Is it true that one who is good at English doc

Is it true that one who is good at English grammar can write well in English?. Acquisition of good writing skills requires more than Mastery of English Grammar In the English language te

Is it true that one who is good at English grammar can

write well in English?

(Acquisition of good writing skills requires more than

Mastery of English Grammar)

In the English language teaching writing is called a

productive skill because it is concerned with the

production of the language The teaching and learning of

this specific skill has provoked much discussion about the

question of how to write well in English Some people may

think that a good knowledge of English grammar is

sufficient to enable them to achieve a high level of

competence in written English However, this is a

somewhat simplistic view As will be analyzed below, the

acquisition of good writing skills requires not just a good

command of the grammatical system of English but a wide

lexical knowledge, a thorough understanding of the topic

given and a repertoire of organizational skills

Apart from a good knowledge of English grammar, one

needs to demonstrate a broad lexical knowledge in a good

piece of writing There is an element of truth in the fact

that grammar rules help to generate sentences However,

if the writer has no real understanding of the lexis of the

English language and just applies the grammatical rules

mechanically, he will run the risk of producing

grammatically correct but semantically inappropriate or

anomalous sentences To use the English language with

clarity and precision, he needs to know what words mean

literally and figuratively, what words can collocate and how

words, though synonymous, are different form each other

in subtle ways Therefore, the writer’s ability to manipulate

structures and his word choice are both needed for the

appropriate use of language For example, while one can

write ‘Sorry, I can’t make it’ in response to a friend’s

invitation he must formulate his refusal to a business

partner more formally ‘I apologize I will not be able to be

there.’ In other words, structural accuracy is just as

important as vocabulary selection in effective writing

Next, one needs to rely on one’s general and/or specialist

knowledge to develop the topic given in depth to produce

an original piece of writing If one’s mastery of English

grammar can partly help shape the form of a piece of

writing, it is the ideas presented that decide the content A

good writer does not write merely to reach the word limit

(within the time limit); he must write to achieve his

purpose, whether to narrate a story, to describe someone

or something, to discuss a topic, to inform or to persuade

the reader The best way for him to do this is to ensure

that the content of his paper is excellent He is therefore

expected to exploit whatever kind of knowledge he has

acquired, be it his general knowledge, his knowledge of

current affairs or his specialist knowledge to come up with

brilliant ideas that can attract and maintain readers’

attention As the writer is not in direct contact with readers

and cannot therefore get direct feedback from them, he

cannot afford to be vague He has to elaborate his ideas

or explanations to get his message across, leaving no

scope for misunderstanding or interpretation of any type

This makes an enormous demand on the writer indeed So

in his treatment of the subject assigned, the writer has to

draw on the above mentioned areas of his knowledge,

which are by nature different from his knowledge of

English grammar, to search for worthwhile ideas and

arguments

In addition, one needs to know a number of generally

called organizational skills which are essential for the

production of a fine piece of writing Viewed as a process,

writing involves the following major skills The skill of much

use during the first stage is that of planning Before

starting off, the writer has to envisage how he would like to

go about his writing assignment He has to take into

consideration all the resources he has at his disposal

(such as time, vocabulary, language, structures, his

understanding of the topic) to make a detailed plan as to

how to turn out the end product: a letter, a story, s

description, a report, an essay, a term paper, etc Next

comes the skill of much importance here, the skill of

paragraphing After a brainstorming session in the

planning stage, the writer may have hit on many ideas and

now it is time for him to select and organize those that are

really relevant to the topic under discussion The

organization of ideas requires a clear understanding of the

discourse structure of the target language, which is

English in this case Here the non-native writer is expected

to go beyond the realm of grammar to explore the realm of

discourse For example, he needs to acquaint himself with

a variety of genres or styles produced by native writers so

that he knows what is expected of him when he writes in

English Besides, the skill of structuring discourse is often

coupled with the skill of using liking devices It is because

ideas must not only be grouped together but also

developed in logical and coherent paragraphs Then the

skills of drafting, editing and proofreading come into play

The writer has to work on his draft to revise his ideas and

check for spelling and punctuation Only when all the

necessary changes have been made can the writer be

sure that his end product is ready for ‘publication’

In general, writing is not an easy skill to get native

speakers of English As can be seen above, the mastery

of the skill demands different areas of knowledge such as

vocabulary, world knowledge and specialist knowledge

and organizational skills in addition to that of grammar

Thus a wide knowledge of English grammar is a

necessary condition, not the only necessary and sufficient

condition for the acquisition of the writing skill A high level

of written English can only be achieved when one puts

huge efforts in building up his knowledge of the areas

mentioned above