Teaching writing Of the 4 skills, writing is arguably the most problematic for learners and often the most challenging for teachers. Writing is not easy particularly when compared with speaking, where reformulations, body language, clues from listeners can do much to compensate for a lack of precision or inaccuracies when communicating messages. Time is also a factor – writing may be relegated to homework tasks as there is often a feeling that writing in class uses up time which can be more usefully spent on other activities. However, as this workshop aims to show, developing good writing skills is conducive to the development of other language skills including communication skills.

1. teaching writing to L2 learners
Pateyeva Natalia, PhD
Teacher trainer
“Writing is a way of talking without being
interrupted.”
Jules Renard

2. By the end of this workshop
participants will be able to:
Assess the issues involved in teaching writing in their own
classrooms.
Identify the approaches involved in producing different types of
writing.
Match writing sub-skills to a process writing framework.
Analyze writing tasks from the point of view of audience, purpose and
context.
To provide an understanding on the principles of teaching writing
To provide a short overview on how writing is taught and evaluated
by teachers to achieve certain objectives

3. The main points to present
1. Writing at glance and types of classroom
writing performance
2. The principles of teaching writing
3. How student writing is evaluated

5. To communicate over distances
To communicate across time
To participate in society
To remember and record
To “make thought visible” and express your
inner self

7. Notes emails letters essays stories
Signs advertisements subtitles articles
Diaries/journals magazines plays recipes
Labels/brands brochures maps textbooks

8. Writing at glance
 Writing is the last skill of language after listening, speaking
and reading
 Many consider that writing is the most difficult skill among
the other three
 To be able to write well, one should work hard to practice
writing in addition to understanding writing concept and
tools

9. Location
Where do learners do most
writing – in class or at home?
Difficulties
What difficulties do your
learners have with writing?
Class dynamics
Do your learners work alone
or collaboratively on writing
tasks? Why?
Results
How successful are your
learners at writing?
Tests
Do your learners do writing
tests? How does this
influence your teaching?
Purpose
For what reasons do your
learners write?
Challenges
What challenges/frustrations
do you experience as a
teacher?
Writing in your
classroom

11. Using your plan and ideas to write
a ‘rough’ preliminary version.
Presenting the piece of writing to
the readers.
Checking, making alterations and
re-writing.
Generating ideas and planning what
to write.

12. generating ideas and planning what to write
using your plan and ideas to write a
‘rough’ preliminary version
checking, making alterations and re-writing.
presenting the piece of writing
to the readers.

13. planning
brainstorming
re-ordering
selecting/rejecting ideas
structuring
revising
mind-mapping
questioning
revising
re-structuring
presenting finished piece
to readers
checking focusing on
grammar and vocabulary

14. Pre-writing: brainstorming, mind-mapping
Drafting: selecting/rejecting, structuring,
questioning
Editing: revising, checking, re-ordering, re-
structuring, focusing on grammar and
vocabulary
Publishing: presenting finished piece to
readers

16. writers need :
a purpose – a reason for writing,
an audience –the readers,
a context – background information to make it meaningful
and to motivate learners to write.
Consider examples of writing tasks from
textbooks in terms of how they meet the above

17. 1. There is no audience. To make it more
meaningful ask learners to write an article for an
international student magazine, special issue on
festivals around the world.
2. The task works as it is but could be made more
meaningful by having half the class write the
complaint and the other half write the manager’s
response.

18. 3. The task provides no guidance to help learners
write the story. Support could be given by
supplying pictures, prompt words, gapped
sentences, the beginning of a story etc. If the
learners work in groups, they could write the
stories for their classmates.

19. 4. This task could be contextualized, for example,
“You are having a party. Your classmates are your
guests. Draw a map from the school to your home,
without indicating exactly where your home is. Now
write directions.” The ‘guests’ then have to pinpoint
the home of the ‘host’ from the directions.

20. 5. This needs a purpose and an audience. For
example:”Imagine you are at a crossroads in your
life. You have an appointment with a ‘life coach’ but
first she has asked you to write about yourself.
What can you tell her to prepare for your meeting?
Think about your plans and ambitions etc.

22. Takes too much time
Loss of student focus / interest
Not suited to some personalities
Students need to be taught it (peer
editing / planning / stages)
Restricts spontaneity and range of
writing activities.

23. The creation of a product
Writing seen as a communicative and
purposeful activity
Teaches students to plan and research
Student collaboration is developed.
Feedback and response given.

24. Isn't it surprising how many things, if
not said immediately, seem not worth
saying ten minutes from now? ~
Arnot L. Sheppard, Jr.

25. Speaking Vs Writing
Impermanent Permanent
Immediate (unplanned) Delayed (planned)
Variation / Casual Conventional / Stylized
Low lexical density High lexical density
High Paralinguistics Low Paralinguistics
Communal activity Solitary Activity
Universal Learned

26. Simple sentences Complex sentences
Voiced Thought / Read
Pronounce Spell
Feedback No feedback
Pause / Intonation Punctuation
Speaking Vs Writing

27.  The evaluation of writing, especially in a process-oriented
classroom is a thorny issue. In writing class, a teacher serves
as a guide and facilitator of students’ performance in the
ongoing process of developing a piece of written work, but at
the same time he/she should also serve as a judge.
 To serve this dual role requires wisdom and sensitivity.
 Fairness and explicitness in what teacher takes into account in
evaluation are the keys of being writing judge.

28. Then how to evaluate?
There are six general categories that are often the
basis for the evaluation of student writing
1. Content : thesis statement, related ideas,
development of ideas through personal experience,
illustration, facts, opinions
2. Organization : effectiveness of introduction, logical
sequence of ideas, conclusion, appropriate length

29. next categories
3. Discourse : topic sentence, paragraph unity,
transitions, cohesion, rhetorical conventions,
reference, economy, variation
4. Syntax
5. Vocabulary
6. Mechanics : spelling, punctuation, citation of
reference (if applicable), neatness and
appearance

30. How is the system of weighting of each?
Please note that the most evaluative feedback a
teacher may give is the comments, both specific and
summative of student’ work
If numerical score is needed, a teacher can establish a
point scale for each category (e.g. 0 – 5) and return the
paper with six different scores on them.
If single grade or score is needed, consider weighting
the first few categories more heavily, or you may
emphasize on the content based flavor of the
evaluation

31. Examples of weighting (Brown, 2001 p.358)
Content : 0 – 24
Organization : 0 – 20
Discourse : 0 – 20
Syntax : 0 – 12
Vocabulary : 0 – 12
Mechanics : 0 – 12
TOTAL : 100

32. What did I know about process writing before the
workshop?
What new information have I learnt?
How will what I have learnt impact on my
teaching?

33. Thank you very much
Is there any question?

34. References
Writing, Tricia Hedge, OUP (1998).
HD. Brown. (2001). Teaching by Principles. London: Longman
Simple Writing Activities (Oxford Basics), Jill and Charles
Hadfield, OUP (2000).
Process Writing, White R & Arndt V, pp 51–52; pp 69-77; pp108-
109; pp 122-123, and pp 137–138,
Longman (1991).
Harmer J, The Practise of English Language Teaching, pp255-
268 Longman (2001).
Ur P, A Coursebook in Language Teaching, pp159-175 CUP
(1996).
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/approaches-
process-writing