Teaching writing through the competence based approach (writing as a process and product)

[كرماني]

TEACHING WRITING THROUGH THE COMPETENCE BASED APPROACH
(WRITING AS A PROCESS AND PRODUCT)

The present work shows that writing is more of a process-dominated approach than a form- dominated approach., it provides guidelines and paves the way for teachers whose goal is to improve the writing competence of their students.

Years ago, writing was characterized by an approach that put emphasis on linguistic forms. Speech was primary, and writing served to reinforce oral patterns of the ********. Writing took the form of sentence drills, transformations, completions, imitations and substitutions. It tested the exact application of grammatical rules, and focussed on the written products composed by the students.

Researchers and teachers realized that the focus on the product did not take into consideration the act of writing. Moreover the students were not allowed freedom to create their own compositions. In other words, ******* was neglected. Researchers noticed that emphasis was put in the form and structure of writing rather than on how writers create a written piece.

Now, the students in the English ******** classroom, no longer do the same types of activities that they did in the past. The attention to the writer as ******** learner and creator of a text, has led to a process approach with new classroom tasks and projects characterized by the use of journals, drafts, collaborative writing, revision and attention to ******* as much as form.

In the writing class, the students now are encouraged and given opportunities to produce written texts. They are taught how to use the process and produce an acceptable product. The students take time, do a lot of reading, think, discuss and rewrite. And to improve their writing, students need time, assistance, encouragement, advice, and support from other readers. The teacher has become a guide, a reader, and editor rather than a mere error finder. The effective teacher of writing is the one who is able to create a learning environment in which the students discover their strengths and weaknesses as writers and feel comfortable when writing.

Throughout the process, teachers and learners negotiate with each other and the
teacher becomes a resource person for the novice writer and an investigator of the students’ writing process.

The most important findings of the research on writing are as follows :

- Students need to be told what good writers do when they write ; they go through certain processes which lead to successful pieces of writing : they get ideas through brainstorming, observing, discussing, reading. They write a first draft, read its ******* then refine it. They write more drafts before they reach a final version. At the end, they edit and polish their work. Therefore, classroom tasks should be set up in such a way that they reflect the writing process good writers go through.

- Teachers should encourage the students to plan, organize, compose and revise. The teacher should give the students time to generate ideas, write drafts and re-write them.

-The teacher should provide feedback, respond in a positive way to the students’writing and give help, advice and encouragement during writing and not afterwards.

-Writing is both a process and a product. A teacher should be eclectic and offer a balance of control and creativity. He should help the students in the process so that they will be able to come up with a better product.

- Controlled exercises should be assigned as remedial work.
- Students need to be shown that any piece of writing has a communicative purpose.
- The teachers should provide contexts, expose the students to models of different text types.
-These texts will serve as examples of writing and help the students to produce their own texts. The students should learn styles and formats for different writing purposes.
- Grammar has a place in the writing process, but attention to it should be delayed until the product stage. Too much premature attention to grammar hinders the flow of ideas. Therefore the students should be helped to get the ******* right first and leave details of correction later on : Accuracy should not be emphasized from the start but postponed until the student has generated ideas.

- The teacher should play a role in the writing process. He should help the students get ideas together, discuss topics to generate ideas, elicit information and read texts. The key to a successful written work lies in the close cooperation between the teacher and the student.

- The teacher should provide stimulating activities. Classroom tasks should be characterized by journal-writing, peer-collaboration, revision, creative writing, and attention to ******* before form.

-The teacher should help the individual students to correct their own drafts so that the stress on accuracy takes place within the context of the work already produced.

- The four skills : Listen- speak-read- write should not be treated in isolation. Though writing is the focus of attention in the writing class, it must be supported by the other skills.
- Students should work on a writing of activities through pair work and group work.
- Students should exchange their writings in order to become readers of one another’s work. In fact, it is by responding as readers that students become aware that a writer is producing something to be read by someone else.

By writing drafts, the students will try out different ways of presenting ideas and will get responses from the teacher or classmates. They will be working gradually to a polished written piece, exploring ideas and organising them, and have many opportunities to make their compositions more and more interesting.
Work elaborated by Souad Belbachir

[دلال 30]

ohhhhhhhhh.... thank you wonderful teacher... it's wonderful topic.... I appreciate it

[كرماني]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة dalalboubou

ohhhhhhhhh.... thank you wonderful teacher... it's wonderful topic.... I appreciate it

thank you! that is a good method but it nesscite many resoures! We unfortunately do not have!!

I have difficulty to get my English. and it's pretty hard!

lol

[rockdram]

wonderful topic