Pedagogical Implications
The linguistic landscape in Singapore has been changing constantly over the years, with English gaining in popularity as the home language of school-going children. The classroom is now polarised between students who grew up in English-speaking households, and those from non-English speaking backgrounds, with the former being more fluent in English than the latter. Within the class, students have different level of English mastery and differing learning needs, and what implication does it bring for language teaching?
An understanding of Second Language Academic Writing is crucial in the development of our students’ literacy skills. ESL students generally lack audience awareness and place more emphasis on the form over meaning, more focused on correcting English errors, overlooking the importance of establishing coherence in their writing (Paltridge, Harbon, Hirsch, Shen, Stevenson, Phakiti et al., 2009). A paradigm shift is thus required, as we re-examine our role as English language teachers, carrying out language teaching in an interactionist manner, shifting emphasis from form to meaning, empowering students to be more expressive in their writing.
To begin with, we need to teach the writing of text types. A process approach should be adopted to ensure that students learn about the macrostructure of different genres. At the same time, students have to gain a deeper appreciation of audience awareness, to understand that genres vary according to the context, and contexts in turn determine the tone and register of their writing.
Next, in the teaching of coherence, students are encouraged to consider the linking of the ideas by looking at the total discourse and not at just word or sentence level which is a common fault in most ESL students’ writing. They should look at the different textural features namely macrostructure, information structure, proposition development, cohesion devices as well as metadiscourse markers (Lee, 2002) for a better understanding of coherence in writing. Students will then be
empowered to write more effectively bearing in mind the context and target audience too. In the sample lesson plan, the teacher heightens students’ awareness of the different features to attain coherence in their writing through prompts in the key teacher language used as well as textual analysis. Useful handouts have been included in the appendices and these include explanations of macrostructure, metadiscourse devices and coherent checklists.
Last of all, to help ESL students who struggle to find the words to express their ideas, the teacher needs to help them build up their vocabulary. Vocabulary determines one’s expressivity in writing and it has to be taught in a differentiated manner, factoring the different learning needs of students. We need to move away from the current one-size-fits-all approach, towards one that is more individualized. Weaker students should focus more on the appropriate use
of words, while more able students can progress further, expanding their repertoire of vocabulary to include more
complex and precise terms for more effective communication.
In conclusion, ESL students would become better writers by having a clearer understanding of the purpose, context, target audience as well as specific features such as coherence and vocabulary.
An understanding of Second Language Academic Writing is crucial in the development of our students’ literacy skills. ESL students generally lack audience awareness and place more emphasis on the form over meaning, more focused on correcting English errors, overlooking the importance of establishing coherence in their writing (Paltridge, Harbon, Hirsch, Shen, Stevenson, Phakiti et al., 2009). A paradigm shift is thus required, as we re-examine our role as English language teachers, carrying out language teaching in an interactionist manner, shifting emphasis from form to meaning, empowering students to be more expressive in their writing.
To begin with, we need to teach the writing of text types. A process approach should be adopted to ensure that students learn about the macrostructure of different genres. At the same time, students have to gain a deeper appreciation of audience awareness, to understand that genres vary according to the context, and contexts in turn determine the tone and register of their writing.
Next, in the teaching of coherence, students are encouraged to consider the linking of the ideas by looking at the total discourse and not at just word or sentence level which is a common fault in most ESL students’ writing. They should look at the different textural features namely macrostructure, information structure, proposition development, cohesion devices as well as metadiscourse markers (Lee, 2002) for a better understanding of coherence in writing. Students will then be
empowered to write more effectively bearing in mind the context and target audience too. In the sample lesson plan, the teacher heightens students’ awareness of the different features to attain coherence in their writing through prompts in the key teacher language used as well as textual analysis. Useful handouts have been included in the appendices and these include explanations of macrostructure, metadiscourse devices and coherent checklists.
Last of all, to help ESL students who struggle to find the words to express their ideas, the teacher needs to help them build up their vocabulary. Vocabulary determines one’s expressivity in writing and it has to be taught in a differentiated manner, factoring the different learning needs of students. We need to move away from the current one-size-fits-all approach, towards one that is more individualized. Weaker students should focus more on the appropriate use
of words, while more able students can progress further, expanding their repertoire of vocabulary to include more
complex and precise terms for more effective communication.
In conclusion, ESL students would become better writers by having a clearer understanding of the purpose, context, target audience as well as specific features such as coherence and vocabulary.