Nature and Purpose of Writing

Nature and Purpose or Writing
(MB & YN)

What is writing?
• “When we write we use graphic symbols that
is letters or combinations of letters which
relate to the sounds we make when we
speak.” (Byrne, 1979)
What is writing?
Communicating ideas
• Symbols
• Words
• Sentences
What is writing?
• encoding of a message
• we translate our thoughts and ideas into
language
• writing represents our thoughts and ideas
• what one thinks leads to one’s writing in the
form of sentences and by organizing the
sentences into a cohesive text where we are
able to communicate with our readers
successfully
Why is writing difficult?
• writing always has become difficult to teach or
to learn because it involves a different kind of
mental process which includes the sub-skills
like – drafting, editing, revising, organising
Speech and Writing
• Speaking • Writing
• use a variety of prosodic - powerful mode of
features such as pitch, communication
loudness, speed, rhythm, • is not always for the
pauses and so on audience present and hence
• get the feedback from it demands clear and
listeners comprehensive message
• that help us to but this does • the context is created
not happen in case of through the words alone
writing where and without the direct
interaction between the
writer and the reader
Three Main Aspects of
Writing(PAF)
1. Purpose/Objective
2. Audience/Readers
3. Function
Purpose/Objective
• a text is always written with a purpose or
objective Am I writing with any special
purpose?
• Or
• Why am I writing?
• The answers to these questions will make the
idea clear and can bring out a good piece of
writing
Audience/Readers
• communication is meant for expressing ideas
from one to one
• in case of writing, the audience is not present
but at least if the writer wants, S/he can write
keeping the target group in mind
Audience/Readers
• "Who, is going to read?"
Or
• " For whom am I writing?" has to be made
clear.
• one should be clear for the audience or the
readers either they are teachers or students
or any other because after all this decides the
nature of writing
Function
• function decides the nature of writing (a
report, a letter, or just a write-up)
• covered under one word i.e. " to plan" - to
prepare oneself for writing
• "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail"
- which again shows the importance of
preparation or planning
For planning writing
1) What is my objective of writing?
2) What are the main idea and the supporting
ideas?
3) Who is going to read my written text?
4) For which specific function am I writing?
5) Which idea should come first?
6) How should I organize all ideas?
Rules of Thumb for Teaching
Writing
1) Consider the needs of the Learners
2) Make the teaching of writing functional and communicative
3) Expose them to how to write first and then to different types of texts
4) Expose them to functioning of writing as a system of communication
5) Try to plan the tasks which are realistic, functional and
communicative
6) Expose them to the process of writing by actually going through it,
including the sub skills of writing
7) Motivate them to think and express their ideas
8) Teach them grammar and vocabulary inclusively in the writing tasks
9) Try to accept their ideas and also compositions
Approaches to Writing
• The Controlled to Free Approach
• The Free Writing Approach
• The Paragraph Pattern Approach
• The Grammar-Syntax Organization Approach
• The Communicative Approach:
• The Process Approach
The Controlled to Free Approach
• 1950s and early 1960 the audio- lingual method
dominated second language learning
• it emphasizes on speech and writing through
mastering grammatical and syntactic forms
• students are given sentence exercises, then
paragraphs to copy or manipulate grammatically,
• these controlled compositions then followed by
correction of errors, so that it can lead to the free
composition
• this approach focuses on accuracy rather than
fluency
Controlled to Free Approach
The Free Writing Approach
• stresses writing quantity rather than quality
• focuses on fluency rather than accuracy
• based on the principle that if once ideas are
there, the organisation follows
The Paragraph Pattern Approach
• This approach focuses on organisation by
copying the paragraphs or model passages
• based on the principle that in different culture
or situations, people construct and organise
communication with each other in different
ways
The Grammar-Syntax Organization
Approach
• stresses on simultaneous work on more than
one composition feature
• it is inclusive here that writing cannot be seen
as composed of separate skills which are
learned sequentially
• students must be trained to pay attention to
organization while they also work on the
necessary grammar and syntax
The Communicative Approach
• focuses on the purpose of writing and the audience
for it
• students are given some tasks where they have to
behave as writers so that they can learn by doing it
- Why am I writing this?
- Who will read it?
• this approach is quite functional in nature, which can
provide the actual experience to the learners
The Process Approach
• shows the shift from product to process which shows:
• - how do I write this?
• - how do I get started?
• students are trained to generate ideas for writing, to think of
purpose, audience, ways of communication and so on
• it's a developmental process from generating ideas to
expressing them, drafting, redrafting, organizing and so on
• the process of writing can have three stages like:
- Prewriting
- Writing
- Post-writing (Revising or Redrafting)

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(MB & YN)

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