EnhanceMyWriting.

com:
The Importance of Good Writing Skills
by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D. and Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.
Writing skills can be the ticket to better college grades and greater academic achievement. This article
introduces a few techniques for applying writing skills to college success. But this good advice will be lost
on you if you don't believe writing skills are important and can help you achieve academic mastery. Our
job is to convince you. To begin with, the overwhelming majority of instructors we surveyed said that
writing skills are critical to academic success.
And if you see yourself as one of those college students who will say "Phew" when the syllabus reveals
only exams and no papers, what happens when those exams turn out to be essay tests? This article
suggests a few ways to raise your grade on those exams simply by employing the principles of good
writing -- even if you study no harder and know the material no better than you do now.
Perhaps you've heard that no one cares about your grades once you leave the halls of academia. While
that notion holds some truth, it is equally true that most potential employers do care about writing
skills. They care so much that they bemoan the poor preparation of the entry-level pool of grads. In a
labor force full of mediocre writers, someone who writes well is bound to stand out and succeed.
Academicians and business people view writing skills as crucial, yet increasing numbers of these
professionals note a steady erosion in the writing abilities of graduates. The summary of a study
published in Personnel Update states: "Writing skills ... of executives are shockingly low, indicating that
schools and colleges dismally fail with at least two-thirds of the people who pass through the education
pipeline coming out unable to write a simple letter."
In 1988, Lin Grensing reported that 79 percent of surveyed executives cited writing as one of the most
neglected skills in the business world, yet one of the most important to productivity. A 1992 survey of
402 companies reported by the Associated Press noted that executives identified writing as the most
valued skill but said 80 percent of their employees at all levels need to improve. The number of workers
needing improvement in writing skills was up 20 percent from results of the same survey in 1991.
Results of a 1993 study by Olsten Corp., a placement agency, were almost identical: 80 percent of 443
employers surveyed said their workers needed training in writing skills.
The need for workers with writing skills will only increase. A 1991 report by the U.S. Labor Department
noted that most future jobs will require writing skills.

Teaching how to write effectively is one of the most important life-long skills educators impart to their
students. When teaching writing, educators must be sure to select resources and support materials that
not only aid them in teaching how to write, but that will also be the most effective in helping their
students learn to write.
Time4Writing.com offers educators a number of resources that assist in teaching writing. Teachers will
find free writing resources on grading, writing conventions, and the use of graphic organizers. There are
also valuable articles and activities on other related writing topics, like sentence writing, paragraph
writing, and essay writing. The articles provide information and guidance, while the activities motivate
students to practice their skills with printable worksheets, quizzes, video lessons, and interactive games.
Students love learning and practicing skills using technology, which makes online courses a great way to
keep them interested and motivated to learn to write.
Writing Skills - What are they?
At first, many parents think that learning to write is primarily a question of grammar. They first think
of teaching proper sentence construction, appropriate use of tenses, and punctuation. It is true that
grammar is an important component of teaching writing. The Time4Learning system includes a superb
set of lessons for teaching punctuation, vocabulary, word choice, spelling, paragraph structure and other
components of "correct writing". Try these demos.
But after a little thought, we find that while grammar is an important part of writing, effective writing
requires much more. When a writing process is used to teach writing, students begin to understand
writing as a form of communication. Furthermore, writing helps students recognize that they have
opinions, ideas, and thoughts that are worth sharing with the world, and writing is an effective way of
getting them out there!
There are many types (or modes) of writing such as descriptive writing, persuasive writing, informative
writing, narrative writing, and creative or fiction writing. Many students are familiar with the basic
writing assignments such as book reports, social studies reports, short stories, and essays on topics such
as: "What I did on my summer vacation". But these writing assignments should be thought of as
applications of basic writing modes. For instance, a book report is usually a type of descriptive writing,
and an essay on dinosaurs might include both informative and perhaps persuasive writing.

How Do You Teach Someone to Write Well?

by Mark Nichol
Why is the craft of writing in such a dire state? The best writers of our time create magnificent prose,
and additional tiers of talents do a fine job of communicating. But the vast majority of people seem
competent at best, and many of those who are paid to write or for whom writing is at least part of
their job description (and, these days, thats just about everybody) frequently demonstrate a lack of
understanding of, or concern about, the most basic rules of grammar and usage.
How can this be? High school graduates spend part of virtually every day of school for thirteen years
learning, and relearning, and then learning again, the fundamentals of the English language, from letter
recognition to critical essays. Why, then, do many colleges and universities have remedial writing
courses packed with students who earned exemplary grades in high school English?
Most people, at least in developed countries, spend at least a couple of years in college, which involves
completion of many writing assignments. How is it that many employers bemoan the poor writing skills
of their college-graduate workers and toss so many ineptly written resumes in the trash?
Heres a radical response to those questions: You can teach writing, but you cant teach good writing. As
a former public school student, and as a former public school teacher, I know that much of what passes
for instruction in writing is dull and bereft of context. But I also know that many teachers succeed in
devising and/or employing imaginative ways of helping students develop their writing skills. As a
student, I experienced much of the first approach and little of the second. As a teacher, I used both
methods but tried to focus on the latter strategy. Im not sure that my efforts were successful.
I also taught copyediting to adults for many years. Some students didnt belong in the class, because
they virtually matched me in skill. Others didnt belong in the class, because they had no business
working in the writing and editing business. Most were somewhere in between. Did I help them? In class
evaluations, many claimed that I did, or at least that I opened their eyes to how complex and creative
editing can be.
I believe that students young and old can be taught the basics of spelling, style, and syntax, and of
grammar and usage. But how do they develop the skill to integrate all these components into a clear,
concise, coherent whole? As with any other skill, it takes practice, practice, practice thats where year
after year of language arts instruction comes in. But I also believe that much of writing skill is innate: You
have it, or you dont, and if you dont, theres no guarantee youre going to get it.
That doesnt give anyone an excuse to give up. You cant help but get better through repetition. Positive
learning experiences and inspirational teachers are significant factors, but ultimately, becoming a better
writer is a matter of learning what better writing is (reading well-wrought fiction and nonfiction) and of
composing your own prose. My tip for today? Its simple. Read a lot, and write a lot more.
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19 Responses to How Do You Teach Someone to Write Well?

1. Seymour on January 25, 2012 2:11 am
Theres no substitute for full immersion in good quality writing. I believe that, once the fundamentals
are in place, it is possible to learn by osmosis. Unfortunately, because the average reader is at risk of
being exposed to so much low-grade material, this is not as simple as it sounds.
I recently heard an anecdote from a copy-editing friend: The client sent the work back with a number of
errors re-inserted. They said that they needed a smattering of grammatical errors because that is what
their target demographic expected, and they didnt want to alienate them with high prose!
Writing well is like learning a musical instrument. If you pick up bad technique in the early stages it can
be really difficult to correct later. If I try to think back to my own learning and what worked for me, I

think it was a case of being an avid reader who tried to emulate what I liked. There was also a certain
English teacher who taught me how to spell there are rules and exceptions and they can all be learned
in a week. That week changed my life.
2. Michelle Baker on January 25, 2012 11:19 am
Mark Yes, language ability is innate, and some people are better with language than others. But the
ability to write well is process-oriented, as I prove daily in my work.
Anyone can learn how to ACT like the most skilled writer. And by doing so, they can become that skilled
writer themselves.
Sadly, many writing instructors, and almost all management experts havent studied the process.
Some of them have studied language instead, which only takes one so far.
Focus on the process. Learn to behave like a writer, and as Quintilian said, write quickly and you will
never write well. Write well, and you will soon write quickly.
3. Suzanne D Williams on January 25, 2012 12:06 pm
Excellent post! I agree totally with your last statement. Until I began to write, I never realized how much
reading books taught me about writing, especially those that were particularly awful. Seeing something
so wrong written on the page (and somehow published) makes the lessons learned stick with me.
4. Ann Haney on January 25, 2012 12:07 pm
I believe that writing is a developmental process that can be learned.
To become better writers, we must experience appropriate interventions which focus on both the
learning process and the writing process.
As well, knowledge and understanding of various writing structures along with much practice is
required.
5. Francisco Luciano Fernandes on January 25, 2012 3:38 pm
Hi Mark,
Why not propose some exercises, weekly?
Three hours a day writing is enough to get involved in a profissional career. And reading secondly in the
next three hours a day, is a good training for the brain.
6. hopeinbrazil on January 25, 2012 4:38 pm
I dont know if writing skills are innate, but I do know that my sons who struggled in school in many
areas somehow managed to become good writers. This was due to the fact that we read good books to
them for most of their young lives, which gave them an inner sense of how words should go together.
7. Bill Polm on January 25, 2012 4:41 pm

Good advice: Read a lot, write a lot.

I think what separates the potentially great writers from the competent is intelligence. I think, too, that
given a good measure of intelligence anyone can, with proper motivation, learn to write better, even
well. Otherwise, were wasting a lot of dollars on teachers! Otherwise, were all imprisoned by our
genetics with no hope of transcending them. But the latest research, Ive heard, doesnt agree with that
totally and has shown, for instance, that the human brain is not nearly as limited as past research has
tried to show.
I agree you cannot teach writing. But good teachers can act as guides and coaches and discover ways to
open up the pathways to better writing for others. Ultimately, though, if theres any real teaching to be
done, its us teaching ourselves.
8. Grace on January 25, 2012 6:39 pm
High school graduates spend part of virtually every day of school for thirteen years learning, and
relearning, and then learning again, the fundamentals of the English language, from letter recognition to
critical essays.
My opinion is that the problem is mainly the poor quality of instruction, ranging from Whole Language
(now mostly labeled Balanced Literacy) in the earliest grades to lack of grammar instruction to excessive
journal writing that goes uncorrected in the middle grades to an increasing emphasis on alternate forms
of communication (video essays in history class). I could go on and on, including the mish-mash of
confusing variations of teaching tools such as Venn diagrams, cloud-charts, math journals and vague
three-page rubrics.
Ive discovered an alternate type of writing instruction that I wish my kids had experienced the
Kerrigan method as explained in his book, Writing to the Point. The precision and clarity of this method
is refreshing, and I think writing can ABSOLUTELY be taught by using something like this.
http://costofcollege.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/the-kerrigan-method-of-writing-to-the-point/
9. Crommunist on January 25, 2012 7:14 pm
My advice: steal unashamedly from writers you admire until you develop a style that reads like theirs,
but feels like yours.
10. Mike Teague on January 25, 2012 9:02 pm
I am now at the point in my career where I write everyday. It may be a short email or an accident
investigation report of several hundred pages. Until recently, writing was not big part of my job. As I am
two decades past my college composition class, I probably have forgotten most of what I learned.
The consumers of my writing all have undergone similar career paths so they are not much help in
critiquing my writing. Usually they will just correct the occasional typo or change some wording. Since I
am unable to get the proper feedback, it is difficult to improve.

11. Sally Bahner on January 26, 2012 12:36 am

But I also believe that much of writing skill is innate: You have it, or you dont, and if you dont, theres
no guarantee youre going to get it.
I have said many times that good writing is a gift. Its a combination of sound grammatical knowledge
and the ability to structure a story. A book can be beautifully presented or an interesting article posted
but if theres a big grammatical error, the writers credibility slips a notch.
Writing is really hard work. I envy those who can just crank it out. For me its a labor of love and take
time, but Im usually pleased with the results when I look back.
12. Jody Rein (@sharpcrayon) on January 26, 2012 11:43 am
You can teach basic writing skills, but you cant make a great writer. What does that? Reading Great
Writing. In fiction, in nonfiction, in magazines, in newspapers. Most of all, in books. Read for rhythm;
read for inspiration; read for education. Read to bind to your bones a respect for educated, ethical
writers.
13. Jody Rein (@sharpcrayon) on January 26, 2012 11:55 am
You can teach basic writing skills, but you cant make a great writer. What does that? Reading Great
Writing. In fiction, in nonfiction, in magazines, in newspapers. Most of all, in books. Read for rhythm;
read for inspiration; read for education. Read to bind to your bones a respect for educated, ethical
writers.
(Sorry for the repost; typo in my blog link. Feel free to delete the first? Thanks!)
14. Chandler on January 27, 2012 2:01 am
I just barely started writing seriously this school year, and when I look back at the books Ive read (the
Hunger Games especially), Im amazed as to how I didnt notice all of the little slip-ups Ive made. This
alone plus a recent read of the unabridged Les Miserables has gotten me to making sure that
everything is acceptable in my writing before I say done. As for copying writing styles, I might need to
try that.
15. Tula on January 27, 2012 7:14 pm
Reading is definitely key, but I think learning to write early helps, too. I went to Catholic school, where
the nuns were very keen on writing. We were writing reports in the 2nd grade. When I reached high
school, I was shocked to find myself in a class with people who had never written more than a
paragraph. Writing has always come easily to me and I credit that early exposure (plus voracious reading
habits) for that. I worry about people today who dont seem to have the attention span required to
write more than a few sentences (the Twitter effect?).
16. Nancy on January 28, 2012 12:55 pm

I respectfully disagree with the notion that good writing cant be taught. Most of the time, it just *isnt*
taught. I taught ESL writing for several years on the secondary level, and I was distressed by the lack of
writing instruction most of my kids received in other classes. Grammar skills werent touched after 8th
grade, and once in high school, essay writing seemed to be taught by trial and errorthe student tried,
the teacher wrote all over the paper what was wrong, and then they started over. That may sound
great, but without actual instruction, its a recipe for student frustration, because no one has really
explained to them what the expectations are or given them a framework that can help them succeed.
I sat down with my students and we would talk about how to set up a paper, what an argument was and
how to make one, how to make an argument stronger, which words and phrases worked for them and
which didnt, and why. We would also talk about the logic of their papers, and how the structure could
be used as a tool for making the paper a better one. There are plenty of ways of teaching good writing,
and expecting students to get it by reading alone, without discussion or critical thinking on how what
theyre reading works, is like expecting to learn biology by putting the textbook under your pillow while
youre sleeping. You might eventually get lucky, just by accident, but youll get further with a good
teacher who knows how to make concepts accessible and help you target your weak spots.
I know that this approach works because I saw it in my own writing when I went through an MFA in
Writing program a few weeks ago, and I also saw within one semester how my new skills were helping
me do an even better job with my own students. You just need skilled teachers and schools who are
willing to let them use those skills to help their students, which is by far the larger problem we face
these days. So please dont espouse the notion that good writing cant be taught, because it most
certainly can.
17. Stephen Thorn on January 31, 2012 3:05 pm

Why are students coming into college poorly prepared to write?

Writing is a complex intellectual task involving many component skills, some of which students may lack
completely, some of which they may have only partially mastered. These skills involve, among other
things:

Reading comprehension

Analytical skills

Writing skills, including:

writing mechanics: grammar, sentence structure, spelling, etc.

planning a writing strategy

communicating ideas clearly and concisely

constructing a reasoned, demonstrable argument

effectively marshaling evidence and using sources appropriately

organizing ideas effectively

When students lack skills in these areas, their writing may be unsatisfactory in multiple ways from
poor grammar and syntax to unclear organization to weak reasoning and arguments. Complicating
matters is the fact that many students reading skills are also poor. For example, if they cannot recognize
the main point of an argument in their reading, they obviously cannot respond to this point in their
writing. In addition, students often lack the meta-cognitive skills to recognize the areas in which
their prior knowledge and skills are insufficient and thus which skills they need to work to improve.
During their high school careers, most of our students were not writing with the frequency we might
expect, nor were they doing the types of writing that we will require of them in their college years. In a
study at George Washington University (2007), first-year undergraduates reported that the most
frequently assigned high school writing tasks required them to offer and support opinions, with a
secondary emphasis on summarizing and synthesizing information. Students were rarely required to
criticize an argument, define a problem and propose a solution, shape their writing to meet their
readers needs, or revise based on feedback. Furthermore, according to a survey conducted by The
Chronicle of Higher Education (2006), 61% of high school teachers said their students have never written
a paper that was more than five pages. As a result, students have not had enough practice to develop a
set of sophisticated writing skills.
When students lack skills in these areas, their writing may be unsatisfactory in multiple ways from
poor grammar and syntax to unclear organization to weak reasoning and arguments.

Moreover, students may have learned bad habits in high school that they need to un-learn. For example,
some students were taught in high school to avoid the first person and thus may use awkward
grammatical constructions to avoid it rather than learn the contexts when its use is appropriate.
Recognition of students prior experience with writing and the complex nature of writing can help us to
more effectively design assignments and provide support as students continue to hone their skills.

How to teach students writing skill

Instructions
1.
o

Implement goals for students to track their progress. Teachers should establish classroom goals before
the writing lesson begins. Inform the students of what goals you have for them as the teacher. You may
want to see them learn to write poetry or excel in grammar skills. Also allow the students to set their
goals based on recognized weaknesses and areas they desire to develop. High school students may set a
goal of completing a short story. Some students may want to write a certain number of journal entries in
the course. Establishing goals for students helps them have a focus as you begin teaching.
o

Use a writing prompt at the beginning of class. Writing prompts are small paragraphs, ideas or starting
points for students to develop their thoughts. Use writing prompts that are relevant to high school
students. For example, create a scenario where a student told a friend a secret. The friend spread the
secret around school. They eventually confront each other. The students must continue the story from
there. Students who find writing difficult will benefit from writing prompts, according to The Center on
English Learning and Achievement. It also helps students practice developing their thoughts into words.
o

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o

Encourage descriptive writing. To improve the writing skills of high school students, implement activities
where students are required to stretch their imagination. Descriptive writing may include listening to

sounds in the school cafeteria or hallways. Students should use unique words to describe what they
hear. They may also describe what they see in school such as other students, arguments or friendships.
o

Hold off on grading assignments. The National Writing Project's "30 Ideas for Teaching Writing" suggests
that teachers encourage students to write by holding off on grading. Grades may stand in the way of
creativity if they discourage students from writing. High school students are graded in classes such as
math and history where facts matter and there are wrong answers. However, there are no wrong
answers in writing. Allow students to write without the fear of a bad grade.
o

Use peer editing for feedback. Peers and friends are an important part of the development of high
school students. Teachers should encourage positive peer feedback on writing projects. Peers can use
Post-it notes to anonymously give the writer feedback. Students should be honest about how the piece
of work made them feel and what areas need improvement.
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To produce proficient speakers of English, we must offer correction in the classroom. The most obvious
and oft-used form tends to be the direct teacher-to-student type, as in: "Akinori, you should say, 'Have
you ever gone abroad?' instead of 'Have you ever went abroad?' Remember: go, went, gone." But this
kind of correction proves the least desirable, especially if used often, because:
1. It tends to create a teacher-centered classroom. Students wait until after the activity to receive
confirmation by you on a job well done (or not so well done, as the case may be).
2. Although there are a variety of techniques which encourage students to notice the language,
and which you can employ throughout a lesson, correction from the teacher prevents students
from noticing mistakes. It can also harm their ability to analyze why something is wrong.
3. It negatively affects confidence.
4. It lowers retention.
In other words, students aren't used to taking responsibility for the language they produce. In the real
world beyond the classroom, this can translate into hesitant speakers unsure of their abilities. They
likely have weak language-recognition skills, too.
It would be oversimplifying to just state that this type of correction has no place in the classroom,
though. It does, especially in the early stages of the lesson when students first practice the target
language. They haven't become familiar with the new material, so can't yet judge what's right and
what's wrong. They need direct feedback from you. Very low-level students also benefit from teacherto-student correction. There's the guarantee that any correction given will be right, clearly explained,
and supported by examples. But we can offer correction through other techniques as well. In addition to
teacher-to-student correction, consider the following:
1. Self-correction
2. Group correction
3. Student-to-student correction
The remaining course of this article will explore and explain the positives and negatives of these
different types.
Self-correction: In a classroom that focuses on conversation and self-responsibility, students should
correct their English quite frequently. In doing so, they increasingly notice and correct problem spots,
both individual weak points and ones connected to their native language. For example, Japanese
learners often drop articles (a/an/the) and plural "s," as well as confuse gender pronouns (he/she). Even
higher-level learners have this problem. But with repeated self-correction, students better remember
the right language and use it... which leads to establishing the right pattern, or habit... which leads to
correct use of the language over time. In addition, when students catch and correct their own mistakes,
their confidence increases.

Students may correct themselves in the middle of a conversation, such as, "I goed to... I mean, I went to
the beach yesterday." This is obviously ideal. Although you want to strive for little to no intervention on
your part, students may require a minor prompt. You could raise an eyebrow, for example, or say,
"Excuse me?" This signals a mistake was made, and the speaker should review and correct what he just
said.
Self-correction should take place quickly, hardly affecting the flow of the conversation. If students
correct themselves too much, it can have the opposite affect. It hinders fluency. You also can't always
rely on students to catch their own mistakes. These may go uncorrected.
positives: encourages recognition of mistakes; builds confidence; aids retention.
negatives: students may not be able to recognize mistakes; overuse hinders the flow of conversation.
Group correction: A student doesn't always catch his own mistakes, though, no matter how skilled he
may be. Or perhaps you don't want to interrupt an activity. Or maybe you feel as though you have
corrected too much during the lesson already, so teacher-to-student correction is out, too. Group
correction is an alternative, with peers in small groups pointing out mistakes.
The idea is that groups of students work together to help one another. Because large groups can prove
intimidating, five students or fewer together end up as ideal. With role-plays, presentations, interviews,
debates, or any other type of group activity, students note mistakes for a feedback session later.
Similarly, one student can sit out, observe the conversation, and jot down notes. Other students then
rotate out to observe as the activity continues. A correction session follows in which your English
learners play the role of the teacher. Always stress that feedback should be positive, and that everyone
benefits by pointing out and correcting mistakes together!
Group correction has the potential to foster teamwork, as well as a sense of support in the classroom.
Both are important in creating a positive learning environment where students can feel comfortable
experimenting with the language. It also provides the opportunity for learners to notice language
problems without help or interruption by the teacher. Unfortunately, this also means that any errors
(unfamiliar language, or language above the class's ability level) will remain uncorrected. As I wrote in
"Mistakes, Errors, and Correction," you don't always want to spend time teaching new material outside
the scope of the lesson. And what of the times you do want to take a little detour, though?
Unfortunately with group correction, you'll miss opportunities to fine tune your learners' abilities.
Two final points: stronger students will help weaker students in the group, yet everyone benefits.
Chances are high that other people in the group made similar mistakes, including the more adept
students--just no one noticed. Hence everyone gets reinforcement of the correct language. Student
talking time also rises, because learners must point out and discuss the problems.
positives: fosters teamwork and support; stronger students help weaker students; increases student talk
time, as everyone talks about the mistakes.

negatives: students may not catch mistakes; errors (unfamiliar language, or English not known to be
unnatural) will go uncorrected.
Student-to-student correction: This isn't so dissimilar from group correction. It has many of the same
advantages and disadvantages. The primary difference, though, comes with students working in pairs
rather than groups.
You can use this type of correction in any conversational activity. As with all conversations, the primary
objective is to exchange ideas and/or information. Assign a secondary objective of listening for,
identifying, and correcting any mistakes. Students could also work in pairs with a worksheet, discussing
and correcting sentences with mistakes that you have purposely made. Both encourage high student
talk time, and fosters comprehension and teamwork.
On the negative side, students could miss problems with the language, or even correct something that
doesn't need correction. In group correction, these problems are less likely, because everyone benefits
from more than one person's knowledge of English. Student-to-student correction also has a tendency
to eat up a lot of time.
positives: encourages high student talk time, comprehension, and teamwork.
negatives: students might not identify the mistakes, or might try to correct language that isn't wrong;
can be time-consuming.
If any of the techniques for correction get overused, you limit their effectiveness.In a typical class, some
combination of teacher-to-student, self-correction, and peer-to-peer correction provides the most
benefit. It ensures that you have the chance to point out problems with the language. It also allows
students to build confidence and responsibility through self-correction, plus language recognition skills
while correcting a partner or a group member. When employed together, we

Is Grammar Really Important for a Second Language Learner?

Resource centre - Theory and issues - Is grammar important?
39

Julio Foppoli shares his views on why the approach to teaching grammar is more important than the
question of whether or not it should be taught.

This is a typical question that I receive from many new students and website visitors. My answer is clear
and simple: "indeed." Grammar is the backbone of a language and without it any single thing you know
may be flux, in a sort of jelly without much consistency. In a nutshell, grammar provides you with the
structure you need in order to organize and put your messages and ideas across. It is the railway
through which your messages will be transported. Without it, in the same way as a train cannot move
without railways, you wont be able to convey your ideas to their full extension without a good
command of the underlying grammar patterns and structures of the language.
I understand that many students ask this question simply because in their own experience they have
always been presented with two main scenarios, and nothing in between. They want to know where
they are going to be standing as regards to their learning.
Which are those two scenarios? Well, in one extreme we have those language courses that teach
grammar almost exclusively, as if preparing the students to be grammarians of the second language
rather than users. In the other extreme we have those communicative courses in which the only thing
that is done is to talk about something or to read an article and comment on it. In many cases, what is
seen in one class has no resemblance to what is done in the next.
In my experience, both scenarios may seem good for very specific purposes but I personally feel both
are inappropriate for most language learners. For starters, by itself, a good command of the grammar of
a language does not imply that the person is able to communicate effectively, as we usually see with
students who have only been exposed to an all-grammar-oriented approach sometimes for many years.
Many could recite the grammar by heart but if asked to express basic information, they would hesitate
too much and browse through all the grammar rules in their heads before making an utterance, or
simply dry up.
Secondly, just talking in class without anything else done in order to learn from the actual conversation

is not good enough either. It may be helpful of course, but up to a certain point. This approach may be
more useful for very advanced students who just need to brush up their second language, but for those
in need of building up the foundations of a new language, it is certainly too vague and flux, without any
consistency.
So then, when asked: "is grammar really important for a second language learner?" I always say "yes",
but, the real question, or issue here is not whether grammar is important or not but rather how we
should present grammar to our students. You may be surprised to hear that most of my own students,
even advanced ones, have very little awareness of grammar jargon and terminology, in spite of the fact
that they can make a pretty good use of the second language. "How is that possible?" you may ask. First
and foremost, teachers need to know precisely what they are trying to prepare their students for. I do
know that what I want is to "create" users of a new language.
I want to prepare people to actually engage in communicative situations using appropriate language and
patterns. I am definitely not interested in their explaining to me or making a mental list of all the
grammar uses that a certain pattern has.
For example, think of your own native language. Name all the tenses that you can find in your own
native tongue with their corresponding uses and structures. Unless you are a teacher, a translator or
someone who needs to have a very good grasp of this meta-language, more likely than not you may feel
at a loss to answer that question. And that does NOT mean in any sense that you are not a terrific user
of that language. After all, you can understand and express whatever you want with ease. What is more,
by being able to do so, you show an awesome command of the internal grammar of the language. If you
knew no grammar patterns you would not be able to make a single sentence but you can. This means
that although you may lack the conscious ability to describe how your language works (i.e. its grammar)
you can use it perfectly. You are a user of the language. You make a perfect use of the grammar of your
native language intuitively or unconsciously.
Again, our primary goal as second language teachers must be to create users or the language, not
linguists! It escapes the aim of this article to describe how we can achieve this but basically we are going
to name the main elements to consider to create "language users."
To begin with, it should be noted that whatever we present our students with should follow a
progression from the very general meaning to the very specific pattern or structure we want them to
learn (or that they need to learn of course). I would like to highlight that all this takes place within the
same class.
Before we start to use the material we have selected, it would be good to introduce the students to the
topic you are going to work on. You can have them guess or infer what the material will say about it,
they can make predictions and when they fail to use appropriate language, you may provide it. This is
good to elicit vocabulary that may be necessary for them to know in order to understand the topic. After

you have created curiosity in the topic and provided students with key terms on the topic, make sure
you follow a progression such as the one that follows:
1. Provide them with exposure to real language and real situations IN CONTEXT.
2. Initial focus on gist, not form.
3. Focus on more specific meaning.
4. We can then focus on very specific meaning.
5. Analysis and systematization: after we make sure the students have a good understanding of the
whole material, you can have them focus on particular items or patterns that may be important
for them to learn at their stage (i.e. grammar) You can systematize it more formally and teach
them how it works. After all, they have already seen it in practice and they have also worked
around meaning, now it is time for them to learn how to use it.
6. Give them exercises for them to practice the new structure. Do not be afraid of using grammar
drills and patterns. They could be VERY useful for them to fix the new structures in their brains.
7. Give them homework to force them to revise this at a later time. The homework does not
necessarily need to be communicative in nature. Profit from the time in class to communicate
and interact. If possible, avoid drilling activities while you are with them in class. However, the
time they are on their own could be very well used to do all the drilling and rote practice that
may prove useful for them to gain a good command of the grammar form you are trying to
teach them. Personally I feel that the time in class must be used for providing learners with as
many communicative situations as possible, rather than making them focus on drills and
patterns that they could easily practise on their own.
8. Provide them with ample opportunities to practice what they have learned in REAL or REALISTIC
communicative situations. Create situations so that they can make lots of mistakes and
encourage them to improve on them by reminding them of what they have studied.
9. Recycle and mention the topic again as many times as necessary, time and again.
This is essential for them to finally acquire the new structures in a natural way.
As you can see, I am not condemning grammar at all as some readers may feel when in my articles I
complain about teachers working almost exclusively with a grammar-oriented approach. On the
contrary, I feel it is essential in order to master a language. However, how grammar is presented to the
students is what really matters. I utterly disagree with those teachers who come to class and tell the
class: Open your books. Today we will learn the Simple Present Tense.
In the suggested steps to follow in any class, you will have noticed that I have used a quite eclectic
approach, starting from a communicative situation (steps 1-4) with the focus on understanding the

message from the gist up to very detailed info and later, and only later, once meaning is clearly
understood, we reach the grammar item we may need our students to learn at their stage. The obvious
advantage of this approach is that while dealing with grammar, the students will have a clear idea of the
context in which it was used and the communicative need it satisfied.

Julio Foppoli is a teacher of English as a Second Language and a teacher of Spanish as a Second
Language. He is the creator and owner of www.esaudio.net/Spanish/online_classes.html, an online
educational website with a technological edge, specialized in the teaching of Spanish as second language
via audio-conference to native speakers of English from all over the world.

Related to this
1. Grammar Teaching: Implicit or Explicit?
2. Teaching children grammar through games
3. Grammar rules and teaching ideas

Comments
What do you think of this article? Add a comment
Rob on 10 November 2008
Great line about how you disagree with people who go to class and utter the 'let's learn about the
simple present tense'... I totally agree. I've always tried to teach in a very similar way to yours and find
grammatical jargon highly confusing for students. I mean it's the the ability to use the language not learn
its labels that is of more concern. Great piece.
Karen on 10 November 2008
Thank you so much for the article on grammar. I am currently tutoring a German Mom and 2 kids each
separately. The Mom is an avid learner, uses the dictionary and thesaurus for homework. I am sure to
use talking and reading for those will give her more sense of English than the grammar lessons.
However, my backgound is teaching kids with reading difficulties and ESL. I'm educated, use my
language correctly, and I'm a writer. Yet I can't name all the parts of speech through which we are
working. I haven't needed to. I have a duplicate workbook, though, and I do the lessons too - for my own
sanity! Vocabulary and meaning are what I see that my adult student needs and wants. The whole
situation of doing ESL with an adult brings me to ponder the miracle of absorbing language, our own
language, and that part is what my student longs to do, to be free and assured in the use of English. I
admire anyone who conquers another language. Farewell!

Bobby on 10 November 2008

Without doubt grammar is important but not for a starter. The phrase you have to learn to walk before
you can runrings true. Students firstly need to have basic speaking ability before they start with
grammar. When ESL learners study with english teachers of their nationality the grammar isn't entirely
based on conversation and the lesson uses 2 languages. This confuses students and isn't a tranferable
skill for communication purposes on a daily basis. Once a student reaches a resonable level then yes
grammar is important. I know you stated as a second language it's important and the backbone but in
England we have not studied grammar since the 1970s as our first language so I have to disagree with
you to some extent. Also I am aware it is down to the teacher style and strategy.
Bruce on 10 November 2008
An excellent timely and down to earth contribution! It knocked my socks off my feet to read such a
finely honed presentation! Thank you so much for bringing the core issue around second language
teaching to the fore - for me! You have reinforced that which I am still attempting after many years of
tutoring. Viva!
Hugh on 10 November 2008
An excellent article. I have been learning and teaching languages since 1970 and have seen so many U
turns in methodology. There is no one pure way to learn a language. Communicative and grammatical
methods exist alongside each other. One is not the opposite ot the other. I think that at last a concensus
is arising in language teaching about this.
Farah on 13 November 2008
Thank you very much for the article . It makes me more convinced about creating a context, i.e. a
senario before teaching the grammar point. At this level the students are aware of the idea of conveying
a certain message using the grammar points. Thank you also for attracting my attention to the drills,
their importance and the fact that they can be more efficient when done as homework rather than in
class. Thank you !
Liudmyla on 14 November 2008
Grammar is very important not only for the intermidiate or advanced levels but also for a starter too. I
prefer introducing grammar material in such a way that the students can formulate the grammar rules
themselves as a conclusion from the strutures given to them either in a short conversation, a funny
story, a song, an article, a letter or a movie. Such demonstrative material can be selected by the teacher
in accordance with the group's interests, field of activities, age etc. based on the reflexive teacher's
strategy and critical thinking methodolgy. Also, grammar rules are better learnt when the students feel
the necessity of this or that structure, especially in unprepared speech, like debates, expressing their
opinion on various subjects, or role-plays.
Nancy on 18 November 2008

This article places the undeniable importance of teaching our students English grammar. Grammar is an
essential tool which gives the foundation for learning a language well. I agree that grammar must be
combined with oral and written communication skills so the student can understand the reasons behind
the way we speak. Good article!!
Adelina on 1 December 2008
Grammar is, by no means, essential in ESL teaching. It is the backbone of the language; the framework
from which we build on. The way we present it to our students is also important and I am convinced that
making students realize grammar has a practical and real use gives them a sense of "experiencing" the
language, so they are able to understand the whole picture better. Role plays, paraphrasing,
summarizing stories and the like, are great ways to put the "grammar rules" into action without them
even realizing they are using them. Very interesting and illuminating article. Thank you!
Oscar on 3 December 2008
Thank goodness there are still people who believe that grammar is really important in the teaching of a
second language. Those who believe that conversation can be taught without the skeleton of grammar
are creating a strange being: an animal without a skeleton, a kind of slimmy thing that is not consistent
and not lasting. Thank you very much for giving us the support we need to continue with the hard labor
of communicating properly in other languages than our own.
Tim on 10 January 2009
Dear Adelina
I hope you are not actually teaching the English language. You start your paragraph with "by no means"
which literally means that "it is not at all" and then you finish the rest of the paragraph explaining why it
is so "essential" which means "critical" or at least "important". Maybe you should work on meaning
instead of grammar. English is one of the easiest languages as far as grammar is concerned (subject +
verb + object, can get the meaning across) but the important part of language is to be able to
communicate. I am usually thought of as a grammar fanatic, but I would rather hear "me take hospital"
than "me, by no means, take to the nearest hospital"

Review of definition for Writing

HRSDC would like to change the definition of Writing to:
"Writing skills are those needed to compose meaningful text of sentence length or longer,
communicating ideas, messages and information in understandable words and language for a variety of
audiences.
In a work context, writing skills may refer to the ability to write notes to co-workers, supervisors or staff,
log book entries, or record statements for accident investigations. Examples of written texts may also
include emails, letters, instructions, brochures, articles, reports, manuals, and legislation
What is writing?
Writing is a form of communication that allows students to put their feelings and ideas on paper, to
organize their knowledge and beliefs into convincing arguments, and to convey meaning through wellconstructed text. In its most advanced form, written expression can be as vivid as a work of art. As
children learn the steps of writing, and as they build new skills upon old, writing evolves from the first
simple sentences to elaborate stories and essays. Spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and organization come
together and grow together to help the student demonstrate more advanced writing skills each year.

What is a writing disability?

This union of skills, however, is a very complex process, and there are few for whom these skills evolve
easily. When mastery of these skills becomes an overwhelming obstacle for children, they are often
diagnosed with a learning disability in written expression. Sometimes this is due to a lack of skills in a
certain area, which can be due to the way the brain translates language. Often, but not always, a child
with a disability in written expression will have similar difficulties with reading and/or oral language.
This disability looks different in every child, but the student will commonly have difficulty with spelling,
punctuation, capitalization and learning basic grammar rules early on. As the child moves through the
elementary school years and the demands placed on the student become more complex, different
difficulties such as planning, organization, editing, and revising will often become apparent.
Learning to write is a linear process, and the tackling of new skill depends upon mastering the skills that
came before it. Early struggles with basic skills become magnified and more problematic as academic
tasks become more challenging. Writing becomes a chore for these children, and they will often try to
avoid it at all costs. However, there are several things that teachers can do to support the learning of the
writing skills that will help their students believe that they, too, can be writing experts!
________________________________________

How To: Teach Student Writing Skills: Elements of Effective Writing Instruction
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Instruction

The Common Core State Standards place a heavy emphasis on writing skills. Yet writing
instruction in schools often falls short in training students to be accomplished writers (Graham,
McKeown, Kiuhare, & Harris, 2012). As a help to teachers, this article identifies nine elements of writing
instruction found to be effective in classrooms ranging from later elementary to high school.

Several meta-analyses are the source for these instructional recommendations (Graham, McKeown,
Kiuhare, & Harris, 2012; Graham & Herbert, 2010; Graham & Perrin, 2007). Meta-analysis is a statistical
procedure that aggregates the findings of various individual studies--all focusing on one writinginstruction component--to calculate for that component a single, global estimate of effectiveness. The
results of these meta-analyses are calculated as 'effect sizes'. An effect size is the estimate of the
difference between a treatment group (in this case, students receiving a specific writing-instruction
treatment) and a control group that does not receive the treatment (Graham & Perrin, 2007). The larger
the effect size, the more effective is the treatment. Below is a scale that can be used to evaluate the
importance of the effect-sizes that appear with each writing-instruction element (Cohen, 1992; Graham
& Herbert, 2010):

0.20: Small effect size

0.50: Medium effect size

0.80: Large effect size

Teachers are encouraged to use this listing of effective writing-instruction practices as a checklist against
which to evaluate the quality of their own writing programs. However, the following considerations
should be kept in mind:
1. Recommendations are general--not specific. Descriptions of these elements of writing
instruction are quite general. This lack of specificity is an unavoidable product of the metaanalysis--which isolates from a collection of varied studies the broad, underlying instructional
practice common to them all. Nonetheless, teachers can have confidence that, so long as their
own classroom practice incorporates these general writing recommendations, they are likely to
deliver high-quality writing instruction.

2. Ordering and weighting of writing strategies is unknown. While the instructional strategies
presented here have demonstrated their effectiveness in improving student writing, researchers

do not yet know the relative importance that each component has in developing student writing
skills or in what order the components should appear (Graham & Hebert, 2010). Teacher
judgment in the weighting and ordering of each component is required.

3. Writing components should be explicitly taught. Struggling writers will need explicit instruction
in the various writing components (e.g., in how to work effectively on collaborative writing
projects) in order to enjoy the maximum benefit from them (Graham & Hebert, 2010).

Recommended Writing-Instruction Components

Listed in descending order of effectiveness are these components of effective writing instruction:

Students follow a multi-step writing process. Effect sizes: 1.2 (Graham, McKeown, Kiuhare, & Harris,
2012); 0.82(Graham & Perrin, 2007).

Students are trained to use (and can produce evidence of) a multi-step writing process, including the element
of planning, drafting, revision, and editing (e.g., Robinson & Howell, 2008). They make use of this process for
writing assignments.

Students work collaboratively on their writing. Effect sizes: 0.89 (Graham, McKeown, Kiuhare, & Harris,
2012); 0.75(Graham & Perrin, 2007).

Students work on their writing in pairs or groups at various stages of the writing process: planning (pre-writin
drafting, revising, editing.

Students receive timely feedback about the quality of their writing. Effect sizes: 0.80 for adult
feedback, 0.37 for student feedback (Graham, McKeown, Kiuhare, & Harris, 2012).
Students receive regular performance feedback about the quality of a writing product from adults, peers, or
through self-administered ratings (e.g., using rubrics). It should be noted that the impact of timely teacher
feedback to young writers is especially large (effect size = 0.80).

Students set writing goals. Effect sizes: 0.76 (Graham, McKeown, Kiuhare, & Harris, 2012); 0.70 (Graham &
Perrin, 2007).

At various points in the writing process (planning, drafting, writing, revising), students are encouraged to
formulate specific goals; they later report out (to the teacher or a peer) whether they have actually
accomplished those goals. Examples of goal-setting might include locating at least 3 sources for a research
paper, adding 5 supporting details during revision of an argumentative essay, writing the first draft of an
introductory paragraph during an in-class writing period, etc.

Students use word processors to write. Effect sizes: 0.47 (Graham, McKeown, Kiuhare, & Harris,
2012); 0.55 (Graham & Perrin, 2007).
Students become fluent in keyboarding and have regular access to word-processing devices when writing.

Students write about what they have read. Effect sizes: 0.40 (Graham & Herbert, 2010); 0.82 (Graham &
Perrin, 2007).

Students are explicitly taught how to summarize and/or reflect in writing on texts that they have recently read
Each of the following writing activities has been found to be effective in promoting writing skills -- as well as
improving reading comprehension:

paraphrasing the original text as a condensed student summary

analyzing the text, attempting to interpret the text's meaning, or describing the writer's reaction to it

writing notes (e.g., key words or phrases) that capture the essential text information

Students engage in pre-writing activities. Effect sizes: 0.54 (Graham, McKeown, Kiuhare, & Harris,
2012); 0.30 (Graham & Perrin, 2007).

Before beginning a writing assignment, students take part in structured tasks to plan or visualize the topic to b
written about. Activities might include having students draw pictures relevant to the topic; write out a writing
plan independently or in pairs or groups; read articles linked to the writing topic and discuss them before
developing a writing plan, etc.

Students produce more writing. Effect size: 0.30 (Graham, McKeown, Kiuhare, & Harris, 2012).
Students have more writing included in their daily instruction (e.g., through daily journaling).

Students study writing models. Effect size: 0.30 (Graham & Perrin, 2007).
Students are given models of the kinds of writing that they will be asked to produce: e.g., argumentative or
informational essays. Students closely study the structure of these models and attempt to incorporate the
important elements of each model into their own writing.

Teaching the features of effective writing

By organizing your instruction around focus, organization, support and elaboration, style, and
conventions, you can help students become more effective writers and make your own job easier.
BY KIM BOWEN AND KATHLEEN CALI
We teach children how to read books but not how to read their own writingUnless we show children
how to read their own writing, their work will not improve.
Donald Graves, A Fresh Look at Writing
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, ONE OF US ASKS OUR SOPHOMORES what aspect of their writing they
would most like to improve. Inevitably, some respond I want to improve my handwriting, or I dont
know how to use commas. Certainly penmanship and punctuation are important, but what have we
done to make students think that these are the most important aspects of writing?
.
Teaching writing, learning writing, and editing our own writing is easier when we break apart these
layers. This is why North Carolina now bases its writing assessments on five Features of Effective
Writing. By focusing on what is most important in a piece of written communication, these features not
only provide teachers with a more objective set of criteria for assessing writing; they also provide
students with a framework for reading and improving their own writing.
What are the Features of Effective Writing?
The five Features of Effective Writing are focus, organization, support and elaboration, style,
and conventions.

Focus
Focus is the topic/subject established by the writer in response to the writing task. The writer must
clearly establish a focus as he/she fulfills the assignment of the prompt. If the writer retreats from the
subject matter presented in the prompt or addresses it too broadly, the focus is weakened. The writer
may effectively use an inductive organizational plan which does not actually identify the subject matter
at the beginning and may not literally identify the subject matter at all. The presence, therefore, of a
focus must be determined in light of the method of development chosen by the writer. If the reader is
confused about the subject matter, the writer has not effectively established a focus. If the reader is
engaged and not confused, the writer probably has been effective in establishing a focus.
Organization
Organization is the progression, relatedness, and completeness of ideas. The writer establishes for the
reader a well-organized composition, which exhibits a constancy of purpose through the development
of elements forming an effective beginning, middle, and end. The response demonstrates a clear
progression of related ideas and/or events and is unified and complete.
Support and Elaboration
Support and Elaboration is the extension and development of the topic/subject. The writer provides
sufficient elaboration to present the ideas and/or events clearly. Two important concepts in determining
whether details are supportive are the concepts of relatedness and sufficiency. To be supportive of the
subject matter, details must be related to the focus of the response. Relatedness has to do with the
directness of the relationship that the writer establishes between the information and the subject
matter. Supporting details should be relevant and clear. The writer must present his/her ideas with
enough power and clarity to cause the support to be sufficient. Effective use of concrete, specific details
strengthens the power of the response. Insufficiency is often characterized by undeveloped details,
redundancy, and the repetitious paraphrasing of the same point. Sufficiency has less to do with amount
than with the weight or power of the information that is provided.
Style
Style is the control of language that is appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the writing
task. The writers style is evident through word choice and sentence fluency. Skillful use of precise,
purposeful vocabulary enhances the effectiveness of the composition through the use of appropriate
words, phrases and descriptions that engage the audience. Sentence fluency involves using a variety of
sentence styles to establish effective relationships between and among ideas, causes, and/or
statements appropriate to the task.
Conventions
Conventions involve correctness in sentence formation, usage, and mechanics. The writer has control of
grammatical conventions that are appropriate to the writing task. Errors, if present, do not impede the
readers understanding of the ideas conveyed.

Where did the Features originate?

The North Carolina Writing Assessment began in the 1990s by scoring student writing on four criteria:
main idea, support and elaboration, organization, and coherence. With the 1999 revision to the English
Language Arts Standard Course of Study, the State Board of Education and the Department of Public
Instruction reevaluated this assessment. With input from educators, DPI adopted a new rubric that
matches the new curriculum, meets concerns of community and business leaders, and incorporates
contemporary approaches to teaching and evaluating writing. Several other states use similar models in
teaching and assessing student writing.
How do the Features help teachers?
Integrating the Features of Effective Writing into the planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing
phases of the writing process helps teachers to improve their writing instruction by:

Providing objective criteria for assessing student writing. When faced with a stack of papers to
grade, teachers often slip into focusing on surface details or aspects of writing that are easiest to
grade. The Features help teachers to focus their comments, conferences, and direct instruction
on the most critical features of effective writing.

Focusing direct writing instruction and conferences on the right feature at the right time. Rather
than teaching a strict sequence of composition and grammar lessons throughout the year,
teachers can provide students with flexible instruction in the appropriate feature when they
need it most during the writing process. Teachers can teach lessons on focus and organization
when students are planning their writing. During revision, teachers can provide lessons on
support and elaboration or style, or, if necessary, review focus or organization. Lessons on
conventions can be reserved for the editing phase of the writing process, as students prepare
their work for sharing or publication.

Giving equal weight (and equal instructional priority) to each feature. Focus and style are often
neglected in writing lessons, while conventions and organizations are widely taught
sometimes to excess. By giving equal weight to the five Features, teachers can ensure that
students receive the instruction they need to improve all aspects of their writing.

How do the Features help students?

The Features of Effective Writing can help students to become better writers by:

Allowing students to focus their attention on just one feature at a time. By reducing the
cognitive demands of writing, students can focus on the aspect of writing that is most important
at each step of the writing process.

Providing students with more opportunities to succeed by focusing on areas of strength as well
as weakness. Evaluating student writing with five distinct scores helps students to see
themselves as multidimensional writers, with weaknesses and strengths. Students who are poor

spellers can be recognized for the quality of their ideas, while perfect spellers may realize that
correct writing is not necessarily interesting writing. Students can learn to recognize their
strengths and work to improve their areas of weakness.

Making expectations visible to students. When students know the criteria by which they will be
evaluated, they no longer have to rely on the teacher to make judgments about the quality of
their writing. They can instead use the Features to revise their writing continually.

Teaching students to become critical readers of their own writing. Students who are taught to
diagnose and correct their own writing problems are on their way to becoming self-regulated,
independent writers. By providing instructional support, including demonstrations of writing
strategies, writing think-alouds, guided practice in small-group settings, conferences with
teacher and peers, and opportunities to transfer strategies to new contexts and genres of
writing, teachers can move students toward independence.

Teaching students to become critical readers of the writing of others. Students can use the
Features to evaluate their peers&38217; writing in order to give constructive feedback during
conferences. Students can also learn to read critically and evaluate the writing of professional
authors and to appropriate their techniques.

What research says about the Features

North Carolinas model of five Features of Effective Writing is similar to another model, the Six Plus One
Traits of Writing, on which there has been significant recentresearch. Several studies show that the
quality of writing improves when students are taught to use this model to evaluate their writing. In a
study in Oregon, three fifth-grade classrooms where teachers taught the Six Traits as part of the writing
process were compared to three classrooms in which students learned only the process. Students in the
Six Traits classrooms scored higher on the state writing assessment than students in the process-only
classrooms.
These preliminary results are confirmed by earlier research showing that teaching writing scales such as
the Features of Effective Writing or the Six Traits improves the quality of students writing. In his metaanalysis of twenty-five years of writing research, George Hillocks (1986) concluded that writing scales
were the most effective way to improve student writing.
Research also shows the importance of integrating direct instruction into the writing process. Studies of
classroom instructional modes have revealed that classrooms using an environmental mode of
instruction, in which direct instruction was integrated into the writing process, were much more
effective than classrooms that used the writing process alone. Unlike the natural process classrooms,
which were characterized by low teacher input (a lack of direct instruction and guidance) and high
student input, environmental classrooms were characterized by high input from both teachers and
students, including both direct instruction and guided practice in small groups. The least effective
classrooms, characterized by high teacher input and low student input, focused on teaching traditional
grammar and provided students with few opportunities to evaluate or revise their own writing.

Another study of effective language arts instruction in high schools, conducted by researchers at
the National Center for English Learning Achievement, confirmed that teachers in higher achieving
schools were more likely to teach skills in context, while teachers in more typical schools tended to
teach skills in isolation with few opportunities for students to practice them in authentic contexts.
Other studies support teaching students specific procedures for diagnosing and correcting their own
writing problems. In studies of procedural facilitation, students were taught to evaluate their writing
using question cards that helped themcompare their writing to their original purpose, to diagnose any
problems, and to operate to fix the problems to match their purpose (Bereiter and Scardamalia, 1987).
Researchers have also successfully used cognitive strategy instruction andself-regulated strategy
development to teach struggling writers procedures for planning and reviewing their writing (Harris and
Graham, 1992).
References
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1987). The psychology of written composition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Graves, Donald (1994). A Fresh Look at Writing. New York: Heinemann.
Harris, Karen & Graham, Steve (1992). Helping young writers master the craft: strategy instruction and
self-regulation in the writing process. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

Next: Focus

Next: Focus

Contents
1. 1Teaching the features of effective writing
2. 2Focus
3. 3Organization
4. 4Support and elaboration
5. 5Style
6. 6Conventions
7. 7Further reading
1. Index
Register now!
The next session of this course begins June 18. Register now!

Learn more
RELATED TOPICS

Search LEARN NC for more resources on features of effective writing,language arts, and writing.

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Credits
The text of this page is copyright 2003. See terms of use. Images and other media may be licensed
separately; see captions for more information andread the fine print.
By Kim Bowen and Kathleen Cali.