Hasan Mahmud Rubel :
One of the four basic linguistic skills, writing facilitates individuals to compose their ideas, thoughts and expressions. Writing in English is a momentous factor in our academic and professional life. For effective writing in English, learners require adequate knowledge on language concern and techniques of writing messages. Learners’ knowledge on English language and techniques of writing enable them to write proficiently and plausibly.
Some techniques for developing English writing skill are discussed below:
Learners have to read as much as they can
There is a maxim that listening is closely related to speaking, reading is closely related to writing. So, our first technique is to read as much as learners can.Reading in English is useful in many ways. This will facilitate learners to learn how to compose ideas, embellish their thoughts and opinions, support key points and share information. Thus, learners can learn to write best by reading. Learners can choose topics from the books according to their interest. They might read each text several times so that they can able to understand how to use new words and expressions in the text.There are few other things that can develop English writing skills more than reading. Reading gives learners an intimate, broken-down view of the language.
Learners have to widen their kingdom of vocabulary
Learners need a good active vocabulary to express themselves evidently. Enriching vocabulary does not mean being able to recognise lots of words, it means actually being able to use them appropriately. When learners learn a new word, they should try to learn all the forms of that word and the prepositions that are usually used before it. Learners should do this by learning new words with example sentences, not just by listing words.
Master in English spelling
Learners must know how to spell those words appropriately. Incorrect spelling may change the meaning of sentence. In addition, incorrect spelling makes it difficult for the readers to understand what have been written. Such as, ‘deer’ and ‘dear’ sound the same but ‘deer’ is an animal and ‘dear’ means beloved. Using flashcards, learners can practice spelling to test their performance.
Improve grammar
Grammar is very essential because it develops the quality of writing. Learners have to use the appropriate parts of speech, tense and remember to use punctuation. Punctuation is a great way to make writing flawless and smooth. To check grammatical mistake, learners can proof-read their writing twice. The first time proof-reading for general mistakes and the second time for mistakes with the specificgrammatical rulesthey are studying at the moment.
Emphasising on short sentences
Writing simpler sentences basically depends on writing shorter sentences.Research exposes that the more the words and relationships in a sentence, the greater is the possibility for misunderstanding. The readers usually prefer short and readable sentence so that they can easily read the message and hold the information from it.Thus, learners should write short and clear sentences by limiting sentence contents and sparing on words.
However, writing is a skill that takes thousands of hours to master in any language. Writing in English is an important practical life skill. Such skill requires lots of time, patience and practice.One final thing learners should keep in mind is to do a little bit each day, no matter which of the techniques they use.It is much better for learners to have a daily habit of slow development than to push themselves hard for two/three days and then leave.If learners work gradually and steadily, as the weeks and months go by, they will surely be surprised at how much their English writing will develop.
(The writer is a Lecturer of the Department of English of Int’l University of Scholars, Dhaka).
One of the four basic linguistic skills, writing facilitates individuals to compose their ideas, thoughts and expressions. Writing in English is a momentous factor in our academic and professional life. For effective writing in English, learners require adequate knowledge on language concern and techniques of writing messages. Learners’ knowledge on English language and techniques of writing enable them to write proficiently and plausibly.
Some techniques for developing English writing skill are discussed below:
Learners have to read as much as they can
There is a maxim that listening is closely related to speaking, reading is closely related to writing. So, our first technique is to read as much as learners can.Reading in English is useful in many ways. This will facilitate learners to learn how to compose ideas, embellish their thoughts and opinions, support key points and share information. Thus, learners can learn to write best by reading. Learners can choose topics from the books according to their interest. They might read each text several times so that they can able to understand how to use new words and expressions in the text.There are few other things that can develop English writing skills more than reading. Reading gives learners an intimate, broken-down view of the language.
Learners have to widen their kingdom of vocabulary
Learners need a good active vocabulary to express themselves evidently. Enriching vocabulary does not mean being able to recognise lots of words, it means actually being able to use them appropriately. When learners learn a new word, they should try to learn all the forms of that word and the prepositions that are usually used before it. Learners should do this by learning new words with example sentences, not just by listing words.
Master in English spelling
Learners must know how to spell those words appropriately. Incorrect spelling may change the meaning of sentence. In addition, incorrect spelling makes it difficult for the readers to understand what have been written. Such as, ‘deer’ and ‘dear’ sound the same but ‘deer’ is an animal and ‘dear’ means beloved. Using flashcards, learners can practice spelling to test their performance.
Improve grammar
Grammar is very essential because it develops the quality of writing. Learners have to use the appropriate parts of speech, tense and remember to use punctuation. Punctuation is a great way to make writing flawless and smooth. To check grammatical mistake, learners can proof-read their writing twice. The first time proof-reading for general mistakes and the second time for mistakes with the specificgrammatical rulesthey are studying at the moment.
Emphasising on short sentences
Writing simpler sentences basically depends on writing shorter sentences.Research exposes that the more the words and relationships in a sentence, the greater is the possibility for misunderstanding. The readers usually prefer short and readable sentence so that they can easily read the message and hold the information from it.Thus, learners should write short and clear sentences by limiting sentence contents and sparing on words.
However, writing is a skill that takes thousands of hours to master in any language. Writing in English is an important practical life skill. Such skill requires lots of time, patience and practice.One final thing learners should keep in mind is to do a little bit each day, no matter which of the techniques they use.It is much better for learners to have a daily habit of slow development than to push themselves hard for two/three days and then leave.If learners work gradually and steadily, as the weeks and months go by, they will surely be surprised at how much their English writing will develop.
(The writer is a Lecturer of the Department of English of Int’l University of Scholars, Dhaka).
