What is Writing and Why is There a Need to Learn it?

A. Writing, A Definition

Writing seems to have taken on different definitions for different groups of people in order to suit their different needs and purposes for writing. Even for professionals involved in the field of English Language Teaching, not one definition of writing could satisfy everyone.

For the process oriented professionals and researchers, writing is a product of a person’s search for meaning. Zamel (1982) points out that writers go through the process where meaning is created because writers seem to start off the process not knowing what they are going to say at all.

Grabe and Kaplan (1996), in their book “Theory and Practice of Writing”, explore the meaning of writing in terms of the rhetorical triangle in writing. And such triangle consists of the reader, the recipient of the final product of the writing process; the writer, the originator of the message; and the subject matter and text itself. Both the writer and the reader have to consider all these aspects when writing and reading, respectively, for each one plays a significant role in the journey towards meaning.

According to Klein (1985), writing is the ability to put pen and paper to express ideas through symbols. This way, representations on the paper will have meaning and content that could be communicated to other people by the writer.

The definition, which seems to have of most relevance to this study is the one involving creative writing.  This kind of writing seems to emphasize the role of the discovery of self, in some ways akin to the discovery of meaning, in process writing. It is quite different from that which emphasizes audience, writer and text because it is focused more on getting ideas written down on paper, without burdening oneself especially with the thought of who is going to read the final product of one’s writing. It is also one which is closest in definition to writing done by children, which is focused more towards the expression of oneself, without much regard to how the reader would view the writing product or text.

Campbell, in her book “Teaching Second Language Writing” (1998:37) says, “One of life’s greatest releases is to express oneself in writing.”  She goes further by quoting one of her students as saying that writing, as a form of creative release in a second or foreign language is “Freedom!” So this is the definition more suited to this study of writing among elementary school children in an international setting – their discovery of self, their way of self expression and the teaching of life and about growing up as children engage in writing activities.

B. Writing, Why a Need to Learn It

As Harris (1993) has pointed out, writing is a complex activity. In the ESL context, the teaching of such a skill is confounded by the fact that L2 writers are faced with differences between the conventions of writing in their first language and English, which cause confusion on the L2 learner (Hedge, 1988). But still, this aspect of language learning – writing – has been a neglected area according to Hedge (1988). She further explains that it is only recently that research into writing has produced results that offer insights as to what good writers do.

These ideas, according to Hedge (1988), have implications for teachers who want to help their students become good writers. Without a well-established or highly-recognized model of writing, teachers tend to have different  ideas about its role in the classroom, what is involved in the teaching of writing, and the possible roles teachers and students play in developing activities to practice it (Hedge, 1988).

Writing is of fundamental importance to learning, to development of the person in each learner, and to success in the educational system. As teachers, we need to work continually to aid our students in their search for fulfillment as writers (Harris, 1993).

In an international setting, ESL students are required to produce written work in all their core subjects namely; Science, Math, Social Studies and most especially, Language Arts. They are required to hand in reports, narrative and descriptive essays, biographies, as well as other forms of writing needed in their various class and homework assignments. Therefore, there is an important need for them to be instructed and provided with practice activities to develop their writing skill in order to ensure their success in their school life.