Writing in The EFL Situation
Writing in The EFL Situation
Writing in The EFL Situation
Repertoire of Tasks
Mara Palmira Massi
mpmassi [at] ciudad.com.ar
Universidad Nacional del Comahue (Ro Negro, Argentina)
teacher, our students will gain self-confidence, fluency and autonomy, and they will be stimulated
to express their own authentic voices in the process of text production.
Interactive writing becomes thus value-laden, communicative and purposeful; at the same time, it
enables the students to permanently challenge their current language practices and gain the most
from the experience. Making writing interactive requires imagination on the part of the teacher,
but is rewarded by the creativity and enthusiasm that most students display in response.
as a great motivational force for students who are lagging behind and need to catch up since they
will have to think critically about the relationships between the course and themselves.
Instructions
[Beginning of the term. First class]
Write a letter to your language teacher. In it, introduce yourself and provide some
information about your likes and interests. State your objectives and expectations
from this course.
[Mid-term evaluation]
Write a letter to your language teacher. In it, evaluate your linguistic experience so
far this year. State the most interesting or valuable aspect of the course. Also
provide some topics that you would like to cover this year, which skills you would
like to reinforce, which activity was the most interesting and which was the least
attractive.
[End-of-term evaluation]
Write a letter to your language teacher. In it, provide your personal comments
about the course and the development of your EFL skills. If you were the teacher,
what would you do differently?
The Fun They Had is about a student, Margie, who lives in the year 2155 and has a
computer as a teacher. Everything goes on well until the day when she finds a
book about school in the past.
The World Wide Web offers numerous sites with stories written by young authors in different
parts of the globe, and this opens up new possibilities to enhance the students' written expression
as well as their cultural awareness.
4. E-mail Writing
The development of new virtual spaces for communication has favoured the emergence of e-mail
writing, a hybrid genre that combines features of both written and oral discourse. After analysing
some samples in class and exploring the formal characteristics and some of the linguistic
strategies displayed in electronic discourse, the students can be invited to try their hands at
computer-mediated-communication. Their data will provide the right corpora for comparison and
contrast between spoken and written discourse, spotting the politeness codes, the language
registers, the nettiquette codes, the expression of emotions using emoticons and the like. An
alternative is to encourage students to use e-mail and computer networking in a collaborative
fashion for formal and informal consultations among themselves and with the teacher (M.
Warschauer 1995).
Instructions
Have you got an Internet connection at home? Do you have e-mail access? Are
you an e-mail enthusiast? If so, this is the right writing project for you. Would you
like to contact e-mail key-pals? Surf the Web and make a link with partners from
other countries and cultures!. Pluck up courage and give it a try. We'll have our
own school up in lights.
You should collect all the e-mail you send and receive in a file, which we will
check every fortnight. You are absolutely free to choose your own key-pal. The
only requisite is that you should communicate with him/her at least once a week.
We will not be critical about your messages since we are interested in developing
your motivation to write in English. So relax, meet a new friend and start writing.
You will get credits for your extra effort. Good luck!
5. Films
Here we start with audiovisual input using a film that deals with love and human relationships.
After a thorough discussion of the whereabouts of the characters, the analysis of the setting, main
events, message and so on, the students are asked to establish a connection between the story and
themselves. The focus is on critical and analytical skills while reporting about and reflecting on
their own experiences, feelings and ideas.
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Tell us about Yourself
Choose one of the following topices and write 100-150 words. Your production
will be shared with your classmates in the next month's issue of THE BOX, our
class magazine.
If you are already married, tell us about your wedding day. If you are single, tell us
about your expectations: Religious ceremony? White dress? Big party?
Honeymoon on the Caribbean? Secret marriage: just you and your partner? Blue
jeans? No party? Honeymoon by a river? List of gifts? Money as a gift? No
marriage at all?
Do you believe in eternal love, i.e. that you will love your partner and that he/she
will love you till death separates you? Is it possible or is it just a human law to
organize society in a better and perhaps, simpler way?
Reviews, Stories and Opinion Articles
Choose one of the following topices and write 100-150 words. Your production
will be shared with your classmates in the next month's issue of THE BOX, our
class magazine.
Do you consider the film 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' too far-fetched? Write a
review pointing out any flaws you can find in the story or the characters. Submit it
to the editor of our class magazine for publication.
Write your own short story in which a coincidence either brings a young couple
together for the first time, or enables them to meet again after a sad and
disagreeable parting. Submit it to the editor of our class magazine for publication.
What do you hope for in the person you might eventually marry? Write a short
article in which you describe in detail the qualities you look for in your ideal
partner.
Write your own imaginary poem looking back on forty years of marriage. Submit
it to the Editor of the Poets' Corner Section.
Have you made your choice? Fine! Do not forget to provide a title.
Other favourite 'love comedies' that have been used as springboards to the development of written
expression are: Only You, When Harry Met Sally, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Mirror Has
Two Faces and As Good as It Gets, inter alia.
Lamb to the Slaughter deals with the relationship between a pregnant woman and
her husband. One day, he returns home from work and tells her that he's leaving
her for good. Her unexpected reaction allows us to discover another facet of her
personality.
Other stories with open endings or with unexpected twists in the end that require the reader to
take an active part in the overall interpretation are: Charles (Shirley Jackson), Embroidery (Ray
Bradbury), Compassion Circuit (John Wyndham), All Summer in a Day (Ray Bradbury), The
White Bungalow (A. J. Alan), When We Dead Awaken (Ronald Duncan), Hills Like White
Elephants (Ernest Hemingway) and The Interlopers (Saki), among many others. Students may be
required to make the end explicit in some cases or to provide optional endings in others.
a thematic basis. For example, our current short story booklet is organized round
the following topics: children vs. adults (block 1), technology and the future
(block 2), crime, punishment and the law (block 3) and love and marriage (block
4), on different styles of writing (e.g. quality of language, imaginative energy,
emotional force)
level of complexity and degree of popularity among students
unusual and strange characters
any other criterion that you consider appropriate. You already know the English II
class you are a member. There are also anthologies galore in the library that you
can browse to get further ideas.
After selecting the pieces, write the introduction to the anthology, in which you
should give the reader a general idea of the content. If necessary, suggest an order
for reading these stories. Tell your reader which story you enjoyed most and
explain why. Give the book a title. You can work in twos to make the task more
enjoyable. Here is an example of a compilation based on a thematic organization:
8. Journal Writing
This instance of personal, expressive writing based on experience or recollection offers very good
insight on the students' own perception of their learning process By reflecting on their own lives
or on their linguistic progress they will 'discover' some of the dos and don'ts of language choice
and use. Additionally, they will gradually gain independence from the teacher and autonomy in
their learning. Learning journals, in particular, are multidimensional self-evaluations that create a
visible record of the students' linguistic growth and stimulate the development of meaningmaking strategies, critical thinking and habits of reflective questioning. The underlying
metacognitive process that takes place during writing involves cumulative mental operations (e.g.
reflection, analysis and interpretation) which encourage the appraisal of the steps and the
strategies that evolved along the learning process. This task is highly recommended for students
with low morale who feel they are not making much progress in EFL learning .
Instructions
Have you ever kept a journal? I guess so. Autobiographical discourse is something
some people embrace and love. If you haven't yet done so, why don't you give it a
try? Here are some guidelines.
The idea behind this journal is that you write something in it every day. You are
free as to what to write. For example, you can jot down what you have done that
day, your plans for tomorrow, poetry, a story, complaints, how difficult English is,
your reflections on an experience that struck you, current news items, your
fantasies, a letter, a quotation that caught your attention, the lyrics of a song you
love (with a few comments of your own) and so on. An alternative is to keep a
record of your language learning experience so far, the new words you've learned,
the progress you've made, the difficulties you've encountered and how you've
overcome them. This reflection on your own language learning ability will provide
a good forum to 'discover' your ideas and express them with the confidence that
what you write will not be viewed critically.
Your journal will be collected once a fortnight. Your teacher will read it and just
circle the 'serious mistakes' (concord, verb tense, verb form, word category and the
like), unless you decide to keep it private. If you have questions or ask for a
comment, we promise we will respond. Try as much as possible to incorporate the
new words and expressions that you are learning into your writing. Play with the
language, and don't be afraid of making mistakes. Explore, experiment and
experience. This is the golden rule. If you are doubtful about how to use a word or
expression, try it. You can clear up your doubts with a good dictionary!.
Have fun. You will certainly enjoy reading your journal in a few years' time. A
plus is that ou will get credit for your effort.
At an elementary level, journal writing can be implemented as follows (adapted from D. Nunan
1988):
Keep a weekly diary with the following information:
In class last week
9. A Personal Anthology
This activity has been very successful in our language courses at all levels of proficiency, and the
students' copious comments have allowed us to get into the fascinating world of
multiperspectivity. At the same time, getting to know about their likes and preferences has
provided us with interesting raw material to adapt our teaching style to their own learning
strategies. Adjustment to our students' entusiasm and interests may require a readjustment of our
own priorities at a given moment in the academic year and this flexibility will, in turn, help us
improve our own performance while catering to their needs and interests.
Instructions
You will be the editor of your personal anthology, that is, a compilation of those
works that best reflect your own personality, interests and tastes. It will then be
shared with the class, so that you and your classmates can get to know each other
better.
This compilation should contain:
o Works by well-known or professional writers which have touched your
soul:
Two poems
Two articles
One short story
o Work by fellow students or classmates:
o Two works of your choice (compositions, reviews, short articles, reports at least 200 words each)
3. Stick to the following guidelines:
o The title page will include the title you have created for your anthology,
your name, class and year.
o he table of contents must be clearly organized by genre, topic or some
other logical pattern. Title, author and page number will be given for each
work.
o The preface will introduce your anthology. It should reflect your thoughts,
observations, and/or feelings about the works you have chosen and the
reasons for choosing them. The preface will be 2-3 pages long.
o All works will be neatly typed and pages will be numbered consecutively.
o The bibliography delineating your sources will appear at the end of the
anthology. It should be prepared according to formal guidelines and
organized alphabetically by authors' last names.
All the material included in your anthology should be different from the texts
discussed in class. So pluck up courage and become exploratory readers. Move in
the directions indicated, and, in case of trouble or doubt, just ask your teacher,
who will give you a helping hand. Work your fingers to the bone when writing
your preface and make the most of it. This anthology represents YOU.
You should enjoy carrying out this activity. Your classmates and I will certainly
enjoy going through it since it'll broaden our own reading, while allowing us to get
a glimpse of your interests and choices.
What happens when the students receive their written work back? Do they take some time to
have a look at mistakes and slips? Do they make sure that they understand the teacher's
comments and objections? Not always. The writing file or portfolio is meant to be a compilation
of all their production plus their own reflection and self-assessment for further reference and
future work. The idea behind this meta-communicative task is to encourage the students to
monitor their own progress and their linguistic-strategic development over time. Towards the end
of the course, the file will contain edited exponents of many different types of writing
(descriptions, narrations and so on) and varied formats (letters, diary pages, reports and the like)
with comments, memory aids and notes that represent an attractive 'document' of academic life.
Going through their own material from time to time will allow the students to evaluate their
learning process and eradicate errors. In case of doubt about the teacher's final decision on their
performance during the year, they may be asked to submit their portfolio for global assessment of
the strategies implemented.
Instructions
Compile and organize your written production in a portfolio, which will be
checked periodically. Make sure you understand your teacher's objections and
provide the right choice to all the errors that the teacher has spotted. Keep a record
of your own progress and rewrite your work when necessary. Towards the end of
the academic year, we will analyse the linguistic strategies you have developed
during the course.
You should also include some personal comments in each of the compsitions. For
example, you can write down the points you need to reinforce, something you
learned, the mistakes you should not make again and so on. The following
questions may be of some help.
1. Was this piece easy or difficult to write? Why?
2. How many times did I revise it before handing it in?
3. Did I receive any responses or suggestions from the teacher or peer editor? Did
he/she like my work?
4. Did I try something new such as an expression, a lexical item, a verb pattern?
5. What should I change or improve to make my writing more appealing to the
reader?
6. How does it compare to other pieces I have written?
7. What did I learn from this composition?
Remember that we will always praise what you do well while pointing out what
can be improved. Also keep in mind that there is a positive relationship between
good writing and increased reading experience. So the more you read, the better
you will write.
Concluding Remarks
The approach outlined emphasizes the discursive and cognitive aspects of the development of the
writing skill. Essentially, writing is considered a problem-solving activity in which the writer
faces two main tasks: generating ideas and composing them into a structure adapted to the needs
of the reader and the goals of the writer, with adequacy to the context of situation. Because our
objective is to highlight the discourse dimension, the discussion focuses on the effectiveness of
the message as a whole, the linguistic strategies and resources utilized, the lexical options made,
the writer's focus and perspective and so on. Less attention is paid to accuracy in grammar though
it is certainly true that without a solid basis of the formal linguistic system, the students cannot
hope to develop into effective writers. But it is our view that error-free writing is less important
than writing which addresses the topic clearly, develops it in a rational and relevant way, adds
persuasive evidence when necessary and takes into account the needs of the reader. Our
experience agrees with the findings of many research studies which conclude that once students
are writing fluently and confidently, they will be more inclined and more able to write accurately
(R. White and V. Arndt 1991, C. Tribble 1996). The tasks outlined above and the general
framework of reference may provide an invigorating effect on classroom writing practices and
contribute to the development and reinforcement of the students' individual and social identities
through functionally oriented texts.
Bibliographical References
Badger R. and G. White (2000) A process genre approach to teaching writing. In ELT
Journal 54/2:153-160.
Bamforth R. (1993) Process vs. genre: anatomy of a false dichotomy. In Prospect 8/12:89-99.
Boughy C. (1997) Learning to write by writing to learn: a group-work approach. In ELT
Journal 51/2:126-135.
Flowerdew J. (1993) An educational or process approach to the teaching of professional
genres. In ELT Journal 47/4:305-316.
Hamp-Lyons L. and B. Heasley (1992) Study Writing. A Course in Written English for
Academic and Professional Purposes. C.U.P.
Hedge T. (1988) Writing. O.U.P.
Martin J.R. (1989) Factual Writing: Exploring and Challenging Social Reality. O.U.P.
Nunan D. (1988) The Learner-Centred Curriculum. C.U.P.
Raimes A. (1983) Techniques in Teaching Writing. O.U.P.
Raimes A. (1987) Why write? From purpose to pedagogy. English Teaching Forum. Vol.
XXV/4:36-41.
Raimes A. (1993) Out of the woods: emerging traditions in the teaching of writing. In S.
Silberstein (ed.) State of the Art TESOL Essays. TESOL Inc.
Swales J. (1990) Genre Analysis. English in Academic and Research Settings. C.U.P.
Tribble C. (1996) Writing. O.U.P.
White R. and V. Arndt (1991) Process Writing. Longman.
Willis J. (1996) A Framework for Task-Based Learning. Longman.
The bibliography below may serve as a useful stepping-stone for those teachers who are
interested in the rationale and possibilities of implementation of portfolios and computermediated-communication in the EFL classroom.
Hewitt G. (1995) A Portfolio Primer. Teaching, collecting and assessing student writing.
Heinemann.
Muehleisen V. (1997) Projects using the Internet in College English Classes. In The
Internet TESL Journal. http://www.aitech.ac.jp/~iteslj
Tyller A. (1997) The InfiNET possibilities: English teachers on the Internet. In Forum.
Vol. 35. N 1. January issue.
Warschauer M. (1995) E-Mail for English Teaching. TESOL Inc.
The following links have been very useful when carrying out the tasks outlined above.
Greatest Films. http://www.filmsite.org/ (specializes in detailed summaries of classic
American films) (Task # 5).
Internet Movie Database. http://www.msstate.edu/Movies (contains information on over
40.000 movie titles including foreign films) (Task # 5).
InterText: The Online Fiction Magazine. http://www.intertext.com/ (contains over 200
mainstream, science fiction and fantastic stories by contemporary authors) (Tasks # 3, 6
and 7).
OnLine fiction magazine. http://www.etext.org/Zines/InterText (plenty of virtual short
stories written by contemporary authors) (Tasks # 3, 6, 7 and 9).
Student Stories. http://www.scoe.otan.dni.us (contains edited stories written by American
students) (Tasks # 3, 5 and 9).
The Internet Movie Database. http://us.imdb.com/welcome.html/ (search results provide
plot summaries, list of cast members, movie trivia, viewers ratings and recommendations)
(Task # 5).
Topics Online Magazine. http://www.rice.edu/projects/topics/Electronic/Magazine.html
(site for ESL/EFL students to publish their writings) (Task # 5)
Volterre Web Links for Learners. http://www.wfi.fr/volterre.weblinklearners.html
(contains e-mail writing projects) (Task # 4)
Writing for the World. http://icarus.uic.edu.~kdorwick/world.html (contains links to
student writing on the Web) (Task # 5).