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Micro Macro

This document discusses the micro- and macroskills involved in writing. It identifies 6 microskills, such as producing graphemes and spelling patterns correctly, writing at an efficient pace, and using cohesive devices. It also outlines 6 macroskills, for example using the proper rhetorical forms for the text, accomplishing the intended communication, and distinguishing literal from implied meanings. The micro- and macroskills are important to consider for designing a writing syllabus according to the author.

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syifa
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124 views

Micro Macro

This document discusses the micro- and macroskills involved in writing. It identifies 6 microskills, such as producing graphemes and spelling patterns correctly, writing at an efficient pace, and using cohesive devices. It also outlines 6 macroskills, for example using the proper rhetorical forms for the text, accomplishing the intended communication, and distinguishing literal from implied meanings. The micro- and macroskills are important to consider for designing a writing syllabus according to the author.

Uploaded by

syifa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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c.

Micro- and Macroskills of Writing

Writing is one of the productive skills that involves producing language rather than receiving language.
Based on the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (Hornby, 1995: 1383), writing is the activity or
occupation of writing e.g. books, stories, or articles. This activity is closely related to the English teaching
and learning process as writing is one of the English macro skills. As one of the macro skills, people have
to consider its micro skills as well. Brown (2001:343) enumerates micro and macroskills for writing.

Micro skills:

1) Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English

Graphemes is one of a set orthographic symbols (letters or combinations of letters) in a given language
that serve to distinguish one word from another and usually correspond to or represent phonemes, e.g.
the f in fun, the ph in phantom, and the gh in laugh.

2) Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose.

When people write they should consider the time for finishing it. The

rate of speed is important to adjust the aim.

3) Produce an acceptable care of words and use appropriate word order patterns.

When people write a sentence or paragraph, they have to know about the word order. Word order is
very important in English; but it is not complicated, and can be reduced to a fiew basic rules or
principles.

4) Use acceptable grammatical systems (e.g. tense, agreement,

pluralization), patterns and rules.

Grammatical systems, patterns, and rules are very important in writing. Both of them will appear when
people write something. So, they have to be careful when they use it. Tense is the time of a verb’s action
or state of being, such as past, present, and future. Agreement is grammar correspondence in gender,
number, case, or person, between words. Pluralization is the act of pluralizing or attributing plurality to.

5) Express a particular meaning in different grammatical forms.

They have to know where a word or expression is given a particular meaning, other parts of speech and
grammatical forms of that word or expression have a corresponding meaning.

6) Use cohesive devices in the written discourse.

An awareness of cohesion and coherence in all texts is a very important skill for students to develop.
Cohesion can be thought of as all the grammatical and lexical links that link one part of a text to another.
Coherence can be thought of as how meanings and sequences of ideas relate to each other. When
sentences, ideas, and details fit together clearly, readers can follow along easily, and the writing is
coherent. Cohesive devices certainly inclede transitional words and phrases that clarify for readers the
relationship among ideas in a piece of writing. For example: repetition, synonyms, pronouns, transitional
words, and sentence patterns.
Macroskills of writing

1) Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse.

Rhetorical pattern is a mode in which an article’s details are organized.

The rhetorical pattern includes: examples, definition, comparison, and

contrast, sequense of events, cause and effect, description, and

narration.

2) Appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written texts

according to form and purpose.

3) Convey links and connections between events and communicate such relations as main idea,
supporting idea, new information, giving information, generalization, and exemplification.

In writing, writing must have to make a clear relation between main ideas, supporting idea, and
conclusion so that the information can be delivered to the reader.

4) Distinguish between literal and implied meanings when writing.

Literal meaning means a concrete expression directly. For example : “I hate this ugly dress”. Implied
meaning means to indicate expression indirectly. For example: “Well maybe you should wear something
else.”

5) Correctly convey culturally specific references in the context of the written text.

People should know how to use a specific reference in a sentence. Reference is the relationship
between a grammatical unit that refers to (or stands in for) another grammatical unit, usually a pronoun
and a noun. For example: he, she, it, we, and they.

6) Develop and use a battery of writing strategies, such as accurately assessing the audience’s
interpretation, using prewriting devices, writing with fluency in the first drafts, using paraphrases and
synonyms, soliciting peer and instructor feedback, and using feedback

for revising and editing.

Those are used to design syllabus in teaching writing. Brown (2001: 418) points out those skills have
traditionally been attempts to identify the micro skills

underlying the use of the four macro skills as a basis for a syllabus design.

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