Writing Skills
Why is writing so difficult to master for English learners?
Limited vocabulary
Grammar issues
e.g. verb tense problems
"Yesterday I eat fish for dinner."
Nervous about sharing and/or peer editing
Not as intuitive: what sounds “right” or “wrong”?
Not used to English writing conventions
e.g. levels of formality
"Hey Professor Chen, what's up?"
Four general guidelines for teaching writing
- Use models / examples
The more examples your students read, the more they'll improve on their own writing!
Review relevant vocabulary and phrases
e.g. review common greetings and closings before teaching how to write a letter to a friend
Have your students brainstorm / list / outline their thoughts
Ask them: Who is the audience? What is the main idea?
- Build in time for revision
Writing is a process
Revision is central to improving all types of writing
- Avoid "translated writing"
What is translated writing?
When you write everything first in Chinese, then translate it into English
Why avoid this?
English doesn’t match Chinese / other native languages!
As a result, this will actually lead to more strange errors and mistakes that are difficult to fix!
Therefore, even though writing in English might be slower at first, it's more effective for improving writing in the long term
Writing process overview
- Pre-writing
Showing models / examples
Teaching vocab / phrases
Brainstorming / outlining
Could be in pairs or groups
- Drafting
Writing the first draft
- Initial feedback
Can be instructor and/or peer
However, peer feedback may not be as effective if your students are lower-level
- Revising
Writing another draft based on feedback
- Final feedback
Finishing the work of writing
Remember, the writing process is flexible -- you may only need one round of drafting, or you may need three or five or more. If you're teaching freewriting, you don't need drafting or revising at all!
As always, you must think about the type of writing you are trying to teach and your students' skill levels. What kind of writers are they? What is going to work best for them?
Giving writing feedback
- Consider using an error code
Can be more or less complex
See example on the right
- Don’t correct everything, all the time
This may affect your students' confidence and willingness to participate in the future
- Give different kinds of feedback!
Content feedback
"Great, that's really cool!"
"I agree, thank you for sharing!"
Accuracy feedback
"You need to use the past tense."
"You spelled this word wrong."
- When should you use peer feedback?
Think about your class level -- will they be able to help each other out?
Think about your goals -- do you have time?
- Students will probably not self-edit
Especially lower-level students
So... prepare to be hands-on!
Teaching controlled writing
What is controlled or guided writing?
Controlled writing is when you, as the teacher, are providing a structure for the writing activity
In other words, you are guiding students in a more step-by-step way through the writing process
When might you want to use controlled writing?
To focus on specific grammar points
If your students are lower-level and need more support
Examples of controlled writing activities
Paragraph tense alteration
Teacher presents a paragraph; students must change all present tense to past tense
Fix the misspelled words
Teacher writes several words on the board; students must correct the misspellings
Complete the dialogue or letter
Teacher presents a writing with blanks or missing sections; students fill in the blanks
Dictation (more basic level)
Teacher reads a paragraph at normal speed 2-3 times
Then, teacher reads the same paragraph with pauses and/or at a slower speed
During the pauses, students write down exactly what they hear to the best of their abilities
Answer questions in writing
Teacher shows a video and asks comprehension questions; students write down answers
Scaffolding controlled writing
As always, the teacher should try to scaffold their controlled writing activities for students of different skill levels
e.g. provide word bank and free response options
e.g. read the paragraph more times
Teaching self-writing
What is self-writing?
Self-writing is when the writer is the only audience of their own writing
When would you use self-writing?
To encourage creativity
To boost writing confidence in a less stressful, non-graded context
Examples of self-writing activities
Freewriting
Writing down anything that comes to mind for any amount of time; mistakes don't matter
Could be part of a pre-writing brainstorming session
Journaling
Writing consistent "entries" -- e.g. could be random thoughts or a response to a prompt
Could be a dialogue journal -- i.e. the teacher responds with their own thoughts in writing
Can overlap with freewriting
Journaling still counts as self-writing because the primary audience is just the writer!
Scaffolding self-writing
You might not want to use self-writing if your students are at a lower level and require more structure before they can freely write
You could scaffold journaling by providing a variety of prompts and letting students choose what they want to write about
Giving feedback on self-writing
Self-writing feedback should be content-based (not accuracy-based!)
Therefore, instead of focusing on correcting grammar or spelling errors, try to comment on what the student is actually writing about
Teaching different types of writing
It's important to teach a variety of writing types and activities
Whenever possible, balance between academic, professional, and personal writing (see below)
Why teach different kinds of writing?
To help students improve their writing skills in many formats and contexts
To give students real reasons to write -- not just for class, but for authentic contexts and purposes outside of the classroom
To keep class interesting!
Work in opportunities to give your students options; let them choose topics and prompts!
