Danilo T. Dayag, Ph.D. Department of English and Applied Linguistics De La Salle University-Manila E-mail: [e-mail]

1
WORKSHOP ONTEACHING WRITING

• Danilo T. Dayag, Ph.D.Department of English and
  Applied LinguisticsDe La Salle
  University-ManilaE-mail danilo.dayag_at_dlsu.edu.ph

2
Objectives

• At the end of the lecture-workshop, participants
  should be able to
• 1. Explain the nature of writing based on
  findings of empirical research
• 2. Describe the process of writing, keeping in
  mind that the process is recursive and cyclical
• 3. Survey different strategies which reflect the
  recursive nature of writing and
• 4. Discuss issues and concerns in putting up a
  viable writing program.

3
Task 1

• In at least one paragraph, complete the
  following
• Getting a college degree is important because
  _____________________________. __________
• ____________. ___________________________
• ____________________. ___________________
• ________________. ______________. ________
  ________________________________________.

4
Task 2

• In groups of five (maximum), reflect on your
  writing activity by responding to the following
  questions and by justifying your answers
• Before you started writing, did you have a clear
  plan of what to say on paper?
• When you were writing, was it clear to you how
  you would say what you wanted to say?

5
Task 2 (continuation)

• 3. When you were writing, were you concerned
  about correct grammar and mechanics (punctuation,
  spelling, etc.)? Or, were you more concerned
  about what you were going to say than about
  correctness of grammar, spelling, etc.?
• 4. Did you have a target audience in mind when
  you were writing?
• 5. When you were writing, were you also thinking?

6
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Teaching Writing as Product
• Until the 1970s, most writing pedagogy
  emphasized learning and assessing a sequence of
  essential skills forming letters, building
  vocabulary, identifying parts of speech,
  diagramming sentences, mastering grammar and
  punctuation, and following paragraph types and
  genres of writing according to prescribed
  conventions. This approach was largely
  product-centered and print-based that is, it
  focused on the finished exemplar of student work
  with little or no attention to the purpose or
  process of producing it. (National Writing
  Project Nagin, 2003, pp. 19-20)

7
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Teaching Writing as Product
• The emphasis on correctness as the most
  significant measure of accomplished prose was
  rooted in a nineteenth-century model of language
  development and a pedagogy of memorization and
  skill drills. It also assumed that reading should
  be taught before writing and that instruction in
  the latter should focus on extrinsic (linguistic
  and stylistic) conventions of writing and
  eradication of errors. (National Writing Project
  Nagin, 2003, p. 20)

8
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Teaching Writing as Process
• Research has shown that writing is recursive,
  that it does not proceed linearly but instead
  cycles and recycles through subprocesses that can
  be described this way
• 1. Planning (generating ideas, setting goals, and
  organizing)
• 2. Translating (turning plans into written
  language)
• 3. Reviewing (evaluating, revising, editing)
• (NWP Nagin, 2003, p. 25, emphasis
  supplied)

9
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Teaching Writing as Process
• Even for an experienced writer, the cycling
  occurs in no fixed order. Writers may create and
  change their goals as they move through these
  phases, depending on their topic, rhetorical
  purpose, and audience. (NWP Nagin, 2003, p. 25)

10
A Flowchart of the Writing Process(Hyland, 2008,
p. 100)
11
A Flowchart of the Writing Process(Hyland, 2008,
p. 101)

• Writers have goals and plan extensively.
• Writing is constantly revised, often even before
  any text has been produced.
• Planning, drafting, revising, and editing are
  recursive and potentially simultaneous.
• Plans and text are constantly evaluated by the
  writer in a feedback loop.

12
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Teaching Writing as Process
• The writing process is anything a writer does
  from the time the idea came until the piece is
  completed or abandoned. There is no particular
  order. So its not effective to teach writing
  process in a lock-step, rigid manner. What a
  good writing teacher does is help students see
  where writing comes from in a chance remark or
  an article that really burns you up. (Donald
  Graves in NWP Nagin, 2003, p. 23)

13
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Teaching Writing as Process
• Subsequent research found that writing could
  develop higher-order thinking skills analyzing,
  synthesizing, evaluating, and interpreting. The
  very difficulty of writing is its virtue it
  requires that students move beyond rote learning
  and simply reproducing information, facts, dates,
  and formulae. Students must also learn how to
  question their own assumptions and reflect
  critically on an alternative or an opposing
  viewpoint.
• (NWP Nagin, 2003, p. 23)

14
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Teaching Writing as Process
• It emphasizes that
• the activities involved in the act of writing
  are typically recursive rather than linear
• writing is first and foremost a social activity
  and
• the act of writing can be a means of learning
• and discovery.
• (Vandenberg, Hum, Clary-Lemon, n.d., p. 2)

15
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Teaching Writing as Process
• From an instructional standpoint, argues George
  Hillocks, Jr., writing should be a form of
  inquiry. (NWP Nagin, 2003, p. 23, emphasis
  supplied)

16
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Teaching Writing as Process
• Some Inquiry Strategies
• collecting and evaluating evidence
• comparing and contrasting cases to infer
  similarities and differences
• explaining how evidence supports or does not
  support a claim
• creating a hypothetical example to clarify an
  idea
• imagining a situation from a perspective other
  than ones own
• (NWP Nagin, 2003, p. 23)

17
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Some Writing-as-Process Strategies
• Brainstorming (Pre-writing) webbing, treeing,
  flowcharting
• Freewriting
• Inquiry strategies
• Peer response
• Sentence combining
• Writing portfolio

18
Rhetorical Purpose

• Writing may serve any of the following purposes
• To inform
• To persuade
• To argue
• To narrate
• To describe
• To entertain

19
The Writers Audience

• Writers address real and imaginary audiences in
  their work.
• Audiences can include the writer himself or
  herself (as in a journal or diary), friends
  (letters, e-mails), a teacher, peers in school or
  the community, or a distance audience unknown to
  the writer. (NWP Nagin, 2003, p. 26)

20
The Writers Audience

• Students mature as writers by understanding how
  to write for different audiences, contexts, and
  purposes.
• (NWP Nagin, 2003, p. 26)

21
The Writing Prompt

• The writing prompt should clearly state the
  topic, rhetorical purpose, target audience of the
  writing task, as well as the features of the
  output expected of the students.

22
Sample Writing Prompt

• The RH Bill is a controversial proposed law
  being debated in both chambers of the Philippine
  Congress. Proponents of the bill argue that, as a
  possible solution to the overpopulation problem
  that the country is facing, it will contribute to
  national development. The anti-RH group, however,
  maintains that it will promote abortion, which
  contradicts Catholic beliefs in this largely
  Catholic nation. What are your thoughts about the
  issue?

23
Sample Writing Prompt (continuation)

• In an essay of at least three paragraphs, write
  to your congressman of your district to state
  your position on the issue. Use adequate and
  appropriate evidence (e.g., statistics, facts,
  etc.) to support your claims.

24

• TASK
• Think of a good topic for an argumentative
  essay. Prepare a writing prompt for a class of
  advanced EFL/ESL students.

25
The Nature of Writing Pedagogy

• Beyond the Writing Process
• (Writing as Situated in a Context)
• The ways in which writing gets produced are
  characterized by an almost impenetrable web of
  cultural practices, social interactions, power
  differentials, and discursive conventions
  governing the production of text. (Joseph
  Petraglia in Vandenberg, Hum, Clary-Lemon,
  n.d., p. 4)

26
Scoring or Marking Essays

• Issues
• Which of the drafts should be marked?
• On what basis is an essay marked?
• (Scoring rubric)

27
Establishing an Effective Writing Program (NWP
Nagin, 2003, pp. 87-105)

• Essential strategies for creating and sustaining
  a successful writing program
• 1. As learning leaders, administrators need to
  work with their faculty in providing vision and
  leadership. Devising long-term
  plans for improving writing crafting policy
  statements assessing the status of writing and
  of teaching it enlisting teacher leaders for
  improving teaching writing committing time and
  providing the necessary resources, etc.

28
Essential strategies for creating and sustaining
a successful writing program

• 2. Samples of student writing and teachers
  assignments can be done to generate valuable
  data for assessing the state of writing in the
  school or district. In addition, a survey of the
  state of writing in the school or district may be
  conducted to come up with a collective vision of
  what needs to be changed.

29
Essential strategies for creating and sustaining
a successful writing program

• 3. Administrators should take the lead in
  building flexibility, community, and long-term
  planning.
• flexibility rather than orthodoxy,
  respect for teacher as professional, a sense of
  authentic school community, teamwork, a bottom-up
  rather than top-down approach to developing the
  program

30
Essential strategies for creating and sustaining
a successful writing program

• 4. Administrators and teachers can explore
  effective practices through ongoing professional
  development .
• Through discussion groups, sharing
  sessions, workshops, and other in-service
  training programs

31
Essential strategies for creating and sustaining
a successful writing program

• 5. Administrators can exercise their leadership
  in promoting writing across the curriculum.
• Writing is a part of all content areas
  rather than a discrete subject.
  Writing as a tool for inquiry, critical thinking,
  and active learning in diverse subject areas (NWP
  Nagin, 2003, pp. 87-105)

32
Elements of a Writing Program 

• Background and Rationale
• Specific Objectives
• Strategies/Activities
• Time-Frame
• Expected Outcomes/Outputs
• Success Indicators (Metrics)

33
References

• Kroll, B. (2003). Exploring the dynamics of
  second language writing. Cambridge Cambridge
  University Press.
• Hyland, K. (2008). Writing theories and writing
  pedagogies. Indonesian Journal of English
  Language Teaching, 4(2), 91-110.
• The National Writing Project Nagin, Carl.
  (2003). Because writing matters Improving
  student writing in our schools. San Francisco,
  CA Jossey-Bass.
• Vandenberg, P., Hum, S. Clary-Lemon, J. (n.d.).
  Relations, locations, positions Composition
  theory for
• writing teachers (Critical introduction).

34

• Thank you for actively participating.