Teaching writing: process, practice and policy

ABSTRACT

This article discusses two schemes for teaching writing in schools. One uses analysis of model texts into techniques and devices then application of these by students to their written compositions and one uses a process approach that includes pre-writing and exploring, drafting, sharing and discussing, revising and celebrating to exploit students’ procedural knowledge of language at all levels of description. It argues that the process approach is more effective in facilitating the development of students’ writing skills than the analysis-and-application methods currently adopted in secondary schools. It concludes that as the process approach is more effective, it will replace analysis-and-application for teaching writing.

KEYWORDS:

• Writing
• learning writing
• teaching writing
• process approach
• procedural learning
• drafting
• revising
• audience

Acknowledgments

My thanks to Mehrunissa Shah, Chair of the London Association for the Teaching of English, for the invitation to give the keynote lecture at the summer 2021 conference of LATE which provided the impetus for this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John Keen

John Keen is a senior lecturer in Education at the University of Manchester and Project Director for the Process Writing Project. He taught for a number of years in schools and colleges of further education. He has published extensively on language study in education, including Teaching English: A Linguistic Approach; Language for Talking, Living and Learning and Language and the English Curriculum.