ENGLISH LANGUAGE SYMPOSIUM 2

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Genre-based Approach to Teaching Writing for Literature in English

Presenters: Mdm Chitra Arumugam Ms Mindy Wong Mr Philip McConnell

For your informaation

Please note that for reasons of copyright most pictures have been removed from this presentation

Aims of the session • Show how students can benefit through

teachers forming professional partnerships

• Show how such partnerships support professional learning for everyone involved

• Explain the theory and practice of a genre-based approach to teaching writing

N.B. Examples are largely A level Literature in English but the strategies are generic and easily adaptable for all levels and all types of text

Innova Junior College

‘A’ LEVEL ENGLISH

LITERATURE

H1 and H2

INNOVA JUNIOR COLLEGE Collaboration with MT Phil McConnell

PARTNERSHIP: Dates back to 2009

TARGET GROUP: JC2 [H1 and H2 Literature

Students]

IJC’s APPROACH:

Year 1 Year 2 T3 & 4

Demands of the Syllabus

An appreciation of how the texts studied relate to the contexts in which they were created, including

social, cultural and historical contexts.

How texts relate to movements in artistic creation at a particular point of time.

Exploration of the ideologies and assumptions in the text.

OUR REALITY Literature Student Profile

• 17 to 20 pointers

• 90% - No ‘O’ Level Literature

Background

• Non- readers

Band Descriptor: VERY GOOD WORK

Work in this band responds sensitively,

perceptively and personally to texts;

it is often subtle, concise and sophisticated,

with a style that is fluent and gives economic

expression to complex ideas; at the upper end

this work may be elegant and allusive.

Our Personal Challenges

• 3 Year Syllabus Cycle

•Complex Texts

•Designing Effective Resources and Pedagogical Approaches

IJC’s Collaboration with ELIS

•Guest Lectures

• In-Conversation Session

•Action Research

GUEST LECTURES Focus: Generate Refreshing

Perspectives

Band Descriptor: Shows DISCRIMINATION and ORIGINALITY

In-Conversation Session Q & A Session: Students are given the opportunity to

• ask specific questions

• offer, clarify or challenge perspectives

Band Descriptor: Make informed personal and critical responses to the texts

IJC’s Collaboration with ELIS

2009: Guest Lectures

2010: Guest Lectures & In-Conversation Session

[Selected Students]

2011: Guest Lectures, In-Conversation Session

[All JC2 Students]

2012: Guest Lectures, In-Conversation Session

and Action Research Project

[Target Grp: 1 JC2 class]

2013: Guest Lectures [Target Grp: JC1 Students]

Action Research

TARGET Group:

• JC2 “Arts” Class

Basis of Selection:

• interest,

• writing skills and

• aptitude for Literature

3 tutorial sessions

Student feedback

VIDEO

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Three Approaches to Teaching

Writing

• Complementary • Overlapping

Pedagogy based on text-oriented approach • Teaching students set phrases, words,

sentence structures.

• Using templates to guide student writing

• Grammar worksheets to practise tenses, personal pronouns etc.

• Teaching writing tends to focus on accuracy

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Implications of text-oriented approach?

• Assumes that meaning is something fixed, with no possibility of different interpretations or understandings.

• Underestimates the reader’s needs and how the reader might respond to the text.

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Some Unintended Results…

“The practice of including memorised ‘impressive’ phrases, or passages from essays written in preparation for the examination was particularly noted in the opening paragraphs of the narratives in Questions 2 and 5, where the accident or wedding ceremony was prefaced with over-written description of the weather or dawn on ‘the fateful day’.”

UCLES Examiners’ Report 2005

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Some Unintended Results… “Candidates still have a tendency to begin narratives with

a ‘purple passage’ of elevated prose: ‘The sun rose in a pool of crimson and gold, spilling light all over the land….’ soon to be followed by ‘Ring ring, my alarm clock rang.’ Similarly, prepared ‘sophisticated’ vocabulary is inserted into the narrative (sometimes inappropriately) and whilst ‘indelibly etched’, ‘the abyss of despair’ or ‘the vibrant atmosphere’ may be impressive when seen for the first time, the effect is not the same if the phrases appear in every script from that Centre!”

UCLES Examiners’ Report 2006

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Pedagogy based on Writer-oriented Approach

• Avoid imposing views/offering models/ suggesting responses to topics beforehand

• Stimulate student’s ideas through pre-writing tasks: e.g. parallel texts

• Respond to ideas of students first and accuracy later

• Encourage students to take chances and use as many opportunities as possible to write:

• free-writing,

• read stories, discuss and use as stimulus,

• visual stimulus

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Implications of Writer-Oriented Approach

• Students not taught the language structures of the text type: reliance on discovery through process of writing and teacher’s feedback on drafts

• What about the effect on the reader – how does it meet needs, expectations and questions?

• The product is regarded as only one part of the process: what about writing under timed conditions?

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Red alert! • Writing is NOT a linear process

• Teaching writing as if it were linear can destroy students’ interest -

• - perhaps why process writing does not work as well as predicted?

Reader-oriented Approach to Teaching Writing

• This approach emphasises the interaction between writers and readers –what writers do to address the reader.

• The writer creates a text based on features that the reader will recognise and expect (PACC) –

• – writes as part of a discourse community

Ken Hyland (2008)

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Reader-oriented Approach to Teaching Writing

“A discourse community is a group of people who have texts and practices in common, whether it is a group of academics, or the readers of teenage magazines. In fact ‘discourse community’ can refer to the people the text is aimed at...”

Barton (1994)

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Reader-oriented letter of complaint Approach

Customer What do I want to say?

Shopkeeper What does my reader need to know?

Shopkeeper What is my reader’s attitude likely to be?

Desired effect What do I want my reader to do about it?

I bought some biscuits. There was something hard in one of them.

•I bought some biscuits. There was something hard in one of them. •My feelings •My expectations

• Likely to be defensive? Dismissive? Concerned?

• Apologize? •Take remedial action? •Refund?

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Adapted from Hyland (2008)

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Translating theory into practice

At this point, Mercutio is fuming and decides to fight instead of Romeo. ‘Tybalt, you ratcatcher, will you walk?’ This is showing the violence because Mercutio is insulting a powerful Capulet. Mercutio is saying that he will fight instead of Romeo.

AS they start to fight, Romeo steps in between them trying to break them up. As he does, Tybalt thrusts his sword into Mercutio and flees. Mercutio was hit awfully. “I am hurt. A plague on both your houses! I am sped.” This shows that he knows he will die and blames it on the Montagues and the Capulets. The audience feel that he could die because Benvolio asks Mercutio if he is hurt badly. Mercutio answers. “Ay, Ay, a scratch, marry ‘tis enough. Where is my page?- go villain, fetch a surgeon. Mercutio is saying that his wound is enough to kill him and he needs a surgeon.

Example continued…

Writing with the reader/marker in mind?

• Largely narrative approach – a running commentary

• Quotation is superfluous and merely paraphrased or used to reinforce statements of the obvious

• Expression feels naïve

• Does it reveal an informed personal response?

• What assumptions are made about the reader? How does this address the reader’s needs? What questions does it anticipate?

The Teaching – Learning Cycle

2

Modelling & deconstructing

the text

3

Joint construction of

the text

4

Independent construction of the text

5

Linking related texts

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Building the context

Ken Hyland (2008)

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Modelling

This episode deals with the entrance of the Duke and the moment of his appearance to the Duchess. At first, there is some amusement as the Duchess talks to herself. When the Duke enters the effect is one of suspense as she underestimates the extent of the danger she is in from the Duke.

This episode hinges on the entrance of the Duke and the moment of his appearance to the Duchess. At first, there is some amusement as the Duchess falls for Antonio’s trick and talks to herself. She appears at her most feminine, brushing her hair. It is an intimate scene. However once the Duke enters the effect is transformed to suspense as she underestimates the extent of the danger she is in from the Duke.

This episode hinges on the entrance of the Duke and the moment of his appearance to the Duchess. At first, there is amusement as the Duchess falls for Antonio’s trick and talks to herself. She appears vulnerable and at her most feminine in her bedroom, brushing her hair. It is an intimate scene with the entrance of the Duke transforming the effect to extreme suspense as the Duchess underestimates the extent of the danger she is in from the vindictive Duke. This abrupt turn of events is intensely dramatic.

This episode hinges on the entrance of the Duke and the moment of his appearance to the Duchess. At first, there is amusement as the Duchess falls for Antonio’s trick and, not realising he has gone, talks to herself. In her bedroom, brushing her hair, she appears vulnerable and at her most feminine. It is an intimate scene with the intrusion of the Duke a violation, transforming the effect to extreme suspense and sympathy for the Duchess. She clearly underestimates the extent of the danger she is in from the vindictive Duke. This abrupt reversal is an intensely dramatic way of setting up the confrontation.

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Joint construction

• Students work in pairs or threes to develop an introductory paragraph using the success criteria

Linking to related texts

• Peer marking exercise

Independent construction

• Students write an essay

• Suggestion: students annotate their work to show where they feel they are meeting the various success criteria

Action Research: Observations Classroom observations by teacher

• Students were engaged in lessons and actively thought about the differences in the writing samples given

• The rubrics provided aided them in the articulation of the writing elements

• Students gained more confidence and awareness of the way they write

Action Research: Student Feedback

• “His approach to teaching is more of simplifying and organising the "beads" of our content and writing criteria such that they are easier to digest. His materials proved useful as examples to learn from in terms of writing particularly when we were given opportunities to critique for ourselves others' essays to get a brief idea on the standard required for A level literature.”

• “They were extremely helpful in engaging our thinking skills and setting our focus towards what Cambridge expects.”

• “It was really useful because we learnt how to write better essays. However, it might've been better to actually practice those skills out more instead of having the one optional writing assignment.”

Action Research: Student Feedback

“I found it really engaging and enriching as it helped to come up with more refreshing ideas that can

further nuance my essay. I think we should have his tutorials from Term 2 itself rather than Term 3.”

Action Research: Student Feedback

Action Research: Professional Development

• Useful to observe how the MT role-models effective teaching practices:

– Developing students as assessors

– Using the clear and simple rubrics

• Inspire other practices

– Assessment for learning and peer critique