that is used to increase th e learners’ knowledge in writing in through a
websiteonline environment. The materials that will be used in the website are similar to materials
which are used in the class environment. The main difference of the materials in online and class environment is about the presentation because in the
online environment, there will be no teacher in the physical form. For that reason, the criteria of effective web-based materials in general are similar to
materials which are used in class environment. Tomlinson 1998 proposes some criteria for effective materials adapted from some basic principles in
second language acquisition; materials should: a achieve purposes,
b help learners to feel at ease, c help learners to develop confidence,
d expose language in authentic form, e provide learners opportunities to use the language, and
f provide opportunities for outcome feedback.
Following to web-based instruction and its connections, the writing activities for developed websites will be discussed. The writing activities here
are adapted from writing activities in general.
4. Writing Activities
Activities or tasks which are used in a web-based instruction can be adapted from Brown’s 2004 writing activities. Brown explains that there are
four categories of writing performances or activities i.e.:
a. Imitative or writing down
Students simply write down English letters, words, and possibly sentences in order to master the mechanics of writing. The activities could be;
copying, listening cloze selection tasks, picture-cued tasks, form completion tasks, and converting numbers and abbreviations to words.
b. Intensive or controlled
Students are meant to produce language to display their competence in grammar, vocabulary, or sentence formation, and not necessarily to convey
meaning for an authentic purpose. The tasks are more concerned with a focus on form and are rather strictly controlled. The activities could be dicto-comp,
grammatical transformation tasks, picture-cued tasks, vocabulary assessment tasks, ordering tasks, and short answer and sentence completion tasks.
c. Responsive
Students are considered already mastering the fundamentals of sentence-level grammar and are more focus on the discourse conventions that
will achieve the objectives of the written text.
d. Extensive
Students focus on achieving a purpose on their writings and engaging in the process of multiple drafts to achieve a final product.
Tasks in both responsive and extensive writing are more complex than the tasks in previous category of controlled writing. The activities in
responsive and extensive writing could be paraphrasing, guided questions and answers, paragraph construction tasks, and strategic options.
