Process writing is an approach to teaching writing that allows the teacher and the learner to go
through the process of producing a text together. It can also be defined as the way of breaking
down the task of writing into smaller components.
Process writing refers to the sequence of physical and mental actions that people take as they
produce any kind of text; mental in the sense that the process involves thinking.
How can process writing be applied in the classroom?
[Link] is the responsibility of the teacher to get every student on board.
2. The teacher may choose to ask student to write on their own topics or assign topics to
individual members or create groups for them.
3. Since the entire classroom hours cannot be used for writing, the teacher may allot some
minutes or hours to be used to at least get some part of the work done.
STAGES IN PROCESS WRITING
1. Pre- Writing Stage; As the name suggest pre means before, so the series of activities that
takes place before you officially begin writing. At this stage, learners are required to
come up with ideas in relation to the topic given. There are some series of activities that
takes place in this stage and they are;
i. brainstorming ideas- bringing up all ideas concerning the topic either little or
more knowledge about the topic is welcomed. It can be individual or group.
ii. planning- here one decides on how to go about the work; define the subject
matter, sources to find information.
iii. organizing- decide on how to arrange the ideas to help in conveying a clear
message.
iv. Selecting ideas- ideas gathered during brainstorming may not necessarily be
relevant to the topic. Go through the ideas again, choose the ones that best
explains the topic.
2. Writing Stage; it is at this stage that ideas are put into sentences and paragraphs. The
work produced at this stage is what is referred to as draft; the student reads through,
writes more and goes about this process over and over again until enough is written about
the said topic. Here, the teacher and the student do not concentrate much on grammatical
errors. The student is at liberty to write quite a number of drafts.
3. Revising; this is when learners have the chance to look back at their work and reorganize
ideas. Basically, at this stage the student focuses on making additions or subtractions to
his/her draft. The role of the teacher here is to show interest in what the students have
written. After finding what to add and subtract, the learner returns back to the writing
stage to produce another draft and incorporate everything there.
4. Editing; at this stage, read through your work to be sure all sentences are well
constructed, correct spelling and punctuation. Change words that do not best describe a
concept.
5. After going through all processes above, finally a written piece can be produced.
ADVANTAGES OF PROCESS WRITING
1. It encourages collaborative work; in the case of a group work, diverse ideas with regards
to a topic are brought on board and this renders the work rich in content and this richness
is as a result of individual members coming together and contributing their quota.
2. It allows writers to revisit previous work to find new ideas or improve on existing ones.
This can be achieved through library research or contact research (you see someone who
has treated the subject before and their recommended sources to help enrich your work.)
3. Writers are not confined to follow any writing style. This encourages them to understand
and refine their writing strategies and techniques.
DISADVANTAGES OF PROCESS WRITING
1. It is time consuming.
2. The process generates boredom; if students are to re-work on the same draft repeatedly,
they might get bored.