Sookmyung Women`s University

Graduate School of TESOL

Teaching Writing

Spring 2007

Week 7 - Raimes (1983), Chapters 1 and 2 - Answers

Raimes, Chapter 1

1. Why should we teach writing to our students?

One of the main reasons we want to teach our students writing at some level is that the act of writing necessarily incorporates a plethora of different skills and systems of knowledge and in a time frame which not only allows but demands careful planning and reflection. Writing is output and output is essential for language learning, but unlike speaking it is planned output. Writing requires time and refection, thus students can focus on their forms and how these forms are used in creating meaning. This is very important for foreign language learners who do not get very much practice in using their FL and therefore have not developed neuronal patterns/networks for doing so. Writing is a necessary way of dealing with language in general and not just composition. It is a way of scaffolding both speaking and listening.

2. How can we best deal with all the different approaches listed in Raimes (1983)?

As we mentioned last week, the best way of dealing with all these different approaches is to be aware of each of their strengths and weaknesses and try to use all of them appropriately. Now, this is easier said than done and is the holey grail of teaching today in this post-methods era. Each of these approaches is useful at some point in the teaching of writing depending on the students levels and the goals of the teaching.

Raimes, Chapter 2: Techniques in Planning the Class: Seven Basic Questions

1. How can writing help my students learn their second language better?

As we discussed last week, writing is probably one of the best ways to get students to internalize what they have been taught or practiced in class. This does not just mean grammar and vocabulary, but communication as well. The practice of writing builds confidence and allows the students time to think about their own proficiency and the language itself. The integration of writing practice and development into your lessons is a great way to foster learner autonomy and a student-centered classroom.

Integration

Writing, like any other linguistic endeavor, must be communicative. It must have some communicative goal, some reason beyond a hyper-pedagogical just do it or die. The goal of writing is to get a point across; to make the reader understand us. Teachers can, and should, bring many other elements into our writing exercises to help students achieve this. Because all parts of language are necessary and equally communicative, it is easy to integrate other skills into our writing.

Use your writing exercises as a way of supporting and extending other material and visa-versa. Everything in your lessons should be supported, enhanced, and integrated with many other related activities. All too often writing is taught as a solitary, quiet activity not deeply connected to what has been done. This practice does not take advantage of the social potential of the classroom. Group projects and collaboration not only make writing practice more effective but also more fun.

? Most of us are not going to be teaching only writing. We will be teaching EFL. What we must do to teach writing and have our students do it effectively is to integrate it into everything we do in the class.

2. How can I find enough topics?

Don`t worry about this. Topics are all around you:

                                                                               In grammar exercises

                                                                               In vocabulary exercises

                                                                               In reading exercises

                                                                               Etc.

The simplest thing is to adapt things from the textbooks you are already using and thta the students have reacted well to.

Use ideas that interest the students by asking them what they like and what they might like to write about.

It is also fine to use just a few topics over a long period of time as long as the students stay interested and the exercises you are doing with it remain different and continue to challenge the students. Don`t be afraid to attack the same topic from many different angles. This allows students to really get a good feel for one thing and there are advantages in that.

3. How can I make the subject matter meaningful?

There are basically three ways to make the subject matter more interesting.

Make sure it`s interesting for both the writer and the reader.

The most important way is to tie the situation or purpose of the writing to reality. This is the essence of communicative language learning. The idea is that if the subject is real or effects them personally, the students will care much more about it. At the same time this is mimicking real life in the classroom. For example, instead of having them write a paragraph about President Kim`s day, have them write a letter to President Kim telling him about their day. This will also give them a chance to work on different functions in writing. We are all aware that different functions require different styles and forms. This is a necessary part of writing practice.

Let the students pick their own topic. You can run this as a brainstorming exercise for individuals pairs or groups. The teacher gives them a very vague topic, such as pets and then tells them to find what it is they want to say about pets. The students talk together and make a list of all the things they can think of about pets. They then write together or in groups. This brainstorming can occur in English or in Korean or a mix or both, as long as the end product is English.

4. Who will read what my students write?

Teacher

The bad thing about this is that the students think about writing as a school exercise and not something useful or interesting. The good thing is that you, the teacher, know exactly what mistakes your students are making and also, what they are thinking. It is important that you look beyond the mechanics of the writing and try to evaluate the communicative force of the writing itself. Many teachers forget to do this.

Other students.

This is good. The writing can be read by chosen partners or by a whole group of students. There is less fear and the act of writing becomes linked more to communication if the audience is a group of peers, not a teacher. Students can also help correct each other`s work. It`s good for them to see the kin of mistakes everyone else makes. Other students can either be the direct and stated audience, or they can also play a role and pretend to be another reader to fit the communicative purpose of the writing.

An outside reader

Have the students write something to someone outside the class, like a famous person or a school class in a different country. It heightens the communicative nature of the writing. The bad thing is that the students get potentially little or no feedback from the actual audience. The teacher will have to help them and guide them, even correcting their work, as they put together writing for an outside group..

Nobody but the writer themself

This is only really helpful for intermediate to advanced students. Lower level students lack the confidence and experience to be able to tell what is good or not so good in their own writing. The ability to self-correct and revise is something that has to be learned and can only be done in a context where the student is writing more than one sentence at a time which are related. It an important part of the writing process

5. How are the students going to work together in the classroom?

Individually, in pairs, in small groups, large groups, as a class?

This really depends on the time you have, the size of the class, and the level of the students. In general, everything can be done effectively or more effectively even with pair and small group work, but it only works in certain situations. In any case, try to let the students work together at least sometimes. It makes language learning much more fun.

6. How much time should I give my students for their writing?

This totally up to the teacher. It depends a lot on the level of the students and what the focus of the class is. Bear in mind that actual writing, more than just individual, sentences takes a long time. Almost always longer than we teacher plan for. Be careful.

As teachers in Korea we will probably stick to short, highly focused writing projects and exercises. Long term projects which involve more composition will have to be worked on in small bits.

7. What do I do about errors?

           Always correct, but what things and how?

           - correct everything

- correct in code (underline the mistake and tell them what kind of mistake it was but don`t give the correct answer).

           - correct all major mistakes (errors that hurt understanding)

           - correct all vocabulary mistakes

           - correct all grammar mistakes

           - correct stylistics mistakes (things that sound weird, but aren`t incorrect)

           etc.

No matter what you do with this, and that will depend in a large part on the type of exercise you are doing, make sure you always approach mistakes from a positive point of view. Always have the students learn from their mistakes. Your feedback should not be punitive even if it is direct and harsh the purpose of improving their skill should be made clear on a regular basis.