English education and literacy topic

Enhancing Writing Skills in the Modern Classroom

While some people may consider writing to be a choice, it is important to remember that stronger and enhanced writing skills act as an indicator of academic achievement. Furthermore, improved writing skills are needed for every person to engage in general civil life and spread the global economy. However, some students from grades 7 to 12 are unable to write proficiently at the primary level. According to multiple reports, there is an increase in the number of students dropping out of school due to a lack of appropriate reading skills required in the school curriculum (MacArthur et al. 2006). Therefore, learning the different technique to enhance writing in the modern classroom is as important as any part of the teaching-learning process (Barr et al., 2007).

Word Processing

Some elements have been found to be effective in strengthening writing in the contemporary English class. Word processing is one of the new elements that can be used to enhance writing among the students especially from grade 7-12. The method uses a set of programmed instructions in a word processor that support students to write assignments. The tool has a lot of features that suggest for the right spelling in case a student mistakes a particular word for something else thus improving the writing skills (Nagin, 2003). Moreover, the word processor has an autocorrect feature that automatically corrects the commonly wrong words in English hence enhancing the students writing skills.

Collaborative Writing

Students in this category find it hard to work alone which may stagnate their progress in enhancing writing. Therefore, to enhance writing, the use of collaborative writing is important as the students will be given an opportunity to use instructional arrangements to work together to revise, edit, plan, and draft their compositions. When an opportunity is given to the students to work together, they can learn new vocabulary and commonly misspelled words from each other thus enhancing their writing skills in the English language at a first-rate compared to working as a single student (Graham & Harris, 2005). Also, students are taught how to construct complex and sophisticated sentences through sentence combination. Through sentence combination, the students can enhance their writing skills and the construction of simple sentences will be met with a lot of ease. Summarizing a context involves reading the whole extract then pinpointing the significant points within the extract (Beanm& Steenwyk, 2008). This method enhances the writing skill as the student must write down the summary of the extract using correct grammar with complete sentences that make meaning (Fearn & Farnan, 2005). The students are further assigned with specific reachable goals for a certain task given by their teacher thus enhancing their writing skills.

Use of Photographs

Moreover, the use of photographs can be used as a teaching technique to enhance writing in students (Graham, 2006). In this technique, the students are challenged to search for any family photo, school magazines, newspapers, and books and look for any writing inspiration from the pictures selected. The students are then instructed by the teacher to cut the pictures that inspire them and include them in their writing journals. When they finally start writing their journal, the students must write about the picture that inspired them thus increasing their writing skills as every time they will have to write a different story about the pictures in their journal.

Speak-to-Text Applications

There is an increase in the number of speak-to-text applications on the market. The students just need to open an empty e-mail and then tap the microphone icon that in return transcribes the words on the phone/tablet. This method of learning is fun and unique for students to write effective stories/essays thus enhancing their writing skills. The students can further print out what they wrote and use it as a draft copy of his/her essay.

Use of Graphics

The other technique teachers should use to enhance writing in the modern English classroom is the use of graphics. The use of graphics presents an interesting and great visual for learners as it enables them to view their ideas in an organized manner. The students can be further motivated to write through the use of story maps. The story map enhances the students to write creatively thus improving their English writing. The creation of a name and then let the students picture how an individual with that name looks and then write an essay about them is an effective way of developing the writing skills in a modern English classroom. The use of integrated artwork and then transform it into writing give the students an opportunity to brainstorm their ideas into writing through drawings and pictures.

Contests and Spin Wheel

Moreover, another teaching technique the teacher should use to enhance the writing in the modern English class is through the creation of a contest where students compete in essay writing. The teacher can organize the contest with other schools or look for online essay writing contests and then have each student write and submit their essay. The method can be effective considering that most students see that competition as fun and engaging hence providing them with an opportunity to enhance their writing in a modern English classroom. Also, the students can engage themselves in a fun and creative way of writing through the use of the spin wheel. In this technique, the students are required to spin the wheel each time they have something to write (Hand et al. 2004). The students write their ideas on the wheel and can take a turn to spin when it’s time to write.

Writing Content Learning

The students can further enhance their writing skills through writing content learning. In this method, the student is expected to use inscription as an instrument to acquire content material. The teacher may use inquiry activities to analyze concrete and immediate data that would in return enable them to develop content and ideas for a particular writing task. The significance of writing is mostly seen and portrayed in real-life contexts such as school, community, and workplace (Graham & Fitzgerald, 2004). The contexts call for some level of writing skills, and in most cases, the context may demand to overlap yet not same demands. In this regard, proficient writers are required to adopt soft writing skills according to the context in which it takes place. In a classroom setting, writing allows the student to use his/her strategies such as planning to achieve some goals such as expressing an opinion or writing a report. Moreover, writing enables the student to deepen his/her knowledge (De La Paz & Graham, 2002).

Importance of Writing in the Real World

In the current world, there is a wide range of jobs that require an employee to produce written documentation, technical reports, and electronic messages such as emails. Writing has been put into play like never before through the explosion of electronic devices and wireless communication. According to the report from the National Commission on Writing, it revealed that both private and public employers prefer proficient writers. Moreover, the commission stated that writing proficiency plays a key role in determining both promotion and writing decisions. According to the National Commission on Writing, it estimated that private organizations spent $3.1 billion and the government spent $221 million in 2005 on remediation. According to a study conducted by the ACT, it found that most students who are not able to write effectively do not match the criterion for college entrance. According to the study, a third of students from high school intending to enroll in college do not meet the threshold of writing a simple English composition, thus making it impossible to learn effectively in a university setting. According to the National Centre for Education Statistics, it found that at least a quarter of students from the new community college enroll in remedial writing courses implying the significance of writing as a skill in any learning institution or companies.

Conclusion

Although some people have since underestimated the power of writing as a skill in the English language, its uses, and implications are far much reaching than anyone would imagine. The unique nature of writing is its ability as a literary technique to evolve with time. The explosion of new and advanced technology has not and will not surpass writing. Therefore, it is clear that indeed writing should be enhanced and incorporated into the modern English classroom to create acceptable graduates in real-life situations.

References

Barr, R., Blachowicz, C. Z., Bates, A., Katz, C., & Kaufman, B. (2007). Reading diagnosis for teachers:An instructional approach (5th ed). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Bean,T.W., & Steenwyk, F. L. (2008).The effect of three forms of summarization instruction on sixth graders’ summary writing and comprehension. Journal of Reading Behavior, 16, 297–306.

De La Paz, S., & Graham, S. (2002). Explicitly teaching strategies, skills, and knowledge:Writing instruction in middle school classrooms. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 291–304.

Fearn, L., & Farnan, N. (2005, April). An investigation of the influence of teaching grammar in writing to accomplish an influence on writing. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.

Graham, S. (2006). Strategy instruction and the teaching of writing. In C. MacArthur,

Graham S., & J. Fitzgerald (2004), Handbook of writing research (pp. 187–207). New York: Guilford.

Graham, S., & Harris, K. (2005). Writing better. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

Hand, B., Hohenshell, L., & Prain,V. (2004). Exploring students’ responses to conceptual questions when engaged with planned writing experiences: A study with year ten science students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41, 186–210.

MacArthur, C., Graham, S., & Fitzgerald, J. (2006). Handbook of writing research. New York: Guilford.

Nagin, C. (2003). Because writing matters: Improving student writing in our schools. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.