The most important factor in writing exercises is that students need to
be personally involved in order to make the learning experience of
lasting value. Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while
at the same time refining and expanding writing skills, requires a
certain pragmatic approach. The teacher should be clear on what skills
he/she is trying to develop. Next, the teacher needs to decide on which
means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area.
Once the target skill areas and means of implementation are defined, the
teacher can then proceed to focus on what topic can be employed to
ensure student participation. By pragmatically combing these objectives,
the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning.
Overall Game Plane
- Choose writing objective
- Find a writing exercise that helps to focus on the specific objective
- If possible, tie the subject matter to student needs
- Provide feedback through correction activities that call on students to correct their own mistakes
- Have students revise work
Choose Your Target Well
Choosing the target area depends on many factors; What level are the
students?, What is the average age of the students, Why are the students
learning English, Are there any specific future intentions for the
writing (i.e school tests or job application letters etc.). Other
important questions to ask oneself are: What should the students be able
to produce at the end of this exercise? (a well written letter, basic
communication of ideas, etc.) What is the focus of the exercise?
(structure, tense usage, creative writing). Once these factors are clear
in the mind of the teacher, the teacher can begin to focus on how to
involve the students in the activity thus promoting a positive,
long-term learning experience.
Remember
- What will students be able to do after the exercise?
- Keep focus to one area of English writing skills
Having decided on the target area, the teacher can focus on the means
to achieve this type of learning. As in correction, the teacher must
choose the most appropriate manner for the specified writing area. If
formal business letter English is required, it is of little use to
employ a free expression type of exercise. Likewise, when working on
descriptive language writing skills, a formal letter is equally out of
place.
Keeping Students Involved
With both the target area and means of production, clear in the
teachers mind, the teacher can begin to consider how to involve the
students by considering what type of activities are interesting to the
students; Are they preparing for something specific such as a holiday or
test?, Will they need any of the skills pragmatically? What has been
effective in the past? A good way to approach this is by class feedback,
or brainstorming sessions. By choosing a topic that involves the
students the teacher is providing a context within which effective
learning on the target area can be undertaken.
Correction
Finally, the question of which type of correction will facilitate a
useful writing exercise is of utmost importance. Here the teacher needs
to once again think about the overall target area of the exercise. If
there is an immediate task at hand, such as taking a test, perhaps
teacher guided correction is the most effective solution. However, if
the task is more general (for example developing informal letter writing
skills), maybe the best approach would be to have the students work in
groups thereby learning from each other. Most importantly, by choosing
the correct means of correction the teacher can encourage rather
discourage students.
sumber :
teaching technique
