Chapter 3

Writing Tasks

Freewriting
Before we discuss different tasks, it is important to focus on student and instructor expectations. Some students are afraid to write because they want to produce an error-free text from the beginning. Some are so preoccupied by errors that it may take fifteen minutes to write a single sentence. In the early stages of writing, though, the goal should be to generate ideas. With the process approach especially, students are encouraged to write first (to get ideas down) and edit later.

In his article How to be an Effective EFL Writing Teacher, Martin stresses that students should be taught to turn off their internal "editor." In other words, the first time students write a particular piece, they should not think at all about correctness and accuracy. Instead, they should write at first in a free style and write as much as they can as fast as they can for 10-20 minutes. This is called freewriting. Martin quotes Elbow (1979) who suggests that students should be encouraged to never stop for any reason, not even to think during freewriting. Later, after the freewrite, Martin says that students can edit their work.

Keeping the reader in mind
When we write, we also need to be aware of the reader. For many ESL/EFL students who are accustomed to writing for the teacher, this can be a challenge. They need opportunities to write to other audiences and to read the writing of others.

In his article Second Language Writing and Research: The Writing Process and Error Analysis in Student Texts, Myles states that "By guiding students toward a conscious awareness of how an audience will interpret their work, learners then learn to write with a 'readerly' sensitivity. Teachers can help students develop this sensitivity by doing activities that are what we might call "real-world." A few examples might include:

• Students write to each other: students can write descriptions of their class or letters etc.
• Students write to other students in other classes. This can be done through the Internet or at the school.
• Students accomplish real-world tasks like writing letters of complaints to landlords, letters to the editor, etc.

The most important thing is that the audience is well defined. 

Writing tasks

responding to a prompt
One of most common writing tasks involves assigning students to write a paragraph, a composition, or an essay based on a prompt. These activities are often more formal. Students who plan to take standardized tests such as the TOEFL or the IELTS (which include a writing component), or those who intend to continue in school will be required to do this type of writing.

group write
This activity gets students to write a collaborative story. The instructor gives a group a picture or a prompt to a story. One student writes one sentence. Then he or she passes the paper to the next student in the group who adds another sentence to the story. This process continues until a story is written.

jigsaw
In this activity, students work in groups. Each group takes one part of a larger article and becomes an "expert" on that part. Each group writes a summary of its part of the article. Then the instructor puts the parts together into one complete summary.

real-world tasks
There are many creative tasks that go beyond formal paragraph writing and can be used to encourage students to write. For example, if the objective of a given class is By the end of class, students will be able to write appropriate directions to a location in the community, students can be asked to write directions to a location they choose. The directions shouldn't include the name of the final location. Students from other groups will read the instructions and guess the location.

Project work can also stimulate writing. Students working in groups can be told that they are members of a hiring committee. They can be asked to write a description of the imaginary company they work for, design a classified advertisement for an open position, and prepare interview questions. Others in the class can act as applicants and design simple cover letters and resumes to use when applying for the job.


Source: http://eltmedia.thomsonlearning.com