WRITING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAG E

1. WRITING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

2. WRITING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE • The process of learning to write in a foreign language should be started in Primary Education and really never ends.

3. 2. WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE REFER TO WRITING? • Academic: Writing is the production of a sequence of sentences arranged in a particular order and linked together to form a coherent whole called text. • From a communicative perspective, we could understand writing as “the ability to communicate with each other and express our own ideas in written form”.

4. 3. SPECIFIC SKILLS ATTACHED TO WRITING • Writing is clearly a complex, multifaceted process requiring the ability to manipulate many sub-skills simultaneously: • “involves being creative, spelling, grammar, punctuation, choice of appropriate words, sentences linking and text construction”.

5. 3.1. Graphic or Visual Skills • Spelling:Difference between pronunciation and spelling in the English language. • How can our students improve their spelling? • We advise them to • a) select priority words to learn, • b) get plentiful, regular practice, • c) know about the language, • d) learn techniques, • e) develop an interest in words, • f) check their work, • g) have confidence in themselves.

6. 3.1. Graphic or Visual Skills • Punctuation:Learning how to use punctuation correctly is a slow and laborious process. It should be started from the very beginning. • Layout: There are certain conventions on how to write a letter, construct a paragraph, organise a written text and so on that are culturally determined.

7. 3.2. Grammatical Skills • This refers to the students' skill in making efficient use of grammatical structures and constructions.

8. Expressive or Stylistic Skills • This includes the learners’ capacity to select the most appropriate meaning in a range of styles and registers:Sociolinguistic competence

9. 3.4.Rhetorical Skills • This refers to the ability to use linguistic cohesive devices –what we call “connectors” and “modifiers”– in order to link parts of a text into logically related sequences: discourse competence

10. 3.5. Organisational Skills • The organisation of pieces of information into paragraphs and texts.

11. 4. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FOUR SKILLS • It is an obvious fact that languages are spoken before they are written, and there are people who communicate perfectly in the spoken language without being able to express themselves in writing.

12. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FOUR SKILLS • When introducing the skills we should know • what stage the learners are at in the acquisition of their first language skills, • to ensure that we do not interfere with the learning process of their own language. • Only when reading and writing have been acquired in L1 can we begin the task with L2.

13. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FOUR SKILLS • At beginner levels in particular, writing practice should be aimed at • reinforcing the learning of linguistic elements which have been practised orally, • without forgetting to introduce our pupils to vocabulary practice and the structures of written language itself.

14. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FOUR SKILLS • Integrated Skills: It means that we can create activities, tasks where the four basic skills are integrated.

15. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FOUR SKILLS • Integrating Reading and Writing.Reading and Writing are closely related: • a) reading is a source of input and model for written language • b) there is a continual process of feedback between the two skills.

16. a) Reading as a source of input and model for written language: • Students need to receive language, a comprehensible input, by means of reading a sufficient amount in order to develop their capacity. • Beginners should be given models adapted to their level.

17. b) Continual process of feedback between the two skills • We constantly read what we have written to revise content and grammar, organise the text, etc. So there is a continous feedback.

18. Integrating Speaking and Writing • When we are writing something we usually “try it out” by pronouncing it internally in what is known as “inner speech”

19. 4.5 Integrating Listening and Writing • To get used to English spelling, it is better first to only hear the word, get to know its “acoustic shape” before writing it down. • Traditional activities: Dictations or listening comprehensions • Communicative writing activities: Information gaps and task dependency

20. 5. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WRITTEN AND SPOKEN DISCOURSE

21. 5. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WRITTEN AND SPOKEN DISCOURSE

22. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WRITING ENGLISH? • Teacher’s perspective: • lack of a well-defined model of “teaching how to write” • reduced to exercises known as composition or essays. • Time-consuming activity. • this skill requires a lot of time to obtain an acceptable product and relegates it to homework. • Focus on Listening and Speaking. • Our educational system pays more attention to oral skills. • The teacher is usually the only audience for the pupils’ work.

23. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WRITING ENGLISH? • Pupil’s perspective: • Pupils tend to see writing as an academic activity imposed by the teacher. • It is the only skill whose final product is “fixed” and recorded for posterity. • There is no immediate feedback. • Need for a real audience and real communicationto give authenticity to this exercise and encourage the pupil’s implication in the process. • Choice of subject matter. • the themes proposed are often repetitive, unimaginative and unattractive. • Solitary work:

24. 7.THE WRITING PROCESS • Before beginning: • The content: what you are writing for. • The addressee or reader: who you are writing to or for. • The purpose: why you are writing.

25. 7.1.What do people write? • Distinction between personal writingand public/professional or institutional writing. • a) PERSONAL WRITING

26. What do people write? • PERSONAL & PUBLIC WRITING

27. What do people write? • PUBLIC OR INSTITUTIONAL WRITING

28. 7.1. Who for? The audience Classmates: Exchanging written work with classmates for them to make suggestions or corrections, using the principle of Peer Teaching. Reading work out loud for the rest of the class to hear. Anonymous letters: unsigned or unaddressed letters - the sender or the receiver have to be guessed: e.g. Be my Valentine! Home-made Books: we refer here to an easy-to-make low-cost book that is made by the pupils themselves. The teacher explains to the pupils how to make the books (Cancelas 1997). • Pupil needs to write with either a real or imaginary reader in mind. • The choice of appropriate style and content will depend on the audience we are writing for. • The teacher should not become the only reader of their work.

29. 7.1. Who for? The audience • Other students in the school: make a newspaper, magazine or other mini projects (exhibitions) to share with pupils from other classes. • The student himself, writing a poem, a few notes, or a draft for his eyes only.

30. 7.1. Who for? The audience • A real outside audience: • Pen friends • Pen pals, Key pals or cyberpals • Internet chats • SMS messages • Writing for information: • Parents: • Friends • Fictional characters

31. 7.1. Who for? The audience • An imaginary outside audience. • We can create displays of their work:class surveys. • “Royal Mail” post box will encourage pupils to write letters to their teacher

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