group 8 ‘GudBoyz’
teaching writing to L2 learners
Agus Prayogo
Asih Nurakhir
Nico Ouwpoly
Sutarno
purpose of presentation
To provide an understanding on the principles of teaching
writing
To provide a short overview on how writing is taught and
evaluated by teachers to achieve certain objectives
The main points to present
1. Writing at glance and types of classroom
writing performance
2. The principles of teaching writing
3. How student writing is evaluated
Writing at glance
 Writing is the last skill of language after listening, speaking
and reading
 Many consider that writing is the most difficult skill among
the other three
 To be able to write well, one should work hard to practice
writing in addition to understanding writing concept and
tools
Types of Classroom Writing Performance
Imitative or writing down
Intensive or controlled
Self-writing
Display writing
Real writing
Principles for Designing Writing
Techniques
1. Incorporate practices of “ good “ writers
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Focus on a goal or main idea in writing,
perceptively gauge their audience,
Spend some time ( but not too much!) planning to write,
Easily let their first ideas flow onto the paper,
Follow a general organizational plan as they write,
Solicit and utilize feedback on their writing,
Are not wedded to certain surface structures,
Revise their work willingly and efficiently,
Patiently make as many revisions as needed
2. Balance process and product.
Because writing is a composing process and usually requires
multiple drafts before an effectiv are product is created, make sure
that students are carefully led through appropriate stages in the
process of composing.
3. Account for cultural / literary backgrounds
Make sure that your techniques do not assume that your students
know English rhetorical conventions. If there are some apparent
contrasts between students’ native traditons and those that you
are trying to teach, try to help students to understand what it is,
exactly, that they are accustomed to and then, by degrees, bring
them to the use of acceptable English rhetoric.
4. Connect reading and writing.
Clearly, students learn to write in part by carefully observing
what is already written. That is , they learn by observing , or
reading , the written word. By reading and studying a variety of
relevant types of text, students can gain important insights
both about how they should write and about subject matter
that may become the topic of their writing.
5. Provide as much authentic writing as possible
Wheter writing is real writing or for display, it can still be
authentic in that the purposes for writing are clear to the
students, the audience is specified overtly, and there is at least
some intent to convey meaning. Sharing writing with other
students in the class is one way to add authenticity. Publising a
class newsletter, writing letters to people outside of class,
writing a script for a skit or dramatic presentation, writing a
resume , writing advertisements-all these can be seen as
authentic writing.
6. Frame your techniques in terms of
prewriting, drafting, and revising stages
How to evaluate student writing?
(Brown, 2001)
 The evaluation of writing, especially in a process-oriented
classroom is a thorny issue. In writing class, a teacher serves
as a guide and facilitator of students’ performance in the
ongoing process of developing a piece of written work, but at
the same time he/she should also serve as a judge.
 To serve this dual role requires wisdom and sensitivity.
 Fairness and explicitness in what teacher takes into account in
evaluation are the keys of being writing judge.
Then how to evaluate?
(J.D Brown, 1991, adapted by HD. Brown, 2001)
There are six general categories that are often the
basis for the evaluation of student writing
1. Content : thesis statement, related ideas,
development of ideas through personal experience,
illustration, facts, opinions
2. Organization : effectiveness of introduction, logical
sequence of ideas, conclusion, appropriate length
next categories
3. Discourse : topic sentence, paragraph unity,
transitions, cohesion, rhetorical conventions,
reference, economy, variation
4. Syntax
5. Vocabulary
6. Mechanics : spelling, punctuation, citation of
reference (if applicable), neatness and
appearance
How is the system of weighting of each?
Please note that the most evaluative feedback a
teacher may give is the comments, both specific and
summative of student’ work
If numerical score is needed, a teacher can establish a
point scale for each category (e.g. 0 – 5) and return the
paper with six different scores on them.
If single grade or score is needed, consider weighting
the first few categories more heavily, or you may
emphasize on the content based flavor of the
evaluation
Examples of weighting (Brown, 2001 p.358)
Content
Organization
Discourse
Syntax
Vocabulary
Mechanics
TOTAL
: 0 – 24
: 0 – 20
: 0 – 20
: 0 – 12
: 0 – 12
: 0 – 12
: 100
Thank you very much
Is there any question?
References
 HD. Brown. (2001). Teaching by Principles. London: Longman