Writing Well (2)

Dr Vincent Kan

2012-01-31

In the previous article, I touched on how writing can provide a unique opportunity to train children?s creative, reflective and persuasive thoughts; and why developing their implicit writing skills is as important as developing their explicit ones.? The first implicit skill I illustrated was the construction of a message for every piece of writing.

In this article, I shall discuss the second skill ? structuring.? At this point, it is only natural to ask just how many different skills there are in all.? I usually breakdown a piece of writing into four parts: message, structure, content and presentation.? Of the four, only the first two are implicit; and of the remaining two, content is mostly reading related (as children get older, we teach them research skills along similar lines) while presentation is mostly language and style related.

Structuring might be a big word for young children, but essentially all it means is to develop a way to organise a series (i.e. more than one) of content in the most effective way.? Effective, in most cases, should mean easy to understand.? In storytelling, though, it could mean building in suspense, intrigue, even mislead where necessary.

I make structuring a very high priority in my teaching for two reasons ? it lifts up the strong learners and protects the weaker ones.

For most children learning English as a second language, utility is their primary goal.? They would like to be able to use the language well in their studies, and later on in their work.? A few might harbour the ambition of making a career out of the language, be it through teaching, creative writing, journalism or other avenues ? and the internet age has certainly made this far more possible than before.? For most, however, they need English to facilitate what they do: study, participate in school and social activities, conduct meetings or formal communications, make presentations?etc.? For these purposes, being able to write in a structural way makes their writing much easier to read which in turn better-fulfils their intent.

What is a good structure?? Interestingly, there is no one structure for all ? it depends on the message, which is why the importance of a good message precedes that of a good structure.? For the sake of illustration, I will use the kind of messages that children often come up with to demonstrate how we can help them plan a structure.

The writing, say, is a character piece.? For younger children, it might be a fireman or an astronaut; for older children, it might be Helen of Troy or James Bond.? Regardless, it has to begin with a message.? Let?s say that after some creative deliberations, it was decided that the message would be ?James Bond can never lose!?? It might appear common and simplistic, but unlike a title ? when a child could come up with anything without further considerations ? this is now a message i.e. what follows has to deliver that very message.

How would structure help?? Just like the construction of a message, it begins with a series of ?how about? and ?what if?.? A message like the invincibility of a super hero could be constructed in many different ways.? It could begin with a series of examples, then an argument; it could begin with a question, and then answered via a series of examples; it could begin with a series of different views, then examples, then arguments?etc.? Rather than suggesting any particular structure, I encourage children to verbally or mentally walk through some of them, and decide for themselves which is more convincing or coherent for the purpose of their particular message.

At first, it will seem bothersome to go through this exercise because a lot of effort is required before any actual writing is done, and this will require patience from the children.? Equally though, it will expose them to the reality of writing ? works that eventually become creative, reflective or persuasive are always the product of careful and thoughtful planning prior.? It is almost impossible to write well without some measure of patience, and given the importance of patience as a life skill, acquiring it through learning to write well should be seen as a double benefit.

Having a good structure for a piece will make it much easier and pleasurable to read, one could even say that having a neat structure is a style in itself.? For children whose basic language skills is adequate or good, learning to plan their writing structurally helps them think comprehensively about what they are trying to write and it helps them think analytically about how to write it, both processes are greatly beneficial.

What about children who are lacking in some basic language area, say, those who are still struggling with tenses?

I made a distinction between implicit and explicit learning in Writing Well (1).? For children who need to fill gaps in certain language areas, they will have to make those fillings via explicit learning.? Outside of schools, there are also direct ways such as language books and language exercises (the internet provides plenty of options) and there are indirect ways such as read-write drills.? The former is more traditional (some would say mundane) but requires less supervision along the way, the later is more interactive but will require more guidance throughout.? It should be made clear, however, that the benefits of structuring are apparent even when a child is in the process of gap-filling.? In fact, the weaker children who are used to being told that their writing is incomprehensible will often be surprised by the improvement delivered through an improved writing structure alone ? which should in turn motivate them try harder and learn better.

It must be very apparent by now that thinking well underpins all aspects of language learning, no matter reading, speaking or writing.? Amongst the three, writing is unique in that it provides a dedicated space for children to learn how to be creative, reflective or persuasive without the pressure of time.? Learning to write well through a thoughtful message and a purposeful structure helps those with good abilities to write even better while making the writing of early or weaker learners far more comprehensible.

This sums up the basic aspects of reading, speaking and writing well through thinking and learning well.? In the upcoming articles, I will begin to focus on specific aspects of language learning, such as reading for meaning or writing a persuasive argument.

Source: http://wiseland.edu.hk/?p=648

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