Objective of the Study
13 a piece written to advertise. In the same way, who writes to whom also determines
the writing product. For example, pieces of writing we send to communicate with friends through phone text messages will be significantly different from a piece of
article we write for academic-scientific journals. The mentioned examples are parallel to the theory of the relationship
between text and context which proposes that a text is bound with a certain context Emi Emilia, 2010. According to Halliday 1985, there are two types of
contexts, i.e. context of situation which refers to the immediate environment of language, and context of culture which refers to a broader background with which
the text needs to be comprehended. This notion suggests that a text cannot be separated from the context.
Without context, a text is meaningless. On that note, it should be kept in mind that context is needed to produce a text
—that context is needed in writing.
Writing itself is considered as a language skill that has to be consciously learned. Unlike speaking, writing is not a productive skill we can
just „pick up‟. Naturally, for the first language learners, writing skill comes later than speaking
skill. As Harmer 2004 stated, human being grows up speaking their first language while writing is a literacy skill that has to be taught.
Literacy is the ability to read and write. According to Harmer 2004, literacy skill has been seen as a desirable skill in the last centuries as the need to
be able to read and write becomes vital. On this regard, the idea that learning
14 writing is important cannot be overlooked. There are some reasons why the ability
to write is important. According to Barras 2005, writing helps to remember, to think, and to
communicate. In everyday life, we often take notes to remind us of many things —
a to-do list, a shopping list, etc. Expressing thoughts in written form also helps us to organize ideas and think better. And more importantly, nowadays with
technology, people write to communicate with others. Text messaging, social media chats, and blog updates are a few forms of writing communication through
modern technology. As stated earlier, writing skill is not something that we
can just „pick up‟. To be able to write, we have to be taught how to write. It means that there should
be a teacher. ɑs ɒrown 2001 stated, “We learn to write if we are members of a literate society, and usually only if someone teaches us.” On that note, the
importance of English literacy focusing on writing skill cannot be separated from the need of competent teachers and effective language teaching methods to help
students master the writing skill.