Writing revisited: a painstaking but highly rewarding process

As I have pointed out in a previous post on the same topic, writing need not be such a bore for either young or adult learners. This can be done by ridding the process of the stultifying conformity to rules imposed by examination standards and liberating the learners’ imagination from the strict adherence to guidelines.

Gradually the learners develop their own style and sense of balance. Like much else in real life, writing is the result of ability and practice but also the product of will and self-discipline.

Therefore, when the learners have reached an advanced level, at which point the ideas must be organised in a coherent whole, the teacher has a dual role: to correct and, if necessary, reorganise the learners’ writing and to provide examples of the thinking process. This is what course books do in their writing sections, but I find these models – most of the times – far too idealised an answer to the question.

Writing help should not come in the form of ready-made answers; instead a diagram or a set of notes that illustrate the way the students could approach the topic would be more effective and lead to learner autonomy. And I say “could” because there is no single way of doing so. It is thus evident that a teacher could and should step in, taking into consideration the individual student’s development of the topic so that the comments will be relevant and may lead to self-correction.

Of course, I do realise that this means a lot of work on the part of the teacher and disputes the usefulness or the relevance of automatic correction systems very much in fashion recently.

What follows is an example of the methods developed above. It was written to help some of my students preparing for exams and was designed to demonstrate how to approach the topic in a logical sequence and also to point out how linking devices are not added on at the end of the thinking process but arise as an integral part of it.

The topic was taken from Cambridge English Advanced 1 and it is quoted here:

Your class has listened to a radio discussion on how more young people can be encouraged to sudy science. You have made the notes below:

Ways of encouraging young people to study science:

·        advertising

·        school programmes

·        government grants

Some opinions expressed in the discussion:

“You never see positive images of young scientists on TV, just pop stars or actors.”

“Science lessons should be more practical and fun.”

“If young people see science as a career, they’ll want to study it.”

Write an essay discussing two of the points in your notes. You should explain which way would be more effective in encouraging young people to study science, providing reasons to support your opinion.

You may, if you wish, make use of the opinions expressed in the discussion, but you should use your own words as far as possible.

I modified the topic requirements for my students slightly, asking them to include all points raised and ignore the question about which one would be the most effective.

I now provide the notes I made to help the students improve their writing after I had read their answers to the question. For the sake of convenience, I have highlighted the linking devices as they come up in the development of the topic.

INTRODUCTION

Science may well be the backbone of progress but seems to be the prerogative of a few.

MAIN BODY

How to motivate young people to study science

First and foremost

Stimulate interest            

How?

·     methods of presenting facts in class

·     relating science to real world

(colours of sunset)

·     discovering for themselves

experiments (creativity is developed)

This is not sufficient

Have to outbalance influence of glamorised professions on TV (acting, singing, sport)

How?

By showing the exciting aspect of being a scientist

(Theory of Everything film)

Last but not least

Government should actively encourage young people to opt for science

How?

by providing grants for those willing to do so

CONCLUSION

Enabling children to see the magic of science while being at an impressionable age can spark a genuine interest in science.