There are many reasons for getting students to write, both in and outside the class. Firstly, writing gives them more 'thinking time' than they get when they attempt spontaneous conversation. This allows them more opportunity for langauge processing- that is thinking about the language- whether they are involved in study or activation.
When thinking about writing, it is helpful to make a distinction between writing for learning and writing for writing. In the case of the former, writing is used as an aid memoire or practice tool to help students practise and work with langauge they have been studying. We might, for example, ask class to write five sentences using a given structure, or using five of the new words or phrases they have been learning.
Writing- fo-r writing, on the other hand, is, directed at developing the students' skill as writers. In other words, the main purpose of activitles of thi stype is that students should become better at writing, whatever kind of writing that might be.
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An English teacher in Canada Mr. Noble Augustine is currently working with Calgary Catholic Immigration Society. He started his career as a teacher in English in 2001 after completing his M A in English from St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry .He secured the first rank for M Phil from School of Letters, Mahathma Gandhi University in 2003. His subjects of interest are Theory and Practice of Translation, Modern and Postmodern poetry, Postcolonial Writing, Literary theory, and Communicative English. He has presnted many academic papers in various national and international seminars. Gothic Romance: Emile Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Moby Dick: A study in Megalomania, The Comic Paradise: A Rereading of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest, Politics and Geography in the Poetry of Kamala Das, The politics of Deconstruction, Rasa and Dhwani: the Essence of Eastern Aesthetics, The Trend of Multi-generic Parody in Malayalam Fiction:A Reading of Contemporary Short Stories in Malayalam. Facilitation Techniques for Adult Language Teaching etc, to name a few. He has translated into English Aalakampadi (The Escort) a novel by B Murali, a well-known writer in Kerala, India . He worked as lecturer in English in two Libyan Universities: Omar al Mokhtar University, and University of Bengazi , where he also chaired the committee of Quality Assurance, Assessment and Accreditation. He guided and supervised the dissertation of Undergraduate Students and chaired the Viva Voce Examination. . He has also trained, supervised and assessed teacher education students in their practical teaching. In 2011 he obtained his certificate as a Teacher of English as a Second Langauge from Oxford Seminars. He spends his free time in volunteering as the Financial Secretary of Knights of Columbus and as the president of St.Mary's Family Unit in the parish of Mother Teresa Syro Malabar Church, Calgary, Alberta.