Glossary audiolingual teaching

Types of writing
1. Imitative writing – at the beginning level of learning to write, students will simply “write down” English letters, and possibly sentences in order to learn the conventions of the orthographic code. Some forms of dictation fall into this category although dictations can serve to teach and test higher order processing as well.
2. Intensive (controlled) writing – usually arrears in controlled written grammar exercises. Some written tasks as essays, compositions, summary are also included into intensive writing.
3. Self- writing- this type means writing with only the self in mind as an audience. The most vivid example of this type of writing is notetaking where students take notes during a lecture for the purpose of later recall.
4. Display writing – short answer exercises, essay examinations, research reports are display writing examples, when students have to display their knowledge of language and academic skills.
5. Real writing – this type is done not for marks or checking by teachers. Its aim is genuine communication. Writing diaries, letters, post cards, notes, personal messages or other informal writing can take place.


Key terms: levels of teaching, writing skills, free writing, reproduction of printed or oral text.


Levels of teaching writing
At the beginning level (2-4 classes) we teach graphics in EL (handwriting), i.e. teaching to write letters (alphabet) which interrelates with teaching reading as graphic-phonemic correspondence. Pupils must acquire print hand letters. At the same time we form elementary writing skills for conducting communicative-cognitive objectives in the written form. On the material of sentences and not complicated texts pupils must write:
holiday and birthday congratulations in cards;
personal data: name and surname, dates, address;
short messages and personal letters;
a plan, questions to short texts;
description of pictures.
The second stage (5-9 classes) at school must provide more intensive development of writing skills in different situations of communication. Topics and capacity of writing messages is broaden; the quality of produced text in the written form is improved. The content of writing teaching within this stage differs in its informativeness and is built on the authentic material. The samples of an epistolary type as letters, cards, articles from newspapers and magazines are used for developing teenagers’ writing skills:
to give the information about him/herself, family, school, city/town, interests and hobby;
to write a short commentary/letter in newspaper or journal with the norms and conventions of native speakers;
to write personal data in questionnaire and registration document;
to do note-taking (plan, copy out the key words, speech patterns) to use it for production of the text.
At an academic lyceum and vocational college the level of the language proficiency in writing must provide more effective using it as a means of teaching, self-learning and academic study. It demands involving the variety of official and unofficial situations, complicity of the produced texts, and high degree of autonomous activity.
The lyceum and college students must obtain the following skills:
to describe events or facts;
to send and ask an information in the extended form;
to express an opinion, arguments;
to comment events and facts using argumentative statements and emotional-estimation means;
to write a plan and notes for an oral message;
to fix a factual information during reception of oral and printed text;
to write a summary, synopsis, annotation.
to write a composition and essay.