A summary of ‘Focus on literacy: Writing’ 1

Focus on literacy: writing© 2000, NSW Department of Education and Training, Curriculum Support Directorate

A summary of information and impressions of the support document/policystatement

Aquilina’s foreword• part of the State Literacy and Numeracy Plan• teachers are required to teach writing to all students, K–12• teaching must be explicit and systematic• in all subjects; emphasising and valuing correct spelling; ‘for a range of

purposes and in a variety of appropriate contexts’; including composition,processes and presentation; consistently monitoring the development ofstudent writing; supporting students experiencing difficulties; within ‘aplanned, whole-school approach’; including ‘partnerships … with parentsand caregivers’.

1. Approaches to teaching of writingCurrent approach incorporates older methods:• traditional – emphasis on grammar, spelling, language structure• processing writing – the classroom as a rich language environment;

learner-centred; writing as a series of steps, such as drafting, editing,proofreading and publishing

• genre or text types – learning a repertoire of typical text structure andrelated grammatical features for different purposes.

Additionally, the current approach emphasises critical understanding andsocial purpose. It is based on a social view, or functional model, oflanguage.

2. A social view of writing• Writers always have a purpose.• Writing is created in a context and read in a(nother) context.• The purpose and context(s) determine the language choices of a writer.

Social purposes• Students experience writing at home. They ‘need opportunities to

write for a range of audiences such as self, peers, parents, communitymembers or local government’.

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• Students experience writing at school for academic purposes.– Emphasis should be placed on the social purpose of text rather than

its text type.– Teachers need to progressively teach language features and

specialist vocabulary within each subject area.– Students develop writing skills by critically analysing their writing,

their assumptions, their language choices (purpose, structure,cohesion, grammar, vocabulary and presentation) and the effects ofthose choices, and by looking for alternative viewpoints.

Social contextsA context includes:• subject matter – knowledge and understanding of subject, subject-

specific vocabulary, language structures and features, taught in context• roles/relationships of writer and audience – determines grammatical

structures and word choices to create tone• mode of communication – written text requires more accurate use of

grammar than spoken text.

Composing textsIn composing a text, the three core considerations are:• critical understanding – gained by analysing written texts for purpose,

roles/relationships, perspective/viewpoint and language features usedto achieve these; hence will be able to make judgements aboutpurpose, structure, grammar, vocabulary and presentation in their ownwriting

• understanding of typical features – helps fulfil readers’ expectations oftext. Common features of a diverse range of real texts should beidentified, including purpose of writer, social context, audience,purpose of reader and likely structure

• flexibility – encourages variations from text types to better achieve apurpose and/or social context. Analysing real texts demonstratesflexibility as most texts do not conform to one text type. Teachersshould use modelling and guided writing to encourage flexibility fordifferent purposes and contexts. This includes manipulating textstructures for special effects, combining text types within a text,examining similar but more demanding texts, and recognising andallowing creativity (as appropriate) in writing.

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3. Teaching writing• explicitly, K–12, ‘with clear links between academic and community

purposes’• so that students ‘understand the purposes and contexts of their

writing’, ‘compose written texts effectively’, ‘move … from spoken towritten language’, and ‘write for different audiences and for differentpurposes’

• with increasing ‘complexity and sophistication’ throughout schooling.

What to teach• Composition of texts

– Use authentic texts as examples.– Analyse the composition of texts – purpose, text structure and

cohesion of whole texts; sentences and words (syntax, grammar,vocabulary and spelling); surface features (punctuation and layout).

– Teach students to reflect on how writing changes in differentsituations, historical times and cultures, and how it is affected bytechnological change.

– ‘Above all’, teach students ‘to consider the impact of their ownwriting’ on their intended readers.

• The processes of writing‘Teaching students about the processes of writing equips them toproduce accurate texts.’ This involves:– drafting (notes, planning, rough writing)– revising (reworking and editing to improve text)– conferencing (discussing draft to engage critical reflection and

clarification)– editing (changing text to improve cohesion, syntax, grammar,

vocabulary and such)– proofreading (locating and fixing errors in grammar, spelling,

punctuation and layout in preparation for final presentation)– publishing (presenting text to intended audience).

• The presentation of written textsAs they write texts for presentation, students should be explicitly andsystematically taught to pay attention to:– legibility

All teachers ‘should help students to ensure that their handwritinghas style, fluency and legibility’. Students should also be taughtlayout to help achieve their purpose and to enhance writing, whereappropriate, using different technologies. (All students need todevelop confidence, accuracy and speed in keyboard skills, to be

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strategic and discerning in using fonts and formatting, and toconceptualise and write in non-linear forms such as using hypertextlinks. Students need to understand that there are no quality controlor selection procedures on the Internet and they need to be taughtabout copyright requirements in relation to material published onthe Internet. )

– spellingStudents should be encouraged to use correct spelling in first drafts.They should be taught phonological knowledge (how soundscorrespond to letters), visual knowledge (how words look),morphemic knowledge (word meanings and spelling changes indifferent grammatical situations) and etymological knowledge(origins of words and their meanings).See also ‘Focus on literacy: Spelling’.

– grammar (listed in introduction to section but not explained?)– punctuation

Students should be encouraged to use correct punctuation in firstdrafts. They should be taught why punctuation is needed (forexample, to indicate intonation and pauses) as well as theconventions of punctuation. Students in primary school should betaught to use punctuation including ‘capital letters, full stops,question marks, commas to separate words in a list andapostrophes of contraction’. Other punctuation to be taught (inhigh school?) includes ‘speech marks, semi-colons, colons, hyphens,commas separating clauses and phrases, and apostrophes ofpossession’.

How to teach writing• Explicit teaching of writing requires teachers to:

(The following points are quoted directly from the document.)

1. define the purpose of every writing task2. provide opportunities for students to engage in a range of writing

purposes3. share with students the specific nature of the task, the reason for

doing it and its value to their learning4. explain to students the skills, knowledge and understanding

required to fulfil the purpose, and demonstrate these wherenecessary

5. give students opportunities to practise those skills and enhanceunderstanding

6. use a common language to talk about the effectiveness, meaningand accuracy of students’ writing

7. provide continuous guidance and support as students develop theirwriting skills, knowledge and understanding

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8. ensure that students understand the criteria by which their writingwill be assessed

9. continuously monitor students’ achievements10. provide feedback to students about the effectiveness of their texts,

which includes organisation, cohesion, grammar, word choice,spelling, punctuation and presentation (handwriting or wordprocessing).

• Systematic teaching of writing– Teachers should select and sequence activities ‘to ensure that

students develop a comprehensive range of writing knowledge,skills and understanding’. Writing activities should be regular andrelevant, and should enable students to demonstrate achievementof syllabus outcomes.

– Teachers should consider the prior knowledge and skills ofstudents and continually monitor progress.

– Teaching should produce ‘the balanced development of all aspectsof writing, such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, handwritingand word processing, as well as the writing processes of drafting,revising’ and so on.

• Teaching strategies– Students and teachers should have access to, and consult,

dictionaries in the classroom.– Writing from K–12 should be taught using a combination of

modelled, guided and independent writing. These strategiesinform and reinforce each other.

– Modelled writing includes using real text as models and the teacherdemonstrating how to write. ‘Modelled writing helps students gainknowledge about language, vocabulary and text structures requiredto write for a range of purposes … (and) should also includeexplicit teaching about the processes involved in composing texts’.

– Guided writing may involve students working jointly in smallgroups or with the teacher to compose a text. (Examples areexplained in the document.) This enables teachers to discusspurpose and context, to provide guidance about choices oflanguage features and structure, and to demonstrate writingprocesses. Teachers demonstrate how spoken language ispresented as written language, and students and teachers develop acommon language for discussing writing.

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– Independent writing, or constructing texts without help, ‘providesstudents with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills incomposing a variety of texts. … Students should be encouraged to:- define their purpose- identify their audience- engage in further research if necessary- jot down ideas and notes- think about how to organise ideas effectively- write drafts- share drafts with peers and the teacher- rework drafts in the light of comments about text organisation,

cohesion, grammatical choices, sentence structure, spelling,punctuation and layout

- prepare and edit a final draft- publish and present their work for further feedback’.

4. A whole-school approach• Each school will develop a whole-school plan for the teaching and

assessment of literacy, including writing. This will be part of theschool’s annual management plan. While guidance should come fromthe school’s literacy support team, consultation with other staff,parents and students is desirable.

• ‘This plan will include a statement of the school’s priorities based onstudents’ demonstrated achievements in writing in all subjects.’

• The school plan will be reflected in stage and/or faculty programs aswell as in classroom plans. The document includes questions to helpdirect planning for the whole school, stages and faculties, and classes.

Whole-school planningSchool plans should consider resources, teachers’ knowledge andunderstanding, and students’ achievements.

Stage or faculty planningA plan is needed for each stage within each faculty. Stage plans set outwhat language learning is needed within each stage and how languagelearning integrates with stage subject outcomes.

Class planning‘Class plans are designed to meet the specific needs of all students in theclass.’ Plans should provide direction for learning whilst remaining‘flexible and responsive’.

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Meeting the needs of different learners• ‘Teachers should maintain high expectations of all students and ensure

that writing is equally visible and valued across the full range ofpurposes, contexts and subject areas.’

• ‘All students are entitled to whatever support they need in order tobecome effective writers.’

• Extending talented writers – these students may need a program thatenables them to learn at their own pace and that provides enrichmentactivities using a greater variety of texts and presentations in familiarand unfamiliar contexts. By publishing their writing within andoutside the school, talented students are rewarded and othersentertained.

• Supporting writers experiencing difficulties – these students requirespecialised programs to provide adequate support. Early interventionis essential.

• Developing links between home and school – students will beadvantaged by cooperative and collaborative links between home andschool, where there is respect for the culture of each. Home languagesother than English and diverse cultures provide their own ‘rich culturalheritage and … (are) a valuable teaching resource’. ‘For many …students (from different language backgrounds), carefully structuredtalking and listening activities will be an important bridge to thesuccessful use of written language at school.’

5. Assessing students’ writing achievementsConsider each of the following.

When to assessAssessment must produce improved teaching and learning. It ‘should befocused, systematic and curriculum-based’ and may occur within anywriting teaching strategy (modelled, guided or independent) andpreferably across a range of strategies and syllabus areas.The document provides a variety of examples of assessment tasks.

What to assess‘Students should be assessed on their knowledge and understandingabout writing, their skill in composing a range of texts, theirunderstanding about and use of the processes of writing, and their skills inpresenting texts for publication.’

Establishing criteria• Criteria should relate the how well students communicate.• ‘Criteria should be linked to and contribute evidence of achievement of

syllabus outcomes.’ Several writing samples are necessary.

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Assessing at the text level, sentence level and word level• Writing should be assessed as a whole, as sentences and as words.

Not all features need to be assessed in each task.• Some whole text considerations are: purpose or theme, tense, text

structure, types of sentences and cohesive elements (such asconjunctions and pronouns).

• Some sentence considerations are: ‘adequate construction of clauses,subject and verb agreement, use of articles, prepositions andpunctuation’.

• Some word considerations are: ‘spelling and subject-specificvocabulary’.

Processes and presentation‘Many of the … processes (of writing) can be assessed together. …Much of this evidence would need to be collected by observing students’behaviours and interacting with them during these processes, in order toconfirm that they have developed knowledge about writing and that theyunderstand what they are doing. Successive drafts, from first draft topublication, may also provide written evidence of knowledge, skills andunderstanding.’

A nine page annotated bibliography completes the document.