Practice Process Writing

Carla MortensenEnglish Language Fellow 2012-13Shota Rustaveli State University

Batumi, Georgia

Process Writing:Here’s what’s different

• Work of Gail Heald-Taylor, University of Winsor, Winsor, Canada, who wrote…

• "Process Writing is an approach which encourages ESL youngsters to communicate their own written messages while simultaneously developing their literacy skills in speaking and reading rather than delaying involvement in the writing process…until students have perfected their abilities in handwriting, reading, phonetics, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.”

• In Process Writing the communication of the message is paramount and therefore the developing, but inaccurate, attempts at handwriting, spelling, and grammar are accepted, knowing that…students will gain control of these sub-skills."

Carla Mortensen IELP 2012

Steps of Process Writing

• Pre-writing– Free the mind!

• Drafting/Writing– Throw thoughts on a page

• Revising– Search for coherence and

completion• Conferencing

– Get instructor input• Editing/Proofreading

– Share the pain with peers• “Publishing”

– See the finished work

Carla Mortensen IELP 2012

Pre-writing

• Pre-writing includes:– Brainstorming and clustering– Sketching– Free-writing– Concept mapping– Listening to music– Meditating– Poems/lyrics– Videos

• **Class brainstorm**

Carla Mortensen IELP 2012

Drafting/Writing I…Can be “as bad as the aroma of three-day-old fish” (Diane

Howard)

• Class exercises to create text:

#1 Poem/Video exercise: Tripping the Light

http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Students write “an emotional” draft; save for another day and edit “with the head”

Carla Mortensen IELP 2012

Drafting/Writing II

• #2 Chain Story: “Last night I heard a scream so I…”

• Students in groups of 3-4-5• Lined paper: use every other line• Teacher writes prompt on board• Students respond to prompt by writing one full LINE, not

necessarily sentence• Pass to left, read, edit, write NEXT sentence• Group chooses best story, reads aloud• Class chooses best group story, group gets chocolate

Carla Mortensen IELP 2012

What benefits have I seen?

• Students seem less afraid to write

• Students are interested to read, edit, and comment on each other’s work

• Students take a greater role in choosing the topics for their writing

• Students see grammar in context

• Teachers can see less plagiarism and more originality

Carla Mortensen IELP 2012

What problems might result?

• Can be distracting from a central task, such as a standardized test

• Can be harder to correct or measure/assess against specific requirements

• Can create opportunities for possible “goofing off”

• Can reinforce errors that might be harder to correct later

Carla Mortensen IELP 2012

So, what to do?

• Use these ideas occasionally, for example at the beginning of a chapter or topic OR when students are “wiggly” (before weekend or vacation)

• Focus process writing around themes presented in other classes – geography or history – for integrated skills acquisition

• Allow students see process techniques as different ways to achieve the end of writing excellence

Carla Mortensen IELP 2012

References for further reading

• Heald-Taylor, G. (1994). Whole Language Strategies for ESL Students.

• Jarvis, D. (2002) The process writing method. TESL-EJ, 8 (3). Retrieved from:http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Jarvis-Writing.html

• nwp.org: The National Writing Project – Improving Writing and Learning in the Nation’s Schools (seehttp://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource_topic/english_language_learners for specific ESL/ELL topics

Carla Mortensen IELP 2012