Teaching writing: content vs. accuracy

Greetings to everyone When we talk about teaching and assessing writing, the debate about accuracy and content is likely to come up. Which one is more important? What should we pay more attention to when teaching and giving feedback on students’ writing? Read our today’s newsletter and find the answer as well as some useful ideas on how to empower teaching and assessing writing. Teaching writing: content vs. accuracy Writing, unlike speaking, is not an ability we acquire naturally, even in our first language - it has to be taught. Unless our students are explicitly taught how to write in the new language, their writing skills are likely to get left behind. Writing is regulated. It has more standard forms of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary than speaking. It is generally planned and can be subject to modification through editing and revision before the audience reads it. In addition to that, if there is a response to a written message, it is generally delayed. Last but not least, writers use a lot of cohesive devices (e.g. however, in addition, in conclusion, etc.) that contribute to the overall coherence of the text.  Teachers who concentrate on accuracy help their students to produce grammatically correct written and spoken English, ideally aiming towards the accuracy of a native speaker of similar age and background. Accuracy demonstrates the ability to use the necessary vocabulary, grammar (such as verb forms, articles and prepositions) and punctuation correctly. Accuracy activities normally concentrate on the essentials of the language construction to ensure that the language item is produced 100% accurately – such as grammar exercises or product writing (with a model text). Students are given tasks like essays, letters, and notes and are expected to express a variety of language functions such as informing, narrating, describing, explaining, elaborating, exemplifying, expressing an opinion, and arguing. Their works are evaluated and scores are awarded. But what if we look for smaller gains and not treat the script as a finished product on which we can mark errors? Giving feedback on a written assignment means grading it for grammatical (primarily) and lexical accuracy. In very few instances do students get comments on the actual content of their writing or suggestions for improving the readability of the text. Too much feedback can prompt anxiety. No student likes to receive back a paper filled with red marks. What can we do? Connect the feedback to the purpose of the task. If you are used to red ink error correction, give a grade for accuracy. However, it would be a good idea to assign a grade for task achievement and content as well, e.g. clear statement of purpose, sufficient details, effective connection between ideas etc. You can try creating an “idea bank” that will comprise the ideas that you expect to find in the students’ writing for a specific task. One of the easiest ways of making the idea bank is by asking cue questions that would draw the students’ attention to specific details of the task. TASK Your class is being taken for a summer camp to a place outside of your city for a week. Write a letter of apology in about 150 words to your class teacher for not being able to go for the camp. Give appropriate reasons why you cannot join. Idea bank Content   What ideas to include in the letter? Express apology: I am sorry to inform you that…; I regret to inform you that…; I apologize that I won’t be able…; Give reasons: parents did not give permission/parents have planned a trip to…/ plan to visit grandparents cannot be cancelled/some guests are expected to come/we will have a family function Conclude: next time would like to join; talk to classmates after they get back You can read more about “Idea Bank” here. Act as collaborators in the writing process. Giving a simple grade to a written assignment means that you judge that assignment. In contrast, feedback guides further improvement of the written product; its main purpose is not merely to assign a grade. Diagnosis of what is wrong can be part of the process, but it must be accompanied by clear suggestions for improvement: "Here's what's wrong and here's how to fix it." Give feedback on the drafts students have prepared so that they feel more confident when they prepare their definite version of their piece of writing. Focus on content first, then on accuracy. This sequence will help your students view writing as genuine interpersonal communication between the author and reader(s). This is a great opportunity for peer review. Encourage students to read their peers’ compositions and ask them to give some feedback on them. You can do this by providing students with sentence starters such as: “My favorite part was _________ because __________,” or “A suggestion I can offer for improvement is ___________”. Give facilitative comments to maintain students' integrity and help keep them motivated. Sometimes, students intentionally flout linguistic norms for a creative, meaningful purpose (i.e., humor). Find out before you mark it wrong. Instead of writing “Don’t use…”, write/ask “What did you mean?” Clarification questions will help them express an idea more effectively. Finally, good feedback begins before students submit anything. Let's call it "feedforward". Students need written guidelines for the assignment grading criteria in advance. This provides a roadmap to success and helps to clarify the features of good performance. If you really want to improve your students’ writing skills, you should understand the differences between error correction and content critique, and prioritize your content comments over your error corrections. We highly recommend watching the video of the discussion on giving feedback on a written assignment. From Grade Education