Methods And Techniques Of Writing Effectively At The Intermediate Level

CHAPTER II

METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF WRITING EFFECTIVELY AT THE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

One of the skills that receives the least attention during English classes and creates most problems to both students and teachers is writing. Students find using writing an ordeal, something that takes a lot of time feeling that they haven’t obtained much and they can’t use this skill in any way in the future. This shouldn’t be the case if the students are explained the importance of writing and if, at the same time, the teacher understands that there is a close connection between the theoretical aspect of writing and its practical one and tries to adapt it to the class he is teaching this skill. It is true that difficulties might appear if the level of knowledge students have is beneath teacher’s expectations, but writing can appear under different forms, starting with easier tasks and ending with something more challenging.

There is a close connection between theory and practice and the teacher should be able to understand that. It is true that the final writing product was important in the writing activities in the past, but modern teachers know how to underline the importance of steps to take in order to reach a final product. The process of writing bears important marks in developing the student while doing his tasks according to teacher’s guidance and support. This should be controlled at first, as the students cannot get independence without knowing what to do. Then, of utmost importance is also the idea of creating the proper environment in which students can grow academically. Boring activities, with little information given by the teacher and no involvement whatsoever from his or her behalf, lead to nothing but dull activities, with little experience acquired and no interest to continue this in the future.

The fix Romanian curriculum makes it difficult for teachers to be creative and apply different complementary methods and techniques during the English classes, but this does not mean that it is impossible to do. Most learners are afraid of tasks they feel they cannot do because of lack of knowledge and preparation, they refuse to collaborate if they are not properly explained what they have to do and they will stop working if they feel they do not have the proper tools. Some decades ago, teachers used writing as time to listen to pens making a specific noise on a piece of paper, while stressed students tried to write something suitable on it. The task took up to 25 minutes and the rest of the time was used to listen to the students’ work. The teacher made remarks that would not further encourage the students to write, but made them feel uncomfortable and refuse to submit other efforts into pleasing the teacher. The English class was dominated by the teacher without the students being allowed to express their feelings, opinions and ideas freely. Accent was set on the many spelling, grammar, vocabulary mistakes, no explanation was offered to the person who wrote the piece so it was difficult for him to understand why he made those mistakes. Modern teachers prepare their activities carefully. They try to underline the importance of pre-writing activities, of getting the student feel ready to start, of expressing clear goals and expectations and supporting him on this entire process. If guided learning, and in this case guided writing, is used properly applying a combination of modern and traditional methods and techniques, then progress will be registered in the students’ work and efforts and they will be able to become more independent every step of the way.

Teachers and students facing the writing process

The idea that good teachers should prepare well before English classes, emphasize the theoretical aspects in order to later apply them into practical situations and developing proper qualities in order to determine the students to work and engage in the activities is something that more and more modern theories support. The teacher who is “the reader, the recipient” as Donald Murray sees him or her as useful to learners in modern times, that person who sits before the class and makes it interesting, meaningful and fun, is indeed the teacher who will encourage the learners to acquire progress and use the information received to grow from an academic point of view.

A positive atmosphere, an inviting classroom, setting aside any stressing factors and getting busy in helping students improve their skills are just some of the things the teacher can use to make students feel more confident and meet difficulties easier. The teacher must assist the learner, encourage him to think and make him understand that failure might be part of the process, but this must not make him feel less useful and involved.

The steps in reaching effective writing are: Prewriting – Drafting – Revising – Editing – Publishing / Sharing with a very close connection between them and attention paid to each of them individually and then as a whole. One of the most important steps of all is the first one, Prewriting, because if it is done gradually and according to certain criteria it will guarantee success. Students will prepare themselves, they will get ready and start “feeling” the topic they are going to write about from the very first minutes of the activity.

Prewriting

Prewriting is the first step towards meaningful writing, so the teacher must pay attention to what he or she will do in order to keep the students focused on the topic, engaged in the activity and ready to face similar situations. Activities such as dialogues, exchanging alternatives about the topic, using pictures and short videos might help the young writers continue their task successfully. Reading and gathering ideas about the topic by using literature that will lead to meaningful discussion and offer a range of ideas to choose from are also extremely useful. The students can give solutions, they can agree or disagree with the topic, they can say what they like and what they do not like, what they support or what they do not support. Also, students should know how to organize information and what is expected from them so it becomes easy for them not to lose interest and register progress. The teacher will supervise everything the learners do, write, and read, as the information received must be correct and adequate to the learners’ level.

This is a process of discovery, a stage in which the students might think differently on the same topic, enjoying themselves while bringing different arguments. Specific goals must be set by the students themselves. If they have received the proper guidance from their teacher, then they should build a plan and organize so that they get started in the correct manner. Important decisions are taken concerning content, main ideas, the connection between reality and their inner self and the sources they will use.

Drafting

Drafting is the second step of a writing activity and it focuses on putting ideas on paper, emphasizing content without using a strict format and allowing creativity. Drafting uses the information gathered during prewriting in order to notice the first results in a good writing piece. After the work receives a shape, the other students will be able to “criticize”, but not in a negative way. They should be honest, polite, they should also praise the work that was done, they can offer comments on the main ideas or an idea of the writing piece or they can ask questions. Communication should be encouraged between students, but also between teacher and students. Many topics might get the students’ interest determining them to learn more about it, without getting bored and developing the activity as creatively as they can. The teacher will be ready to continue to the next step of the writing activity, Revising, only after he or she made sure the students are ready to do so.

Revising

Feedback plays a very important role in every activity and especially in writing, as proper explanations and corrections can help students not repeat the same mistakes and rather learn from them. The students can focus on re-reading their writing piece; they have the possibility to find even more ideas or thoughts suitable to the suggested content. Criticism must be avoided at all costs as the other person will not become better if we give a negative evaluation. Also, young people feel drawn to technology and using it while learning or unfolding an activity of some type. Online interactivity and personal communication technology have recently become the proof that modern education helps the student very much. If a student’s handwriting is not legible enough, then he or she can use modern technology to overpass this problem. If writing on a laptop or computer is what might help them, then this should be exploited as much as possible, so that revision is made clearly.

Editing

This stage of the writing activity, editing, offers correctness, the students have the possibility to correct the spelling, the punctuation, the grammar and prepare themselves for the final form of the writing piece. At this point, the teachers should use evaluation criteria concerning issues such as the capitalization of the first letter in the sentences, commas where necessary, fluency of ideas, coherence, organization etc. Evaluation of the writing assignment can be done using marks or different signs. If the evaluation is not made in a way as to criticize the student, then that student will continue to write and give new ideas and thoughts. It is important to encourage the learners, to make them feel their effort counted and that they are appreciated by the teacher and by their peers, too.

Publishing

Publishing is the final step of the writing process. It can also be the most difficult one if the steps mentioned above are not followed correctly. Reading aloud to the other classmates, offering a possibility of interaction between students or between teacher and students lead to obtaining good results and building self-confidence for the author of the writing piece. An evaluation of the writing can be done individually, following certain stages and underlining the mistakes that must never be repeated again.

Traditional and modern methods in teaching writing

The fact that students do not write very often and what they actually write is during English classes as homework, but following some curricular boundaries, is a reality in the Romanian educational system. The teacher has to encourage students to participate in every learning experience of great value and writing is indeed one of them. Building writing skills requires a pragmatic approach and clear statements made by the teacher. The focus of the teacher is on what topic can be used in order to assure the participation of the students. Enthusiasm and effective learning are wanted during the learning process so the decisions should be taken according to those stated earlier.

Every year the teacher struggles with the same problem: much of the previous year knowledge was forgotten, there are grammar problems, vocabulary problems etc. It is not easy to face all these, but the first thing a teacher does is revising. If this is done in writing, it is better understood and remembered. Some teachers use more traditional methods, other use more modern methods, but the ideal way is a balance between traditional and modern, what used to work and what works better today by means of visual-aid too.

Traditional methods and techniques

The fact that students do not write very often and what they actually write is during English classes as homework, but following some curricular boundaries, is a reality in the Romanian educational system. The teacher has to encourage students to participate in every learning experience of great value and writing is indeed one of them. Building writing skills requires a pragmatic approach and clear statements made by the teacher. The focus of the teacher is on what topic can be used in order to assure the participation of the students. Enthusiasm and effective learning are wanted during the learning process so the decisions should be taken according to those stated earlier.

Traditional instruction is important to both teacher and student because in order for students to be effective communicators, the learners must understand how to use language correctly and according to known standards. For example, grammar is essential to writing even if some might think it is boring sometimes. It builds confidence in using the foreign language, it is essential in speaking, writing and even listening activities. Two of the traditional methods that worth mentioning in teaching writing are: Grammar Translation Method and Presentation, Practice, Production.

Grammar-Translation Method

This method is not new at all, it had different names, but it has been used by teacher for many years during the English classes. The Grammar-Translation Method is used with the purpose to help students find correspondents in their native language and become more familiar with the target language.

According to most teachers the use of this method is fundamental in learning a foreign language. Grammar rules must be learnt and understood providing students with mental exercise and developing their minds. The role of the teacher is rather traditional. He or she is an authority before the classroom and he or she tells the students what they should or should not do in order to receive the new information. Students have the opportunity to translate readings in the target language; they receive the grammar rules and examples, they are told to memorize them and asked to apply in examples of their own or exercises given by the teacher. Most of the interaction during such classes is between teacher and student, emphasizing vocabulary and grammar, without paying too much attention to pronunciation. Evaluation is done by means of written tests, by translating from their native language to the target language or vice versa, by answering questions that can be used to see if word order is used correctly or by offering them the opportunity to solve other types of exercises involving grammar rules and how they are applied.

The translation of a literary passage from target language to native language can be very useful. First, the students read the text in English focusing on pronunciation and then they will have to focus on grammatical structures, vocabulary and word order so that he gets a proper meaning. The translation may be done in writing or orally, the students have to pay attention not to transmitting idioms and other of the type literally, but depicting meaning from context.

Reading comprehension questions are also a good exercise for young learners. Students can answer questions in the target language based on what they understood from the text, using correct word order (for example, auxiliary verb before the subject for questions, no auxiliary verb or appropriate auxiliary verb for affirmative form and the negative particle NOT added to proper auxiliaries in case we have negative statements).

Grammar is what gives sense to language and concerns organization or language, how language works and how it is even connected to making meaning. It is also fundamental to a writing activity having three important features that are necessary in writing:

The cohesion of the whole text (the way it links together);

The linking of ideas and opinions within and between sentences, with punctuation that give clarity to meaning;

Word choice and modification of nouns and verbs to add more precision to the message that is being sent to the reader, besides interest and variety.

The teacher is not supposed to just name the parts of speech, but help the learners to communicate to one another and express their ideas, thoughts and opinions as freely as possible. Every learner, no matter the level he or she is at, will have grammatical knowledge, part of it implicit. The rules are taught to explain and elicit the issues that were not understood properly and to develop that well-known and needed self-confidence when it comes to using a foreign language.

Although many have found the use of translation in foreign languages learning as detrimental to the learning process because it does not consider fluency and communicative language use, it can be used during the English classes to test the students’ level of intelligence, to see how smart they can be and to test their knowledge. This method was criticized because it does not give enough opportunity to young learners to get involved in the target language. The difficulties of a language can be discovered and understood by means of translation, comparing the target language and their native language. Some say that it is a necessary activity. For example, Alan Duff sees translation as helpful “to understand better the influence of one language on the other, and to correct errors of habit that crept in unnoticed”. The above mentioned author believes that teachers and students use translation to learn, rather than learning translation, offering both of them communicative aim and real cognitive depth leading to a high level of motivation and producing impressive communicative results. This is the moment in which learners find it easy to discuss and negotiate meaning, the form of the text, keeping in mind the fact that language is diverse, that there is a cultural contrast and that context might be different.

To sum up the ideas stated above, it is important to underline the fact that this method can be used during English classes with intermediate level students if its goal is to determine that students benefit from the “mental discipline”, offering direct results, applying the translations rules, the grammar rules without simply memorizing facts. The mother tongue plays a significant role during instruction encouraging the learners to know it very well, too, so this method cannot be a bad choice for teachers.

The Presentation, Practice, Production (PPP) approach

The PPP Approach to language teaching is one the widely spread methods used in textbooks and training courses. Some consider it ineffective and lacking a strong theoretical basis, others encourage its use because of the idea that change might be disruptive. As the name itself might suggest, this method consists of three stages: Presentation, Practice and Production.

Figure 5. Byrne’s alternative approach

The first step, presentation, concerns the teacher offering new words or structures, giving proper examples, writing on the blackboard and controlling the class in order to demonstrate a situation. During the second stage, the students have the opportunity to practice the language structure correctly and to get involved in different activities, exercises according to the teacher’s indications. The third stage is to prove students completely master what they learnt and produce it without making mistakes. The teacher uses controlled exercises such as dialogues, oral presentations, building sentences, writing paragraphs or even longer texts.

PPP is an effective way to teach, it makes it easy for the teacher to plan everything ahead so that what is being taught, is also well implemented. Some say that learning a foreign language involved more than a mechanical process, but others underline the importance of this method because it involves learning the basic structures and rules of a foreign language. It is true that every teacher can decide concerning the practice stage as to make it controlled or freer according to the ways students behave and react. During the controlled practice the student can produce mechanically, repeating the target without thinking on their own when they use it. In freer practice the student can decide how to use the target and a form of manipulation may also be involved. The learner understands forms of the target language, but he needs practice to internalize the structure leading to mastery and proficiency.

Some people might critic this method because they say that what is presented during class is not necessarily retained and used outside of class too even if they seemed to have understood the issue presented and practiced. Comprehensible input is denied during this method, students are limited in what they are exposed to, it is resistant to change and it is teacher-centred, unlike the modern techniques which are student-centred. Nevertheless, PPP proved to be easily used when large classes are concerned and this academic argument will continue to underline the advantages and disadvantages of using it.

Using Effective Writing Strategies at intermediate level

If a teacher wants to reach success, then he or she should encourage students to use writing, produce texts and write answers to the questions asked during examination. Writing means reflection, thinking and analysis, disciplining the student’s mind at the same time and making him aware of his own reasoning process. Formulations of hypothesis, evaluation of data and methods, prediction, generalization are only a few of the things that can be achieved by asking learners to write. If students write regularly and frequently, their inhibitions will disappear and they will become more and more comfortable in expressing their views and opinions. The pre-writing process is a very important one and focus should be laid on it because the material is analysed, devised, summarised or debated.

The teacher should keep in mind that variation is the solution to reach success, accompanied by the skills and conventions of the language taught. Peer review can become part of the evaluation process and it does not mean that other students give grades, but it means that the topic can be seen from other points of view, too. Writing is not just an option for learners, but it is a necessity and offers a prediction of academic success and an opportunity to become a part of civic life.

A mixture of all these approaches will help learners write effectively and teachers transmit useful knowledge to their learners. The quality of every writing piece is very important to the great puzzle represented by the knowledge in a foreign language, developing the learners’ trust and confidence in their abilities.

Students need to understand the use of the writing strategies concerning planning, revising and editing each of their writing pieces in order to achieve good results. If they can also work with these strategies independently, then they will gain a lot of ease and fluency during any other future writing activity, without any of the steps raising problems to them.

During the entire writing activity, learners are treated as collaborators in the learning process and they are taught background knowledge they will need to use in the strategy to reach successful writing. The strategy and the purpose of the strategy, as well as the benefits are discussed and described by the teacher in a way that helps the students model them at every step. Students are also taught goal setting, self-monitoring, self-instruction and self- reinforcement in order to shape their behaviour and help them manage the writing strategies. Some of the activities suggested at intermediate level can be seen below, following a natural order from guided writing to free writing.

Sentence-Combining

The first contact a student has with a writing activity is a sentence. Using a subject, a predicate and some objects in order to send a proper message, an idea or a thought might seem the best start for every future writer. If the teacher encourages the learners to build one sentence out of two, then another step is made towards successful writing. The effectiveness of combining sentences is compared with the traditional grammar instruction where the combination of sentences offers a more sophisticated statement. The students can start with shorter sentences which are combined with AND, BUT or BECAUSE, then an adverb or an adjective might be added with modelling offered by the teacher. This is how the writing skills can be worked on and shaped.

Asking questions

If the students prove to have developed ideas, they will be able to analyse concrete data. Writing activities should be based on specified goals such as: describing the actions of people, analysing concrete and immediate data by observing one or more other students during specific activities, using specific strategies to conduct analysis by asking the person questions about a particular action and applying what was learned by modelling a story after the inquiry process is finished. The students may listen to different sounds, examine objects, pantomime scenarios, act out dialogues or elicit what was not fully understood to find out precise details and to respond properly to the writing activity.

Writing a summary

If the students know how to summarize a text (after they have been previously explained by the teacher), then they will be able to enhance a model progressively when it comes to writing. Learners might discover they write better if they are able to summarize a text and find that positive, strong link to communicating feelings, ideas, thoughts.

2.2.4. Collaborative Writing

Instructional arrangements are involved by collaborative writing and quality is strongly impacted if they work with other students. During these types of arrangements students help and support each other in order to show the strong positive aspect of quality in writing. This type of activity involves working as a team or as partners, assisting one another, organizing, generating ideas, creating drafts, editing essays, choosing what is most suitable for context and evaluating the final product, before it is being read before the others.

2.2.5. Specific Product Goals

If goals are set for the writing activity, then students will be able to identify the purpose of the assignment and compare the simple procedures with the average effect. Weaker writers may use this very well to increase the quality of their writing product and to find efficiency in what they write. The objectives of the writing assignment are clearly stated, the teacher will offer sub-goals and two or three reasons for that belief with supporting information for each reason so that everything is clear and understood by the students.

2.2.6. Writing as pre-activity for listening

As previously mentioned, all four skills have a close connection. A teacher cannot choose a skill and use it during the entire 50-minute class. Before teaching a listening activity, the students should be encouraged to notice some important clues that will help them manage their activity without any problems. For example, key words and phrases will be written on the blackboard and in the students’ notebooks using dictation or definitions for them. This is not helpful only for the listening activity, but also for any other vocabulary exercises that will have to be solved. The words and phrases can also be translated if the students have a low level of English and it is difficult for them to understand.

2.2.7. Writing as a pre-activity for speaking

Speaking is a productive skill just as writing is. So, as a warm up activity the teacher can determine learners to write sentences, expressions or questions. All these will be very helpful for them; they will also find it easier to express their ideas freely on the topic that is being discussed. For example, if the students have to discuss the issue of environment, pollution and ways to correct environmental problems, they can use expressions such as: land sliding, deforestation, water pollution, ice melting, global warming etc. Intermediary learners can write their ideas on a piece of paper and debate on them in a whole-class activity.

2.2.8. Writing as a pre-activity for reading

One of the first skills the ESL students acquire is reading. If they are familiar with pronunciation or spelling of words, then they will reveal fluency and accuracy in reading. Before starting the actual activity, vocabulary exercises such as finding words corresponding to a picture, or describing a picture in a few words, writing important expressions and phrases with an appropriate definition could be very helpful. It is true that difficulties might arise with new words, but the teacher uses different resources to support them. Writing before reading is essential and necessary as the students have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with everything that is new.

2.2.9. Writing for Content Learning

The impact of writing activity on content learning is rather small, but it is also enough to predict the enhancement in learning as a result of writing-to-learn activities. If the students want to learn more about the first people who ever flew an airplane, for example, the teacher will try to help them by offering conceptualization of the role of flying, the importance of airplanes, advantages and disadvantages of the flying machines. After the information is explained and the knowledge is elaborated, the writers will continue with comments and interpretation of the information they received in the written text, describing their own point of view concerning the matter.

Grouping students during writing activities

The hours spent by teachers evaluating, grading and writing feedback on the students’ writing assignments will offer information on how they might be helped if they encounter problems or how they can turn their weakness into strength. One of the most important tasks the teacher might have is to offer individual attention which is rather impossible for a large number of students in the same class. So, what the teacher can do is find suitable ways of involving all students in the activities, so that they do not feel left aside or neglected.

Grouping students properly might be the best solution for a successful writing activity. Working in pairs and in groups can be effective on well prepared students as well as on weaker students. The latter can learn much from those who know more than them. Actually, it is recommended that in a group of 4 to 6 students there is at least one good student who will support the others too. The disadvantage in this type of grouping lies with the good student who will not feel advancement during his work as he offered his knowledge and support to the others. For this student, individual work might be more suitable in other future activities.

Individual work

Each student working on his own is a situation in which teachers can spend some time working with individual students. It is vital in the development of autonomy for each student and allows them to read privately, answer questions without being preoccupied of anyone else but himself. Individual worksheets can be used according to the tastes and interests of each student without them feeling stressful. Also, if the environment has reached a chaotic level, individual work can bring back tranquillity.

The drawback in this type of activity is that it does not encourage cooperation and students cannot motivate one another. When they work together they socialize, exchange ideas and opinions and split the work. Individual work brings more responsibility in preparing the work and the teacher will find himself or herself in the situation in which time is not enough for all to participate during one class.

Pair-work

Writing activities in pairs is extremely useful to students of all levels. The teacher can allow learners to interact and promote independence while working together. Cooperation helps enhancing creativity and it is easier for students to make decisions. It is very easy to organise the students and it is the type of activity that takes less time than individual work.

The disadvantage of pair work can be that some noise might disturb the others. Teachers also fear that students do not speak only about the topic they have to work on, but some other things, too. The pairs are usually chosen by the teachers because they can appreciate the real level of the learners.

Group work

Writing activities can become very interesting for students who work in groups of 4 to 6 students maximum. Participation of all of them can be made by offering each of them a precise role. For example, if the topic they will have to write about is FAMOUS PEOPLE, they can split their work. The first students can gather information about famous people on the internet, the second student might be good at arranging ideas, synthesising and choosing what is going to be written, the third student can write the composition by hand (as his handwriting is neat and legible), the fourth student can read the assignment before the rest of the class. It is true that working in groups proves to be difficult as more chaos can appear, but the relationships in the group help the students learn more and interact better. The team effort will be the one that counts in the end. Each student will make his own decisions concerning his or her part of assignment and they can decide how much they want to participate during the activity.

Whole-class grouping

The common teacher-student interaction is better seen during whole-class grouping. Each student feels important as everyone will receive the same activity and they can bond with each other at different levels. Students share emotions easier and they can use pictures, texts, audio or video support to gather the information they need for their writing assignment. The teacher will have to control every step the students make and he or she will have to get a general understanding of the progress the learners made. The teacher is seen as an authority, he or she will send the proper and necessary information so that failure during the writing activity is avoided. This type of grouping is task-based and the students will have to share material, speak quietly and less formally and even use gestures or good eye contact to successfully achieve their task.

The importance of teacher-student relationship during English classes

The learning process is based on the interaction that teachers and students have during the class. It is very important that both categories assume proper roles and understand what should each do so that learning is done easily and with great benefits. A negative relationship between teacher and students can lead to all kinds of difficult situation until the point it reaches depression, anxiety and poor health. So, besides pedagogical competence and knowledge of the subject he or she teaches, the teacher should also be able to build a warm and comfortable environment for his students.

The ability that each teacher has to connect with his students is one that will lead to “nurturing pedagogy”, a phrase used to define a set of expectations mixed with caring support. Such classes in which relationships are warm and “human” seem to be open, spontaneous and adaptable to each change.

Positive emotion should be the one leading while teaching. Students are actively participating without feeling embarrassed or scared by the teacher’s reaction, they will try to do their best and to acquire new information. As modern teaching methods and techniques are learner-based, it is fundamental to acknowledge the fact that the main objective is to make the learner feel appreciated, acknowledged, respected and admired. Dropping out of school or skipping classes can be avoided if the teacher knows how to build an effective relationship with his or her students. If children show academic or behaviour problems, then a good relationship with the teacher might help them overpass those problems and focus on studying more.

Traditionally, there wasn’t much importance offered to the relationship between a student and his teacher. The focus was on transmitting information to the class and receiving feedback after the information was properly acquired. From a modern point of view, the teacher focuses on the students’ needs and models their characters, preparing them for real-life situations. The learner should prove his independence after having been engaged in the learning process as a collaborator of the teacher.

The roles a student might have are also important for the overall success of the learning process. He or she is a self-learner, a team member and a knowledge manager. His first role starts to be significant during elementary school, when they select real-world projects and try to identify possible solutions. He will prove he is able to organize his projects and manage progress (by managing time too) and they will learn to rely on their classmates. His second role, that of a team member, involves investigation, implication in order to achieve advancement during the project (writing assignment). The last, but not least important is the “knowledge manager”, a role which is associated with the use of technology to support learning. Research studies, all types of presentations, reports are just a few of the writing assignments that find their roots in the knowledge products.

Mention should be made concerning the roles of the modern teacher too. Although many of the traditional roles have been retained along years (for example, the teacher is a class leader, a lecturer or a discussion leader), the teacher might have other roles during the English class: instructional designer, trainer, collaborator, team coordinator, advisor, monitor and assessment specialist. Each of the roles mentioned is associated with certain activities and the use of technology might bring many benefits to the instructional process. The role of instructional designer is similar to the role of self-learner of the students, meaning that he must design, plan and organise the class trying to integrate technology during this process (or not) according to the type of activity chosen. All resources available are taken into consideration in order to meet the needs of the students. The role of a trainer offers development of skills and modelling of characters using tools that help along the way. It is of utmost importance to be open to new technology and be able to use it if the situation requires it. As a collaborator, the teacher might undertake a variety of methods in order to improve instruction. Interdisciplinary activities with other colleagues might help both student and teacher achieve knowledge about learning and teaching, respectively.

As team coordinator it becomes the teacher’s role to collect data and focus in the active involvement of the students while working on their project or writing assignment. Students are eager to learn and must be coordinated correctly in order to offer results in the future. If they are guided well, using certain data and with the correct focus on what is important then it is sure that the learners will not fail during the learning process. The advisor is also needed by learners no matter their level of knowledge and age. Especially up to 8th grade, students have proved that their teacher is the first person they turn to when they do not understand something or when they want to learn more. He will offer suggestions, assistance that will help students make decisions and find information they need to complete their task.

If the teacher does not become a monitor during the English classes, he or she will not know how students work, what they need, what kind of difficulties they might encounter during the activity. This is why monitoring students is not only a necessity, but also a need the learners feel while writing. They will ask questions about the topic, they will need new words they cannot access otherwise or they will want to know correct word order etc. Nevertheless, if the teacher does a correct monitoring, the students will feel safe and encouraged.

The last role a teacher might have is that of assessment specialist. No matter what the assignment is, the students will have to be evaluated at the end. Even if the evaluation or the assessment is done orally without marking the student, that evaluation will offer a better chance that the student continues the good work. He must feel important; he must feel his effort and work is appreciated somehow by the person who does the teaching.

All these roles the teacher has will create a cultural and social organization in which his or her learners will feel there are many opportunities to learn. If learners and teachers share means of communicating ideas, feelings or thoughts, then the learning is facilitated correctly.

Teaching should not be a routine, but a complex process which involves development of skills and abilities concerning content, language and pedagogic practice. The role of the teacher is not just to implement theory, but also one who creates, tests, reflects, questions and informs theory in the context of his classroom. According to different researchers the teacher occupies the position where he removes mental blockages of the students regarding learning English as a Second Language, he will try to arouse the confidence they need to learn and bring attitudinal change concerning the learner’s self-esteem and development of a positive attitude towards the target language. As long as the relationship between teacher and students is according to those stated above, the educational progress will not cease to constantly appear and English becomes a tool learners will master.

Error correction, Assessment and Evaluation

There are a number of reasons why teachers assess and the first of them is to determine that the intended learning outcomes of the object are achieved correctly. The feedback that the students offer on their learning in order to perform their performance, motivation of students to undertake appropriate work, supportive and guided learning, proving that adequate standards are being maintained and evaluation of effectiveness of teaching are also of great importance while assessing.

In Romanian schools assessment is made according to a fix curriculum and using certain criteria. The assessment is a set of measurement activities that use “direct observation and recording of student’s performance in the local curriculum as a basis for gathering information to make instructional decisions”. If students are assessed and then offered immediate feedback, they will learn to define and prioritise what is important to learn, how to spend time learning and how to produce good results.

Assessing writing

One of the first things the teacher should remember is the fact that a negative attitude towards what the students wrote might lead to insecurity and lack of desire to continue the good work. So, every good Teacher should keep in mind the fact that evaluation is done constructively, supporting the learner and encouraging him to develop his skills further. When assessing a written piece, the teacher tries to underline some of the most important aspects of the writing piece. The processes involved by the written text, the features of the text, the level of the sentences and the level of words are just a few of the criteria used in evaluating writing.

Evaluation starts from seeing the big picture of the writing piece to detailing it and underlining the most important aspects. Every written material must follow a topic, so if the learner tried to stay true to it, wrote clearly, chose appropriate language and coherence, organised the material properly then text processes were faithfully respected. Another important issue is considered related to paragraphing, choosing correct and effective titles, correct sentence structure, use of pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions that keep cohesion of the text accompanied by adequate verb forms which build the features of a text.

Reaching this point, the teacher focuses on sentences that represent the first trials in transmitting ideas, thoughts, opinion, likes and dislikes and putting more sentences together, thus revealing a paragraph. Correct clauses, articles, plurals, punctuation used, correct subjects and word order bring out the details of the writing piece, details leading to the importance of words too. The grammar at the word level that weaves the written text considers the form the verb has and also correct spelling. These can be easily improved if the teacher offers additional explanations (some of the previously taught information might have been forgotten due to lack of repetition). Problems concerning paragraph writing and processes might take more time and work until reaching success and progress.

Types of tests

There are four main types of tests that help students and teachers during the educational process: placement tests (help see the correct level of the students, placing them in the correct group or class), diagnostic tests (expose the difficulties of the learners, the gaps they have in knowledge and the deficiencies the students have during a class or course), progress or achievement tests (measure language and skill progress in relation to the curriculum; they contain items familiar to the students and issues that were worked during class) and proficiency tests (give a general picture of the knowledge and ability a student possesses without necessarily measuring progress. These tests are used when a person wants to be admitted to a foreign university, get a job or obtain a kind of certificate.

A good test should prove effectiveness, validity and reliability. Different types of items will be used by the teacher so that he or she can anticipate all needs his or her students might have. Multiple choice exercises, sentence re-ordering, transformation or paraphrase, true or false exercises, fill-in exercises with gaps for the correct verb, noun or adjective, matching exercises, essay writing are just a few examples of types of exercises that can be used to test students’ knowledge. Grammar, vocabulary, fluency in writing can be tested and problems that appear can be solved in time. The writing skill can also be measured by encouraging students to write compositions, stories, transactional letters, information leaflets or newspaper articles. It is the teacher’s task to assess the situation that will be tested and decide what should be tested or not. After that, he or she can balance the elements, decide if direct or indirect test items should be included followed by the weighing of the scores which will offer a student a perception on how successful he was. In order to make the test work we should try them on fellow teachers first and spot eventual problems or find alternative answers. Reliable scoring will offer the students the confidence to continue their work and achieve educational progress.