Writing when English is not my

first languageViola Gjylbegaj

How is writing taught in USA

In writing classes, instructors teach a process approach to writing.The basic steps are :

PlanningDraftingRevisingEditingProofreading

How does my past writing experience affect my writing in English

Thinking about your own writing experiences and learning about others’ can improve your writing.

The following exercise can help you do both

Think about the following sentences. For each sentence “I’m not sure” write “True,” “False”,

I’m better at writing in another language than I am at writing in EnglishI have more experience writing in another language than I do in EnglishI feel confident about writing in EnglishWhen I write in English, I have trouble finding the appropriate vocabulary.

When I write in English, I use an English-English dictionary

When I write in English I use a computer grammar-check program.

I think I will need to write a lot in English for my future career.When I write in English, I sometimes have

trouble generating ideas.A serious problem I have with writing in English

is writing correct sentences.

How do I organize my writing

In English you have to follow a “restricted organization” that presents:

A thesis in the first paragraphSupporting subtopicsDetailed examples

Exercise 1

Describe the differences of how you were taught to organize your writing in the past in your first language and how you organize it now in English Language, in a paragraph.

How can I use other writer’s work to improve my writing

When you are writing in English you cannot use someone else’s work without citing it.

In the USA it is a violation of copyright.

How can I improve the grammar and vocabulary in my writing

The best way to improve English –language writing, including grammar and vocabulary, is by writing.

Improving your writing in a second language takes time

How can I improve my sentence structure

Sometimes students write sentences that are hard to understand because of problems with overall sentence structure or length.

Example:One student wrote the following sentence, which contains sentence-level errors.

First

When the school started, my first English class was English grammar, I started learning the basics of grammar, and at the same time the basic of writing. I worked hard in that class, taking by the teacher advice, try to memorize a lot of grammar rules and at the same time memorize some words I could use them to make an essay point.

Second

When school started, my first English class, was a grammar class, where I started learning the basics of grammar. At the same time, I learned the basics of writing. I worked hard in that class, taking the teacher’s advice and memorizing a lot of grammar rules. In addition, I memorized some words I could use in my essays to make my points.

How can I improve my word choice (vocabulary)

An important aspect of writing in a second language is having enough vocabulary to express your ideas.

Many students enjoy learning more and more words to be able to communicate precise meanings so they can eliminate the routine in writing.

How can I find and correct errors in my own writing

By reading my writing aloud. By asking a friend who is a native speaker in

English to check the writing for grammatical mistakes.

By checking myself

The best system is to make a master list of the errors in categories so that the checking can be as efficient as possible.

How can I correct verb form (tense) errors in my writing

Many multilingual writers consider verb-forms errors the most difficult to correct. They want to make sure that the verb forms express the appropriate time frame for the event or situation they’re describing.

2 Exercise

Read the following passage in which the student describes her experience learning to write in English. The teacher has underlined errors related to time frames expressed by the verbs. Correct the underlined verbs, changing them to the correct time frames.

I must have started writing when I was nine years old. I remember my father used to give us papers and watercolors and let us draw as much as we want. At the end, he made sure that we write comments about why we have sketched the way we did. The only written thing that I find dating to that period was a kind of comment about a picture which I have sketched of a village enveloped in water.

I don’t remember much about the kind of writing assignment we have at school, whether in my native language Arabic, or in my second languages, at that time, English and French. That period is a little bit hazy in my mind.

However, I remember that whenever we had the chance to go to school, we made sure that we fill the playgrounds with creative farewell sentences indicating that we have been there. It is our little game against the witchcraft of war and against the will of the principal, who forgive us easily once we have recited the multiplication table or sing the national anthem.

How can I correct my errors in subject-verb agreement

Subject-verb agreement means that a subject and its verb must agree in number and in

person .

Exercise 3

Examine the following student’s description of his experiences learning English. The teacher has underlined verbs that do not agree with their subjects. Correct the underlined verb forms, changing them to agree with their subjects.

I describe the way I learned English as a natural way, where one first learn how to speak and communicate with others, before learning the grammar rules that supports a language. When I arrived in the United States, I works hard to improve my communication skills in English, trying to speak even when the people does not understand me. Also, making friends with native speakers help a person learn the language. One can learn from them every single minute that one spend with them.

How can I correct my preposition errors

Prepositions are words such as in, on, for, over and about, which usually show where, how, or when. Unlike some other languages, English has many prepositions, and knowing which one to use can be very difficult. To practise finding and correcting prepositions errors, complete the next exercise:

Try to correct the prepositions errors underlined. In some cases, more than one answer may be correct.

I’ve always wanted to learn languages other than my native language. I started taking English and French lessons of school and I liked the idea of becoming fluent for at least one language. I thought English would help me a lot to the future because it could help me communicate to people from all over the world.

How can I keep track of my most common errors

One way of becoming more aware of the types of errors you make is to keep track of the errors you often make in the papers you write.Make an error list and examine it:

What are the most common errors that you make?

How can I improve my proofreading skills

The most effective way to improve your proofreading skills is to practice frequently.

Proofread your own writing and ask a friend who is native English speaker to point out the location of errors that you did not see on your own. When you know which errors you’ve made, try to correct the errors without help.

Exchange your writing with a partner. You can check for errors in his or her writing and he or she can check for errors in yours.

Exercise 4

In the following paragraph, a student describes the study of English at private schools in Japan. After you read the paragraph, rewrite it, correcting the errors that you find.

Recently, the number of private language schools are increased in Japan. These schools put special emphasize on oral communication skills. In them, student takes not only grammars and reading classes, which help them pass school examinations, but also speaking, listening classes. They can also study English for six year, which is same period as in public schools. Some of the teacher in these school are native speaker of English. Since these teachers do not use Japanese in the class, the students have to use the English to participate it. They have the opportunity to use the English in their class more than public school students. It is said that the students who took English in private schools can speak English better than those student who go to public schools.

Thank you very much