/birkenhead-english/images/image-je69a.png)
I've always enjoyed writing. I come from an education system where learning to write was an important part of the curriculum and where writing, including creative writing, was taught daily. So writing has always been part of my life.
However, I understand that many people don't like writing and the burden of having a writing section forced on them in an exam can be disheartening. That feeling is only compounded when writing in another language.
Over the past ten years, as an exam preparation coach for English proficiency exams, I've taught a lot of writing classes. I really enjoy persuading students who have previously hated writing that it's not so bad. I've developed many techniques to help reluctant writers to write, and for it to become a manageable task for them.
Here, I'm going to focus on what can be done when a student won't complete writing assignments for homework. This can be for many reasons but if it's clear that writing itself is the issue then I bring the writing into the lesson and combine it with lots of discussion to reduce anxiety and build confidence. This technique centres on breaking the overall task into smaller more manageable steps and discussing each step in depth.
I work online, tutoring students in private classes, but the methods I describe here are equally applicable for groups of students as well as physical classrooms.
"For the first time at the exam, the writing part was fun. I imagined you were there writing with me. I built the paragraph the way you explained it and no one is better than you at explaining it. I just hate writing, it’s in my bones, but by remembering your words about what to do, I felt okay." Meriet, pharmacist, Arabic speaker
First, consider with the student the overall aim of the writing task. Look up rubrics together and talk about what's required and the challenges of the task. Timing is a big factor for exam writing so consider how that might affect things as well.
It's amazing how often this step is missed and how people just jump straight into the actual writing task but especially for exam writing, where the requirements are very focused and specific, you have to know exactly what your goal is.
A concern often voiced at this stage is "I never know what to write" so talk about this too. It can be helpful to look at a selection of sample questions and identify main themes or topics. Encourage chat about those topics. What does the student already know about them? What opinions do they have? What experience can they use that's related?
Then, choose a practice question to work through together. Make sure it's on an accessible topic. This will depend on your student but don't make it too challenging for them. The whole idea is to build confidence at this stage.
Read the practice question together very carefully and ask your student questions to check understanding. Essay prompts often use very precise language so point this out. A big reason for lower than expected writing scores is when students miss the focus of the question.
Start discussing main ideas, opinions, and explanations that could be used, but keep everything very general at this stage.
The next step is to make a writing plan with your student. Planning is often missed out or overlooked in writing tasks, but it's essential. You can't write well unless you think clearly first, then put your thoughts into a plan.
I think people avoid planning because of rigid structures that they've had imposed upon them in previous instruction. So my technique is to find a method that my student feels comfortable with. And, as always, to talk through the process.
While planning is essential to good writing, it's also a way of saving time in exam writing. In exams, we don't have the luxury of extensive thinking time (which is why I don't think brainstorming is an effective technique to teach for exams writing) and a good plan will speed up the writing time.
There are many different structures and techniques to use for planning but they're really determined by the writing task and the student. Tables are helpful, as are bullet points. I've used flow diagrams with some students and mind maps are an old favourite too.
Divide the writing task into sections and make sure you have something to write for each one. Keep talking, questioning and discussing.
Encourage students to develop their own ideas from their own knowledge and experience of the world. Googling for ideas overwhelms with excess information and most of it isn't relevant. In my experience, this is often the area where students have the least confidence and need the most support.
Now fill out each section of your plan with more details. This will depend on the writing task but you might need to consider examples to support an opinion, descriptions, explanations or documenting a process.
Talk about what you should write to fulfil the requirements of each section (refer back to the rubric if you need to). Emphasize structure and how a logical flow will help the reader
If you need a thesis statement, discuss the requirements for that. For a traditional essay, quite often the rest of the introduction paragraph is hard to write first. In my own writing, I often draft this but then leave writing it until last so discuss this idea of 'writing out of order' too.
It can be helpful to look at samples (perhaps written by other students) to show these different features.
I think it's important to explain that exams writing is a form of 'show off' writing. It's not enough to write accurately; most rubrics require evidence of advanced grammar use and a wide range of vocabulary.
As you work through each section of the writing task with your student, talk about the language use requirements and give specific examples to show how they can be achieved.
Tease out any concerns your student may have about grammar structures or vocabulary use. This is very important as most adult learners have gaps in their knowledge which may not be apparent at first. For example, they might recognize a grammatical structure but might not be comfortable enough to use it in productive language. You should find these gaps and advise, guide, and provide resources to help.
I don't recommend exhaustive grammar explanations at this point but you might like to make notes for reminders of topics to introduce later.
Depending on how much time you have, you may decide to begin writing together. I usually do this by sharing my screen and typing as the student explains their ideas.
I make an outline on the document based on the plan we've made. This is just to keep it visible to us both while we're writing and it normally consists of the keywords from the plan.
I type verbatim (not making any corrections) as the student speaks. We pause after a sentence or two and correct errors and make changes. This is all done with a lot of discussion and encouragement.
Then it's time to allocate a writing task for homework. This could be to continue the writing task you started in class or another, similar task. Make sure you provide precise step-by-step instructions.
All my students are busy, juggling studying with work and family commitments, so I always show them how any homework task can be broken down into smaller tasks that will take 10 to 15 minutes. (The exception of course is if we're doing a specific exam preparation exercise with exam timing and conditions.) I've found that students appreciate knowing how to do this and they're more likely to study if they know this is acceptable.
Make sure your student understands the writing homework completely and knows how they are going to start. Check in with them before the next lesson to make sure they are on track and to resolve any concerns.
Writing is a process. You're building a skill so it's going to take time for a previously reluctant writer to feel comfortable with it.
If you have any comments or questions about this article, then do get in touch. I love to talk about all aspects of writing and writing instruction.
Written by me, not AI, so I can be clear, precise, and say exactly what I mean.
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash