Difficulties you face in teaching writing grammar

difficulties you face in teaching writing /grammar

3.1 Problems for the Learner

Hadfield and Hadfield (1990) note three areas of difficulty for the learner in relation to the productive skills of writing and speaking, namely psychological, linguistic and cognitive(2) difficulties. Each of these will be considered in turn(3) .

3.1.1 Psychological Difficulties

Firstly, the writer cannot consult the reader; the audience is not immediately present as is the case with speaking. The psychological difficulty therefore lies in deciding what information the reader needs and the best way to express this. This difficulty manifests itself in the prewriting stage, when some learners may be unwilling or unable to produce ideas that will work towards the construction of a piece of writing. In order to overcome these difficulties, the teacher must employ certain strategies to elicit the necessary input.

3.1.2 Linguistic Difficulties

Secondly, learners suffer from linguistic difficulty, in that the language used when speaking is not the same as that used in speech. In some cases it is simpler (e.g. shopping lists), in others it is more elaborate and formal (e.g. academic essays). Native speakers not only know an elaborate network of conventions but also know how and when to legitimately 'break the rules'. This problem is evident in learners who are unaware of the discourse patterns inherent in certain types of writing(4) .

3.1.3 Cognitive Difficulties

Finally, there is cognitive difficulty. This relates to the necessity of learners to organise their thoughts on paper. This may be difficult in such circumstances as an essay given as homework, for which the purpose is not immediately apparent, and the piece of writing is not being done for any personal reasons.

4. Problems Related to the Process

Dickson (2001) identifies several of the problems that writers suffer during writing(1). In this section I will discuss these symptoms and suggest appropriate solutions for them.

4.1 In-Class Problems

'The reluctant writer'	This type of writer stops continually, writes briefly, and is always looking around. He/she never seems to concentrate for more than a few seconds at a time. A way of dealing with this is to give gentle encouragement to return to the task at hand and a reminder that perfect work is not expected.
'The always-has-to-be-correct writer'	For such learners, the use of an eraser or liquid paper indicate a writer with perfectionism as their ideal. Reminding writers that they do not have to be perfect in this task, that they just have to complete the task by writing (and can revise later) can ease this situation. Also these learners can be asked to put away such devices or to stop changing what they write.
'The keyboard tapper'	This learner makes frequent use of pocket electronic dictionaries or is constantly flipping the pages of paper dictionaries, thus indicating someone pursuing the most accurate word possible. Such learners could be to put away the dictionary, or leave a space or write the word in their own language. Remind them just to keep writing until the task is finished.
'The talker'	Because a quiet class is usually required for writing, the talker is immediately noticed above the silence of the classroom. This type of learner can be asked to capture on paper some of the thoughts that are being expressed verbally, since they seem to have a lot to say.

5.2 Post Writing and Evaluation

After the students have written their work it needs to be revised and evaluated. Learners who are unused to process writing will view revision as a sign of failure if handled poorly by the teacher. Consequently, as a teacher, I need to highlight the positive aspects of revision. As with revision, evaluation is often viewed negatively, mostly due to the traditional technique of merely highlighting the errors in a learner's work. The teacher's task is to provide evaluation that will lead the learner into reflecting on their work, rather than merely copying correction or not studying the evaluation at all(2) .

5.3 Other Issues

Hadfield and Hadfield (1990) also note that, on occasion, writing classes are there merely to show that work is being done(3) and not with a specific purpose or goal. Consequently, writing is associated with chores or even discipline. This is particularly the case as writing lessons are quiet, so the teacher can easily maintain control. Writing classes can therefore suffer from what Hadfield and Hadfield label 'homework syndrome', i.e. students are poorly motivated and therefore perform