Developing Effective Writing Skills
By Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi
Writing is a complex skill because it requires the coordination of content, language, meaning and style. Handwriting demands attention at the earlier stages of learning to write. Initially, our focus on teaching writing is on accuracy, later the focus shifts to appropriacy. Cohesion (Structural) and coherence (meaning) are two factors necessary to make any piece of writing effective. At the early stages of writing, learners can write in imitation of a model text. Later learners should develop their own pieces of writing. A proficient Writer needs to know: Subject matter, Appropriate language, Mechanics of writing, A rich stock of words, Conventions of writing, Organizational skills, Thinking skills, Writing purposes, A feel of the ‘audience’ or reader(s), Values: global or national and An in-depth understanding of the writing process.
Teaching objectives of writing:
- Express ideas in clear and grammatically correct style
- Write in a style appropriate for communicative purposes
- Plan, organize and present ideas coherently by introducing, developing and concluding a topic
- Write a description of a place, a person, or a system etc.
- Write a clear account of an event, a process or a narrative
- Compare and contrast ideas and arrive at a conclusion
- Present an argument, supporting it with examples
- Use an appropriate style and format to write letters, notices, reports, articles, diary entries etc
- Monitor, check and revise written work
- Expand notes into a piece of writing
- Summarize or make notes from a given text
- Recode information from one text type to another
A writing task must be related to the daily activities of the learner, so that we can prepare our learners to handle situations outside the classroom. This can be followed by learners themselves getting an advertisement and then exchanging among other classmates and then attempting to solve it. In this way we are taking the language outside the classroom and adapting our learners to get used to it.
Here is a step-by-step way of drawing a cat. Match the instructions with the drawings. This activity is well suited for lower classes. It has been tested in classrooms as it is from Orient Blackswan’s Gul Mohar.
1. Draw three circles-one for the head and two small ones for the body.
2. Draw another circle to join the two small circles.
3. Make the neck by joining the head and the body.
4. Draw in some cat legs.
5. Draw two triangles for the ears.
6. Add a wriggly line for a tail.
7. Remove some of the lines you don’t need.
8. Draw the cat’s eyes and mouth.
9. Add the whiskers and a collar.
10. Colour your cat.
Thus in this way the most current and the most wide-ranging topics in the market for Writing lead pupils towards writing independently. There are variety of tasks, which involve a learner in different ways and develop the various cognitive skills of a learner. A poster was used to teach the reading skills in my last article. Reading being a receptive skill takes on to the productive skill of Writing, so learners can be trained to interpret posters and then to create one or write in detail about a poster. Learners will then be able to differentiate between the different kinds of posters.
These are the latest techniques of teaching all the skills which are related to the learners’ surroundings and situation, thus making learning more meaningful. Find below another example of poster writing and interpreting from one of the texts of Orient Blackswan. The self expression and creativity, both oral and written must be taught to the learners.
Prof (Dr) Shefali Bakshi is the Deputy Director at Amity School of Languages. She has done a Project on “A Study of Verbal Interaction in Waiting for Godot” for the M.A. degree and has ompleted her PhD thesis on “A Study of Verbal Interaction in the plays of Samuel Beckett” for the Degree of Ph.D. at University of Lucknow, India. She has conducted over 75 workshops on ELT in various parts of India for school teachers and principals.
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