Writing Skills

Welcome to…
The Writing Skills
This is designed to help you:
• identify the key problems that young non-native learners
have with writing in English
• research methodology and approaches to developing the
writing skill
• find and share interesting activities to develop writing skills
and sub-skills in the classroom
• become familiar with some useful teaching resource sites
First of all you are going to look at some examples of learners’
writing on the internet and identify the key areas that the
learners need to work on. You will then research these problems
and look for ideas and activities that help with these problem
areas on the net. Finally, you will share what you have found with
the rest of your class in a poster presentation.
1. Introduction
Think back to your days at school and discuss the
questions in the pink box with a partner.
Your answers should help you think about why writing is often the most
problematic skill for learners of a second or foreign language.
Now go to the websites below and look at the written
work that some teenage learners of English have posted.
Discuss the writing skill strengths and weaknesses that
these learners have.

1. How did you feel about writing?
2. What sort of things did you like writing / dislike about
writing activities?
3. What problems do you remember having? Why?
4. How do you think students feel about writing in English?
2. Task
Read through the instructions for the task and check
you understand everything.
Step 1:
Work in groups of five. You are going to decide on a ‘top five’ of writing
problems and write them on the form below.
Step 2:
See how many of the problems you chose are the same as the ones in the
yellow box.
Step 3: Choose one of the problems in the yellow box and see what you
can find out about it at the sites in the orange box.
Step 4: Team up with someone in another group who researched the same
problem area you did. Compare notes.
Step 5: Work with the same partner. Look at the sites in the green box.
Find and choose at least four useful writing activities that will help your
students overcome the problem you chose.
Step 6: Make a poster about the writing problem and writing activities
you chose.
Step 7: Go back to your original group. Present your poster to the group
and try out some of the writing activities.
3.Process
1 Decide on your 5 ideas for writing problems. Add them
to the board below.
2 Now compare your list with the one in the yellow
box.
3 Now choose one of the problems in the yellow box and
look at the relevant website to find advice or information
about it.
• Spelling: The fact that English is not phonetic leads to spelling problems.
Most learners are able to memorise consonants in words, but often use
incorrect vowels, incorrect word endings and forget to add silent letters
(consonants).
• Using correct language (word order, syntax and grammar): Students
often translate directly from their own language and forget that most simple
English sentences use the SVO pattern. Pronouns, plurals, prepositions and
articles are frequently used incorrectly.
• Forming paragraphs: Students may only write short sentences and lack
confidence to write at paragraph level..
• Organising ideas logically: When students do write longer texts, they may
not organize their ideas properly into paragraphs.
• Lack of ideas and opinions: Schools often encourage students to memorise
texts and then write them out in the exam. Students who go on to study at
English medium Universities often find it difficult because they are
expected to write using their own ideas.
4 Compare what you found out with what someone in the
other group discovered. What sort of activities will help
with this problem?
5 Look at some of the sites in the green box. Find and
choose at least four useful writing activities that will
help your students overcome the problem you chose.
General
6 Make a poster about the writing problem and writing
activities you chose. Go to the web site below for ideas
on how to structure your presentation.
3. Evaluation:
1 Go back to your original group. Present your poster to the
group and try out some of the writing activities. Try to write a
suggestion for each row on the grid below.
Problem Practice activity
Spelling
Correct Language
Forming paragraphs
Organising ideas
Lack of ideas
2 Complete the assessment questionnaire
Which websites did you find
the most helpful?
Which writing activities would
you like to try using with your
classes?
What did you like about the
other presentations you saw?
What was successful in your
own presentation?
What could be adapted, added
or left out?