Writing and elementary learners

In other words, it's about how to get our elementary learners motivated to write.

Writing in class

What was the last thing you wrote? I'll repeat this question again in just a moment.

Now, what was the last thing your elementary learners wrote? I think for mine it was 'read the paragraph and write a similar one about Dora'. The aim was to practise the 'present simple' for habitual actions. Actually, my learners spend a lot of their 'writing time' consolidating new language they've learnt in class. These writing tasks are often mechanistic, repetitive and are usually at sentence, or at most, paragraph level. Usually they are designed to get them to practise a particular form. And they are mostly writing it so that I can check it and correct it.

Authentic writing

So back to that question: What was the last thing you wrote? If you're anything like me, it was probably an e-mail, a letter or a note. Whatever it was, there was a real motivation behind writing it. It was to a person, for a reason, with an expected response. All this implies energy, and even, if we're lucky, some excitement. If we look at the form-driven writing that our learners do, and the communication-driven writing that we do, the difference is motivation.

Before we write in our own language we always ask ourselves the following questions:
 

• Who is going to read what I've written?
• What effect am I trying to achieve by writing?
• How is the recipient going to respond?

These questions are quite useful ones to apply to writing activities we use in the classroom, as they keep our focus on communication, rather than manipulation of form. But the classroom is different from real life. We have to create the need to communicate if we want to bring this communicative focus to our classroom writing activities.

Characteristics of a good writing activity

I want to discuss three principles underlying successful, purposeful activities at elementary level.

Motivation

It's important to create a strong, engaging context. This will generate the motivation for your learners to write. In this way, teaching writing is very similar to teaching a grammar point or any 'new language'. I always ask myself the question: What's the context that carries the language?

Pictures, music, dialogue, realia and story will all help to create context and motivation.

Challenge

Writing is not easy. Elementary learners can get discouraged if they think they have to write a lot. It's challenging, and often more interesting, to write within a time limit, or a word limit.

Follow-up

Creating real communicative follow-up, e.g. the response is more energising than simply correction by the teacher. In most cases, I think that correction of written work can come later.

Three writing activities

Here are descriptions of three writing lessons which demonstrate these principles.

1. Parents never say ...

This is a sentence-level writing activity that even lower elementary level learners can enjoy. It is inspired by the poem Top 20 things that parents never say by Gervase Phinn.

Creating motivation

Elicit some of the rules that the learners' parents impose at home. Write up a few on board, e.g. Come home before nine o'clock / Don't eat too many biscuits.
Ask: What do parents never say? Now read out a few possibilities, e.g. Please don't tidy your room / Spend hours on your phone / Stay up very late. Elicit a couple more ideas.

Creating challenge

Make groups of four with a chairperson, writer, timekeeper and speaker. Each group has a large piece of paper. The group has to come up with eight sentences that parents never say and write up on paper. Give a time limit of approximately 10 minutes. Tell the learners that there will be a vote on the best set of rules.

Creating follow-up

The chairperson sticks up the group's rules on the board/wall. The class read all the different sets of rules and vote on which is best (not their own). If correction is needed, you can leave the rules posters up and have a group correction session.

2. Bad news

Creating motivation

Make a short radio news item with some shocking local news of interest to your learners. For example, the news that the local sports centre is going to be knocked down. In the item, the mayor/spokesperson says that it's the only thing to be done, as a big road is going to come through town.

The idea here is to provide an engaging, realistic context for writing. Pictures of the sports hall, and possibly the mayor, on the board will help. The idea is to provide a real context and a real 'need' to write. It's obviously important to choose something your learners will feel strongly about.

Creating challenge

Learners then work in pairs to draft a short letter or e-mail, expressing how they feel about the proposed plan. Provide challenge by giving them a strict time limit. For the learners, it's clear who they are writing to and why, so the writing should be energised. Monitor and help with language, but don't worry too much about accuracy at this stage.

Creating follow-up

Pairs 'post' their letters/e-mails to the mayor. Learners (now in the role of mayor) read the letters that other pairs have written and respond as the mayor.

3. Letter to the school principal/director

Creating motivation

Write a mock letter from the principal of your school asking for ideas about how to improve the school. (It's best to ask his/her permission first.) Learners then read the letter.

Creating challenge

Learners then work in pairs and come up with a list of six improvements. They have to draft a short letter to the principal. One possible problem about learners working in pairs is that only one of them is writing. So, why not try clapping your hands every three minutes or so to get them to 'swap the pen'.

Creating follow-up

If you can get your principal's co-operation, they can read the letters and give some 'authentic' feedback to the learners!

Conclusion 

This article has addressed the issue of motivation in writing at elementary level. If we can create an engaging context for writing in class, and if it is addressed to a person, for a reason, with an expected response, I believe that our learners' writing will naturally become more communicative. The result of this desire to communicate is that they will want to be more accurate in their writing. And not just because the teacher is correcting it.

Further reading 

White, R. and Arndt, V. (1991) Process writing. Harlow: Longman.

Nunan, D. (1991) Language teaching methodology: A textbook for teachers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Fowler, W.S. (1992) Progressive writing skills. London: Nelson.

McCarthy, M. (1991) Discourse analysis for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Phinn, G. (2001) It takes one to know one. London: Puffin.