Benefits Of Extensive Writing

Communication Through The Written Word Using Extensive Writing

Colleen A Jardine

Thongsook College

BA TESOL

26 October 2017 Abstract

The written word is used in all aspects of life from documenting history, preserving cultures, conveying messages, legal representation through to storytelling and printed media. The written word is not cultivated or developed and lacks the commitment from the educational sector thus creating major problems for both L1 and L2 learners. This paper will briefly introduce the importance of writing, then it will move on to what extensive writing is, after than the types of different extensive writing followed by the assessment of extensive writing and finally onto the conclusion.

Communication Through

This method is adaptable to most levels.

Types of Extensive Writing

There are various types of free writing that can be utilized such as journaling, essay writing, narrative, descriptive, argumentative papers including lab reports, opinion essays, and research papers. This paper will discuss the steps and ways of applying two of the above writing activities into the classroom environment. Firstly, a research paper, and then a journal type activity.

Research paper

The purpose of a research paper is to state a learners interpretation, evaluation or argument through an essay writing activity. This activity guides learners’ research and writing skills as well as the accurate referencing of sources. Learners follow a ten step approach to accomplish the writing activity.

Step one - select the subject. Learners need to take into account the time, length, audience as well as the available resources. An important aspect is that the topic should be of interest to the learner as this will help the learner form their own opinion or

The method allows for more freedom of expression, layout as well as outcomes are assessed in an informal manner. Journaling helps learners express their feelings, ideas and the opportunity to use known language in a natural context. Some activities that are suited for journaling would be

1. Looking at journal entries and answering questions;

2. Writing a journal entry;

Assessment of extensive writing

The advantage of research papers focuses on the attainment of a purpose ensuring, ideas are formulated logically ensuring information is supported and the use of syntactic and lexical variety. The disadvantages are the validation of authenticity, scoring is focused on form as well as function and finally learners have the freedom to submit as many drafts as they like before submitting the final paper.

The advantage of journal writing is mistakes are easily identifiable helping to improve accuracy as well as a vast amount of learners enjoy feedback on their writing. The disadvantages are that marking is tedious for teachers as it takes a long time. Learners might place too much focus on accuracy opposed to exploring new ideas and expanding on language. Error correction may creative lack of confidence in learners.