Developing writing as a discourse skill

Fluency in writing

To be a fluent writer, it is necessary to write often and at length. It is also important to take into account sime advices:

• Think in English as you write: many students find difficult to think in English while they write. However, if you can do it while you speak and listen, you can do it while you write.
• Use the words you know: in writing, using the words you know means you should write your ideas using the words you are already comfortable with. So that, you can focus on ideas while you're writing.
• Keep riles in their place: too much emphasis on rules and grammar exrcises can hold back your development of fluency.

Children can be encouraged to choose and copy texts that they find interesting:items form the internet on their favorite pop star or player, or the rhymes learnt in class, or sections of their reading books that they enjoyed. The element of choice is to ensure that copying is meaningful and motivating. Another way to encourage extended writing is to ask children to write a jurnal, giving them a regular five or ten minutes in class to write whatever they want, or about a topic from the news that they are given, perhaps without worrying about correct spelling or grammar.

Complexity of written language.

In general, the level of the language that pupils write will lag slightly behind the level that they are comfortable with in speaking and listening.

The complexity of the written language depends on:

• the length and the purpose of writing
• the style and structure of the writing
• the content of the writing

And all these aspects depend on the level of language of the students.

*This was taken from  "teaching languages to young learners" by Lynne Cameron  pages 154 - 155.Cambridge Language Teaching Lybrary.