The Nature of Writing The Approach in Teaching Writing

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2. Writing

Donald Zimmerman and Dawn Rodrigues 1992: 4 define writing as a way of thinking, a way of learning, and a way of sharing ideas with others.

a. The Nature of Writing

David Nunan 1995: 36 cited White 1981 statement about writing. “Writing is not a natural activity. All physically and mentally normal people learn to speak a language. Let all people have to be taught how to write. This is crucial difference between the spoken and written forms of language. There are other important differences as well. Writing, unlike speech, is displaced in time. Indeed, this must be one reason why writing originally evolved since it makes possible the transmission of message from one place to another. A written message can be received, stored and referred back to any time. It is permanent in comparison with the ephemeral ‘here one minute and gone the next’ character of spoken language-even of spoken language that is recorded on tape or disk White 1981: 2” The citation above directly stated the characteristic of writing. Writing based on learning process in which people must be taught about the principle of writing. Furthermore, in achieving the competencies to be able to write, people must understand the sentence level, sentence structure, vocabulary, punctuation, spelling and letter formation, and structure and integrate the information into collusive and coherent paragraph and text Nunan 1995: 36.

b. The Approach in Teaching Writing

Many centuries ago, writing was an exclusive domain. It was learnt in limited field among educated people. It was known in palace environment or in monastery. The activities to write were done by specialist and became prestigious achievement. In recent era, writing is popular and developed for many purposes. It 9 can be used by all people in many contexts. The need to write becomes a public need that is formally implemented in educational activity. The researches on writing reveal the urgency of teaching writing for students. Many researchers have been focusing on teaching English writing in EFLESL. Their attention to writing researches do not only relate to the problem of teaching writing but also on the approach used in teaching writing. The researches on writing prevailed that writing is more complex than other macro skills. The researchers found many problems and recommended the appropriate approach to teaching writing. The researchers on teaching writing prevail that there were many approaches in teaching writing. The differences on approaches are caused on the differences understanding about writing. Originally writing is different to other skills. It is learnt through learning process. Different to other skills, writing is formed through long activities. Writing is one of the four macro skills. It takes an important role in learning process because it gives a special contribution in gaining information and establishing knowledge. The process of writing in a certain way testifies, clarifies and deepens our understanding Axelrod: 1988: 2. Ann Ralmes 1983: 6-10 mentions six techniques in teaching writing, namely the control-to-free approach, the free-writing approach, the paragraph pattern approach, the grammar syntax organization, the communicative approach and the process approach. The control-to-free approach was developed in the 1950s and early 1960s. It is a sequential model of writing development in which the students are given sentence exercises and paragraph construction. They are 10 asked to change the grammar patterns. The features considered in this model are about grammar, syntax and mechanics. This model is considered easy because the focus on accuracy rather than fluency or originality. The free-writing approach has target in fluency. In this model students are asked to write freely on any topics, especially on the topic, they are interested in without worrying about form or grammar. The paragraph-pattern approach concentrates on the paragraph organization. Students are given a paragraph, analyze and imitate the model to create their own paragraph. The grammar syntax organization focuses on implementing the grammar in organizing the sentences and paragraph. It also considers the appropriate vocabularies or term and the procedures. The communicative approach focuses on the purpose of the writing and the audience for it. It is a real writing as a truly communicative act in which the students determine their readers. The students choose appropriate content, language and level of formality. The process approach refers to the process to produce the writing not only about the purpose and audience but also the steps how to produce writing. Essentially there are two different views of writing approach, namely the product approach to writing and a process approach to writing Nunan 1991: 85- 86. The product approach to writing focuses on the end result of the act of composition, i.e. the letter, essay, story and so on. The writing teacher who subscribes to the product approach will be concerned to see that the end product is readable, grammatically correct and obeys discourse convention relating to main points, supporting details and so on. The focus on class will be on copying and 11 imitation, carrying out sentences expansions from words and developing sentences and paragraphs from models of various sorts. Conversely, a process approach to writing sees the act of composition from a very different perspective, focusing as much on the means where by the completed text was created as on the end product itself. The act of composing evolves through several stages as writers discover, through the process, what they are trying to say. The ideas are then refined, developed and transformed as the writer writes and rewrites. McCrimmon 1983: 10 explained the intrinsic aspect of writing as a process such as planning, drafting and revising. As a process writing is not only a physical activity but also a mental or physiological activity. Writing is a long way process. In creating a text, a writer did not only focus on the way to produce a text, but also consider the subject and the reader. Thus, a good writer also regards the needs and the feelings of the readers. Murray 1972 cited in Montaque 1995: 2 stated that in general the process approach to writing considered three main stages in composing the writing such as pre-writing, writing and re-writing. The specification of process approach on teaching writing was characterized as the use of stages of writing. Editing is an important thing in text creation. It did not stress on product but on the process how to create a text. In producing the text, students took some activities, such as to invent, to react, and to extend. They needed experimentation and exploration. However, the process approach had limitation in determining the social and cultural context. In writing a text, learners did not pay attention to the readers need. Actually, writing is a process of sending information to the readers. 12 Without considering the readers’ social and cultural context, the writer did not create a communication with the reader. The writer just expressed his or her thought. The other approach on teaching writing is the genre approach. In this approach, writing relates to social and cultural practice. The writing learning and teaching must be rooted in social and cultural context. Basically, people write in a certain social and cultural context. The communication practice in this way serve the practical needs in a certain context. On writing teaching, teachers also taught relevant genre knowledge dealing with social and cultural context. The orientation of this approach is to help learners to achieve social communicative competences Jiajing Gao, 2008: 3-4. The genre approach had a limitation especially in determining relevant genre knowledge. The demand to have genre knowledge to serve society needs actually creates a burden for teachers and learners. It is a difficult task. The approach is reader oriented and neglects the writer’s expression. Considering the limitation of process and genre approach, Jiajing Gao 2008: 4 recommend the process-genre approach. This approach accommodates the process and genre approach. In this approach, the teachers did not only pay attention on the process of writing but also considers the social and cultural context of the reader. The fundamental thing to do before writing a text is to determine the readers. Who will read the text is the important question. The other thing is about the purpose of the writing. The writers did not only express his or her idea but also wanted to get an impression that his or her writing is useful to read. By determining the readers, the writer can communicate to the readers and 13 fulfill their needs. In creating the text, the writer also focuses on process of writing such as planning, drafting and revising. Besides focusing on the process of writing, the writer also focuses on the genre of writing in which the writer can determine the model of text that will be written and the social function and cultural context of the text.

c. Kinds of Writing