EFL writing skills Dr. M. Hnamul Hoque
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Transcript of EFL writing skills Dr. M. Hnamul Hoque
---------------------------------AGENDA
1.WHAT IS PROCESS WRITING?2.PRE-WRITING3.GIVING FEEDBACK
EFL Writing SkillsDr. M. Enamul Hoque
Teacher Educator and Research Specialist
1. What is Process Writing?
Writing is a work in progress that is completed in steps.
6 + 1 Traits of Writing
1. Ideas2. Organization3. Voice4. Word Choice5. Sentence Fluency6. Conventions (spelling and grammar)
+1. Presentation
Source: Culham, R. (2003). 6+1 Traits of Writing. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Education Library.
Brainstorming: Planning to Write
Pre-writing Steps
BrainstormOrganizeResearch
Brainstorming Tools
The purpose of brainstorming is to generate and organize ideas.
Can be done alone or in small groupsPossible brainstorming tools:
Use graphic organizers Ask the journalist questions (who, what, where, when,
why, and how) Think of crucial words (Million Dollar Words)
Brainstorming and Organizing
Assignment: Descriptive essay on the Olympic GamesTool: Word Web
Brainstorming and Organizing
Assignment: Descriptive essay on the Olympic GamesTool: Journalist Questions
Who: AthletesWhat: Compete for medals, championshipWhere: A different venue each year; the city that
wins the bidWhen: Every 4 years for each season (summer &
winter)Why: To unite people from all over the world, to
competeHow: Athletes first compete in their own
countries, then go on to international competition
Brainstorming and Organizing
Assignment: Compare/contrast essay on cats and dogs
Tool: Venn diagram
Animals, mammals, pets, eat meat
Brainstorming and Organizing
Assignment: Persuasive essay on an Environmental Issue, such as whether to limit fishing to protect the environment
Tool: Flow Chart
Brainstorming and Organizing
Assignment: Persuasive essay on an Environmental IssueTool: Million Dollar Words activity
Depletion Conservation
Pollution Balance in atmosphere
National Parks
DeforestationEquilibrium
Organizing Ideas
Students must translate brainstorming results into a workable structure for the writing assignment
Outline Show progression of ideas, events, descriptions in
writing assignment (by paragraph/by larger element) Power writing (simple outlines with one-word items)From outline to paragraphs Each paragraph has one main idea or thought and
corresponds to a section of the outline The first sentence of the paragraph (topic sentence)
summarizes the main idea of the entire paragraph
Research
If students are finding sources, they should consider their range of sources. Type of source (newspaper, internet, book, etc.) Author (expert, advocate, opponent, etc.)
While writing, students should offer their own opinions on the ideas in different sources, and how these ideas relate to each other
U.S. schools focus on citing sources. Students must clearly state when they are using the ideas or words of another author.
3. Giving Feedback
What would you give as feedback to a student who turns in this piece of writing?
I like school. Classes at school is good, I do not like homework. For english class we are reading Where the Red Fern Grows it was good. School is a good place to see my friends. We love the playground. In science class we do experiment. My favorite is history because we study ancient times.
Feedback: Examples of Teacher Corrections
Surface-Level Feedback Content-Level Feedback
Feedback: Examples of Teacher Corrections
Both types of feedback are important However, giving both types at once may overwhelm
students
Surface-level feedback is appropriate for a class or lesson focused on English grammar
Content-level feedback allows students to look at their own work and ideas critically
Feedback: Examples of Teacher Correction
Teacher corrections vs. teacher guidance in helping student find correct answer
Feedback: Best Practices
The purpose of feedback is to efficiently maximize student learning.
Praise!Focus on a specific skill that relates to
classroom work. Targeted feedback is more effective than correcting all mistakes at once.
Written comments and corrections: reference for the future
“Teachers should be coaches, not crutches.” – Vincent Kovar
Who can give feedback to the writer?
Teacher
Peer
Writer (self-evaluation)
Who can give feedback to the writer?
TEACHER SELF PEER+
•Teachers are experts, can see the mistakes
•Teachers have authority
+•Promotes self-
evaluation on the part of students
•Learners see their own mistakes
•More involvement•Builds confidence
+•More student involvement
•Peer feedback may be less threatening
-•Very time-consuming
•Students are not involved
•Students rely on teachers instead of
learning to edit their own work
-•Student may not see
own mistakes
-•Students may be afraid of giving or receiving criticism
Peer Feedback
Students have different strengths and weaknesses
Students need to be taught how to evaluate each other’s work as well as their own
Must be structured collaboration
Most effective if students are evaluated on and held accountable for the feedback that they give
Rubrics
A rubric is a grading tool that has a range of possible grades for a set of criteria. The
rubric should define the criteria and include examples.
Why use rubrics? They create clear expectations for students’ work They are adaptable They make grading easier for teachers Students may be more comfortable using rubrics
during peer evaluations
Sample Rubric4
Excellent3
Good2
Fair1
PoorOrganization
Clear flow of ideas; sentence order is logical;
Ideas are related to each other; sentence order is mostly logical
Some ideas are weakly related to each other; same for sentences
Writing is hard to understand; sentences are not related;
Conventions
0 - 5 errors in spelling or grammar
5 - 10 errors in spelling or grammar
10 - 15 errors in spelling or grammar
Many errors in spelling and grammar
Ideas Arguments are clear and strong
Arguments are good but can be strengthened
Arguments are present but weak or unclear
No clear arguments
Examples Examples are specific and relevant
General and mostly relevant examples
Limited examples show some relevance
No examples or irrelevant examples
4Excellent
3Good
2Fair
1Poor
Organization
Clear flow of ideas; sentence order is logical
Ideas are related to each other; sentence order is mostly logical
Some ideas are weakly related to each other; same for sentences
Writing is hard to understand; sentences are not related
How would you grade this piece of writing on the sample rubric?
The most important subgect in school is history. It is important because we see good things and bad things that happened for the past. For example we see that wars are bad. History is important because we learns to be better people. We know mistakes in the past so we sometimes know not to do the same mistakes again.
How would you grade this piece of writing on the sample rubric?
4Excellent
3Good
2Fair
1Poor
Conventions
0 - 5 errors in spelling or grammar
5 - 10 errors in spelling or grammar
10 - 15 errors in spelling or grammar
Many errors in spelling and grammar
The most important subgect in school is history. It is important because we see good things and bad things that happened for the past. For example we see that wars are bad. History is important because we learns to be better people. We know mistakes in the past so we sometimes know not to do the same mistakes again.
How would you grade this piece of writing on the sample rubric?
The most important subgect in school is history. It is important because we see good things and bad things that happened for the past. For example we see that wars are bad. History is important because we learns to be better people. We know mistakes in the past so we sometimes know not to do the same mistakes again.
4Excellent
3Good
2Fair
1Poor
Ideas Arguments are clear and strong
Arguments are good but can be strengthened
Arguments are present but weak or unclear
No clear arguments
How would you grade this piece of writing on the sample rubric?
The most important subgect in school is history. It is important because we see good things and bad things that happened for the past. For example we see that wars are bad. History is important because we learns to be better people. We know mistakes in the past so we sometimes know not to do the same mistakes again.
4Excellent
3Good
2Fair
1Poor
Examples Examples are specific and relevant
General and mostly relevant examples
Limited examples show some relevance
No examples or irrelevant examples
How would you grade this piece of writing on the sample rubric?
Organization: 3
Conventions: 4
Ideas: 2
Examples: 2
Total score: 11 / 16
Using Rubrics: Best Practices
Teachers can write their own rubrics or use an appropriate general rubric.
Tips for writing rubrics: Keep it simple Use very clear language Adapt to your goals for the class or assignment, and to
your students
Use rubrics to target your feedbackYou will probably want to introduce rubrics
slowly and give students plenty of practice using them.
Summary
There are many steps in the process of writing
The students must do the actual writing, but the teacher sets goals, helps in planning, and gives feedback
Provide structure for students during all steps of the writing process
Resources
The Writing Teacher: http://www.thewritingteacher.org/A blog that gives tips, techniques, and strategies for teaching writing. The two pre-reading assignments are on this website
Scholastic: http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/ Scholastic is a global children's publishing, education and media company.
Rubrics: http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ A free tool that helps teachers create rubrics.
Final Questions and Comments
Thank you for participating!
Dr. M. Enamul HoqueELT Specialist and Teacher Education Consultant
Director , EDRC