Creating and Adapting Resources and Materials for Teaching Writing

Wrtting is a very complex process, because it involves the ability to communicate in a language foreign to oneself and the ability to construct a text that expresses the wrtter's ideas effectively. Writing consists of three steps i.e. pre-writing, writing and rewriting and all these three steps are significant. The questions that artse in the minds ofeveryone including prolific writers are:

How does one start writing?

What does one do while wrtting?

Does one stop to think and wrtte?

But, what can people, who do not read, wrtte?? This is a question in particular, facing all the learners when they dry up easily because ofno knowledge through reading!

Reading maketh a fuii man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man says Francis Bacon, who underscores the fact that Wrtting, though a complex process, is frequently considered the last language skill to be acquired. The reading habit has slowly got eroded. Today, institutions have understoo d the importance of reading and hence have started to resurrect this in the schools. The problem however, continues in colleges.

In a heterogeneous set up, where many learners think in the mother-tongue but have to translate their thoughts into writing in English, one type does not suit all and it is left to the teacher to decide what method will suit which set of learners. Can the teacher use the conventional methods? Should audio-visual aids be used? Will the teacher be able to make the students understand the difference between Academic Wrtting and Personal wrtting? Activities ranging from individual to pair to teams can be conducted to create an interest in wrtting.

We have undertaken a lot of expertmentation activities in our classes and have been successful to a great extent in ensuring that the weaker section of students are benefitted. Our paper, highlights the different methods researched and activities devised.