Writing
By Nickyta
Nur Aryda
Writing is one of language skills that have to be
learned by students in learning a language, especially English. In writing
skill, they increase their idea to make a good written text and they have to
pay attention to the grammar and the punctuation. Writing skill is not easy,
and it becomes one of difficult lesson in the school since the students have to
produce their own text by using English.
1.
Definition
of Writing
According to
Murcia (2000: 161), writing skills is often perceived as the most difficult
language skill since it requires a higher level of productive language control.
Also, Murcia states that writing is production of the written word that results
in a text but the text must be read and comprehended in order that
communication to take place.
From the
statement above we know that writing is not easy skill. It need more
concentration and more production of language control. The students have to
find a good idea of their written text. After they find the idea, they have to
develop the idea into a good paragraph. The process of writing is not only like
that, after the paragraph is done, students have to check it to make sure that
the grammatical, vocabulary, and punctuation is correct.
Another
definition of writing is given by Heaton (1975: 138), writing skill is complex
and difficult to teach, requiring mastery not only of grammatical and
theoretical devices but also of conceptual and judgment elements.
From
Heaton’s statement we know that not only writing process that difficult, but
also teaching writing is difficult too. Teachers must have a good technique
when teach their students. Also, they must know the material well before teach
it to the students, or they will make the students do not understand the
material they have explain. Teacher should make the teaching learning process
is fun and enjoyable. This condition can make the students do not feel nervous
and difficult in understanding the writing material.
According to
Mark Hancock & Annie McDonald, Writing is a process, from gathering ideas
through to checking what has been written. It is also a product, a text.
2. Writing as a process
The writing process consists of the
steps we take when we produce a piece of writing. The process may include some
or all of the following:
·
Brainstorming (making a note of ideas, words and
phrases related to the topic, in the order they come to mind)
·
Planning (categorising and ordering the ideas
according to the task)
·
Drafting (a first attempt to write the ideas as a
continuous text)
·
Revising (deciding how to improve the first draft, in terms
of both content and accuracy)
·
Rewriting (writing the text again including the
improvements)
3. Writing as a product
The writing product in “real life”
is a text with a purpose. The purpose may be for example to inform, to thank,
to request, or to simply entertain. The success of the text depends on the
accuracy of the writing and the appropriacy of the content.
·
Accuracy :
1)
Grammar
2)
Vocabulary
3)
Punctuation
4)
Spelling
5)
Capitalisation
6)
Legibility
7)
Appropriate text conventions (e.g. letter format or
headings for a report)
·
Content :
1)
Communicatively effective (the writer successfully
conveys information to the reader)
2)
Sufficiently detailed
3)
Logically organised (the reader finds it easy to
follow the writer’s ideas)
4)
Original/interesting (not just copied or part-copied)
5)
Believable (the ideas expressed make sense in terms of
the real world)
6)
Stylistically appropriate (it conveys the tone
required e.g. formal for a job application)
