Introduction
In the field of teaching academic writing in Singapore, the product and process approach to writing seems to be at opposing ends, often forcing educators to choose one over the other. In this essay I will discuss some of the reasons why this occurs and what teaching approach will then be more suited for the Singapore classroom in this 21st century. I will start off by briefly introducing the two approaches and its sets of pros and cons.
Pros and cons of product and process approach
As summarised by Badger, R., & White, G. (2000), the product approach views writing as mainly concerned with the form of language where writing development involves the imitation of text inputs given by the teacher. The process approach, on the other hand, sees writing as mainly concerned with the honing of linguistic skills where writing development is seen as an unconscious process that occurs with teacher’s facilitation of writing exercises. Albeit the strength of the product approach as being the most effective and fastest way in equipping students with grammatical and textual knowledge to write the different types of text via imitation, it pays little focus to students’ writing process skills. The process approach however recognises this importance to develop students’ writing skills but lacks the opportunity to teach students explicit grammatical knowledge and is also time-consuming.
Reasons for the inclination towards product approach in Singapore
Singapore is an examination driven society. Since it is run by meritocracy, the ones who produce the best results get to climb up the socioeconomic ladder. Teachers hence often feel like they have no choice but to teach students to face the high-stake examinations as it determines their students’ future. In addition to that, teachers have no time to carry out innovative practices in teaching due to large class size, increased administrative work, increased parental demands and increased expectations of school leaders in implementing policies of change (Salleh, 2003). Since MOE has been gradually giving more autonomy to schools, schools now have the added pressure of demonstrating significant value-adding in order to gain extra financial resources, putting school leaders under the spotlight to show more results in students’ academic success. Due to the competitive nature of the Singapore’s education system, any new approach to teaching is constantly being questioned by anxious and concerned parents who are only familiar to the teaching methods of the past, undermining teachers’ efforts towards a better change. As a resulting effect, students are often taught to write for exams and not for the real-world context. There is too much focus on the product of writing and not on the process of writing in Singapore classrooms.
Hence I would like to challenge the teachers of the 21st century to think if this is beneficial for our students in the long-run. How well are we preparing students to be effective communicators for the working world? What teaching approach to academic writing should we as teachers then adopt?
1st recommended approach: Genre-based process approach
Firstly, from what we have seen and observed, it seems like each approach has its own sets of pros and cons. Thus, it makes much better sense to find a way to maximise those pros and minimise the cons by integrating these approaches together. This is supported by Badger and White (2000), where these approaches are seen as complementary instead of being in opposition with each other.
Instead of teaching students genre as products or text types that should be strictly conformed to, a genre-based process approach which focuses on the generic processes of a text (narrating, explaining, describing, instructing and arguing) can be adopted. The key competency in this approach does not lie so much on learning the different stages of various text types but on the ability to apply the relevant structural and grammatical knowledge to produce meaningful texts (Knapp & Watkins, 2005).
Importance of genre-based process approach in the 21st century
The purpose of using the genre-based process approach is to teach students how to still be able to communicate even when they are thrown into a new discourse community. For example, when someone happens to present to students an unfamiliar genre, such as a blog, they will not be stumped and are still able to write. The need to teach students the process-approach to genre is becoming even more apparent in this age of technological advancements as new genres are constantly evolving to suit the digital world. Teachers, thus, have to teach students writing skills that focuses more on the functional aspects of language that can be found in the genre-based process approach to help them stay relevant with the changing times. As pointed out by Freedman, A., & Medway P. (1994) about teaching genre, “knowing the gross surface features is the easy part, and insufficient on its own.” (pg12).
2nd recommended approach: More focus on the process of writing
Secondly, I also think that it is not wise to strip students of the experience and skills that comes along with the process approach to writing just because it is time-consuming. The exploration of such a process is essential in helping students build a sense of writing identity which is required for them to handle the different disciplines offered at the university level (Hyland 2002). This lack of development in the interpersonal aspect of writing could potentially stump students’ potential to flourish in academic writing at the university.
Measures to alleviate pressures faced by teachers, schools and parents
To aid teachers in tackling the issue of the lack of time for conducting writing processes, ICT tools can be incorporated into English lessons to cut short the amount of time taken in the revising and editing stages. The use of ICT helps to make the whole process of writing more interactive and fun for younger learners whom may find the stages of drafting too dry and technical for them.
In addition to that, a closer collaboration between the three stakeholders of education (teachers, parents and schools) may help to reduce anxiety and concerns faced by parents whom may not be aware of the benefits of the genre-process based approach. Talks and seminars can be conducted to create a greater awareness of the approach and of how it could be supported for learning at home. School leaders and teachers can also work closely together to devise alternative forms of assessment that incorporates the writing process in a task, just like that found in a writing performance task.
Conclusion
In summary, teachers need to be aware of their own motivations when using a particular approach when teaching academic writing to students. There is not much gain to reap from sticking to just one form of approach, just because it is less of a hassle. Teachers need to be flexible and open-minded in combining the different types of approaches to be able to teach according to the changing demands of the modern world. More attention should be paid to the process of writing to help students develop their writing style and to prepare them for the rigour of academic writing in University. Perhaps only when teachers have taken such brave steps to embrace these new approaches to cater to the demands of the 21st century, may other stakeholders begin to see the advantages of it.
Word Count: 1214
References
Badger, R., & White, G. (2000). A process genre approach to teaching writing. ELT journal, 54(2), 153-160.
Freedman, A., & Medway, P. (1994). Learning and teaching genre. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton. (AAE 102)
Hyland, K. (2002). Options of identity in academic writing. ELT journal, 56(4), 351-358.
Knapp, P., & Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, text, grammar: Technologies for teaching and assessing writing. UNSW Press.
Salleh, H. (2003). A qualitative study of Singapore primary school teachers' conceptions. Teaching and Learning, 24(2), 105-115.
In the field of teaching academic writing in Singapore, the product and process approach to writing seems to be at opposing ends, often forcing educators to choose one over the other. In this essay I will discuss some of the reasons why this occurs and what teaching approach will then be more suited for the Singapore classroom in this 21st century. I will start off by briefly introducing the two approaches and its sets of pros and cons.
Pros and cons of product and process approach
As summarised by Badger, R., & White, G. (2000), the product approach views writing as mainly concerned with the form of language where writing development involves the imitation of text inputs given by the teacher. The process approach, on the other hand, sees writing as mainly concerned with the honing of linguistic skills where writing development is seen as an unconscious process that occurs with teacher’s facilitation of writing exercises. Albeit the strength of the product approach as being the most effective and fastest way in equipping students with grammatical and textual knowledge to write the different types of text via imitation, it pays little focus to students’ writing process skills. The process approach however recognises this importance to develop students’ writing skills but lacks the opportunity to teach students explicit grammatical knowledge and is also time-consuming.
Reasons for the inclination towards product approach in Singapore
Singapore is an examination driven society. Since it is run by meritocracy, the ones who produce the best results get to climb up the socioeconomic ladder. Teachers hence often feel like they have no choice but to teach students to face the high-stake examinations as it determines their students’ future. In addition to that, teachers have no time to carry out innovative practices in teaching due to large class size, increased administrative work, increased parental demands and increased expectations of school leaders in implementing policies of change (Salleh, 2003). Since MOE has been gradually giving more autonomy to schools, schools now have the added pressure of demonstrating significant value-adding in order to gain extra financial resources, putting school leaders under the spotlight to show more results in students’ academic success. Due to the competitive nature of the Singapore’s education system, any new approach to teaching is constantly being questioned by anxious and concerned parents who are only familiar to the teaching methods of the past, undermining teachers’ efforts towards a better change. As a resulting effect, students are often taught to write for exams and not for the real-world context. There is too much focus on the product of writing and not on the process of writing in Singapore classrooms.
Hence I would like to challenge the teachers of the 21st century to think if this is beneficial for our students in the long-run. How well are we preparing students to be effective communicators for the working world? What teaching approach to academic writing should we as teachers then adopt?
1st recommended approach: Genre-based process approach
Firstly, from what we have seen and observed, it seems like each approach has its own sets of pros and cons. Thus, it makes much better sense to find a way to maximise those pros and minimise the cons by integrating these approaches together. This is supported by Badger and White (2000), where these approaches are seen as complementary instead of being in opposition with each other.
Instead of teaching students genre as products or text types that should be strictly conformed to, a genre-based process approach which focuses on the generic processes of a text (narrating, explaining, describing, instructing and arguing) can be adopted. The key competency in this approach does not lie so much on learning the different stages of various text types but on the ability to apply the relevant structural and grammatical knowledge to produce meaningful texts (Knapp & Watkins, 2005).
Importance of genre-based process approach in the 21st century
The purpose of using the genre-based process approach is to teach students how to still be able to communicate even when they are thrown into a new discourse community. For example, when someone happens to present to students an unfamiliar genre, such as a blog, they will not be stumped and are still able to write. The need to teach students the process-approach to genre is becoming even more apparent in this age of technological advancements as new genres are constantly evolving to suit the digital world. Teachers, thus, have to teach students writing skills that focuses more on the functional aspects of language that can be found in the genre-based process approach to help them stay relevant with the changing times. As pointed out by Freedman, A., & Medway P. (1994) about teaching genre, “knowing the gross surface features is the easy part, and insufficient on its own.” (pg12).
2nd recommended approach: More focus on the process of writing
Secondly, I also think that it is not wise to strip students of the experience and skills that comes along with the process approach to writing just because it is time-consuming. The exploration of such a process is essential in helping students build a sense of writing identity which is required for them to handle the different disciplines offered at the university level (Hyland 2002). This lack of development in the interpersonal aspect of writing could potentially stump students’ potential to flourish in academic writing at the university.
Measures to alleviate pressures faced by teachers, schools and parents
To aid teachers in tackling the issue of the lack of time for conducting writing processes, ICT tools can be incorporated into English lessons to cut short the amount of time taken in the revising and editing stages. The use of ICT helps to make the whole process of writing more interactive and fun for younger learners whom may find the stages of drafting too dry and technical for them.
In addition to that, a closer collaboration between the three stakeholders of education (teachers, parents and schools) may help to reduce anxiety and concerns faced by parents whom may not be aware of the benefits of the genre-process based approach. Talks and seminars can be conducted to create a greater awareness of the approach and of how it could be supported for learning at home. School leaders and teachers can also work closely together to devise alternative forms of assessment that incorporates the writing process in a task, just like that found in a writing performance task.
Conclusion
In summary, teachers need to be aware of their own motivations when using a particular approach when teaching academic writing to students. There is not much gain to reap from sticking to just one form of approach, just because it is less of a hassle. Teachers need to be flexible and open-minded in combining the different types of approaches to be able to teach according to the changing demands of the modern world. More attention should be paid to the process of writing to help students develop their writing style and to prepare them for the rigour of academic writing in University. Perhaps only when teachers have taken such brave steps to embrace these new approaches to cater to the demands of the 21st century, may other stakeholders begin to see the advantages of it.
Word Count: 1214
References
Badger, R., & White, G. (2000). A process genre approach to teaching writing. ELT journal, 54(2), 153-160.
Freedman, A., & Medway, P. (1994). Learning and teaching genre. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton. (AAE 102)
Hyland, K. (2002). Options of identity in academic writing. ELT journal, 56(4), 351-358.
Knapp, P., & Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, text, grammar: Technologies for teaching and assessing writing. UNSW Press.
Salleh, H. (2003). A qualitative study of Singapore primary school teachers' conceptions. Teaching and Learning, 24(2), 105-115.