Teaching Writing Skills Writing is a communicative skill to send, store and retrieve messages with the help of written symbols.

Characteristics of Written Language  Permanence  Production time  Distance  Orthography  Complexity  Vocabulary  Formality

Microskills for Writing Some are as follows:  Produce graphemes and orthographic patterns of English  Produce writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose  Produce an acceptable core of words and use appropriate word order patterns  Use acceptable grammatical systems, patterns, and rules  Express a particular meaning in diff. grammatical forms  Use cohesive devices in written discourse  Use the rhetorical forms and conventions of written discourse  Appropriately accomplish the communicative functions of written texts  Distinguish between literal and implied meanings when writing  Develop and use a battery of writing strategies.

Principles for Designing Writing Techniques  Incorporate practices of "good" writers  Account for cultural/literary backgrounds  Connect reading and writing  Provide as much authentic writing as possible  Frame your techniques in terms of prewriting, drafting, and revising stages

Types of Classroom Writing Performance 1. Imitative or writing down 2. Intensive or controlled 3. Self-writing 4. Display writing 5. Real writing –Academic –Vocational/technical –Personal

Some Writing (Practice) Activities  Sentences  Short reports and descriptions  Linking words  Text completion  Flowcharts  Pictures