Second Language Writing Development and Instruction

1. Second Language Writing Development and Instruction Theoretical Part: 李宜倩教授/台灣師範大學 (PPT 2~9) Practical Part: 陳瓊如老師 / 光榮國中 (PPT10~32) Presenter: Sophie Chen / sophie241@gmail.com 08/29/2011

2. Writing Across Language Systems • Writing system • Mechanics (e.g. grammar, punctuations etc) • Text structure and Discourse style • Cultural Knowledge

3. Product vs. Process Approach • Product Approach (1960s) • Writing is considered a linear process • Prewriting – writing - rewriting • The focus is on the final product • Focus on accuracy rather than creativeness • Mechanical drilling (fill-in, reordering paragraphs, topic-sentence writing) • Instructional application: controlled writing

4. Product vs. Process Approach • Writing process is recursive • Writing is a thinking and meaning conveying activity (accuracy is not the final goal) • Writer is the center of attention

5. Process Writing Model Drafting Structuring Re-viewing Focusing Generating ideas Evaluating

6. Writing Instruction • Modeled Writing – demonstration of the writing process • Shared Writing – students are asked to share ideas that they are going to write before writing • Supported Writing – (during or after shared writing): students work in pairs or groups to discuss their writing and ideas • Guided Writing – students are grouped according to their ability of writing. Teachers have different set goals for each group. • Independent writing – students work independently to apply the strategies that they learnt

7. Instructional Implications • Combination of process approach and direct instruction • Guided writing can be implemented before, during, and after the writing • Allow students to think about ideas before they start to write

8. Instructional Implications • Scaffolding is important to take students from dependent writers to independent writers • Writing is a meaningful literacy event than pinpointing errors • Teaching and feedback should focus on both content and form.

9. Use e-dictionary & corpus as a scaffolding Tool • Vocabulary plays an important role in L2 writing. • Useful e-dictionary http://visual.merriam-webster.com/ (圖解字典) http://www.wordsmyth.net/(同義字/反義字) https://www.visualthesaurus.com/(利用map 提供word family. ) • Useful bilingual concordance: TOTALrecall: http://candle.fl.nthu.edu.tw/totalrecall/totalrecall/totalrecall.aspx (中英文雙解 ex: 心情不好) • Useful bilingual collocation: TANGO • Wordnet 提供字的情境: ex: ugly

10. Useful Authentic on-line Materials • ELLSA: http://users.aber.ac.uk/jpm/ellsa/ellsa_index.html • BBC Learning: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/

11. Sentence Level: 中英差異 1. English:名詞的語言vs. Chinese動詞的語言 ex: learning through rote memorization (n.) There is no school tomorrow. ex: learning things by memorizing (v.) I don’t need to go to school tomorrow. • 語序: 由大到小／由先到後 • General  specific (可從voc. depth 下手 /見範例) • 一個動詞 vs. collocation • 時態 • 標點符號

12. Sharpen with Specifics Directions: Fill in the blanks in the columns below: If a general word is given, write a more specific word or words in the matching blank. If a specific word or words are listed, fill in the matching blank with a general word for it/them. • General Words Specific Words • Example: candy a Snickers bar • automobile • noise • TV show • dog

13. Specific Action Verbs Example: Tim went by slowly (crept). I couldn’t wait to see my friend. • I heard the tires make a noise as the car turned the corner. • The lizard climbed over the walls to look for meal worms. • Jim wrote a short note to his mother because he was in a hurry. • Mike fell from the top rung of the ladder. • On Sunday my dad makes eggs for our breakfast.  • The sleds really go fast down this hill.  • The voice came loud and clear over the gym’s loudspeaker.  • The motorcycle made a lot of noise as it sped by.  • I walked all around our new house.  • Mary’s knees shook as she and Jenny walked through the dark old house. • Word Choice • crept tumbled scribbled hunt roared scrambles explored whiz boomed squeal

14. Toss out tired verbs Directions: Try to choose a different verb for each sentence. • When he heard the fire alarm, he went quickly down the stairs. • Mother said, “Be quiet. You’ll wake the baby with that shouting.”  • “What is Mother cooking?” said Jan. “It smells so good.”  • My little sister fell down and said, “I hurt my foot!”  • Jeff turned around to see who had pushed him. “Watch where you’re going! You made me drop my books,” he said.  • “You prepared this lunch all by yourself,” Grandmother said. “I can’t believe it.”  7. “Shh, I hear a strange noise,” said Patty.  • The girls went out of the spooky house as fast as they could.  • Pete went into the pool and the race began.  • He went down the hill quickly when he heard the cry, “Rock slide!” •  Word Choice asked scolded cried scrambled dashed screamed dove shouted ran flew warned hollered whispered hurried wondered jumped yelled raced exclaimed sped rushed

15. Sentence Connection Directions: Use a conjunction from the list below to combine each pair of simple sentences. You may move word groups and eliminate unnecessary words. • and as but so although because or while • The bus was late. I ran to school. • Janie carefully planted the seeds. The flowers never bloomed. • The German shepherd was huge. He was a gentle dog. •  Max hated the broccoli. He dumped it into the sink. • They were watching Star Trek on TV. They heard a crash. • We were walking to the movie theater. We saw two cars crash. • I was still hungry. I had eaten a huge lunch.  • Cindy was tired. She was hungry. She was glad to get home. • I signed happily. I closed my eyes. The sailboat glided over the water.

16. Sentence-combining Challenge Directions: Revise the two sentence groups below by combining the short, choppy sentences. Write your new sentences on the lines below each group. Use any of the following strategies: • Delete unnecessary and overused words. • Add conjunctions, or connecting words. • Move words around. • Use a series of adjectives (descriptive words). • For example: The shirt has red, white, and blue stripes. Exercises: • I found a shell on the beach. It is pretty. The inside is pink. It is shiny, too. The outside of the shell is rough. It has ridges. The ridges are sharp. • Writing Tip: Sometimes writers purposely use short sentences to create pace and interest. For example: “Andrew Marcus wanted freckles. Nicky Lane had freckles. He had about a million of them.

17. Paragraph Writing: Topic sentence + supporting ideas Adding Details : Topic sentence: I played the best game ever. Supporting ideas: • Directions: Choose one sentence from the above and use it to write a short, detailed description below. When you finish, you may want to draw a picture of the setting or situation based on its description. Include as many visual details from the writing as possible.

18. Show, Don’t Tell! • Directions: Match the underlined word in each of the following sentences with its fuller description below the heading “Writing That Shows.” (The underlined word tells; the matching description shows) Tells I could hardly wait until my mom came home from the hospital with the new baby. The baby was cute. Shows She has big blue eyes, straight black hair, and soft skin. She has red cheeks, too. Her fingers and toes are tiny, and her clothes aren’t much bigger than big doll’s.

19. Working with Paragraphs A. Directions: Read 4th-grade Nicholas’s story “Learning About Leeches,” which follows: #1.Did you know that leeches and Dracula have something in common? They both suck blood from animals. A leech eats by going to an animal and biting into it with its sharp teeth. It then sucks the blood from the animal. This supplies the leech with the food it needs. #2. Leeches used to be used as medicine. A doctor would put several leeches on a patient. The leeches would suck the person’s blood. People thought that by sucking the person’s blood, the leeches would be taking away the disease. This was not a good idea because instead of getting better, people would almost die from losing too much blood, and some did die. 1. What does the first paragraph mainly tell about? 2. What does the second paragraph mainly tell about?

20. B. Directions: Read the following facts about leeches. Write a 1 before each fact that belongs in the first paragraph. Write a 2 before each fact that belongs in the second paragraph. Write a 3 before a fact that doesn’t belong in either the first or second paragraph and should be in a third paragraph. • Leeches are still used sometimes to prevent blood swellings. • Leeches have two sucking mouths, one in front and one in back. • Leeches lay their eggs in cases called cocoons. • When the young hatch, they attach themselves to the underside of an adult leech and are carried around until they are old enough to be their own.

21. Identifying Topic Sentences • The students in the class come from different parts of the world. Some are from European countries such as France, Spain, and Italy. Others are from Middle Eastern countries, like Saudi Arabia and Israel. Many are from Asian countries like Japan. The largest number are from Latin American countries, such as Venezuela and Mexico.What is the topic sentence?

22. Choosing a Topic Sentence a. The city needs the money. b. The city needs money to fix the buses. c. The state has lots of money.  Many of the buses need repair work. City officials say there is not enough money to fix them. They will borrow money from the state. a. Skiing is expensive. b. Skiing is a popular sport. c. Skiing has many disadvantages. • Many people enjoy it even though it is expensive and dangerous. A lot of people spend every winter weekend skiing, and many families go on winter ski vacations. Neither the high cost of equipment nor the severe cold keeps skiers away from the slopes.

23. Model Writing Narrative 記述文 My first full day in Yugoslavia turned out to be my worst day there. I woke up late in my small hotel room. I wanted to take a quick shower, but there was no hot water. In fact, there was only ice cold water. I went down to breakfast and was served a stale roll and lukewarm tea. Next, I got lost trying to find my way to the meeting that I was already late for. I couldn’t find anyone who spoke English, and my Croatian was still not very good. At last, I found the meeting place, but I also found out that the meeting had been postponed to the following day. I got lost again on my way back to the hotel and spent most of the day “sightseeing” on various city buses. Finally, I arrived back at the hotel ready for dinner. The waiter politely told me that I was too late for dinner. I went up to my room tired and hungry. Little did I know that this would be my worst day, so I had nothing but good days to look forward to.

24. Model Writing • Expository 描寫文 • A personal computer consists of three main components which have different functions. The first is the central processing unit, or CPU. This is the brain of the computer. This unit contains the memory of the machine and the microchips which make the computer able to perform its functions. The CPU has one or more disk drives, where we can put programs diskettes to make the machine add numbers, do word processing, or play games. The second component is the monitor. This looks much …

25. Model Writing • Descriptive 說明文 • The child’s face reflected her cheerful and determined nature. Her hair was bright red and had a royal blue bow tied at the top. The skin on her forehead, as well as her entire face, was soft white and covered with freckles. Her eyes were a sparkling blue and, at that moment, were focused on the end of her turned up nose. Her lips were a natural red and slightly parted. Coming from between these lips was a tongue stretching to its limit in an upward direction. In short, she looked determined to touch her tongue to her nose, perhaps simply to prove to herself that is could be done.

26. Writing Assessment

27. Test Items(direct vs. indirect) • Translation • 句子改寫 • 句子合併 • 重組 • Short answers • paraphrase • summary (get the main ideas) • guided writing (with picture) • free writing

28. Authentic Writing: Application Form Please complete all parts of this form in black ink or typescript. Part A: Personal Details • Family name: (as on passport) • Other names: • Title: • Sex: • Nationality: • Date of birth: • Address for correspondence in home country: • Part B: Academic Background

29. Authentic Writing: e-mail / Letter Dear XXX Date: / / / XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Sincerely yours, Sophie Chen

30. Different Genres Practice: Poems • Now I am fourteen • A beautiful dream lies in my heart • No one can change my mind • Come and be my friend • Yes, we can do it

31. Example of a poem • Sunshine sparkles on the Tamsui river • Apple of the immigrants’ eye • Nothing is impossible • Change as she always does days in and days out • Hope is never given up here • Unforgettable the role she plays • Nothing is impossible • Generosity is the value she embraces

32. Thank you for your listening.