A system of actions to potentiatefluency inwriting

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(1)University of Pedagogical Sciences Félix Varela Foreign Language Department.. MAJOR PAPER Title:A system of actions to potentiatefluency inwriting.. Author:Reynier Creach Orellanes. Adviser: MSc.Sirelda García Cabrera. Associate Professor. Año 54 de la Revolución “ Course: 2011-2012.

(2) Writing is basically a process of communicating something (content) on paper to an audience. If the writer has nothing to say, writing will not occur. Adewumi Oluwadiya.. Taken from Selected Articles from the English Teaching Forum..

(3) Washington D.C. First of all, I would like to thank to a very good friend who has never failed me; he is the first one who had encouraged me to carry out this project. I am very grateful to my mother and my whole family who have supported me and cheered me up since my admission to this university; without their support I would not have been able to get up to this point. This Major paper is the result of many people’s hard work and perseverance; without all of them it would have been impossible for me to finish it; in the first place I would like to express my gratitude to my adviser professor Sirelda García for she has been there for me and her suggestions have served as a guide to successfully achieve the hard task of writing this research. I am also indebted to many professors who work at The Foreign Language Department of this university for I am the result of their work; my deepest gratitude to all of them especially to Guillermo Godoy, Diana Morales, Matilde Patterson, Deyse Fernández, Consuelo Mora, Liliana Artiles, and many others who have contributed to the completion of this tough task; not only my thanks to them, but also to others like Julio César Paz, Pedro Cabezas, Mirta Cárdenas, Tania Robaina, Blanca Esther Hernández, who have been an example to me. It is necessary to mention as well, to my co-workers at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez PreUniversity School, especially to Boris Luis Eduarte Enríquez, Adriel Alvarez, Geanna Moreno, Yanay Martínez and Aleida Reyes. It is also worth mentioning my group of students who has helped me a lot during the process of investigation and without their enthusiasm and efforts be research would not be completed. Finally, but very important as well, it has been my group of student -teacher colleagues, especially Yani, Mario, Dayana, Lisi, and also to every single person of this group who have stood by me during all those years. My special thanks to Hermanas del Amor de Dios too. If I have forgotten to mention anyone within this page, please be all include in these deep and true. THANKS..

(4) Conseguir un buen dominio de la escritura no resulta fácil, ni siquiera en la lengua materna a pesar de los muchos años que se dedican al desarrollo de esta destreza en los distintos niveles de educación. La escritura se considera una habilidad lingüística difícil de adquirir, más si se hace en una segunda lengua. La sensación de no saber qué escribir, a la hora de producir un texto escrito, se detecta con frecuencia en la incomodidad que reflejan los estudiantes para enfrentarse a cualquier actividad de escritura en inglés; y una vez que se comienzan a poner las ideas por escrito se aprecia que existen dificultades a la hora de organizar las ideas en el texto escrito. La presente investigación se realizó con el objetivo de lograr un nivel adecuado de la fluidez en la escritura en los estudiantes del grupo 11 no1 en el Instituto Pre-Universitario Wilfredo Pérez Pérez en Ranchuelo. Métodos tanto del nivel empírico como del nivel teórico fueron implementados y un sistema de acciones, basado en las reflexiones del profesor y de los estudiantes, puesto en práctica en un sistema de clases para lograr el estado de organización textual y suficiencia de las ideas deseado en los estudiantes del grupo 11 no1 en el instituto PreUniversitario Wilfredo Pérez Pérez en Ranchuelo..

(5) To attain a good mastery in writing is not an easy task, not even in the mother tongue despite all the years devoted to the development of this s kill in the different levels of education. Writing is considered a difficult skill to acquire, mostly in a second language. A sensation of disappointing is easily observed in the students when they are asked to achieve a written task in English; and once they begin the tough task of writing down the ideas another difficulty is easily observed; the students do not know how to organize those ideas in the written text. The present research was carried out at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre-University School in Ranchuelo, with the students of group 11th 1; and it had the goal to develop the required level of fluency while producing a piece of writing in those students. Different scientific methods, not only from the theoretical level; but also from the empirical one, and also a system of actions based on the teacher’s and the student’s reflections were implemented through a system of lessons to obtain the required level of text organization and flow of the ideas in the students of group 11 th 1at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre-University School in Ranchuelo..

(6) Obtenir un bon domaine de l′écriture n′est pas une chose facile; pas même dans la langue maternel malgré les plusieurs années qu′on dedique à développer cette habilité aux différents niveaux d′ éducation. L′écriture est considérée une habilité linguistique très difficile pour acquérir; pardessus si on veut la procurer dans une langue étrangère. La sensation de ne pas savoir quoi écrire, quand on veut produire un texte écrit, est facilement appréciée dans les étudiantes quand ils veu lent écrire quelque chose en anglais; et une fois qu’ils commencent à écrire ils ne sauvent pas comment organiser les idées dans le texte écrit. La présent recherche a été réalisée avec l′objectif d′achever un niveau adéquate de la fluidité dans l’écriture aux étudiants du groupe 11no 1 au lycée Wilfredo Pérez Pérez en Ranchuelo. Des méthodes du niveau théorique et du niveau empirique ont été a ppliqués, et aussi un système d′actions basée aux réflexions des étudiants et du professeur exécuté pour achever l’état désiré d′organisation textuelle et suffisance des idées aux étudiantes du groupe 11no 1 au lycée Wilfredo Pérez Pérez au Ranchuelo..

(7) Table of contents Introduction ....................................................................... ¡Error! Marcador no definido. 1. Theoretical and Methodological Foundations that support the development of fluency in writing .......................................................................................................... 6 1.1- The history of the teaching of writing in Cuba.................................................... 6 1.2- The teaching of writing in English ...................................................................... 7 1.3- The development of fluency in writing ............................................................. 23 2. Diagnosis of the current situation of fluency in writing in the group 11 th 1 from Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre- University School in Ranchuelo ....................................... 29 2.1- Planning of the diagnosis process ................................................................... 29 2.2- The process of application of the investigation instruments and analysis of the results ..................................................................................................................... 32 3. Designing of the system of actions to develop fluency in writing in the students from group 11th1 in Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre- University School ...................................... 38 3.1- System ............................................................................................................ 38 3.2- System of Actions ............................................................................................ 39 4-Process of implementing, recording and reflecting on the system of actions to develop fluency in writing ........................................................................................... 48 4.1-Lesson 1 ........................................................................................................... 48 4.2-Lesson 2 ........................................................................................................... 52 4.3- Lesson 3 .......................................................................................................... 55 5- Transformations that took place in the students after the implementation of the system of actions ....................................................................................................... 59 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 61 Annexes Appendixes.

(8) The history of mankind has brought within itself, the existence of a certain number of languages which can be considered superior to others; the English language has the most privileged position with respect to other languages. English has become the most widely spoken language in several activities in the international arena; among them we can find: commerce, literary and scientific production, the international relations among the countries of the world, and communication per se. Nowadays, the most important publications in any field of the human development are written in English. Most of the radio and television programs are transmitted in English, a great number of cultural, social and scientific activities include English as one of the languages that should be present in those events, a great number of articles , books, summaries about social, technological or scientific topics are written in English, and the same is true with handbooks of electronic devices, food, communication via satellite, emails; etc. The curriculum of English for the Cuban Educational Sys tem establishes the importance of learning this foreign language considering the previously presented data. Our educational policy persists in the formation of citizens who can take part, in a creative and active way, in the social progress; an aspect that could not be achieved if our people do not master at least a foreign language. The subject also responds to the political, economic, social and cultural importance of the foreign languages nowadays. In this context, the English language plays a very important role to guarantee the relations among Cuba and other countries of the world. The subject contributes to the scientific conception of the world in the students, since it views language as a social phenomenon and the relation among thought - languageculture and its most important achievement is that the students learn how to communicate themselves with other people. In the English curriculum of Pre University, the teaching of English has as a goal the development of the communicative competence which is considered as the capacity that should be developed in the students to produce and process written or oral texts in a coherent way (García S. 2010:11).. 1.

(9) In this level of education the teaching of English should not only contribute to the functional linguistic efficiency, but also to the ability of constructing and reconstructing new knowledge; which means the development of habits and basic abilities in the students that permit them to communicate in the foreign language. That is why the students should: Comprehend oral and written texts, express orally and in a written form about topics related to the student’s social and familiar lives, and also write brief and simple messages. It means that the teaching of writing in English at this level, should be aimed at developing this language skill as an instrument; that is, to reproduce oral language in the written form. Nevertheless, the syllabus program states that note taking, summarizing and composing simple texts are the writing sub – skills to develop in Pre-University. This contradiction is also present in the syllabus program of 11 th grade. The present research, aimed at finding a solution to this contradiction, was carried out in “Wilfredo Pérez” Pre University School in Ranchuelo due to the fact that the students from group 1 in 11th grade are not trained to develop writing as such. That is why their main problem lies on the lack of fluency while producing a piece of writing. There may be many causes affecting this aspect, but what has become evident is that the lessons that are being taught still do not help to meet the challenge. Major papers carried out by teachers-to-be such as Oyunbileg Manduul (2011), Chaviano Lázaro J. (2011) and many others in Félix Varela Pedagogical University, touch upon writing as such; but they do not adapt to the specific problem these students face. Thus as it has been experienced by the researcher and confirmed by interviews and reflections, the lack of fluency in writing represents the major problem of this particular group of students in this Pre University in Ranchuelo. With the maxim of deepening into the problem, this research is made to corroborate the fact that there are plenty of problems regarding the issue of fluency while teaching English at this level. Because of what has been said before, the present paper intends to give an answer to the following scientific problem:. 2.

(10) How can the teacher of English contribute to the development of fluency in writing in the students of group 1 from 11 th grade at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre-University? Object of Study: The teaching of writing in English Field of Action: The development of fluency in writing within the teaching learning process of English in11th grade. Objective: To potentiate fluency in the teaching learning process of writing in English in group 1 from 11 th grade at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre-University through a system of actions. In order to carry out this research the following scientific questions were formulated: 1. What theoretical and methodological judgments support the development of fluency in writing within the teaching learning process of English in 11 th grade students of the Cuban Pre- University level? 2. What is the current situation of fluency in writing in English in the students of group 1 from 11 th grade at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre- University? 3. What system of actions should be designed to potentiate fluency in the teaching learning process of writing in English in the students of group 1 from 11 th grade at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre- University? 4. What reflections have come up during the process of recording the events that took place during the implementation of the actions? 5. What are the transformations that take place in fluency while writing in English in the students of group 1 from 11 th grade at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre- University? The answers to those questions are covered throughout the following scientific tasks: 1. Determination of the theoretical and methodological judgments that support the development of fluency in writing within the teaching learning process of English in 11th grade students of the Cuban Pre- University level. 2. Diagnosis of the current situation of fluency in writing in English in the students of group 1 from 11 th grade at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre- University.. 3.

(11) 3. Designing of the system of actions to potentiate fluency in the teaching learning process of writing in English in11th grade at Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre University. 4. Reflections about the process of recording the events that took place during the implementation of the actions. 5. Determination of the transformations that take place in fluency while writing in English. The subjects of investigation of this research are the 29 students of Group 1 from 11 th grade. They were selected on purpose due to the fact that the author of this inv estigation works with this group. The following research methods have been used in this paper: From the theoretical level:  Logical-historical: It permitted to understand the evolution and development of the phenomenon object of study, to reveal its history, the main stages of its development, and its major historical connections.  Systemic approach: To explain the internal structure of the elements of the system of actions designed.  Analytic-Synthetic: It was used in the processing of the methodological theoretical information obtained from the different consulted sources as well as the resulting data from the application of the different instruments.  Inductive-Deductive: It was used in the establishment of general and particular theoretical considerations expressed by different specialists on the topic object of study and in the analysis and interpretation of the data obtained through the different instruments applied.. 4.

(12) From the empirical level: . Group interview to students: To determine the students’ opinions first about their. current situation in fluency in writing, and then about the effectiveness of the system of actions. . Teacher’s interview: To determine the teachers' opinions about their students′. level of fluency while producing a piece of writing. . Document analysis: To analyze the suggestions given by the syllabus program. and the methodological guidelines about the development of fluency while teaching writing the in English for 11 th grade. . Pedagogical test: To assess the students’ level of fluency while producing a piece. of writing. . Portfolios: To keep a record of the students’ assignments in writing to analyze the. progresses or the deficiencies they have in their pieces of writing. . Teacher’s Journals: To keep a record on what goes on during the implementation. of the system of actions and also to reflect on the problem under study to try to find a solution to it. The importance of this paper lies on the fact that a group of reflections were taken into consideration and a group of actions came up as a result of those reflections to foster the needs of this particular group of students; needs which can be observed in other groups of students at the same level. That is why these actions can be enlarged and enriched with other reflections and experiences for they are only the product of the particular experiences of the teacher who has carried out this research. This paper is structured in Introduction, Development, Conclusions, Bibliography, Annexes and Appendixes. The Development looks at the theoretical framework, identifies learning needs regarding the problem under research, and offers reflections and solutions to solve them.. 5.

(13) 1. Theoretical and Methodological Foundations that support the de velopment of fluency in writing 1.1- The history of the teaching of writing in Cuba Writing has been a neglected area of the English language teaching for some years; but recently the role of this particular skill in the teaching language process of English, has been re-discovered by many researchers. The following epigraph is devoted to the history of the teaching of this particular skill in Cuba. In the history of language teaching in Cuba, many methods and approaches have been used. With the audio-lingual method, introduced in Cuba in the 60′s, the teaching of writing was closely linked to the teaching of grammar or that of the structure of the sentence, which served as a support for the steadiness of the oral patterns of the language. The mechanical practice of the grammatical patterns only guaranteed the development of the linguistic competence and put aside the rest of the areas that form the communicative competence. Methodologists were also concerned that within the audio-lingual method the students were not exposed to real or realistic language, and were therefore unlikely to produce language by themselves. That way of teaching did not take into account the necessity of a communicative written practice. In the 70′s, the audiovisual method was introduced in the intermediate level. It presented the language by using a sequence of pictures. The main emphasis of this method laid on the manipulation, memorization, and drilling of the linguistic contents in an oral way, abd then, these contents were transferred to similar situations. According to this method, writing is introduced after 70 or 90 hours since it is considered to be the most suitable time for the students to assimilate the phone tic system of the language. The most widely used writing activities within that method are the use of dictation to exercise the phoneme –grapheme correspondence and also the composing of texts based on pre- established models, only allowing the students to introduce small changes in the final product. This way of teaching writing brings about the concept of writing as an instrument to achieve a specific task, which limits the students' expression and the development of their imagination in a written way.. 6.

(14) During the 80′s the communicative approach begins to be used in order to drive out the structuralism in the lessons and to allow the use of more communicative approaches. With the application and implementation of this approach not only the oral activities, but also. the. written. ones. reflect. real purposes. within. communicative. contexts.. Communicative Language Teaching has had a thoroughly beneficial effect since it reminds teachers that people learn languages not only to know about them, but also to communicate with them. Giving students different kinds of language, pointing them towards aspects of style and appropriateness, and above all giving them opportunities to try out real language, are some of the most important features of CLT. (Artiles. L; 2006: 1 & Harmer J. 48-50). Knowing the history of the teaching of writing in Cuba is very important in order to be able to analyze its components. These aspects are presented in the following topic. 1.2- The teaching of writing in English 1.2.1- What writing is. What exactly do people do as writers when they compose a piece of writing? What kind of behavior, what stages, and what activities do writers become involved in before and during writing? How do they get going, how do they keep going and what causes the “blocks” that most of the people have experienced at times when trying to write? What does the act of writing involve? The following epigraph deals with the teaching of this skill in the English language. Webster’s Dictionary (1983:1033) defines writing as: “The act or process of one who writes. The act or art of forming visible letters or characters”. Similar definitions appear in other dictionaries. The Dictionary of the Spanish Language (1984:584) on the one hand expresses that: “Escribir es representar las palabras o las ideas con letras u otros signos”. The Encyclopedic Dictionary of The Sciences of the Language, on the other hand, (1998:1184) states that: “Escribir es expresar por escrito los pensamientos o conocimientos ordenados con autoridad”. Despite the above mentioned definitions several linguists have alleged that writing is more than the mere representation of the oral language in its written form. Writing is not only a permanent means to record ideas and memories, but also an exchange method, 7.

(15) a means of communication among people. Garcia S. (2010:218) points out that: “Writing as speaking, listening and reading is a linguistic skill which is productive and interactive. Productive since the writer encodes a message using a graphic and orthographic system: the written word; and interactive because the message is written to be read by the reader(s), using the written text as a means or channel of interaction”. Writing is the expression of meaning in a permanent medium – pen and paper-. The writer has choices at the surface level of lexis, grammatical structure, collocations, cohesion, coherence, etc ; the writer also has choices about the type of text to use to convey the desired meaning. But, at the discourse level, i.e. at the interface between writer and reader, the writer cannot make choices freely; she or he must write for the reader. The author of the present research is in entire agreement with authors like Raimes (1983), Tribble (1996), Artiles L. (2006); and many others who consider that writing is not an easy task; because of this assumption, the components of the teaching learning process of writing are analyzed in the following paragraphs. 1.2.2- Objective of the teaching of writing: Following the communicative approach to the teaching of English, the goal of all the language skills is to develop in the students the capacity to communicate in English; specifically for writing, the main goal is to produce written texts in a way that can be understood by everyone; in other words , to develop the communicative competence in writing. Particularly, in the present research, it is to develop fluency while producing a piece of writing. 1.2.3- Contents: The range of knowledge that a writer requires when undertaking a specific task are established by Christopher Tribble in Writing (1996:43 & 67) and can be summarized in the following way: . Content knowledge: Knowledge of the concepts involved in the subject area. That is to say, types of writing, knowledge about the topic(s) learners are going to write about, etc. There are many opinions about the classification of the types of writing. Tricia Hedge in. Writing. (1988:99-100) considers. two possible. classifications.. 8.

(16) The first classification is the following: Types of writing: Personal writing: diaries, journals, shopping lists; reminders for oneself, packing lists, addresses, recipes. Public writing: letters of inquiry, complaint, request, form filling; applications for membership. Creative writing: poems, stories, rhymes, drama; songs, autobiography. Social writing: letters, invitations, notes (of condolence, thanks, congratulations); emails, telephone messages, instructions (to friends, family). Study writing: making notes while reading, taking notes from lectures, making a card index; summaries, synopses, reviews, reports of (experiments, workshops, and visits); essays, bibliographies. Institutional writing: agendas, minutes, memoranda, reports; reviews, contracts, business letters; public notices, advertisements, posters; instructions, speeches, applications,. curriculum. vitae;. specifications,. note. making(doctors. and. other. professionals). The second classification is the following:. 9.

(17) Types. of Purpose. writing. Static description. Describing a place, system, etc.. Process. Describing the sequence of steps in how something is done or the. description. operations in how something works.. Narrative. Telling a sequence of events in a report or biography.. Cause and effect. Explaining how events are linked, how one thing leads to another, giving reasons for outcomes.. Discussion. Putting forward arguments, evidences, examples, etc.. Comparison. Comparing and contrasting.. Classification. Organizing a description into a hierarchy of categories.. Definition. Defining, explaining and exemplifying something.. The author of this research concludes that the second classification is contained within the first one. . Context knowledge: Refers to knowledge of the context in which the text will be read.. People do not speak the same way with different people. A teenager does not speak the same with a friend as he or she does with a teacher or an older person; the same happens with writing. The writer’s freedom shrinks when he or she writes for others. If the writer assumes that everyone is like him or her, many readers will not accept or even understand his or her message for they have had different life experiences, and as a result have different knowledge, temperaments and values. The writer then should keep those differences in mind as he or she writes; it is a matter of mutual respect.. 10.

(18) . Language system knowledge: This refers to knowledge of those aspects of the language system necessary for the completion of the task.. The diagram below shows what writers have to deal with as they produce a piece of writing (Kral 1994:86). SYNTAX Sentence structure, sentence boundaries, sentence choices, etc.. GRAMMAR Rules for verbs, agreement, articles, pronouns, etc.. CONTENT Relevance, clarity, originality, logic, etc.. Clear, fluent and effective communication of the ideas.. . AUDIENCE The reader/s. PURPOSE The reason for writing.. MECHANICS Handwriting, spelling, punctuation, etc. ORGANIZATION Paragraphs, topic and support, cohesion and unity.. THE WRITER′S PROCESS Getting ideas, getting started, writing drafts, revising,. WORD CHOICE Vocabulary, idiom, tone.. Writing process knowledge: Refers to the knowledge of the most appropriate way of preparing for a specific task.. Teachers who had been at the fore front of the development of the process approach have proposed methodologies which emphasize the creativity a nd unpredictability of writing. They have been aided by a significant body of research which has examined what happens while writers write, and thereby contributed to our understanding of the process of writing.. 11.

(19) The process approach has had such a widespread influence on the teaching of writing throughout the English speaking world that it needs to be considered in some detail (García Cabrera. S; 2010:217): Prewriting (specifying the task/planning and outlining/collecting data/making notes ).. Composing. Revising (recognizing/shifting emphasis/focusing information and style for your readership). Editing (checking grammar/lexis-surface features, for example punctuation, spelling, layout, quotation, convention, references) Simple linear models of the writing process have, however, been criticized by a number of teachers and researchers as for not giving a full picture of what successful writers actually do (Tribble: 1996 cited by García S. (2010: 224). They have described the process of writing as recursive and complex, although there are identifiable stages in the composition of most extended texts, typically writers will revise some of these stages many times before a text is complete. That is why the linear simplicity of the former model has to give way to something more complex; the following figure shows the whole process not as a fixed sequence, but as a dynamic and unpredictable process:. 12.

(20) NON-LINEAR. LINEAR. Pre-writing (specifying the task, planning, outlining, collecting data, making notes) Composing/drafting. Revising (reorganizing, shifting emphasis, focusing information and style for your readership). Editing (checking grammar/lexis/ surface features: punctuation, spelling, layout, quotation, conventions, references) Publishing Contrary to what many textbooks advise, writers do not follow a neat sequence of planning, organizing, writing and then revising. When confronting the final piece of writing it is essential to have in mind that the process that produces it is not linear at all. 1.2.3-Methods for the teaching of writing: The teaching of writing has long been a central element in all educational systems, and there are many often conflicting, views of the best way of going about it. We might identify four principal ways of approaching the task: focus on form or on the product, focus on the communicative functions, focus on the writer and the interactional approach (Artiles L; 2006: 20-24). 1.2.3.1-The approach that focuses on form (or product approach), as Chan (cited by Kral 1994:87) states is a traditional text-based approach which is still used in many materials. Teachers who focus on form often present authoritative texts for students to imitate or adapt and so are likely to use textbooks which give a good range of models. They will also tend to see errors as something that they have a professional obligation to. 13.

(21) correct and, where possible, to eliminate. In such a context, one of the teacher’s main roles will be to instill notions of correctness and conformity. However, many researchers point out that the traditional approach is deficient in two important aspects. First, the teacher views a student’s writing as a product. She or he assumes that the students know how to write and uses what the student produces as a test of that ability. Second, the teacher focuses on form, i.e., syntax, grammar, mechanics and organization, rather than on content. The content is seen mainly as a vehicle for the correct expression of the grammatical and organizational patterns taught, and the correct choice of vocabulary. 1.2.3.2-The approach that focuses on the communicative functions is a strictly communicative one. The main goal of a lesson that follows this approach is to learn how to use a determined communicative function of the language that is being learned; and the same happens with writing. The most important aspect of this approach is the emphasis it makes on the usage of the language, contrary to the grammatical approach in which the most important aspects to work with are the structure of the language and the grammar rules. 1.2.3.3-The approach that focuses on the writer (or process approach) has developed in part as a reaction against the traditional one and focuses on the writer as an independent producer of texts. It lays particular stress on a cycle of writing activities which move learners from the generation of ideas and the collection of data through to the publication of a finished text. 1.2.3.4-The interactional approach has been traditionally seen for some authors like Teresa Pincas cited by García S. (2010:225), as the interaction that occurs between the teacher and the student through the latter's piece of writing, in which the former provides feedback by making a short comment or just putting a symbol denoting that something is not well. However, for some others like Chan cited by Kral (1994:87), this interactional approach is more socially oriented and focuses on the ways in which writers and texts need to interact with readers. In this approach, writing is seen as an essentially social activity in which texts are written to do things. This approach to the teaching of writing. 14.

(22) involves a combination of the communicative approach and the process approach to writing. It is based, according to these authors, on three assumptions: 1. People write to communicate with readers. 2. People write to accomplish specific purposes. 3. Writing is a complex process. Thus, writing is seen as a communicative act. Students are asked to think of their audience, the reader, and their purpose for writing. Meaning is stressed, rather than form and writing is seen as a process, which can be divided into three main stages: prewriting, composing, and revision ; and within them some other particular sub-skills. Students are trained to use the methods that good writers use in writing. Below is an example of the process that good writers have been found to follow in writing (Raimes 1983:21): . They identify why they are writing.. . They identify whom they are writing for.. . They focus the topic.. . They gather material through observing, brainstorming, making notes or lists, talking to others and reading.. . They plan how to go about the task, how to organize the materials and the type of text they are going to write.. . They write a draft.. . They read the draft critically in terms of its content.. . They revise.. . They prepare more drafts, and then a final version.. . They proofread for errors.. . They publish.. 15.

(23) The author of the present research is in total agreement with the above mentioned authors, and also with Ann Raimes (1983:11) when she points out that all approaches to writing overlap and the teacher should not be so devoted to one approach that she or he excludes the others. A teacher should be eclectic, drawing from all methods available. A balanced approach to the teaching of intermediate writing skills should take into consideration all of the factors presented above which are involved in good writing. 1.2.4- Materials-Aids: In order to motivate the students it is very important that teachers know how to choose, design or adapt materials. The author of the present research considers the following principles might be used as guidelines for the teaching of the intermediate-level writing skills. (Kral 1994:90): 1. Materials should be learning-centered rather than teachers centered. They should focus on helping students to develop their own strategies for learning. 2. Materials should be creative. They should provide stimulating activities to focus the students' attention on the things to be learned. Audiovisual aids such as tapes, pictures, and diagrams should be used to activate the students' awareness of the content as something real. 3. Materials should be interesting. They should be related to the student’s interests. Moreover, there should be a variety of text types and activity types in the materials to motivate the students' interest in writing. 4. Materials should be task- based. They should use purposeful tasks to motivate the student’s learning and to make students see the usefu lness of writing. 5. Materials should be practical. They should deal with real- life communication tasks. 1.2.5-Evaluation: Taking into consideration the fact that evaluation is a process of making judgments and decisions based on the interpretation of evidence of the students learning gathered throughout assessment, the evaluation of the written works shoul d be integrative and subjective, that is, assessing if the students are able to integrate their skills to develop the communicative competence in writing.. 16.

(24) The author of the present research is in total agreement with authors like García Alzola E. (1992:220-224) and Brookes & Grundy (1990:52-61); who consider that in a written work, the teacher has the opportunity of evaluating multiple aspects such as: spelling, punctuation, capitalization, the grammatical structure of the sentence; the vocabulary used, the coherence and cohesion of the text, among others; however, the diversity of the written works, difficult the fact of adopting an objective position which permits to provide grades or marks. The author then concludes that the only purpose of the evaluation of a written task, is not to put the student in a scale or identifying him or her with a symbol, but to discover his or her weaknesses in order to be able to act efficiently in the correction of his or her mistakes; and most important for the student, to recognize those weaknesses and adopt a convenient attitude while learning this difficult skill. The evaluation then will be just a mere tool for assessing if the student is not able of improving his or her own written work. 1.2.6-Teacher′s role: As Brookes & Grundy (1990:67-68) point out some humanistic methodologies have likened the role of the teacher to that of a counselor, assuming that the best teacher is a non- judgemental listener whose presence encourages the members of the group to bring to the surface what is hidden within them. In order that the teacher becomes an equal member of the group, he or she should be aware of a group of range of behaviors that include the following aspects: . The ability to withdraw and allow the students to discover for themselves.. . Accepting that the less the teacher does, the more the students do and specifically, that the natural discussion is not possible when dominated by the teacher.. . Encouraging self-and peer-correction, and systematically avoiding teacher correction.. . Learning to be a convenient and sometimes fallible information source, a time keeper and a reference in causes of dispute, without becoming at the same t ime an authoritative figure.. 17.

(25) . Actively seeking and respecting the opinions of the students.. . Not asking the students to do things she or he is not prepared to do by him or herself.. . Working within a student’s group, and in the meantime, giving the necessary instructions to the whole class.. . Providing good reasons to the class for those occasions when she or he is not working with them as an equal.. If the teacher inclines towards this role rather than that of the instructor or pedagogue, it is likely to make the writing lessons more enjoyable for the students. 1.2.7-Role of the students: The communicative approach to the teaching of English suggests that the role of the students in any communicative lesson should not be a passive role, but an active one. Particularly in the writing lessons, the students are supposed to go through those sub-processes of writing such as: brainstorming for topics of interest, gathering information, putting that information down on a paper, revising; etc. Also the students should confer with the teacher and peers as needed and being able to recognize errors for themselves and using their own strategies to correct those mistakes. The author of the present research concludes that knowing the components of the teaching learning process of writing is a very important aspect for the teacher to have in mind in order to be able to teach writing without missing any of them. In the following topic the application of the communicative principles to the teaching of writing will be analyzed. 1.2.8- Foreign language teaching communicative principles applied to the teaching of writing. In order to teach writing communicatively, the communicative principles must be used as guidelines for choosing, designing, or adapting materials for the teaching of t he intermediate-level writing skills. The author would like to suggest classroom procedures. 18.

(26) for the balanced approach proposed making use of the following principles and techniques: 1. Even though language learning is divided into four skill areas, i.e., reading, writing, listening and speaking, the skills should not be treated in total isolation of each other. Thus, although writing is the focus of attention in the writing classroom, it should always be supported by other skills. 2. The students should do as much of the work as possible, not the teacher. The teacher’s role is to advise on procedures and to monitor the work that is going on. 3. Students should work together on a lot of the activities through pair and group work. Discussion is important in generating and organizing ideas and for discovering what it is that the writer wants to say, even though the actual writing may be done individually. 4. When pair or group work is used, the teacher should monitor it carefully to see that it is proceeding smoothly. On- the- spot correction and advice can be provided as appropriate. Although a lot of self- evaluation should be built in, students will want to have feedback on what they have written. However, this should be done after the students have tried to correct their work themselves. 5. Students should be asked to exchange their compositions so that they become readers of each other’s work. This is an important part of the writing experience because it is by responding as readers that students will develop an awareness of the fact that a writer is producing something to be read by someone else. And though analyzing and commenting on another person’s work, they will develop the ability to read their own writing critically. In correcting work, the teacher should: . Introduce a correction code with symbols for the different types of errors. This encourages students to use their communicative competence, that is, the information inside their heads, to correct their own mistakes, or to ask questions to put them right. (Appendix 1).. . Focus on global rather than local errors. That is, attend to errors that interfere with comprehensibility rather than errors that have little effect on the reader’s. 19.

(27) ability to understand. In general, global errors involve poor sentence and paragraph organization, omitting needed information, misuse (including omission) of sentence linkers and logical connectors, breakdown in tense concord across sentences, and ambiguity of reference (including relative pronouns). . Let students know how successful they have been in achieving the aims of the task by including a short overall comment. (Kral; 1994:91).. The use of the communicative principles while teaching writing denotes the fact that the teaching of this skill should be a communicative act as well. The stages of the writing lesson will be analyzed in the following topic. 1.2.9- The stages of a free Writing lesson There exist many opinions about the parts of a writing lesson. A strong assumption on this topic is that writing lessons should be divided into three stages: a presentation stage (in which the type of text the teacher wants the students to produce is presented and the teacher and the students analyze its part, its content, the target language used); a controlled practice stage (in which the students reproduce the type of text presented as a model; that is working with the content and form of the specific text) and a free practice stage (in which the students produce a new piece of writing). On the other hand, some teachers believe that writing lessons are divided into: before, while and after writing stages. In the author’s opinion both types integrate, since before, while and after writing stages are considered as the parts of the free practice lesson. It is in these sub -stages of a free practice writing lesson that the students should develop the particular sub -skills of writing. In the before-writing stage (or pre-writing) the students are supposed to: . Determine the topic.. . Focus the topic.. . Identify why they are writing and whom they are writing for: define the writing purpose.. 20.

(28) . Gather materials through observing, brainstorming, making notes or lists, talking to others and reading; that is: the planning of ideas.. . Plan how to go about the task, and how to organize the materials; organiz e the ideas, structure the information.. In the while writing stage, the students should: . Write a draft. . Read the draft critically in terms of its content (reorganize, shift emphasis, focus information and style for the readership).. . Edit or revise (the use of words, grammatical structures, cohesive devices, mechanics and punctuation, spelling accurately, appropriately and correctly).. . Proofreading for errors. . Publishing.. The after-writing stage is aimed at: . Combining writing with other language skills or extending.. Summing up, knowing the parts of a writing lesson is essential for the teacher in order to better guide the students through the process of writing. In the following topic the author would like to analyze the components that should take part in a writ ing lesson. 1.2.10- Components that should be present in a writing lesson. Each lesson should concentrate on one type of writing activity; for example, a letter of complaint, an accident report, etc. All the activities should lead up to the final writing activity. Here is one way that the activities in a unit can be organized so that a student is fully prepared to do the final writing task (Kral; 1994: 90 -91). 1. Input. The lesson should begin with a reading passage that is a good example of the type of writing the teacher wants the student to be able to produce. This closed reading passage is used to provide content that is shared by all students in the classroom. It provides subject matter for discussion and for composition topics. Students become familiar with the vocabulary, idioms, sentence patterns,. 21.

(29) and organization used. The students can learn a great deal about writing from closed reading. 2. Language practice. After seeing an example of the types of language used in the reading passage, students can be given training in the production of the grammar, vocabulary, idioms, sentence patterns, and organization needed for the writing purpose. This training is provided in four parts: . Language summary. Students study charts which display the language. patterns and use many of the vocabulary terms that apply to the type of writing taught. . Controlled writing. Students are given exercises in which a great deal of the. content and or form is supplied. The student’s job is, for example, to fill in the missing information or to manipulate the order of the content. . Outline. The student is presented with one or more patterns for the overall. organization of a passage of the type of writing being studied. This is often followed by guided writing practice. . Guided writing. This provides further practice using the grammatical points or. syntactic structures taught in the language summary, but gives the students more freedom to use the vocabulary, idioms, ideas, and organization introduced in the reading passage. This leads up to the relatively free writing of the student’s final writing activity. 3. Semi- free Writing. This is a type of activity in which the students, singly or in pairs or in a group, use their own ideas to write a passage, although the ideas are controlled by the purpose that the teacher provides some help and by the need to use the grammatical and or syntactic patterns taught in the unit. 4. Revision. After the composition is written, it will be given to another student or other students who make comments on the content and form. Then it is rewritten and submitted to the teacher for his or her comments. After the students revise the second draft, the third draft is handed in to the teacher as the final product.. 22.

(30) All the aspects previously analyzed are essential for the teaching of writing. The teacher should be aware of all those aspects if he or she wants his or her students to succeed and communicate effectively in English. Nevertheless, the previously mentioned aspects cannot be successfully attained if a suitable level of fluency in writing is not reached; that is why the following topic deals with the development of fluency in writing. 1.3- The development of fluency in writing The core of the present research is the development of fluency in writing as it has been previously mentioned. In the following topics the concepts of fluency and its components are analyzed. 1.3.1- What fluency is. The process of defining fluency in writing has been a difficult issue for the author of this investigation. The term fluency is usually associated to speaking and is defined as: reasonable. speech:. with. sufficient. precision:. with. reasonable. correctness. (grammatically, lexically, phonologically). (Van Ek and Alexander cited by Richards C. Jack (1995:75). Fillmore also cited by Richards C. Jack (1995:75), states that fluency is the ability to fill time with talk… the ability to talk in coherent, reasoned and semantically dense sentences showing a mastery of the semantic and syntactic resources of the language. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language on the other hand, defines the term fluency as: a smooth, rapid, effortless use of language (2006:452). As bibliographical reference about fluency in writing is quite reduced, some teachers even doubted if the term fluency in writing existed. The following definitions were provided by some teachers who were interviewed. A group of them agreed that fluency in writing was: . Writing with ease.. . Expressing ideas easily.. . To put one’s thoughts in words with ease.. . Capacity to write all you want. 23.

(31) . Writing without breakings in the flow of ideas.. . Process in which the written message flows with sense, coherence and cohesion.. . Putting down all the ideas that communicate a message.. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (1997: 142-143) states that in second and foreign language teaching, fluency in writing describes a level of proficiency in communication, which includes: . The ability to produce written language with ease.. . The ability to write with good, but not necessarily with a perfect command of accuracy, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation.. . The ability to communicate ideas effectively.. . The ability to write without causing comprehension difficulties or a breakdown in communication. Although the author of this research agrees with all the above definitions; the bibliography consulted refers to fluency in writing as: the natural flow and organization of ideas in a written work. (Adapted from How to Improve Writing Fluency...). Fluency is sometimes contrasted with accuracy, which refers to the ability to produce grammatically correct sentences but may not include the ability to write fluently. 1.3.2 - Components of fluency in writing. In order to be able to understand better the fuzzy concept of fluency in writing, it is necessary to split that concept in two main categories, which are: flow of ideas and organization of the ideas. Within the flow of the ideas the following aspects can be found: purpose, themes and vocabulary. Regarding the organization of the ideas in the text, the aspects to consider are: coherence, cohesion and punctuation. In the following paragraphs each of the previously mentioned aspects is analyzed in detail. Purpose: This is an important aspect that should be taken into consideration by a writer in order to accomplish his or her task. Webster’s Dictionary defines purpose as. 24.

(32) something set up as an objective or end to be attained; an intention (1983:694). Writing, as it has been previously stated, is as an essentially social activity in which texts are written to do thighs; if the reader cannot recognize the purpose of a text, communication will not be successful. Thus; textual decisions depend on the writer’s perception of the audience. The writer must negotiate a match between the purpose of the text and the needs of the reader, as far as these needs can be predicted. The purposes in writing vary and among the most important ones describing, explaining, comparing, contrasting and informing can be found. Kral (1994:92). It is not possible to conceive a fluent piece of writing which has not its purpose well defined. Themes: Theme is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as a subject or topic of discourse (1983:915). The range of themes a writer can use to develop his or her writing skills is very wide. The students can write about whatever they like to write about, but there should be a certain relationship with the themes of the unit they are working on and the theme of their writing itself. The themes on the other hand, should be as more meaningful as they can to motivate the students to write fluently. Vocabulary: is defined by Webster’s Dictionary (1983:996) as a sum or stock of words employed by a language, group, individual or work or in a field of kno wledge. Probably, is the vocabulary the most important aspect to take into consideration when talking about fluency in writing. When someone is learning any language the vocabulary is a problematic issue. People want to express themselves, but it is diffic ult since they do not know most of the words in the foreign language; and it becomes more challenging when they are asked to write. The author of the present research would like to suggest some pre -writing techniques widely used all over the world to help students not only to acquire vocabulary, but also to use it when they are asked to write (appendix 2); however, people do not write the same way they speak; that is why the vocabulary a writer uses in his or her writing will depend on:. 25.

(33) . The audience.. . The theme.. . The type of writing.. . The purpose of writing.. A writer should be aware of the previous aspects while selecting the vocabulary she or he will use in his or her writing if he or she wants to attain fluency in his or her written text. Coherence: According to Jack C. Richards (1990:104), coherence is used to refer to the overall semantic structure and unity of a text. Coherence is a fundamental requirement of written discourse. Although it is a fuzzy concept that is difficult to define, coherence is an essential practical construct in discussing the quality of written discourse and also to attain fluency in writing. Canale, cited by Richards C. Jack (1990:104) considers that for a text to have coherence the following aspects should present : 1. Development: The presentation of ideas must be orderly and convey a sense of direction. 2. Continuity: There must be consistence of facts, opinions, and writer perspective, as well as reference to previously mentioned ideas. Newly introduced ideas must be relevant. 3. Balance: A relative emphasis (main or supportive must be accorded to each idea.) 4. Completeness: The ideas presented must provide a sufficiently careful discourse. Coherence is then an important element for the development of fluency in writing. A fluent text should cohere indeed and the way ideas should be organized in a text is also an important element of coherence. There might be several viewpoints regarding the way a text should be organized and the required organization of a particular text will depend on the type of text a writer wants to. 26.

(34) produce; but generally all written texts should follow the pattern of organization suggested as follows: Parts of a paragraph: . Topic sentence or Introduction: This sentence or part introduces or states the main idea. It should be precise and is usually placed at the beginning of the paragraph.. . Supporting sentences or development: This part helps to develop the topic sentence. The sentences included in this part of the text explain the topic by giving reasons, examples, facts, etc.. . Closing sentence or conclusion: It indicates that the paragraph is ending by summing up important points or re-stating the main idea. (Taken from ArrowMight Workbook 3…). The author of the present research is in total agreement with Richards C. J. (1 990:105) when he alleges that every type of writing reflects a particular kind of text or discourse structure, and also that a good writer should be able to draw on these discourse patterns in organizing his or her writing. Cohesion: A complementary perspective on the unity of the text is that of cohesion. Whereas coherence refers to the way in which the ideas in a text give it a sense of semantic unity, cohesion refers to the linking relationships that are explicitly expressed in the surface structure of the text (Halliday & Hassan cited by Richards C. Jack 1990:105). For the mentioned authors, cohesion is achieved through the use of a variety of lexical and grammatical relationships between items within sentences in the text. They identify five types of cohesive ties: reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction and lexical: 1. Reference: The children did not come because they wanted to stay inside. 2. Substitution: We wanted to buy some glasses and finally bought some French ones. 3. Ellipsis: Would you like to hear another verse? I know twelve (verses) more.. 27.

(35) 4. Conjunction: I was not informed. Otherwise I would have taken some action. 5. Lexical: Henry presented her with his own portrait. As it happened, she had always wanted a portrait of Henry. Obviously, the appropriate use of cohesive devices (Appendix 3) supports the overall coherence of a written text and represents another dimension of writing that a writer has to master in order to be fluent. Punctuation: According to the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (2006:463), is a set of graphic signs used in written language to separate units in a linear sequence, to indicate when one unit is included in another, or to make a specific grammatical or attitudinal function(such as possession or exclamation). The use of punctuation marks is essential for the total understanding of any piece of writing, and a misuse of those punctuation marks can lead to misunderstandings of the desired message. (Appendix 4) The following diagram summarizes the aspects previously discussed:. Fluency in writing. Organization of the text. Flow of the ideas. Coherence Cohesion Punctuation. Purpose Theme Vocabulary. In the present topic of the research the author has analyzed the features that characterize the teaching of writing and the development of fluency within the teaching. 28.

(36) learning process of this skill. The following epigraph will be dealing with the diagnosis process. 2. Diagnosis of the current situation of fluency in writing in the group 11 th 1 from Wilfredo Pérez Pérez Pre- University School in Ranchuelo In the previous topic the author of the present research made emphasis on the theoretical foundations that support the development of fluency in writing which is the focus of this research. This part of the research is intended to deal with the needs assessment of the current situation of fluency in writing. 2.1- Planning of the diagnosis process The present research was carried out in “Wilfredo Pérez Pérez” Pre-University School in Ranchuelo Municipality. Due to the current changes occurred within the National System of Education and because of political and economic reasons; it was decided by the Cuban educative authorities, to move these types of schools from the countryside to the cities and towns and these types of educative institutions were born in the course 2009 2010; hence, the school in which the present research was carried out is relatively a new one. The subjects of investigation of the present research were 29 students from group 11 th1. This group of students comes from Camilo Cienfuegos Secondary School, in which they received English with the same teacher during three courses. In this particular group the students’ ages oscillate between 15 and 16 years, which is an important aspect to take into consideration since all of them have the same interests according to their ages. The reasons why the research was carried out in this group were firstly because the author of the research works with this group since the students were in 10 th grade and also because the problem under focus has a great connotation in it since then. As it was previously stated in the first part of this research, fluency in writing is the natural flow and organization of ideas in a written work; the following categories of analysis and rating scale were used while planning the diagnosis process if fluency in writing.. 29.

(37) Categories of analysis. Flow ideas. Subcategories. of Vocabulary. Organization of the ideas.. Rating scale High. Average. Low. There exists a great variety in the vocabulary and the use of phrases in English.. Sometimes the vocabulary and the phrases used are not varied.. The vocabulary used is poor and not varied.. Purpose. The purpose of writing can be easily appreciated.. Sometimes the purpose of writing cannot be appreciated.. The purpose of the text is hard to identify.. Theme. The topic is Sometimes the The topic is well focused. topic is not well not focused. focused.. Coherence. The parts of the Although the written text are parts of the text well defined. are well defined, The information is well sometimes they organized. The are mixed in ideas are the text. The completed and information is not well continued. organized sometimes. The ideas are not always completed and continued.. The parts of the text are hard to identify. The information is not well organized. The ideas are neither continued nor completed.. 30.

(38) Cohesion. There exist Sometimes enough linking there are not devices. enough linking The sentence devices.. There are not linking devices.. The sentence elements are Sometimes the elements are well organized. sentence not well elements are organized. The verbal well There tenses are not are organized. used plenty of accurately. Sometimes problems there are with the problems with concord of the concord of the verbal the verbal tenses. tenses. Punctuation The punctuation marks are used with correction.. Sometimes there are difficulties with the use of punctuation marks.. There is a misuse of the punctuation marks.. The following empirical methods were applied by the author of this research to corroborate the fact that the lack of fluency while producing a piece of writing was really a problem this particular group of students had: . Document analysis.. . Pedagogical test.. . Group interview to students. . Interview to teachers of English.. . Portfolios.. Within the document analysis the following documents were analyzed for they ar e a great source of information to the completion of the research: . Revision of the syllabus program.. . Analysis of the Methodological guidelines.. 31.

(39) . Analysis of the workbook.. In order to determine the directions offered by the normative documents of the target grade, an accurate revision of the program was done. The aim of this instrument was to analyze the designing of the syllabus program regarding the development of the writing skill; specifically the development of fluency while producing a piece of writing. The 11th grade workbook was also analyzed to corroborate if the exercises devoted to develop the writing skill took into consideration the development of fluency as well. Interviews to the students and to the teachers were applied to know the criteria of the former regarding their level o fluency while producing a piece of writing; and also to be acquainted with the importance the latter grant to the problem under study. The portfolios, used to keep a record of the writing assignments of the students and also to cheek if the students had made progresses while producing their pieces of writing, were aimed at corroborating the existence of the problem under study, and also to try to find solutions to the problem under study since they were the actual core o f the present research. The analyzed products were: the students' assignments and the mid-term tests. The pedagogical test was used with the aim of assessing the students’ level of fluency while producing a piece of writing. In the following topic the author of the research will describe how the above discussed methods and instruments were applied. 2.2- The process of application of the investigation instrume nts and analysis of the results 2.2.1- Revision of the syllabus program. (Annex 5) The document analysis was the first method used, and in the following paragraphs the results of this analysis are presented. The English Program for 11 th grade has five units, going throughout a wide variety of communicative functions which involve several grammatical structures such as present perfect, past perfect, future continuous among others. The main objective of the subject. 32.

(40) in 11th grade is to achieve an elementary level of communicative competence that allows the students to interact, in the written and in the o ral way, in the foreign language. Regarding the writing skill, the main goal stated by the syllabus program is that the students should express themselves in the written way using the corresponding communicative functions with the proper linguistic correction that does not interfere with the comprehension of the message with a great richness in the language. The following chart shows the topics of the program, the communicative function and the writing activities for each topic: Topics of the program 1- What have I done? 2Telling stories. 3- What will you be doing? 4- What would you like to eat? 5- Professions. Communicative functions. Writing activities. Talking about what people have Write a description of a person you done over a period of time. really admire. Reporting information. Narrating past experiences and memories in writing. Talking about future actions. Writing a letter about future plans. Giving instructions.. Writing a creative recipe.. Describing jobs and professions Writing a description of one’s skills, and describing one’s skills a Curriculum Vitae or a Resume.. 33.

(41) 2.2.2-Analysis of the Methodological guidelines: The writing ability in the Pre- University level should be aimed at the development of certain sub-skills, such as: note taking, summarizing oral and written texts and also the composing of simple texts to narrate experiences and memorable activities like descriptions of personalities and places. The activities designed to achieve the previous goals should be derived from the oral work and from the reading texts as well. The writing tasks should be assigned as independent work to be checked for the teacher. The most remarkable mistakes should be checked by the teacher and the students as well. Before finishing any task and/or lesson, it is very important that the students reflect on their own development, which is a very important aspect while they reflect on their own development. The students should write simple texts like a description of a place, and anecdote or a remarkable experience, their daily activities, etc., so as to demonstrate the skills acquired to organize the information. The following aspects should be taken into account when evaluating the written assignements: . Correspondence between the information and the topic.. . Linguistic correction (the use of grammatical structures, vocabulary, spelling rules, use of punctuation marks).. . Coherent organization of the information.. . The amount of information offered to develop the topic.. The evaluation of the written assignments is made in an integrative way and the most important aspect to take into consideration should be whether the message is comprehensible or not. Although most of the aspects of fluency in writing are required to be present in the written assignments of the students, there are not orientations of how to work with them. 34.

(42) within the methodological guidelines of the grade. In the following topic the results of the revision of the workbook are analyzed. 2.2.3- Analysis of the workbook. (Annex 6) The 11th grade English workbook was another document analyzed. The aim of this revision was to corroborate the amount of writing activities present in it, and also if those activities helped to develop the students’ level of organization and flow of the ideas in writing. There is a total of 30 activities in the workbook related to writing, but most of these activities are devoted to develop writing as an instrument. The writing time sections are those devoted to develop writing as such. In those sections, there are litt le suggestions about how to organize the written information and the agreement of the verbal tenses used in the particular type of writing required, and a poor number of tips regarding cohesion. Punctuation, on the other hand is not treated. Regarding the flow of the ideas, even though the themes for writing are well defined, there are not enough activities to work with the vocabulary. 2.2.4-Pedagogical test. (Annex 7) While checking the results of the pedagogical test applied to the students from group 11th 1, plenty of problems were found regarding fluency in writing. Most of the students’ pieces of writing presented difficulties regarding coherence since most of the ideas in the texts were neither completed nor well placed in the letters. Also, the use of linking devices was very poor and the agreement of the verbal tenses was affected as well. In a great number of written works the vocabulary used was very poor; thus most of the time the desired message was not comprehensible. Moreover, some of the stu dents’ pieces of writing presented problems with the use of punctuation marks. In the following point the results of the interview to the students are analyzed.. 35.

(43) 2.2.5-Interview to the students. (Annex 8) The process of interviewing the students was done in the classroom. Sometimes the teacher had to maintain the discipline in the classroom because the students wanted to speak all at once. There was a great variety in the answers. All the students knew the parts of a written text, but most of them affirmed that it was quite difficult for them to have those parts in mind when they were asked to write in English. Regarding the continuity of the texts while writing in English, most of the students said that it was difficult for them to keep writing on the same topic since they do not have neither enough information on that topic, nor the sufficient vocabulary on that area to write with ease. Most of the students also said that they knew only a few cohesive devices and that was why they did not use them while writing in English. They said that sometimes it was difficult for them to write correct sentences in English since they tried to do it as they do it in Spanish, and most of the time the structure of a sentence in Spanish differs of that of a sentence in Engl ish. Most of them consider they offer the required information in their written assignments and also that they know how to use the punctuation marks correctly. In the following point the results to the interview carried out to the other teachers who work at the institution are analyzed. 2.2.6- Interview to the teachers. (Annex 9) While analyzing the results of the interview carried out to the other two teachers who work at the school, the author of the present research has evidenced that the other professors considered the writing skill as one of vital importance within the teaching of English. The teachers considered the texts their students produce lack coherence since most of the students are not aware of the parts of a written text and do not know how t o organize the written information either. They also affirmed that most of the students do not use enough cohesive devices since they do not know them. They considered that their student’s written assignments did not offer the required information to make the message comprehensible since most of the students lacked vocabulary in English and did not have enough information on the topics even in Spanish. The teachers also. 36.

(44) consider that punctuation is an element which is not so affected, but sometimes some of the students presented deficiencies with the use of punctuation marks. The analysis of the portfolios is described in the following point. 2.2.7- Analysis of the portfolios. (Annex 10) The portfolios have been used since the beginning of the course and e ach student knows that he or she has one because they have been brought to class several times with the purpose that the students know if they have made progresses or not. According to the facts recorded in the portfolios, most of the students' pieces of w riting were not well structured, the topic was neither focused nor well organized either, the structure of most sentences presented plenty of problems. Most of the written works lacked cohesive devices and the verbal tenses were misused, the vocabulary was very poor and the information to make the message comprehensible was not enough; also some mistakes regarding the use of punctuation marks were found. Up to here, the results of the different instruments used during the diagnosis process have been analyzed; in the following topic the results of the triangulation of the above mentioned instruments are presented. 2.2.8- Regularities of the diagnosis. After having analyzed the results of the instruments applied in order to diagnose the factual situation of fluency in writing in the group 11 th 1 from Wilfredo Pérez Pérez PreUniversity School the following regularities have been found: Regarding the organization of ideas the regularities were: . The coherent organization of the ideas in the written texts is one of the aspects considered to work with in the grade; although there is not any suggestion to work with this particular aspect.. . There exist plenty of problems regarding the coherent organization of the information.. 37.