Motivating the advanced learner in developing writing skills: a project Susan Vincent

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Advanced students of EFL often reach a plateau of achievement and see little need for improvement. The teacher needs to create a context for communication by finding out what is important to them, which then gives the students impetus and motivation for developing their writing skills in a meaningful way. University students in Poland on a five-year degree course were guided towards looking beyond the immediate academic context of their studies, to using their writing skills in the world where they would shortly be earning their living.

Introduction

Orientating English teaching to meet student needs and maintain a high level of motivation concerns all English language teachers. This has become particularly poignant for me while working with students at the Institute of Applied Linguistics, Warsaw University, Poland. These students had entered afive-yeardegree course leading to an MA. They had chosen to study English as their first foreign language and the course specifically prepared them for work as translators, interpreters, and teachers of EFL. The Institute is the only one in Poland offering such a degree course, so demand for admission is very high. Academic achievement is highly rated. To be able to speak English well brings with it the chance to travel, and it opens doors to greater opportunities. These factors alone play a large part in motivating the students as they develop both intellectually and as individuals. However, by the fourth and fifth year, students demonstrate signs of frustration, discontent, and disillusionment. The learning experience for students in the Institute is very much an extension of school. Students are compulsorily required to attend sessions, normally every weekday, and, on a heavy day, work may begin at 8.00 am and end at 3.00 pm. Teaching will normally take place in a formal classroom situation, and students expect 'to be told', rather than to learn through analysis, exploration, and discussion. Teaching/learning resources are minimal.

A problem situation
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I saw the fifth-year students for one session per week for the purpose of developing writing skills. I had complete freedom to do what I wanted.
ELT Journal Volume 44/4 October 1990 Oxford University Press 1990

I was confronted with the following problems: the students themselves felt competent in their writing skills; they had little need to write English, except for the purposes of university studies; they felt there was little chance of their writing skills in English being fully recognized in the job market; teaching/learning resources were limited; the students were writing their final-year thesis: I was not involved in this.
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Identifying needs

I asked the students to discuss in groups any problems and specific areas of difficulty they were having in writing in English, and to identify any possible areas in which they envisaged needing to use their English writing skills after their degree course. After discussion with the students, I reached two main conclusions: the students are often aware of their mistakes in style and register but are unable to correct them; the students are diffident about their ability to interact effectively with those who read their written work. This ability may involve making the correct presuppositions in the context of cross-cultural communication. In order to find ways of getting away from the classroom, both physically and psychologically, we had a brainstorming session to identify possible English language resources away from the University. Foreign businesses in Warsaw featured prominently in the discussion, and Shell International Petroleum Company Ltd was mentioned as having offices in the trade building for foreign enterprises. The students had no previous experience of visiting such work places, and were enthusiastic to experience at first hand something of the world of international business outside the centralized economy of the communist system. They suggested an official letter should be sent to Shell Office, Warsaw, requesting that a visit be arranged. The problem was that they lacked the skills to write that letter themselves.

Writing an official The layout, general presentation, and format were presented and disletter cussed. The students, a group of eight, were given a plan of the layout of Layout an official letter and (see Figure 1) were asked to suggest what information would be written in each block. They were to draw on their experience of Polish official letters. There were several similarities: for example, the position of the writer's address and the date were the same. At first, students suggested that the nameof the writer should go in block 1: but once they had worked through the plan, they deduced that it belonged in block 14. Some of the students had received official letters from the UK and the USA, and remembering those helped in this process.
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Figure 1: Layout of an official letter 1 4 5 6 7

2 3

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10

11 12 13 14

Key 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

(not shown to the students) 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Dear... Para 1: state request Para 2: information to support request Para 3: conclusion Yours... Signature Name in capital letters

Writer's address Telephone number Date Receiver's title and name Position Firm's name Address

Good-quality paper is hard to come by in Poland, and in my experience letters are written on an assortment of papers with little thought for presentation. Plain white paper, with an envelope suitably chosen for size, was suggested. I stressed the importance of a well balanced layout that was not crowded, and drew the students' attention to the spacing between the blocks. In this way, they began to appreciate that a well presented letter is more credible and likely to be treated seriously with due consideration by the recipient who will therefore be favourably impressed even before he or she starts to read. Structure, content, Paragraph and sentence structure and content were discussed within the useful phrases context of a model letter. I drew the students' attention to the paragraphs of the letter and elicited from them the purpose of eachrequest; details to support request; conclusion. They commented on the shortness of the
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letter, in contrast to the style of a similar Polish letter in which, in order to express politeness, a lot of words would be used. (In Polish letters, there would also be certain conventional phrases and marked use of the third person singular.) Useful phrases, (e.g. 'I would be grateful if. . .'; 'I look forward to hearing from you . . .') were identified, along with economical use of the language, the use of short sentences, and the frequently used present simple and conditional tenses. It was felt that the increased pace of life and the high technology in the West demanded these features. I confirmed that'Dear Mr . . .' could be used, if the surname was known, along with the ending, 'Yours sincerely'. We then compared the use of Sir, Madam, Ms, Doctor, Professor, and appropriate endings with the accepted forms in Poland. Finally, I focused on the vertical lines formed by the block style of layout, the left-hand margin, and the open punctuation. Some students rightly pointed out they had received official letters from the UK not always similar to this. I agreed there were other styles, but advised that they learn one and stick to it. Composing Students then worked in pairs to compose a letter to Shell. They presented their drafts to each other in a random discussion as a single group of eight students. The value of this was that the activity was studentcentred, each student feeling equally provided for, without the risk of the students feeling inhibited by the teacher's presence. The process enabled the students to examine ideas and resolve any problems in the light of their own cultural background, and to recapitulate any earlier learning. It encouraged co-operative learning in a project which they had all conceived. Through discussion, there was some resolution of conflicting ideas and recognition of other points of view. These gave rise to a final version of the letter being negotiated and written up on the blackboard. I was then invited to offer any comments. A student agreed to type up the letter. In a written reply, Shell agreed to host a visit by the students, and requested a date, time, and programme for the session be sent to them. The students then discussed possibilities and came to the following conclusion: the duration of visit should be one and a half hours; the programme content should include an introductory talk, a video of ^hpll activities, artivitipQ and and a nn^ctirm-timp cpccmn Shell a question-time session. In helping the students to draft a reply, we discussed the structure and content of their letter and I introduced further useful phrases (e.g. 'Further to your letter of. . . '; 'We suggest the following . . . '; 'We hope you will find the . . . acceptable.') The students composed written replies in pairs before the final draft reply was negotiated and written on the blackboard, and then typed up, as in the previous session.
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A visit to Shell Before the visit

I subsequently contacted Shell to confirm the visit, and they agreed to forward a synopsis of the proposed video film. My attention was drawn to a colour magazine, Shell World, published in English, for international distribution. Any written articles submitted by the students about their visit would be considered for publication. In the light of this information, a photographer agreed to be at the Shell Office to cover our visit. In class, a written synopsis of the selected video was studied, as was the meaning of various lexical items (e.g. a single anchor leg mooring buoy). Such noun compounds were considered from the point of view of understanding and translation. The rhetorical features of English for Science and Technology were highlighted, and the functional language in describing sequence was discussed (e.g. Oil flows from the Fulmar platforms into the SA LM, through the yoke, and into storage on Medorafor collection by a shuttle of tankers.) In pairs, the students considered what written articles could be submitted to the Shell magazine as a result of their visit, bearing in mind that each pair could cover a different aspect of the visit. The following were suggested: a summary of the introductory talk; a summary of the video film; a report on the question time; a blow-by-blow account of the timetable of events. Students took home copies of Shell World magazine to find out about the type and style of articles printed. This would then help them in formulating their own written features for the magazine.

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After the visit

In writing their magazine articles, the students preferred to work in pairs rather than alone. Some of the previously suggested articles, listed above, were now revised: a summary of the introductory talk: unchanged; a summary of the video film: this became a critical review; a report on the question time: to be done as a question/answer format, as in the style of an interview; a timetable of events: to incorporate humour and a sense of drama. One student became especially interested in the chemical refining industry in Poland as a result of the visit, and took it upon himself to contact Shell for further information, in order to write up a report on this particular issue. Earlier, I had been teaching the same students to develop their reading skills, and we had concentrated on journalism. Consequently, the style of written interviews and timetables of events, such as of the King's Cross fire disaster, were still clear in their minds.

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The articles were written up outside class time, and then brought to the class session, so that any queries would be raised, suggestions could be made for improvement, and errors identified and corrected. This was achieved by students regrouping and exchanging their pieces of writing, so that discussion and editing could take place. They then submitted the articles to me: but any corrections required by this stage were minimal. Final drafts were subsequently submitted to Shell World magazine in London, along with the photographs taken. Here are extracts from the students' work: Extract 1: From the summary of the introductory talk In Poland, the history of Shell dates back to the 1960s and is based on cooperation with Polyglob. Its activities in Poland focus mainly on agrochemicals, including pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, as well as chemicals for industrial processes. In order to introduce a new product on the Polish market, Shell presents it to its potential customer (i.e. a company which is likely to be interested in the product). Then the product undergoes tests to determine its conformity to the Polish standards. If the answer is satisfactory, Shell can proceed to negotiations with an appropriate foreign trade office which acts as an intermediary between Shell and the other party. Extract 2: From the report on the question time Elzbieta: Could you comment on the co-operation between Shell and the Polish petrochemical industry? Mike Vincent: The co-operation concentrates on mutual purchases of some components such as catalysts and raw materials. The officials in Plock are interested in buying licences under which it would be possible to manufacture catalysts for ethylene oxide installations. Conferences and seminars are frequently held in Plock with Shell representatives participating. There is much room for developing co-operation between Shell and the petrochemical works in Plock, mainly in the field of energy-saving technologies and environmental protection. Extract 3: From the timetable of events Tuesday, 5 May 1988. 10.45 Main Hall, Intraco building, (30 floors), Warsaw; a group of sixstudents of applied linguisticsappear on the horizon. 11.00 Deadline for arrival. Our lecturer comes and guides us to Shell Office. 11.10 We cross the threshold. This is where our adventure with Shell begins! First we listen to an introductory talk by Mr Michael Vincent. 11.30 We plunge into the unfathomable depths of the North Sea: The
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New Frontier video film challenges us and we are nearly drowned in the immeasurable sea of information. Conclusion The aim of teaching writing is to develop appropriate ranges of style, which can be coherently and easily used, and the teacher's objective is to help students produce fluent, accurate, and appropriate written English. A successful writing course selects styles appropriate to student needs and interests, and helps students correct their mistakes within the framework of the positive development of their writing skills. This project provided a vehicle for achieving these aims and objectives in a spontaneous writing programme. The writing tasks were carried out at a level appropriate to the student by drawing on the following techniques: varying the amount of class preparation; encouraging pair and group work in the writing process; allowing cross-checking between draft and final written product; guiding the students through reading activities as a preparation for writing; limiting the length and complexity of writing to be produced; the task/ subject itself dictated this. The value of a real The value of having a real audience for the writing process was an integral audience part of the success of this project, because that motivated the students at several stages. A positive response from Shell to the letters they received gave the students satisfaction in experiencing the usefulness and power of their newly learnt skills. The writing of the articles for an Englishlanguage magazine with an international distribution gave them a real purpose for their efforts in the knowledge that acceptance would be a real indicator of their abilities. The process proved most effective in raising the students' perceptions concerning their expectations of future achievements. I hope this project will encourage other teachers to look beyond the immediate resources of their teaching establishments, knowing that it can be rewarding for both themselves and their students, and without the fear that it will cost extra preparation time.
Received May 1989

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Note
I would like to thank the Director, Shell International Petroleum Co. Ltd., Warsaw, and the Editor, Shell World magazine, for their support and co-operation.

Shell World magazine, December 1988. London: Shell International Petroleum Co. Ltd.

The author
Susan Vincent has taught ESL/EFL in England and Poland. She worked for the Inner London Education Authority, and at Waltham Forest College of Further Education, London. She has recently been teaching EFL on an MA degree course at the Institute of Applied Linguistics, University of Warsaw, Poland, and has been involved in lecture/workshops for inservice teacher training at Warsaw University and for The British Council in Poland.

Reference
The Daily Telegraph. 20 November 1987. 'King's Cross: The Death Trap.'

Suggested reading
Gotgbiowska, A. 1984. 'Motivating those who know it all.' ELT Journal 38/4: 274-278. 278 Susan Vincent