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Didactical task
Abstract
The purpose of this essay is to explore and highlight the didactical tasks to be used in
teaching reading and writing skills to ESL students in the lower or upper secondary schools
students. It proposes a suitable technique for development and implementation of writing skills
that will make it easy for students to understand and master the use of English as the second
language. The task also involves active interaction with the students during the teaching sessions
as they are guided through the course. One such approach is the use of argumentative essays to
increase active participation in the class activity. This will also enable the students to think
widely and as they aim to express their ideas and be understood by other people. The paper has
been categorically divided into five key stages that highlight and explain the process of teaching
writing to students in ESL.
The proposed writing activity
Argumentative and persuasive essays are very active in the exploration and
understanding of language use. Argumentative essays are balanced and aim to help the students
understand in depth the topic as they develop claims on either side while acknowledging that
they are valid. The student concludes the paper by coming up with an opinion either supporting
or opposing the ideas he/she has stated in the essay. On the other hand, persuasive essays are
where the students use language eloquently to convince the reader to take their side of thinking.
In order to achieve their objectives, they try and use strong vocabularies in the context of the
writing to show that they are well conversant with the topic and have done research on it. By
doing this, we understand that they will be exploring language use as well as learn a new
vocabulary that positively contributes to their mastery of the language. We understand that this is
on par with the competence aims for upper secondary schools in Norway, which projects to help
students understand and use an extensive general vocabulary, an academic vocabulary related to
ones education program, and to write different types of texts with structure and coherence suited
to the purpose and situation. Before anything else, I should first understand the general
characteristics of the target class i.e. the age, gender and country of origin if any present (if I
have not done it yet). I also need to know if the class is well conversant with the content delivery
system.
Work and class organization
The one practical approach to use helps the students understand argumentative essay
will be to introduce two articles on the same topic. One article should be written persuasively
and the other argumentatively, and this is done by reading it aloud to the students or making one
read it to the class. Students are more likely first to recognize, and then acquire effective writing
skills when they have teachers who model by bringing professional writing into their
classrooms (Gallagher, 2006). This offers a very useful interaction opportunity where I as a
teacher also get the chance to understand the strength and weaknesses of the class. Writing
helps students to draw on relevant knowledge and experience as preparation for new activities
(Gallagher, 2006). I might or will as well introduce, for example, a topic Causes of violence in
schools among other issues and use as a mentor text the essay Cause and Effect Essay on
Violence (Ansari, 2015) . A good way of [discussing with .. students typical language features

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of argumentative texts] is to take as a point of departure some good mentor text examples of
argumentative writing (Norman, Argumentative writing). The key concept of guiding the
students in the reading and writing process will be to introduce a grading system that awards
marks when students meet the required style of writing. This will not reduce the workload but
also serve as the standard guide for writing throughout the course. In conjunction with this
method, I will include the following when guiding students in writing argumentative/persuasive
essays;

State the role of the writer/student

State to the students to whom the paper is being addressed to

State the format to be used in writing. In this case, the standards set can be used

State the topic and expectations of the reader

Through the study, I will encourage my students to interact with each other through
various class activities. For example, I can choose to introduce weekly debate sessions for the
students. During the sessions, I will be able to identify the various stages of progress that each
student has made. This way, it makes it easy to identify the weaknesses of the student and help
them move with the rest. This also gives the students some time off the routine writing activity
thus giving them time to practice using the vocabularies they have learned in the writing class.
An alternative will be to introduce journals (or Article of the week) and other interesting reading
material for the students so that they can study during their free time. Gallagher introduced the
concept of the article of the week, precisely with the purpose of helping students develop general
background knowledge on relevant matters. (Norman, Argumentative writing). The students
will then be required to write a response regarding the article they have read that week so that the
teacher can find more of the same for them. I would like to note that this will not only increase
their interest in reading, but also continually improve their writing skills, as they tend to express
their attitude towards the content they have read. The process is not compulsive so the students
will find it relatively easy to relate the material to their experiences in the class. In addition, they
also get inspired to read more so they can write content equal or better than what they have
learned. As a matter of fact, the students might also respond to each others writing regarding a
particular given topic. In general, it improves their communication skills. The model is similar to
Gallaghers Read-Along-Groups model.
Assessment of student performance and progress
By assigning students with these authentic writing tasks, I will help them establish
meaningful writing experiences as well as develop personal and collective language use. The
program should be made routine so that the students can be comfortable with the reading and
writing process. The weekly routine should include time for practicing writing skills and time for
examining the required qualities of good writing skills. As Nation states: Giving attention to the
writing process is a way of bringing about improvement in learners writing by providing help at
the various stages of the process, instead of focusing only on the finished product (Nation, 123).
Before reading, it is important that the students understand the purpose of the reading, and what
they are expected to have gained at the end of the reading. This will also enable them to follow
the course at their pace thus making it easier to master. A common criterion for assessing the

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students performance and progress should be used. The following items should be included
when in the assessment;

Observe the cognitive abilities of the student

Assess the previous experiences of the learner in the course

Assess the personal learning styles of the student
Assess the ability of the student to interact with the learning environment
Importance of the strategies in teaching
Collaborative learning is very useful; especially for a class with a large population (my
classes are often of 25). When the students write down their ideas and discuss them with each
other, it gives them an opportunity to articulate better their advancement. This is because the
participation in the discussion will not be limited to only the students who are comfortable in
class. The activity will also strengthen the students understanding of the course and help them to
brainstorm ideas for further essay writing. This activity has its purpose to developing writing
confidence (or just confidence). Writing confidence is a requirement for writing competence as
it is not easy to become a better writer if you lack a confidence in yourself as a writer. (Norman,
Building writing competence). The idea of introduction of journals (article of the week) in class
is very important, as it will encourage the students to take notes as during the reading. These
notes may be new vocabularies learned or just new ideas they would want to include during their
own writing experience.
Use of the assessment criterion
There are several factors to identify in students in order to know if they have acquired
the relevant skills in the reading and writing course. These are work organization, ability to focus
on the topic during writing, ability to make supportive and elaborative statements, expertise in
the language styles and audience understanding among others. These assessment criteria help me
to form the relevant content delivery style that is most suitable for the class. It helps focus on the
features that are specific to particular students i.e. identify the students weaknesses and strengths
through these features. This is confirmed by Nations words: Feedback to the writer provides a
means of focusing attention on the language used in writing and on the writing skill. (Nation,
121)
As a matter of fact, further research on the topic shows that these instructional, also
known as didactical models are very effective when integrated with the reading and writing
process. Unlike the usual activity that requires high teacher input, this approach is highly
efficient and offers an interactive approach to learning and teaching of writing skills to ESL
students in lower or upper secondary schools.
References:
Ansari, N. (2015): Cause and Effect Essay on Violence, Retrieved from
http://www.writeawriting.com/essay/cause-and-effect-essay-on-violence/ , (18.05.2015, 10.00 h)
Gallagher, K. (2006). Teaching adolescent writers. Portland, Me: Stenhouse Publishers.

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Nation, I. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing. New York: Routledge.
Norman,
Anita(2015):
Argumentative
writing
Retrieved
https://takecredit.hf.ntnu.no/mod/book/view.php?id=357 (18.05.2015, 10.00 h)

from

Norman, Anita(2015): Building writing competence,

Retrieved
https://takecredit.hf.ntnu.no/mod/book/view.php?id=350 , (18.05.2015, 10.00 h)

from