11 teaching and responding to writing

• Have a better understanding of the purpose and value of writing in the English language classroom • Be able to prepare effective and meaningful writing activities at the appropriate le

ICELT DISTANCE UNIT

TEACHING AND RESPONDING TO

WRITING

Teaching Writing and Responding to Written work

Aims

In this module, we will explore the issues involved in teaching writing and will look at how to teach writing at various levels In addition, we examine how to mark written work

Aims

By the end of this unit you should

• Have developed awareness of what is involved in the skill of writing

• Have a better understanding of the purpose and value of writing in the English

language classroom

• Be able to prepare effective and meaningful writing activities at the appropriate level for your learners

• have developed clearer understanding of how to give effective and appropriate

feedback to your learners about their written work

Coursework in this unit:

Language Task 3: Focus on the Learners’ Written language (page 46)

Part 1: Developing writing skills in the EL classroom (teaching writing)

Reflection

It is very important to consider your own feelings about writing in English This will effect how you teach writing in the English language classroom

1 Do you believe writing is a skill in its own right, which can be taught in the

classroom through a range of tasks and activities or is it just a way of practising language structures?

2 Why do your students write in their English classes? Make a list of all the

reasons why you think that writing is important in English lessons

3 Do your students have to pass examinations in English? What types of

writing are required by these examinations?

4 What type of 'texts' do students write in their English classes? Make a list

of typical writing tasks How much time do they spend on:

a) writing sentences?

b) writing whole 'texts' e.g narratives and descriptions etc

5 Do you think that writing in English is a language problem or writing problem?

6 Do you work with your students when they are writing, encouraging them to

revise and edit their work as they go along?

7 Do your students ever collaborate on writing tasks?

8 Do your students ever mark their own or each other's work?

9 Does writing take place in separate 'writing' lessons or is it integrated with

other work?

The purpose of writing and teaching writing

What is writing?

Task 1

What is the purpose of writing?

Think about how you use writing in your everyday life in your first language

Commentary

The purpose of most writing is to communicate with one or more readers (a friend, a relative,

a colleague, an institution, a teacher etc.) Of course, we sometimes write for ourselves but even then, we read this material at a later date

As the main purpose is to communicate, the writer needs to send a clear message This

will depend on:

• Knowledge of skills and strategies necessary to produce an effective piece of

writing, i.e how to start, how to take notes, how to plan

• Awareness of how to use language according to situation

• Knowledge of how to sequence and organise written language

• Ability to use grammar correctly to convey precise meaning

• Awareness of the importance of presentation

Task 2

a) Think about the last 48 hours Make a list of the things you wrote in your own

language?

b) Look at the list and answer the following questions:

* What was the aim? (i.e to remind, to apologise, to inform)

* What was the audience? (the person who reads the text)

* What was the genre, or text type? (i.e, shopping list, a telephone message) c) What implications does this list have for the English language classroom?

Commentary 2

Nowadays we do very little writing in our everyday life Most of it is short, for example, taking telephone messages, writing brief notes to friends or colleagues, writing emails etc But in all cases it is important to know the aim (a purpose), the audience and the text type This

should be reflected as far as possible in the classroom

However you may ask, as there is not such a great real-life need for formal written work, 'why

do we need to teach writing?' This leads us to our next point

What is the purpose of teaching writing?

Task 3

Why do your students write in their English classes? Make a list of all the reasons why you think that writing is important in English lessons

Some teachers in South America were asked 'What is the purpose of asking students to write? Here is what they said

Which views are similar to yours?

Isabel, Perú Luz Stella, México

Writing is a useful follow-up It

helps to consolidate what has

been learned

The main purpose of writing is accurate use of language - especially grammatical structures

I see writing as an end

in itself Just as my learners want to be able

to speak English, so they need to write too

Maria, Ecuador

I think one of the most important reasons for having students write is

to be able to assess their formal knowledge

I use writing both to

practise language and

to encourage my

learners to be creative

Writing is just another form of communication My learners expect to be given writing practice

to improve their all-round English

That's why I do it

The purpose of writing is

simply to practise writing

If you really think you know English, then you really need to be able to write fluently in English I believe you can only get that through constant practice My aim is to increase their confidence when writing and to improve their written fluency

Commentary 3

There are a number of very good reasons why it is useful to include work on writing in English language classroom:

To consolidate and reinforce language work done in class: - most students find it useful

to see language written down and to practice a new structure at sentence level after they have studied it Writing is often used to help students remember new items of language

To develop writing skills - like reading, speaking and listening, writing is a basic language

skill Students need to know some of writing's special conventions (punctuation, paragraph construction etc) just as they need to know how to pronounce spoken English appropriately

To prepare them for exams - Many students have specific needs which require them to

develop their writing skills, for example examination preparation, expectation in schools of essay writing, project writing, poems etc

To assess - writing allows students to see how they are progressing and to get feedback

from the teacher As teachers we often use writing as a way to monitor and diagnose problems

To develop accuracy - using writing to develop ability in producing grammatically correct

sentences as well as following writing conventions of different text types (for example writing

a formal letter compared to a postcard to a close friend), correct spelling, punctuation etc

To encourage the development of fluency - developing the students' ability to

communicate ideas and experiences creatively and confidently in a written form

For classroom management and to change the pace of the lesson - writing can give the

teacher a break It can quieten down a noisy class Although with collaborative writing it may even liven up the class

To encourage students to work together and share their ideas and experiences - writing

requires a different type of mental process - unlike speaking there is more time to think, reflect, prepare, make mistakes, find alternative and better ways of expression an idea or opinion Writing in class allows students to work together in the process of writing, through a process of generating and sharing ideas, making decisions on what to include in the writing, how to express ideas and revising what has been written

For enjoyment – there are many students who, with the proper support and guidance, can

grow to enjoy the process of writing

Writing in the English language classroom

Attitudes to writing

Task 1

♦ How do you feel about teaching writing?

♦ How do your students feel about writing?

Commentary

Writing often receives less attention by teachers because it is at the bottom of the list of

teachers' priorities: classroom time is limited and writing is time-consuming In addition, it is one of the most difficult things to tackle on the syllabus and students often do not respond in the way that teachers want them to Some feel that writing 'takes care of itself', a less

important issue that is best taken care of in the form of an occasional homework task

The situation is not helped by the negative feeling students often have about writing Do your recognise these:

(When they have only written 2 lines.) Finished!

I don't know what to write about…

Why do we have

to do writing, it's

so boring!

Oh no not writing…can't we just talk?

Many see it as hard work, boring, unrewarding and, perhaps because writing is often associated with homework and/or exams, not a lot of fun Motivation can be a huge problem for the teacher

This is not helped by teacher over-reliance on writing in the classroom for ‘speaking’ practice activities, which is generally not appropriate practise, and also connects writing to boring activities

Writing can be one of the most enjoyable and satisfying activities for teachers and students to

do together But how can we encourage our learners to write and enjoy writing?

First we need to consider a number of factors:

– to motivate our students to write we need to provide a reason, especially a fun

reason or a personally important reason If I asked you to write about your holidays, the probability is that you might give me a quick summary If I asked you more specific questions and gave you a reason for writing (for a wall display, for a short book recommending different holiday activities), you would probably produce a much more interesting piece of work Having a clear sense of 'audience' (who is going to read this) is also motivating This doesn't have to be the teacher, it could be the rest of the class for instance

– students respond better if they are given guidance Learners need more guidance

than just a title to write successfully They may need help in how to approach their writing, in generating ideas, how to make notes, how to organise ideas etc

– allow your students to work together on writing As a group they can generate lots of

ideas, select the content and organise their ideas The teacher can move around from group to group monitoring the work and helping with the process of writing Encourage your learners to ask you for advice By giving them the right to choose when they want your help, you are helping to develop their sense of responsibility in their own learning – The key to motivation is the choice and variety of activities Give learners plenty of

opportunities to try out different kinds of writing (letters, reports, articles, posters, and public notices for example) as well as 'the composition' Remember that form can be interesting as well as content Similarly give them activities that you know they will find fund

– As a teacher, be positive about writing, be supportive and flexible, and allow them

to be creative with their ideas

Let's look at the types of writing activities done in the classroom

2 Types of writing activities

Task 2

1 What types of writing do you ask your students to do?

2 How often to you do writing activities:

In the classroom?

As homework?

Commentary 1

Q1 Most writing in the classroom falls on a continuum from copying to free writing:

Focus A - types of writing B - definitions and example activities

Copying Students copy from the board or from books

They generally copy grammatical structures, grammatical rules and items of vocabulary This provides the students with a written record of the language presented and practised in class

Written Exercises These exercises practise grammatical

structures For example, writing sentences from prompts following a particular structural pattern, answering questions using a particular structural pattern, completing sentences, matching halves of sentences and writing out a complete sentences, gap-filling using the correct tense or word

Guided writing Students are involved in a process of writing

and the teacher gives help during this process (thinking through ideas, ordering them, co-operatively preparing notes, writing draft copies, editing and writing final versions)

Free writing Students come up with a topic and title for a

composition themselves and do not receive any help from the teacher

Writing should be practised in the classroom everyday Even very short pieces of writing, with drawings to illustrate points should be encouraged and discussed If your learners are only writing at home, this means that they are always writing without support Of course writing tasks as homework are often essential because of pressures of time and curriculum, but make sure you prepare for them in class (See more discussion on guided writing)

What kinds of writing should students do?

Of course it will depend on the age, interests and level of the students but there are some very important factors to consider:

Students need time in the classroom for writing It is the teacher's task to select or design activities which support them through the process of producing a piece of writing (guided writing)

Students need to be given a context for writing In order to know exactly what to write they need to know why they are writing (THE AIM), who the reader is (THE AUDIENCE -

this needs to vary and should not just be the teacher) They also need to be aware of the

type of text (THE GENRE), for example a formal letter compared to an e-mail message

to a close friend (different type of language and different layouts)

It is important to think about what you (as the teacher) are going to do with the learners writing For example, use the wall space in the classroom to display letters, ideas, jokes, poems, stories, recipes etc that have been written by learners This public display of work

is highly motivating and encourages learners to take pride in their finished product Furthermore, the written work can be extended to other members of the school For example your classes can write to other classes at the same level Projects can be displayed in a public space for all in the school This motivates learners to concentrate on presentation The learners should be encouraged to decide for themselves which work should be displayed and how- as a hand-written text, retyped text, in book form or poster form and with what kind of illustrations Try to keep a collection of old magazine pictures

for learners to use to brighten up their work, or download images from the Internet

4 Analysing writing activities

d) level (elementary, pre-intermediate, etc)

For some there may be some missing elements Here’s an example:

Write a one-page magazine advertisement for a new style of trainers (sneakers) that your company produces

a) aim: not specified (implied aim is to sell a pair of trainers to a prospective customer)

b) audience: a potential customer

c) genre: a one page advertisement

d) level: pre-intermediate to advance (suitable for a range of levels)

Writing activity A

You are a famous singer Make a poster for your concert

Commentary

Aim: to give information about a concert/to persuade

Audience: music fans

Genre: poster

Level: beginners/elementary

Writing activity B

A friend is coming to stay with you Write a letter a suggest some things to do

Dear…

I'm really glad that you are coming to stay at my house for a few days I'm sure you will like it

interesting] Then we could….And how about……? Or perhaps you'd……

Anyway, we can decide all this later I'll be at the airport at 11.30 to meet you

See you soon

[Your name]

Commentary

Aim: to make some suggestions

Audience: a friend coming to stay

Genre: a letter to a friend

Level: pre intermediate

I was sitting in front of the television late one evening, when I fell asleep and had a strange dream

To my surprise (What happened next?

Commentary

Aim: to describe a dream (imaginary)

Audience: classmates

Genre: a story of a dream

Level: pre - intermediate and above

Writing activity E

Write a recipe for an interesting dish First list the ingredients you need Then

describe how to make the dish

This recipe is for shepherd’s pie For this dish you need minced beef or lamb, onions,…… First you chop up the onions, and then fry them lightly in oil…

Exchange recipes and read them Is there a recipe you would like to try?

What do writing lessons look like?

Writing is a productive skill like speaking Like speaking, writing activities do not occur in

isolation It is important to think what comes before it - pre-writing, and what comes after it - post-writing

Task 1

Describe what might happen during the pre-, while- and post- stages of a writing activity What does the teacher do? What are the learners doing?

Commentary:

The Pre-writing stage prepares the learners to write The students could be asked to

brainstorm ideas on a particular topic and share experiences They may be shown models of

a text and be asked to identify the conventions (language, form etc) of the particular text type

While-writing stage Learners produce their texts, from the ideas generated in the previous

stage or by following a model text previously presented and analysed The teacher helps and guides learners in their writing style, organisation, content and presentation and encourages them to help each other

Post-writing - two things happen after writing:

Dealing with the product (displaying the poster, sending the letter, reading the poem to classmates etc) This might lead to a role play or some other type of speaking activity, or reading activity

Responding to the writing (evaluating, rewriting, appraisal of the form and ideas by the other learners or teacher) This will be looked at in detail in part 2

The focus of a writing activity

Writing is a complicated skill and it is impossible to deal with all aspects of what makes good writing at once It is therefore important to have a particular TASK FOCUS for each writing

activity Task focuses could be:

Imagination development and vocabulary expansion

Types of writing that need imagination and a great variety of vocabulary are the creative types of writing such as:

• stories and fairy tales

• poems

• articles

• reviews

• personal communications

Form and organisation are also important, but a variety of vocabulary is crucial

Register of language (formal and informal expressions)

Types of writing for which register is important include:

• typed letters

• business communications

As these often depend on a received communication, such as a letter from a business partner, the need for vocabulary brainstorming will be less important

The use of formulaic phrases

• beginning and endings of letters, (' Dear Sir/Madam', 'I look forward to hearing from you', yours faithfully, bye for now)

• internet language, as formulaic phrases are especially popular in chat and e-mail

Presentation and layout

This is important for:

Grammatical features of types of writing, joining sentences

It can be useful to have a grammar focus where there are useful patterns to look at, for

example:

• the use of the past simple and past perfect in stories

• present perfect and past simple in newspaper articles or letters of application

Any text that depends on contrast and comparison (essays, reports, even the text of an advertisement) will benefit from work done on joining sentences logically- from 'and' vs 'but'

for beginners to 'notwithstanding' vs 'taking this into consideration' for advanced students!

Task 2

Look at the following pre-writing activities (1-6) and decide:

What the task focus is?

What the product will be (the text)?

What you could do with the product (post writing task)?

Activity 1: Three words story

Put three words on the board: for example man, restaurant, ring

Tell the students they are going to write a story containing a man, a restaurant and a ring

On the board, draw a table:

Ask the learners what the man looks like, what he is wearing, what he does etc As they call out ideas, put them on the board Accept all of the ideas Now do the same for 'restaurant' and 'ring'

As the learners to put a story together using some of the ideas on the board

Activity 2: Skeleton Thanks

Give the learners the following skeleton of a letter

Dear …………

Thank you for ……… It was wonderful

I especially liked……… and

………

I hope……… and I look forward to………

Regards, Peter Smith

Discuss the tone of the letter and what might go into it Students then complete the letter in any way they wish (from experience or imagination)

Commentary

Task Focus: Formulaic phrases (often idiomatic e.g I look forward to hearing from you) Product: relatively formal letter of thanks

Post writing task: the letters are displayed around the classroom and Ss vote on the most

imaginative gift and response; further writing - Ss have to email a friend and tell them about their birthday/Christmas etc and say what gifts they received, why they liked them/didn't like them; change the genre of writing Thanking informally e.g a letter to a close friend or an email and analysis of the formal and informal genres

Activity 3: Story gap-fill

This story outline can be put on the computer before a lesson or be as a paper copy It could also be done as a dictation (video clip)

Pedro was talking with his English teacher She was getting more and more upset

(Teacher to students: write the first few lines of the conversation)

When Pedro got home he went into the kitchen and said hello to his mother

(Teacher: describe her and what she was doing)

Pedro's mother called the family to the table and they all sat down to eat It didn't take long for Pedro's mum and dad to start arguing

(Teacher: write the first few lines of their argument)

Pedro left the table and went to his room, banging the door behind him…

(Teacher: what did he do next?)

Commentary:

Task focus: language expansion and development of imagination, 2 styles of writing,

description etc

Product: a story and 2 dialogues

Post-writing task: drama/role play (could be filmed or photographed used in picture story)

Activity 4 Chopped story

Cut up a text into 6 pieces, dividing at the end of paragraphs and label the pieces A-F in any order Divide the class into groups of 6 Give a set of six chopped pieces to each group Groups must decide on the order of the sections and make themselves into a line, with the person at the front of the line holding the beginning of the text, and so on

Task focus: awareness raising activity about text organisation and cohesion between

paragraphs

Product: model text

Post activity: writing a similar text, writing a summary of the text

Activity 5 Getting a job

Show students a job advertisement (from the Internet, from a newspaper) and the following letter of application

Bogotá November 5 th

Dear Sir,

I hope you don't mind me asking, but have to got any jobs?

I saw your advert and I think I'd like to work for you

I'm really nice and clever as I passed all my exams at school and I've lots of friends

I've done lots of jobs and I'll tell you about them when I come and see you in your office

Can I come and see you on Tuesday? I'm busy on Wednesday coz I'm going out with some friends

Bye for now

Task focus: register

Products: Letters of application

Post writing: competition for the best letter, students could imagine they are employers

looking at letters and deciding who to interview, possibly writing a letter or reply or phoning to make an appointment for an interview, they could role-play an interview; could also be used

as a text comparison 'look at the letter, which one is more effective?'; follow up by getting students to write two letters on a similar theme but to very different people For example, they could be teenagers writing to a head teacher explaining why they were absent from school and an e-mail to a friend saying what really happened

Activity 6 - Write so it is true for you

Before class prepare a short text about yourself on any topic that you feel your students would be interested in For example:

Cats are my favourite animals

They are very intelligent and independent

I especially like black cats

When I am with cats I like talking to them and stroking them I also like looking after them

Read out one line at a time and ask learners to change the sentences so that they are true for them:

For example:

Teacher: Cats are my favourite animals

Student: Dogs are my favourite animals

After reading out a line give the learners some time to write down their version They will need time to think about the topic and make a decision as to what they should write down Make sure that the level of language is about the level of your learners and that the topic is one that your students can identify with

An alternative version of this (and for a higher level) could be used to encourage students to express their own opinions It could be used as an activity that leads into a discussion and a controversial reading As an example the teacher reads this sentence:

Human beings do not treat animals well

And tells the students to re-write the sentence to reflect their own feelings Students may write:

Human beings must treat animals better because they are living creature too

I think human beings treat animals very well

We should treat animals better and all become vegetarians

Commentary

Task focus: imagination development and vocabulary expansion

Products: sentences expressing feeling about a given topic/issue

Post writing: Ss compare their answers in pairs/groups, perhaps nominating the best one to read to the class This could then lead into a reading or listening text about pets (low levels)

vegetarianism (higher levels) for example, or a discussion activity

Lead in to topic Create interest Give context for writing:

What (genre) / Who (audience) / Why (aim)

The teacher writes:

Who is Keri’s favourite TV star?

The teacher gives out a text (see HO1 - model text for writing activity This model provides an example of the type of writing and language the students will be expected

to produce in the writing stage) and gives the students 45 seconds to find the answer

to the question (Pedro el Escamoso)

Provide model text for Ss which is to be used in the writing activity that follows Set a 'gist task' to give students a purpose for reading and to gain an overall understanding of the text

They then compare their texts with OHT 2 - the story skeleton (outline)

Focus on narrative markers

4 Setting up

Writing task

5 minutes

The students are divided into groups (3-5)

Each group is given an envelope containing a set of pictures (for example, from Reward Pre-Intermediate resource pack 31b)

Each student takes two pictures randomly from the envelope All of the selected pictures are spread out in front of the students

Stimulate Sts to write Provide a purpose for writing

The teachers explain that they are going to include all of these pictures in a story of a dream, using the story skeleton (OHT 2) as

an outline of their texts

Practice of important 1ststage of successful writing

Teacher reminds students that this is only the FIRST draft

Encourage students to express their ideas freely

7 Editing

10 minutes

The groups pass their first drafts to another group Each group reads a text/story and writes some questions about the content

eg what happens here?, what happens next?, what colour is the woman's dress etc? To encourage the writers to expand their ideas in their next draft

The texts are returned to their 'writers'

With these comments and the questions from HO2, the groups check their work and make improvements

Practise critical reading of texts

Practise self correction techniques

The students are encouraged to pay attention to content and form in this draft

Teacher explains to students that their final drafts will be read by their classmates

Practise polishing skills

most imaginative story

Practise reading for specific information (scanning) and for general understanding encourage overall response

to stories

Commentary:

Pre-writing: stages 1-4 These stages prepare the students to write

While-writing: stages 5-8 Students produce their texts in these stages from notes - to final

draft

Post-writing: stage 9 The product (the story) is displayed for the other groups to read and

respond to

OHT # 1

Discuss these questions in small groups

Do you dream every night?

Do you remember your dreams?

Do you dream in colour?

Do you have recurring dreams?

Do dreams have any significance?

Do dreams ever come true?

Suddenly, just before I reached the door of my apartment block, I saw Pedro

He was walking towards me and smiling at me He had a dog with him that was sniffing around in the flowerbeds Then, to my surprise, he said my name and spoke to me “Keri, hello Dona Paula told me you are a very good teacher and

I was wondering if you…”

Unfortunately, just at that moment, a car pulled up and an angry-looking woman shouted out the window “Hurry up, Pedro We’re late.”

He checked his watch and replied, “Oh! Sorry I didn’t realise it was that time.” Finally, he gave me the dog and ran to the car and jumped in I was left holding the dog’s lead as the car roared down the road

HO2

CHECK YOUR WRITING 1

When you have got your ideas down on paper you may want to move parts of your work around or change the way it is written You may need to cut words out or put extra ones in to make your writing more interesting

These questions will help you check for important things in your work:

Have you done what you were asked to do?

Does your writing say what you want it to?

Is it easy to read?

Is it in the right style?

Does the first sentence make people want to carry on reading?

Is the ending clear and interesting?

Are you sure about the spellings?

Have you used full stops, commas, question marks, apostrophes and speech marks correctly?

Does your writing need any more words to help describe things

clearly?

Have you left anything important out?

This lesson is an example of how we can guide our students through the writing process by

providing support in all the stages of writing

Task 2

a) Look at the lesson plan again and identify the following sections

Construct a skeleton (outline) of the text

Discuss the topic of the text and make notes

Construct a skeleton (outline) of the text - 3b

Discuss the topic of the text and make notes - 5

Write a draft - 6

Provide a model text and set a reading task to help with general understanding of the model- 2

Set a more detailed task / analyse language and structure of model text - 3a

Edit and write a final draft - 7&8

Set a context - 1

See following page for order of guided writing procedure

Guided writing procedure is:

1) Set a context

2) Provide a model text and set a reading task to help with general understanding of the model

3) Set a more detailed task / analyse language and structure of model text

4) Construct a skeleton (outline) of the text

5) Discuss the topic of the text and make notes

6) Write a draft

7) Edit and write a final draft

Task 4

Can you think of some reasons why guided writing is a useful activity in class?

Commentary:

Students think about the topic before they write

Sts brainstorm ideas and approaches

Sts discuss the topic with other sts, getting new ideas and clarifying their own

thoughts

Sts see models of similar types of writing

The class works on a similar piece of writing together

Sts do preliminary writing exercises - making notes, answering questions, ordering ideas, linking sentences, etc

Sts do language exercises with language relevant to the text they’ll write

Sts prepare a draft for discussion and editing

Sts do the writing task with an audience in mind

Summary

In part 1 we have provided a number of activities which help to develop both the learners' writing ability and the learners' confidence in writing For a good selection of entertaining writing activities, look in 'Writing Games', a photocopiable resource book by Charles Hadfield and Jill Hadfield, (Nelson 1990)

Furthermore, time spent on writing is never wasted All of your learners will need to write

in English in the future at some stage and the development of their writing ability is important, even when the specific types of writing they might need are unclear

Responding to students' written work

Reflection

Task 1

How you would respond to the following comment?

‘When correcting written work I correct all the errors That is what the students want’

Commentary

Yes, most students will, if asked, say that that is what they expect from the teacher However

if a student gives you a piece of original and creative writing, it is not sufficient to react to it solely as piece of language containing numerous mistakes of form or appropriacy The result

of such correction leads to students being given back a piece of writing covered with red ink This can be highly demotivating and doesn’t encourage students to think about the language they have used It is probably better to adopt one or more of the following procedures:

• Don’t correct every mistake Where you think the mistake is simply a ‘slip’ underline it or

put a cross next to the line where the mistake occurs Some mistakes if they don’t interfere with communication need not be corrected at all leaving the teacher free to concentrate on those mistakes, which do

• Use a correction code This is something that we will be looking at in a later section of

this unit, but it basically means that you have a system of symbols, which the students know and which doesn’t change, and that instead of correcting the error you put a symbol

or abbreviation next to the mistake E.g w.o for a word order mistake This way the

student knows what sort of mistake he has made but he has to think about exactly what the mistake was and how to correct it

• Respond positively In most pieces of writing that students give you there will be as

much, if not more, that is correct and well expressed as there is incorrect It is important that you indicate to students where they have done well by ticks or comments

• Respond to communication with communication If a student has written a story react

to the story as a story not just as a piece of language to be corrected E.g What a

frightening situation! You must have been so relieved when the police came

• First and second drafts When a student writes a composition it can be a good idea to

indicate what mistakes have been made and how the composition can be improved and then let them write a second draft and only then give them a final grade or assessment

• Peer correction A very good technique for getting students to think about their work is to

give out first drafts of a piece of writing, with mistakes underlined or not as the teacher prefers Students then work to correct each other’s writing