|
How
Do You Balance Writing Process and Product?
Part 1
John Brezinsky, Higher
Education
Marketing Manager
Ask anyone what they teach in an academic writing class and
they’ll probably tell you that they focus on both the process
and product of writing. But what does that mean? This article spells
out why process
and product
are important and offers tips on incorporating the two in your course.
Writing
Process—why it’s important
If we want to prepare students for writing in mainstream courses, it is
important that they learn the process they will be expected to follow.
Students may be graded on everything from selecting a topic to
effective outlining. Most important, language learners need to learn
how to self edit and how to incorporate their instructor’s
feedback into later drafts. Some ESOL instructors make the mistake of
assuming that lower proficiency students can’t handle the
entire writing process, so they often skip outlining or self editing.
Writing
Process—tip
Always remember that low proficiency in a language does not mean low
cognitive ability. Even if you’re only working on paragraphs,
require students to follow the complete writing process from
brainstorming to revision. At lower levels, help students learn how to
revise by focusing on one feature of writing, like supporting details
or count/non-count nouns. Look for a textbook that includes process
starting at level one—especially peer and self editing. Level
1 of the Longman
Academic Writing Series is a great example.
Writing
Product—why it's important
ESOL instructors understand that learners are likely to make more
accuracy mistakes when they are focusing on meaning, so they often
ignore grammar and mechanics and just focus on essay organization.
Mainstream professors, however, will not be impressed by grammatical
mistakes, which can influence the professor’s opinion of the
overall quality of the student's work.
Process
and Product in One Series?
Ask your Pearson Longman Sales Rep about
the Longman
Academic Writing Series. This best seller
incorporates both product and process at every proficiency level and
prepares more ESOL students for mainstream coursework than any other
series.
> > Part
2: The Writing Product
|
