DEVELOPING WRITING SKILL
Writing
is not as natural as listening or speaking. It is not considered as a
biological need, therefore, it has to be purposefully inculcated. Roughly three
thousand out of six thousand languages and dialects in the world have no
written forms. Therefore, there is less scope for a detailed analysis of
writing than it has for listening or speaking. And regarding reading it comes
only after writing. If there is no writing, there is no reading.
But as teachers of English we have to give due emphasis
to teaching writing skills along with the other three major skills of language
learning. This is in view of the fact that English language has the status of
our second language besides being the International language of widest currency
in the modern world. Writing is for communication of ideas in written form.
It is the visual representation of
speech. In the hierarchy of language skills it should be given a balanced
emphasis along with the other skills.
Writing has two main
aspects, the mechanics of writing and more important than this, the purpose and
organization of writing.
a) Subskills of Writing
Annie Raimer gives the following as the sub-skills
of writing.
o
Mechanics of handwriting, spelling and
punctuation
o
Word choice i.e., vocabulary, idiom,
phrase, tone etc…
o
Organization i.e., ideas, paragraphs,
topics and unity
o
Syntax i.e., structure and boundaries of
sentence, choice of stylistic etc..
o
Grammar i.e., verb agreement, articles,
pronouns etc…
o
Content i.e., relevance, clarity,
originality, logic, sequence etc..
o
Writing process i.e. getting ideas,
writing drafts, revising etc...
o
Purpose i.e., the relevance and
justification for writing.
According to David Palmer, writing involves Graphic
Visual, Grammatical, Expressive or Stylistic, Rhetorical and Organizational
Skills.
·
Graphic or Visual Skills- This means
writing graphemes in the upper or lower cases as appropriately joined in the
conventional way. In spelling, the first language may interfere. In punctuation
and capitalization it should be noted that they differ from language to
language. Another thing to note is the format that is, the layout of letter or
table.
— Grammatical
Skills- This refers to the ability of the student to use a variety of sentence
patterns and constructions. Oral proficiency is related to this skill.
— Expressive
or stylistic skills- This is the ability of the student to express the same idea
in different styles. For this, selection of appropriate words and sentence
patterns are necessary for the writing medium. This skill can draw out
proficiency from reading.
— Rhetorical
Skills- Here the student uses cohesive devices-connectives, reference words,
elipsis etc...in order to link parts of a text into logically related
sequences.
— Organizational
Skills-In this case the student is concerned with the integration of pieces of
information into paragraphs and texts. This involves neglecting irrelevant
information and summarizing the relevant ones.
Activities
should be planned in such a way that all the skills find a balanced position in
developing the integrated writing skill. Significant writing production tasks
should be given rather than expecting mere transfer of oral ability on to
paper.
The more important skill of writing ie.
writing with effective organization and presentation is a skill which varies in
degrees of perfection.
b) Mechanics of Writing
In teaching the mechanics of writing of English alphabet,
the teacher has the advantage that his students have learnt it in the process
of acquiring their mother tongue, though in a different way. A few decades ago
four types of English alphabet were taught to students: the civil round hand
and cursive writing, the block capital letters and small letters. But now, for
handwriting, only block capital letters are being taught and practised, because
that is enough.
Italic writing is accepted and instructed in our schools
for children’s handwriting with block letters wherever necessary. This mode of
writing has several advantages if it is done in the ideal way. It is legible
and clear and the writing speed is not curtailed and the letters consist of
strokes and the body of letters has the shape of a right triangle with its
angularities removed. This body joined to the right or left of the strokes side
up or down, overturned to left or right most of the letters are formed. Some
letters have same shapes in both cases which are distinguished as, capitals or
small letters only in relation to their size in the contexts. Such letters are
C, P,S, U,V,W,X and Z. It can be noticed that some letters have their strokes
upwards and some downwards. Note that some letters in the italics have a small
tail at the bottom of the stroke or at the ending, which joins the next letter e.g.:
’tame’, ‘malayalam’.
One important thing is, in writing, the letters should be
either vertical or a little slanting towards the right, not slanting to the
left. The body of letters should have uniform size. Few other habit that should
develop include, Letters in words should be distinctive, Proper spacing should
be given between words, between the ending of a sentence and the beginning of
the next, Committing mistakes in spelling will be constructed badly by the
readers, Italic writing can be made perfect by practice for a few days and speed
can be increased. If practised, we can make our handwriting very legible,
beautiful and attractive
c) Characteristics of Good
Handwriting
We should be seriously aware that one’s writing is either
for oneself to be read later or for others to be read sooner or later and also
to be preserved for the posterity. If these important purposes have to be fully
served, our handwriting should have some qualities regarding readability.
People interpret good handwriting in different ways. Some
appreciate artistic styles of writing with ornamentations as good and
beautiful. But the teachers of English should have to confine their attention
to legibility in handwriting. Good handwriting must be readable with comprehension
without any strain or vexation.
1) Importance of good handwriting
— Good
handwriting is generally considered as a mirror of good culture. It does not
mean calligraphy.(artistic writing)
— Good
handwriting promotes better readability and comprehension, without giving room
for any dubious situations.
— Good
hand writing is naturally in direct proportion to other language abilities.
— From
hand writing, a person’s character can be presumed to a considerable extent.
— In
written examinations, good hand writing really impresses the examiner; thereby
the examinee will be getting credit.
— To
have acquired good hand writing is a privilege.
2) Present position
— Hand
writing is not getting the attention and privilege it had been getting before.
— Teacher’s
handwriting is not a model to the students in many cases. A lot of deliberate
attention on student’s handwriting can be reduced if the teachers handwriting
is a model.
·
Copy writing/transcription exercises are
being neglected
3) Features of Good Handwriting
— Distinctiveness-Each
letter in a word and each word in a sentence will be distinct.
— Spacing-
There will be a space between words and two between sentences. To begin with a
new paragraph a line is left.
— Size
of the letters- The body and stroke of the letters are uniform, for small
letters and capital letters. At the beginning of learning to write, the size
may be exaggerated in normal adult writing, proper size is important.
— Simplicity-
A good handwriting is simple and comfortable to see and easy to read. By
simplicity it means there is no ornamentation which makes reading difficult.
— Horizontality-
Writing lines is conspicuously horizontal. In the early stage students may be
allowed to write on lined paper-double lined or four lined.
— Vertical/slanting
towards the right- Letters are to be written either vertically or slightly
slanting to the right, never to the left.
— Punctuation
marks- Punctuation marks are necessary to read by phrases and to get the
meaning easily and unequivocally. Punctuation marks include capitalization,
full stop, comma, semicolon, colon, question mark, exclamation mark, inverted
commas, apostrophe etc... In modern writing format, there is a trend of
reducing punctuation marks. In such cases readability and comprehensibility will
not be hindered, if meaningful phrases are recognized.
4) Developing Hand writing
— The
best influence is derived from teacher’s handwriting. So teacher’s handwriting
should be a model to the students.
— Regular
writing exercises should be given- in lower classes copy writing/transcription
— Italic
writing should be practised
— In
a week a period should be earmarked for teaching and practising good hand
writing.
— Frequent
competitions in handwriting will provide encouragement.
— By
conducting a writing test the class should be divided into three groups, the
best, the average and the low. At every stage of practice students should be
encouraged to better their handwriting so that the average group goes to the
best and the low goes to the average. Finally, in one or two months all should
go to the best group. Incentives can be offered for improvement.
— Posture,
holding of the writing material, the distance of paper/black board is important
factors to be considered.
5) Spelling
Spelling is an important aspect in writing. Spelling
mistakes should not be committed as far as possible. Right methods, drills and
games for teaching and learning spelling of words should be adopted
Composition
Composition according to Chapman is in fact, almost any
written exercise. Composition exercises require skills in the mechanics of
writing and recalling appropriate words and structures. Spelling and
Punctuations should be rightly used. Organization of ideas and their cohesion
are very important in order to convey the message of the writer to the reader
without ambiguities.
Generally by a composition exercise we mean, writing a
paragraph, essay, story etc...descriptive or narrative in nature. The way of
organizing and presenting ideas will vary according to the form, purpose and
nature of a composition. The first sentence in a composition called the topic
sentence should enable the reader to get an overall idea of the paragraph. The
purpose of the writer here is to give the reader the gist of the paragraph at
the outset itself. The following sentences should be supportive to and
revolving round the topic sentence. The topic sentence which acts as the center
of gravity of an object can be in the middle of the paragraph also. There
should be a conclusive sentence at the end pointing to the next paragraph. The
sentence of the paragraph should be logically connected with appropriate
connections and transisitional phrases like consequently, finally etc...Use of
appropriate connectives gives the paragraph cohesion and smooth readability. Connectives
include conjunction, disjunction, contrajunctions and subordinators. Pronouns, demonstratives,
relative pronouns and articles should be judiciously used. Cohesion of ideas
expressed is a very important quality of a good paragraph/essay. An effective
writer will be economical in the use of words, avoiding wordiness and
redundancy. A good composition must satisfy the different aspects of effective
writing which include organization of ideas, vocabulary, grammar, syntax,
ideas, relevance, purpose, mechanics, form, reader attitude, readability,
sequence, logical development, rhetorics.
Developing
different types of Composition Exercises
Composition exercises should be of different types and
varieties such that the students get familiar with their form, purpose and
organization. In broad terms, the types of composition are two, they are oral
and written. Again written composition is divided into two major classes.
— Oral Composition-
As a rule it should precede written composition. By oral composition, the
student is capable of organizing it in his thoughts. Understanding the
importance of oral composition, Laurie remarks that the habit of oral
composition should be kept up during the whole schooling. In oral practice the
teacher speaks a sentence and the students repeat after them. The difficulty
level of the sentence should be suitable to the standard of the student. The
sentences may be taken from different contexts, using pictures or charts or
related to actions.
— Written Composition-
a) Guided Composition-
Guided Composition is also called controlled or directed composition. The
teacher guides the students using the controlled vocabulary and structures.
After sufficient oral practice students use the words and sentences to write
the composition. They can write only within the framework stipulated by the
teacher. Guided composition should not be resorted to for long. It is only like
holding a hand of a child while it is learning to walk. A number of exercises
can be thought of in this type.
ü Substitution
tables provide a lot of scope. The student may be asked to write a certain
number of possible meaningful sentences from a set of given table.
ü Making
a story from the given hints.
ü A
close passage, by filling the blanks.
ü Picture
Composition- A series of pictures connected with a complete story are displayed
to the students. The teacher starts oral work in the class beginning with the
first one in the series and ending up with the last. After thorough oral work the
students individually or in group write the composition. They give a suitable
title also to it.
ü Visual
Aids- Instead of pictures, route maps, charts, pie-diagrams, bar diagrams,
temperature graphs, weather charts and a variety of other visual aids can be
made use of for Guided Composition exercises in the classroom, grading them
according to the students’ level of skills.
b) Free Composition-
In Free Composition the students are not externally controlled very much
regarding vocabulary, structure etc... They are free to write creatively
according to their interests, imagination, originality and style, guidance of
the teacher being reduced. Free Composition is meant for students who have
learnt English for three or four years.
ü Paragraph
Writing- A piece of writing as a free composition can be a single paragraph or
an essay consisting of some paragraphs. A paragraph should have a topic
sentence and major and minor supporting sentences. The sentences should cohere
with the idea of the paragraph and the paragraph should cohere with the whole
essay. Sentences should be linked together as far as possible with transitional
phrases for smooth reading and logical understanding.
ü Paraphrasing-
Paraphrasing is a higher skill of explaining and interpreting meanings of words,
phrases and idioms in a given passage in the words of the student himself.
Students should have a good stock of active vocabulary and thinking power for
paraphrasing. The students should be able to approach the passage and see
things which others are not likely to see in the same way. By paraphrasing the
message of the paragraph should not be obliterated.
ü Essay
Writing- Essay Writing is the most common form the student will have to come
across in his future studies or career. Essay Writing will reflect the students
linguistic ability. It can take various topics and styles like- descriptive,
narrative, reflective, imaginative etc...Facts to be written should be thought
out in great detail in advance and the essay should take shape in the students
mind before it is put in black and white. Proper arrangement of ideas is an
important thing. Language should be appropriate to the subject i.e.… simple,
serious, humourous, witty etc..
ü Précis
writing- Précis writing is a still higher skill. The writer has to have thorough
understanding and insight into the right message of the passage given for
précis writing. It is reducing a passage into any smaller, one third, one
fourth and so on according to purpose. Professional journalists have to reduce
speeches and discourses for reporting in newspaper in the way we are writing
précis.
Correction Rules
In students composition exercise books a lot of strokes
and marks in red ink can be noticed. By modifying the teacher’s attitude
towards preparing the students for writing composition a large number of mistakes
can be eliminated. The problem of over correction has to be solved as it
de-motivates the students and frustrates the teacher.
As far as possible, correction work should be done in the
presence of each individual student. Classroom correction and self correction
need to encouraged. The teacher should remember that it is the pupils and not
the teacher who should learn to spot mistakes. In training the pupils to get
rid of their mistakes, the teacher should have special care on each child. ‘The
teacher should never do anything for the pupil that the pupil can do it for
himself’, this should be the teachers’ vision. It is not the teacher, but the
pupils who should be keen in proof-reading and detecting errors. The pupil
finding ten mistakes by himself in his writing will be better than the teacher
finding a hundred in it. The teacher should keep watching the progress of the
pupils in reducing their errors in writing.
Correction Signals
In dictionaries, directories and the like we can see a
list of symbols/signs/signals used in their foregoing pages. In professional
journalism, for proof-reading process, about sixty such signals are used.
In one profession we can choose a minimum number of such
signals for one correction procedure in the class. The signals should be marked
in the margin of the page. The teacher should make the students familiar with
the signals he is going to use, in advance.
Bright and McGregor says in the book, “Teaching English
as a second language that, “The pupil does not learn from his mistakes. If he
did the more mistakes he made, the more he would learn. Common experience,
however, proves that the pupil who makes the most mistakes is the one who has
learnt little and will learn least. In theory, no mistake should ever appear in
writing, though it must be admitted that this ideal is unattainable in
practice.”
Bibliography
English Language Education-Dr. K. Sivarajan,
T.V.Ramakrishnan, K.Mridula.
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