Enriching Process Writing with Technology and Effective Teaching Strategies

                                                                                             

Why do we teach writing? 

The process of developing effective writing skills has to be addressed in language classrooms for a number of reasons. Firstly, learners need to be scaffolded with skills and strategies for writing and have to be provided with opportunities to practise writing in the classroom, as Harmer (2004) points out ‘’Spoken language … is acquired naturally as a result of being exposed to it, whereas the ability to write has to be consciously learned. ‘’

It is furthermore essential to incorporate writing into our classrooms as it helps our students to learn. It reinforces language that they have been learning, but also provides opportunities for exploring language. In other words, ‘ …when our students write, they have a chance to be adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they have just learned to say, to take risks’’ (Raimes, 1983:3)

 

Different approaches to writing: Product Writing vs Process Writing

A product approach to writing is primarily interested in the aim of the writing task and the final end product. The process approach, on the other hand, focuses on the stages through which a learner goes in order to produce the writing. It can also be considered as a skills approach towards writing as Harmer (2001:257) states ‘By spending time with learners on pre-writing phases, editing, redrafting, and finally ‘publishing’ their work, a process approach aims to get to the heart of the various skills that should be employed when writing.’

 

What is process writing?

The process approach to teaching writing is based on the premise that people learn to write by writing. This approach reflects more closely what proficient writers actually do, which is examine their work critically and to draft and re-draft it until they are pleased with the end result (Senior,2010). Similarly, learners now have more opportunities for meaningful writing and can have experiences which enable them to develop effectiveness through process writing and thus become less dependent on the teacher. It is therefore significant to apply process writing in our classrooms since it is real to life and students will benefit from it if they successfully go through the stages.

What are the stages of process writing and how can we enrich these stages with technology?

The stages of process writing are explained below. However, there are no exact rules to how these stages should be. Each stage can be taught more effectively thanks to Web 2.0 tools which are interactive online tools because they can provide powerful instruments for collaborative writing and allow students to visualize their learning.

 

Brain-storming

 

Smalley R. and Ruetten M. (1995) define brainstorming as a sudden insight or connection. In this stage, the learners start thinking about the topic given. This can be conducted as a whole-class activity or in groups so that students benefit from each other as well. The learners can write every idea that comes up without eliminating any. It is clearly a crucial part of the writing process as the idea-generating will guide students through the amount of information they will include in their paragraphs or essays.

 

Web 2.0 tools which you can use in this stage are

  • Bubbl.us helps you create a brainstorming sheet that helps your organize your ideas in a simple and meaningful way.
  • EdiStorm is an interactive wall where you can brainstorm using sticky notes collaboratively. You can move your notes and you can play with colors. You can also create solo or collaborative brainstorms.
  • Lexipedia is essentially an online dictionary and thesearus combined. It helps you explore related words and their meanings,conduct research, gather information and select the best word or phrase to express your idea
  • CoSketch is multi-user online whiteboard that helps you visualize your ideas and share them as images.

 

Planning

After generating ideas, it is now time to eliminate some and organize the rest of the ideas so as to focus on a main point and develop a rough plan for the paragraph or the essay to be written. While producing the plan, it is quite normal for the learners to add or delete information. They keep adding and deleting till the final product is reached as the real writers do.

 

Web 2.0 tools which you can use in this stage are

 

  • EtherPadIt’s easy to use and no password is needed. A shared notepad that lets you store your revisions and synchronize with others.
  • Diigo is a research, collaborative research tool and a social bookmarking tool that you collect your favourites from internet. You can share your finding with highlights, sticky notes and the original url.
  • Board800 is a multi user shared interactive whiteboard with simultaneous access and drawing capabilities. It lets you add as many as you want. Users can use each page independently, and each user can see the changes on each page.

Writing the first draft

 

By looking at the plans, learners start writing their essays. At this stage, students should be focused on the fluency rather than being worried about the grammar or the neatness of the essay. It is an important stage because if there is a lack of focus at this stage, organising the ideas and getting the message across will become more difficult tasks. Learners can feel less nervous and be more productive if we openly state that accuracy is not that important at this point. Since the focus is on fluency, there is almost always a mistake either in the organization or in the grammar or the choice/ form of the vocabulary and this leads us to editing and proof-reading.

Web 2.0 tools which you can use in this stage are

 

  • Writeboard   A place to create shareable, web-based text documents. Write solo or collaborate with others.
  • Keybr helps you to learn typing faster with fewer errors.
  • DabbleBoard is a whiteboard that enables you to visualize, explore and collaborate. You draw as you are drawing on a whiteboard and you can easily share your ideas.

 

Editing

 

Editing deals with “what you write”. At this stage, learners should be able to look at their texts as if they have ‘a new pair of eyes’ (White & Arndt, 1991). At this stage, we look at the content and the organization and an essay (or paragraph) is expected to have the following basic features:

 

  • Is there a thesis? / Is the thesis clear? / Is there a topic sentence?
  • Are the developmental paragraphs /ideas relevant to the thesis/topic sentence?
  • Are the ideas supported well? Are there enough examples / details?
  • Are the transitions chosen correctly? Are they in the right place?
  • Does the conclusion have a summary?

 

Once the content and the organization of the ideas satisfy the writer, she writes a second draft and the paper is ready for proof-reading.

 

Web 2.0 tools which you can use for feedback are

 

Vocaroo helps you send voice messages

 

Screencast-o-matic is an online recording platform that can be used for screen capture and screencasting.

 

Proof-reading

 

Proof-reading deals with “how you write”. While proof-reading, the paper is checked for any spelling, punctuation mistakes, lack of parallelism in the structures, flaws in the style (formal/informal), and grammar mistakes. It is better to leave proof-reading to the last since the text may change many times before the writer is pleased with her essay. It is a very vital stage for writers since they shape their essays/paragraphs to give the final draft a proper appearance.

 

Web 2.0 tools which you can use in this stage are

 

  • AnyTypos is a free, online spell checker. To check your text, just copy paste your content and you can get the results online instantly.
  • Paperrater analyzes documents immediately and provide in depth analysis to help students improve grammar and vocabulary. It also includes plagiarism detection, style and word choice analysis.

 

The final product

 

After receiving feedback on the spelling and grammar mistakes, the learners write the essay/paragraph again. This means, the same essay/paragraph needs to be written at least three times (first draft, second draft after editing, final product after proof-reading) before a final product can be reached.

 

When students have their final product, they can publish it.

 

  • WordPress.org  A free and open source software that makes personal publishing as easy as word processing. Make your life and your students’ life easier by keeping a classroom or subject blog.
  • Wikispaces  Create a public, online wiki for free. This is great for group assignments and class collaborations.
  • Edublogs  A free blog-hosting site for educators and students of all ages.

 

 What other activities can we use for process writing?

 

Line up/ Circle activity: Firstly, you form 2 lines of students facing each other. Students are given a set of questions about the topic to activate schemata. The students in the first line remain steady, but the students in the second line moves one step right when you clap your hands and they change partners and they start asking their new partners the questions . It is a very nice speaking activity in which the students talk to many different people. You can also get students to perform in a circle. The students in the inner circle remain steady, but the students in the outer circle move one step right when you clap your hands and they change partners and they start asking their new partners the questions.

The Cutting Jury: Show students card boards with different headings and tell them to write as many points as possible on them and state that they are going to exchange papers with the next group whenever you clap your hands. When the list gets back to its original group, stop the activity and get students to tick the ones they agree with and cross the ones they disagree. Then, ask students to choose 3 important points from the list, cut them and put them into an order of importance. Students are then supposed to start planning their paragraphs or essays by expanding these main points by supporting details and examples.

  

Gallery Reading: When students reach their final product, they put their paragraphs/essays onto the walls and start walking around the classroom to examine each other’s work by making corrections and writing comments. They can also put different stickers to show how they feel about them.

 

 

 

References

Harmer, J. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching (3rd edition). Longman.

Harmer, J. 2004. How to Teach Writing. Longman

Raimes, A. 1983. Techniques in Teaching Writing. Oxford University Press.

Senior, R. January 2010 The teaching of writing ETP 66/59

Smalley, R. & Ruetten, M. 1995  Refining Composition Skills Heinle&Heinle Publishers

White, R. & Arndt, V. 1991. Process Writing. Longman.

5 thoughts on “Enriching Process Writing with Technology and Effective Teaching Strategies

  1. Dear Petek,

    You have shared really useful tools. I have bookmarked most of them and now I am trying to digest them 😉

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  3. Hello Petek!

    I was at your presentation at TESOL Greece and thought it was great! Thank you for sharing the ideas on your blog! I shared the link to your blog on my blog. Wish you were on Twitter (remember I asked you if you were?) 😀

    Great meeting you!

    Dina

    • Hi Dina!

      Great pleasure to see you again. Yes, I definitely remember you! How can I forget such an enthusiastic participant like you!

      I’m so honored to hear these compliments and I hope our paths will cross again somewhere…

      Thank you so much

      Petek

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