Ch 14
● Teachers use variety of writing tasks at all levels
● Writing enables learners to plan communication process
● Provides chance to focus on linguistic accuracy and content organization
● Important in initial learning stage
● Essential in recognizing written forms & connecting them w/ spoken forms & meaning
● Focus on sound-spelling patterns improves pronunciation & plays role in
listening/speaking skills
● Sound-spelling correspondences give basis for reading, writing, speaking, listening &
spelling
● When teacher focuses on writing, emphasize importance of careful planning
● Early stages of ESL/EFL provide good foundation furthering knowledge
● Chapter shows how important early stages are
● Addresses student interest to learn
● Use of target lang/writing reflect learner’s real-world needs
● Learning how to write letters and words= better at reading
● Once student gets mechanics of writing, can begin to write for communication
● Early writing activities can take digital forms & can be used by students in authentic
exchanges w/ peers
Ch 15
● World is interconnected, so writing is most critical kill needed
○ Will be upcoming need in writing teachers
● writing= complex involving wide range of issues & subskills teachers need to develop
expertise in many diff areas in order to become effective at teaching it
● Writing is most challenging & time-consuming skill to teach bc complexity, but also
most rewarding
● Involves both lang ability and composing ability
● Writing teachers need to:
○ consider cog (indiv) aspects & sociocultural (context) aspects of writing
○ understand role of other lang skills like reading & grammar in writing process
○ focus on writing process & the writing product in both instruction & in
responding to student writing
● New technologies impact role of writing; teachers need to be able to
understand/evaluate these tools to make most effective use of them
Ch 17
● Over centuries, 2nd lang teachers alternated bt 2 approaches:
○ Focus on analyzing lang
○ Focus on using lang
● Analyzing lang: teach elements of lang (grammar construction, building lang capacity)
to communicate
● Using lang: teach to use lang from the beginning, & acquire it communicatively
● Speaking & writing = important