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 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.