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 school system and many other factors

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Product approach
This is a traditional approach - students are

encouraged to mimic a model text (usually presented and 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 grammatical and syntactical forms Writing in the product-based approach is viewed as a simple linear model of the writing process which proceeds 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 writing activities 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 be

drawn 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 focus on 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 formal requests(Eg: practising the 'I would be grateful if you would' structure)

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Typical Procedures
Stage 3:
Organisation of ideas - very important. Those who favour this approach believe that the

organisation of ideas is more important than the ideas themselves and as important as the control of language. Do you agree with this? Reasons?

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Typical Procedures
Stage 4:
The end result of the learning process. Students choose from a choice of comparable writing

tasks. Individually, they use the skills, structures and vocabulary they have been taught to produce the product; to show what they can do as fluent and competent 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. I

am a student. I am in the classroom now. I am at my desk. Mr. Peter is my teacher. He is in the classroom now. He is at the blackboard. He is busy 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 in the busy city of Detroit.
Instructions: Write one paragraph about yourself and your school. Follow the model

but 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-product techniques, namely the logic of English rhetorical patterns such as narration, description, and persuasion They also learn how to use vocabulary and sentence structures for each type of rhetorical pattern appropriately Product based writing helps instructors raise learners L2 writing awareness, especially in grammatical structures.
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The disadvantages
Writing with this approach gives little attention to

audience and the writing purpose since learners and instructors 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 their instructors 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 writing not as grammar exercises, but as the discovery of meaning and ideas (OBrien, 2004)

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Characteristics
1. Learners are encouraged to see writing not as

grammar exercises, but as the discovery of meaning and ideas

During the writing process, teachers can enable learners

to explore their thoughts and develop their own writing by 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 class namely 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 the previous 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 move on 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 will

modify their previous draft by revising, adding, and rearranging ideas. 5. Proofreading In the final stage, student writers will not only discover new 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 writing steps 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 and revision. 3. In order to develop meaning fully, multiple drafts are necessary. Writing is much more than a transcription tool. It is a means of making knowledge, learning, and critical thinking.

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

include but are not limited to invention, revision, and editing. 5. Writing is a non-linear process, and its stages often overlap. 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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Typical Procedures
Stage 1:
Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion. Students could be discussing qualities needed to do a

certain job, or giving reasons as to why people take drugs or gamble. The teacher remains in the background during this phase, only providing language support if required, so as not to inhibit students in the production of ideas.

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Typical Procedures
Stage 2:
Students extend ideas into note form, and judge

quality 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, which helps students with the structure of their texts.
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Typical Procedures
Stage 4:

Students write the first draft. This is done in class and

frequently in pairs or groups.

Stage 5: Drafts are exchanged, so that students become the

readers of each other's work. By responding as readers, students develop an awareness of the fact that a writer is producing something to be read by someone else, and thus can improve their own drafts.
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Typical Procedures
Stage 6:

Drafts are returned and improvements are made based

upon 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 give

ideas, teacher writes randomly on the board in mindmap/linear form 2. Planning stage eliminate some poor ideas, choose the best, 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 right place (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 grammar mistakes, she writes the essay again. This means, the same essay needs to be written at least three times (first draft, second draft after editing, final product after proof-reading) before a final product can be 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 since instructors will guide them through the whole process of their writing tasks by giving them feedback and enough time and opportunity through peer and teacher review to develop a sense of audience (Boughey, 1997), which allows 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 the characteristics of writing and are provided insufficient linguistic input to write in L2 successfully in a certain text type (Badger and White, 2000)

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A summary of the differences (Features)

PROCESS
Text as a resource for

PRODUCT
Imitate model text organisation of ideas more

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

important than ideas themselves 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, the

members of which share some set of communicative purposes (Swales, 1990) There are certain conventions or rules which are generally associated with a writers purpose. Example personal letters tell us about [their writers] private stories, film reviews analyze movies for potential 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 language

and literacy education that combines an understanding of genre and genre teaching together in the 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 since learners have an opportunity to study a wide variety of writing patterns, for instance, the business letter, the academic report, and the research paper (Badger and White, 2000) The genre-based approach is increasingly used in the L2 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 and exploration 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 genre

are pointed out so that students notice specific configurations of that genre. 3. Next, students attempt to produce the first draft through imitating the given genre

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The differences between process and genre approaches

Process-based
The steps or stages are

Genre-based
Learning takes place through

illustrated and practiced from the generation of ideas and compilation of information through a series of activities prewriting, composing / drafting, revising, and editing

imitation and exploration of different kinds of models. Through exposure to many samples of similar texts, students can detect the specialized configurations of that genre, and they also can activate their memories of prior reading or writing experiences whenever they encounter the task of creating a 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 help learners to produce their written products to communicate to others in the same discourse community successfully (meaningful). It also increases learners awareness of such writing conventions as organization, arrangement, form, and genre. Genre-based writing reflects a particular purpose of a social situation and allows students to acquire writing skills consciously 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 second language 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 what they intend to communicate to a specific audience. The genre approach undervalues the writing skills which learners need to produce a written product and ignores the writing abilities learners have in other areas.

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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 one approach than the other:
eg: Formal letters / postcards, features are very fixed,

more suited to a product-driven approach - focus on the layout, 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 to process-driven approaches, which focus on students' ideas.
Discursive activities are suited to brainstorming and discussing ideas in groups, and the collaborative writing and exchanging of texts help

the 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-genre approach. 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 the process of meaning discovery as a part of producing the 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 comment and also develop their critical thinking skills (processbased approach). Then teachers may use the genre-based approach to teach actual writing for learners when they realize that their students linguistic knowledge and writing competence 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 all approaches 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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