ELT 7 PDF - Productive Competences – Writing and Mediating

Session 7: Productive Competences – Writing and Mediating 1. Different Kinds of Writing 1.1. Real-Life − writing to others/social writing (emails, letters, invitation cards, text messages) − personal writing (shopping lists, reminders, recipes, diaries, blogs, …) − official/public writin...

Session 7: Productive Competences – Writing and Mediating 1. Different Kinds of Writing 1.1. Real-Life − writing to others/social writing (emails, letters, invitation cards, text messages) − personal writing (shopping lists, reminders, recipes, diaries, blogs, …) − official/public writing (enquiries, complaints, forms, applications, exams) − study writing (essays, term papers) − institutional writing (agendas, minutes, CVs) − creative writing (stories, poems, songs) 1.2. English Classes − copying − playful writing (hangman) − filling in blanks − personal writing (portfolio) − social writing (letter) − official writing (complaint, CV) − creative writing (speech bubbles, jokes, stories) − dictations − summaries − interpretations → discrepancy: writing to communicate with others vs. writing to or for the teacher 2. Implications for Teaching Writing − bring in motivation and feelings − consider pragmatic aspects: orientation towards everyday writing, real audiences, actual communication, use of technology − use different forms of writing: informative, emotive, argumentative, describing, reporting, justifying, taking a stand, creative writing, … 2.1. Teaching Writing as a Competence − competences needed o textual competence: knowledge of text types and genres, their inner structure, typical words and phrases (chunks) you can find in these genres and the context they are used in (+ cultural knowledge) o linguistic competence: vocabulary, semantics, syntax o rhetorical competence: style, metaphors, structure o writing strategies: brainstorming, drafting, organising thoughts, editing, … o motivation  − focus not only on product, but on the process of writing o planning (collecting ideas) o drafting (focus on fluency, organising ideas) o (1st) writing (attention to text genre, restructuring) o revising and editing (re-examining whole texts or parts of it, checking on language, including responses of peers and teacher) o (2nd) writing (final version) − types of writing o written interaction: email, letter of complaint, … o written production: essay, analysis, story, … o written mediation: written transfer of a particular source text into a shared language 2.2. Approaches to Develop Writing Competence Process-based Approach − focus on the steps of writing − writing as a process − acknowledges that texts are created gradually, form brainstorming ideas to final editing − key concern o how do writers create good texts? o procedural aspect of writing − method o planning or pre-writing ▪ generating ideas: mind maps, think pair share, sample texts, … ▪ getting into the mood or habit of writing ▪ ideas and phrases are structured and selected, focus on topic or task ▪ wh-questions o drafting ▪ get ideas into a linear order, consider the implied reader or audience ▪ overall composition of the texts and arrangement of single phrases and ideas ▪ text genre ▪ encourage students to experiment with different drafts and versions o revising and editing ▪ usually builds on responses or assessments by peers or the teacher ▪ consider content ▪ consider style, grammar, lexis, spelling, punctuation, diction, sentence structure, development of argument ▪ re-examine parts of the text or the whole text Genre/Text-based Approach − focus on the product of writing by examining the formal surface elements and discourse structure of sample texts, and putting them into practice when writing a genre − particularly effective when working with standardised texts (applications, newspaper articles, postcards) − highly explicit (the end product is the primary focus) − key concern o what makes a good text? o declarative knowledge − method o helping students to identify their writing needs o building awareness of discourse organisation o helping students to develop crafting skills o enabling students to apply criteria of an effective text Creative Approach − moves beyond purely utilitarian objectives of language use − stresses creativity, expressive writing, aesthetics, feeling for language, imagination, experimentation − important for learners to express personally relevant meanings − often genre as a starting point − method o improvisation o feeling for language o fantasy o open tasks o unconventional products 3. Mediation − makes communication possible between persons who are unable to communicate with each other directly − transferring information between individuals with no common language (different mediums possible) − interpreting and communicating by paraphrasing the most relevant information for a particular audience (not word by word, only information that is relevant for the addressee and in the situation) − usually speakers of different languages − potentially adding (cultural) information that not all participants in the conversation have