USING THE LITERATURE TO ADDRESS A PROBLEM/ISSUE IN WRITING. Muhammad Asif University of Leeds UNITED KINGDOM ABSTRACT

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1 USING THE LITERATURE TO ADDRESS A PROBLEM/ISSUE IN WRITING Muhammad Asif University of Leeds UNITED KINGDOM ABSTRACT This paper explains how literature can be used to address issues and problems in writing in the context of Pakistan. The paper is based on authors personal experiences as a second language student and teacher of English and literature in the field of second language writing. Keywords: language skill, writing skill, relevant literature review. INTRODUCTION There are four language abilities: listening, speaking, reading and writing. These four abilities can be classified into two dimensions: receptive skills and productive skills. Listening and reading are included in receptive skills whereas writing and speaking are included in productive skills (Baker 2006). Writing has utmost value in four language skills. It is important to write grammatically correct language in all types of examinations and communication. Although English language is a compulsory subject in Pakistan from grade 1 to graduation level, it is observed that even after spending a lot of time in learning English, majority of school and college students are unable to write grammatically correct English. I have taught English as a second language for more than three years to secondary school students in a public school in Pakistan. Students do a number of errors and mistakes in writing grammatically correct English. Most of the times, students learn some material by heart and reproduce the same in the examination hall. Teachers are seen encouraging students with such practices to get good grades in the examination. Less attention is given on creative and selfwriting. The present assignment is an attempt is to achieve the following objectives: 1. To review English language teaching scenario in Pakistan; 2. To identify some common problems faced by students in learning English; 3. To identify the types of errors and mistakes students do in their written work; 4. To suggest measures to improve the writing ability of students in Pakistan. The answers to the above mentioned objectives are based on my personal classroom experiences while teaching English to secondary level students in Pakistan. I have also got help from relevant literature to find out the answers. LITERATURE REVIEW CONCEPT OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN PAKISTANI CONTEXT English is taught as a second language in Pakistan. It seems relevant to understand the concept of second language acquisition as viewed and understood by Pakistani students and teachers. Ellis (1997) and Gas and Selinker (2008) define the Second Language Acquisition as the way in which the people learn a language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside the classroom. It refers to the learning of a non-native language after the learning of a native language. It means the acquisition of a second language in classroom situation as well as in more natural exposure situations. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, teaching of English is confined to classroom teaching only. Little attempt is made to develop a language learning environment at school or institution level. I have observed that students and even teachers speak in their mother tongue while teaching and learning English. Hence the students are not exposed to a learning culture which is peculiar to learning and practicing all the target languages. Interdisciplinary Publications Page 37

2 STATUS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN PAKISTAN English language enjoys a significant importance in Pakistan. It is the official language in the country. It is also the language of teaching and research at higher level. According to the new education policy 2009, English will be used as the medium of instruction for sciences and mathematics from class IV onwards (Government of Pakistan, 2009). English language proficiency helps the people a lot in getting new jobs and scholarships. English speaking persons enjoy more respect in society and in the job market as well. TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN PAKISTAN Hussain (2005), talking about the English language teaching situation in Pakistan says that in a large majority of Pakistani classrooms the grammar translation method is employed. More efforts are put on development of reading skills. Readers are usually given text which is followed by grammar, comprehension, and vocabulary building and translation exercises. Zehra (1995) observes that in government schools all subjects are taught in Urdu except English. Even at some places English is taught in Urdu or in mother tongue. As a matter of fact the majority of teachers themselves are not so much proficient in speaking and writing skills. They are afraid of speaking English in the classroom. Hence there are deficiencies in the development of all the four abilities of English language. These deficiencies in students start from class 1 and continue up to the higher levels of education. GENERAL PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS IN LEARNING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE Students face a number of problems in English language acquisition in Pakistan. Some problems are at the policy level, some at the institutional level and some at the individual level. Although problems are different from student to student, there are some common problems which I have observed while teaching English to school and university students. A list of some common problems is given below: Poor understanding of the sentence structure Spelling mistakes Poor understanding of subject-verb agreement More focus on reading skill Interference of the mother tongue Lack of a language culture in classroom and in the institution Teachers are not sufficiently trained to teach English Students as well teachers are afraid of using English as a communicative language in the classroom Poor assessment system. The current assessment system focuses on rote learning. Students learn some material by heart and reproduce the same in the examination hall and get good grades. Self-writing and speaking skills are not assessed. It might be appropriate to cite Mansoor (1993) who says that even after years of learning English as a compulsory subject; the students lack fluency and face difficulties in English language usage. The teachers of English are not properly trained and there is hardly any interaction between teachers and students in the classroom. English courses have heavy literacy content but no attempt is made to develop the productive skills of the language. The spoken component is completely ignored. There might be more problems and issues in teaching and learning of English as a second language. I have only provided a glimpse of the overall situation in prevailing in the country. Interdisciplinary Publications Page 38

3 PROBLEMS IN WRITING CORRECT ENGLISH The above mentioned problems are general in nature. Now I will try to identify particular problems faced by students in their written work. Edwards (1999 P. 6) has analysed the writing problems under the headings of surface, content and process: Surface problems Content problems Process problems Poor pencil control Poor letter formation Chronically slow writing Poor spelling Poor layout and organisation unable to think of what to write Writes very little Work always unfinished Muddled organisation Repetitive stereotyped ideas has no desire to write Writes whole text when asked to draft Reluctant to revise writing Finds it hard to read own work Sees writing as handwriting and spelling Little sense of purpose or audience Is frustrated when writing is not perfect Students in Pakistan also face similar types of problems but their reasons may be different. It seems appropriate to illustrate the students errors and mistakes with some examples. SENTENCE STRUCTURE As Urdu and English have different patterns of sentence structure, sometimes the students are confused. In English language usually the sentence structure is: Subject + Verb + Object. But in Urdu language it is: Subject + Object + Verb With this perspective students are seen writing such types of sentences: He school goes. (instead of He goes to school ) We cricket play. (instead of We play cricket ) SPELLING DIFFICULTIES According to Edwards (1999), spelling mistakes can be of different types such as confusing letters which are similar in shape or orientation. For example b d and p differ only in orientation. The same is the case with f and t. y and g seem similar in shape and e and c appear the same if e is carelessly written. Sometimes difficulty arises in spelling phonetically, e.g. woz for was, thay for they. Wrong choice is made when a selection of graphemes can match one phoneme, e.g. peech for peach. Spellings mistakes are very common among students writings. One comes across words with missing letters or wrongly spelt words. Some examples are given below: Leter (instead of letter ) Responsibal (instead of responsible ) Thay (instead of they ) Sea (instead of see ) Interdisciplinary Publications Page 39

4 GRAMMATICAL PROBLEMS Grammatical errors are seen all through the students written work. Tense mistakes are common not only among school students but also among college and university students. I have observed a number of mistakes of present indefinite tense and past indefinite tense. Some examples are given below: 1. He play hockey. Instead of He plays hockey. 2. Ali is go to school. Instead of Ali goes to school. The second example clearly shows the influence of Urdu language on learning English. Students usually try to translate word by word from Urdu language. As the most popular and mostly adopted teaching method in schools is the Grammar Translation Method, the students develop a habit of literal and word by word translation from Urdu into English and from English into Urdu. Structure of sentences in Urdu language is quiet different from English language. The result of using grammar translation method in teaching of English is that students do not think directly in English language. They think in their mother language. Then they transfer and translate their thoughts in English. Hence the structure of mother language influences the target language. The students also do a number of mistakes in indirect narration like: He said that he is a good player of cricket. (should be used was instead of is ) Aslam told that I had passed the examination in good grades. ( he should be used instead of I ) ATTITUDE TO WRITING Attitude significantly affects the writing process. Richardson (1992) observes that teachers' attitudes about writing can affect their students' attitudes. Positive attitudes have a positive influence. Many in service teachers have negative attitude towards writing. Since improved teacher attitudes could improve writing instruction. As I have said earlier that majority of teachers do not use English in classroom. Most of the times they use grammar translation method and make the students learn some essays by heart and paste the learnt material on paper. All efforts are directed to get good grades in the examination. Self-writing and creative writing are missing from the classroom. Teachers are themselves not trained to teach writing. Teachers as well as students are afraid of writing due to possible errors and mistakes. Teachers do not involve the students in self-writing as their writings might have a number of mistakes and mistakes will reduce marks in the examination. Edwards (1999) is of the view that a negative attitude to writing may arise from the lack of a positive role model for writing in the home; the fear of failure; or simply not wanting to write. Storm (2007) concludes that students who consider themselves poor learners and find studying a foreign language difficult often have negative attitudes towards language learning. He goes on to say that positive attitudes toward language learning can raise learners motivation and help language learning. Hence it is needed to bring about a change in attitude of teachers and students toward writing. The above mentioned are some of the common and general problems which majority of Pakistani student face in the writing process. There might be some other specific problems but it is difficult to discuss all of these in this small piece of work. In the next part of the assignment I will discuss how students writing can be improved. HOW TO IMPROVE STUDENTS WRITTEN WORK Williams and Fisher (2002) recommend that children should be given opportunities to put their ideas down on the paper from an early age. It is highly desirable that they are provided these opportunities. From an early age, they begin to understand what the writing is and gain a sense of authorship. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, even the elder students are provided less opportunities for self-writing. In the new national education policy (2009), English language will be compulsory from grade 1 and Interdisciplinary Publications Page 40

5 English language will be used as the medium of instruction for sciences and mathematics from class IV onwards (Government of Pakistan, 2009). One can hope that children will be provided opportunities to develop their writing skills from the early age. TO AWARE LEARNERS OF THE PURPOSES OF WRITING Calkins (1994) suggests that while teaching writing we are not supposed to begin by talking about writing. Rather we need to demonstrate the power and purposes writing has in our lives. The students may be invited to discover ways that writing can enrich their lives as well. Williams and Fisher (2002 p. 4) present three broad purposes for writing as: Personal - writing for yourself e.g. personal notes, diary, letters; Imaginative writing for others e.g. stories, poems, plays; and Functional writing for a practical purpose e.g. recipes, instructions, information. Such type of awareness can enhance motivation among students to initiate the process of writing. They can learn the value of writing in their lives. It will ultimately help in developing positive attitude toward writing. FROM COPYING TO FREE EXPRESSION Pachler, Barness and Field (2009 p. 149) present very interesting and valuable overview of writing which is presented in the following figure: Figure free expression 1. Writing through - an overview writing I would briefly describe the overview of writing as to proposed by Pachler, Barness and Field (2009). COPYING Copying is not as simple as it might seem. Learners need to copy accurately in the first step. Then they can develop their writing skills in the target language. Sometimes learners find it difficult to concentrate and copy accurately. This problem can be solved by focussing more attention on the text. TARGETED PRACTICE From copying, learners can move to targeted practice through substitution and repetition exercises. Writing is traditionally the form used to practice grammatical structures. There can be a number of activities in substitution such as replacement of words by alternative and the use of appropriate reference material. The teacher needs to insist on accuracy and demonstrate the value of correct spellings. Repetition exercises can reinforce the correct forms of language. Teachers need to involve the students in communicative tasks such as writing of letters, s, faxes and messages requiring the use of information and linguistics structures in a meaningful way. FREE EXPRESSION THROUGH WRITING from copying targeted practice While learning a modern foreign language, learners face the problem to express themselves freely without getting help of translation from the first language. Students should be encouraged to use the known language by making them write short poems, jokes and stories within the topic area. Interdisciplinary Publications Page 41

6 If one observes English language classrooms in Pakistan, one can find out that students do copying in the classroom. But, unfortunately, the copying is not utilised in a meaningful way. Students are not encouraged to progress toward targeted practice and free expression stage. FOCUS ON GRAMMAR AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE Hinkel (2006) argues: L2 writing pedagogy has begun to pay increasing attention to the integration of bottomup and top-down skills because learners need both if they are to become proficient L2 writers. He cites Johns (1997) that to achieve proficiency in writing requires explicit pedagogy in grammar and lexis. Martin (1992) as cited in Hinkel (2006) has similarly argued that: A lack of instruction in L2 grammar and lexis disadvantages L2 learners in their vocational, academic, and professional careers and ultimately reduces their options. These researchers have continued to emphasize the importance of language quality in L2 writing because grammar and lexis are so important in written discourse and because L2 writers are ultimately evaluated based on their control of language and text construction in their written discourse. The above mentioned literature widens the perspective of English language teaching. Instead of limiting to only one strategy, it focuses on both top-down and bottom-up strategies. Moreover, the importance of grammar and structure is emphasized. I have already discussed the problems faced by Pakistani students in their written work. Learners have very poor command on grammar and structure of language. It is very difficult for them to write correct composition when it comes to self-writing. These things are to be included in the teaching learning process. CONCLUSIONS The following conclusions can be made from above literature review and discussion: 1. English enjoys an important status in academic and social life of Pakistan. It is the official language in the country. More job opportunities are available for English speaking community. 2. Researches and personal experiences indicate a number of weaknesses in English language teaching in Pakistan. Language teachers are not competent enough to adopt communicative methods in the classroom. Grammar translation method is widely used for teaching English. 3. Students face a number of problems in learning English. Major problems include poor understanding of the sentence structure, more focus on reading skill, interference of the mother tongue, lack of a language culture in classroom, poor assessment system and negative attitude toward writing. 4. The most common errors and mistakes students do in their written work are errors in sentence structure, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. RECOMMENDATIONS Keeping in view the above mentioned discussion, the following recommendations can be made to improve English language writing in Pakistan. Interdisciplinary Publications Page 42

7 1. Training sessions may be conducted to refresh the knowledge and to enhance the competencies of English language teachers in Pakistan. 2. Teachers and students attitude toward writing may be revisited and revised. Positive attitude to writing is a key to successful writing. 3. Teachers need to develop a language culture in the classroom as well as in the institution in which the students can practice and use the learnt language skills. 4. Preferably, students should be taught how to write from an early stage. 5. Students should be involved in activities which promote self-writing and creative writing. 6. Assessment system for English language skills need to be revised. The present assessment system only assesses the rote learning among students. 7. Teachers should concentrate on accuracy of grammatical structure. They should provide feedback to remove mistakes of grammar and sentence structure. BIBLIOGRAPHY Badger, R. G. and White, G. (2000). A process genre approach to teaching writing. ELT Journal, 54(2), Edge, J. (1989) Mistakes and correction. Addison Wesley: Longman. Edwards, S. (1999) Writing for all. London: David Fulton. Ferrari, M., Bouffard, T. and Rainville, L. (1998) What makes a good writer? Differences in good and poor writers self-regulation of writing. Instructional Science, 26, Gee, S. (1997) Teaching writing: A genre based approach. In F, Glenn(ed) Writing in the English language classroom. London: Prentice Hall, Government of Pakistan (2009) National Education Policy Islamabad: Ministry of Education Harmer, J. (2005) The practice of English language teaching. Harlow: Pearson. Hedge, T. (2008) Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford University press. Hussain, I. (2005) An experimental study of teaching English through direct and traditional methods at secondary level. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi. [online]. [Accessed 13 th December 2009]. Available from World Wide Web: Hyland, K. (2002) Teaching and researching writing. Harlow: Pearson. Hyland, K. (2003) Second language writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lavelle, E. and Zuercher, N. (2001) The writing approaches of university students. Higher Education, 42, Malcolm, I. G. (1999) Writing as an intercultural process. In C. N. Candlin and K. Hyland (eds) Writing: texts, processes and practices. London: Longman, Mansoor, S. (1993) Punjabi, Urdu, English in Pakistan. Lahore: Vanguarg. Mansoor, S. (2004) The status and role of regional language in higher education in Pakistan. Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, 25, Mitchell, R. and Myles, F. (2004) Second language learning theories. London: Arnold. Nunan, D. (1999) Second language teaching & learning. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. Roberts, J. (1998) Language teacher education. London: Arnold. Siddiqui, S. (2007) Rethinking Education in Pakistan: Perceptions, Practices and Possibilities. Karachi: Paramount Publishing Enterprise. Tribble, C Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Warwick, D. and Riemers, F. (1992) Teacher training in Pakistan: value added or money wasted. Cambridge: Harvard Institute for International Development. Westbrook, J. et al. (2009) Becoming a teacher: Transitions from training to the classroom in the NWFP, Pakistan. International Journal of Educational Development, 29, Interdisciplinary Publications Page 43