INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
1
THE TEACHING OF WRITING SKILL AT THE UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL:
A CASE STUDY IN BANGLADESHI PESRPECTIVE
Hossain Ahmed, Lecturer in English
International Islamic University Chittagong
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
This small study investigates the ways or techniques teachers generally adopt in their
writing classes at the undergraduate level in one university. Two separate questionnaires
have been used to elicit information from students and teachers to know how they handle
the writing tasks in the class. All the interviewees both students and teachers have been
interviewed individually so that transparency and confidentiality is maintained
throughout the data collection process. The research questionnaires mainly stress on the
approaches of the writing skill: product approach, process approach and genre
approach. The extracted information shows that students have a tendency towards
product approach to writing as a skill rather than process approach. At the same time,
regarding the teaching of writing, the research has brought to light a number of issues
such as pre writing activities, erratic practice of giving feedback, and negligence of
taking preparations including a good lesson plan, lack of selecting the writing tasks and
eventually students’ lack of practicing the writing regularly.
Key Words: Approach, Feedback, Communicative skill, Mechanics, ELT, Questionnaire.
1: Introduction
Teaching English is an interesting
experience, but it is also a very challenging one
in EFL context like Bangladesh. In our country
we have a long history of English learning and
teaching where the challenge for the teachers is
very basic as the average learner often comes to
the classroom without basic skills. Many of them
never reach the full potential in their professional
lives because of this shortcoming. Students are
aware of their own difficulty in writing but their
efforts to improve their skill are often spoilt by
the gap between their own understanding and the
teachers’ expectations. The situation is further
worsened by the unsatisfactory quality of
teaching and the want of suitable teaching
materials. Writing as a skill is always a
challenging task for the students, indeed to some
extent daunting due to the lack of proper
initiative or orientation.
At tertiary level students have to study
English language in various titles such as
Foundation English, English Proficiency course,
Remedial English, Advanced English and so on
in the undergraduate programmes. These courses
mainly stresses on grammatical rules which are
taught in descriptive method. Alongside other
areas of the language, they are also required to
attempt some writing such as paragraph, letter,
story-completing and composition.
All the aforementioned writings are merely
some set activities which students prefer to
memories from books available to them for exam
purpose. The objectives of these types of writing
often get little or no importance which indicates
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
2
two main assumptions responsible for such a
declining condition of students in achieving
writing skills. These happen either because
students do not get proper motivation or because
teachers don’t take writing activities seriously.
Of the four basic skills writing and
speaking are productive while listening and
reading are receptive skills. It is said that writing
is discouraging to most students (Sultana,
2000:p155). No accurate explanation has ever
been given by any researchers or by any teachers
to reduce the fear of students. Despite this
everyone at least has his/her own explanations
behind such declining condition in achieving
writing skill. It is noteworthy here that the
students who take admission into this university,
have completed twelve years of education in
which they have read English as their
compulsory subject.
In this small study I have analysed the
ways of how writing is taught in the classroom
situation and the subsequent problems facing the
students while improving writing as one of the
fundamental skills of language.
2: Rationale for Choosing this Topic
In the countries like ours where English is
used as ‘second or foreign language’ (Banu:
2003), practice and development of it is very
limited except in some areas such as
international business and foreign
communication. It is certainly true that students
start learning English from class one in Bangla
medium and from nursery in English medium.
By the time they complete higher secondary
level, they will have finished twelve years of
schooling and are expected to have developed all
the four skills upto the desired level. When they
enter university for higher education, they should
do the tasks for improving further the learned
skills. But reality is quite the opposite, at least
my experience as a language teacher at the
university level proves so. Moreover, Quader
(2007:23) records the observations of the
practicing teachers at the higher secondary and
tertiary levels regarding the low proficiency at
the entry point
Many teachers repeatedly stressed that
students entered the HSC level with very low
proficiency. They said, ‘The students cannot
write even a sentence correctly.’ This is largely
of the manner of testing at the lower public
tuitions, memorization of the questions from
notebooks, and adopting unfair means, students
will not have the proficiency necessary for the
higher level of education. (Quader, 2007:23)
As such in our day-to-day affairs we use
the writing skill much less than other three skills:
speaking, listening and reading. It happens due
to our monolingual environment, in which we
hardly use English other than Bangla, unless we
are compelled to do. However, the writing tasks
students do are very limited and almost set-type
which do not require them much practice and
skill. Nor do students need to be creative to write
them. When students admit into university they
suffer very much for the lack of proper
orientation. In true sense they should improve
their language skill here. I have felt interested to
study the ways how they are taught the writing
skill to develop their communicative skill. This
interests me most as a language teacher.
Moreover it involves the development of the
potential students.
3: Research Objectives
As a language teacher, I feel interested to
investigate the issue as the importance of writing
skill is beyond measure in the case of
commutative competence and knowing the texts
of the famous writers in the target language.
Moreover the person, whose writing capacity is
sound, is sure to get better jobs in the
competitive market. It is also essential to know
at which approach learners feel comfort and what
mechanics are suitable to break through writing
skill. Above all this small study has investigates
the ways or techniques teachers generally adopt
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
3
in their writing classes at the undergraduate level
in the university.
4: Research Question
1. How is the writing skill taught at
the undergraduate level?
2. What areas of writing are mainly
focused in the teaching of writing
skill?
5: Literature Review
The most important reason for teaching
writing of course is that it is a fundamental skill
of language, just as important as speaking,
listening and reading. Students need to know
how to write letters, how to put written reports
together, how to reply to advertisements and
increasingly, how to write using electronic
media. In order to know how the writing skill is
taught in the classroom situation, particularly at
tertiary level, it is important to be informed of a
number of issues related to writing such as
approaches to writing, cohesion and
cohesiveness, using of meaningful tasks in
developing writing and finally covering feedback
in writing including peer feedback etc. to the
written tasks of the students.
5.1: Approaches to Teaching Writing
Teaching writing as a skill mainly depends
to a great extent on approach the teacher is
practicing in the class. Teaching professionals
practice a number of approaches to teaching
writing in the classroom context.
The effectiveness of a particular approach
depends on a number of things e.g. the rationale
or nature of writing, students’ level, the
underlying philosophy, or even just personal
approach. (Ahmad, 2005:92)
Sultana (2003:157) elaborates different
approaches to teaching the writing skill in the
classroom. Mainly she focuses on the product
approach, process approach and genre approach.
Eventually she also presents a synthesis of the
process and genre approaches.
5.2: Product Approach
Pincas (1982) explains that ‘the product
approach to teaching of the writing skill is
influenced by the structural and behavourist
learning of theories of L2 learning that were
practiced in the 1960s. It therefore gives
importance to structures, appropriate vocabulary,
syntax and cohesive devices. Students in this
approach are involved in sentence formation and
grammar exercises. Classroom activities include
imitation, copy and transformation of the correct
sentences. (as cited in Sultana,2003)
In the product approach to writing
according to her, learners usually observe four
steps: familiarsation, controlled writing, guided
writing and free writing:
1. In familiarization step:
students require filling in gaps,
to complete sentences,
transform the tense form or
persons and complete other
exercises in the text that they
make them gain linguistic
accuracy and overcome the
common mistakes.
2. In the controlled step: students
practice some fixed patterns
generally from the substitution
table. This makes them attain
the structural knowledge of
language.
3. In the guided writing step:
learners practice the skills
which they have already
gained, with increasing
freedom and copy or imitate a
model of the text.
4. In the free writing step:
students with their skills which
they have acquired by this time
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
4
through the cyclic process
begin to write letters, stories or
essays.
5.3: Process Approach
Process approach principally emphasizes
on the ‘the linguistic skill’—the skill which
students use in the process of writing to come to
the product, i.e., the writing / text. It is widely
used approach in second language writing and
focuses on the ‘linguistic knowledge’ which
enables students to produce the product, i.e. the
writing. According to Janet Emig (1971, cited in
Sultana,2003) ‘ writing is a nonlinear in nature
and students simultaneously go through various
stages repeatedly while they compose such as
rehearsing, drafting, and revising until they
discover meaning.’ She quotes Jordan (1997)
saying that the product approach to writing
emphasizes the finished product of writing, i. e,
the text. It includes several exercises on a certain
model of writing. Through these exercises
students are expected to learn the structure,
organization, cohesion, grammatical aspects and
then to produce similar text by themselves, on
which they are assessed.
She quotes Badger and White (2000:154)
making distinction between product and process
approaches to teaching writing. They say that the
product approach focuses on the ‘linguistic
knowledge’ which enables the students to produce
the product i.e. the writing, while the process
approach focuses on the ‘linguistic skills’ the
skills students use in the process of writing to
come up with the product i.e. the writing. In the
case of the process approach to the writing, she
also notes that students go through four stages:
pre writing, composing/drafting, revising and
editing.
i. Pre-writing stage: students,
after selection of the topic do
brainstorming, collecting data,
note taking and outlining etc.
ii. Composing: they get down the
ideas on paper.
iii. Revising: students responding
to feedback do reorganizing,
style, adjusting to readers,
refining ideas.
iv. Editing: they check and
correct form, layout, evidence
etc
Initially students learn to identify four
elements such as, the audience, the generation of
the ideas, the organization of the text and its
purpose. The four steps mentioned crate a ‘cyclic’
process in which students can move backward and
start pre-writing again if needed.
5.4: Genre Approach
Third and last one is genre approach. To
some degree it is ‘an extension of the product
approach.’(Xu2000, as cited in Sultana2003) It
mainly focuses on the linguistic aspects of writing
as in the product approach. According to Sultana
(2003:162) it emphasizes the importance of
incorporating those genres in writing tasks that are
crucial to educational and social discourses. The
samples of genre include sales letters, research
articles, recipes, or reports linked with different
situations. This approach involves students in
three stages which are follows:
1. Modeling the target genre.
2. The construction of the text.
3. The independent construction in the
fashion with the given genre.
5.5: Interconnection between the approaches
Regarding the synthesis of the process and
genre approaches Badger and White (cited in
Sultana: 2000) say that writing involves
knowledge about language (as in the product and
the genre approaches), knowledge of the context
in which writing happens and especially the
purpose for the writing (as in the genre
approach) and skills in using language (as in the
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
5
process approach). Writing development
happens by drawing students’ potential (as in the
process approach) and by providing input which
the students respond (as in the product and genre
approach).
She says that through the writing students
gain control over their thoughts. The teacher’s
responsibility is to help foster learners to achieve
control over the written task.
Next she focuses on the process approach to
writing which is more concerned with compiling
method. This approach perceives writing as a
creative task and thus teaching mainly gives
emphasis on involving students in various
creative writing. It considers writing as a
recursive process of modification and rewriting,
which eventually leads to the final draft of
writing. Her final comment regarding teaching
writing skills is mention worthy here:
However regardless of the
approach in the pedagogy of
writing, good writing needs
a multitude of skills on
content, organization and
style, including the
conventions of writing
English…(Ahmad,2005)
So we see that process writing focuses on
the writer, the creativity and individualism of
writing. It also emphasizes on the process of
writing as a whole starting from the pre- writing
stage involved in generating ideas to the editing
of the draft. Here the main concern is the form
and structure, and there are many writing text
and methodology books, which ‘contain no
grammar reference or instructional component’
at all.
5.6: Mechanics of Writing
The writer (student) requires observing
some conventions of writing skill in order to
develop the effective writing skill. These include
legible hand writing, spelling, structures,
punctuation, cohesion and coherence. Harmer
(2003) argues that ‘though punctuation is
frequently a matter of personal style, violation of
well-customs makes a piece of writing look
awkward to many readers.’
He also focuses on neatness and legibility
of handwriting since it often affects the reader
when assessing the content of the write-up. He
then moves to generalize the problems which
students often face while doing writing tasks. He
says that spelling mistakes and violation of
punctuation and faulty layout etc. are some
common problems.
Ahmad (2005) has discussed how discourse
analysis can facilitate the goal of teaching
effective writing. After having identified written
discourse as an important organ of discourse
analysis, she illustrates the grammatical
correlations within a text and also explains how
structures in text build links between sentences
and paragraph assisting ‘in the progression of the
whole text’ (Mc Carthy1991). She has also
opined that discourse analysis can be a useful
means for teachers teaching writing in English.
5.7: Using Meaningful Task in Developing
Writing
It is extremely important to be careful to
select tasks for practicing the writing in the
class. The selection of meaningful tasks
facilitates learning. Harmer (1998) describes
different ways of selecting the writing tasks in
the classroom situation from elementary to
advanced levels. He has shown four model
examples which he thinks may be effective in
the classroom teaching of writing task. The
models are as follows:
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
6
1. Writing postcards for the elementary
level.
2. Altering dictations for the intermediate
level.
3. Matching the newspaper headlines with
the stories they come, for intermediate
/upper intermediate level.
4. Report writing for the advanced level.
He also gives importance on arranging
the writing task according to the age, interest and
level of the learners. Furthermore he suggests the
teachers to make the learners familiar with some
of the writing conventions such as punctuation
and paragraph construction etc. He also
recognizes the importance of writing skill just as
speaking, listening and reading. It seems that the
writer has aptly explored various ways of
preparing and selecting writing tasks effective in
the class.
5.8: Feedback on Written Task
Feedback in general is a response or
reaction from one person to something that one
does. This information can be used to assess or
improve one’s performance. In language
teaching class feedback is an indispensable tool
for assessment and improvement of learning the
target language.
Jordan (1997, cited in Khan2002)
challenges that ‘no matter what kind writing
students undertake students will need feedback
regarding its acceptability, quality and accuracy.’
Feedback from the teacher will help students to
see their strengths and weaknesses in writing and
to keep on improving their written product
according to the teacher’s comments and
suggestions. So it is nothing new.
Khan (2003) has laid stress on giving
feedback for the acceptability, quality and
accuracy of the writing task undertaken by the
students. She also talks about different stages or
steps of writing e g. planning, drafting, revising
and editing. She considers feedback as an input
from the reader (assessor) to the writer with the
effect of providing information to the writer for
revision if necessary. Besides other roles of the
teacher, she thinks that the teacher provides
authoritative feedback on students’ performance.
She criticizes the very limited role the teacher in
the traditional writing classroom. She has
explored different types of approaches to
feedback. In short it is seen that the writer has
assembled much more devotion to feedback
outlining its various forms and advantages.
5.9: Peer Feedback
In language learning and teaching giving
feedback, it is acknowledged, is very important
since it gives proper guidance for the ongoing
progress of the learners. Feedback can be of two
types- feedback from the teacher to the students
and from students to students, which is known as
peer feedback. According to Sultana (2000) the
peer feedback is essential in language learning
for several reasons. First peer feedback makes
classes interactive. Such interaction between the
students eventually affects students’ language
learning.
Secondly students become critically
involved when they comment on grammatical
and stylistic aspects of each other’s
compositions. This sort of practice not only
improves their immediate composition but also
increases their long-term writing ability. She also
opines that peer feedback puts students at ease
since there is no traditionally authoritarian role
of the teacher.
Sultana (2001) has endeavoured to prove
empirically and theoretically how peer feedback
is effective in writing classroom. She has also
shown reasons behind this sort of feedback. She
seems to be principally confined to peer
feedback in ESL context rather than in EFL
environment. Peer feedback as she argues, not
only improves the learners’ immediate
composition but also increases their long term
writing ability. She observes with dismay that in
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
7
fact the way teachers mark students’ answer
scripts proves their preoccupation with testing of
students, not of the writing. Consequently this
practice that does not conform to any rational
approaches to writing fails to lead students to the
higher level of competence. She has called the
successive declining trend of students’ writing
skill as ‘mysterious’ as she notes with
disappointment:
‘Writing, one of the
most important English
skills that students in
Bangladesh nowadays
need for their
successful future
career, is mysteriously
neglected at the
secondary and higher
secondary levels
education.’ (Sultana,
2000: 157)
Basu (2006) has attempted to show how
feedback especially peer feedback in EFL
environment may given effectively. Here he
discusses the common practices of giving
feedback by explaining how to deal with the
problems of grammar and content. There are
mainly two types of feedback—teacher feedback
and peer feedback according to the writer.
Regarding nature of feedback he also mentions
three types of feedback such as written feedback,
elaborated feedback or conferencing and peer
feedback etc. Again he has laid down some
suggestions as to how to conduct feedback in the
classroom situation. These are mentioned
numerically:
1. Praise the written work of the students,
2. Use clear and straightforward directions
so that students may understand what
the teacher means by them,
3. Experiment with diverse means of
giving feedback: written comments in
drafts, separate pages, online response,
oral conference, peer response and
workshops etc.
4. Identify the type, save time.
5. Peer response groups.
6. Use a standard set of symbols and
7. Evaluating and grading.
In the above mentioned literature review
it seems to me that most of the researchers have
given elaborately described various types of
approaches to teaching the writing as a skill.
They have also attempted to establish a link
between them to show the linguistic knowledge,
linguistic skill and linguistic aspects. Some have
too synthesized product and process approaches,
bringing forward a new kind of approach to
teaching the writing whereas some of them have
recognized again the indispensability of feedback
and demonstrated different types of feedback
normally given to the students’ written tasks.
Harmer among the researchers has depicted
splendidly the writing conventions essential for
students to improve their writing skill. It seems
to me that all of them have shown their
explanations theoretically; none have presented
any data from student’s and teachers’ perspective
to depict the real classroom situation. Hence it is
difficult to assume the true picture to teaching
writing as a skill just going through their
research articles. I have therefore tried to study
this area of research keeping this aforesaid point.
6: Methodology of the Study
This research has attempted to enquire into
the ways of teaching the writing skill inside the
class. Qualitative approach has mainly been
followed for the study. However, a small amount
of quantitative data has been used in order to
attain an accurate and precise analysis of the
present situation of classroom teaching. Two sets
of questionnaires for teachers and students
respectively have been used keeping an eye on
the techniques of teaching the writing skill in a
non-native context. The purpose of these
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
8
questionnaires was to illustrate the real
classroom situation. Simple random method has
been used for collecting data through
questionnaires.
6.1: Participants
In the study participants were teachers and
students of the university. Some 50 student
participants studying under different departments
of different faculties were selected randomly and
were given the questionnaire to elicit data from
them. The time of interview was fixed before in
order to lessen their mental stress. They were
assured that their identity would not be
mentioned in the research which seemed to keep
students more confident and interested. Every
interview with students took me nearly 20
minutes to finish.
In the other group of the participants were
15 teachers who are teaching English language
courses in various departments of the university.
They were supplied with a separate questionnaire
individually and discussed it with them to extract
data smoothly. They were also assured of
keeping their identity secret which helped the
writer very much to collect data for the study
spontaneously without any obstacle and
confusion. The data collection from the students
and teachers continued for about two months.
6.2: Tools of Data Collection
As tools for data collection the writer has
used two separate questionnaires for students and
teachers. In students’ questionnaire there were 20
questions whereas 15 questions in teachers’
questionnaire. Both covered some essential
aspects of teaching such as pre- writing
activities, 2.writing inside the classroom, 3.
writing lesson. 4. vocabulary. 5. evaluation
system. 6. learner 7. teacher. and 8. teaching
technique.
Data have been analysed to present the
existing scenario of teaching and learning
writing as a skill within the classroom context so
as to identify learner's particular choice for any
particular aspect of writing skill.
7: Data Collection
Here I have presented various data that I
gathered for my research. At first I made an
average of the collected data that I got from the
three departments of the university. As stated in
chapter one, the purpose of the study is to find
whether L1 is used in ELT classes. Another
purpose of the study is to find out the situations
in which L1 use is beneficial. This chapter is
divided into two sections- the first section will
present the data and the second section will
present the analysis and finding of it.
8.: Data Analysis
8.1: Students’ Questionnaire
While doing data analysis of this small
study, I have kept four basic aspects of teaching
writing in the class. They are teacher’s
approach to writing, students’ perception of
learning writing as a skill in the classroom
situation and finally feedback given by teacher
and peer students for further improvement.
In the first question put forward to the
students was ‘which pre writing activities are
offered by the teacher in the class?’ In response
to this question, 40% students talked of being
supplied ideas about the topic by their teacher.
It is a good sign that students are given some
ideas or clues concerning the topic to be
attempted by them as a writing activity. There
are, however, some other ways of giving pre
writing activities in the writing class, for
example: arousing interests, asking questions,
showing pictures related to the topic and so on.
The immediate next question was what the
teachers generally do before he asks students to
attempt a task. The highest number of
respondents (66%) said that the teacher writes
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
9
the name of the topic on the whiteboard and
asks them to write about it. Here perhaps fails
the role of teacher of being a motivator and a
facilitator. He is supposed to explain all the
relevant parts/ elements of a piece of writing of
which students need to aware of clearly.
In a writing class the role of the teacher is
very crucial and often it is multidimensional as
Harmer (2003) comments that ‘although the
teacher needs to deploy some or all of the usual
roles when students are asked to write, the ones
that are especially important are as follows:
a) Motivator,
b) Resource,
c) Feedback provider.
In the traditional classroom, it is hardly
seen the teacher playing the aforementioned
roles simultaneously. They, as is certain, will
not feel encouraged to motivate their students
unless they are trained up. Moreover teachers’
motivation and positive outlook will surely
make the whole environment friendly and
comfortable for the learners. For better
understanding, it is important to look at the
three roles of the teacher in details as described
by the renowned ELT trainer.
Motivator is on of our
principle roles in
writing tasks to
motivate the students,
in creating the right
conditions for
generation of ideas,
persuading them of
the usefulness of the
activity, and
encouraging them to
make as much effort
as possible for
maximum
benefit.(Harmer:2003
)
Regarding the role of the teacher’s being
resource, his evaluation is that teachers, during
the extended writing tasks, should be ready to
supply information and language to tell students
of their being available and prepared to looks at
their work as it progresses, by offering
responses and suggestions in a constructive and
tactful way. The unsuccessfulness of the
teaching writing as a skill in the classroom
situation may be partly attributed to the
teacher’s indifference to the role an active
motivator and resource person.
According to Grabe and Kaplan (1996)
writing has three operational processes—
planning process, translating and revising.
Moreover the planning process is also divided
into three subcomponents such as generating
ideas, organizing information and setting goals.
In the actual generation of the text, ideas in the
planning stage are formed into language on the
page, which are reviewed and revised. (cited in
Sarwar,2010:2)
In the question it is too discovered that the
teacher does not always take away the finished
task from students. It may happen probably due
to time constraints or due to absence of a good
lesson planning according to which the teacher
is expected to give class. Sometimes the
teacher, as 60% students said, waits for them to
complete the task for giving feedback later. It is
seen that teacher are not regular in making their
own lesson plan before going to the class. 68%
students confirm this scenario of the class. We
know planning especially for young teachers is
very important to achieve desired objects of
every lesson; otherwise, his labour will of no
use. Harmer the most renowned teacher trainer
argues that lesson planning is the art of
combining a number of different elements into
a coherent whole so that a lesson has an identity
which students can recognize, work within, and
react to – whatever metaphor teachers may use
to visualize and create that identity.’
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
10
Giving feedback on the written tasks
demands special care and teachers require
responding positively and encouragingly to the
content of what the students have written. When
offering correction, they should choose what
and how much to focus on the level of the
students in a particular task and the task they
have undertaken.
Feedback as has been mentioned in chapter
increases the acceptability, quality and accuracy
of the written tasks undertaken by students.
Freedman (1984) says that feedback plays a
pivotal role in the process writing. As writing is
a complex, which cannot be mastered without
practice in rewriting and revision. So the task of
the teacher, therefore, is to interact with the
students through feedback to help them to
‘consciously identify and solve their composing
problems.’(cited in Sarwar, 2010)
But the very nature or mode of feedback, if
given at all, is error correction type. 36%
students said that they get the written task back
underlining mistakes in red ink by their
teachers. One interesting matter to note here
that submitting the revised task to the teacher
for further feedback is very crucial as it is said
mastery on writing skill is almost impossible
without going through the rewriting and
revision stage. However the percentage of
feedback from the teacher is scanty and
disappointing compared to the bulk of students.
Question no. 19 in the students survey
asked them about the teacher’s approach to
handling mistakes of the written tasks.
Maximum students (48%) replied that their
teacher just circle in red ink the mistakes of the
test papers. Merely circling the mistakes of the
written task without any clear written comments
or any clues is a sheer wastage of time because
students do not benefit from this kind of
feedback. However they often do not give
second look to such feedback. It is to note here
that usually in traditional approaches to
teaching and learning writing, the teacher is
believed to be ultimate source of all knowledge
and authority. It is also mentioned in literature
review of chapter two that feedback given by
the teacher is the final response or reaction to
the students’ tasks, assessing their performance.
Feedback is therefore an indispensable tool for
improving the teaching and learning of writing,
by providing information to students on the
performance of their work. There are a number
of ways of giving feedback such as written
comments as shown by Khan (2002)
Major Forms of Feedback
1. Error Correction
2. Peer Correction
3. Conference
4. Reformulation
5. Taped Commentary
6. Text Approximation
7.Wrtten Comments
8. Grades and Numbers
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
11
In these study teachers are found not to
be well-acquainted with the different types of
methods of feedback. They rather like to adhere
to the traditional one that is underlining or
circling the mistakes in coloured ink.
Regarding the objectives of learning
writing skill, the response of the 70% students
was that they were practicing writing as a task to
just pass the examination. Instead of fixing a
long term goal, they are found pre occupied with
thought of achieving a good grade in the
examination. Such short term, therefore makes
them more selective and lessen the amount of
their effort required for acquiring mastery on
writing skill. In the conventional system where
achieving a good grade in the examination is the
only concern of most students, they seem to be
reluctant to observe the complex process of
writing which is considered extremely important.
The condition is blamed for lack of students’
proper orientation for practicing writing skill.
The research of course shows that 16% students
think that writing task is not satisfactory due to
lack of proper teaching method while another
16% holds unspecific target/ goal responsible for
this; but other 58% students blame irregular
practice of writing English in the class.
Students, who undertake practicing
writing as a skill, do emphasise on learning
grammar and vocabulary by writing correct
sentences. Bashir (2005) quotes Scott and
Chapman saying,’…grammar is the organizing
principle of language. If writing is a craft, the
writers need to know the materials they are
working with and the tools they are going to
use.’ So only acquiring the ability to write a few
correct sentences may not help very much unless
he gives importance on being creative through
communicating ideas. Hedge (1988:23)
comments that ‘good writers tend to concentrate
on getting the content at first and leave details
like correcting, punctuation and grammar until
later.’ In this study only 22% students replied
that they enjoy practicing it as a kind of creative
activity.
8.2: Teachers’ Questionnaire
The questionnaire consisting of 15
questions was designed for the teachers who are
taking English language courses or who have at
least some experience of taking classes under
various departments of the university. It focuses
on teacher’s approach to teaching writing,
handling writing in the class and finally giving
feedback to the learners.
In a creative writing class the role of the teacher
is of facilitator and manager. He is required to
oversee the whole class activities providing
necessary help or prompt to the learners. Harmer
(1998:1) points out a number of qualities of a
good teacher. They are as follows:
He makes the lesson interesting.
He loves his job.
He has good personality.
He has a lot of knowledge, not
only of his own subject.
He has a positive outlook,
instead of a negative one.
In other words ‘good teachers care more
about their students’ learning than they do
about own teaching.’ (Harmer 1998: 3)
The first was about which pre writing
activity they (teachers) have the students in the
class in order to arouse interest of the latter to the
topic.40% respondents said they give students
ideas about the topic to be attempted in the class.
While students are doing a piece of writing task,
about 53% teachers move round offering help.
Teachers were asked about cooperative
class and whether they practice it in their writing
class; 52% opined that classroom lessons
become interesting and enjoyable because of
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
12
cooperative atmosphere. Seeking help is a social
strategy and could actually be positive for
language learning. A discussion on a language
task involves meta-cognitive activities. It helps
learners to think and talk about the language task
in groups /pairs. Discussion even with peers
sometimes helps clarify problems that the
learners feel too shy to ask the teacher.
Moreover, it is not possible for the teacher to
give attention to every student. So, encouraging
discussion among the students is a more
interactive social strategy that could prove useful
even outside the classroom in environments that
are more naturalistic. However, discussing and
copying are two different things and the learners
need to be made aware of the advantages and
disadvantages of each one respectively.
Question 5 was on which areas of
teaching the teacher mainly gives emphasis. 46%
of them said that they give stress on developing
ability to communicate ideas while 33% talk of
practicing grammar and vocabulary. As penny
Ur points out:
…that grammar mistakes need to
be corrected, it is important to
them not as a sign of inadequacy
(you have failed to teach
something and the student has
failed to learn it), but rather as
means to advance teaching and
learning. (Ur, 1996, cited in
Bashir, 2005)
He also quotes Ur rightly saying that
‘many of us are familiar with the phenomenon of
learners who get full marks on all the grammar
exercises and tests, but then makes mistakes in
the same structure when they are composing in
their own speech or writing.’ The problem is
manifest in the case that many of our students
know the discrete grammatical elements, and
even the grammatical rules, but they cannot use
them correctly in their speaking and writing.
Regarding the role of the teacher, 86%
think that their role as a teacher should be of a
friend and facilitator in writing class. They were
too asked if they get sufficient time to take
preparation for ensuring interesting lesson.67%
teachers said they do not get enough time to
make a lesson planning. It is true in the case of
private university where teachers are often
burdened with extra classes. That is why; there
is always a pressure of taking more and more
classes. Elliot (1980) considers the practical
aspect of teaching, and declares that teacher
training needs to involve them in activities that
will seek to develop their awareness and control
of the principles of the underlying effective
planning, organizing, management, and delivery
of the institution. To develop their own approach
to teaching, trainees should be sensitive to
interactions between teaching, observation, and
investigation, and be able to make connections
between these. They should also be able to make
decisions in order to solve problems that are
unique to a particular teaching situation. All this
has to be learnt through a practice teaching
training situation where trainers can guide them.
Trainee teachers need to develop various micro-
level skills. Obviously, only practical hands-on
learning can ensure the scope for such
development.
Question no. 14 was how they identify
students’ problems while the latter are doing a
writing task in the class. 47% of them answered
that they go round the class to see that students
are writing so that they can provide any help if
necessary. The teacher also plays the role of an
observer and evaluator. So they were asked to
identify the areas of students’ problems. 33%
teachers said students face problems in
organizing ideas whereas another 33% identified
students’ in ability to understand the
requirements of the question. In fact two areas of
students’ lacking draw more attention because
these are stumbling blocks for learners.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
13
Teacher’s feedback in process teaching
writing plays an instrumental role in helping
students improve their writing skill. Question no.
7 in the teacher survey asks them how they give
feedback to students’ written work. 52% of them
said they underline the mistakes in red ink so
that students can see that they have made
mistakes. However 67% teachers said that they
are irregular in providing feedback to students’
tasks no matter whatever feedback.
How they can motivate students in a
writing class was the last question of the
teachers’ questionnaire 40% teachers said that
they encourage students participating in group
work or pair work while another 20% for
pointing mistakes without insulting; but another
20 % for taking tests at regular intervals and the
rest 20% for making friendly behaviour. The
teacher is not only a feedback provider and
resource person but also a motivator in a
language class. The more creative he becomes in
giving motivation to his students, the more
effective and fruitful the learning becomes.
9: Limitations of the Study
I have identified some limitations while
doing data collection and analysis. Firstly the
study has been carried in a small scale and scope.
The elicited data might be more substantial and
acceptable if more universities were covered.
However interviewees were selected in random
selection method. If students from other public
and private universities were involved in the
study, the findings could be more reliable for
further study or research in the future. It is to
mention here that there was a time limit. I hope I
would be able to carry out study covering more
students from different university to present the
actual picture of teaching writing as a skill at the
tertiary level.
10: Implications for ELT
Writing, one of the most important English
language skills that students in Bangladesh
nowadays need for their successful future career,
is neglected at the secondary and higher level of
education. (Sultana, 2003:157)
Teachers usually make students write on a
given topic and correct the product, i.e. the
compositions, identifying errors in grammar,
spelling, sentence structures and vocabulary
selection. After doing the data collection from
teachers and students, I have here humbly put
forward some observations with a view to
making teaching writing a more effective and
fruitful in classroom situation at tertiary level.
1. Writing involves a number of stages
such as familiarization, planning,
organizing ideas, drafting and revising.
Students need to be familiar with any
kind of writing at first, before they truly
start writing start writing. Prewriting
activities, if the teachers offer sincerely
and regularly, may be helpful to
learning writing.
2. Selection of writing tasks in order to
bring variety is important to make
lessons interesting and enjoyable. If
teachers are successful in holding their
students’ attention in the class, it will
certainly facilitate the learning of
language very much.
3. The research shows that teachers are not
very regular in providing feedback to
students’ written work. It hampers the
whole learning process and eventually
weakens the teacher-student interaction
in the class. We all know feedback is an
indispensable tool for improving the
teaching and learning of writing, by
providing information to students on the
performance of their own work.
4. If they inculcate the habit of giving
feedback regularly by exploring various
ways of feedback to match the teaching
strategy, teaching the writing skill may
be more enjoyable to both students and
teachers.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
14
5. Teachers might take initiative to ensure
a cooperative class environment, since
cooperative class helps students learn in
friendly and congenial atmosphere,
allowing peer feedback in the class
under his guidance. This is a good
exercise for the students as it engages
them in communicating with their
classmates. This opportunity to discuss
each others’ essays and writing gives
valuable feedback. Students may write
with more specific focus because they
know that their peers will also be
reading their papers.
6. In this research it is too found that
teachers do not make lesson planning
regularly which is good tool to ensure a
fruitful class. Lesson planning conforms
to organizing tasks depending on age,
interest and level of the students. It also
maintains the sequence of chronology
of writing activities to be done in the
class. So planning lesson plan helps to
utilize maximum potential of the
teacher and maintain sequence of
lesson. It is very essential for the
teachers to be more attentive making
lesson plan.
7. Training for the teacher especially in-
service training will affect the
classroom teaching to a great extent.
Richards (1998) said that education of
any second language teacher needs to
draw on a variety of disciplines such as
linguistics, psycholinguistics,
sociolinguistics and education. If it does
not do so, the work of a language
teacher can lack a coherent foundation.
If they have to work without training,
they function in a vacuum, only
assuming the bases from which they
work. It is not only good training that
can give them a clear idea of the basis
for teaching, of why they are doing
what doing in the class.
11: Conclusion
In this small study on teaching the writing
skill at the undergraduate level, I have
investigated the ways or approaches to handing
writing tasks from teachers’ perception as well as
from learners’ perspective. I have used two
questionnaires designed to collect data from the
teachers and students to have a clear picture of
classroom teaching of the writing. The
questionnaires mainly focus on the on the areas
related to teaching of writing as a skill, i.e. 1.Pre-
writing activities, 2. Writing inside the
classroom, 3.Writing lesson. 4. Vocabulary. 5.
Evaluation system. 6. Learner. 7. Teacher. and
8. Teaching technique. The collected data have
been analysed to depict the existing ways of
teaching and learning writing skill inside the
classroom
The teacher adopts different approaches of
teaching writing. Throughout the whole process
he usually plays the role of ‘facilitator’. The
guide students through the writing process and
help them to generate, draft, and refine ideas and
at the end develop meta-cognitive awareness of
their writing processes; that is, their ability to
reflect on the strategy they use to write.
Most of the teachers offer prewriting
activities in one way or other to arouse interest to
the topic which students are going to write.
About 53% teachers said they go round the class
to provide any help students may require while
they are busy in writing tasks. They often allow
students to correct themselves which means that
students get time for feedback. It is true that
‘peer feedback ensures the active and critical
involvement of students in the writing
process.’(Sultana, 2003:86)
The fact that writing activities mostly done
in the class mainly focus micro linguistic level.
Hardly does the teacher give any emphasis on
students’ creativity and their ability to
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
15
communicate ideas effectively. The teachers
were asked to specify the problems behind the
poor development of writing skill. More than
half of the total respondents think that the lack of
practicing writing regularly is a big problem.
Another remarkable feature that the study has
brought to light is teachers’ irregularity in
providing feedback to the written tasks of
students. They also do not make lesson planning
which is due to lack of regular practice. They are
expected to become more creative and dynamic
regarding to planning lessons, teaching
technique, and feedback etc. It has not been
possible because of time constraints to
investigate all issues pertaining to teaching the
writing elaborately.
Works Cited
Ahmad, S. N. (2005). Discoure
analysis:implications for teaching effective
writing, Spectrum,3,(1). 92-101
Banu,R(2003). Linguistic imperialism: the
Bangladesh case, IML Journal, 1(2).29
Basu, B. L. (2006). Providing feedback on EFL
students’written assaignments:nature and
implications Spectrum, 4(2).164-180
Bashir, A. (2005). The place of grammar in EFL
composition classes’, The Arts Faculty Journal.
Harmer, J. (2003). The practice of English
Language Teaching, England: Longman,
Harmer, J. (1998) How to Teach English,
England: Longman,
Hedge, T. (1988). Writing, Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Hughes, A. (2003). Testing for Language
Teachers, England: CUP
Kamal, M (2005). Problems of learning English
in Bangladesh: a student’s perspective.
Spectrum, 3(1).125-134
Khan, R. (2003). Responding to student writing
in the TESOL environment: some feedback
options, IML Journal
Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching
Methodology. England: Prentice Hill of Second
International (UK) Ltd.
Rahman, A. (2000). A qualitative approach to
educational research, IML Journal, pp31-49
Sultana, S. (2003). Approaches to teaching
writing, IML Journal, 2(1) 157-172
Sultana, S. (2000). Impact of peer feedback on
writing in EFL, IML Journal
Appendix-1
Questionnaire for Student Survey
a) Giving idea about the topic. 1. Which pre-
writing activities are
offered by your teacher?
b) Arousing interests about the topic.
c) Asking questions on the similar ideas discussed in the writing task.
d) Making you think and discuss in group about the topic using
introduction of the text and given picture.
a) He writes the topic on the whiteboard and asks the students to write. 2. Which of the
following activities does
your teacher do before he
begins a writing activity in
the class?
b) He explains how to write a particular type of writing task.
c) He gives an outline about how the writing needs to be begun,
developed and concluded successfully.
d) Both b and c
3. How does the
teacher handle the writing
task in the classroom?
a) He always gives the task and asks the students to complete them.
b) He sometimes gives the task and asks the students to complete them.
c) He rarely gives the task and asks the students to complete them.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
16
d) He never gives the task and asks the students to complete them.
a) Friend 4. What role does the
teacher play while you are
doing a particular writing
task in the classroom?
b) Facilitator.
c) Lecturer
d) Both friend and facilitator
a) Simply start writing soon after the teacher asks to write the given
task.
5. How do you begin
your writing task in the
classroom situation?
b) Discuss in pairs / groups where it is possible.
c) Do brainstorming on the topic at first and start drafting.
d) Both b and c.
a) Enjoy writing as a kind of creative activity. 6. For which
purposes do you mostly
practice writing activities?
b) Do writing as a task to pass the examination.
c) Since the teacher compels to do practice as a skill of language so as
to communicate with others comfortably.
a) Helps learn and practice writing correct sentences. 7. Which benefits do
you get while doing a piece
of writing task in the
classroom?
b) Scope of developing oneself as s creative writer.
c) The chance to develop writing as a language skill by following a
plan.
d) Reflect the thoughts on the writing activities.
Always b) Sometimes c) Never 8. Does the teacher
encourage you to do
writing outside the
classroom?
9.
a) Yes b) No c) Sometimes.
10. Do you think
practicing writing tasks
inside the classroom is
adequate to help you
develop your writing skill
in the real life situation?
a) Practicing grammar and vocabulary. 11. On which areas do
your writing lessons focus? b) Communicating ideas.
c) Understanding the main idea of the text.
d) Just to meet requirements of the examinations.
a) Lessons are not chronologically arranged. 12. Why don’t you
enjoy writing activities
inside the classroom?
b) Lessons are difficult and not interesting.
c) Teachers cannot make the lesson interesting and easy.
d) Teacher is not enthusiastic and encouraging.
a) Yes b) No c) Sometimes
13. Do you do
homework on writing task
as assigned by your teacher
regularly?
a) He takes and keeps it under his custody. 14. What does your
teacher do after you have
submitted a writing task to b) He takes and returns after checking it later.
c) He returns the tasks underlining the mistakes with feedback.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
17
d) He takes the tasks and hardly returns. him?
a) 1to 5, b) 5 to 7, c) 7 to 10.
15. How many tests
does the teacher take
during the 42- hour class
duration for a course?
a) Yes b) No c) Sometimes
16. Does the teacher
discuss and practice all
types of writing tasks
assigned for the syllabus?
Yes b) No c) Sometimes
17. Do you maintain a
list of problems found
while doing writing
activities?
a) Due to lack of proper teaching. Why is your development
in practicing writing tasks
not satisfactory?
b) Due to lack of clear idea about practicing writing task.
c) Due to unspecific target / goal.
d) Due to lack of practice of regular writing in English.
a) Asking you to give a general idea on the topic. How does your teacher
identify your problems
before imparting a writing
task?
18.
b) Making you read and explain sample writing.
c) Asking you small questions on the topic.
d) Asking you to read a sample task which will be done in the
class.
a) Pointing out mistakes without insulting. 19. How does your
teacher give feedback
about your writing
activities?
b) Discussing the common mistakes made by students in a particular
writing in the class.
c) Just circling the mistakes on the test papers.
d) Encouraging participating in the group work and pairing work for
self correction.
a) Yes b) No c) Sometimes
20. Does your teacher
make planning to give an
interesting class?
.
Appendix-2
Questionnaire for Teacher Survey
1. Which pre-writing activity do you follow?
a) Giving students about the topic to arouse their interest.
b) Showing pictures related to the topic to be taught in the class.
c) Making students think and discuss the topic in group and in pair.
d) Asking students some specific questions on the theme/ points about the topic.
2. What do you do when students are attempting a writing task inside the class?
a) I sit on my chair and wait for the students to finish.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
18
b) I sit on my chair and see how they are handling the task.
c) I move among the students and offer help if necessary.
d) I sit on my chair and check their previous test papers.
3. How do you maintain discipline in your writing class?
a) I punish the naughty students severely to frighten others in the class.
b) I go to the respective student and warn him/ her instantly.
c) I expel the criminal student from the class.
d) I at first try to realize the cause of the indiscipline and motivate him/her to the class.
4. What benefits do your students get in a cooperative class?
a) Facilitates understanding of the topic.
b) Inspire you to participate in group work / pair work.
c) Allows the weaker students to be benefited from the better ones.
d) Classroom lessons become interesting and enjoyable.
5. On which areas of teaching writing you mainly focus?
a) Practicing grammar and vocabulary.
b) Reproducing ideas of the text.
c) Developing the ability to communicate ideas.
d) Developing the capacity to participate in group work / in pair work.
6. Do you give feedback on students’ written work?
a) Yes b) No c) Sometime
7. How do you give feedback on students’ written work?
a) I take several tests during the course.
b) I give instant correction when students make mistakes.
c) I underline the mistakes in red ink so that students can understand.
d) I underline the mistakes and make a list of common mistakes to explain in the class.
8. Do you think the existing system of evaluation is enough to give feedback for the students’
development in their writing competence?
a) Yes b) No c) Sometimes.
9. What should be role of a teacher in a writing class?
a )Friend b)Facilitator c)Lecturer d) Both a and
10. Do you get enough time to take preparation for giving an interesting lesson?
a) Yes b) No c) Sometimes
11. Do you make planning for giving an interesting class?
a) Yes b) No c) Sometimes
12. What is the attitude of the students towards writing class environment?
a) They are enthusiastic
b) They like
c) They dislike
d) They are indifferent
13. In which areas do the students have shortcoming?
a) Being creative in writing
b) Organizing ideas with coherence and cohesion.
c) Understanding the requirements of the questions.
d) Writing correct sentence structure.
14. How do you identify the problems of students while they are doing a writing task in the class?
a) I guess what kind of problems students may face in a particular type of writing task.
b) I take a list of mistakes while students are attempting a writing task.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
15th
April 2017. Vol.51. No.1
© 2012-2017 TIJOSS & ARF. All rights reserved
ISSN 2305-4557 www.Tijoss.com
19
c) I move from student to student to see what they are writing so that I can give essential feedback to
their work.
d) I ask the students to come to me with written task one after another.
15. How do you motivate your students in a writing class?
a) Pointing out the mistake without insulting.
b) Taking tests at regular intervals.
c) Encouraging participating in group work / pairing work.
d) Making friendly behavior.