TEACHING WRITING TO YOUNG LEARNER
1.
What is writing?
Writing is a
combination of process and product. The process refers to the act of gathering
ideas and working with them until they are presented in a manner that is
polished and comprehensible to readers. Teaching writing to young children must
recognize the complexity of the process.
2.
Background to
the teaching of writing
Areas of
development in teaching writing:
a.
Physical skill
necessary: students have fine motor to hold pencil firmly in their hands and
form letters on paper.
b.
Cognitive skills:
to formulate ideas and write them onto paper. Teacher must consider the task to
teach them how to print letters, write words, and capture their ideas to put on
paper. Students are taught printed letters first, forming printed letters is
easier that forming cursive.
3.
The development
of writing skills
Types of written
text that children can produce commonly in EFL classroom is pen-pal or
pen-friend letters. This is allow children to develop writing skills within the
context of an authentic and purposeful writing activity.
Steps of writing
process:
a.
Prewriting:
children prepare and collect their thoughts and ideas. E.g. discussion between
teacher and learners.
b.
Writing:
children write down all of their ideas. Make sure learners are writing about
topics which are interest to them.
c.
Revising: the
initial piece of writing is examined and reworked so that the ideas are logical
and flow together (look for feedback from teacher or another students).
d.
Editing: with
help learners make sure that there are not any content errors or grammatical or
spelling error
e.
Publishing:
rewritten in a published or presentable form. Publishing refers to putting the
writing in format where it can be shared with others. E.g. poster and magazine.
4.
Classroom
techniques and activities
a.
Writing models:
teacher provides material that will model the type of writing that young
learners will produce. In addition to books, magazines, and newspaper, be sure
to include the types of environmental print.
b.
Group writing:
children work collaboratively on a writing project, by doing a language
experience approach story to teach children reading. Learners also can create a
group book work in small groups to create different pieces of written text.
c.
Talking and
writing box: teacher give students suggestions or prompt about what to write
about their own Talking and Writing Box.
d.
Writing centers:
can be used to inspire learners at every step of the writing process, to help
them develop the motor skills to produce legible writing. Writing center should
be placed in a clean, cherry place that invites children to compose different
pieces of writing.
e.
Writing
conferences: there can be one conference per piece of writing or a series of
conferences for a specific writing. These can be held between teacher and
leaner or between learners themselves. Children also study how to comment and
critique the writing.
f.
Inventive
spelling: students’ attempts at spelling word based on their developing
cognitive and literacy skills. When it comes to the editing and publishing
stages of the process, pay attention to spelling is necessary.
g.
Word walls: are
list of words that children have encountered in their reading and that can be
used in their writing. These list should be posted on the walls of classroom.
5.
Writing in
classroom
For young
learners under the age of 5, emphasis is often placed on the formation of the
letters themselves. For older learners, context area coursebooks designed for
native English speakers are used more often in ESL or EFL classrooms.
More writing
activities for learners are finding their way into content area coursebooks
designed for native English-speaking children, because children have conceptual
knowledge in their native language which they can transfer into English.
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