Effective communication (writing): building bridges to understanding (Part 3)

Writing is one of the main requirements of students in the education system. Teachers require that their students write compositions/essays, responses to questions among other writing tasks. They are asking students to communicate ideas through writing. Teachers then give students grades based on how “well” they communicate their ideas on a given topic/issue/assignment. This grade is a measure of the students’ competence on this given topic/issue/assignment. However, many students find it difficult to communicate their ideas through writing.

From my experience as a teacher, I have realised that many students are reluctant to do any extended piece of writing. And I have determined a number of reasons for this reluctance.

One of these reasons is that many students do not have the content or the creativity to accomplish the writings tasks which teachers assign them. That is, they lack the life experiences which they can get through reading, listening to “experts” as they share their knowledge, taking an interest in the issues being discussed at any point in time by joining the discussion and generally being observant as they go through life.

Moreover, many students are reluctant to write because they lack the vocabulary and the competence in the use of the standard language which is often the language of education to coherently put their thoughts down on paper.

In addition, many students are reluctant to write because they do not have a clear idea about structuring the writing task even after teachers have taught them how to do so.

Furthermore, many students are reluctant to write because they do not like to exert themselves and writing requires mental effort. Many students cannot be bothered to exert this effort. 

Yet another reason that students are reluctant to write is that they realise that writing is one of the facets of communication through which teachers expect them to share a part of themselves with “strangers”. Teachers are these “strangers” who may get the opportunity to peer behind the masks which students wear. Many students, among others, are reluctant to open up even a little bit of themselves to the scrutiny of others. Therefore, they are unwilling to take the first step to begin the journey of writing.

One student admitted as much. He was not willing to write about himself, he said. He was reserved, he said. He was shy. He was not comfortable “to put himself out there” for all to see.

Whether we directly write about ourselves or we write about random things, we reveal a part of ourselves to others. If we choose to write to persuade others about the “rightness” or “wrongness” or justifiability or un-justifiability, and so on, of a course of action, we are revealing something about ourselves to the discerning reader – our stance on the issue.

If we write about an issue providing an explanation for its occurrence, or to provide a step by step guide to understanding an action, or to describe a process, a person or a thing, we are revealing something about ourselves to the discerning reader – our knowledge or lack thereof about the subject of our writing.

If we write about an issue, discussing its implications, exploring it from all angles, we are revealing something about ourselves to the discerning reader – our balanced judgement.

If we write a story/narrativeabout any subject we reveal something about ourselves in the telling of this story – our interests, our inclinations, our thought processes, our fantasies and so on.

Teachers ask students to complete tasks which require that they write to persuade, to explain, to describe to discuss and to narrate among other writing tasks. Unfortunately, for the student, s/he does not usually get the chance to independently write about something in classes that s/he or he deeply cares about. We teachers select topics for them bearing in mind the requirements of internal and external examinations which the education system uses to determine students' competence in particular subjects.  

Students write examinations because it is through the process of examinations that the education system judges their readiness to engage in further education and/or the world of work. It is through writing examinations that they communicate this readiness. We who are teachers, therefore, starting in English/Communication classes but also in every class, need to equip students with the tools and the confidence to communicate effectively through writing.

Many students will be reluctant to exert effort on the process of writing. However, with careful guidance they will learn to communicate competently and effectively in writing. But, we who are teachers need to, first, acquire the tools of writing, learn how to use them then pass on this knowledge to our students. 

Read the other parts of this article at the following links:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 4