Research Article

A study of the effects of the approaches to the teaching of writing on the efl instructors’ preferences at universities

Number: 13 December 30, 2018
TR EN

A study of the effects of the approaches to the teaching of writing on the efl instructors’ preferences at universities

Abstract

There are several ways to approach writing in the classroom and there is no best way to teach writing skills. Many learners cannot produce language although writing is a productive and active skill. Being reluctant, unconfident and unmotivated, they do not want to write in a foreign language. There are a number of traditional and current approaches to student writing. Writing-for-learning includes some form-focused and imitation-based approaches like guided, controlled and product-driven. However, writing-for-writing is directed at developing the students’ writing skills as writers. This article aims to examine how teachers approach the teaching of writing at tertiary level and also determine teachers’ preferences for which approach they use in the classroom and what type of writing teacher they are. A questionnaire in which seventy-one instructors teaching English at a variety of universities participated was conducted. This questionnaire including their preferences for teaching practices was analysed in SPSS. In the lights of the findings discovered, many teachers choose to integrate writing with other language skills. Skill integration is an increasingly popular approach to teaching writing. However, they have a negative attitude towards traditional approaches like teaching writing in isolation. There is a growing interest in the number of teachers who are in favour of writing as a creative, cooperative and integrated skill. Teachers can teach English best as an integrated mode, so content-based and task-based teaching methods are proposed as communication involves the integration of all language skills.

Keywords

References

  1. Byrne, D. (1988), Teaching Writing Skills. New Edition. London: Longman. Gaffield-Vile, N. (1998), Creative Writing in the ELT Classroom, Modern English Teacher, 7 (3). Harmer, J. (2007), The Practice of English Language Teaching, London: Pearson. Harmer, J. (2010), How to Teach English, Essex: Pearson. Hinkel, E. (2006), Current Perspectives in Teaching the Four Skills, TESOL Quarterly, 40 (1). Nunan, D. (2013), Learner Centred English Instruction: Selected Works of David Nunan, New York: Routledge. Nunan, D. (2015), Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Routledge: New York. Oxford, R. (2001), Integrated Skills in the ESL/EFL Classroom, Journal of TESOL France, Volume 8 (2). Raimes, A. (1983), Techniques in Teaching Writing, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Richards, J. C. (2012), The Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy and Practice in Language Teaching, New York: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C. (2013), Key Issues in Language Teaching, London: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. C. (2014), Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Third Edition, London: Cambridge University Press. Scrivener, J. (2011), Learning Teaching, Third Edition, London: MacMillan. Sokolik, M. (2003), Exploring Skills: Writing. In D. Nunan (Ed.), Practical English Language Teaching (pp. 87−108). Singapore: McGraw-Hill. Willis, J. (1994), Task-Based Language Learning as an Alternative to PPP, The Teacher Trainer 8 (1).

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

-

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

December 30, 2018

Submission Date

November 13, 2018

Acceptance Date

December 22, 2018

Published in Issue

Year 2018 Number: 13

APA
Sabuncuoğlu, O. (2018). A study of the effects of the approaches to the teaching of writing on the efl instructors’ preferences at universities. RumeliDE Dil Ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 13, 123-137. https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.504257

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