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• Christina Kiu

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The strengths and weaknesses of APPROACHES TO teaching writing Group members: -Christina -Iffah -Azri -Syakir -Musfadly

PRODUCT APPROACH (Strengths) • Model texts give students confidence and security, something they can use as the basis for their own writing (imitation is one way in which people learn) • The approach (appears) to get results: using model texts for students to copy should guarantee students’ produce work with fewer grammatical mistakes very quickly • Easy to use with large classes

• Easy to grade because emphasis on form

• Useful approach when form is important • Highly specific & focused writing practice: a good way of getting the students to focus on using a specific piece of grammar in their own writing

PRODUCT APPROACH (Weaknesses) • Lack of creativity and personalisation • Too prescriptive

• Has no practical application • Results in mindless copies of a particular organisational plan or style

• Does not teach how to write independently - Process skills of writing, such as planning a text are less emphasised • Does not teach how to think • Devalues students’ potential, both linguistic and personal (experience)

PROCESS APPROACH (Strengths) • Encourage students to communicate their own written messages (background knowledge and experiences) • Active participation of students in the process • Emphasis on the skills in writing (brainstorming, drafting, review, and editing)

• Writing moves naturally from invention to convention  Focus on ideas in writing first, spelling and grammatical mistakes are dealt with later

PROCESS APPROACH (Weaknesses) • Could be time-consuming with large classes • Teacher may not have enough time to schedule individual writing discussion in large classes

• Lots of grading • Some learners might view the revision of writing as a sign of failure • Does not provide learners with adequate linguistic knowledge to write successfully

GENRE APPROACH (Strengths) • Provide students understanding that writing takes place in a social situation, and is a reflection of a particular purpose • Students generally appreciate the models or examples showing specifically what they have to do linguistically • Learning can happen consciously through imitation and analysis

GENRE APPROACH (Weaknesses) • Undervalue the skills needed to produce a text

• Students are likely to be largely passive – Teachers spend class time explaining how language is used for a range of purposes and with a variety of readers • Places too much emphasis on conventions and genre features, so less helpful for students in discovering the texts ‟ true message” • Limiting students creative thoughts about content

REFERENCES Atkinson, D. (2003). L2 writing in the post-process era: introduction. Journal of Second Language Writing 12: 3-15.

Casanave, C. P. (2003). Looking ahead to more sociopolitically-oriented case study research in L2 writing scholarship (But should it be called “post-process”?). Journal of Second Language Writing 12: 85-102. Elbow, P. (1973). Writing Without Teachers. New York: Oxford University Press. Elbow, P. (1981). Writing with Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process. New York: Oxford University Press. Faigley, L. (1986). Competing theories of process: a critique and a proposal. College English 48: 527-42. Simpson, A. A process approach to writing. http://www.developingteachers.com/articles_tchtraining/pwpf_adam.htm