Rifki Nurlaili Hidayat / 0203516042 (Rombel 2)

Language Skill
Teaching Writing
Functional Tasks for Mastering the Mechanics of
Writing and Going Just Beyond
INTRODUCTION
Via wiritng a person can communicate a variety of messages to a close or
disntant, known or unknown reader or readers. It is such communication is
extremely important in the modern world, wether the interaction takes the
form of tradional paper and pencil writing or the most technologically
advanced electronic mail/ English orthography is that studentds may tend
to look for a one to one letter sound correspondence and then discover
that they get into a lot of trouble by doing this.
EARLY WRITING TAKS:COPING WITH THE MECHANICS
What do we teach?
The first steps in teaching reading and writing skills in a foreign or second
language classroom are related to the mechanics and they ususally refer
to letter recognition, letter discrimination, word recognition of whole
sentences and paragraph. Moreover, the interaction between reading and
writing has often been a focus in the methodology of language teaching,
yet it deserves even stronger emphasis at the early stages in the
acquisition of the various component mechanics.. Thus, writing plays an
important role in early reading.
Furthermore, Celce-Murcia, Briton, and Goodwin (1996) suggested that the
sound-spelling correspondences enable the second or foreign language
teacher to combine the teaching of phonetic units with graphemic units
and to give students practice in pronunciation along with practice in
spelling.
a. The English Consonant

When teaching consonant letters and their sound correspondences, it

seems that for students whose own alphabet is similar to that of
English, we need to focus only on the differences.
b. The English Vowels
In teaching the basic sound-spelling correspondences in English, it is
important to emphasize the rules which provide the learners with
useful generalizations and which therefore help them become effective
readers.
How do we teach mechanics?
Teaching mechanics of reading and writing aims at three different goals:
(a)

to

enhance

letter

recognition,

(b)

to

practice

sound-spelling

correspondences via all four language skills. And (c) to help the learner
move from letters and words to meaningful sentences and larger units of
discourse. Besides, there are three major types of recognition tasks: (a)
matching tasks, (b) writing tasks, and (c) meaningful sound-spelling
correspondence practice.
More Advanced Writing Tasks: Developing Basic Communication
These activities will enable focus on both accuracy and content of the
message. In order to develop and use these more demanding writing
activities in the ESL/EFL classroom, we need to develop a detailed set of
specifications and these should include such as Task Description, Content
Description, Audience Description, Format Cues, Linguistic Cues, Spelling
and Punctuation Cues.
Practical Writing Tasks
These are writing tasks which are procedural nature and have a
predictable format. This makes them particularly suitable for writing
activities that focus primarily on spelling and morphology. This can be in
the form of lists of various types, notes, short messages, and simple
instructions.
Emotive Writing Tasks

They are concerned with personal writing, includes letters to friends and
narratives describing personal experiences and they emphazise on format,
punctuation, and spelling of appropriate phrases and expressions.
School-Oriented Tasks
Students must gradually learn to write to an unknown reader who needs
to get the information being imparted exclusively via writing moreover,
dialogue joournals enable students and teachers to interact on a one-toone basis at any level and in any learning context. They are also very
useful communicative events at the early stages of learning to write in a
new language. They enable the beginner to generate some personal input
and receive the teachers direct feedback on it.

Dialogue journal writing at the early stages

Dialogue journals enable students and teachers to interact on a one-toone basis at any level and in any learning context. They are, therefore,
also very useful communicative events at the early stages of learning to
write in a new language. The dialogue journal enables the beginner to
generate some personal input and receive the teacher's direct feedback
on it.
The dialogue journal, like any other type of writing activity, can be done
via e-mail and the communication between students and teachers can
take on this more modem form of interaction. Multimedia programs often
include such correspondence, allowing learners to interact with the
teacher, other learners, or a designated tutor.

Considerations for Teaching an ESL/EFL Writing

Course
INTRODUCTION

In the academic writing, students produce written texts that are expected
to exhibit increasinglyadvanced

levels of proficiency as the student

writers progress through a curriculum, and teachers must make choices

about how various learning experiences will promote this goal. To improve
writing skill, writers must write and teacher plan lessons, presentation of
writing ssignments, student-written texts, and feedback on writing.
BUILDING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
ESL/EFL writing teachers need to develop their own approach to the
teaching of writing, enabling them to choose methodologies and materials
which arise from principled decisions that they can articulate to others.
Besides, this will enable them to structure courses and programs to
facilitate the improvement of student writing skills and to promote a
variety of goals in whatever teaching situations they find themselves.

THEWRITING CURRICULUM
Placement Considerations
To establish a writing curriculum that can target special principles to
address in any one course of a given program, it is essential that students
be given a placement test that includes asking them to produce one or
more writing samples. Teachers in the program can score placement
essays using either a global holistic scale, such as six-point scale
developed for the TOEFL. Therefore, in setting up placement procedures
suited to their specific institutions, curriculum planners and teachers need
to recognize this reality.
Establishing Curriculum Principles
Once students are placed into classes, their particular skill levels will
determine to a large extent the scope of writing activities they are able to
undertake. While the ultimate goal of a writing

curriculum

in

postsecondary setting might be to have ELLs write essays that match the

level of content and mastery of language skills required of NES students

in a similar academic environment.
THE WRITING CLASS
Teacher works to carry out somewhat predictable set of tasks. These
involve designing and/or implementating a syllabus, structuring individual
lessons, providing students opportunities for writing, and responding to
that writing.
Syllabus Design
The syllabus reflects the philosophy of teaching writing that a teacher has
adopted for that particular course in that particular institution. Teachers
need to consider at least the following aspects of course planning: (a) how
much writing students are expected to complete during the term, divided
into less formal work, (b) what the timelines and deadlines are for working
on and completing papers, (c) how many of the formal writing
assignments will be done in class as timed pieces, (d) what aspects of
the composing process will be presented, (e) what aspects of English
grammar and syntax will be directly addressed in class. (f) what will be
seen to constitute progress in acquiring improved writing skills as the
term moves along, (g) how much reading will be covered, (h) how the
students grade or a decision of credit/no credit will be determined.
Techniques for Getting Started
There are so many techniques for getting started such as brainstorming,
listing, clustering, freewriting and etc. It is very important that students
experi ment with each of these techniques in order to see how each one
helps generate text and shapes a possible approach to a topic. The pur
pose, after all, of invention strategies is for stu dents to feel that they
have several ways to begin an assigned writing task and that they do not
always have to begin at the beginning and work through an evolving draft
sequentially until they reach the end.
Using Readings in the Writing Class

Readings serve some very practical purposes in the writing class. They
provide input that helps students develop awareness of English language
prose style. Thus, the ESL writing class can incorporate lessons which
assist students in preparing academic writing assignments by using
readings as a basis to practice such skills as summarizing, paraphrasing,
interpreting, and synthesizing concepts.
Writing Assignments
The writing course consists of a series of assignments that are targeted
and undertaken in a sequence of steps followed by a similar round and a
similar round until the timespan of the course is over. The following set of
six guidelines for the preparation of successful writing assignments should
be presented with the context, content, the language that the isntruction
is vlearly to understand, task should be focused enough, the rhetorical
specifications (cues) should provide a celar direction and the evaluation
criteria should be identified.
Responding
Responding to student writing is a complex process which also requires
the teacher to make a number of critical decisions. Key questions to
address include:
a. What are the general goals within the writing course for providing
feedback to students?
b. What are the specific goals for providing feedback on a particular
c.
d.
e.
f.

piece of writing?
At what stage in the writing process should feedback be offered?
What form should feedback take?
Who should provide the feedback?
What should students do with the feedback they receive?

Goal-Setting
Teachers need to develop responding methodologies which can foster
improvement; they need to know how to measure or recognize
improvement when it does occur. Therefore, in setting goals, teachers

should focus on implementing a variety of response types and on training

students to maximize the insights of prior feedback on future writing
occasions.
Shaping Feedback
Regardless of whatever repertoire of strategies teachers develop to
provide feedback on student papers, students must also be trained to use
the feedback in ways that will improve their writing.
Forms of Feedback
a. Oral Teacher Feedback
Conference of about 15 minutes seem to work best and can provide
the teacher an opportunityto directly question the students about
intended messages which are often difficult to decipher by simply
reading a working draft. Some teachers provide all their feedback
orally by asking students to submit a cassette tape with each draft.
b. Peer Response
One way to guide peer response is for teachers to provide a short list
of directed questions that students address as they read their own or
other students papers. Besides, it is important to note that many
studies conducted on L2 populations have indicated numerous
problems in implementing peer response as a regular fixture in the
ESL/EFL classroom.
Error Correction
Regardless of which agenda the writing teacher sets and the number of
drafts that students produce, the papers that ELLs write are likely to
exhibit problems in language control. Rather, errors must be dealt with at
an appropriate stage of the composing process, and this stage is best
considered part of the final editing phase.

In addition to deciding when to correct errors, teacher must also decide

who will correct the errors, which errors to correct, and how to correct
errors. Besides the obvious role the teacher plays as a corrector of errors,
the student writer and other students in the class can be called upon to
provide feedback on errors as part of the peer feedback process.

Grammar in Writing
INTRODUCTION
In second language writing, the role of grammar in writing has remained a
topic of controversy since the 1980s for several reasons. From the
perspective of grammar as a resource in shipping accurate and effective
communication, it seems that focus on form should to some extent be an
integral part of the instructional design for second language writing
classrooms. Awareness of these variables can greatly assist teachers in
deciding when and how to incorporate grammar into writing instruction,
as well as in selecting those grammatical features most deserving of
students attention and practice for any given context.
GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR INTEGRATING GRAMMAR IN WRITING
INSTRUCTION
Long and Robinson (1998) state that deciding whether the starting point
should be the learner or the language to be taught is one of the most
critical choices in couse design.
Learner Variables
Celce-Murcia (1985) suggests that the following learner variables be
considered in making choices about grammar instruction:age, proficiency
level, and educational background. Differences in students backgrounds
and English acquisition have become extremely important in developing
second language curricula. Then, one final student avariable that deserves

consideration is the degree to which learners take risks in expanding their

productive abilities or employ avoidance strategies to reduce chances of
errors. Therefore, it is clear that ESL writing teachers have much to
consider in meeting learners needs.
Situational Variables
Situational variables must also be considered in developing writing
activities that focus on form. While grammar also has a role in less formal
writing, the structural focus and emphasis on correctness will vary,
depending on the extent to which writers are expected to observe
standard English conventions in settings such as academic or business
communities.
The specific objectives of a writing class will influence greatly how
grammar will be integrated with writing. The kinds of writing in which
students will be expected to develop and demonstrate proficiency are
another consideration. Whatever the instructional objectives, the goal of
developing writing proficiency should be at the forefront in making
decisions about explicit focus on grammar.
ACTIVITIES

FOR

INCORPORATING

GRAMMAR

INTO

WRITING

INSTRUCTION
Text Analysis
Analysis of texts can help learners who are already familiar with
prescriptive grammar rules but who still have problems understanding and
appropriately using grammatical oppositions. They can also benefit
learners with mostly implicit knowledge of grammar rather than explicit
rule-based knowledge.
In selecting grammar points from authentic texts, the writing teacher
should consider the proficiency levels of students and course objectives.
The level of difficulty of a grammatical feature should not be far beyond
the learners development stages. The sources of authentic texts will vary
depending on the writing course syllabus. There are some considerations

in selecting texts and grammatical points: (a) The grammatical features

should be appropriate for students developmental stages; (b) The
grammatical features should reflect students writing needs for the course
or for future writing; (c) When possible, assigned course readings should
be sources of text analysis so that grammar focus is integrated with other
pre-writing activities; (d) The lessons should generally be kept brief,
especially for less advanced writers; (e) The instructor may want to
enhance the texts by underlining or bolding certain elements, especially
those that are not very salient for some learners; (f) Productive tasks
should follow text analysis so that writers have opportunities to practice
the explicit knowledge gained from noticing features in written texts.
Sample Text Analysis Lessons
The following are a few examples of lessons that focus on grammatical
features in texts
a. That and zero-that clauses
b. Tenses and Time Frame Shifts
c. Demonstrative Reference
Guided Writing Activities
Many of the guided writing activities described below were used long
before process-centered approaches to writing became widespread. Here,
they are suggested as components of prewriting, revising, or editing
processes in communicative writing tasks.
Text Conversion
In text conversion exercises, students rewrite passages and short texts,
changing some feature of the grammatical structure.
a. Revision and Editing Focused Exercises
b. Sentence Combining
c. Guided Paraphrase
Text Elicitation

In form-focused text elicitation, the instructor specifies a topic or writing

objective and a grammatical structure or structures to be used.
Dictation
Dictation can be an effective way to familiarize students with the ways in
which grammar and vocabulary interact in common collocations as well as
to address errors in writing that may result in part from mismatches
between learners aural perception of English forms and standard English
grammar and spelling.
Text Completion
Two of the most common types of text completion are the cloze passage
and the gapped text. The second type is more suitable for grammatical
focus. The source could be a published text or student writing.

ERROR DIAGNOSIS AND CORRECTION

Error Detection and Correction Exercises
The following are useful error detection and correction techniques: (1) In a
text with different types of errors, students are told the total number of
each kind of error to identify and correct; (2) To focus on just one error
type, students are given a text with numbered lines; (3) Use sentences
from students drafts to focus on one error type.
Editing Strategies and Techniques
The following are editing techniques some students find work well for
them:
a. Read-Aloud Technique
b. Pointing to Words
c. Slow-Down Techniques

d. Word Processing Grammar Checkers

Teacher Feedback on Errors
The following are some geberal guidelines and suggestions for providing
feedback on grammar:
a. Indirect feedback is generally more useful than direct correction of
errors.
b. Teachers should not provide feedback on all errors in any one piece of
writing but they should focus on several errors the teachers consider
as most needing attention.
c. Deciding which errors most deserve most deserve attention requires
consideration

of

many

student

variables

and

the

instructional

situation.
d. While the bulk of teacher feedback on errors should occur in later
stages of the writing process.