Unit 6: Writing


Writing is one of the productive skills. It is a process in which you transmit your thoughts and ideas through a written text. According to Pontecorvo (1997), many people have a misconception about it because they think that it is only the representation of speech and that is only related to education.
Even if we don’t write an essay or a composition, we are still producing written texts at the moment of making a grocery list, or by giving someone an address in a piece of paper; all of these are called text types. I learned that each type of text has its own characteristics: the use of appropriate words (formality), the different options to organize the information (layouts). The levels of register and grammar complexity depend on the receptor of the written text. A good piece of writing also needs to have accuracy in it (using the correct forms of language).
Accuracy also involves the following subskills of writing: spelling correctly, forming letters correctly, writing legibly, punctuating correctly and correct use of paragraphs. On the other hand, there are some subskills related to communicating our ideas: using appropriate style and register, organizing ideas in a helpful way, joining words and sentences correctly and using appropriate functions. Nevertheless, a writer not only uses subskills, he/she also goes through the following stages:
·         Brainstorming ideas
·         Ordering the ideas
·         Drafting the first version of the piece of writing
·         Editing (correcting)
·         Proofreading to correct mistakes
·         Re-drafting the final version.
In order to apply what I have learned in this unit, I will give my students the opportunity to choose the topic for the writing activity. According to (Downing, 1987; Reid, 1966) students’ knowledge of written words seems to establish their understanding of spoken words. So if they chose the topic, they will use words that they already know and therefore will obtain a wider range of ideas to develop.
Bibliography
Pontecorvo, C. (Ed.). (1997) Writing development: an interdisciplinary view. Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook Central: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uta-ebooks/reader.action?ppg=43&docID=739966&tm=1524145716098

Downing, J. (1987) Comparative perspectives on world literacy. In D. Wagner ed., The future of literacy in a changing world pp. 25-47. Oxford: Pergamon Press

Reid, J. F. (1966) Learning to think about reading. Educational Research

SimpleK12. (2016, April 20th) How to Make Writing Fun for Students [Video file] Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdfXJnmmJ2g
 

Comentarios

Publicar un comentario

Entradas populares de este blog

Unit 7: Listening

Imagen
Listening , in similitude to reading, is a receptive skill because you receive the information from a recording , a song, a movie, etc. According to Usó, E & Martinez, A. (2008) “of the four skills , listening is the one that has historically been the most neglected and misrepresented in the second language ( L2 ) classrooms, and hence, has been the skill which has been the least well taught”. There are some differences between written language (what we read) and the spoken language (what we listen to). In written language, the information does not disappear after being checked, in contrast to spoken language, where the information disappears as soon as it is spoken. While spoken language indicates the meaning of sentences or group of words through stress and intonation , written language uses punctuation and capitalization . Listening also contains utterances (incomplete sentences) and we make sense of them using our knowledge of the world. It is the duty of the tea
Leer más

Unit 4: Functions

Imagen
A function is a reason why humans communicate. It does not matter if we communicate with a friend, a relative, a teacher, or anyone in the world; we do it for a reason. Like other living creatures human beings interconnect with each other (Finnegan, 2004). I learned that the language we use in order to express a function is called an exponent. These are a few examples of a function and its exponents: Function: making a suggestion Exponent: “We can go to the park tomorrow” Function: Asking for clarification Exponent: “Sorry, could you repeat that please?” The different exponents demonstrate different levels of formality according to the function they are fulfilling. Formal language is commonly used in situations where people are getting to know each other for the first time. In contrast, informal language is used when people already know each other and has developed a certain level of trust between them. They usually use colloquial functions and don’t pay attention to
Leer más