Natures of English Writing

湖北職業技術學院 祝文瑛

In English teaching and learning,(the word English will be omitted in the following paragraphs),writing can be classified as production.It gives us chances to use language and tests us if we digest everything we learn.Writing makes us know how deep we know about the language.It is one of the bases in language teaching and learning.

1.Writing is the process of production

Every time we mention writing,we compare it with speaking.Speaking can be done at whatever time,speed and level.The written texts,however,are explicit which have to make the contexts and all references clear.The contents are presented much more densely in writing.The writing of a text is detached in time and space from its reading.A written text is usually well organized and carefully formulated,since its composer has time and opportunity to edit it before making it available for reading.Writing is much slower.

Writing normally uses a general acceptable standard variety of the language like forms.The written form is in most cases deliberately taught and learned.It is also true that most people speak far more than they write.For the representation of the same information,written texts are normally shorter.

Penny(1996)sets out that writing is widely used within foreign language courses as a convenient means for engaging with aspects of language other than the writing itself.For example,learners note down new vocabulary,copy out grammar rules,write out answers to reading or listening comprehension questions,and do written tests.In this case,writing is simply used either as a means of getting the learners to attend to practice a particular language point or as a convenient method of testing it.Some other activity is just taken writing exactly as the main objective which is the writing itself.Learners practice specific written forms at the level of words or sentences,and they also express their minds by using their own words,state a purpose in writing,and often specify the audiences.A third kind of activity combines purposeful and original writing with the learning or practicing of some other skills or contents.A written response to the reading of a controversial newspaper article (combines writing and reading)is exactly the example.

David(1991)thinks that language exists to fulfill a range of communicative functions and these functions will be reflected in the shape of the language itself.Halliday(1985)suggests that writing has evolved in societies as a result of cultural changes creating communicative needs which cannot be readily met by the spoken language.The different purposes for language will be reflected in the texts through which the functions are realized.There is a perennial tension in most aspects of language learning and teaching between language reading as process and writing as products.While the notion of learning by imitating appropriate written sentences fitted in well with the sentence-level views of structuralism linguistics,methodologically,the idea found its way into practice in the process approach to writing.In this approach,the focus is on quantity rather than quality,and at beginning writers are encouraged to get their ideas on paper in any shape or form without worrying too much about formal correctness.So Rodrigues(1985)claims in his critique of process writing that:

The unfettered writing process approach has been just as artificial as the traditional high school research paper.Writing without structure accomplishes as little as writing a mock structure.Learners need structures to imitate as well as needing models to practice.They need to improve even mechanical skills.And they still need time to think through their ideas,to revise them,and to write for real audiences and real purposes.

Horwitz(1986)has a similar criticism.He claims that processing writing fails to prepare learners to write examination essays.However,the purpose of writing,in principle,is the expression of ideas,the conveying of a message to readers,so the ideas themselves should arguably be seen as the most important aspect of the writing.

2.Writing is potentially satisfying

If a learner is writing on a topic about something he or she feels worthwhile or interesting to say,the process of writing can be absorbing and enjoyable.It is therefore worth investing thoughts in the selections of topics and tasks that inspire learners to write.The learners should learn to write through writing.They write enough and they learn from their own writing experience.It should be noted that the motivation and the interest of learners are also the obvious aspects that we should focus in.Various studies have found that the motivation and the interest are very strongly related to achievements in language learning.So Girard(1977)emphasizes that it is an important part of teachers’job to motivate learners.Teachers should use different ways of clear goals,various topics and tasks,visuals,tense and challenging games,entertainment,play-acting,information gap,personalized assignments,open-ended cues etc.to arouse learners’interest.Try everything you can to make learners become motivated learners who are willing or even eager to invest their efforts in writing.The motivation and the interest make teaching and learning much easier and more pleasant,as well as more productive.

3.Writing process

Many learners say they are poor in writing something even when they know how to say it.Then how can teachers help them to write down their ideas freely?Before learners write make sure that they can say it,they can read it,and they can understand it.They need to know what you want them to do,how you want them to do it,and why they are doing it.Teachers can first help them write in class step by step,such as matching the words and then copying them.Ask them to write true sentences about the pictures and to match them while writing them down.Teachers also can instruct learners to write 10 sentences or more that are true,or write a short paragraph about someone they know (using the words given),or just match questions and answers.Making steady progress,then gradually and steadily learners write more sentences by following some certain patterns etc...If the learners still have a fear of writing,don’t worry,try to stage preparation carefully(let learners speak-read-then write).They can be given shorter and simpler tasks or model essays until they catch up.They also can be given practices in planning,organizing and expressing information,along with relevant structures practices before they write their own articles.Meanwhile teachers insist on corrections,make them write in class,and finish writing as group work etc...

4.Writing skills

On the other hand,no matter how the learners do their paragraph writing or essay writing in micro level or macro level,the teachers should foster their writing skills purposely.The writing skills include:handwriting(forming and joining letters),spelling,punctuations,referential words,conjunctions,sentence constructions and relative clauses.More skills like developments in themes and topics,links of paragraphs,awareness of different demands of written English compare with spoken English.Moreover,learners need skills of reorganizing information logically and clearly with a specific type of readers in mind,skills of using discourse markers appropriately to indicate main points,skills of selecting right vocabularies to convey attitudes and implied meanings,and skills of using a variety of sentence patterns and word orders to develop themes and emphasize main points at each stage.We need more careful constructions,more precise and varied vocabularies,more correctness of expressions in general writing.This is because much higher standards of language are normally demanded in writing than in speaking.Also,the slow and reflective natures of the process of writing enable the writers to devote time and attentions to formal aspects during the process of productions.

Writing is a messy business.Most people process through a number of untidy drafts before reaching a final version.It is true that good writers generally think about contents first and forms later,but this order is not consistently adhered.So it may useful to advise learners not to worry too much about spelling and grammars at the beginning,and to get down their ideas first.This should encourage learners to work out a number of versions.

5.Writing tasks

Then,what kind of writing tasks are the teachers supposed to give the students?This can depend on your own situations and opinions.For example,a report of a book,a review of a novel,an instruction sheet for a certain arrangement,a narrative based on pictures,a description of an item,an application,a piece of news,a flowchart of dispatch,a contract and even lyrics and so on.The point is no matter what and how the learners write;the teachers should pay attention to maintain a fair balance between the contents and the forms of their writings when defining the requirements and the assessments.Meanwhile,there are some points for attention for the teachers such as individual variation.Different writers may produce equally good results through different processes.This means that there is probably no so-called “right”system of writing that we should follow.Rather,we should suggest and make available various strategies for the individuals to encourage them to experience and search for one that is personally applicable and effective.

We believe in writing is the fundamental skill in all kinds of language learning(English inclusive).Learn writing through writing,and make writing more interesting and productively.

[1]Penny Ur.A Course in Language Teaching[M].Cambridge U－niversity Press,1996.

[2]David Nunan.Language Teaching Methodology:a text book for teachers[M].Prentice Hall,1991.

[3]Halliday.Spoken and Written Language[M].Victoria:Deakin University Press,1985.