9. WRITING

WRITING

Writing

By Isabela de Freitas Villas Boas Brasília, Brazil

When we think of literacy development, we tend to focus primarily on the development of reading skills. It is true that enabling students to gain the meanings around written texts is of utmost importance, as both public and personal activities in the 21st century are highly influenced by written documents (Bazerman 2008). However, as Bazerman also states, “a world in which we read but do not write is a world in which we do not have primacy agency” (1). We need to write in order to gain direct agency and interact with others and express our interests and perspectives. While Bazerman does not address second language writing specifically, the same principle holds true for learning a second language. We are only able to exercise our agency in a second language if we are able to communicate with others by way of both spoken and written texts, hence the importance of second language writing.

However, many times teachers take writing as the expression of agency for granted in ESL/EFL classrooms and focus most of their activities on writing to practice something else, such as writing to display knowledge of grammar and vocabulary or to answer questions that demonstrate comprehension of a reading passage. In order to develop our students’ writing skills, we need to teach writing explicitly and not assume that students will necessarily transfer writing skills from their first to the second language. Teaching writing starts much before the teacher assigns a writing prompt. It is a process that should encompass the stages of generating ideas, planning, drafting, and revising, including self- and peer revisions. An effective writing assignment is also one that will lead students to take one step further in the development of coherence, cohesion, and fluency. Also, students need to be exposed to and produce different genres that will enable them to exercise their agency in social, professional, and academic settings.

This section of The Monster Book is thus highly relevant in that it focuses on micro and macro skills of writing and on writing as a process rather than merely a product. The activities suggested here address most, if not all, of the stages of the writing process mentioned above, from generating ideas to reflecting on the learning process by way of journals and providing feedback to peers. They also address how teachers can give feedback on students’ mistakes and help them enhance their vocabulary for writing. Creative writing is also duly addressed.

In sum, all the activities in this section are worth trying in any ESL/EFL classroom, regardless of learners’ age and proficiency level.

Reference

Bazerman, C. 2008. Introduction. In Handbook of research on writing: History, society, school, individual, text, ed. C. Bazerman. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.