DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS

AMONG ESL LEARNERS:

FOCUSING ON FLUENCY AND
ACCURACY
BY
ZANURIN BIN MOHAMAD SAFAR
GURU CEMERLANG BAHASA INGGERIS
SEKOLAH MENENGAH KEBANGSAAN KULIM

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: PMR

EXCELLENT: 21-25 MARKS
Task fulfilled with ideas and details well-developed
and well-organised.
Language is accurate with few minor errors and
first draft slips.
Varied sentence structures are used effectively to
convey meaning.
Vocabulary is apt and widely used.
Accurate use of mechanics of writing.
Interest of the reader is aroused and sustained.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: PMR

WEAK: 6 - 10 MARKS

Task partially fulfilled with ideas less

developed; ideas lacking organisation.
Language barely accurate with frequent
serious errors that hamper reading.
Vocabulary is limited.
Serious errors in mechanics of writing.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: SPM

BAND A: 44-50 MARKS
Language entirely accurate. Maybe
occasional first draft slips. Varied
sentence structures in length and type.
Vocabulary wide and apt. Punctuation
and spelling accurate. Paragraphs
well-planned and well-linked. Topic
addressed with consistent relevance.
Interest aroused and sustained
throughout.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA: SPM

U(i): 14 19 MARKS
Limitation of subject matter due to lack of linguistic
skills. Meaning fairly clear. Many serious errors,
mainly of one-word type. Communication
established but errors may cause blurring.
Sentences simple and often repetitive. There may
be no paragraphs.
U(ii): 8 13 MARKS
Errors multiple in nature, requiring the reader to
read and re-read before being able to understand.
High incidence of error makes meaning blur. Maybe
short of required number of words. Able to get some
sense.

ISSUES:
IF TEACHERS WANT STUDENTS TO GET
AN A, WHAT SHOULD TEACHERS FOCUS
ON?
IF TEACHERS WANT STUDENTS TO AT
LEAST PASS THE ENGLISH PAPER, WHAT
SHOULD TEACHERS FOCUS ON?
TWO APPROACHES TO THE TEACHING
OF WRITING:
FOCUS ON ACCURACY
FOCUS ON FLUENCY

 FOCUSING ON ACCURACY:
MUST DEVELOP THEIR LANGUAGE
ACCURACY. HOW?
TIP 1: DIVER FORMS (DIFFERENT VERB
FORMS)
TIP 2: MASTERY OF PAST TENSE VERBS
- Simple past tense
- Past continuous
- Passive
TIP 3: DRILL SIMPLE, COMPOUND AND
COMPLEX SENTENCES (SCCS). HOW DO
YOU TEACH SCCS?

 TIP 4: VOCABULARY ENRICHMENT

THROUGH VENESSA (VOCABULARY
ENRICHMENT IN NARRATIVE ESSAYS)
TIP 5: CONDUCT FREQUENT ESSAY
TESTS
WITHIN THE TIME LIMIT GIVEN
WITH A FOCUS PAST TENSE VERBS,
SOPHISTICATED ADJECTIVES,
PRESENT TENSE VERBS,
DEVELOPMENT OF IDEAS, COMPOUND
AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

 FOCUSING ON FLUENCY:
MUST DEVELOP THEIR ABILITY TO
DEVELOP IDEAS MEANINGFULLY. HOW?
TIP 6: FOCUSED PARAGRAPH WRITING
PLACES: The island was a great place.. /
My new school was great.. / The village
was great.. / We spent two days in the city
.. PLEASE ADD TO THE LIST
PEOPLE: Pak Mat was the oldest man in the
village .. / Our new classmate was a nice
girl. / He loved his mother very much.. /
The baby girl was admired by all of us..

 ACTIVITIES: The camping was very

enjoyable. / We gained a lot from the
exhibition .. / I took part in the school
educational trip .. / Our recycling
campaign was a success . PLEASE ADD
MORE
EVENTS: The sports day ended
yesterday.. / Many people attended the
state-level open house .. / It was the
greatest Teachers Day .. / The drama
competition went on well .. MORE
PLEASE..

 TIP 7: APPLY 42211

WHEN DEVELOPING IDEAS,
STUDENTS MAY WRITE ABOUT:
4 DESCRIPTIONS OF A PLACE/EVENT/
PERSON/ACTIVITY/SURROUNDING
2 ACTIONS DONE
2 SENSES (THINGS SEEN, SMELT,
TOUCHED, TASTED OR HEARD)
1 FEELING
1 WISH/HOPE

 Example:
Last week, I went to Jinjang Waterfall. The waterfall
was very beautiful (D1). It was quite high (D2).
There were two small waterfalls beside Jinjang
Waterfall (D3). My brother and I swam at the
waterfall (action). The water was very clear (sight).
The water was also very cold (touch). I taught my
brother how to swim (action). I liked swimming
there (feeling). I felt happy (feeling). We tried to
catch a fish with our hands but we failed (action).
After swimming I felt very fresh (feeling). I wished
my father could swim with us (wish). [83 words]

WORKSHOP 1:
Group discussion / Paragraph writing: 10 minutes
Presentation: 3 minutes per group
Mode of presentation: PowerPoint
Use simple language so that the paragraph can be
understood clearly by the weak students.
Use basic vocabulary to convince the weak
students that they actually have the ability to write
in English using the basic vocabulary that they
possess
Think of simple ideas to motivate weak students
that they could also develop ideas well.
Apply 42211

 Based on one of the topics below, write a

paragraph of about 50 100 words:
1. Last night, I went to the night market at
Jalan Gasing.
2. My father accompanied me to the
newest shopping mall in town.
3. Sheila, a new student in class,
introduced herself to me. ..
4. Joes birthday party was great. .
5. The Teachers Day celebration in my
school was a memorable event. ..

 TIP 8: Apply cooperative learning in

paragraph writing
Paragraph writing: 5 members 1 or 2
sentences / ideas each.
TIP 9: Beat around the bush write about
the same idea but in different ways
Example: The youth did not recognise me. I
introduced my name but he said he did not
know me. I repeated my name but the boy
still could not remember me. He really did not
know me (36 words).

 Other examples:
My test result was disappointing. My test
result was very bad. I failed in my test. I
failed in all subjects. I only got 5 marks for
Additional Mathematics and 22 marks for
Chemistry (36 words)
The price of the bag was reasonable. The
bag was cheap. I could buy the bag
because it was not expensive at all. The
bag was only RM10.00. The price was
good (32 words)

CLOSURE
TEACHING WRITING AND DEVELOPING
WRITING SKILLS ARE NOT EASY TASKS TO
BE ACCOMPLISHED.
HOWEVER, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE.
THE POINT IS TO USE THE APPROACHES
AND STRATEGIES THAT WORK IN OUR
CLASSROOMS
THEN, SUCCESS WILL BE OURS.