Speaking and Writing

In this module, we will look at the two productive skills: speaking and writing.

 
At the end of this module you will:

 understand some of the problems students experience when speaking

 be able to teach speaking skills

 be able to identify problems associated with successful writing

 be able to train students in the skills needed for effective writing

Lesson 1. Speaking (Part 1)

Introduction
Oral communication is a two-way process involving a speaker and a listener,
yet it is useful to look at ways of teaching and learning speaking as separate
from those of listening. As language teachers, one of our tasks is to equip our
learners with the skills needed for effective oral communication by providing
opportunities for the situational practice of speaking skills.
 

Speaking Problems
Students have various problems with speaking skills. These may be due to one's
previous learning experience emphasising the structural basis of the language
with little or no communicative methodology employed and therefore little
realistic oral language practice of the language having been done.
Poor spoken phonological ability (ie pronunciation, stress, rhythm, intonation)
can cause one to mispronounce sounds, leading to poor comprehension on the
part of the listener. If someone fails to understand what you're saying, you’ll
soon give up and stay quiet.
Another problem is demotivation due to overcorrection. This has to do with the
old argument of fluency versus accuracy. For a communicative approach  the
priority is successful communication, and if a message spoken has been
correctly understood, errors of syntax or tense should be regarded as being of
minor concern. To repeatedly correct a student attempting oral communication
would simply silence him/her. Students often prefer not to speak rather than to
make mistakes. Bear in mind also that they need to learn to talk in phrases and
‘paragraphs’ so if they keep stopping after one or two words because you have
corrected them, they will never get a feel for the overall ‘shape’ of a sentence or
phrase.
Think of the phrase: ‘I’d like to enquire about the trip to the British Museum’. It
has stress and intonation, and if the student has had practice getting the whole
phrase out without stopping, then they are more likely to get to the end when
they actually have to use it! (Perhaps with a different ending: the trip to
France/outing to the theatre/trains to Manchester etc). If you interrupt them in
the middle with a minor correction, they may not be able to finish after that.
 
How to teach speaking skills. Activities in a Presentation-Practice-
Production (PPP) lesson.
If your lesson is to target speaking skills, you can use the PPP procedure in the
following way.
 
1. Setting the scene/warm up
First of all, you need to set the scene. This is absolutely essential. Expecting
students to speak ‘cold’ on any topic is just not fair. They will not be mentally
prepared or enthused enough to do their best. You must make sure that the
students have the background to the task.
If the class is to practise the language of invitation, for example, tell them about
a party you are planning and ask them what you need to do to make sure people
come. Students will recognise the need for the functional language you are set
to introduce.

 
2. Presentation
After the scene has been set, you need to present or elicit the language
appropriate to the particular task you wish to carry out. Forms such as
'I'd like to invite you to ....'
and
'would you like to come to .....'
can be given as they are now in context. This is the time in the lesson when you
could use a model dialogue, written or even better recorded, to drill students on
the key language of invitations.

 
3. Controlled Practice
During the next, controlled practice stage, give students the opportunity to
practise the structures involved, ie by choral and individual drilling, doing
exercises, then by guided pairwork, ie with short dialogues or role plays using
prompts you have prepared.
You could build from the model dialogue in a number of ways including taking
short phrases for choral repetition and doing short substitution practice:
                        I’d like to invite you to dinner.
My party:         I’d like to invite you to my party.
The theatre:   I’d like to invite you to the theatre.
and so on

 
4. Production (Free practice)
Finally it’s the production stage. At the controlled practice stage, accuracy of
stress, rhythm and pronunciation were important, but now that the students are
involved in producing language in a freer environment, fluency is important.
Teacher input here should be minimal, with errors monitored but not necessarily
corrected. The teacher has guided the class to this stage and must now
encourage and support the learners as they complete their task. The aim for
them is to communicate effectively using language practised during the lesson.
There are several activities generally employed by teachers to achieve results at
this stage of the lesson:
1. Games - eg Bingo (number, phonology, spelling), Hangman, Monopoly.
2. Role plays - with role cards and prompts prepared in advance, giving the
students a clear role.   
3. Information gap activities
These demand that students exchange information to complete a task or solve a
problem.
For example, pairs have two street plans with 5 different buildings on their
plans. Face to face, they ask for the location of those buildings they do not
have, and give details to their partner of those which they do.
4. Opinion gap activities
These are controversial texts, pictures or statements to promote debates,
discussions and arguments between partners or groups.
Eg Marriage is an outdated institution.  
A class can be split into an even number of groups, eg 2 for and 2 against, to
prepare their side of the issue. New groups would then be formed with one
student from each of the four original groups, to debate the issue using ideas
prepared beforehand.
5. Collaborative problem-solving activities
Sometimes students can be given the same information and must discuss a
solution to a problem.
The well known ‘desert island debate’ in which students in groups choose ‘5
things from a list that they would take to a desert island and why’ falls into this
category.

 
Tips for Effective Speaking Lessons
Remember that language is about communication. The language teacher is
aiming to teach the student to communicate effectively in the four main skills.
To enable students to effectively communicate orally, they need to be provided
with as much opportunity as possible to use the language. With regards to
speaking, this means not limiting it to specific speaking slots, but providing
opportunities to speak throughout the lessons whatever the focus of the lesson
(eg reading or writing etc). This means allowing students to express themselves
at all times.
Here are a few things to think about when setting up speaking activities.
 Pick a topic that everyone can access and enjoy discussing or practising.
Perhaps ask the students for something they are interested in or feel
strongly about.
 Avoid students always interacting with the same students. It is easy to fall
into the trap of always pairing students with the person they are sitting
next to (ie always the same person). Students should be given the
opportunity to interact with as many people as possible.
 Remember to L.T.T.T. (limit teacher talk time), and avoid completely
teacher-centred lessons where the teacher does most of the talking, and
the majority of the interactions are teacher - student. Make full use of pair
work and groupwork to increase student - student interactions. The
teacher should be the facilitator, not the director.
 Make sure that everyone knows exactly what they are doing before you
begin or you will have to go round to ten different pairs re-explaining the
task! This is best done by modeling and also by clear instructions.
 Remember the importance of fluency practice; give students the
opportunity to use the language flexibly without being hindered by
constant correction. Errors can be observed and fed back to the class
anonymously at the end of the exercise. If students are constantly
corrected, their flow of speech will be interrupted, and their confidence
will suffer.
 Remember to try to simulate real life situations as far as possible to make
the interactions realistic and purposeful. With role-play exercises, use
props to increase authenticity, eg menus for restaurant role plays, holiday
brochures for planning a holiday role play etc.
 Allow for student thinking time. If students are asked to carry out role
plays, give them time to think and plan, but don’t let them write down
complete dialogues - this is speaking, and not writing practice.
 Don’t forget what it is like to be in the students’ shoes as a language
learner – it can be both difficult and frustrating, and it is easy to lose
confidence and motivation. Therefore, both praise and encouragement
cannot be overused in the EFL classroom!
 To develop the skill of being able to continue with what you are saying,
even when you have forgotten or do not know a word, word games can be
used. An invaluable tool is to teach students how to describe objects or
concepts. There will always be times when students will not know a
 word. If at those times the student is able to elicit the word from someone
else without too many circumlocutions, they will be able to communicate
much more effectively. However, if students do not know how to
describe words, they will be both frustrated and handicapped. Therefore,
we should teach such phrases as, ‘It’s a bit like . . .’, ‘It’s a kind of . . .’,
‘You use it to . . .’, ‘You use it when . . .’, ‘It’s the stuff you use to . . .’
etc. Word games like Taboo, What’s My Line etc are both fun and useful
in the EFL classroom.

Self-check 1
Do any of the points above remind you of your own experiences of language
learning?
How did you deal with them?
Self-check 2
Which of the above activities would you use at
a. lower levels?
b. advanced levels?
Lesson 1. Speaking (Part 2)
The use of dialogue in the EFL classroom
Dialogues offer an excellent opportunity to show language in action, in natural,
meaningful contexts. They also offer an excellent opportunity to focus on stress
and intonation. When using dialogues in the classroom, ensure that you use the
Look up & Speak technique, ie students read a line silently, then look at their
partners and say the line from memory. This encourages more natural dialogues.
Dialogue practice focusing on stress, rhythm and intonation can be followed by
students using the basic format of the dialogue, but altering some of the details.
This could then lead on to students being asked to produce similar dialogues
without referring to their texts. This also corresponds to the transition from
controlled to freer practice (production). 

 
The use of discussion in the EFL classroom
Discussions are an effective and natural way to practise talking freely in
English. When you introduce discussions find topics that will appeal to your
students. Be clear on the aims of the discussion and the specific skills you wish
to focus on. Always introduce the specific language of discussion you wish to
develop (eg agreeing, disagreeing, conceding a point, keeping a discussion
going by seeking others’ opinions and giving minimal encouragers, expressing
disbelief, asking for clarification etc) as the target language prior to the
discussion, and elicit or teach important vocabulary.
Topic is seen by most teachers as the central focus of a classroom discussion.
However, another very important point to consider is not only what to talk
about, but why we need to talk about it. Of course a discussion which has no
aim but to discuss the topic may succeed, but often, the discussion gradually
subsides until you hear the familiar cry of ‘I can’t think of anything to say.’
What the students who say this often mean is that they have no reason to say
anything. This kind of discussion only imitates real conversation for it lacks the
purpose of genuine discourse. In short, students need a reason to speak more
than they need something to speak about. When a group is given a task to
perform through verbal interaction, all speech becomes purposeful, and
therefore more interesting. Language also involves thought; and a task
involving talking must also involve thinking out.
 
The use of role-play in the EFL classroom
It is not enough to provide students with the opportunity to speak in English. As
teachers, we must encourage students to speak in a number of different
situations and help them to develop their confidence in using the language
flexibly. One of the most difficult and frustrating things about learning a
language is making the transition from the classroom to the real world. Role-
play is one of the ways of easing students into the real world by helping us to
recreate and enact a wide variety of real life situations in the classroom.
The effective use of role-play adds variety to the kinds of activities we can use
in the classroom; it encourages thinking, creativity and spontaneity; it allows
students to practise new structures in a relatively safe environment, and it
introduces a fun element into the classroom which is conducive to real learning.
Good preparation is essential to success. Effective role-plays shouldn’t be
scripted out in detail. They should give a basic description of the scenario and
characters while leaving room for creativity. Role-play cards are an effective
tool.
Eg
STUDENT A  STUDENT B

Hotel guest booking a room   Hotel receptionist

Elements:  Elements:
 Book in  Welcome the guest
 You have a reservation  Find them a room

Complications:
Complications: 
 You are on your own
 You can't find the reservation
 You want a shower and
breakfast  You only have a double room with
bath available
 and mustn't be late
Always prepare well. Ask questions and elicit ideas first, identify target
structures and vocabulary. If there are a few students who will be acting out the
same role, but in different groups, allow them to work together to plan ideas
and work out key phrases (otherwise allow students time to plan individually).
Role-plays should generally be carried out at least twice, allowing students to
change roles. Avoid correction during role-plays; observe and debrief at the
end. Role-play is an excellent tool but can be difficult to manage due to its
unpredictability. It is useful therefore to consider beforehand the various ways
that role-plays may develop so that you are more prepared. Encourage students
to really get into role by exaggerating actions, gestures, tone and stress.

Teaching Complete Beginners

Teaching complete beginners using the target language only can be a
very daunting prospect for less experienced teachers. Some questions are likely
to come to mind, eg ‘Where do I start?’, ‘What can I do when they clearly
don’t understand me?’ etc.
Here are a few points to consider:
 Students obviously will not have sufficient knowledge of the language to
enable them to understand anything more than basic instructions,
therefore it is essential that we use all the tools at our command, eg voice
and intonation, pictures, realia, diagrams, gestures and modeling, written
 language matched with pictures etc. Be confident. You will be surprised
how quickly a group of complete beginners will be able to master some
of the basics of the language eg giving basic personal details,
distinguishing between different personal pronouns or expressing
possession.
 Introduce basic classroom language immediately and encourage students
to use these. You can demonstrate the meaning of these through the use
of modelling, facial expression and pictures. Students will quickly learn
the meaning of simple commands / instructions if you reinforce what you
say with the use of gestures. For example: cupping your hand to your ear
when you say ‘listen’, pointing from your eye to an object when you say
‘look’, putting your palms together then opening your hands when you
say ‘open your books’, etc.
 Remember that repetition and practice are essential at this stage to enable
real language acquisition.
 Careful preparation is essential and it is important to consider potential
problems and plan how to deal with these if the need arises.
 Remember the importance of praise and encouragement; at this level
these are even more important than usual, otherwise students will quickly
become demotivated.
 Be creative and energetic in the classroom.
 Encourage self-correction, a valuable skill which will continue to aid
students as they progress to higher levels.
 Include lots of pairwork and groupwork to provide students with ample
opportunity to use the language.
 Don’t be afraid to use games in the classroom with adult learners. You
may worry that students will find these silly and be reluctant to
participate. However, if you are confident in your approach and students
can see the communicative value of the games, you shouldn’t experience
any problems.
 Remember to grade the language that you use to the students’ level.

It is important to introduce the following basic phrases immediately: ‘Sorry /

pardon!’, ‘Can you repeat that please?’, ‘Can you speak more slowly please?’,
‘I don’t understand’, ‘I don’t know’ etc.
  To model the meaning of ‘sorry / pardon’ you can ask a student their
name, then after their reply cup your hand to your ear, shake your head
and say ‘pardon?’
 To demonstrate the meaning of ‘can you repeat that please’ you could use
a simple hand gesture, rolling your hand in a forwards motion. If students
do not understand that, you can give an example.
 To demonstrate the meaning of ‘can you speak more slowly please’ you
can simply say the phrase slowly yourself.
 To demonstrate the meaning of ‘I don’t understand’ you can point to your
head, shake your head and use a palms-up gesture, and a confused facial
expression.
 To demonstrate the meaning of ‘I don’t know’ you can point to a picture
of a person in the students’ coursebook and ask ‘What is his / her name?’
and reply ‘I don’t know’ while pointing to your head.
These are all basic phrases which are essential in the classroom as they
encourage students to use the target language right from the start rather than
always reverting to their mother tongue. You can write these phrases on the
board and point to them during the lesson to help students to use them. Another
way to encourage students to learn and use these phrases is to alternate asking
different students basic questions in a very quiet voice or at a very fast pace;
you can also ask a few advanced questions that they will not be able to
understand, to encourage them to say that they don’t understand. Time spent on
these exercises is always time well spent and successfully encourages students
to use these basic communication strategies.

Phonology  
To be able to speak English well enough for successful communication to
occur, our learners need to hear sounds, words and connected speech before
they can reproduce them. When given a model and a reason to communicate
orally, learners can master the complexities of our sound system, and stress and
intonation patterns. 
Pronunciation
Certain sounds in English are difficult for foreign learners, especially when
those sounds are non-existent in the learner’s first language. It is unrealistic for
many students to expect to speak English with R.P. (Received pronunciation)
but when pronunciation patterns impede communicative success, remedial work
is essential. The Spanish student whose aim is 'to find a yob' (j / y confusion)
and the Japanese student who eats 'flied lice' (r / l confusion) obviously need
help. Minimal pair exercises and the phonemic script can be helpful here, as can
exercises in consonant clusters (str/ cl/) etc.
Stress/Rhythm
Word stress needs to be practised, with rules being given as well as exceptions
to the rules (eg photograph, photography). Incorrect syllable stress can confuse
the listener, and when coupled with sound confusion, can give completely
incorrect information. A student who is asked what deserts he can name and
answers 'strawberry ice-cream' clearly got the stress wrong, and this stress error
impedes communication.
Intonation
Intonation and sentence stress need to be taught together. Just as the wrong
stress alters the meaning of a sentence, the wrong intonation pattern can convey
the wrong mood or attitude.

Accuracy versus Fluency

The question of whether students should be encouraged to speak freely and
fluently, often making grammatical errors which are not immediately dealt with,
or whether we should encourage accuracy, is one which continues to evade a
solution.  It really depends on what the aim of your oral lesson is, and therefore
the emphasis in different lessons or at different stages of a lesson can be placed
either on accuracy or on fluency.
If the aim is to build up students' confidence speaking English, encourage them
to deal with new communicative situations or to practise informal exchange of
information or opinions, then fluency takes precedence. Errors can be monitored
and addressed in a follow-up activity or lesson, however during the activity the
speakers are not interrupted unless a particular error impedes communication.
If the aim is to practise, for instance, ways of connecting ideas or of
paraphrasing (that is to say..) or exemplifying (take, for example....'), or correct
tense usage, then accuracy has to be concentrated upon, entrenched errors dealt
with systematically and new errors prevented. Correction may still be delayed,
however when the target language point is used incorrectly, the teacher may
interrupt and correct (or better still, prompt self-correction).  Pair work is
helpful as learners prefer to make mistakes with classmates as long as they feel
their errors are being monitored. Making notes around the class as you listen
can then lead to group / class work and guided correction by the teacher. Choral
repetition backchaining and language lab work can all be useful, and practising
weak forms (I want to buy a pen) and running words together can aid fluency.
 In any case, it is important that whatever language point you decide to focus on
for accuracy work, the reasons for choosing that point are communicative. It
should not be accuracy for accuracy's sake, but students should be helped to
achieve accuracy in communicating meaningful messages to other people.

Getting Students to Talk

Here are some possible activities which may help to get students talking.
Remember, they need a reason to talk to someone, and a reason to listen.
BEGINNERS
Teacher uses flashcard of Peter on board. Elicits information from students with
prompts, eg 'He's 22 years old, he comes from London'. Only use present simple
of is, has, comes.  Give 8 sentences. Practise via choral repetition. Teacher then
elicits question forms.  These are written on the board and practised all together
(eg he has 2 sisters, he has a dog called 'Rover' and he comes to Manchester
every weekend). The teacher asks individual questions and students give
answers.
Pairwork practice - information gap (guided practice)
Students are given information about a famous British person. Each student has
to find out details from their partner to fill in an information table. Roles can
then be reversed. 
Free practice
Students choose a famous person from their own country and their partners ask
questions.
INTERMEDIATE  
Aim: To use persuasive language, organise information and use personal
knowledge about one's homeland for free oral practice.
Students are asked what they know about Hawaii, or an exotic location
elsewhere.  Categories are put on to the board, eg climate / religion / local
customs / typical food / places of interest / cultural events etc. These are
discussed to check understanding. Students are then told to make notes on these
topics with regard to their own country, and to add any categories they feel are
important. This can be done in pairs (if monolingual) or groups, or individually
if multi-lingual. It's useful to explain that they are going to take on the role of
travel agents trying to persuade potential tourists that their own country would
be fantastic to visit. Some expressions, such as "you'll love the...", or "you'll
really enjoy the...", are useful. When this has been prepared, give them one
more task. Explain that tourists can offend the locals if they are not warned of
certain 'do's or don'ts' in their host country, for example forming queues in
Britain, removing your shoes when entering a Japanese or Korean home, and
visiting Catholic churches anywhere wearing shorts.
Students are then paired with a student from another country or region, and the
'travel agent' has to answer questions and give information about his/her
homeland.
ADVANCED
At this level, ellipsis is often something learners have never studied and do not
use.  For example:
1. A. I like apples                        B.  (Agreeing)  So do I
2. A. I don't like cheese              B.  (Agreeing)   Neither do I
3. A. I like milk                             B.  (Disagreeing)  Do you?  I don't
4. A. I don't like rice                    B.  (Disagreeing)  Don't you? I do
Each of these forms would be practised with several examples before moving
on to the next one (describing hobbies or types of films etc). All four can then
be put together in guided practice. For example, the following cue card can be
given to students:
A.  I like..............                      B. 
(Agree)
 
A.  I don't like                       B.  (Agree)
 
A.  Express preference       B.  (Respond)

This can become more complex

A. Do you think you'll get married?             B. I hope to.
                                                                         I'm planning to.
                                                                         I'd like to.
                                                                         I think so.
                                                                         I hope so.
A. Do you think you'll fail your exams?       B. I hope not.
                                                                          I don't think so.
A. Have you ever been to France?           B. No, I haven't, but I'd like to.
    Have you tried Korean food?                    No, but I'd love to.

Students can then be asked to make a list of about ten questions, paying special
attention to pronunciation, stress and rhythm both in asking questions and
answering, which is then done with a partner.
This is a simple exercise to practise, yet can make a big difference to making
the language learners use sound much more natural and helping them
understand everyday speech.

Practical Problems
1. Many learners of English fail to pronounce the endings of words, especially
past tense regular verbs, which can cause the listener some confusion. Look at
these verbs in the past simple tense.
stopped                     asked                           listened
played                       called                           picked
visited                        missed
lived                          decided
Although they all end in 'ed' the pronunciation of the 'ed' differs. Sometimes it is
pronounced /t/, sometimes /d/ and can also be /id/.

2. Most nationalities will have difficulties with pronunciation due to English

spelling. The same spelling can be pronounced in a variety of ways. Look at the
following spellings:
a. cough
b. bough
c. ghetto
3. Different spellings can be pronounced the same way. Look at the following
words:
                  dish
                  station
                  racial
                  parachute
 
4. Students may find it difficult to know which way to pronounce 'th'.
Sometimes it is voiced as in:
the     then        this       although
Sometimes it is unvoiced as in:
think      through     threw       tenth

Self-check 3
1. Look at Practical Problem No 1. Can you give a rule to help your students
distinguish between the different pronunciations of the ending?

2. Write a short passage incorporating at least 10 of the verbs from Practical

Problem No 1 which you could record  and play to your class.

3. Write an exercise for students to do in pairs, based on your passage, to give

practice in the above pronunciation.

Lesson 2. Writing (Part 1)

We have said that to read successfully, training must be given - the same applies
to writing, a skill closely linked with reading and often the one learners find
most difficult to acquire. This may be because
a. writing requires organisational skills and careful thought: planning first, then
checking and rewriting. This makes spontaneity somewhat difficult.
b. it is usually regarded as a solitary activity.
c. teachers often assume that students know how to organise and develop
written work, if only in their first language, but this is often untrue. Just try
writing one of the tasks you ask your students to do!

Given these problems, it makes sense to try to offer students help in a variety of
ways, for example:

o By giving plenty of exposure to model texts, both good models and faulty
models (clearly indicating which is which) and give checklists for student
reference (ie do's and don'ts).

o By creating a collaborative environment: using pairwork and groupwork

to prepare the ground, giving support, ideas and the chance to participate
before the actual writing begins.

o By ensuring that the writing takes place in a relaxed learning

environment.

o By actually teaching organisational skills, the way to develop ideas and

how to reach a logical conclusion, through regular practice.

o By making sure that students have clear criteria to work towards - that is,
they know what you are looking for and how you are going to mark  their
work.

Preparing the way

Because of the range of writing tasks students may wish to complete, some
basic questions need answering before the student knows how to approach a
particular piece of writing. The first 4 things to consider are:
1. What is the purpose of this piece of writing? (eg to inform, request,
apologise, instruct, etc)
2. Who will be the reader? (eg a potential employer, a child, the general public,
a loved one, etc)
3. What is the appropriate style and register? (eg very formal and polite, semi-
formal and respectful, friendly and informal)
4. What is the correct layout or format? (eg positioning of addresses,
complementary close, paragraphing, etc)
Teaching Writing Skills
In order to write effectively students must be assisted in developing the
necessary skills. Just because a student is able to write isolated, grammatically
correct sentences, does not necessarily mean that they will be able to organise a
written composition.  Through exposure to a range of selected texts and by
studying techniques and devices used to achieve particular results, language
learners begin to understand how to produce a piece of writing.
To teach writing skills effectively, it's important to:
1. have a regular, weekly slot dedicated to writing (not the last ten minutes of a
lesson as written homework is set).
2. use a short listening to set the scene, with note-taking, group discussion (ie
for / against points) with the teacher giving guidance on contrastive devices
(however, although) or words of addition (furthermore, in addition), etc. Ideas
can then be joined and paragraphs developed on the board.
3. incorporate a short reading presented as a model. This gives students
something to pull apart and learn how to reconstruct. By focusing on tenses,
linking devices, reference words, vocabulary items etc, it gradually becomes
clear how words, sentences and paragraphs fit together to fulfil a particular task
for a particular reader in the appropriate style and register.

Product Writing and Basic Stages of a Writing Lesson

Effective writing involves much more than grammatical correctness; students
need to know how to organise a composition relevant to the genre and target
audience. The genres include narrative essays, discursive essays, report writing,
formal and informal letter writing, among others. These need to be tackled at
the appropriate levels. Whatever the genre, we can outline basic lesson stages:

1. Lead-in / Discussion
Rationale:

 To elicit learners’ knowledge (activate schemata)

 To develop predictive skills

 To stimulate interest in the topic

2. Stimulus (Model Text)

Rationale:
 To exhibit the relationship between stimulus and target text type

 To provide model text for analysis - to derive explicit organisational

framework

3. Enabling activities for Main Writing Task

Rationale:

 To work on information structure and language features

 To work on text generation techniques

4. Main Writing Task

Rationale: To go through a process to generate a product similar to the model
text
5. Follow-Up: Comparing texts with a partner / Improving texts
Rationale:

 To exchange texts with partners

 To evaluate own and partner’s text against a Key text

 To improve own text

This planning relies on students following a model text and producing a similar
text of their own and is often referred to as  product writing.  Product writing
focuses on the organisational conventions of particular text types, or genres. At
the end of this module, you will find examples of product writing lessons for
different levels.

Process writing and writing sub-skills

Another approach to teaching writing is called process writing. Process writing
focuses on the skills a writer needs to complete a particular writing task. These
are writing sub-skills.
As follows are the 6 writing sub-skills, which are also the 6 consecutive stages
of a process writing lesson (after a lead-in/discussion and before a follow-up).
1. Brainstorming: making notes of all possible things to be included in the text.
2. Planning: writing a general outline of the text.
3. Drafting: writing the first version of the text.
4. Peer evaluation: giving feedback to classmates on their drafts.
5. Re-drafting: making changes to the text based on the peer feedback and the
writer's own analysis – improving the organisation and coherence, correcting
language errors.
6. Proofreading: final reading and checking for minor mistakes, such as
punctuation and spelling.
The process is not necessary a linear one though and will vary depending on the
writer and the type of correspondence involved. For example, a lot less time on
planning will be spent on a simple postcard and there may only be one draft,
without the revisiting / editing phase. However, a lot more time will be spent on
the planning and editing stages when writing a formal speech.
As effective teachers we should be incorporating both the product and process
approaches to writing into our lessons.

Writing in class and for homework

Writing is a skill that is often overlooked in the classroom because of the
potential difficulties involved, but which deserves more attention in this
environment.
Writing in class is a helpful exercise as it shows the teacher what the student
can produce without the support of textbooks etc, and can be monitored with the
most common mistakes dealt with on the board during the lesson.
Collaborative writing also offers a lot of benefits to students. Although the
ultimate aim is to develop the writing skills of students individually, students
can support each other and can benefit from learning from each other’s
strengths. It also helps to generate interest and enthusiasm and meaningful
discussion which can then benefit the actual writing process.
Writing is also useful for homework. When giving writing tasks as homework,
however, it is essential to prepare students thoroughly by providing them with a
purpose for writing, a target audience and a model, if appropriate. For example,
the homework task ‘Describe your home’ does not give the student any
guidelines on how they should approach the task. Should they write a formal,
detailed description for an advertisement, or an informal description to a new
pen-friend aiming to share personal information, or part of a description to a
twin school giving detailed information on life in their own country?
There will be a different focus to writing skills depending on the students’ level.
At the lower levels for example, the teacher will be focussing on the linking of
simple sentences together and the correct use of basic grammar and vocabulary.
At higher levels, however, the teacher will be focussing on much more, eg
conventions of formal and informal writing, the use of synonyms, appropriate
use of conjunctions etc.

Marking Written Work 

Judging a piece of writing can be quite difficult for a teacher. The best way to
mark a long piece of work is using criteria. Look carefully at the types of errors
your students are making. Give credit for what has been got right and highlight
points to work on.
These can be in any area of writing, for example:
GRAMMAR               Don’t forget your -ed endings on verbs in your story.
WORD CHOICE       Try not to use the word ‘nice’ so much.
ORGANISATION      Look again at where the paragraphs should go.
CONTENT                How did the boy get to the castle?
MECHANICS            I can’t read this sentence, please work on your
handwriting.

Make a clear difference between content (what they wrote about), form (the

layout and style) and accuracy (language correctness).

Then when you comment on the students' work, you can make clear the
difference between an accurate but rather rude letter and a very polite and
sensible letter that has a lot of mistakes.

Always make the writing something to share and show to others. Make a list of
good phrases that students use and go over them in class together. Read little
bits from good work. Stick them up on posters and put them on the wall for all
to see. Whatever you do, make the students proud of their writing so that they
want to make it look beautiful next time.
Another useful way of dealing with errors is for a sheet to be handed out with
the students’ mistakes, for example 20 sentences taken from their writing. Let
them correct the mistakes – working in pairs or in a whole-class session. It's
amazing how many mistakes students themselves are able to correct. They also
seem to enjoy this technique.
 Self-check 4
Why is it that students are so often loath to put pen to paper to produce a piece
of written work?

Lesson 2. Writing (Part 2)

Examples of Writing Lessons

Beginner/elementary
An informal letter giving directions\
Presentation:
Use flash cards to revise basic building vocabulary (ie The Bank, Cinema, Shop
etc). Use flannelboard to present basic directions/location/language. 'On the left,
on the right'  'Turn left ......
Go down Low Street ......’  choral repetition.
Highlight imperative forms
Practice 1:  Oral practice. Question and answer practice. Written reinforcement
for sentences on board.
Practice 2:  Pairwork (Information Gap Activity)
Pairs (A+B) have street plans with 4 buildings located on each. They must ask
their partner for directions to, and locations of, the 4 buildings they do not have,
and give details of those which they do have.
Reading  (Model text):  A short passage giving directions to new students in the
town is given out. Students answer 5 questions (general comprehension) and
have to locate the school on the plan given in practice 2 above.
Students check in pairs.
Focus on any new verbs/vocabulary that did not come in the earlier practice,
such as ‘roundabout’ or ‘cross over’.
Free Writing  Teacher tells students: "It's your birthday on Friday and you are
having a party. You have invited your class to your house. They know where
the school is, but not where you live. Write a paragraph giving directions for
them to follow from the language school/college to your house".
(NB: If students live some distance away, you may need to pre-teach
take the number four bus from ..... get off at ......, etc) A simple handout with the
layout for an informal letter makes this easier. The students simply fill in the
actual body of the letter giving directions.
Encourage the students to draw a small map to go with the directions as this is
not only realistic but gives you a chance to check if they are accurate or not.

Intermediate
Writing a film review
Stage 1:   Lead-in
a) Ask students to describe different types of films (ie comedy, science fiction
etc). Teacher puts on board.
b) Pairwork - students discuss 'What makes a good film'. Feedback to teacher
who puts ideas onto the board (ie plot, soundtrack, actors, photography etc.)
Stage 2:  Reading (Model text)
Hand out the text of a film review with general comprehension questions (short
exercise). The questions should simply check understanding of characters, plot,
etc. Students can also identify which of the characteristics of good films raised
in 1b) above were mentioned.
Stage 3:  Grammar
Elicit grammatical features of the model text.
 Structures to be used in a review = present tenses
 Sequencing = after that, then, next, etc.
 Passive voice, adjectives and adverbs.
For example:
The direction is brilliant. - It is brilliantly directed.
The photography is impressive. - It is impressively photographed.
Exercises in these three give practice in the grammatical structures commonly
found in reviews.
Stage 4:  Pairwork/oral practice
Students describe a film they have recently seen or particularly enjoyed.  Their
partner takes notes. All the above should be included and the following basic
outline followed.
 the background to the film
 the plot
 a scene the student particularly enjoyed
 the students' feelings about it, possible recommendation
Discussing these points together familiarises the group with the language,
grammar and organisation. If the teacher takes the opportunity to make a clear
collection of notes on the board, this will then provide a plan for paragraphing a
piece of writing.
Stage 5:  Free Writing
"Write a review of a film you have recently seen".
A word limit of, say, 300-400 words is good as this is realistically how much
space they would be allowed in a magazine or newspaper.
NOTES
 Before you begin this lesson you should think carefully:
What do my students need to know about how a review is written?
 You cannot teach review writing if you have not first
understood yourself how one is structured. Be careful about
the type of review you choose.
 Reviews are often full of cultural references that the students
will find difficult. Here is an example:
Pygmalion
Anyone who sees this marvellous production will have to agree that the play is
far superior to Lerner and Lowe’s sugar candied musical. It’s a pleasure to see
the play that Shaw wrote and to be reminded of his serious purpose back in
1914 when the play caused a scandal. The notion that turning a flowergirl into
a lady might actually be a disservice may pack less punch today, but still
resonates in these days of the WAG and airhead celeb.
  Avoid giving such reviews as models; opt for ones with
fewer cultural references, which your students will be able to
understand.
 It's useful to prepare this lesson then either take your group
to the cinema or watch a movie together and ask them to
write a review of the film you have seen together.

Advanced
Advanced students need to recognise how signals are sent to the reader in order
to guide them through how a text hangs together. Using listening passages or
reading texts, or having other students giving an oral presentation can be used to
present model texts for studying linking devices at higher levels.
Composition writing - expressing an opinion
Model text
Nowadays it is difficult for students in Further and Higher Education to study
as much as their course tutors would like them to. Indeed, it is unusual for
students to spend anything more than a quarter of the recommended number of
hours doing their coursework. Take the case of two students from Bristol
University. Because of grant cuts and rising costs, they are forced to take low
paid work, for example, bar work, supermarket shelf-stacking and kitchen work.
For this, they can be paid less than £5.00 per hour. In other words, an hour's
work would earn them just enough to buy a sandwich.
Stage 1  Students read the text and identify
 phrases which exemplify (for example, take the case of .....)
 phrases which amplify (indeed…..)
 language used for rephrasing (in other words…..)
Stage 2  Guided Writing
Once the language for certain functions has been identified, it can be practised.
A simple sentence can be given and students can be asked to amplify or
exemplify accordingly. Gradually, language can be added with different
functions, for example, presenting a balanced argument (While it may be time
that . . .  Despite statistics which reveal that . . .  Although one can understand
concern about . . .) The language for counterarguments, rejecting these and
leading to a final conclusion gives the basics for a composition giving one's
opinion.
Stage 3  Preparation for Writing
Give students a plan
1. Topic sentence - amplify
2. Main viewpoint - amplify
                             - rephrase
3. Counterargument - reject it and say why
4. Conclusion - your own opinion
Stage 4  Free Writing
"All post-16 education should be free" - Give your opinion in about 100 words.