Some effective activities applied to teach writing in the pre writing stage to the 11th grade students at nguyen duc thuan high school

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY NO. 2
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY
-----------------------------------------------

BUI THI DUYEN

SOME EFFECTIVE ACTIVITIES APPLIED TO TEACH WRITING
IN THE PRE - WRITING STAGE TO THE 11TH – GRADE
STUDENTS AT NGUYEN DUC THUAN HIGH SCHOOL

(GRADUATION PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI LE NGUYEN, M.A

Hanoi, May 2014


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has helped,
advised and supported me in doing this graduation paper.
First and foremost, I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to Ms.
Nguyen Le Nguyen, M.A., my supervisor, for her guidance as well as
encouragement, suggestion and advice. Without her critical comments and
invaluable suggestions, this study could not have been fully completed.
Second, I am grateful to 100 11th – grade students and two teachers in
Nguyen Duc Thuan high school for their cooperation and support in collecting
data for this paper.
Then, sincere thanks is given to all of my friends, especially some of my
classmates, from those I have received whole hearted help and support.

Last but not least, I would like particularly to dedicate to all my members
in my family for their constant assistance, love and encouragement during the
time I was carrying out this study.

i


ABSTRACT

In recent years, pre-writing activities have been commonly adopted and
applied in the English writing class practice. The objective of this study was to
find out the current situation of the application of the pre-writing activities in the
teaching and learning of writing skill to 11th – grade students in Nguyen Duc
Thuan high school. This study aimed to investigate how pre-writing activities
have been applied in teaching writing to 11th form students in Nguyen Duc
Thuan high school in reality, the research conducted by both quantitative and
qualitative. The data collected from students’ survey questionnaire and class
observation showed that pre-writing activities has little to do with the teaching
of writing skill to 11th – grade students in Nguyen Duc Thuan high school. Most
of students often get obstacles in learning writing skill as well as using prewriting activities. Moreover, almost students also claimed that their teachers
have not used pre-writing activities often and with variety of techniques.
Based on the results of the survey, the major findings such as roles of
writing skill and pre-writing activities, the preferences, difficulties, evaluation
and expectations of students as well as types, time duration and effectiveness of
pre-writing activities have been found. Some pre-writing activities such as
brainstorming, free-writing, cubing, listing, clustering and interviewing have
been suggested.
It is hoped that this study will help both teachers and 11th form students
Nguyen Duc Thuan high school apply effectively pre-writing activities in
writing lessons.

ii


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that no part in this study has been copied or reproduced from any
others without acknowledgements and that is originally written by me under
guidance from my supervisor.
Date submitted: May 2014

Student

Supervisor

Bui Thi Duyen

Nguyen Le Nguyen, M.A

iii


TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................. i
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... ii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ................................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................. iv
LIST OF TABLES/ FIGURES ........................................................................ viii

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study .................................................................................. 1
1.2. Objectives of the study ................................................................................ 2
1.3. Significance of the study ............................................................................. 3
1.4. Scope of the study ....................................................................................... 3
1.5. Task of the study ......................................................................................... 3
1.6. Methodology of the study ............................................................................ 4
1.7. Organization of the study ............................................................................ 4

PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT

Chapter one
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1. Literature review in brief ............................................................................. 6
2. Theoretical background ............................................................................... 8
2.1. Teaching writing ................................................................................. .....8
2.1.1. Definition of writing ........................................................................... 8
2.1.2. The importance of learning and teaching writing .............................. 10
iv


2.1.3. Approaches to teaching writing ........................................................ 11
2.1.3.1. The Product Approach/ the Controlled-to-Free Approach ........ 12
2.1.3.2. The Free-Writing Approach ..................................................... 13
2.1.3.3. The Paragraph-Pattern Approach ............................................. 14
2.1.3.4. The Grammar –Syntax-Organization Approach ....................... 14
2.1.3.5. The Communicative Approach ................................................ 15
2.1.3.6. The Process Approach ............................................................. 16

2.1.4. Principles for writing proficiency ..................................................... 19
2.1.5. Factors in learning and teaching writing ........................................... 21
2.2. Pre – writing activities ............................................................................. 22
2.2.1. Definition of pre – writing activities ................................................. 22
2.2.2. The importance of pre – writing activities in learning writing ........... 23

Chapter two
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1. Methodology ............................................................................................ 25
2.1.1. Method orientation ........................................................................... 25
2.1.2. The characteristics of the study ......................................................... 25
2.1.3. The participants ................................................................................ 26
2.1.4. The instrument of the study .............................................................. 27
2.1.4.1. Survey questionnaire................................................................ 27
2.1.4.2 Class observation ...................................................................... 27
2.2. Data analysis ............................................................................................ 28
2.2.1. Data analysis of students’ questionnaire ........................................... 28
2.2.1.1.Students’ attitudes towards writing skill and pre-writing
activities to the 11th – grade students at Nguyen Duc Thuan high
school ................................................................................................... 29
2.1.1.2. Students’ preferences for pre - writing activities ...................... 30
2.1.1.3 Students’ frequency of learning writing skill ............................ 32
v


2.1.1.4. Students’ writing ability ........................................................... 32
2.1.1.5. Students’ difficulties in pre - writing activities ......................... 33
2.1.1.6. Students’ evaluation on actual pre -writing activities used in
writing classes ..................................................................................... 34
2.1.1.7. Students’ expectations in pre – writing activities ..................... 36

2.2.2. Data analysis of class observation ..................................................... 37

Chapter three
MAJOR FINDINGS AND SOME EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM
ACTIVITIES TO TEACH WRITING IN THE PRE – WRITING STAGE
TO THE 11TH – GRADE STUDENTS AT NGUYEN DUC THUAN HIGH
SCHOOL

3.1. Major findings ......................................................................................... 39
3.1.1. Major findings of students’ questionnaire ......................................... 39
3.1.1.1. Roles of writing skill and pre – writing activities in writing
classes to the 11th – grade students at Nguyen Duc Thuan high
school ................................................................................................... 39
3.1.1.2. Students’ preferences for pre - writing activities ...................... 40
3.1.1.3 Students’ difficulties in participating in pre - writing
activities .............................................................................................. 40
3.1.1.4. Students’ evaluation on actual pre -writing activities used in
writing classes ..................................................................................... 41
3.1.1.5. Students’ expectations in pre – writing activities ..................... 41
3.1.2. Major findings of class observation .................................................. 42
3.1.2.1. Types of pre-writing activities used in writing lessons ............. 42
3.1.2.2. Time duration of pre-writing activities ..................................... 43
3.1.2.3. The effectiveness of using pre – writing activities in writing
lessons .................................................................................................. 44
vi


3.2. Some effective classroom activities to teach writing in the pre writing stage to the 11th – grade students at Nguyen Duc Thuan high
school............................................................................................................... 45
3.2.1. Pre-writing activities related to brainstorming .................................. 46

3.2.2. Pre- writing activities related to free-writing..................................... 52
3.2.3. Pre- writing activities related to cubing............................................. 53
3.2.4. Pre- writing activities related to listing ............................................. 56
3.2.5. Pre- writing activities related to clustering ........................................ 59
3.2.6. Pre- writing activities related to interviewing ................................... 62

PART THREE
CONCLUSION

1.1.CONCLUSION .......................................................................................... 64
1.2. LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUSY ............ 65
1.2.1. Limitations of the study .......................................................................... 65
1.2.2. Suggestions for further study .................................................................. 66
REFERENCES..…………………………………………………………......viii
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………xii
APPENDIX 1………………………………………………………………….xiii
APPENDIX 2…………………………………………………………………..xv
APPENDIX3………………………………………………………………....xix

vii


LIST OF TABLES/ FIGURES

Figure 2.1. Producing a piece of writing by Ann Raimes (1983) .................... 12
Figure 2.2. Spark’s (1984) diagram of rhetorical triangle in writing ............... 16
Figure 2.3. White and Arndt’ s (1991) diagram of process approach .............. 17
Figure 2.4. Curry’ s (1996) diagram of the writing process approach ............. 18
Figure 2.5. Scarcella and Oxford's (1992) diagram of abilities underlying
writing proficiency ....................................................................... 19

Table 2.1. Students' attitude towards writing skill ......................................... 29
Table 2.2. Students’ attitudes towards pre-writing activities .......................... 30
Table 2.3. Students’ preferences for pre - writing activities ........................... 31
Table 2.4. Students’ amount of time spent on learning each skill .................. 32
Table 2.5. Students’ writing marks ................................................................ 32
Table 2.6. Students' difficulties in pre-writing activities ................................ 33
Table 2.7. Students' reflection of teachers' pre-writing activities ................... 34
Table 2.8. Students' evaluation on actual pre-writing activities ..................... 35
Table 2.9. Students' expectation of pre-writing activities .............................. 36
Figure 3.1. Pre-writing activities-brainstorming 1........................................... 47
Figure 3.2. Pre-writing activities-brainstorming 2........................................... 48
Figure 3.3. Pre-writing activities-brainstorming 3........................................... 50
Figure 3.4.

Example of mind-mapping ......................................................... 61

viii


PART ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale for the study
Along with the globalization trend, English has been considered as a
compulsory subject in the curriculum of all state schools from the sixth onwards.
In order to keep pace with the development of society, the need for good
communication is put in one of the top demand for English language including
writing skill. It is undeniable that writing skill plays a significant role in daily
communication and educational process. In spite of its importance, writing has
long been the neglected skill in second language for many years as writing is

placed poor fourth.
According to Tricia, H (1996), a good deal of writing is undertaken as an
aid to learning , for example, to consolidate the learning of new vocabulary and
structures or to help students remember new items of language. However, in the
social context in Vietnam, English language teaching has its low quality, which
has yet to meet the demand for competent English – speaking people. Moreover,
due to the little time and efforts that are spent on teaching and learning writing
leads to Vietnamese high school students’ unsatisfactory results in writing.
These low results are due to numerous factors including students’ lack
background knowledge and low language competence. They do not often know
how to express their ideas in English because they lack vocabulary and
structures or run out of ideas, etc. For many students, writing skill is a very
inhibiting and painful activity. Sometimes, they are putted under lots of pressure
when being asked to perform a writing paper within a limited time. Thus, it is
beneficial to give some perspective techniques for teaching writing in order to
improve students’ writing abilities.
Over the past decade, many authors from different countries stated that
this kind of troubles among learners studying English has been figured out.
1


There have been new teaching techniques and strategies developed as well as
new perspectives techniques. One of these perspectives techniques is best taught
as a process of stages prewriting, revising, reshaping and rewriting a piece of
writing until it becomes a better product. As mentioned in William, Z.,
prewriting activities are supposed to the foremost phrase to start for a successful
writing task. As his ways of thinking, pre-writing stage could considerably solve
the problems of ideas stuck, vocabulary limitation, and raise the students’
interest in learning writing.
Nevertheless, as a matter of fact, few researches have been carried out on

the activities when teaching of prewriting stage particularly for the 11 th form
students in Vietnam. Together with the above reasons, teacher of English in the
future who is aware of this fact and wish to contribute some suggestions for
improvements in teaching and learning writing skill. Hence, the study “SOME
EFFECTIVE ACTIVITIES APPLIED TO TEACH WRITING IN THE PREWRITING STAGE TO THE 11TH – GRADESTUDENTS AT NGUYEN DUC
THUAN HIGH SCHOOL” was carried out.
1.2. Objectives for the study
The objective of this study is to find out the current situation of the
application of pre-writing activities to the 11th – grade students at Nguyen Duc
Thuan high school and then suggest some possible pre-writing activities here.
In brief, this study would answer four following questions as followed:
1. What are the students’ attitude towards writing skills in general and
pre-writing activities in particular?
2. What kinds of pre-writing activities are used actually in writing
lessons?
3. What difficulties do the students encounter in their learning writing,
especially the pre-writing stage?
4. What suggestions could be given out to improve the current situation of
applying pre-writing activities?
2


1.3. Significance of the study
As we all know, activities before the actual writing play a vital role in the
process of writing in general and in the pre-writing stage in particular. In fact,
how these pre-writing activities could be applied in the actual writing lessons to
11th form students at Nguyen Duc Thuan high school and whether these
activities are various and fully effective or not. It is an undeniable for both
students and teachers in learning and teaching writing skill. Thus, it comes up
with a point that a study should be conducted to deal with the questions above. It

is hoped that the study would be a contribution to the techniques of teaching and
learning writing, especially pre-writing activities to the 11th – grade students at
Nguyen Duc Thuan high school in order to improve the quality of teaching and
learning English writing skill.
1.4. Scope of the study
As it is clearly stated in the title of the study, neither all aspects of
teaching and learning writing skills are discussed in this paper. It is meant that
the focus of this study is on designing in-class prewriting activities to 11th –
grade students in Nguyen Duc Thuan high school. The object of this study is
pre-writing activities in learning writing skill which are applied in the class only,
regardless of outdoor ones and indoor ones for the 11th course book. Moreover,
much focus pays only attention on the prewriting stage, not the whole process of
teaching and learning writing. What is more, due to the scale of the study as well
as the limitation of the time and knowledge, the participants of the study are 100
11th form students n Nguyen Duc Thuan high school.
1.5. Task of the study
As it is mentioned from the objective, it is obviously affirmed that this
study intended to investigate the students’ attitude towards writing skill in
general and pre-writing activities in particular. The study, then, find out how
pre-writing activities have applied in the process of teaching and learning
writing, especially in the pre-writing stage. Based on the data from students’
survey and observation, the study would figure out the difficulties which the
3


students often deal in pre-writing stage. Additionally, some effective activities
used before the actual writing would be given.
1.6. Methodology of the study
In order to answers to the objective as mentioned above, two methods
namely qualitative and quantitative method are used. First, the students’ survey

questionnaire was conducted to get quantitative information which would be
great value to support my research. The survey was carried out among 100 11 th
form students at Nguyen Duc Thuan high school. The purpose of this survey is
to collect data about the current situation of using pre-writing activities
involving the students’ attitude, common troubles, comments on teachers’ actual
writing, and their expectations for adjustments from teachers. Secondly,
observation is to be chosen because some aspects of the issue examined could
not be included in the survey. It is mainly to find out the types of activities
which teachers often applied in pre-writing stage, time duration and the
effectiveness of these activities. Thus, observation help confirm information
collected through survey questionnaire.
1.7. Organization of the study
The study would be divided into three major parts namely INTRODUCTION,
DEVELOPMEMT and CONCLUSION. The study is firstly presented with a
general INTRODUCTION with the rationale, objectives, significance, scope, task,
methodology and the organization respectively. The study is then gone on with
three chapters.
Chapter one, namely as T HEORETICAL

BACKGROUND,

which

consists of two small components: literature review in brief, and theoretical
background. The second component provides some conception of writing, the
role and approaches of teaching writing, principles for writing proficiency and
factors in learning and teaching writing. Consequently, some general
background knowledge on pre-writing activities such as the definition and the
importance of it are also discussed.
4

Chapter two is called RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, contains
information on qualitative and quantitative methods in the process of conducting
this study as well as the data collected from the students’ survey and class
observation and their data analysis.
Chapter three entitled MAJOR FINDINGS AND SOME EFFECTIVE
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES TO TEACH WRITING IN THE PRE –
WRITING STAGE TO THE 11TH – GRADE STUDENTS AT NGUYEN DUC
THUAN HIGH SCHOOL. The focus of the study is revealed in this chapter, in
which the major findings from survey and observation and possible pre-writing
activities to 11th form students were suggested.
Last but not least, the part three of the study is named CONCLUSION,
which is the summary of the paper along with my awareness of unavoidable
limitations and suggestions for further research.

5


PART TWO
DEVELOPMENT

Chapter one
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1. Literature review in brief
In fact, there are four major English skills including speaking, listening,
reading, and writing, which must be mastered by the students. Especially,
writing skill is such a complex one in teaching and learning English that much
discussion has been devoted to it. In addition, there is no denial that the teachers

and learners are fully aware of the role of activities in the writing lessons
especially in the pre-writing stage. How to make writing lessons effectively and
how to motivate students before writing tasks? In fact, it has been studied by
many linguists like Oluwadiya, A. (1992: 3), White & Arndt (1991), Tribble, C.
(1996), Raimes, A. (1983), Nunan, D. (1991), Mark, S. (1982), Melanie, D.
(1998), Harmer, J. (1991), and Harmer, J. (2004) and so on. Each of them gives
different opinions to improve writing skill at the pre-writing stage.
Oluwadiya (1992: 3) in Some Prewriting Techniques for Students Writer
gives the procedure and techniques in teaching writing including activities in the
Pre-writing stage, in Practicing Writing in Hello and in the Post-writing stage.
"If a student has nothing to say, writing will not occur. Pre-writing activities
provide students with something to say and how to say it". According to him,
pre-writing activities give students ideas for writing, provide a structure for the
writing and identify the vocabulary they will need. The main goals of prewriting activities are to motivate students, to generate topics and to acquire
content for writing. Especially, he claimed that pre-writing is the stage that
provides students with vocabulary, syntax and language structure as well as
6


ideas for their writing. He makes a list of activities in the pre-writing stage
including oral group or individual brainstorming and dictation (asking
questions), cubing (describing, comparing, analyzing…), interviewing and
reading.
Apart from that, in the book Process Writing, White & Arndt (1991),
Tribble (1996) stated that the “working with ideas” stage can be subdivided into
three smaller tasks describes as “generating:, “focusing” and “structuring”.
According to them, firstly, generating activities help students find out what they
want to write about and to overcome imaginative blocks. Second, focusing
activities will promote students to determine priorities in what they have to say.
Last but not least, structuring activities encourage students to review the way in

which they are organizing their texts so that they will effectively communicate
with potential readers.
The book Techniques in Teaching Writing is written by Ann Raimes
(1983), describes practical procedures for teachers to follow at every stage,
including ways to stimulate students to write through pictures, readings and
discussions, and ways to respond to student writing as a form of communication.
Moreover, as Harmer, J. (1991) suggests that in the pre-writing stage,
teachers can help students define the topic in the pre-writing stage by analyzing
the instruction of the writing tasks, and limit the topic by teaching them some
techniques used in the pre-writing stage like brainstorming, free writing, etc.
Nunan, D. (1991) lists some activities that the learners should use in the
pre-writing stage in Language Teaching Methodology such as group
brainstorming, clustering, rapid free-writing, and Wh-questions.
In brief, each person can have a different viewpoint to improve writing
skill and we cannot tell which is better because each of them focuses on one
important matter of writing skill. However, the findings they drew out were too
simple and general. They do not find out the real situation of teaching and
learning writing skill at the pre-writing stage. In fact, there are a lot of
7


difficulties that the learners have to face before starting writing. Therefore,
being a language teacher, we must understand the nature of writing thoroughly
to help our students write effectively.
2. Theoretical background
In this section, the relevant literature which has helped from the
theoretical background and conceptual framework for the study is presented.
First, definitions of writing and the importance of learning and teaching
writing have been given. Second, some approaches to teaching writing
suggested by different theorists have been presented and taken into

consideration. What is more, principles for writing proficiency and factors in
learning and teaching writing have been mentioned. In addition, the definitions
and the importance of pre-writing activities in learning writing have also been
reviewed.
2.1. Teaching writing
2.1.1. Definition of writing
It has been argued that the term writing seems to be very common and
familiar in language teaching and learning. The ability to write fluently and
expressively is something that all language learners regardless of whether the
language in question is a first, second language finds it hard to achieve. All
children, apart from those with physiological disabilities, want to write, in fact,
need to write, before they want to read. There have been numerous definitions of
writing each of them is the reflection of its author’s view of the writing process.
According to David Nunan (1989:35), “writing is not a natural activity. All
physically and mentally normal people learn to speak a language. Yet all people
have to be taught how to write. This is a crucial difference between the spoken
and written form of language. There are other important differences as well.
Writing, unlike speech, is displaced in time. Indeed, this must be one reason
why writing originally evolved since it makes possible the transmission of a
message from one place to another. A written message can be received, stored
8


and referred back to at any time. It is permanent in comparison with the
ephemeral “here one minute and gone the next” character of spoken language –
even of spoken language that is recorded on tape or disk”.
Donn Byrne (1988), the author of “Writing and teaching writing” states
that “Writing can be considered as the act of forming graphic symbols (letters or
combination of letters) which relate to sounds we make when we speak. It is
somehow like the making marks of flat surface of some kinds. However, writing

is not just the production of graphic symbols, just as speech is more than
production of sounds” (1988:1). In other words, it is obviously much more
complicated than the production of graphic symbols. “Writing is the process of
transforming the material discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and
error, or whatever in to a message with a definite meaning” (1988: 3).
When we write, these symbols have to be "arranged to form words
according to certain conventions and then words must be arranged to form
sentences" (Lannon, J.M. (1989: 9). In fact, we do not write just one sentence of
even a group of unrelated sentences. We always produce a sequence of
sentences arranged in a particular organization and linked together in certain
way, which makes the writing become coherently and logically. The process to
form a coherent whole which can be called a “text” that is by all means of
complicated thinking process. It demands conscious intellectual efforts, the
cognitive skills and the patience as well.
Another definition notes that “writing is a medium of communication that
represents language through the inscription of signs and symbols. In most
languages, writing is c complement to speech or spoken language. Writing is not a
language but a form of technology. Within a language system, writing relies on
many of the same structures as speech, such as vocabulary, grammar and
semantics, with the added dependency of system of signs or symbols, usually in the
form of a formal alphabet” (retrieved from />
9


Sharing the same view, many linguists agree that writing is a complex
process (Flower and Hayes (1981), Ham – Lyons (1987), cited in Nunan
(1991)), but we still write for some reasons, to get information to someone who
are not present in front of us, to solve the problem of volume, of having to store
more than the human brain can remember, and to filter and shape our
experience.

In short, from all these opinions above, it is obvious that no definition can
possibly capture all the ideas and features of what writing is. Each linguist’s
definition reflects what writing means as seen from his own point of view.
However, they all have some features in common, they share the same ideas that
writing as a complex skill is one of the four basic skills in learning and teaching
of English. It is not only a means of communication where students can share
their views and thought, it is actually a pre requisite to master other language
skills.
2.1.2. The importance of learning and teaching writing
In the process of teaching and learning a second or foreign language, the
teaching and learning of writing are always received much attention, since it is
regarded as one of the most important major skills as “for many students, writing
is by far the most important of the four macro skills, particularly in English as a
second or foreign language”. As it is mentioned above, writing is a productive
skill that plays an importance in learning and teaching the English language.
Writing enhances language acquisition as learners experiment with words,
sentences, and other elements of writing to communicate their idea effectively,
and to reinforce the grammar and vocabulary they are learning in class.
Discussing over the matter of writing’s importance in the learning of
English, Mark, J.K states in one of his article named “Writing in English” that
writing is “an aim in learning English but as well as a tool for learning English”.
By that, it is considered as a device to grasp of English, reinforcing student’s
knowledge of grammar, syntax and vocabulary. Hence, by chance, writing is a
10


skill that requires mastering basic sub other language skills (speaking, listening
and reading), and processes such as; handwriting, spelling, mastery of the
conventions of punctuation, capitalization; planning, evaluating, and revising text.
Penny Ur (2003:17) suggests that the teaching of writing is especially

significant, not only for its practical value in helping students to compose all types
of writing that are necessary in our daily life and academic work but also for its
pedagogical value in helping them to have a good command of all English skills.
It can be noticed that the purpose of teaching writing as one of the four
language skills is to facilitate student’s learning, career, and their daily
communication. Writing is a psychological need in the sense that it provides
learners with evidence that they are making progress. Writing also makes
language learning more effective and authentic through creating a variety of
activities inside class.
As a matter of fact, the process of putting sequences of separate words
into a piece of writing which is logical and coherent as well as makes sense is
the act of making input become intake. When learning writing, students firstly
seek for background knowledge and target language to create ideas. They, then,
make use of acquired knowledge through other language skills to put ideas into
active use.
Almost all methodologists have recently agreed with the importance of
learning and teaching writing to master English. Nevertheless, not all of them
share the same view on what approaches and methods best appropriate with the
teaching of this complicated skill to learners of English, especially secondary
students.
2.1.3. Approaches to teaching writing skills
Writing is an important skill to develop in language learning and teaching
but the question is how writing competence can be developed. In reality, the
number of answers to the question of how to teach writing English in foreign
classes is as many as the number of teachers, students, and their teaching and
11


learning styles. As it is concerned by Ann Raimes (1983), there have been six
approaches to teach writing. These have inferred from the development of

several different approaches to teach language in general, which have in turn
contributed to the changing importance of writing within English syllabuses and
the English class in particular. Figure 2.1is Raimes’s diagram of aspects which
shows what writers deal with while writing.
2.1.3.1. The Product Approach or Controlled-to- Free Approach
According to Tribble (1996:118), students were purely “writing to learn”
as opposed to “learning to write”. This point of view was paraphrased and
praised by the Product Approach or Controlled-to- Free Approach that
originated from the Audio- Linguistic approach to second- language learning
popular in 1950s and early 1960s when primary purpose of learning and
teaching English was put on spoken language and writing mainly involved the
mastery of grammatical and syntactic forms. Following this approach, students
would likely have good grammatical skills. In general, students mainly work
with given material. The distinguishing feature of this approach is that students
can write a great deal of little mistakes. This approach emphasizes on three
features in the figure 2.1: grammar, syntax, and mechanics, and on accuracy
rather than fluency.

Figure 2.1. Producing a piece of writing by Ann Raimes (1983)
12


This approach as “focus on language structures” provides a four - stage
process of writing. In the first stage, students learn certain grammar and
vocabulary, and in the second stage, students, then, practice fixed patterns. Next,
students copy model texts, and finally, students write essays using the patterns
they have learnt. In short, this approach emphasizes accuracy of writing over
fluency, and classroom activities are designed to develop the students’ ability to
produce certain structures.
In brief, syntax, grammar and mechanics are mostly emphasized instead

of content, process, audience, and purpose of writing. The Controlled-to-Free
Approach expects writers to have error-free sentences, and this characteristic
makes the Controlled-to-Free Approach different from the other writing
approaches.
2.1.3.2. The Free- Writing Approach
Different from the Controlled -to- Free Approach, this approach stresses
writing quantity rather than quality. It means that the emphasis in this approach
is on audience, content and fluency. It is partly illustrated by the fact that
students are often given the topics and self-manage to write with only minimal
teachers’ correction. Teachers may start their classes by asking students to write
freely about a particular topic without concern about grammar and spelling
within a short while. In free-writing approach, it is important that teachers allow
students to express what they want to say and focus on the students’ own
creativity and self- discovery. In addition, one more important feature of this
approach is that little is done with errors because according to Raimes, teachers
do not correct students’ free-writing but only comment on the content. Some
students volunteer to read their writing to the class, which provides a real
audience for students. Nevertheless, the concern for accuracy, syntax, and
mechanics are seen as of little importance in this approach. In this regard, the
free-writing approach has limitations in preparing EFL students for academic
writing. In conclusion, the free-writing approach considers content as the most
important instead of accurate forms of languages.
13


2.1.3.3. The Paragraph –Pattern Approach
Instead of emphasis on accuracy and fluency, Raimes (1983) has called
the Paragraph-Pattern Approach, which emphasized the importance of
organization at the above-sentence level. As a matter of fact, students often
copy, analyze paragraphs and imitate model passages. They identify to write

topic sentences or insert or delete sentences. In reality, this approach is based on
the principle that the ways people organize communication with each other vary
from cultures to cultures. By far, the largest single concern in second language
writing research has “contrastive rhetoric”. The focus of this work has been on
characterizing how first language “cultural thought patterns” are reflected in
second language writers’ texts, how some cultures put the responsibility for
successful written communication on the writer and others on the reader, and
how differences between “collectivist” and “individualist” tendencies express
themselves in second language writing.
( />“The genre approach” is similar to the Paragraph-Pattern Approach. The
goal of the genre approach is to let students have control of the rhetorical
structure of specific text types to achieve a certain purpose. In this approach,
teachers are mainly concerned about how language patterns are used to achieve
coherence in writing, and students develop their writing skills through analyzing
expert texts and reproducing them. In short, the Paragraph-Pattern Approach
stresses the organization of a target language, and the organization is different
among cultures; thus, the writing classroom should deal with the differences for
students to reproduce a particular type of writing for a specific purpose.
2.1.3.4. The Grammar –Syntax-Organization Approach
In the Grammar –Syntax-Organization Approach, simultaneous work is
the most significant concern. This approach requires students to focus on several
features of writing at once. “The writing tasks are designed to make students to
pay attention to grammar and syntax while also giving the words such as first,
14


then and finally to organize their text.” This approach originates from the idea
that writing should not ever be taught separated from other skills which are
learnt sequentially. Thus, students are trained to pay much their attention to
organize, they should also work on the necessary grammar and syntax. This

approach helps students see the connection between the purpose of their piece of
writing and the forms of language that are needed to convey messages. Through
this approach, teachers may emphasize their students’ grammatical and
discourse competence.
2.1.3.5. The Communicative Approach
An unknown author states that “the teaching of writing has moved away
from a concentration on written product” (the finished text) “to an emphasis on
the process of writing” (ways in which text can be developed). In this approach,
students are encouraged to ask some crucial questions about the purpose and
audience as if they wrote in real life:
 What I am writing?
 Why am I writing this?
 Who will read it?
 How do I write this?
 What have I written?
 What grade is it worth?
 How can it be improved?
The Communicative Approach makes use of real-life situations that
necessitate communication. Teachers set up a situation that students are likely to
encounter in real life. Unlike other method of language teaching, the
Communicative Approach can leave students in suspense as to the outcome of a
class exercise, which vary according to their reactions and responses. The reallife simulations change from day to day. Moreover, in writing classes adopting
this approach, students are trained to generate ideas for writing, think of the
purpose and audience and write multiple drafts in order to present written
15


products that communicate their own ideas. Teachers and scholars represent the
relationship between the three factors – writer, audience and context with a
rhetorical triangle:

Figure 2.2. Spark’s (1984) diagram of rhetorical triangle in writing
Such a triangle links these three elements while emphasizing that all three
equal and dependent on each other. A writer who has adopted an appropriate
rhetorical stance can not only change our minds, but also “engages us in the
process of thinking, and feeling”. Hence, to find appropriate stance, the writer
must be aware of their own persona, strengths, weaknesses and communication
style, as well as their audience’s character and needs. Similarly, the audience
influences the way the context is delivered. In other words, the contexts change
as the audience change. Finally, the three sections of this rhetorical triangle play
an important role in writing and suggest questions writers may ask of themselves
when beginning on the writing process.
2.1.3.6. The Process Approach
It is easily seen that what are presented in the parts from 2.1.3.1 to 2.1.3.5
that all these approaches, in one way or another, focus on product. Undeniably,
the final product is crucial. All of teachers as well as students would like to
produce fluent and correct product. Moreover, teachers who use the Process
Approach give students time to generate ideas and give feedback on the content
of what they write in their drafts. As a matter of fact, when being assigned a
16