syntactic
and grammatical errors.
Process Approach to Teaching
Writing

Looks at writing as a process “ in which

students are given time to think about
and discuss their ideas on a specific
topic, write draft or framework of what
they want to say, discuss this again and
then write a detailed account.”
(Kilfoil and der Walt, 1997:252)
What is process writing?

 The process approach treats all writing as a

creative act which requires time and positive
feedback to be done well.

 In process writing, the teacher moves away

from being someone who sets pupils a
writing topic and receives the finished
product for correction without any
intervention in the writing process itself.
 A process approach
 Process approaches to writing tend to focus more
on the varied classroom activities which promote
the development of language use: brainstorming,
group discussion, re-writing.
 Such an approach can have any number of
stages, though a typical sequence of activities
could proceed as follows;
 Four common stages to Process
Approach
• Prewriting: Selecting a topic and
planning what to say/write
• Writing: putting a draft version on
paper
• Revising: making changes to improve
the writing
• Evaluation: assessing the written work
 Stage 1(Pre writing)
Generating ideas by brainstorming and
discussion.
 Students could be discussing qualities
needed to do a certain job, or giving
reasons as to why people take drugs or
gamble.
 The teacher remains in the background
during this phase, only providing language
support if required, so as not to inhibit
students in the production of ideas.
 Students extend ideas into note form,
and judge quality and usefulness of
ideas.
 Students organise ideas into a mind
map, spidergram, or linear form.
 This stage helps to make the
(hierarchical) relationship of ideas
more immediately obvious, which
helps students with the structure of
their texts.
 Stage 2 (Writing)
 Students write the first draft. This is done in class and frequently in
pairs or groups.
During this stage, pupils write without much attention to the
accuracy of their work or the organisation.
The most important feature is meaning. Here, the teacher (or other
pupils) should concentrate on the content of the writing.
- Is it coherent?
-Is there anything missing?
- Anything extra?

 Drafts are exchanged, so that students become the readers of

each other's work. By responding as readers, students develop an
awareness of the fact that a writer is producing something to be
read by someone else, and thus can improve their own drafts.
Stage 3 (Revising)
Drafts are returned and improvements are
made based upon peer feedback.
 Stage 4 (Evaluation)
A final draft is written.
Students once again exchange and read
each other's work and perhaps even write
a response or reply.
 Now the writing is adapted to a readership.
Pupils should focus more on form and on
producing a finished piece of work. The
teacher can help with error correction and
give organisational advice.
Why should teachers be
interested in a process approach
to writing?
 White and Arntd say that focusing on
language errors 'improves neither
grammatical accuracy nor writing fluency'
and they suggest instead that paying
attention to what the students say will
show an improvement in writing.
 The changing roles of teacher
and students
• The teacher needs to move away from being
a marker to a reader, responding to the
content of pupils’ writing more than the form.
• Pupils should be encouraged to think about
audience:
- Who is the writing for?
- What does this reader need to know?
• Pupils also need to realise that what they put
down on paper can be changed: Things can
be deleted, added, restructured, reorganised,
etc.
 Process Approach: an example

• Pre writing :Brainstorming

Pupils are divided into groups and quickly produce words and ideas about
the topic of houses
• Composing/Drafting
Select and structure the result of the brainstorming session to provide a
plan of a description of a house. This guides the 1st draft of a particular
house.
• Revising stage- learners discuss and make changes (revise) to their draft
• Editing stage-learners proof-read text
 Questioning
In groups, the idea is to generate lots of
questions about the topic. This helps
students focus upon audience as they
consider what the reader needs to know.
The answers to these questions will form the
basis to the composition.

 Discussion and debate

The teacher helps students with topics,
helping them develop ideas in a positive
and encouraging way.
 One or the other

• The two approaches are not necessarily

incompatible.
• It is believed that process writing, i.e. re-drafting,
collaboration, can be integrated with the practice
of studying written models in the classroom.
• From the process approach, the collaborative
work, the discussion which is so important in
generating and organising ideas.
 Once students have written their first drafts,
model texts can be introduced as texts for
comparison.
 Lightbown found that learning appeared to be
optimal in 'those situations in which the
students knew what they wanted to say and the
teacher's intervention made clear to them there
was a particular way to say it.'
 Teacher intervention through model texts could
thus aid the learning process.
 Potential problems
• Writing is a complex process and can lead to learner
frustration.
• As with speaking, it is necessary to provide a supportive
environment for the pupils and be patient.
• This approach needs that more time be spent on writing in
class, but as you have seen, not all classroom time is spent
actually writing.
• Pupils may also react negatively to reworking the same
material, but as long as the activities are varied and the
objectives clear, then they will usually accept doing so.
• In the long term, you and your pupils will start to recognise the
value of a process writing approach as their written work
improves.
 Differences between Product and Process
Approach
Product Approach
• Imitate model text
• Organisation of ideas more
important than ideas
• One draft
• Controlled practice of focus
language
structures/features
• Individual
• Emphasis on end product
Process Approach
• Text as a resource for
comparison
• Ideas as starting point
• More than one drafts
• More global; focus on
purpose, theme, text type
• Collaborative
• Emphasis on creative
process
 Genre Approach
• The genre-based approach can be
called differently, such as the “English
for Academic Purposes Approach” or
“English for Specific Purposes
Approach”.
• They stress the importance of various
types of writing which are tied closely
to social purposes.
 Genre Approach
• Can be regarded as an extension of Product Approach.
• Views writing as predominantly linguistic (like product
approach)
• Emphasises that writing varies with the social context in which
it is produced (unlike product approach)
• The central aspect of the situation is PURPOSE.
• Different kinds of writing(or genres) are used to carry out
different purposes.
• Genres are also influenced by other features of the situation
- the relationship between the writer and the
audience
- the pattern of organization
 Genre Approach
Pupils who are writing within a certain genre need to
consider a number of different facts.
 They need to study texts in the genre they are going to be writing
before they embark on their own writing.
 They need to have knowledge of the topic, the conventions
and style of the genre and the context in which their writing
will be read.
 Example: prelude to the writing of letters to newspapers-
students spend some time very day looking at letters to the
newspapers.
 Make notes of particular vocabulary and or grammar
constructions in the letters. Example language which
expresses approval or disapproval etc.
 Classroom discussion – make a list common grammar
patterns.
 Genre approach: an example
• Examine authentic descriptions of houses produced by
estate agents/realtors in order to sell the property.
• Learners carry out an analysis of the text
i. Looking at some elements of grammar or
patterns of vocabulary
ii. Consider the social context like the purpose
(selling of the house, the audience is made up of
potential buyers, and that the words would be
supported by pictures and diagrams)
• With varying degree of help, learners would then produce
potential texts.
• Working on their own, learners would produce complete
texts reflecting social context and the language of the
original description of a house.
 Comparing: Product, Process, Genre

Product Process Genre

Writing is concerned Writing is seen as the Writing is concerned
with knowledge about exercise of linguistic with knowledge of
the structure of skills (planning and language and writing
language drafting) is tied closely to a
social purpose

Writing development Writing development Development of

is the result of the is seen as an writing is viewed as
imitation of input in unconscious process the analysis and
the form of texts which happens when imitation of input ( in
provided by the teachers facilitate the the form of texts
teacher. exercise of writing. provided by the
teacher)
 Comparing the stages of writing:
Product, Process, Genre
Product Process Genre

1. Familiarisation 1. Pre writing 1. Modelling 1.

Introduce
a model

2. Controlled 2. 2. Joint 2. Carry

writing Composing/Drafting construction out
exercise

3. Guided writing 3. Revising 3. Independent 3.

Construction Produce
a text

4. Free Writing 4. Editing

 Strengths
Product Approach Process Approach Genre Approach
• The need for • Emphasis on the • Writing takes place
learners to be given skills in writing in a social situation,
linguistic (brainstorming, and is a reflection
knowledge about drafting, reviewing, of a particular
texts (grammar, editing) purpose
sentence structures,
punctuation)

• Imitation is one way • Learners • Learning can

in which people background happen
learn knowledge and consciously through
experiences imitation and
contribute to the analysis
development of
writing ability
• Active participation
of learners in the
process
 Weaknesses
Product Approach Process Approach Genre Approach
Process skills of writing, • Does not provide • Does not provide
such as planning a learners with learners with
text are less adequate linguistic adequate linguistic
emphasized knowledge to write knowledge to write
successfully successfully
• Learners’ • Focus on writing as • Learners are largely
knowledge and mere process with passive
experiences are the same set of
undervalued; steps to follow
passive learners through, insufficient
importance to the
kind of texts writer’s
produce and why
such texts are
produced
 Which approach to use
 The approach that you decide to use will depend
on you, the teacher, and on the students, and the
genre of the text.
 Certain genres lend themselves more favourably
to one approach than the other.
 Formal letters, for example, or postcards, in
which the features are very fixed, would be
perhaps more suited to a product-driven
approach, in which focus on the layout, style,
organisation and grammar could greatly help
students in dealing with this type of writing task.
 Other genres, such as discursive essays and
narrative, may lend themselves to process-
driven approaches, which focus on students'
ideas.
 Discursive activities are suited to brainstorming
and discussing ideas in groups, and the
collaborative writing and exchanging of texts
help the students to direct their writing to their
reader, therefore making a more successful text.
 The importance of feedback

• It takes a lot of time and effort to write, and so it is

only fair that student writing is responded to suitably.
• Positive comments can help build student confidence
and create good feeling for the next writing class.
• It also helps if the reader is more than just the
teacher.
• Class magazines, swapping letters with other
classes, etc. can provide an easy solution to
providing a real audience.
 TUTORIAL TASK

In groups of 3 or 4:
Select a Year 3, 4, or 5 class to teach
writing.
Determine the proficiency level of the class
 Design a writing activity based on all the
three(3) approaches
 For each approach be clear of the
stages of writing
( You need to refer to the relevant DSKP: identify
the Content Standard and the Learning Standard)