15 Language Skills LSRW IV (Writing)

Dr. Neeru Tandon

Writing Skill: An Introduction

Either in the days of caves -drawing by the people of the earliest civilizations or in the existing Digital revolution, written medium was always used to ‘talk’ or communicate. Whenever we talk of communication skills or four great skills in humans, writing and speaking skills appear to be fundamental. To master them is especially challenging for English language learners particularly in the domain of writing. Writing has been identified as one of the most essential skills because the World has become so text-oriented.

This importance of writing as a skill is due to the fact that it reinforces grammatical structures and vocabulary that instructors try to teach their students. ‘It is the area in which learners need to be offered adequate time to develop their writing skill, therefore more time should be devoted to it in classrooms containing ELLs so that they will be prepared to effectively communicate in real life as well as academic situations (Ismail, 2007). ‘Ismail again says, ‘’Writing skills can be developed when the learners’ interests are acknowledged and when they are given frequent opportunities to actually practice writing.’

We all know that Writing is the last dominion of second language learning (LSRW) to acquire the mastery. One of the main goals of ESL students is to learn how to produce a well-thought-out piece of writing. For this ESL students are to be exposed to a variety of genres, strategies, and methods. ‘’Becoming proficient writer of English is a problem for many ESL students as they believe that they simply cannot write English. This becomes more prominent in the upper grade levels of elementary school and beyond. This feeling of incompetency leads to self-doubt and anxiety in writing and can hinder the process of achieving writing proficiency.’’

(Thomas, 1993)

Before 1970’s, writing instruction mainly focused on rules of grammar. Today it is more important to create an environment that inspires students to discover possibilities in their writing which means less application on established rules of writing and more on expression of ideas. A teacher or instructor is supposed to be a little less analytical in terms of errors committed by learners. In this way students will be allowed to express their thoughts more spontaneously.

Definition of Writing Skills

Language is a storehouse of knowledge having many dimensions of production and reception, so a standard system is needed to record a language in coded form. Writing is a form of encoded symbols in the form of print or impression. Writing is the productive skill in the written mode. It, too, is more complicated than it seems at first, and often seems to be the hardest of the skills, even for native speakers of a language, since it involves not just a graphic representation of speech, but the development and presentation of thoughts in a structured way.

Writing is one way of providing variety in classroom procedures. It provides a learner with physical evidence of his achievements and he can measure his improvement. In writing, symbols are used to represent words and expressions. It helps to consolidate their grasp of vocabulary and structure, and complements the other language skills. To define writing skill we can easily say that writing skills are specific abilities, which enable persons to state their desires, put their thoughts and actions into words in a meaningful form and to interact with the message.

Lado (1971: 222) points out “writing is graphic representation of a language. Pictures or symbols do not constitute writing unless they form a system representing the units of language and those pattern can be grasped by the reader”. The message is conveyed through the written medium by the use of conventional graphemes. It is a universal activity through which an authentic communication takes place.

Elbow (1981: 369) puts “writing as a kind of ‘magic’ that can be performed by any one who is involved in and believes in his tale”. It implies the fact that the process of translating the abstract ideas into a concrete form is the art of writing (the abstract into concrete).

Sampson (1985 : 26) says “writing is a system for representing utterances of spoken language by means of permanent visible marks”. The phrase ‘visible marks’ does not include the ideas, which are conveyed through artistic drawing and painting. Through this mode, one’s idea or his inner speech is conveyed properly. Using this mode, knowledge and information can be preserved.

Bloomfield (1993 :21) observes that “writing is not language but merely a way of recording language by means of visible marks”. It needs a systematized form by making use of the components namely graphemes vocabulary, syntax, etc. so as to make a decoder understand it clearly

Writing and Writing Skill

Writing is an outcome of a writing skill, which refers to the writer’s linguistic ability in making use of the mechanics of writing. Writing is permanent, but writing skill is transitory. The use of writing skill differs according to mental ability and language proficiency of the writer.

The experience a writer obtains in new writings promotes him to handle different techniques for bringing out varieties of writing. But the changes that occurred in the manipulation of the writing skill do not necessarily lead to positive results, some times problems related with theory or use of the right word in the right content may also happen. As a writer learns new themes by every moment that new knowledge makes him to change his views and approaches while practicing the writing skill. This in turn, enables him to steer the language in the written medium in an innovative fashion. Due to this, his writing style assumes various shapes.

Writing skill is not static but dynamic. We can understand it with two examples. Jeremy Bentham, the father of English law, during his earlier years wrote clearly and well, but as the years went by and grew older, he gradually lost his sense of style until his latter works become most difficult to read. But in the case of Shakespeare, the latter works are mostly comedy and matured plays enriched with style and theme.

The writing skill includes a number of subskills. The subskills are :

1.  Mechanics – handwriting, spelling, punctuation
   2. Word selection – vocabulary, idioms, tone
   3. Organization – paragraphs, topic and support, cohesion and unit
   4. Syntax – sentence structure, sentence boundaries, stylistics, etc.
   5. Grammar – rules of verbs, agreement, articles, pronouns, etc.
   6. Content – relevance, clarity, originality, logic, etc.
   7. The writing process – getting ideas, getting started, writing drafts, revising etc.
   8. Purpose – the reason for writing, justification

     Fluency First Approach of Writing: If English Language educators want a decrease in student frustration and an increased level of actual writing, they may adopt this method by overlooking the grammatical errors and focusing on the ideas. The idea behind it is when creative ideas are not hindered by concerns of using correct form; ESL students are more likely to progress. This shift of focus is what MacGowan-Gilhooly (1991) calls a Fluency First Approach. She believes that only after students have learned to express themselves can they then move toward correction of grammatical errors. With this approach, MacGowan-Gilhooly (1991) saw higher pass rates among her ESL students.

In addition to the Fluency First Approach, Kasper and Petrello (1998) also suggest that the type of feedback teachers provide plays a very significant role in decreasing writing anxiety of ESL students. Mary Beaven (1977) found that teachers who used shared experiences, discussed students’ thoughts, and requested additional information as feedback were most successful in decreasing students’ frustration thus making them feel more confident. This type of student/teacher conferencing should also include opportunities for students to ask questions regarding the writing process or the product itself (Hyland 2000).

Preparing Students to WriteWriting skills help the learners gain independence, comprehensibility, fluency and creativity in writing.

Activating prior knowledge: Activating prior knowledge is one method in which teachers can assist ESL students before they even begin writing. Making sure students have the opportunity to think about what they already know before the task begins helps ESL students incorporate new information into existing structures of knowledge which activates long-term memory (Watt-Taffe &Truscott, 2000). Several strategies can be used to accomplish this including graphic organizers, cooperative learning, read-aloud, and group discussions. Graphic organizers can be used as visual tools for students to write or draw what they already know about a subject, for example in the genre of informational or persuasive writing.

Vocabulary pre-view: Pre-viewing vocabulary is an effective tool when asking an ESL student to attempt any genre of writing. Second language writers have a vastly different linguistic base than native English speakers who can instinctively manipulate the language (Pour-Mohammadi, Zainol Abidin, & Cheong Lai, 2012). Therefore, vocabulary is a massive obstacle for English learners creating the need for teachers to provide both definitional and contextual information about keywords. Instructors should also allow students to actively elaborate on word meanings (i.e. physically acting out a word), as well as teacher led explanations (Stahl, 1985).

Types of Writing Systems

The major writing systems developed over several civilizations of man may be divided into: limited writing systems (pictographic) and full writing systems (alphabetic).

Limited Writing System

Drawing is the major tool of the Limited Writing System (LWS). This could be in form of pictography or ideography. Pictograms are associated with the early stages of civilisation. Cuneiform writing (developed by the Mesopotamians) and Hieroglyphic writing (by the Egyptians) is good illustrative examples of LWS.

In LWS, several images are chronologically presented. For example, to express the idea: An old man is leaving the house for the farm, three images may be needed: (l)house, (2) bearded adult male, facing the farm and (3) farm.

Full Writing System (FWS).

A Full Writing System (FWS) makes use of alphabets. Unlike a pictographic system, FWS conveys no meaning to the reader who does not have knowledge of the underlying language. For instance, there is no one-to-one correspondence between the English word “man” and the concept, “human, adult, male,” that it represents.

Barriers to Effective Writing

Writing has been regarded as an alternative medium of language, as it gives lastingness to speeches. Many people would say that writing is an inaccurate representation of speech. Writing is essentially an organized system. Therefore, any disorder is likely to endanger its efficiency. Some of the greatest barriers are as follows:

• Disregard for conventional rules;
• Misappropriation of rules;
• Bad writing habits;
• Non-standardization
• Opposition to

Disregard for conventional rules

When the rules of standard writing system are disregarded, the ensuing writing would not be effective. If a writer decided to write in Arabic, starting from the right hand side of the page to the left, he or she is likely to encounter problems similar to those likely to be encountered by someone writing in English from the right hand side of the page to the left – just like someone walking backwards!

Misappropriation of rules 

When orthographic rules are misapplied, effective writing is hindered. For example, the addition of “s” to the singular form of several words in English transforms them to the plural form. But the application of this rule to such words as sheep, furniture, aircraft, etc. will be inappropriate.

Bad writing habits 

When one usually writes illegibly, illogically or haphazardly; the text would not be optimally presented. A text haphazardly written is likely to lead to a lot of confusion.

Non-standardization 

A non-standardized writing system is not capable of generating an ideal text. This is because non-standardization encourages inconsistency.

Opposition to change 

If a writer refuses to go along with approved changes, his or her writings may become isolated and consequently violate current norms.

What is Translated Writing?

The biggest challenge for teachers working with ELLs is translated writing. This occurs when English language learners develop their ideas in native language and then try to translate them into English. Even if they don’t write this native language text down, they are thinking in native language first. When this happens, the writing is full of inaccurate verb tenses and unintelligible sentences. The chaotic structure and grammar make the writing difficult to understand.

Editing this type of writing presents insurmountable challenges for teachers. One strategy is to pick a skill, such as verb tenses, to correct. However, it is better to avoid having students write down their ideas in English through the filter of their native language. Once the student has written an incomprehensible passage, you are stuck with it.

Learning Process of Writing

Learning of writing is conscious and is thus non-spontaneous process (Thirumalai, 1990: 74). Learning of writing is often regarded as the learning of the mechanics of translating, either speech into writing, or meaning into visual symbols (Kress, 1982:5). Lado (1971: 143-47) says that learning to write a foreign language is learning to put down at a speed greater than that of drawing the conventional symbols of the writing system that represent the utterances one has in mind. Further, he has divided the learning process of writing into five stages as:

1. prewriting,

2.copying read texts,

3.transcribing,

4.composition and

5.literature.

Enhancing Effective WritingEffective writing may be greatly enhanced by high levels of legibility, clarity and use of specific norms.

Legibility

Legibility is a yardstick of text-appeal. Whether handwritten or type-written, a text should be legible. A successful writer always aims at the highest level of legibility in order to be appealing.

Clarity

The clarity of a text determines its acceptability. When a text is written in simple and logical language, it is easy to understand.

Use of specific norms

All orthography makes use of specific conventions, which its users are supposed to be conversant with. It is, therefore, the responsibility of an effective writer to use such conventions appropriately. The use of abbreviations such as “e.g.” (for example) or “etc.” (et. cetera, ‘and so on and so forth’) is commonplace in modern

Using technological tools for writing much like a composition notebook, gives students a safe venue for expressing their ideas without having to worry about handwriting or spelling mistakes. This technique hones their vocabulary skills and gives them an opportunity to receive written feedback from an instructor, which in turn aids in reading proficiency. Another method, among many, is using online discussion boards. With this approach, students can communicate with one another as well as the teacher, receive peer feedback and practice conversational skills, all the while putting complete thoughts together in the form of typed sentences. Peer feedback is one of the most influential methods of becoming a proficient writer of English. Studies show that school age children are more conscious of their peers’ reaction and perception than their instructor’s, therefore, more apt to learn from their constructivism (Bitchener, Cameron, & Young, 2005). Using these technological tools can provide that much needed opportunity. By interviewing students, Ghandoura (2012) found that students thought computers made the acquisition of writing skills easier and faster. The possible downfall of these tools is that writing on computers gives an immediate alert to grammatical and spelling errors, which could become a lesson learned or a crutch. However, in a rich-technology, ELLs can become better readers and writers of English (Ismail, Al-Awidi, & Almekhlafi, 2012)

Challenges Faced By Learners Writing is the most difficult language skill for ELLs to master. It is a conscious, deliberate, and planned activity. A mono literate is a person who can read and write in a language and a bi-literate or multi literate can read and write in more than one language. A literate person in a language can convey his inner speech through written mode. That is to say that one may be literate in one language and illiterate in another To become a literate in another language.

Reference

• Beavan, M. (1977). Individualized goal setting, self-evaluation, and peer evaluation. In C.R. Cooper & L. Odell. Evaluating Writing 135-156. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
• Berman, R. & Cheng, L. (2010). English academic language skills:. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(1-2), 25-40.
• Bitchener, J., Cameron, D., & Young S. (2005). The effect of different types of corrective feedback on ESL student writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 14 (3), 191-205.
• Fu-lan, L. (2006). Using Computer-mediated-communication to Overcome the Anxiety in ESL Writing. USChina Foreign Language, 4(11), 97-101
• Hyland, F. (2000). Teacher management of writing workshops: Two case studies. Canadian Modern Language Review, 57(2), 272. Ismail, S. A. A. (2011). Exploring students’ perceptions of ESL writing. English Language Teaching, 4(2), 73-83.
• Kasper, L. F., & Petrello, B. A. (1998). Responding to ESL Student Writing: The Value of a Nonjudgmental Approach. Community Review, 16178.