Composition/Writing

Definition & Value:
Composition is the process and product of creating an oral or written work. Composition refers to an extended piece of writing or speech, instead of just a word or two. It is important for students to work with their peers in addition to working alone.

Components of Writing:

• –Physical components (e.g., motor demands of typing or of handwriting)
• Background knowledge (what you know about affects what you can successfully write about)
• Process knowledge (understanding different parts of the process of writing)
  

-students should know these steps:
~planning/prewriting/brainstorming
~drafting
~getting response/feedback
~revising
~editing
~publishing
-this knowledge of the process of writing can be set parallel to the scientific method, in order for the students to be able to understand processes across subjects, and so that this idea is seen in many different writing genres.
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• Strategic knowledge (e.g., knowing strategies for planning writing, for revising writing)
• Linguistic knowledge (e.g., vocabulary, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation)
• shows importance of syntax
  
• Genre knowledge (a kind of linguistic knowledge) (genre conventions, text structures, signal words and phrases, etc.)

• –Audience awareness (who is the audience for this writing and what would their needs be)
• Self-regulation (regulating their thinking, behaviors, and emotions in the writing process)
• Motivational components (e.g., perception of oneself as a writer, beliefs about the value of writing, persistence)

Issues for Second Language Learners:
For students whose second language is English, they will have prior linguistic knowledge in their first language which they may try to transfer to English linguistics. Since the sentence structure of languages varies greatly, it should be no surprise to a teacher if a student whose native language is French or Spanish generates a sentence like "the ball blue" instead of "the blue ball" since many adjectives follow nouns in French in Spanish, unlike English where the adjective precedes the noun. Also, the motivation of SLLs can be reduced if they are discouraged by their trouble in learning a new language as well as if they feel their culture is not integrated into instruction. They also may place different values on writing, some may be much higher than others. Some SLLs may value story telling over written word, especially if their culture embodies a strong oral tradition.

Duke, Nell. TE301, Section 003, Fall 2007, Michigan State University.

New Standards Primary Literacy Committee (2004). Reading and writing grade by grade: Primary literacy standards for kindergarten through third grade. Washington, DC: National Center for Education and the Economy.


"An Introduction to Writing." Special Connections. University of Kansas.
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