Let us be honest about it: given a choice between doing a writing activity or having a tooth pulled out without anesthesia, most students would plump for the latter. Writing frequently features at the bottom of students’ preference lists as far as activities go, and this has been so for years and years. It may have something to do with the fact that while speaking comes naturally to humans, writing is something artificial. Whatever the reason, our students still need to write. So, is there a way of changing their attitude? Are there things we can do to get students to write things – and benefit from the feedback we give them? Of course there are. Here are some tips:

• Involve students: Whether it is the workplace or the classroom, people want to have a voice in decisions. Ensure buy-in. Students know they have to do some writing. Why not ask them what it is they would like to write about? Why force them to write an essay on the environment when they could write something on video games instead?

• Give students a choice: A task feels less onerous when we have a choice. So instead of giving everyone the same topic to write on, you could perhaps give students three or four options. If the whole class has to write on the same topic, you could have them vote on the one they prefer.

• Use familiar modes: Your students say they hate writing, but they can spend hours on Messenger. This is writing. Why not exploit this by getting them to do something similar in class? You could set up a closed Facebook group for your group and students could respond to threads, in English, using their mobile phones.

• Use real communication tasks: One reason why students hate writing is because they see it as a display activity – a way to show the teacher how much they know. This is why they love sending messages to each other; because this is real communication. Find tasks which involve real communication.

• Use creative writing tasks: Why use boring writing tasks when we can make them interesting just by tweaking them a little? Why not get students to write a fairy tale with the bad witch as the heroine? Or get students to apply for the job of bank robber? Or get them to rewrite Trump’s tweets? (You know, asking them to come up with honest versions….)

• Get them to do it first: When we want to teach students how to write a formal email for instance, we usually show them a model and then ask them to write one themselves. Actually, it is best to reverse this. The frustration students will experience means the knowledge is more likely to stick when they then see the model.

• Do one thing at a time: The second reason why students hate writing is that when asked to write a long text, they try to do it in one go. We need to break this down and get students to i) make a plan;  ii) write topic sentences;  iii) come up with ideas;  iv) develop their paragraphs etc. One step at a time.

• Show students a model: While I certainly believe that a process approach is a great idea in helping students learn how to produce long texts, it pays not to be dogmatic. Showing students some samples of whatever it is we want them to produce helps reduce anxiety and clarify things in students’ minds. Then we can focus on process.

• Showcase students work: As teachers, we often miss the opportunity to motivate learners by displaying their work to their peers. Notice by the way, that the student’s writing need not be perfect; ‘OK – listen to this introduction’ or ‘Notice the excellent use of adjectives in this paragraph’. Do it. It is hugely motivating.

• Make feedback personal: First of all, use the student’s first name. Then link the feedback to other aspects of the student’s performance or personality (‘It’s just like you to say something like this’…) In other words: show that you are addressing the individual and not only the student in your feedback.

• Give feedback on ideas first: Never mind the student’s language – what do you think about what they are saying? If we only focus on language, the metamessage is that writing is indeed a display activity – something we do for the teacher. A comment like ‘Wow! I hadn’t thought of that argument’ can make all the difference.

• Go beyond mere praise: Feedback is about helping students improve. Sure, we do want to boost their confidence by pointing out the positive aspects of their efforts, but students do expect (and are entitled to) feedback on what they are doing wrong and how they can improve. Do provide such feedback.

• Focus on one thing: When giving feedback, often ‘less is more’. As teachers we think we are doing our job by focusing on structure and cohesive devices and accuracy and range etc. etc., but students cannot focus on everything. Choose one thing and focus on it. This means better results for less effort.

• Provide actionable feedback: Ask yourself: ‘Can they use my feedback to improve what they have written?’ For instance: ‘Your topic sentences could be better’ does not help much; telling your students ‘You need to make your topic sentences shorter and add a connector’ is something they can act on.

• Beware the planning fallacy: For longer pieces of writing (e.g. assignments in an EAP context) it is worth remembering that ‘things take longer to complete – even if you are aware of this rule’. Instead of having one final deadline, it is better to have intermediate ones where students deliver the goods piecemeal.

• Be firm with deadlines: Again in an EAP context, would it not be best to allow students to decide for themselves when to hand in assignments? This ‘democratic’ approach has been tested and it has failed. The result is delays, requests for extensions and poor quality work. To help students, be firm with deadlines.

OK – one last tip: do not accept crap. If you get sub-standard work, just return it and ask students to redo it. Listen to this story: there was once a manager who asked her team to submit a report. They did so. The next day, she called them in and yelled at them: ‘Is this the best you can do? Is this what we are paying you for?’ She told them to redo it and resubmit it. They did so and the same scene followed. After this happened 3-4 times, the team eventually said ‘Look, we are sorry; this is the best we can do!’ ‘Ah’ said the manager with a smile ‘Well, in that case, I am going to read it…’ 

Mr. Nick Michelioudakis

Nick Michelioudakis (B. Econ., Dip. RSA, MSc [TEFL]) has been active in ELT for many years as a teacher, examiner, presenter and teacher trainer. He has worked for a number of publishers and examination boards and he has given seminars in many countries.

He has written extensively on Methodology, though he is better known for his ‘Psychology and ELT’ articles which have appeared in numerous newsletters and magazines.

His areas of interest include Student Motivation, Learner Independence, Teaching one-to-one and Humour.

For articles or worksheets of his, you can visit his YouTube channel [ www.youtube.com/user/MrNickmi ] or his blog [ www.michelioudakis.org].

Presentation during the 19^th Cyprus International Publishers Exhibition

• VOCABULARY REVISION STRATEGIES (Professional Presentation)

Sunday, 8 March 2020, 10.00-10.50, Kantara Room, The Landmark Nicosia Hotel

Entrance to the above presentations is free of charge

To register visit:  www.ip-exhibitions.eu

Workshop during the 19^th Cyprus International Publishers Exhibition

• DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS
• Sunday, 8 March 2020, 14.00-17.00, Kantara Room, The Landmark Nicosia Hotel

Participation fee for the above workshop: 35 euros

To register visit:  www.des.org.gr