 |
The stages and level of LT
|
|
|
|
THE MINISTRY OF HIGHER AND SECONDARY SPECIAL EDUCATION
OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
THE UZBEK STATE WORLD LANGUAGES UNIVERSITY
MODERN PEDAGOGICAL TECHNOLOGIES DEPARTMENT
“FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY”
COURSE PAPER
Theme: Developing writing competence according to the National Standards of Uzbekistan
Done by: Z. Mukhamedieva, group №335, 3-faculty
Scientific advisor: Ahmedjonova D.A.
Tashkent-2017
CONTENT:
Introduction …………………………………3
Chapter I. National standards of foreign language teaching of Uzbekistan.
1.1 Modern model of teaching and learning English in Uzbekistan.
1.2 Content of teaching writing in the EL according to the national standards.
Chapter II.Writing as a goal and means of EL teaching and learning.
2.1 Methods of developing writing competence
2.2
Introduction
The foreign language education has social and personally-oriented values. Dynamic processes in all spheres in Uzbekistan need acquiring one or two FL. The richness of the country under the conditions of market economy and information technologies development can be achieved with the help of human resources - the important factor of economic and social progress.
Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Uzbekistan has worked towards strengthening its economic relations with many western powers, and consequently has invested heavily in English language training. Recently there has been a major shift from Russian to English with all teachers and students having English lessons. It used to be that Russian was a second language but this status is being eroded by English as the leadership move for closer ties with the West with, for example, more English programs on television than before.
On December 10, 2012 President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a decree “On measures to further improve foreign language learning system”. Since that time a comprehensive foreign languages’ teaching system has been created. Uzbekistan changed the model of foreign language teaching and made great strides in the development. Our country advanced in creating harmoniously developed, highly educated, modern-thinking young generation, further integration of the country to the world community.
Our course paper is about how writing competence can be learned at classrooms on the bases of new pedagogical technologies with having taking into consideration the National Standard. It is also about typical mistakes and difficulties in developing writing competence.
The problem of this course paper is how to implement the State standards in order to develop writing competence.
The main aim of our course paper is to show the modern model of developing writing competence according to the National standards, to look through the stages and levels of FL, to get acquainted with the content and requirements for graduates’ writing skills of different levels.
|
|
|
The subject of the course paper is the development writing competence, analysis of principles, approaches and teaching methods used for improving writing skills.
The object of this course paper is thorough analysis of FLT in State Educational Standard.
Chapter I National standards of foreign language teaching of Uzbekistan
1.1 Modern model of teaching and learning English in Uzbekistan
The FL education has social and personally-oriented values. Dynamic processes in all spheres in Uzbekistan need acquiring one or two FL. The richness of the country under the conditions of market economy and information technologies development can be achieved with the help of human resources - the important factor of economic and social progress. The FL education contributes to solve this important objective. According to the view of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan we should create the necessary conditions for the youth to acquire deep knowledge and modern professions and train a highly qualified workforce, young specialists capable of taking on responsibility for the future and further development of the country. President I. Karimov also states that in the system of education we attach a great importance to teaching pupils not merely liberal arts and vocational skills, but also required learning of foreign languages, for this is critical for them to maintain proactive communication with their counterparts abroad, get extensive knowledge of everything that is going on around the globe, and command the august world of intellectual treasure
At present time personally-oriented value of FL education is called forth the followings:
1. understanding the importance of FL as a means of communication in multilingual and polycultural world;
2. having imaginations about requirements to his/her level of FL proficiency at all stages of education and technologies of its assessment;
3. individuals need in learning FL and its practical using.
Exactly the last one determines prestige of the FL and its learning for individuals.
Under the conditions of developing multilingualism we can no longer afford to remain monolingual. Successive reforming occurred in Uzbekistan demands all peoples to speak a variety of languages. Learning FL no longer a pastime: it is a necessity. It is known that learning a foreign language results in students achieving greater divergent thinking, creativity, and cognitive development compared to monolingual students. When students learn a FL they have a tendency of outscoring those who are proficient in only a single language on tests of nonverbal and verbal intelligence.
Global objective of any educational system is preparation of young generation for adequate participation in all fields of activity of a society. For achievement of this objective educational process should be under construction in view of features of progress of a modern polycultural society for which plurality of cooperating languages and cultures are characteristics, first, and secondly, plurality of texts and the text formats circulating in global information space, created by modern means of a mass communication.
Development of multilingualism in Uzbekistan means learning FL, but at the same time it aims to strengthen and develop the native and second languages of those living in Uzbekistan. The language and cultural diversity are dealt with as value elements of the world cultural heritage and the philosophy of intercultural social interaction in any multilingual and polycultural space
|
|
|
The Resolution of President Islam Karimov «On measures for further improvement the system of foreign languages learning» (December 10, 2012)64 is a key factor for modernization of teaching foreign languages at all stages, in which the importance of teaching and learning English across the country were pointed out. So, a foreign language becomes one of the important educational subjects, at all educational institutions.
The specific features of a foreign language as an educational subject are shown in ils purposes. In fact that FL as the subject doesn’t strive for teaching theoretical knowledge more over information about linguistic science. If we say about many other subjects such as physics, chemistry, and others they are aimed at acquiring theoretical knowledge.
The specific features of this subject are to acquire FL for communication with native and non-native speakers, exactly, to acquire language means, behavioral patterns and discourse strategies for organization of communication. The EL is the goal and means of teaching and learning.
The difference between learning a FL and the native language (Uzbek or Russian as a subject) is manifested in the direction of the FL to developing communicative skills on the basis of another new language code, where the place of the language is the means of communication. This idea permeates the whole EL teaching process. The level of communicative competence in the native language as the result of education is more fluent then in FL. There are some limitations in FL communicative skills, because the social function of the native and FL are not the same. The Uzbek (native) language has an official status and it is the language of everyday communication, FL is the means of education and familiarization with other cultures; means of communication in the classroom and outside it.
Another specific feature of FL is concluded in its non- subjectiveness and heterogeneousness. FL is means of forming and then formulating ideas of the objective reality. The substance and consistency of backgrounds of this subject are taken from literature, history, ctc. In other words, the subject for speech (topics or themes) is borrowed from other disciplines. Heterogeneousness of FL is seen in knowing all aspects of language and mastering language subskills and skills, and also additional abilities are necessary for productive organization of communication in the target language.
Nowadays within this subject we must teach both the language and the culture. It means the importance of the linguo-cultural context of education, where the objects of teaching and learning under this subject are 1) language and culture, 2) speech, and 3) speech activities (listening, speaking, reading and writing). From the position of methodology this subject (the pointed out components of this subject) is organized within three categories: 1) language and culture, 2) language and culture teaching, 3) language and culture learning.
The FL as the subject at school, lyceum and college is compulsory and has a practical character. The teaching and learning FL at these institutions contributes to speech development and improvement of the level of the language proficiency including the native language. The interdisciplinary links are taken into consideration at school, lyceum and college. Teaching FL at lyceum and college is considered as a profile education. The interdisciplinary depends on the profile of lyceum and college (e.g. humanitarian or technical). College students learn FL to obtain the additional information for future vocations, that’s why the FL links with the vocation-oriented subjects.
FL teaching at college can be defined at the micro level (in terms, for example, of vocabulary and vocation-oriented information) and at macro level - the professional communicative tasks, the genre of formats of those communicative tasks, and the modalities through which they are enacted66. For example, the EL teaching curriculum for a Medical College is based on the main language tasks and language skills that the future health care providers would need to be successful in this field. The acquired language skills as a result of education at a Medical college include areas of informational use of English in interaction with patients and their families (such as offering reassurance) and in interaction with colleagues (completing routine forms, charts, and instructions). The skills also touch upon documented interpersonal usage of English that the medical nurses would need (such as expressing empathy).
|
|
|
The Decree of President Islam Karimov «On measures for further improvement of foreign languages learning» (December 10, 2012)s is a key factor for modernization of teaching foreign languages at all stages, in which the importance of teaching and learning English across the country were pointed out. Taking account this derictive document the competence-based teaching was implemented in the Uzbekistan system of FLT.
This approach is an educational movement that refers to the outcomes of learning in the development of language programs and language skills of students. The essence of this approach is a new content-based on forming and developing a set of learners’ competences. The process of acquiring this content brings action- oriented character. Language use, embracing language learning, comprises the actions performed by learners who as individuals and as social agents develop a range of competences, both general and particular all components of the communicative competence. The core of this approach is interpreted as students draw on the competences at their disposal in various contexts under various conditions and under various constraints to engage in language activities involving language processes to produce and/or receive texts in relation to themes in specific domains, activating those strategies which seem most appropriate for carrying out the tasks to be accomplished. The monitoring of these actions by the participants leads to the reinforcement or modification of their competences.
The main feature of this approach is orientation to results of FLT/L fixed in the State Educational Standard. For this purpose descriptors what the learners should know and can be put on the curriculum in the result are worked out.
In Uzbekistan ELT is seen as a career in a field of educational specialization: it requires a specialized knowledge base obtained through both academic study and practical experience. Nowadays the demonstration of a certain level of proficiency in English as component of certification is required.
In Uzbekistan the multistage model of FLT has been worked out on the basis of continuous, succession, taking into consideration the international standards, and localization of EL teaching and learning methodology and materials (adapting to the national context). It is related to the well-known multilevel model of FLT in the foreign countries.
Domestic multistage model of continuous and successive education includes the following levels of FL given in the Table:
The stages and level of LT
| Education | Classes | Level according to CEFRE |
the primary education
the secondary education
| 1-4 forms (5-9 forms) Language-oriented schools | A1 A2 A2+ |
Special
 secondary
education
| Academic lyceum 1-3 courses
Vocational colleges
Language-oriented academic lyceums
| B1 B1+ |
| Higher education | Bachelor degree non-linguistic institutes and universities |
B2
C1
|
| Master degree non-linguistic institutes and universities | ||
| The second language in Bachelor and Master degree institutions and universities | ||
| Bachelor degree linguistic institutes and universities | ||
| Master degree linguistic institutes and universities |
|
|
|
School education falls apart into two stages: 1) the primary education (1-4 forms) and 2) the secondary education (5-9 forms). Education at academic lyceums is considered as upper secondary education. At vocational colleges ELT concerns 1) General English and 2) English for Specific Purposes (ESP) or English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). ESP is traditionally associated with Study at college and non-linguistic institute and university.
The higher education provides training of qualified specialists at the Bachelor and Masters’ degree departments (Pre-service FL training). The Table above does not present post-graduate education (institution of senior scientific personnel and researches) and upgrading courses of In-service teachers training and retraining to change a qualification.
The domestic model of education has the following advantages:
1) Introducing the primary and post-graduate education, that contributes to work out the successive structure and content of FLT. Succession provides systematic and continuous content in FLT, an absence in doubling transitive components of FLT content from one stage to another one. Multistage and gradual character of the process of cognition is reflected in the FL progress. But at the same time the post-graduate education is not stopped, this model is intended to the life-long independent-learning (self-study) of FL.
2) Taking into consideration the international standards for the evaluation the language level (communicative competence) at all stages gives the opportunity to enter into the world education space. The CEFR levels and descriptors are adapted to the social context of Uzbekistan, especially to each stage, aim and objectives, etc. Accounting the CEFR, levels are reflected in the FLT content and requirements to the language levels as the result of FLT.
3) Localization of EL teaching and learning materials. English teaching materials come from different places, where English is a native or an official language, or a foreign language. Material from these countries does not reflect the learning style, cultural values and local conditions of Uzbekistan, as a result, students’ motivation suffers and they become reluctant to interact in class and share opinions or ideas. Localization of the EL teaching and learning methodology and teaching materials is based on the idea that relevant contexts and balance between local and foreign cultural concepts and images naturally can improve ELT. The new model of education has required creation of new curricula, syllabuses and coursebooks accordingly local and foreign contexts to provide rich opportunity for teachers to explain non-native cultural items, in addition of using localized content. It is very important for teachers to identify ways to best represent local culture and explain non-native elements. Besides it is necessary to use humanizing material as activities which help to make the language learning process a more affective experience and finding ways of helping the learners to connect “what is in the book to what is in their minds”9. Thus, it is necessary to humanize the teaching materials.
In Uzbekistan authors of syllabuses, curricula, coursebooks and other guides try to humanize materials, present materials in real-life and culturally familiar language contexts and match the language instructions with students needs and personal preferences. All this allows expressing learners' identity and empowers them to make a decision about what they need to learn.
The effectiveness of teachers’ pedagogical activity, at first, depends on acquiring the ideas of modernization. A modernization means: I) changing the goal and results of education; application of modern methods and technologies in practice of teaching/learning; reworking out the state standards and curricula for EL teaching and learning. Thus, all components of methodical system of ELT should be modernized, particularly: 1) approaches and principles to EL teaching and learning; 2) goals of teaching and learning; 3) content of EL teaching and learning; 4) aids, methods and techniques; 4) ways and forms of control of the results of EL teaching and learning.
|
|
|
In our conditions the CEFR is used for development of the language policy to set minimum language requirements for a wide range of purposes, in curriculum planning, preparing coursebooks and development of methods of teaching and tools of evaluation. It is intended for dynamic progress in acquiring FL.
Within this scope, the efforts of teachers and learners at all levels of education are encouraged and supported by developing appropriate methods and teaching materials, appropriate forms and instruments for the evaluating of learning programs. «Research and development programs leading to the introduction, at all educational levels, of methods and materials best suited to enabling different classes and types of student are promoted to acquire a communicative proficiency appropriate to their specific needs». So in obtaining a communicative proficiency the importance of methods and teaching materials play an important role.
Content of teaching writing in the EL according to the national standards
| Level | Content of teaching |
| A1 | Handwriting, spelling Writing of simple messages (cards, notes, e-mails) Filling of simple forms with personal data |
| A2/ A2+ | Writing of personal letters (short massages, cards, notes, memos, emails) Filling of forms with personal data |
| B1 | Simple business documentation (letters and emails, reports, plans, service-proposals, curriculum vitas, cover letters, blanks) Personal correspondence (letters and emails, short messages) |
| B1+ | Business letters commercial papers(written requests, contract, resume) Report Reviews, comments Essay and other forms of written tasks Reports on project works |
| B2 | Correspondence (letters, messages and etc.). Special information (memos, resumes and etc.). Essay, Summaries, resumes Research work (articles, qualification papers) |
| C1 | Articles Instructions of materials for teaching and learning Forms and Questionnaires Business and professional letters Qualification paper Preface Resume, Cover letter |
| C1 (master’s degree) | Forms, questionnaires, blanks Business and professional letters Preface Biography and cover letter Theses Mini – dissertations Reports Academic essay substantiation report for grants and scholarships Official documents (contracts, agreements |
Requirements for level of training of graduates
| A1 | Писать простые личные сообщения (открытки, записки, электронные письма). Заполнять простые формуляры личными данными (имя, адрес и т.д.). Писать простые стихи и рассказы. |
| A2/ A2+ | A2Писать простые короткие записки и сообщения (например, благодарственное письмо, письмо с извинениями). Заполнять формуляры, указывая подробную информацию о себе (имя, адрес, номер телефона, национальность, контактную информацию о родителях). Писать о повседневной жизни. Писать простую автобиографию. Писать простые стихи. A2+ Описывать события и личный опыт. Писать сообщение, основанное на устном источнике, чтобы оно было понятно адресату. |
| B1 | Писать записки и сообщения как личного, так и профессионального характера, выражая срочность, важность и необходимость. Писать короткие профессиональные доклады в стандартном формате. Писать простые отчеты о служебных обязанностях. Писать простые отчеты, связанные с местом работы или инцидентами. Писать резюме и сопроводительное письмо. |
| B1+ | Делать записи лекций, которые достаточны для собственного понимания. Писать короткие простые эссе на темы, касающиеся собственных интересов. Писать формальные письма, деловые бумаги (заявления, письмо-согласие, резюме). Писать хорошо структурированные доклады на темы, касающиеся опыта, деятельности и других событий. Писать отчеты по проектной деятельности. Писать рассказ. |
| B2 | Писать специальные сообщения (деловые письма, заметки, электронные письма). Писать хорошо структурированные эссе и доклады. Писать хорошо структурированные, четкие логические научные и исследовательские статьи. Давать письменные предложения, писать отчеты и отзывы. По необходимости писать выпускные квалификационные работы. |
| C1 | Уметь писать четкие хорошо структурированные тексты по сложной тематике, подчеркивая важные, актуальные вопросы, расширяя и подкрепляя точку зрения при помощи довольно распространенных дополнительных рассуждений, доводов и подходящих примеров, завершая повествование выводами. Уметь свободно давать понятное, логично построенное, развернутое описание или написать вымышленный текст, придерживаясь при этом собственного стиля, естественного для предполагаемого читателя. Писать четкие, хорошо организованные описания сложных предметов, выделяя необходимые и важные детали (например, в квалификационной работе). Развивать и поддерживать свою точку зрения дополнительными аргументами и необходимыми примерами. Писать разные типы текстов личного характера (дневники, описания личного опыта), соблюдая правильный стиль. Уметь делать обобщения по лекциям, статьям и дискуссиям. Делать письменные обзоры на академические и профессиональные темы. |
| C1 (master’s degree) | Все типы писем. Все типы эссе. Магистерская диссертация по выбранной теме. Статьи на профессиональные темы. Аннотации на профессиональную и непрофессиональную литературу (основные и дополнительные источники). Обзоры профессиональной и непрофессиональной литературы (статьи, книги, квалификационные работы). Обобщения различного академического материала. Тезисы и предложения на конференции. Обоснования и проспекты на гранты и стипендии. |
At the beginning level (2-4 classes) we teach graphics in EL (handwriting), i.e. teaching to write letters (alphabet) which interrelates with teaching reading as graphic-phonemic correspondence. Pupils must acquire print hand letters. At the same time we form elementary writing skills for conducting communicative-cognitive objectives in the written form. On the material of sentences and not complicated texts pupils must write:
a) holiday and birthday congratulations in cards;
b) personal data: name and surname, dates, address;
c) short messages and personal letters;
d) a plan, questions to short texts;
e) description of pictures.
The second stage (5-9 classes) at school must provide more intensive development of writing skills in different situations of communication. Topics and capacity of writing messages is broaden; the quality of produced text in the written form is improved. The content of writing teaching within this stage differs in its informativeness and is built on the authentic material. The samples of an epistolary type as letters, cards, articles from newspapers and magazines are used for developing teenagers’ writing skills:
f) to give the information about him/herself, family, school, city/town, interests and hobby;
g) to write a short commentary/letter in newspaper or journal with the norms and conventions of native speakers;
h) to write personal data in questionnaire and registration document;
i) to do note-taking (plan, copy out the key words, speech patterns) to use it for production of the text.
At an academic lyceum and vocational college the level of the language proficiency in writing must provide more effective using it as a means of teaching, self-learning and academic study. It demands involving the variety of official and unofficial situations, complicity of the produced texts, and high degree of autonomous activity.
The lyceum and college students must obtain the following skills:
j) to describe events or facts;
k) to send and ask an information in the extended form;
1) to express an opinion, arguments;
m) to comment events and facts using argumentative statements and emotional-estimation means;
n)to write a plan and notes for an oral message;
o)to fix a factual information during reception of oral and printed text;
p) to write a summary, synopsis, annotation.
q)to write a composition and essay.
Chapter
Every few years, new foreign language teaching methods arrive on the scene. New textbooks appear far more frequently. They are usually proclaimed to be more effective than those that have gone before, and, in many cases, these methods or textbooks are promoted or even prescribed for immediate use. New methods and textbooks may reflect current developments in linguistic/applied linguistic theory or recent pedagogical trends. Sometimes they are said to be based on recent developments in language acquisition theory and research. For example, one approach to teaching may emphasize the value of having students imitate and practise a set of correct sentences while another emphasizes the importance of encouraging 'natural' communication between learners. How is a teacher to evaluate the potential effectiveness of new methods? One important basis for evaluating is, of course, the teacher's own experience with previous successes or disappointments. In addition, teachers who are informed about some of the findings of recent research are better prepared to judge whether the new proposals for language teaching are likely to bring about positive changes in students' learning.
Writing is a complex communicative activity. It helps to communicate in the written form with the help of graphical symbols. Writing is a type of speech activity as «a communicative skill to encode, store and send messages with the help of written symbols». The product of this type of speech activity is a text for reading.
Writing is characterized by the tree-phase structure: 1) inducement-motivation, 2) analytical-syntactical and 2) operation. Under the first phase the motive appears as an intention to communicate. The author’s message has an intention to inform somebody.
In the second phase an utterance is formed and pronounced: the necessary words for producing the utterance are selected, within a set of sentences, subjective area of indicators is distributed, the predicate or a key part of the idea organization between sentences is defined.
The third phase of writing is decoding of the idea/message with the help of graphical symbols.
In the ELT the writing is the goal and means of teaching and learning. The goal of teaching writing is to teach production of written texts which students can write in the mother tongue. To produce the written text students should master mechanics of writing. That’s why, in domestic methodology the two types of writing are distinguished: 1) mechanics of writing (handwriting, spelling, punctuation); 2) process of expressing ideas in a graphical form.
Writing is meant as acquiring graphical and orthographical systems of EL by students for fixation speech and language material to remember it and support acquiring oral speech. Modern approaches to teaching writing recognize its dual purpose: as a means (a support skill) and as an end (communicative skill).
Writing refers to several subskills: putting words on paper, making sentences and linking them in paragraphs, developing essays and many others. So, writing is also a support skill.
At the elementary and intermediate levels it helps to think and to learn. Writing new words and structures help students remember new words; written practice helps students focus their attention on what they are learning. It is important for developing all skills. Writing serves as learning and controlling means.
| Writing to learn | Learning to write |
| A means of engaging students with other language skills: 1) as a means of getting students to practice a particular language point; 2) as a method of testing it. | A purpose for developing a writing skill. Practice written forms at the level of a word, sentence, structure and content organization. |
| Activities: note down new vocabulary, copy out grammar rules; write answers to reading and listening comprehension questions, to written tests. | Activities: writing a letter, report, narrative stoiy, describing the picture, combining writing with other speech activities - writing a response to reading an article, writing an annotation to the text, etc. |
It needs some forms of instruction and imposes an appropriate use of the language. That’s why the operation and activities are divided into groups: 1) those designed to develop the writing skills and 2) which provided opportunity of practicing English. «Аtask which provides little or no practice for students to extend their knowledge of appropriate content or context or to raise their awareness about writing process is not really a writing task but general learning task using writing.» To understand dual purpose of writing as a subskill and communicative skill in ELT we should examine the content of the Table 12 which summarizes the above-mentioned information.
The success of writing as a communicative skill is a long-term process which is difficult and demands a lot of efforts from the teacher and students.
Subskills of EL teaching to write for the beginning stage: handwriting and spelling. There are difficulties related to: 1) inter-language interference: similar letters of the Uzbek/Russian/English languages so the native can get confused. E.g.: Tr-Tt; Pp -Rr: 2) intra-language interference: the letters which are similar in the EL are difficult. E.g.: b-d, p-q, t-f-1.
It is a very difficult process developing spelling skills in the EL. The process of developing writing subskills (handwriting and spelling) and skills (communicative) at the beginning stage includes a set of activities:
• Pattern power: Write the spelling words in which [a] is spelled these ways
a______________; ey___________
ea__________ ay___________________
ai_______ a-e_______________
• Meaning mastery: Write the spelling of words that complete these sentences.
• Dictionary skills: 1) Write the given spelling of words in alphabetical order; b) In the dictionary entry parts of speech are shown by using the following abbreviation: n - noun; vb - verb; adj - adjective, adv - adverb. Classify the given words according to the parts of speech.
• Word building: A) If you change the underlined vowel in the word, you can make a new word: blend +o = blond; B) The same sounds are often spelled in different ways. Write the spelling of words that rhymes with these words. See sample. Made - aid.
• Handwriting activity: Practice writing of the given spelling of words that have at least one-two consonant blend in the word. Write each word three times, making sure you join the letters correctly: draft, stuck, blend, cliff,...
• Challenge words: Write the correct challenge words to complete the micro-text.
• Proofreading practice: Find the words that John spelled incorrectly, and write the words correctly at the end of each sentence.
The girl had a dream about becoming a great athlete.
• Writing activities. A) Complete this sentence to surprise your readers by writing a short story with an unexpected ending; B) Brainstorming is a good way to get ideas for a short story. Choose a spelling word, and write what it makes you think of. Write as many ideas as you can. Remember to begin the sentence with a capital letter and end with a period.
Teaching writing proposes mastering the text format as a typical layout of the text as a congratulation and condolences, telegrams, notes, signs, labels, captions, notices, menus, advertisements, personal or business letters, invitations, application for a job. CV (Curriculum Vitae), references, recipes, diaries,. log-books, dictation, note-taking, reproductions, abstracts, summaries, reviews, reports, precis, synopsis, case-studies, projects, essay, stories, poems.
The knowledge for forming and developing writing subskills are presented in the Table below.
| Knowledge of the genre. Students should be able to recognize a genre, in which they are writing, grammatical and lexical choices they need to make in order to match the text to the writing purpose. This includes knowledge of: 1. content: the concepts involved in the subject area; 2. context: the context in which the text will be read, including reader’s expectations |
| Knowledge of the language system. Students need to have knowledge of those aspects of the EL system necessary for the completion of the task. They should also be able to organize texts appropriately. |
| Knowledge of the writing process. Students need to know how to prepare a writing task: how to plan, draft, review, edit, etc. |
The process of teaching writing is organized according to a three-phase framework: pre-writing, while-writing and post- writing.
Phases and their content
| Phases | Content |
| Pre-writing | Schemata activation, motivation for writing, preparation for the language, familiarization with the format of the target text. |
| While-writing | Thesis development, writing from notes, ending up with a given phrase, proceeding from a given beginning phrase, following a plan, following a format and register, solving-problem. |
| Post-writing | Reflection on the spelling and reasoning errors, sharing the writing with the classmates, redrafting, peer editing. |
There are various tasks, techniques and activities for developing writing as a communicative skill at the first and second stages of schools.
For organization of the work on writing an invitation we can use the letter-sample and instruction-rules.
Look at this invitation.
| 14 Ten avenue | Heading |
| Prairie View, Missouri 64193 | |
| March 8,2014 | |
| Dear Alex, | Opening salutation |
| We are having a pizza party on Sunday, March | Body |
| 2014, at 14 Ten Avenue from 3:30 -7.00 p.m. | |
| Please come and enjoy the pizza. Bring your discs | |
| if you like. | |
| Your friend, | Closing salutation |
| Mark. | Signature |
This invitation has five parts: heading, opening salutation, body, closing salutation and signature. In letter writing, commas are important. Look at the commas in the heading, opening salutation, body and closing salutation of Marks ’ invitation.
An invitation may ask you to come to the party. Invitation tells the date, time, and place of the party. It may tell you what to wear, what to bring, what you might eat, or what you will do.
Write an invitation to ask a friend to come to a birthday party, a skating party, or a picnic. Follow the example above for your invitation. Remember to tell your friend the date, time, and place of the party.
For writing a friendly-letter you can use the following instruction-rules and tasks:
In a friendly letter, you tell about yourself and what you have been doing. You can also ask your friends about themselves and what they have been doing. A friendly letter is like a friendly conversation.
Write a friendly letter. Remember to write the heading, opening salutation, body, closing salutation, and signature, and to punctuate them correctly. Write an address on the envelope using the given below address as a sample.
| 24 Acorn Street | |
| Moor City, Iowa 50573 | |
| April 3,2014 | |
| Ms. Marilyn Peterson | |
| R. G. Profit, Inc. | |
| 414 main Avenue | |
| Detroit, Michigan 48201 |
The next activity for writing is a description addresses to the 9- form students.
One day Bobur was sitting in the living room when he looked out of the window and saw his friend. He ran to the door to call him but he saw that he had mistaken a stranger for his friend
Write a paragraph telling whom Bobur saw and describe the appearance of this boy. Proofread your paragraph for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.
The communicative exercises can be divided into four groups, presented in the table below.
| Types of exercises | Activities |
| 1.Reproductive using of formal supporters | - reproduction of printed or oral text on the basis of key words or speech patterns; - eliciting of text content in the written form on the basis of a plan or headline of the text; - scrambled sentences for writing a text in the logical sequence. |
| 2. Reproduction of the content on the basis of the text | - questions to the text; - making a plan; - compression or extending of the text; - writing a headline to the text with arguments; - transformation of a dialogue into a monologue; - characteristics of heroes from the text- - characteristics of heroes from the text. |
| 3. Production on the basis of visual supports | - describing the picture, photo; a fragment of a movie; - letter writing on the basis of a visual format- sample; - composition writing on the basis of the content of the text, the given pictures, questions or a scheme; - writing a review on the text, book, film on the basis of a format-sample. |
| 4. Production on the basis of the language and life experience | - letter writing; - composition and essay writing; - announcement writing; - writing a review on the text, book, film. |
As we see, this system of speech exercises for developing writing skills is built on the basis of two principles: 1) from reproduction to production of the texts; 2) from verbal and visual supports to production without supports.
There are three main approaches to teach writing in the EL: 1) Text-based approach; 2) Writer-based approach, 3) Genre approach; 4) Communicative approach.
1. Text-based approach/The product approach to teaching writing is oriented on the creation of a text as a product. The basis of this approach is explanation of the rules of using language units and features of discourse models. Technology of teaching is aimed at developing the language and rhetorical subskills. This approach stresses three features: grammar (rules for verbs, agreements, articles, pronouns, etc), syntax (sentence structure, sentence boundaries, stylistic choice, etc.), and mechanics (handwriting, spelling, punctuation, etc.). Besides, the teacher presents rhetorical models as types of a speech organization: (narration, explanation, reasoning, etc.) for the purpose of teaching development of writing skills. Thus, teaching writing is built on the basis of samples of written texts and analysis of their structure and content, and then their formal reproduction follows.
The procedure of this approach may be presented as a schema: presentation of a text-sample for imitation or adaptation -> writing variations of the first sentences, then paragraphs, then the whole text checking the language correction in the text correction of the text. The main criteria of evaluation are structural and language correction. So, this approach emphasizes accuracy rather than fluency or originality.
Writing techniques and activities can be characterized as controlled (for providing the content and form), guided (as free but a form is given) and free. (Controlled writing proposes using the following activities: coping, gap-filing, re-ordering words, substituting, correcting the facts and dictation, or dictocom (a combination of dictation and composition).
Guided/parallel writing is used when we teach paragraph writing and rhetorical models. Paragraph writing can be practiced when students mastered basic skills of sentence writing and sentence combining. That’s why it is usually used at the pre-intermediate and intermediate levels.
Free writing is used at the intermediate and advanced levels. Activities: writing narrations based on picture/pictures, description of facts/events, etc., information, report, review, instruction.
2. Writer-based approach/Writing as Process/Process approach to teaching writing in the EL. The focus on the writer has led to the process approach which lays stress on the activities which move students from the generalization of ideas and collection of data to the production of texts (more publication). The process approach is the dynamic, creative, unpredictable and non-liner writing. It emphasizes the writing process over the product, which is recognized as recursive process (the stages are recursive or nonliner) that encourages student to explore topics through writing.
This approach is more beneficial for advanced students, because it belongs to the creative writing and demands complicated mental operations and activities as thinking, revising and editing.
The process of creation of a written product follows getting ideas, getting started, writing drafts and revising. That’s why, during creation of the written product the following stages are organized: 1) prewriting; 2) composition/grafting; 3) revising; 4) editing. The activities for usage of these stages are given in the Table below.
| Prewriting | Composition/ drafting | Revising | Editing | Publishing/ presentation |
| For generating, focusing and structuring: brainstorming, mind-map, speedwriting, answering questions. | Writing drafting: writing plan, writing the first draft. | Seeing the first draft and developing ideas, structure and language correctness in using forms | Editing the Language errors (spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, grammar) and checking relevance of information, the order in which this is presented, the layout. | Presentation the product to the audience (to the teacher, or to classmates). |
Within the Process approach, students explore a topic given by a teacher through writing, showing the teacher and each other their drafts, and using what they write to read over, think about, and move them on to new ideas. According to A. Raimes, this approach gives «two crucial supports: time for the students to try out their ideas and feedback on the content of what they write in their drafts... writing process becomes a process of discovery.... new ideas and new language forms to express those ideas»108.
L. Marshal and F. Rowland single out two phases in the process of writing: 1) creative or generative phase - thinking, reflecting and imagining and 2) critical or editing phase - analysis and editing simultaneously109. In this case the creative and critical writing is emphasized.
3. Genre approach is more popular in teaching writing. D. Nunan explains different genres of writing as «typified by a particular structure and by grammatical forms that reflect the communicative purposes of the genre».110 Writing is seen as an essentially social activity in which texts are written to do things.
Having exploring different genres students get acquisition of structure and form for production the different types of texts.
The model of genre writing has a three-phase organization: 1) the target genre is modeled for students; 2) a text is jointly constructed by the teacher and students; 3) a text is independently constructed by each student. The main attention on the first stage focuses on the function of the text-genre, its structure and content. Within the second stage the following activities are used: research and analysis of the text, note-taking, discussion, role-play. In the third stage students construct their own text on the basis of experience acquired in the previous stages. The approach acknowledges that writing takes place in social situations and reflects a particular purpose, and that learning can happen consciously through imitation and analysis, which facilitates explicit instruction111.
For writing a composition within the process approach the writer fulfills the role of 1) a creator whose cognitive process is focus on the structure and content; 2) an inter-actor, who dialogues with a reader, 3) a user of a text/literature. This approach can be used at academic lyceums and vocational colleges or at the advanced level of teaching EL.
4. Communicative approach stresses the purpose of a piece of writing and the audience for it. Under this approach students are encouraged to behave like writers in real life and to ask themselves the crucial questions about purpose and audience: What am I writing this for? Who will read it? Taking into consideration the audience (readers) of a piece of writing, the teacher provides students with a context in which to select appropriate content, language, and levels of formality.
This approach emphasizes task-based activities that involve the exchange of information, with the focus on fluency. This approach practices a good deal of modeling and controlled practice, and also pays great attention to motivation and self-expressing. The activities used under this approach: writing instructions, cards, letters, messages, articles, job applications, reports, advertisements, projects, etc.
Conclusion
During the years of independence, over 51.7 thousand teachers of foreign languages graduated from universities, English, German and French multimedia tutorials and textbooks for 5-9 grades of secondary schools, electronic resources for learning English in primary schools were created, more than 5000 secondary schools, professional colleges and academic lyceums were equipped with language laboratories.
Before 2012 analysis of the current system of organizing language learning showed that learning standards, curricula and textbooks did not fully meet the current requirements, particularly in the use of advanced information and media technologies. Education was mainly conducted in traditional methods. Further development of a continuum of foreign languages learning at all levels of education; improving skills of teachers and provision of modern teaching materials were required.
According to the decree, starting from 2013/2014 school year foreign languages, mainly English, gradually throughout the country was taught from the first year of schooling in the form of lesson-games and speaking games, continuing to learning the alphabet, reading and spelling in the second year (grade).
Also it is envisaged that university modules, especially in technical and international areas, are offered in English and other foreign languages at higher education institutions.
The State Testing Centre, along with other relevant agencies, is tasked with preparing draft proposals on introducing foreign languages testing to the entrance examinations for all higher educational institutions.
In order to increase teaching standards in distant rural areas, the higher educational institutions are allowed targeted admission of people living in distant areas to foreign language programs on the condition that they will oblige themselves to work in the acquired specialty at their residence area for at least 5 years after graduation. The decree also envisages 30% salary increase for foreign language teachers in rural areas, 15% increase for those in other areas.
The National Teleradio Company, State Committee for communications, informatisation and telecommunication technologies, Agency for Press and Information of the Republic of Uzbekistan are tasked to prepare and broadcast language-learning programs, significantly increase access to international educational resources via “Ziyonet” educational network, promote publication of foreign language textbooks, magazines and other materials.
|
|
|
