Introduction
Writing is an integral part in the learning of a foreign language. In most instances, writing is learnt last after reading and listening since it has been labeled as the most difficult domain. This paper reflects on one of the lessons I have facilitated in teaching students of English as a foreign language how to write and it reviews the literature that has been concerning writing and learning of foreign languages. The paper also includes a rationale that acts as a weighing scale of how effective my teaching sequence has been, based on the evaluation against the literature review conducted.
Teaching Context
In the construction of my teaching sequences there were various guiding factors that range from personal, physical, pedagogical and institutional considerations. My teaching sequence is focused at teaching English as a foreign language to students with very little knowledge of the language. As such, one of the major considerations is the newness of the students towards the language as a pedagogical factor. The fact that the students are new to the language calls for learning materials such as charts and other visual graphics so as to lay a foundation towards the writing of English. Since the lesson focuses on writing as an institutional factor, then the lesson adhered to the course requirements and syllabus. The time was also of essence as only 30 minutes were available for delivering the lesson. My lesson plan was hence organized with activities that were well timed to suit conform to the time available. The previous lesson considerations were also put into perspective as the students ought to have been connected to the previous teachings before transiting to the acquisition of new knowledge. One of the most dynamic factors in teaching the lesson was decision-making in the classroom context. Since the activities are not rigidly stipulated, they are prone to alterations and adjustments where necessary. For instance, my teaching sequence was flexible to adapt to an increase or decrease in the number of students in the classroom and changes in the classroom reorganization. In order to effectively achieve the lesson objectives, prior planning put personal factors into perspective. My past experience is at test since it has to be adequately employed to furnish the achievement of objectives. Experience in teaching complements my training and education in the teaching of English as a foreign language. My training equipped me with mastery of the teaching profession and through the application of the theories of learning and teaching I was able to effectively plan and execute my teaching sequence. Besides considering learning and teaching theories, I also looked at the existing practices in such a way that I employed the most modern and effective techniques of teaching the students to write English.
Literature Review
Writing of foreign language can be classified as the most challenging domain in the learning process. Nelson (1978) describes writing as an interconnection of systems and hence its complexity and difficulty for students to become well versed. According to Dyson & Freedman (1991) writing is a skill that requires the simultaneous application of syntactic, phonological, semantic, graphic, and orthographic systems, as well as rules of discourse. In most cases, students learn how to speak the foreign language before they can read and write it. However, research has shown that there are no outstanding barriers hindering a learner to acquire all the domains simultaneously (Grigoreva&Belotserkovskaya, 2014). For as learner to start writing a foreign language, they must have the ability to discriminate between graphemes and phonemes aurally. They also ought to be conversant with the differences that exist in the relationship between letters of the alphabet and the correspondent sounds of speech. The learners ought to also identify and recall the high-frequency words that are non-conformant to the regularities in orthography (Grigoreva&Belotserkovskaya, 2014). It is imperative that learners possess the necessary motor skills in order to properly arrange and organize letters and also space words adequately. The learners are expected to generate ideas to write about, especially those topics that are relevant in the school context. Those students who have learnt how to write in another language are easily adaptive to the writing of the foreign language they are being introduced to, although there are still hurdles (Kroll, 1990). Learners need to expand repertoires of the words they have heard and discover their multiple meanings, usage and connotations (Ryder, 1986). Since the foreign language writers originate from diverse cultures and linguistic backgrounds, they may be already accustomed to a variety of writing styles (Connor, 1987). In a study of Mexican students who were learning English as a second language, Montano-Harmon (1991) found out that the students depicted a writing discourse similar to the Spanish they had already learnt. Another research by Sarvenaz (2015) explained that most of the students’ English compositions that had been dismissed for vagueness and disorganization were conformed to the students’ cultures from their homes. Practitioners and researchers agree on the fact that listening to read-alouds and reading help in improving the adoption of other facets of learning of foreign languages, with the inclusion of writing (Krashen, 2004; Rassaei, 2015). According to Bernadette & Kettle (2011), the classroom use of drawings in the pre-writing stage is effective in enhancing the writing skills. Journal entries also help improve the interaction between teachers and students as well as encouraging the habit of writing frequently. The teachers are able to offer feedback regarding the students’ progress as they progress by the day, through the dialogue journals. Teachers of a foreign language ought to model their processes of composition through verbal expression of their thoughts regarding their audience, purpose, choice, genre, spelling and vocabulary as they write their demonstrations (Carasquillo, 2004; Chan, Chin, Bhatt& Walker,2012; Yedlin, 2003).The tutors reread and evaluate their model out loud to edit and revise what they have written. As the teacher does these, the student may just watch and listen, or the teacher may involve them by asking for opinions or assistance (Duschla, Maenga&Sezenb, 2011). Another way in which teachers may support students in writing is through the simplification of complex tasks into smaller comprehensive stages and steps that are easy for foreign language learners to manage (Duschla, Maenga&Sezenb 2011). As much as well-structured assignments such as reports and essays may be encouraging to the learning of a foreign language, authentic assignments such as the writing of recipes, letters and invitations are highly motivating for the learners (Howatt, 1974). Maculaitis and Scheraga (1988) observed that when students were assigned culture-related tasks they responded by performing well in writing. Such articles may include biographies of celebrities and heroes, country reports, and oral histories.
Rationale
It is agreeably evident that writing of a foreign language is dependent on other domains of learning such as reading and listening. The motor skills are also of importance as they determine how well the students are able to write the alphabet and space their wordings. With these in mind, my teaching sequence for the 30-minute lesson focused on the use of read-aloud, demonstrations and the involvement of the students in order to enhance the motor skills. The teaching sequence was also designed to facilitate an easy method to recall the lesson learnt. To begin with, knowledge from previous lessons is recapitulated so as to prepare the students for easy transition into a more advanced task. My lesson was also conformed to the three prime components of effective teaching of writing. To begin with, the lesson required the involvement of the students through seeking clarifications, practically writing, offering assistance to the teacher and to others and making corrections where necessary. These activities increase the opportunities for the learners to write more often. Secondly, my lesson was organized to allow me explicitly explain and demonstrate the various alphabets and words in order to create simple sentences. The learning materials used in the lesson were aimed at facilitating my conveyance of the lesson’s content. Finally, feedback was obtained. I allowed the learners to enquire on the different areas they felt were difficult for them. The clarification further enhanced the teacher-student relationship. I offered an assignment that would be marked later and it was a imperative, milestone as it gave the students more time to write, as well as helping me evaluate the outcomes of the lesson.
Conclusion
Research concerning teaching learning of writing of a foreign language will continue with specific focus on individual language domains and sub-domains. All the same, the role played by research in the study of foreign language is noteworthy. As a teacher for English as a foreign language, the literature review enhances my knowledge of the various aspects of effective teaching and learning of foreign languages. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning and make evaluations on the progress and make necessary corrections. The students also have a role to play in ensuring that they attain the best out of the teachers’ demonstrations.
