However, apart from the fact that the students in this study needed to learn to write in English as a desired academic skill, it cannot be denied that the main purpose of writing is still first and foremost, for communication. Even when a text has been written for oneself, there is still likelihood for it to be read or communicated to others. Even when the writing is personal and private, it could still be argued that the writer himself or herself serves as a reader, and thus, the writing still holds its communicative value or purpose (Kaplan, 1996).

Now comes the basic question, “What then is the most effective way to teach second language students to write in English?” In this study, reading a story served as a stimulus for the writing activities in class. This is based heavily on Krashen’s (1984) idea that exposing children to pleasure reading and shifting focus from form to meaning in extensive reading helps learners acquire writing ability in any language (cited in Scott, 1996).

Another idea that seems to support the notion of using reading to teach writing in the classroom comes from Lightbown and Spada (1999). According to them, research show that learners can learn a great deal of those not taught to them explicitly .They are able to use their own learning strategies to find out the underlying systems that govern the language they are learning. So the more varied and interesting their learning experiences are, the more opportunities they will have to learn more about the language.

What better way to motivate students to read, and thus, learn more, than using literature texts? There is a genuine feel to literature texts that cannot be found in other materials, particularly those which emphasize pedagogy over experience (Duff and Maley, 1990). Also, literature texts offer learners a wide range of styles, registers and text types at different levels of difficulty. They touch on themes that offer opportunities for learners to react based on their own life experiences.

As mentioned in Vacca, Vacca and Gove ( 1991), suggestion to use a literature base in the classroom reappeared in reading instruction journals in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. The rationale for it was, reading should be made an important part of classroom life: “reading literature that makes children wonder, weep, laugh, shiver and gasp.”

“Pieces of literature are used as springboards for writing.” (Vacca,Vacca and Gove, 1991:42). Some of the activities students do in class include writing different endings to stories they read about that are reflected in their own conflicts in life, looking at structures in stories such as the repetitive structure and write stories using the same structure, and encouraging students to gain insights into their own lives using the conflicts between the characters they read about.

Furthermore, “Young children learn writing through exploration. The key to early learning development is not found in a child’s motor development, but in the opportunities he or she has to explore print” (Vacca, Vacca and Gove, 1991:127-128). Reading literature, and then writing about it, offers students situations where they analyze and appreciate aesthetic quality. But of utmost importance is when, students relate literature to their own lives (Oster, 1989), cited from Reid, 1993.

These categories are narration, exposition, persuasion, and description.

A. Traditional Approaches

Narration – The writer relates, or “narrates”, events in sequence. In literature, this means the writer tells a story.

Exposition – The author exposes information or ideas. Its primary purpose is not to tell a story, but rather to explain, e.g., to describe how a computer works.

Persuasion – The author attempts to convince or persuade you of something, to think as she or he does, often trying to change your mind. This is often found in essays and editorials, and requires critical thinking.

Description – This type of writing is generally used as a supporting device for any of the other types of writing. It is most helpful in creating a word picture of something concrete, such as a scene, a person, or a new technology.

Harris (1993), in “Introducing Writing”, has also written about these four types. He categorized them under the traditional approach, otherwise known as classical rhetoric. According to him, many school curriculums have been shaped following these traditional approaches to the teaching of writing. As such, many students are skillful at English composition and at writing historical essays. However, these do not actually have a real place in society. “They still carry the hallmark of an elitist culture”, according to Harris (1993:16). These forms belong to a time when literacy was available only to a select few.

Harris (1993: 18-24) has gone further by classifying writing under two other approaches, namely Purpose, Form and Audience and Readership.

B. Purpose, Form and Audience

Purpose refers to the intentions of the writer and/or the expectations of the reader. Here, purpose will be discussed in two facets: purpose as perceived by the writer and purpose as perceived by the teacher.

1. Purpose

1.a. Purposes of Writing as Perceived by Writer

• Writing is a means of communicating and sharing experiences.
• It is a means of constructing meanings through ways of thinking not usually available through speaking.
• It is a means of discovering and clarifying thoughts.
• It provides a record of ideas, facts and experiences in a form that allows them to be worked on, organized, referred back to and developed subsequently.

1.b. Purposes of Writing as Perceived by the Teacher

Writing as an Imposed Topic

In this model, it is fortunate if the topic chosen by the teacher corresponds to some students’ interest, but often, it is unlikely to appeal to all the class.

Writing as the End-Point of Learning

This model may come in the form of having to write about an activity or a visit and this is often the only kind of writing that students experience.

Writing as Integral to Learning

In this model, learning seems to take on a more valuable part than writing. Writing in this model “may be an aid to a discussion or to a graphic presentation, for instance” (Harris, 1993).

Writing as an Aesthetic Artifact

In this model, playing with words and word patterns such as rhymes and jingles, with forms and structures such as repetitive stories and many types of jokes provides continuity with the world of literature.

2. Form

Harris takes form to mean the type and nature of the text such as posters, brochures, pamphlets, letters, recipes, sets of instructions, lists, labels, stories, reports, poems, essays, play scripts, and so on.

Form, by itself, poses many problems according to Harris. Take the letter, for instance. Usually, it indicates the sender, then the greeting which could be formalized or personalized depending on the use of the addressee’s name. Example, Dear Sir/Madam or Dear [name]. Finally, we finish a letter by the conventional signing off – Yours sincerely, – or one of its many other variations.

3. Audience

The concept of audience was considered an important aspect of the curriculum, according to Harris (1993), during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. A greater diversity of audiences was proposed in order to provide more flexibility and reality to the writing context in the classroom.

a.  Self

Child or adolescent to self

b.   Teacher

Child to trusted adult
Pupil to teacher, general (teacher-learner dialogue)
Pupil to teacher, particular relationship
Pupil to examiner

c.    Wider audience (known)

Expert to known laymen
Child to peer group
Group member to working group (known audience, which may include teacher)

d.    Unknown audience

Writer to his readers (or his public)

e.    Additional categories

Virtual named audience
No discernible audience

According to Harris (1993), there seems to be a problem with this kind of classifying writing compositions. Even when there is an improvement over the traditional approaches, there is still the question of a pseudo-audience when the teacher, seen as the audience, happens to be the assessor of the writing product as well.

4. Readership

Factors that need to be taken into account in terms of readership:

• The formality or informality of the relationship between reader and writer.
• The expertise of the readership – what degree of prior knowledge and understanding can be assumed?
• Cultural assumptions – how far is it likely that the readers will share a common cultural background with each other and with the writer?
• Attitudinal assumptions – are the readers likely to hold attitudes in common with the writer or has the writer to explain and justify his or her attitudes?

Harris (1993) points out that the success of a written piece depends on how well the writer judges or makes assumptions about the readership. According to him, it is more realistic and helpful to make students aware of the above factors rather than postulate pseudo-audiences. It seems rather pointless to gear classroom writing towards genuine audiences other than the teacher.

The students involved in this research are more likely to be engaged in writing activities where they have to narrate or tell a story, describe a picture or a real object being studied, or explain what triggers a volcano to erupt or the life cycle of a frog, for instance. However, they will have very few opportunities where they will have to persuade an audience. Perhaps a teacher would ask them to compose a letter of persuasion, but that is likely the extent of such a writing activity.

The idea of writing for a particular audience itself would, as Harris puts it, seem unrealistic in terms of classroom practice. It is an ideal to be “sought after and utilized to the full” (Harris, 1993:24). It is more helpful to build students’ awareness of the factors mentioned so they take them into account in their writing endeavors.

Harris (1993:81) is also of the same belief as Hedge when he wrote in his book, “Introducing Writing”, that “reading and the consideration of written texts should form an important part of the teaching of writing.” He explains that writing cannot be taken as a different entity from other aspects of language use. He says writing requires attention to reading and to talking, for these are the two means by which writing skill can be learned or acquired.

According to Eisterhood (1990:88) traditionally, the answer to the question of   “what constitutes the relevant language input that would pave the way so second language learners develop hypotheses of writing in English” has been reading.

The reason for this perhaps, is because reading is believed to provide “models from which writing skills can be learned, or at least inferred. Reading in the writing classroom is understood as the appropriate input for acquisition of writing skills” (Eisterhood, 1990).

This link between reading and writing is perhaps akin to Krashen’s (1984, as quoted in Eisterhood, 1990) theory on language acquisition. According to him, reading for interest or pleasure paves the way to developing writing competence. He claims that “the development of writing ability and of second language proficiency occurs in the same way: via comprehensible input with low affective filter”. He goes further by saying, “It is reading that gives the reader the ‘feel’ for the look and texture of reader-based prose” (Krashen, 1984:20).

Stotsky (1983) and Shanahan (1988), did a survey of first language correlational studies, and here are the results they found as mentioned in the book, Reading and Learning to Read, by Vacca, Vacca and Gove (1991:137-138):

• Reading and writing processes are correlated, good readers are good writers and vice versa.

• Students who write well tend to read more books than those who are less capable as writers.

• Wide reading may be as effective in improving writing as actual practice in writing.

These results suggest that the two skills, reading and writing, are interrelated. “Both are language based and experience based, both require active involvement for language learners, and both must be viewed as acts of making meaning for communication.” (Vacca, Vacca and Gove, 1991:138).

Writing seems to have taken on different definitions for different groups of people in order to suit their different needs and purposes for writing. Even for professionals involved in the field of English Language Teaching, not one definition of writing could satisfy everyone.

For the process oriented professionals and researchers, writing is a product of a person’s search for meaning. Zamel (1982) points out that writers go through the process where meaning is created because writers seem to start off the process not knowing what they are going to say at all.

Grabe and Kaplan (1996), in their book “Theory and Practice of Writing”, explore the meaning of writing in terms of the rhetorical triangle in writing. And such triangle consists of the reader, the recipient of the final product of the writing process; the writer, the originator of the message; and the subject matter and text itself. Both the writer and the reader have to consider all these aspects when writing and reading, respectively, for each one plays a significant role in the journey towards meaning.

According to Klein (1985), writing is the ability to put pen and paper to express ideas through symbols. This way, representations on the paper will have meaning and content that could be communicated to other people by the writer.

The definition, which seems to have of most relevance to this study is the one involving creative writing.  This kind of writing seems to emphasize the role of the discovery of self, in some ways akin to the discovery of meaning, in process writing. It is quite different from that which emphasizes audience, writer and text because it is focused more on getting ideas written down on paper, without burdening oneself especially with the thought of who is going to read the final product of one’s writing. It is also one which is closest in definition to writing done by children, which is focused more towards the expression of oneself, without much regard to how the reader would view the writing product or text.

Campbell, in her book “Teaching Second Language Writing” (1998:37) says, “One of life’s greatest releases is to express oneself in writing.”  She goes further by quoting one of her students as saying that writing, as a form of creative release in a second or foreign language is “Freedom!” So this is the definition more suited to this study of writing among elementary school children in an international setting – their discovery of self, their way of self expression and the teaching of life and about growing up as children engage in writing activities.

B. Writing, Why a Need to Learn It?

As Harris (1993) has pointed out, writing is a complex activity. In the ESL context, the teaching of such a skill is confounded by the fact that L2 writers are faced with differences between the conventions of writing in their first language and English, which cause confusion on the L2 learner (Hedge, 1988). But still, this aspect of language learning – writing – has been a neglected area according to Hedge (1988). She further explains that it is only recently that research into writing has produced results that offer insights as to what good writers do.

These ideas, according to Hedge (1988), have implications for teachers who want to help their students become good writers. Without a well-established or highly-recognized model of writing, teachers tend to have different  ideas about its role in the classroom, what is involved in the teaching of writing, and the possible roles teachers and students play in developing activities to practice it (Hedge, 1988).

Writing is of fundamental importance to learning, to development of the person in each learner, and to success in the educational system. As teachers, we need to work continually to aid our students in their search for fulfillment as writers (Harris, 1993).

In an international setting, ESL students are required to produce written work in all their core subjects namely; Science, Math, Social Studies and most especially, Language Arts. They are required to hand in reports, narrative and descriptive essays, biographies, as well as other forms of writing needed in their various class and homework assignments. Therefore, there is an important need for them to be instructed and provided with practice activities to develop their writing skill in order to ensure their success in their school life.

This study could not proceed without an attempt to explore the many and varied definitions of writing. Writing seems to have taken on different definitions for different groups of people in order to suit their different needs and purposes for writing. Even for professionals involved in the field of English Language Teaching, not one definition of writing could satisfy everyone.

For the process oriented professionals and researchers, writing is a product of a person’s search for meaning. Zamel (1982) points out that writers go through the process where meaning is created because writers seem to start off the process not knowing what they are going to say at all.

Grabe and Kaplan, in their book Theory and Practice of Writing, explore the meaning of writing in terms of the ‘rhetorical triangle’ in writing. And such ‘triangle’ consists of the reader, the recipient of the final product of the writing process; the writer, the originator of the message; and the subject matter and text itself. In support of this idea, the writer and the reader have to consider all these aspects when writing and reading, respectively, for each one plays a significant role in the journey towards meaning.

According to Klein (1985), writing is the “ability to employ pen or pencil and paper to express ideas symbolically so that representations on the paper reflect meaning and content capable of being communicated to another by the producer”.

But the definition which seems to have the most relevance to this study is the one involving creative writing. This kind of writing seems to emphasize the role of the discovery of self, as opposed to the discovery of meaning, in process writing. It is also different from that which emphasizes audience, writer and text because it is focused more on getting ideas written down on paper, without burdening oneself especially with the thought of who is going to read the final product of one’s writing.

It is also one which is closest in definition to writing done by children, which is focused more towards the expression of oneself, without much regard to how the reader would view the writing product or text.

Campbell, in her book “Teaching Second Language Writing” (1998) says, “One of life’s greatest releases is to express oneself in writing.” She goes further by quoting one of her students as saying that writing, as a form of creative release in a second or foreign language is “Freedom!” So this is the definition more suited to this study of writing among elementary school children in an international setting – their discovery of self, their way of self expression and the teaching of life and about growing up as children engage in writing activities.

Oftentimes, we as teachers, become more concerned about teaching our young learners to acquire skills in writing reports or other forms of factual writing, writing answers to comprehension questions after reading a story, writing with a particular audience in mind, and so on. This study is not trying to degrade the value placed on learning and acquiring these skills. However, it is also not right