The questions are highlighted after the article posted below. Thank...

The questions are highlighted after the article posted below. Thank you!

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1 5 Considerations for Teaching Second Language Writing SARA CUSHING WEIGLE KEY QUESTIONS > What does it mean to know how to write? > What is the role of writing in the second/foreign language curriculum? > What do English as a second or foreign language teachers need to know about writing to design and teach a writing course? EXPERIENCE Elizabeth teaches a writing course in an intensive English program designed to prepare students to enter an American university. Her 16 students come from 11 different countries and are interested in dif- ferent disciplines, from business to mathematics to the social sciences. As class begins, Elizabeth divides the class into groups of four and gives each group a set of writing assignments from different univer- sity courses: one from an undergraduate business course, one from US. history, one from environ- mental science, and one from psychology. Elizabeth reminds the class of the concepts of audience, purpose, and genre and asks the groups to identify each in the set of tasks. The groups quickly get to work; after about five minutes, Elizabeth asks them to report on the similarities and differences among the tasks. She writes their responses on the board and then asks the class to list the verbs used in the assignments (e.g., discuss, compare, analyze) and then gives students a handout listing several of such verbs. Students discuss the handout with partners to make sure they understand all the verbs. Then Elizabeth presents the instructions for a writing assignment that students will be working on over the next several weeks. In introducing the assignment, she highlights the verbs in the instructions and then proceeds to go over the details of the assignment. An observer in this class wanting to learn about teaching writing might notice several features about it. First, it is very much a collaborative class. 222 The teacher controls the pace of the class and directs the activities, but during most of the class the students are interacting with each other. Second, students are using reading as a first step to inform their future writing. In this instance, they are analyzing writing prompts, though in another class they may be reading about and dis- cussing a particular topic that they will be writing about. Third, they are learning that the expecta- tions of readers in different disciplines will be different and that they cannot necessarily transfer everything they know about writing in one sub- ject area to writing in another. Finally, this class involves a consideration of global issues in writ- ing, such as the need to think about one's audi- ence and purpose in writing when deciding how to organize an essay, as well as local issues, such as being able to use specific verb forms appropri- ately. Even in a very short observation, it is clear that learning to write in a second language (L2) is a complicated endeavor that involves a multiplic— ity of concerns. WHAT IS SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING? Writing has always had a place in the second/ foreign language curriculum, but in the twenty- first century the ability to write in an L2 may be even more important than ever. Globalization and technological advances such as the rise of

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the Internet have made written communication across languages and cultures not only possible but essential in business, education, and many other fields. More and more people are seeing the need to learn to write in a language that is not their mother tongue, whether their purpose is to transact business, interact on social-networking sites, or pursue academic degrees. Thus, whereas writing was once seen as a skill that was primarily taught to reinforce other language skills such as listening, reading, and grammar, in many settings writing has moved to a more central place in the curriculum (Reid, 2001). As a result, many teach— ers will find themselves needing to teach writing and may not feel well prepared to do so effectively. The purpose of this chapter is to present some of the most important concepts in teaching writing and provide guidance on planning and delivering an effective writing curriculum. To teach writing effectively, we first need to understand the nature of L2 writing ability. We can look at this ability from two perspectives: as a cognitive ability (i.e., a set of skills and knowledge that reside within an individual) and as a sociocul— tural phenomenon (i.e., as a means of communica- tion within a particular setting aimed at achieving specific goals). Both of these perspectives are important in the teaching of writing. From a cognitive perspective, second lan— guage writing can be seen as some combination of writing ability (perhaps learned in one's first language [L1]) and L2 proficiency. Even in one's native language, composing a text is a highly com- plex task that involves the consideration of many factors at the same time. Writers have to keep in mind their overall message, the major points and subpoints to be included, how these points will be organized, and a representation of the likely readers: what they already know or believe about the topic, what sorts of information they will find persuasive, and how they might react. Writers need to be able to plan their writing, monitor and revise what they have already written, and keep focused on the process until they are satisfied with the end product. When an L2 is added to the mix, the pic- ture becomes even more complex because writers need to focus some of their attention on finding the appropriate language to express their ideas clearly and accurately as well. It seems reasonable, and indeed research has shown it to be true, that students who have learned to write in their L] can transfer these skills to a second language; however, a certain level of language proficiency is required before such transfer can occur. For students at every level of proficiency, a writing course provides opportunities to learn and practice new language forms and structures and thus contributes to lan- guage learning. For students with lower language proficiency, this focus on language may need to be emphasized, while for advanced students, more emphasis can be placed on the composition pro- cess. In short, both writing ability and language proficiency are important factors in L2 writing ability, and both need to be included in a writing curriculum. From the sociocultural perspective, writing is seen as part of a socially and culturally situated set of literacy practices shared by a particular com- munity. From this perspective, the process of learn- ing to write is the process of becoming a member of a discourse community, a group of people (e.g., biologists, politicians, or even fans of a particular musical genre) who share values and assumptions about using language and also have certain ways of using language (oral or written) for particular purposes. In academic writing, for example, there are different conventions for publishing articles in different disciplines, and certain linguistic or sty- listic choices, such as the use of the passive voice, may be considered good writing in one discourse community or discipline but notin another. Learning to write means learning to par— ticipate in one or more discourse communities, whether this means participating in an online social network, writing medical laboratory reports, or writing academic papers. From this perspective, focusing simply on improving language proficien- cy or studying strategies for composing and revis- ing does not necessarily lead to good writing unless considerations of the broader context in which writing will be used are also taken into account. In addition, a crucial insight from the sociocul- tural perspective is that written texts do not exist in isolation; rather, the texts that writers produce are shaped by and responsive to other preexisting texts. This notion is important when we consider the role of reading in the writing classroom, dis- cussed later in the chapter. These two perspectives together provide a useful framework for the consideration of writing instruction. The cognitive perspective helps us remember that individual students need to acquire Chapter IS 223

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knowledge and skills—about language and about the process ofwriting—while the sociocultural per- spective reminds us that writing is always done for a purpose, is directed at a specific audience, and is part of a broader set of literacy practices that is shaped by a particular culture and setting. The cognitive and sociocultural perspectives can also help us understand the difference between speaking and writing, an important distinction for language teachers. From a purely mechanical perspective, the act of writing takes longer than the act of speaking and leaves a physical trace that can be referred to at a later date. Oral commu- nication, at least m'thout the help of technology, typically requires that both participants (speaker and listener) be present at the same time in the same place and allows the use of nonverbal and contextual clues for shared meaning; furthermore, speakers get continuous feedback from their lis— teners about whether they are being understood and can clarify and repair mistakes if necessary. In writing, these contextual cues and immediate feedback are absent, and thus a writer must choose words more carefully to avoid misunderstandings. The cognitive challenge of speaking is contrib- uting to an ongoing discourse without time to plan out what to say; the cognitive challenge of writing is anticipating and taking into account the existing knowledge, goals, and interests of one's likely readers and tailoring one's choice of words and sentence structures to that audience. The fundamental differences between speaking and writing in the cognitive domain are responsible to a great degree for differences in the sociocultural domain. First, writing is used for different purposes and functions than speaking; because it can be planned and leaves a permanent record, it tends to be used for functions where preci- sion and accuracy are important, such as contracts. Written language tends to be more formal, use more complex structures, and be more carefully planned than spoken language, which tends to be characterized by shorter sentences or fragments, pauses, and repetitions and repairs. Correctness is more highly valued in writing than in speaking; thus errors that might be permissible in speaking are often more stigmatized in writing. (See McCarthy & O'Keeffe, this volume.) In summary, writing is not simply speaking in another modality. While the same basic building blocks of vocabulary and grammar are essential 224 Unit II to both, writing is frequently used for different purposes; it thus requires different linguistic struc- tures and functions than speaking and calls for a somewhat different set of cognitive and metacog— nitive strategies. Writing teachers must have an understanding of both perspectives to plan and deliver instruction that addresses the writing needs of their students, whether these students are not literate in their L1 or are transferring advanced L1 writing skills to their L2.

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The process approach Research on the writing process has led to what is now the dominant paradigm in writing instruction, the process approach. Historical overviews of writing instruction that have led to the preeminence of process approaches can be found in numerous sources (e.g., Ferris & Hedgcock, 2004; Matsuda, 2003b; Raimes, 1991). Although there are many variations on process

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approaches, they all have certain features in com- mon. Specifically, instead of producing several different single-draft essays that are turned in for a grade, often with a primary focus on linguis- tic accuracy, students produce more than one draft of each piece of writing for feedback and evaluation, and emphasis is placed on supporting students through the various stages of writing, including pre-writing (e.g., brainstorming or outlining), drafting, giving and receiving feed- back, and revising (see Table 1). How a process approach is implemented in practice is discussed in the next section

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Table I. Phases of the Writing Process Phase Definition Examples of Teaching and Learning Activities Pre-writing Structured activities to provide motivation, Structured language practice, readings, films, discussions, content, fluency, language practice brainstorming, webbing, outlining Writing First draft Focus on content, getting ideas on paper Response Reaction of a reader or listener Peer review, partners or small groups, teacher conferences, written feedback Revising Reseeing or rethinking content; second Reorganizing, adding details, adding support for arguments draft Editing Refinement and attention to writing Checklists, grammar logs, exercises, proofreading practice conventions, including grammar and vocabulary; third draft Post-writing What students and teachers do with Display, share online, compile class writing into a booklet finished pieces Evaluating How teachers and/or students assess Rubrics, conferences, self-evaluation, portfolios student writing Adapted from California State University, Stanislaus (n.d.).

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Q1: What would be the advantage of adopting the process approach in teaching and developing second language writing?

My answer is in below, I just need some additional points, perhaps fixed.

The process approach is a teaching writing strategy that allows students and teachers to work together to produce a document.

The approach to the process regards all writings as a creative endeavor that takes time and good feedback. In process writing, the teacher leaves himself a person who selects a writing topic for the students and receives the final output for correction without participation in the writing process.

White and Arntd claim that concentrating on language faults "does not increase grammar precision or the fluidity of writing" and that instead, taking care of what the kids say will improve writing.

Research also reveals that feedback between drafts is more effective than when it is done after the students have handled their content. Corrections to the writings submitted to the learner after the process appear to do little more than improve the student's writing.

Teacher and students' evolving roles, the teacher must leave the marker to the reader and react more than the form to the topic of the pupil writing. Students are encouraged to reflect on the audience: for whom is writing? What is the reader supposed to know? Students must also be aware that what is written on paper could be transformed: stuff can be removed, added, reorganized, etc.