Elaborated methods in the light of writing

Teaching writing has been and still is one of the complicated skills for language instructors to develop in students who learn English as a foreign language. In Uzbekistan, as in many other Asian countries, the focus in teaching writing in EFL classes at any level tends to be mostly on grammatical correctness that is “product-oriented”. As Pennington puts it, "The practice of language teaching in most Asian countries…usually employs a traditional product-oriented, examination-centered approach, with a strong emphasis on grammar.”[4] As writing essays in their own language is totally different, students have difficulty in organizing and writing their essays. Students at university level also have problems in writing classes as their writing skills are not formed and developed during school years.

These kind of problems will put the task for University teachers not only to teach writing skills but also to carry on different approaches to teaching writing, including the process approach. In our research, we want to present the results of a study of students’ attitudes towards a number of "process-oriented" techniques and a content-based instruction methodology used in EFL writing classes as well as teachers’ observations who teach writing at Bukhara State University. Data collected from questionnaires, student reflective writing, and teachers’ lesson suggest that some of the techniques used in these classes helped students to produce longer and better-developed compositions as well as increase their confidence and motivation to write. Specific techniques students found helpful include the teaching of pre-writing activities, writing in multiple drafts, teaching students how to peer- and self-edit effectively, instructor comments on early drafts that focus more on content and organization than grammar, group activities that encourage interaction and sharing of ideas among students.

We will also describe our efforts to implement curriculum changes that provide a series of process-oriented writing courses in the English Department of our university and give some practical suggestions for introducing these techniques in a way that is culturally appropriate in our country.

In “process-oriented” writing, the focus lies in the various steps that a writer goes through when producing text. Several methodologists such as Cushing, Weigle, Graham, Harmer and Hedge bring up the Hayes-Flower model from 1981 "A Cognitive Process Theory of Writing" as a model that the theory of process writing has sprung from. The model was further developed and updated by Hayes in 1996. It is rather complex containing many components, therefore it is only the model's central ideas that are brought forward in this text.

While conducting writing classes at our department, we tried to use both process and product oriented approaches, but former is put in more important place. As Brown suggests process writing in the EFL classroom; in his chapter

“Research on Second Language Writing”, he mentions process writing as an efficient method in language teaching [1].

In “process-oriented” approach of writing, the following techniques are mainly used:

• •    Use of multiple drafts (usually three), with pre-writing, revising, editing, rewriting, and proof-reading presented as separate but often recursive steps in the writing process

• •    Individualized feedback (mostly written comments, or teacher-student meetings)

• •    Comments on early drafts that focused more on content and organization than on the mechanical aspects of writing

• •    Use of peer- and self-editing techniques

Here below is given different schemes for process writing presented by

Graham:[2]

Prewriting

• •    Brainstorming

• •    Planning

• •    Generating ideas

• •    Questioning

• •    Discussion and debate

• •    Fast writing

Focusing ideas

• •    Group compositions

Evaluating, Structuring and

Editing

• •    Ordering

• •    Peer-Editing and proof-reading

• •    Self-editing

Hedge [3] gives different stages of writing such as:

Being motivated to write Getting ideas together Planning and Outlining Making notes

• •    Editing

• •    Making a first draft

• •    Revising, Re-planning

Redrafting

Another approach of teaching writing effectively is “content-based” approach. It has been previously used in a variety of language learning context for the last few decades. Content-based instruction implies an integration of language learning and content learning while the language is learned within the context of a specific academic subject. In a content-based approach, language class activities are specific to the subject matter being taught and they stimulate students to learn through the use of the target language. According to Stryker and Leaver, contentbased approaches enhance students’ motivation and accelerate their acquisition of language proficiency.[4]

The four major principles underlying content-based instruction are: automaticity, meaningful learning, intrinsic motivation and communicative competence. Brown also suggests “content-based classrooms may yield an increase in intrinsic motivation and empowerment, since the students are focused on subject matter that is important to their lives”[1]. By generating content instruction and materials, content-based instruction keeps students interested and motivated. Content-based classroom is learner centered where students actively engage in the learning process. Content-based instruction introduces students to the discourses of their future professions and motivates them to work with authentic language resources.The teaching of writing to non-native speakers of English has matured since 1966.

We need to remember that language input/practice alone cannot result in the development of writing skills. Special activities in writing lessons are necessary, in which learners are guided to become aware of all the elements of good writing, supported with information and examples, provided with opportunities for practice, and given focused feedback on their performance. We can also plan lessons which integrate work on language with work on writing skills. In such cases, it is important for us to be clear about the aims/focus of different stages in the lesson.In order to be able to select and use appropriate procedures and materials, as well as assess their learners needs and progress, teachers need to be clear regarding the desirable outcomes of a writing program and the processes involved in good writing.

In conclusion, teaching writing must involve both process and product. Teachers should first focus on the organization of the writing. As the next step, they should deal with grammatical problems seen in writing. When students are not good at organizing their ideas, the teacher should deal with this before moving on to grammatical mistakes (presumably, later in the term). This is for several reasons, among them that better organization often leads to the reduction of other errors and, of course, the clear expression of ideas is the major point of writing.