A process approach in improving grade VIII students' writing skills in a government school of District Kech Turbat

Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Master of Education (M. Ed.)

Department

Professional Development Centre, Karachi

Abstract

This action research aimed to explore a process approach in improving grade VIII students' writing skills in a government school of District Kech Turbat. Data were gathered through interviews of the participant teacher, classroom observation, analyses of documents, field notes and reflective journals. This study discusses a teacher's current practices of teaching the skill of writing and explores the improvement of students' writing skills through a process oriented approach. The findings show that multiple drafts allowed students to decide what to write, how to write, and how to evaluate what they had written. Thus, involving students in different processes of writing helped them Ito overcome the difficulties that they faced when they produced written texts. Analyses of students' written work revealed that learners had difficulty in approaching the final draft which confirmed the notion that writing is a challenging and a complex skill. The findings also show that students had difficulties in dealing with different aspects such as grammar, vocabulary, content and organisation as well as the other mechanics of writing such as spelling and punctuation. Further, the problems that students faced while writing could be avoided and more skilful writing drafts achieved if learners were made aware of the importance of the writing process and the stages that it involved. Thus, the findings of this research will be helpful for English language teachers who are engaged in teaching writing. This study recommends that English Language teachers should be familiar with a range of teaching strategies while teaching writing skills. Students need to be provided opportunities to practice writing in the classroom and encouraged to write multiple drafts without worrying about making errors and grammatical mistakes at the onset.

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