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Do Something for Yourself and Your Students: Write Your Own Writing Booklet

Do Something for Yourself and Your Students: Write Your Own Writing Booklet. SEYRAN ERDOGAN Sabanci University, Istanbul/Turkey seyran@sabanciuniv.edu. Outline. Background Writing in SL Reasons for writing own booklet Our booklets Reaction Lessons from our experience. THE CONTEXT.

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Do Something for Yourself and Your Students: Write Your Own Writing Booklet

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  1. Do Something for Yourself and Your Students: Write Your Own Writing Booklet SEYRAN ERDOGAN Sabanci University, Istanbul/Turkey seyran@sabanciuniv.edu

  2. Outline • Background • Writing in SL • Reasons for writing own booklet • Our booklets • Reaction • Lessons from our experience

  3. THE CONTEXT Sabanci University School of Languages • Pre-sessional • Students with similar backgrounds re writing • Preparing students for freshman year and beyond • Lasting 4 months to 1 year of English & skills

  4. Writing in SL • No more focus on 5-paragraph essays • Emphasis on the paragraph • Content comes from selected readings • Synthesis of information from sources

  5. Why write own materials?

  6. What is in the writing books on the market? • The sentence structure • The paragraph (parts of it) • The 5-paragraph essay / outlining • Different task types (definition, classification, cause-effect, comparison&contast, etc.) • The thesis statement • The topic sentence • Transitional expressions

  7. Reasons for own materials • Needs are different. • Content is important.

  8. “Publishing housesthroughoutthe English-speakingworldrespond[to the demand for teaching materials] byproducingmass-market coursebooks, designedtoappealto as manyteachingandlearningsituations as possible, thusmaximisingtheirsalespotential.” (Bolihto, 2003)

  9. “Thesubjectcontent is oftengenericandblandand not focused on anyparticulargroup of learnersortheirspecificneeds. Thelikelyend-result of such a writingproject is an anodyne, one-size-fits-allproduct.” (BellandGower, 1998)

  10. Our booklets… • were born out of a need felt by the writers and voiced by teachers. • were written by teachers teaching writing in the school. • are based on the syllabus objectives and unit content. • include organization and language work in each unit. • provide samples. • provide free practice tasks.

  11. A sample unit

  12. An in-house writing booklet • is written with a specific groups of learners in mind and aims to serve their specific needs. • is written by teachers teaching those learners (know unique problems) • is cheaper than a commercial book. • keeps all writing in one place. • makes it easy to refer back to something done earlier. • makes it easier to see almost all the writing practice students have received. • can be integrated with other course material. • includes only the parts relevant to your needs & objectives. • continues on from the coursebook, so eliminates obligation to familiarize with a stand-alone source. • allows regular cost-free revision.

  13. Feedback from teachers • It is good to have something to use to teach writing. • Commercial coursebooks do not give adequate and appropriate academic writing practice. WB • covers objectives not covered by the coursebook / ensure all of your objectives. are covered in a systematic and consistent way. • uses the coursebook material as a basis for writing, which is an advantage. • includes language focus, examples and practice. • is more relevant than commercial books. • ensures standardization of input. • saves a lot of people a lot of time. • ensures that writing is done. • provides guidance to those who do not feel confident teaching writing. • helps recycle the content in the course book. • is taken more seriously by students. • There is not much time for it. The course is packed. • WB is not in the calendar. • WB is separate from the Learning Portfolio (LP).

  14. Feedback from students • It is very useful, especially if it is used regularly. • We need to have one support booklet which will first teach writing and then help students to write. • It is a problem when teachers use different materials. It is good that we have a whole booklet. • A writing booklet is necessary especially in lower levels. • If it is a booklet, you feel that you have to do it. • Writing in WB should be assessed. Then it will be taken more seriously. • It will be better if combined with the Learning Portfolio.

  15. Lessons from our experience • Schedule it in your timetable. • Prioritize. • Integrate all writing. • Negotiate its status. • Provide choice. • Add a teacher’s guide. • Give it a respectable & attractive appearance.

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