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.
b. Characteristics of Writing
The written form of language has distinctive characteristics in nature. According to Brown 2001, there are seven aspects that make written language
different from spoken language.
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1 Permanence
Unlike spoken language, written language is permanent. While spoken language is bound to time, written language is not. Spoken language is about here
and now. Once spoken, words are easily forgotten over time. However, written language is permanent as people can read it again and again over time. In fact,
written form of language lasts for centuries and often being a proof of the civilization and history of the humankind.
2 Processing time
The development of the writing skill takes time. It is not a skill that can be mastered overnight. Given the amount of time allocated for teaching writing at
school, it implies that a teacher cannot hope for her students to be a good writer in just one or two days.
3 Distance
Distance refers to the nature of relation between the writer and the audience. To present a good piece of writing, a writer should be able to predict
“the audience‟s general knowledge, cultural and literacy schemata, specific subject matter knowledge,
and the language use” Brown, 2001.
4 Orthography
A piece of writing is conveyed through symbols. It implies that students have to first learn the symbols prior to writing. This is particularly fundamental
when the target language has different symbols than the students‟ native language.
