Hey:
I am teaching a beginner to intermediate TOEFL writting class. I taught TOEFL writting class last year. the texts were awful and the students didn't really enjoy the writing aspect. This time I get tp pick my own texts. Can anyone give me any recommendations? also any ideas on how to make writing more enjoyable to students would be awesome!!!
Thanks
Becky
looking for any ideas
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blarkin1774
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 6:01 am
- Location: Seoul Korea
Academic Writing Books
are good resources for all sorts of writing things. I've taught four sessions of TOEFL writing, and tried a variety of different things with my students to try to keep them interested. I found that (if your students will do it) working in groups for writing tasks can enliven the process a lot. Put them in pairs or groups to come up with an outline for a topic, or to discuss their opinions, or (for example), do things like cut up a paragraph into pieces and have them work together to put it into a coherent paragraph and add cohesive devices (transition expressions, etc.)
Two books I've found have some useful exercises for writing:
a)Introduction to Academic Writing (2nd Ed.)- Oshima/Hogue. This one has units set up around themes, and includes all different writing skill tasks (brainstorming, essay structure, grammar mistakes, editing, etc.) I use pieces of it with my TOEFL class and they enjoy the break from writing essays.
b)Gateways to Academic Writing (Longman- Alan Meyers)- This is a bit more advanced and has more grammar exercises, but I like to use to help prompt my students to edit for specific kinds of mistakes.
Reading and analyzing other pieces of writing and using them as models breaks up the pure aspect of writing. Last session I brought in a list of TOEFL essay topics and told my students to work in groups to decide which were the most difficult to tackle (they were vague, too confusing, complex, etc.) and we would take time in class to brainstorm ways to approach them.
Writing is a solitary task, so it's always going to be boring to some, but I've found many of my students actually enjoy trying to craft something they can be proud of that they feel expresses what they think about something.
Lastly, why not break up class with a)games (even adults love games, especially if they're task related- have a spelling contest, for example)
or b)semi-related activities? I often start class with something like a spelling exercise, or a vocabulary building exercise, just to get their brains working and warmed up and so it's not all writing focused.
You could also try asking your students what topics they find interesting to write about, and go from there.
TOEFL smeagle is a great resource, too- check out the suggestions he made for my post in the forum below, and let me know if you find any great ideas- my classes get bored, too!
Good luck!
Two books I've found have some useful exercises for writing:
a)Introduction to Academic Writing (2nd Ed.)- Oshima/Hogue. This one has units set up around themes, and includes all different writing skill tasks (brainstorming, essay structure, grammar mistakes, editing, etc.) I use pieces of it with my TOEFL class and they enjoy the break from writing essays.
b)Gateways to Academic Writing (Longman- Alan Meyers)- This is a bit more advanced and has more grammar exercises, but I like to use to help prompt my students to edit for specific kinds of mistakes.
Reading and analyzing other pieces of writing and using them as models breaks up the pure aspect of writing. Last session I brought in a list of TOEFL essay topics and told my students to work in groups to decide which were the most difficult to tackle (they were vague, too confusing, complex, etc.) and we would take time in class to brainstorm ways to approach them.
Writing is a solitary task, so it's always going to be boring to some, but I've found many of my students actually enjoy trying to craft something they can be proud of that they feel expresses what they think about something.
Lastly, why not break up class with a)games (even adults love games, especially if they're task related- have a spelling contest, for example)
or b)semi-related activities? I often start class with something like a spelling exercise, or a vocabulary building exercise, just to get their brains working and warmed up and so it's not all writing focused.
You could also try asking your students what topics they find interesting to write about, and go from there.
TOEFL smeagle is a great resource, too- check out the suggestions he made for my post in the forum below, and let me know if you find any great ideas- my classes get bored, too!
Good luck!