Teaching writing as a type of speech activity in FL

12. Use cognitive strategy instruction before having students engaged in actual writing. This includes brainstorming, organization of their ideas, use of comprehension strategies for gathering information, and use of monitoring strategies to create clear, connected thoughts between the information and ideas they will write about.

13. Create a literate classroom environment in which reading and writing material are readily available, and students' work is proudly displayed.

14. Maintain a positive attitude about writing. Provide guided practice, and overtly model the writing process to help motivate struggling writers.

15. Provide temporary supports such as word banks, planning sheets, and “pictionaries”.

16. Adjust the amount of instruction in the skills areas of meaning, process, and form to a struggling student's individual needs.

17. Use Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) to supplement extended and explicit instruction in the planning and revising of stages of writing. The teacher should first model both of these strategies and provide students with the necessary supports until they can perform the strategies by themselves. This involves direct teacher help, peer support, or simple strategy reminders. Help students learn background knowledge on the strategies, develop an understanding of how the strategies improve their writing, and discover how and where to apply these strategies. Support their learning through goal-setting, self-instruction, self-monitoring, and self-evaluations.

18. Address students' nonacademic barriers to writing such as low motivation or maladaptive beliefs about their successes and failures. Encourage students to attribute their successes to their effort and use of specific writing strategies. Encourage positive self-statement such as “good writing takes hard work”.

19. Have struggling writers spend extra time in the revision and editing process. The C-D-O strategy has students compare the differences between what they wrote and what they meant to say, diagnose the reason for the discrepancy, and operate by fixing the problem and then evaluating how successful the change was. Have the students follow these three steps in three cycles: the first cycle has them work sentence by sentence, the second examines, each paragraph, and the third focuses on the whole text.

20. Use the SEARCH revising strategy, in which a student is required to establish writing goals before actually writing. Once finished writing, the student first checks to be sure that goals were met, and then works with a peer to edit the paper.

21. Presentation: Revising--Making it Clear

After participants finish reading the following background information, the trainer reviews the underlined points below using focus questions [20, 203].

Reasons to Revise

“Writing is a process of discovering, and you don't always produce your best stuff when you first get started. So revision is a chance for you to look critically at what you have written to see

* if it's really worth saying,

* if it says what you wanted to say, and

* if a reader will understand what you're saying.”

When the first draft is finished, the next step is revision. The key to this process is in the readers respecting the writer's ideas. The teacher will make positive comments and ask clarifying questions about the ideas in the draft. The goal is to support the writer with positive feedback and ask questions in a positive way. Hopefully, these questions lead the writer to think carefully about the first draft in order to make changes needed for clarity, order, and support. In the comments and questions, the teacher should model language, structure, and handwriting expected in the student's draft.

This step does not focus on editing mechanics. Positive feedback and questions about what the reader (teacher or student) doesn't understand help the writer to make his or her writing better.

A checklist is possible, but a model paragraph with comments and questions is often better. Stress to students to keep ALL the drafts they write. Students need to be reminded that they may change their minds several times and end up using text from their first draft in the final draft. If they are drafting on the computer, they may need ideas about saving multiple drafts efficiently. The number of drafts will vary based on the value placed on the writing and publishing. Because a primary goal is to encourage writing, it is important not to continuously exceed students' tolerance for revision and editing.[21,345]

Many students are unfamiliar with revision and usually skip right to editing their own work. Because it involves the writer's ideas and a chance to practice revision, only the writer actually makes revisions to his or her paper during this process.

When peer feedback is modeled effectively for the class, students can also help with comments and questions as long as the writer retains control of the revisions. The teacher needs to model revision with several archived writing samples and then have students practice with them. Peer revision is tricky and must focus on clarity. The individual and sometime private nature of writing demands that a close-knit community be well established in the classroom before engaging in peer revision. Positive comments about the ideas or order of ideas keep the focus where it should be. Student readers can also formulate questions to ask their writing partners. Developing these questions is a skill that requires modeling and practice time from the teacher. It also is important to discourage students from mixing up revision and editing. Editing refers to mechanics and format and can be done by others. Revision for clarity and order can be suggested by others but must ultimately remain in the hands of the writer. The whole class can develop a set of questions to use as a checklist for the writer and other readers to determine if their ideas are clear and in order.

2.1.2 Teaching writing to children

Writing in the early years is a highly social process and classrooms need to reflect this not only in the generation of ideas, but also in the evaluation and response to them. Children need to be both encouraged and enabled to read and respond to their own and each others' writing as well as their teachers. Additionally, this will involve teachers in reading aloud children's developing work back to them, for as Barrs and Cork (2001) indicate, this can reveal the pattern and texture of the writing and heighten the child's awareness of what they are trying to communicate. To be fully aware of what one has written, the young writer needs to hear it and listen to it. Too often, rereading one's writing at the point of composition is an untaught skill; reading aloud the children's unfolding work is crucial and needs modelling, use and discussion. While the work may initially be at the level of the sentence, it is still important that children are taught to read aloud and later sub-vocalise as they compose, since such monitoring allows them to hear the tunes and rhythms of their work and increases their syntactic awareness.

It can also help them make clearer what it is they are trying to say. Rereading writing is essential to the development of assured writers (Flower, 1994).

Teachers' positive responses to young children's early versions of communicating meaning are also crucial; their knowledge of the history of a child's text and its multiple origins can contribute to this response, but demands that teachers make full use of their awareness of the child's interests and social, cultural background (Pahl, 2007). One of the most effective forms of feedback is to provide a focused oral feedback that helps children recognise the next steps they need to take, and how they might take them and in the process to focus on success, celebrating learners' achievements during an extended learning journey as well as at the end of it. Each unit of work needs to include an assessable outcome, although this will not always be written, but in addition, time needs to be built into literacy activities for ongoing reflection, response and assessment, whether in evaluating the teacher's writing in shared writing time, or commenting on their own writing in guided writing time [22, 112].

The four stages of teaching good writing is a gradual release from teacher-directed to complete independence. It is tightly controlled to ensure success, yet the lessons can be really fun. In fact, they should be interactive and fun, or you will lose the interest of your class (then you are toast!).

The stages are:

Modeled Writing

Shared Writing

Guided Writing

Independent Writing

For each stage you will find a specific strategy to use in your lessons. Each strategy can be used as a stand-alone lesson or at intervals during other stages.

Modeled writing

What is Modeled Writing?

A think aloud about strategies

Utilizes a problem-solving approach

Can be used to teach a specific element of language

Modeled writing is the first step in teaching writing to children. This is when the teacher is in front of the class doing all of the writing.

If your students struggle greatly with getting their ideas going, come back to this basic step and model your writing process for them. They need to see it being done. I like to have my students sitting on the floor in front of the chart paper so we are in an intimate setting while I discuss my thinking.

Make your thoughts about the process known (be explicit) while you are teaching writing to children.

For example, you might say, “Today I want to write about what happened to me last night. I need to make a web to sort out my thoughts, then I can start putting the words into sentences.”

If it is a specific skill lesson, such as great beginning sentences, you might say, “I know that author's need to have strong beginnings to hook their readers into a story. Today I am going to use a little-known fact to hook them.”

The key to modeled writing is to never assume your students are following you. Tell them everything you are doing and why. It is not enough for them just to watch you. As well, don't try to model so many things that the lesson goes on too long - you will lose their attention.

Shared writing

During shared writing, a teacher will scribe the words, but the students are now invited to contribute to the piece. This is the type of writing I tend to do a lot of at the beginning of the year in my second grade classroom. It would be appropriate for any primary writing.

Students contribute ideas while the teacher writes

Lots of discussion, questions and answers

Thinking aloud continues to be used

The photos below show a shared writing lesson that my class did for a special assembly we had. We were to write a very simple story that had little detail (it was to be performed by a mime). The entire process, from start to finish, took us about 45 minutes.

Guided writing

Guided writing is the third step in teaching writing to children. In guided writing, teachers continually provide feedback, redirection and expansion of ideas. Any area of writing can be addressed, but it works well to put similar needs together and address them at the same time [23, 219].

The step between teacher directed and independent writing

Teacher utilizes prompts and clues to help develop ideas and organization

Teacher works with students either small group or independently

Oral discussion of sentences before writing

You may also choose to do guided writing independently as part of how you approach teaching writing to children. I find that using smaller groups works really well for teaching creative writing as so many children struggle with formulating ideas.

During a writer's workshop, I like to walk around the classroom and stop at my students desks. I have them read to me what they are working on and ask them what they might be struggling with.

It is surprising what they realize they need help with, and it is not always what I thought they should work on, but the motivation to improve an aspect of writing is there so we do it.

The absolute best series of videos to watch on teaching Guided Writing are found at Primary Framework Guided Writing. I have no affiliate relationship with them, so my opinion is completely unbiased. You must watch these though, as they give a clear, conceptual understanding of what guided writing really is and how to use it within the framework of teaching writing to children.

Independent writing

This is where the students effectively utilize written language for their own purposes or as assigned by the teacher. These writing pieces can be anything, from creative stories and reports to writing journals or letters to friends and family.

Students use ideas from shared writing to produce their own independent piece

Reference to charts and other materials to revise and edit composition

Teacher evaluation for growth

This part of teaching writing to children must always include a time to share. It is critical to provide validation of your young author's process and growth as a writer. This provides them not only recognition, but an opportunity to receive feedback.

While some children gravitate towards writing independently, many need more practice with essential writing lessons. If you have a student who struggles, you must go back and do more shared and guided writing, as well as spending some time simply romancing young writers.

2.1.3 Teaching writing to young learners

I have noticed that early on, children in language schools often enjoy the beginning stages of writing, when they are learning the letters or characters. Literate young learners are very willing to work at tracing letters and words, and are eager to learn how to print their names, the names of their brothers, sisters, pets, toys and classroom objects. It's this interest in writing that we want to maintain as our students continue to develop their English writing skills. Yet writing can be a challenging skill for children to learn. By its nature, writing is often a solo activity, done silently, involving effort and taking a lot of time. Writing well is difficult, even for very young learners. However, writing in any language can be so much fun!

So what can we do to help children retain their early interest in writing, while they develop skills and confidence? First, students need a basic foundation and understanding of the spoken language in order to be able to write in English. For example, they need to know how to identify and talk about objects and people in English in order to write something about them [24, 153].

Age plays a crucial role in what we teach and how we teach it. A young learner class is different from an adult or teenager class in terms of the learners' needs, the language competencies emphasised, and the cognitive skills developed. Let's focus on what we call `late young learners', who are usually ten to 12 years old.

The characteristics of this group of students are:

* They have longer attention spans, but are still children

* They either take learning more seriously, or are very easily bored and distracted

* They possess some world knowledge and are technologically skilled/oriented

* They are more willing to co-operate in groups and pairs

* They have already developed social, motor and intellectual skills

* Although they are still developing their learning strategies, they make use of them in order to learn more effectively.

Students must also be able to read some words and sentences because the skill of reading goes hand-in-hand with learning to write. Reading provides the opportunity for students to become more familiar with language patterns, and it develops their vocabulary. Yes, reading, as well as listening and speaking, are important in helping our students learn to write. So our writing activities should always include these skills as part of the pre-writing steps.

Steps for Beginner Writers:

1. Use pictures to stimulate comments and discussion

Have students draw their own pictures or bring in photos. Or, you can provide pictures for them from magazines, the internet and other sources.

Some of the first recognizable pictures that most children draw are pictures of themselves and their family. If they have pets, they often like to draw them. Favorite places, like houses and landscapes with the sun, are also among the first things that children like to draw. Therefore, as you prepare your young students for writing activities, primarily focus on having them draw these types of pictures.

2. Have students describe and talk about their pictures

Be sure to provide plenty of chances for your students to talk about and share pictures. Children enjoy talking about people, places and events that are important to them. Let them share their pictures and thoughts about these pictures with each other. This also gives them a great opportunity to review and practice their English. It helps them remember what they already know and builds confidence.

3. Help students write down what they have said

For young writers, this often means that you will do much of the writing at the very beginning. You write down the sentences that your students use to describe their pictures. Then you can have the students trace the sight words or the key vocabulary. As the children develop more ability and confidence in their writing, they can start writing the descriptions on their own under their pictures. They may start with one or two words in the beginning and will gradually start to write a sentence on their own. More confident and experienced students of English can write their own longer descriptions of their pictures (two to three sentences). The main goal of this step in writing is to encourage and capitalize on the natural interest that children have in describing what they see.

4. Have the students read each other's captions and descriptions of the pictures

After they read, they can share ideas with each other in small groups. Then you can have them work together in small groups to add another sentence to the description.

5. Have students use their descriptions to create their own little books

As beginner ELT students become more skilled in writing words and sentences, they can expand on their own one-sentence descriptions by adding extra words, like adjectives, or one or two more sentences. If you have them describe several of their own pictures, they can then put them together to make their own small book. This is a great motivator for the students. They will enjoy reading their books and will be look forward to writing more. You could also let them take their books home to share their stories, and new writing skills, with their families.

You can also motivate your students of all levels to write by providing them with real-life writing exercises. For example, they can write about something that happened while they were all together in your English class. Start by talking about what happened as a class and then encourage each of the students to draw a picture and write a sentence or two about the event. Next have them share their sentences with the class and finally combine all the sentences into a story. It becomes a small book that was written by the class.

Other types of real-life writing activities include making lists of vocabulary words, making lists of things to buy at the store, and writing notes, text messages and emails to friends. You can also have your students create their own comic strips or keep a simple journal in which they share thoughts in English with you.

These are just a few of the ways you can keep your students engaged in writing in English. There are many activities that can be used which give children a realistic reason to write. Whatever activity you choose to use should be one that is motivating and that taps into your students' interests. Doing this will help keep your students enthusiastic about writing in English.

Here are seven activities that I have found helped my students to enjoy writing.

1. Creative writing

This might be used as an ice breaker, or to consolidate vocabulary learnt in a previous lesson. It consists of giving a student a word and ask them to write an acrostic - a poem that spells out the original word with the first letter of each line.

For example: `Classroom Objects' (this poem was written by a 12-year-old student)

Paint

Elephants

Not

Cry

Intelligent

Life

As a follow-up activity, students can read their poem to the class if they want to. The students could vote for the best poem and the winner could get a chocolate.

2. Peer writing

This is an activity children love doing, as they are allowed to work in pairs. They need to already know how to use the past simple and past continuous tenses to tell a story.

First, you give the students a sheet of paper with two columns of sentences about a young couple who met years ago. Depending on the children's age, the number of sentences should vary between eight and ten in each column. Next, you ask them to match the sentences in the first column with the sentences in the second one. There's no wrong or right answer.

Here's an example:

(1) Mark and Sue met / when Susan was 23

(2) They had twins /and got married

(3) They started a new school for children / after the war

(4) They fell in love / in France

After matching the sentences, the students write a story using the verb tense given in the sentences. As a follow-up, pairs of children can compare their stories and see the differences and similarities between them. In the next class, the teacher can show how to correct errors by writing any mistakes (anonymously) on the board and asking students to correct them.

3. Journal diaries and storytelling

Journal diaries have been a great help to my students' writing.

I respond to every single piece of their writing without correcting them, but I also encourage them to reflect on mistakes. Most of my students have responded very positively, and are now much more comfortable about exposing their ideas. The journal diaries students post on Edmodo should only be visible to the teacher, not other students, because the entries may be more personal.

Some final tips to encourage young learners to write:

* Make writing meaningful. Young writers can express themselves about topics that are important to them.

* Invite young writers to write freely, without worrying about correctness. Children who are just learning to write can build language structures and expression, even if they use imaginary spellings and strange punctuation. Writing letter is the simplest and easy way to learn for children. (See appendix 1)

* Ask young learners to write about their own lives and experiences. Whether it's a holiday, or their experience with their grandparents, or any other experience outside the classroom, young writers write best when they write about something they know well.

* Engage young writers in short burst of writing. For children under the ages of eight or nine, it's very tiring to hold a pencil or piece of chalk, shape the letters, and remain focused on the message to be communicated. Writing often, for brief periods, is much more effective than trying to write for a long period of time.

* Encourage writers to keep journals or diaries. Writing is one way of structuring thought. Journal writing is important because it's not public. It can represent, for the writer, a chance to write in the most free way.

* Give writers the chance to revise. It's vitally important to encourage students to write freely, in their own words, and to try to cover all their thoughts on a topic. (Revision is more important for students over the ages of eight or nine, who have begun to write more naturally to express themselves.)

* Always let your students know you are proud of their writing! If children notice you are reading what they write, they will certainly feel much more motivated. Last but not least, don't forget to write them a note of encouragement

2.1.4 Teaching Writing to Adult English Language Learners

Adult learners of English have many reasons for wanting to write. Many need to write to carry out functional tasks such as filling out forms, taking a message, or writing email messages. Others may need writing skills to succeed in academic studies or to advance in a job. For many learners, writing enhances language acquisition when they put their thoughts on paper and share them with others, because they also are often practicing the language structures and vocabulary they are learning in the classroom.

Process Writing

Process writing as an approach used in the classroom draws primarily on the findings of studies in the third group discussed above, which focus on the composing process. The approach takes into consideration research showing what proficient writers do when writing and provides a framework for guiding student writers through similar steps. These five steps involve some form of the following: Steps in the writing process

1. A prewriting activity in which learners work together to generate ideas about a topic and organize those ideas, perhaps through the use of graphic organizers.

2. Writing a first draft, in which the focus is on putting the ideas down on paper without concern for grammatical or spelling errors.

3. Revising the draft, often done in pairs or small groups, with a focus on the appropriateness of the ideas and the clarity of their organization.

4. Editing the draft, with a focus on grammar, spelling, punctuation, transition words (first, next), and signal words (for example, another reason is). The complexity of the concepts and forms to be edited depends on the level of the students and on the elements they know or have studied. The use of an editing checklist for students is recommended.

5. Publishing or in some way sharing the work with a wider audience. This may mean the rest of the class, students' family or friends, the wider community, or even an Internet audience. Publishing can take the form of displays on classroom walls; compilations into books, newsletters, or newspapers; or posting on Web sites.

The components of process writing can be worked on together in a unit or individually as separate lessons. Through a process writing approach, students learn to express themselves fluently, clearly, and correctly and work together to help each other develop their writing skills.



2.1.5 Teaching writing to kinesthetic learners

What Is A Kinesthetic Learner?

Kinesthetic learners are usually most successful when the activities in which they are participating allow them to move. If you think your child might be this type of learner, he or she probably does well in sports and prefers playing games that involve movement, like hands-on activities and crafts, and might be hard to get to sit still for long periods of time. Often these kids might not know they are kinesthetic learners, but they seek out ways to satisfy those needs - such as looking for reasons to get up and move in a classroom or during times when other kids are content to sit quietly [26, 156].

How Can I Help My Kinesthetic Learner Love Writing?

Well - maybe love is a strong word, but there are ways you can encourage writing skills in your kinesthetic learner. Whether it is the physical act of penmanship or the mental act of formulating the ideas, many kinesthetic learners struggle with writing skills.

Keep the basics of writing for younger kids fun - have them write in the sand with a stick, sidewalk chalk on the driveway, or tracing their letters in the sky with their fingers.

Don't hold your child to too many expectations as once. If you're worried about basic penmanship, don't go overboard correcting the spelling and sentence structure, and if you're trying to encourage complete sentences or thoughts, don't worry about the penmanship.

Take some field trips or talk with some professionals in careers that interest your child - and find out what kinds of writing they do for their jobs. Chances are you'll meet a few who will encourage your child to learn those basic writing skills that will come in handy one day, like this chemical industry professional who relies on those much earlier lessons of a former English teacher.

Consider letting your child use a computer for writing, especially if the practice is needed with ideas and not penmanship.

Talk about the plan for writing while you're walking, riding a bike, or moving with your child. Brainstorm ideas together so your child can face the paper or screen with some thoughts in mind.

Your child will likely go through different phases of learning during different ages, and then as an adult probably be more successful using one or two learning styles. Until that time, work with your child and the school to provide the most empowering educational environment possible for your kinesthetic learner.

2.2 Practical Recommendations and Interventions

2.2.1 Teaching Free writing

The aim in teaching writing is to develop students' ability to write a text. Reading a text provides guidance of basic format with all the rhetorical devices - logical, grammatical and lexical. The text provides a setting within which they can practice sentence completion, sentence combination and paragraph construction in relation. They should understand how to write in a manner appropriate to the communicative goal of the text [27, 238].

Many writing instructors use a free writing exercise at the beginning of each class. It's a way of getting the brain in gear, and it's an exercise you can do on your own, safe to try in your own home. Write down a topic at the top of that empty page. It can be either a one-word topic -- like “Dentists,” for example -- or a brief statement of the topic you've chosen or been given to write about. Set the clock for five to ten minutes and put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and go at it. Write as fast as you can; the faster the better. You are not allowed to stop writing! If you can't think of anything to say, write down that you can't think of anything to say, something like: “I'm stuck but I'll think of something soon.” Don't stop. Don't worry about transitions or connecting the ideas or paragraphing or subject-verb agreement or even commas. And form absolutely no judgment about what you write. Your Censor is on vacation. Your writing may take you in some really weird directions, but don't stop and never think to yourself, “Oh, this is dumb!” If you get off the subject, that's all right. Your divagation may end up somewhere wonderful. Just keep writing. Do not criticize yourself and do not cut or scratch out or revise in any way. Many instructors suggest that at the end of the timed period, you should write one sentence in all caps that takes you back to where you started -- something to do with dentists.

It's probably a good idea to read your free writing out loud when you're done with it. Often the ear will pick up some pattern or neat idea that you hadn't noticed even as you wrote it. Read your free writing to a friend or have your friend read it out to you. Your friend might think you're insane, but that's all right. Then it's time to spend just a couple of minutes going through the free writing with an aim toward casual rewriting. The word-processor is a big advantage here. Delete the “I can't think of anything to say” lines and the pure nonsense. Are any ideas or patterns emerging?

Don't give up on free writing after one exercise. Many students think that it's boring or stupid at first and come to love it after a week or so of exercises. Free writing is like any other kind of mental activity: you will get better at it. The first couple of times you try it, perhaps nothing will come of it. After a few efforts, though, the exercise will become liberating. Just as you would never start to play tennis or jog without stretching a bit first, you will never try to write again without doing a bit of free writing first. Sometimes, even in the middle of an essay, when stuck for the next idea, you can do a bit of free writing to get you going again.

Writing activities:

Write a report of a book you have just read.

Write a review of a book (a film) you enjoyed and would like to recommend to other people in the class.

Write an instruction sheet for something you yourself know to do well (e.g. prepare some kind of food)

Write a narrative based on a series of pictures.

Describe a situation when you were disappointed (or afraid, surprised, relieved)

Look out of the window, and describe the view you see.

Describe someone you know well.

Write an answer to a given letter of complaint.

Write a letter applying for a job as babysitter, stating your qualifications for the job.

Think of a change you would like to see in your country, home community or place of work/study.

Read a newspaper article reporting a piece of news. Write a similar article of your own on an imaginary event.

2.2.2 Compulsory techniques in teaching writing to reach effective results

There are a lot of techniques to teach writing. One of them is using mind maps. Using mind maps is effective to develop writing. Mind maps can be used for a multitude of purposes. They can effectively be used to help support and develop students' writing skills. A mind map, or spidergram, is a strategy for making notes on a topic, prior to writing [28, 173]. It is a structured strategy, which shows the (hierarchical) relationship of ideas, as opposed to an unstructured strategy, such as brainstorming, in which students produce notes at random on paper. Having an organised display of information from the outset of the writing process may help some students, as it is more easily converted into a draft, whereas in brainstorming, the random recording of ideas might lead to problems with the structure of students' texts. Making a mind map should be a spontaneous pre-writing activity. Students start with a topic at the centre and then generate a web of ideas from that, developing and relating these ideas as their mind makes associations. Mind maps work well as their visual design enables students to see the relationship between ideas, and encourages them to group certain ideas together as they proceed. Mind maps work especially well when created in groups, since the discussion this engenders aids the production of ideas, and makes the task livelier and more enjoyable. The procedure for organizing mind map is the following:

1. Choosing a topic. Traditionally, students are given a topic to write on by the teacher. However, with certain classes, students may prefer to nominate the topic themselves. This can lead to greater interest in the task on the part of the student, as well as, perhaps, greater knowledge of the topic under study.The mind map strategy can be used to explore almost any topic, though discursive essays and narrative work particularly well as they front students' ideas and lend themselves to discussing ideas in groups. For instance, choose a discursive essay with the title “Why do people start smoking?” In this genre the language is used to give reasons and explanations. The discursive text is useful in highlighting this feature of English, and in raising awareness of the noun phrase, a particularly tricky area for intermediate students.

Close their eyes and think about it for a minute or two, in silence. They then have two minutes in which to note down their ideas. If they do not know a word in English, they can write it in L1 at this stage, as dictionaries or too much teacher intervention tend to halt and inhibit the creative flow. Then, working in groups, they can compare and discuss their ideas, perhaps adding to their mind maps as they go. This stage also provides the opportunity for peer teaching, as other students may be available to provide the English word for the idea that was noted down in L1.

3. Feedback. The next stage, in which the teacher makes a collective mind map on the board, is optional, but is useful for students who are new to the idea of mind maps, or for weak classes. It is also in this feedback stage that any remaining language problems can be ironed out. As the teacher elicits students' ideas, and reformulates expressions or corrects, students will learn how to express their ideas in English. Such personalisation is said to aid vocabulary learning. The map is fluid and changeable, and new connections or subgroups can be made, or branches added, as the students make suggestions. The end result should be an organised display of information, showing the central topic, and a number of subtopics and further points that stem from it.

4. Organising mind maps. In the next stage the students organise their mind maps into a linear format to decide the best way in which to present their points. They should first think about the overall structure, i.e. the order in which to relay the information, and then focus on the precise function each paragraph will have in their final text, as this helps to clarify their writing. This can be done in groups, or as a class with the teacher leading the discussion. However it is carried out, it is important to provide a context and audience. I told my class, who were writing about drugs, that they were writing for their college magazine. Having an audience in mind helps students to decide which ideas are most important, and also helps students to choose the appropriate style.

5. Writing. Students should then begin to write their compositions, working in pairs if they wish. After two paragraphs, they should exchange their compositions, so they become readers of each other's work. This allows for feedback, and possible re-writing. Once they have finished, they should again exchange their texts. This gives their texts a communicative purpose, as well as developing an awareness of the fact that a writer is always producing something to be read by someone else, rather than for the display of writing alone.

5. Continuation. Once students are familiar with the idea of making mind maps, they can be encouraged to use this skill for further writing activities. It is a useful technique and often improves the clarity and organisation of student texts.

2.2.3 Creative writing in the classroom: five top tips for teachers

Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes or with various traditions of poetry and poetics. Due to the looseness of the definition, it is possible for writing such as feature stories to be considered creative writing, even though they fall under journalism, because the content of features is specifically focused on narrative and character development. Both fictional and non-fictional works fall into this category, including such forms as novels, biographies, short stories, and poems. In the academic setting, creative writing is typically separated into fiction and poetry classes, with a focus on writing in an original style, as opposed to imitating pre-existing genres such as crime or horror. Writing for the screen and stage - screenwriting and playwriting - are often taught separately, but fit under the creative writing category as well [29, 187].

Creative writing can technically be considered any writing of original composition. In this sense, creative writing is a more contemporary and process-oriented name for what has been traditionally called literature, including the variety of its genres. In her work, Foundations of Creativity, Mary Lee Marksberry references Paul Witty and Lou LaBrant's Teaching the People's Language to define creative writing. Marksberry notes:

Creative writing is a composition of any type of writing at any time primarily in the service of such needs as:

the need for keeping records of significant experience,

the need for sharing experience with an interested group, and

the need for free individual expression which contributes to mental and physical health.

Creative Writing programs are typically available to writers from the high school level all the way through graduate school/university and adult education. Traditionally these programs are associated with the English departments in the respective schools, but this notion has been challenged in recent time as more creative writing programs have spun off into their own department. Most Creative Writing degrees for undergraduates in college are Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees (BFA). Some continue to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, the terminal degree in the field. At one time rare, PhD. programs are becoming more prevalent in the field, as more writers attempt to bridge the gap between academic study and artistic pursuit [13, 211].

Creative writers typically decide an emphasis in either fiction or poetry, and they usually start with short stories or simple poems. They then make a schedule based on this emphasis including literature classes, education classes and workshop classes to strengthen their skills and techniques. Though they have their own programs of study in the fields of film and theatre, screenwriting and playwriting have become more popular in creative writing programs, as creative writing programs attempt to work more closely with film and theatre programs as well as English programs. Creative writing students are encouraged to get involved in extracurricular writing-based activities, such as publishing clubs, school-based literary magazines or newspapers, writing contests, writing colonies or conventions, and extended education classes.

Creative writing also takes places outside of formal university or school institutions. For example, writer Dave Eggers set up the innovative 826 Valencia in San Francisco, where young people write with professional writers. In the UK, the Arvon Foundation runs week-long residential creative writing courses in four historic houses. In New Zealand, creative writing courses at NZIBS are popular because they are home-study to diploma level.

1. The rules of writing

I always tell students that there are no set rules for writing and they can write whatever they like. I don't subscribe to the notion that all good stories must have, for example, an attention-grabbing opening, a turning point, a twist at the end and an extended metaphor. Incorporating these into writing doesn't automatically mean a story works, and you will read wonderful writing follows none of these rules. Pupils should be aware of what they are, of course, and why and where they might choose to use them, but it shouldn't be prescriptive. That said, there are two rules of writing that I encourage them to follow. These rules are: “show, don't tell” and “all adverbs must die”. Not the most original rules, perhaps, but if kids can master them their writing becomes much more powerful.For "show, don't tell", I display a selection of sentences that tell the reader something and ask the pupils to rewrite them in a way that shows the same information. For example, “the man was angry” could become, “the man clenched his fists and hissed beneath his breath”. It's about unpacking the emotions and finding ways to let the reader see the story for themselves [30, 267].

When teaching “all adverbs must die”, I concentrate on the importance of giving the power to the verb. “I ran quickly” becomes “I sprinted”. “I shouted loudly” becomes “I screamed”. Once pupils realise the potential in this, they quickly kill adverbs and load the power of the action onto the verb.

2. Characterisation

Not the most original method I'll wager, but this is tried and tested. Pupils divide a page in their jotter and give each quarter the headings likes, dislikes, motivations and flaws. These need to be explained and discussed; I use Homer Simpson and Edward Cullen as models. What makes these complex and rich characters? What makes them get out of bed every morning? What stops them from achieving their ultimate goals in life? How would they react in various situations?

Once pupils have thought about these characters, I ask them to complete the page in their jotter with as many pieces of detail as they can for their own character. They swap with a partner and, using another person's character notes, write a monologue beginning with the line, “I lay away, unable to sleep, and all because…” What is this new character excited about, or scared of? What have they done or what will they have to do? This exercise is always busy, exciting and produces promising and complex pieces of writing.

3. Video clips

There's something a bit weird about the idea of being a writer; it's a vague, wishy-washy concept for students. They don't yet understand the hours of admin, self-promotion, editing, graft, grief and rejection that writers go through. Many pupils seem to think writers have great lives, are fabulously wealthy and sit around all day making up stories, all of which go on to be published without much bother at all. So I always like to find video clips of writers talking about writing, sharing the pain they've gone through, their thought processes and daily routines. If you can find video clips of a writer whose work you're using as a model or studying in class, then this can really help pupils to engage with their work [31, 300].

YouTube is full of interviews with writers, recordings of book festival appearances and spoken-word performances. Being a Scottish teacher working in Scotland, I use of a suite of videos filmed and hosted by Education Scotland, which features a number of writers discussing their inspirations and motivations, how to create characters, how to write in genre and how to redraft. The videos are all around five minutes long which makes them excellent starter activities; you can find them here.

4. Narrative distance

This can be modeled in class by the teacher projecting their work onto the whiteboard. Most pupils assume that once they've chosen a narrative perspective and tense, their narrative voice will take care of itself. But with a little coaching and training, maybe we can hone their skills and abilities that much more.

Narrative distance is the proximity of a reader's experience to the character's thoughts. How close will we get? A close-up narrative would allow us to share the character's complete thought process, hear their heartbeat, feel their discomfort. A mid-distance narrative would give us key insights into pertinent thoughts the character has, but not bother us with every detail; we would see the character going into a coffee shop and have to surmise their mood and personality by observing how they react and interact. This is more of a film director's vantage point. And for a long-distance narrative, we only see the character from a distance - in the midst of other people, operating in a vast and complex society. We would come to understand them from the way they move through the world and the opinions that other characters have of them. It's a bird's eye view.

There is a lot in here, and mastering these narrative distances would take considerable effort and time. But if pupils could get to grips with them and become comfortable in zooming in and out on a story, then they will have developed some intricate and powerful writing abilities.

5. Story prompts

The oldest trick in the book, perhaps, but still a good one. Writing Prompts is an excellent website full of creative writing resources to use in class. I get pupils to choose one at random, and as they write, I write. It's important to set attainable goals for this - agree that by the end of five minutes everyone will have written 50 words, say, including the teacher.

Plug away at this and I always check the class for any strugglers at the end of regular intervals; if someone is stumped, I'll ask them what the problem is, what they tried to start writing at the beginning, what their last sentence is, and give them a couple of options for where to go next. By writing together it's possible to get a whole class writing happily, and at some stage they'll be content and confident enough with their stories to want to be let free to write without being asked for regular progress reports.

2.2.4 Writing exercises applied in the class

This writing technique is applied to the following lesson which we used in English classes during school practice.

Lesson 6. “Fly High” 7. Project 1. p.35

1.Choosing a topic. `The Olympic Games are a good/bad thing'

Students sit in pairs and decide what side to support.

2. Note making. Once the topic has been introduced, students are encouraged to think about it for a minute or two. They then have two minutes in which to note down their ideas. Some ideas are already given in the book. They can choose from this list or write their own.

3. Feedback. The teacher elicits students' ideas, and reformulates expressions or corrects, students will learn how to express their ideas in English.

4. Organising mind maps. In the next stage the students organise their mind maps into a linear format to decide the best way in which to present their points.

The following sample of mind map was made by students.

5. Writing. Students should then begin to write their compositions, working in pairs or individually. In this case we chose working in pairs. After they write, pairs can exchange their writings in order to give feedback to each other. (the sample is enclosed).

The following mind map is done by students during the English classes in our school practice. Students enjoyed making mind maps and it was very helpful for them to develop their not only writing skills but also speaking skills. Before writing they could briefly tell their ideas using mind map. (See appendix 2)

Lesson 3. Customers' rights. “Fly High”

In this lesson there is given a letter of complaint to Customer Rights Officer complaining about a problem with recently bought TV. The writing task is to give advice to the person who has a problem with the purchase. In this case, we remodeled this lesson and prepared a writing activity where students learn to write a letter of appreciation. It is not always when we write such letters. Mostly people write letters of complaint and it will be interesting for students to learn to write such letters as well.

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