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LESSON 5: Approaches to Teaching Writing

Mohd Iskandar Daud

IPG Kampus Kota Bharu

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Content Approaches in teaching writing

Product Process

Genre

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Approaches to Teaching Writing

There is not necessarily any 'right' or 'best' way to teach writing skills.

The best practice in any situation will depend on the

type of student, the text type being studied, the schoolsystem and many other factors

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Product approach This is a traditional approach - students are

encouraged to mimic a model text (usually presentedand analysed at an early stage)

Also called:

controlled composition

Guided composition

the controlled-to-free approach the text-based approach

(Raimes, 1983; Silva, 1990 in Thanatkun Tangpermpoon, 2008)


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Characteristics Basically, writing in product-based approaches has

served to reinforce L2 writing in terms of grammaticaland syntactical forms

Writing in the product-based approach is viewed as asimple linear model of the writing process whichproceeds systematically from prewriting to composing

and to correcting


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Principles of product approach 1. Mastering a language equals mastering speech

(hence the reason there were a lot more writingactivities than speaking in traditional English lessons)

2. Learning is synonymous with habit formation


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Typical Procedures The common procedures is outlined below:

Stage 1:

Model texts are read, and then features of the genre

are highlighted. For example:

If studying a formal letter, students' attention may bedrawn 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 focuson where and how the writer employs these techniques.


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Typical Procedures Stage 2:

This consists of controlled practice of the highlighted

features, usually in isolation. if students are studying a formal letter, they may be

asked to practise the language used to make formalrequests(Eg: practising the 'I would be grateful if you

would…' structure)


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Organisation of ideas - very important.

Those who favour this approach believe that theorganisation of ideas is more important than the ideasthemselves and as important as the control of language.

Do you agree with this? Reasons?


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The end result of the learning process.

Students choose from a choice of comparable writingtasks.

Individually, they use the skills, structures and vocabulary they have been taught to produce the

product; to show what they can do as fluent andcompetent users of the language.


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Example of activity Model:

I am Mr. Baroni. My first name is Robert. I am twenty-five years old. Iam a student. I am in the classroom now. I am at my desk. Mr. Peter ismy teacher. He is in the classroom now. He is at the blackboard. He isbusy now. The Classroom is on the tenth floor. It is a small room. The

classroom is in an old building. The building is near the river. It is inthe busy city of Detroit.

Instructions:

Write one paragraph about yourself and your school. Follow the modelbut change all information that is not correct for you.

For example: you write down your information and take as many structures and words from the model as you can use in your paragraph.


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The advantages Learners learn how to write in English composition

systematically from using the pattern-producttechniques, namely the logic of English rhetorical

patterns such as narration, description, andpersuasion

They also learn how to use vocabulary and sentencestructures for each type of rhetorical pattern

appropriately Product based writing helps instructors raise learners’

L2 writing awareness, especially in grammaticalstructures.


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The disadvantages

Writing with this approach gives little attention toaudience and the writing purpose since learners andinstructors tend to overemphasize on the importance

of grammar, syntax, and mechanics Learners will lack motivation in learning and have

high pressure in creating their writing tasks, as theirinstructors mostly focus on the accuracy of the

language structures


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Process approach Focus more on the varied classroom activities which

promote the development of language use -brainstorming, group discussion, re-writing.

The concept of this approach is defined as an activity in which teachers encourage learners to see writingnot as grammar exercises, but as the discovery of meaning and ideas (O’Brien, 2004)


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Characteristics 1. Learners are encouraged to see writing not as

grammar exercises, but as the discovery of meaningand ideas

During the writing process, teachers can enable learnersto explore their thoughts and develop their own writingby using the five-step writing process model of Herwins.


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Five-step writing process model of Herwins

1. Prewriting

Teachers will provide a writing task and help them to generate vocabulary and ideas by applying a number of strategies in classnamely brainstorming, clustering, and discussion, without concern

for correctness or appropriateness in the first stage of writing. 2. First draft composing

Learners will use vocabulary and ideas which they have got from theprevious stage to express what they want to convey in their writing.

3. Feedback In this writing stage, learners will receive comment from real

audiences which can be a writing teacher or their peers and moveon to new ideas in another draft.


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Five-step writing process model of Herwins

4. Second draft writing

Based on the comment of teachers and peers, learners willmodify their previous draft by revising, adding, and

rearranging ideas.

5. Proofreading

In the final stage, student writers will not only discovernew ideas and language forms to express their ideas in

writing but also focus on the appropriate use of vocabulary,layout, grammar, and mechanics


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Characteristics Through the writing process, writers hardly follow the

fixed sequence of writing stages linearly because they have to move back and forth among different writingsteps in order to come up with better ideas


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Principles 1. Writing is the result of a very complex, highly

individualized process

2. Writing is a process and practice. The meaning of any text is created and evolves during composing andrevision.

3. In order to develop meaning fully, multiple drafts are

necessary. Writing is much more than a transcriptiontool. It is a means of making knowledge, learning, andcritical thinking.


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Principles 4. The writing process can be divided into stages that

include but are not limited to invention, revision, andediting.

5. Writing is a non-linear process, and its stages oftenoverlap.

6. Writers actively seek feedback from readers and

judiciously use that feedback in their revisions. 7. The process model empowers writers by

encouraging them to understand and refine their writing strategies and techniques.


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Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion.

Students could be discussing qualities needed to do acertain job, or giving reasons as to why people takedrugs or gamble.

The teacher remains in the background during this

phase, only providing language support if required, soas not to inhibit students in the production of ideas.


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Students extend ideas into note form, and judgequality and usefulness of ideas

Stage 3:

Students organise ideas into a mind map, spidergram,

or linear form. This stage helps to make the (hierarchical)

relationship of ideas more immediately obvious, whichhelps students with the structure of their texts.


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Students write the first draft. This is done in class andfrequently in pairs or groups.

Stage 5:

Drafts are exchanged, so that students become thereaders of each other's work.

By responding as readers, students develop anawareness of the fact that a writer is producingsomething to be read by someone else, and thus canimprove their own drafts.


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Drafts are returned and improvements are made basedupon peer feedback

Stage 7:

A final draft is written

Stage 8

Students once again exchange and read each other's work and perhaps even write a response or reply.


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Example of activity Different stages have their own different activities

1. Brain-storming stage – teacher elicits, students giveideas, teacher writes randomly on the board in mind-map/linear form

2. Planning stage – eliminate some poor ideas, choose thebest, put in order, find example for each point

3. Writing the first draft – learners start writing, may involve rearranging of points


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Example of activity 4. Editing – these questions may help

Is there a thesis? / Is the thesis clear?

Is the introduction interesting for the reader?

Are the developmental paragraphs relevant to the thesis(unity )?

Are the ideas supported well? Are there enough examples /details ?

Are the transitions chosen correctly? Are they in the rightplace (coherence)?

Does the conclusion have a summary?


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Example of activity 5. Proof-reading – look for (It is better to leave proof-reading to

the last)

any sentence fragments and run-on sentences

references without pronouns

redundancy of ideas

lack of parallelism

spelling mistakes

repetition of the same words

punctuation mistakes

wrong tense choice

misused modifiers

style inappropriate for the audience


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Example of activity 6. The final product

After the feedback on the spelling and grammarmistakes, she writes the essay again.

This means, the same essay needs to be written at leastthree times (first draft, second draft after editing, finalproduct after proof-reading) before a final product canbe reached.


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Advantages Learners are able to learn how to compose writing in L2

with little or no use of model

They can improve their writing step by step sinceinstructors will guide them through the whole process of

their writing tasks by giving them feedback and enoughtime and opportunity through peer and teacher reviewto develop a sense of audience (Boughey, 1997), whichallows them not only to reflect upon their previous

writing but also to consider the possible existence of other viewpoints


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Disadvantages 1. Learners have to spend quite a long time to complete

one particular piece of writing in the classroom

2. Learners have no clear understanding about thecharacteristics of writing and are provided insufficientlinguistic input to write in L2 successfully in a certaintext type (Badger and White, 2000)


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A summary of the differences (Features)

PROCESS Text as a resource for

comparison

Ideas as starting point More than one draft

More global, focus on purpose, theme, text type, i.e.,

reader is emphasised Collaborative

Emphasis on creative process

PRODUCT Imitate model text

organisation of ideas more

important than ideasthemselves

One draft

Features highlighted including

controlled practice of those features

Individual

Emphasis on end product


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The genre approach What is genre?

A genre is “a class of communicative events, themembers of which share some set of communicativepurposes” (Swales, 1990)

There are certain conventions or rules which aregenerally associated with a writer’s purpose.

Example – personal letters tell us about [their writers’]private stories, film reviews analyze movies forpotential viewers, and police reports describe

what happened, etc


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The genre approach What is genre approach:

1. The genre-based approach is the way to languageand literacy education that combines anunderstanding of genre and genre teaching together inthe writing class. (Hammond and Derewianka, 2001)

2. “A framework for language instruction” based on

examples of a particular genre. (Byram, 2004)

Also called “English for Academic Purposes approach”or the “English for Specific Purposes approach”


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The genre approach Writing in the genre based approach is regarded as an

extension of the product-oriented approach sincelearners have an opportunity to study a wide variety of

writing patterns, for instance, the business letter, theacademic report, and the research paper

(Badger and White, 2000)

The genre-based approach is increasingly used in theL2 writing classroom


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Characteristics They stress the importance of various types of writing

which are tied closely to social purposes (Maley, 1996)

Learning takes place through imitation andexploration of different kinds of models

Exposure to many samples of similar texts


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Typical procedures 1. Samples of a specific genre are introduced

2. Some distinctive characteristics of the given genreare pointed out so that students notice specificconfigurations of that genre.

3. Next, students attempt to produce the first draftthrough imitating the given genre


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The differences between process and genre approaches

Process-based Genre-based The steps or stages are

illustrated and practiced fromthe generation of ideas and

compilation of informationthrough a series of activities -prewriting, composing /drafting, revising, andediting”

Learning takes place throughimitation and exploration of different kinds of models.Through exposure to many samples of similar texts,students can detect thespecialized configurations of that genre, and they also canactivate their memories of prior reading or writingexperiences whenever they encounter the task of creatinga new piece in a familiar genre


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Advantages This approach aims to integrate the knowledge of a

particular genre and its communicative purpose, these helplearners to produce their written products to communicateto others in the same discourse community successfully

(meaningful). It also increases learners’ awareness of such writing

conventions as organization, arrangement, form, andgenre.

Genre-based writing reflects a particular purpose of asocial situation and allows students to acquire writing skillsconsciously by imitation and analysis of each writing genre(Badger and White, 2000).


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Advantages Arguably, the genre approach is more effective for

learners to advance their writing skills in a secondlanguage than the process approach since the model

helps free students from their severe worries over writing (Kay and Dudley-Evans, 1998, p. 310).


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Disadvantages Learners may not have enough knowledge of

appropriate language or vocabulary to express whatthey intend to communicate to a specific audience.

The genre approach undervalues the writing skills which learners need to produce a written product andignores the writing abilities learners have in otherareas.


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Which approach to use The approach depends on the teacher, the students,

and the genre of the text.

Certain genres lend themselves more favourably to oneapproach than the other:

eg: Formal letters / postcards, features are very fixed,more suited to a product-driven approach - focus on thelayout, style, organisation and grammar

Could greatly help students in dealing with this type of writing task


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Which approach to use Other genres, such as discursive (eg: discussive)

essays and narrative, may lend themselves toprocess-driven approaches, which focus onstudents' ideas.

Discursive activities are suited to brainstormingand discussing ideas in groups, and the

collaborative writing and exchanging of texts helpthe students to direct their writing to their reader,therefore making a more successful text.


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Integration of approaches 1

Can the two approaches be combined? How?

Process to product

Students may work collaboratively – discuss and generate

ideas, then write first draft After first draft, teacher may show model essay to compare

Advantages?

Product to process

Learners work on first draft individually

Then exchange work for peer editing

Advantages?


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Integration of approaches 2 The genre and process approaches are combined as an

alternative in a model called the process-genreapproach.

A research, affirmed that this dual approach works well if the writing cycle begins with models,description of the key linguistic features, discussion of the social situation in which it happens, and analysis

of the recommended rhetorical patterns of each genre. Student writing is then subjected to the sequence of

drafts in the process approach (Badger and White,2000)


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Integration of approaches 3

Writing teachers may use the combination of genre,product, and process approaches which can be called‘a process-product hybrid’ to improve L2 writing

(Dyer, 1996: 316)

Start by using the rhetorical patterns or the so-called‘rhetorical organizations’ (product based approach) -to teach them how to write according to a variety of organizational conventions of academic prose.

Then provide readers’ guidance and interaction in theprocess of meaning discovery as a part of producingthe written product (process-based approach)


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Integration of approaches 3 Work in groups or pairs – learners will improve their

writing from their partners’ and instructors’ commentand also develop their critical thinking skills (process-based approach).

Then teachers may use the genre-based approach toteach actual writing for learners when they realize thattheir students’ linguistic knowledge and writingcompetence are developed enough to create a written

product that serves a social purpose.

Then back to stages of writing – prewriting, drafting,revising and editing (process-based approach)


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Tutorial Divide yourselves into groups and come up with

activities for young ESL learners based on allapproaches discussed:

Product-based approach

Process-based approach

Genre-based approac Integrated approaches


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ISL Read Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language

Teaching. (p 325)

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