(2)Help to student writers understand his or her own composing process;
(3)Give students time to write and rewrite;
(4)Place central importance on the process of revision;
(5)Let students discover what they want to say as they write;
(6)Give students feedback throughout the composing process (not just on the final product) to consider as they attempt to bring their expression closer and closer to intention;
(7)Encourage feedback both from the instructor and peers;
(8)Include individual conferences between teacher and student during the process of composition [7] .
3. 1. 3 Advantages of process-oriented approach
Product approach focuses on grammatical and discourse levels, looking at error, fluency, writing quality, and structure. However, the product-oriented approach of teaching writing pays great attention to the accuracy of the final product but ignores the process, which the students go through to reach the final goal.
A comparison between product approach and process approach
Product-based approach Process-based approach
Principles Based on behaviorism and structuralism, writing is a process of stimulus and responding Based on the theories of cognitive psychology, writing is a process of exploring and discovering ideas.
Methods Emphasizing on the accuracy of language, and providing models for students to copy or imitate Giving students more time to discuss, write and revise, and giving more feedback before the final product
Activities Imitating, structure practice, Controlled writing and free writing Discussing, brainstorming, drafting, revising and editing
Advantages Helpful for the students to grasp grammar and language structure. Student- centered, and helpful for the students to develop their creativity and to generate contents and ideas
Disadvantages Teacher-centered and neglecting writing as a cognitive process and content. May not provide sufficient input to carry out the writing tasks successfully
In fact, battles in second language writing research have been pitched between process and product writing paradigms since the early 1980s. Despite the rapid growth of process approach in research and its increasingly extensive application in classrooms, product approach is still being widely used by teachers, just as Raimes puts it, teachers did not all strike out along this new path [8]. She assumes that it is merely because teachers cannot adapt to the radical changes arising form the process approach, and they would rather enjoy the traditional contexts where they might always feel safer by having priority and authority. Probably this is true in some cases, but it is not often the case of the English classrooms in China. Many EFL teachers in China adopt the process approach mainly because it has been proved effective by their foreign counterparts. They have not taken into consideration the specific and distinctive learning context in China. As a matter of fact, it is usually presumed that the newer is always better. But there must be some reasons that product approach has been there for thousands of years either in China or in such countries as Britain and ancient Greece. Consequently, the traditional product approach cannot be totally rejected. Rather it may be a better instructional approach for Chinese students. And this needs to be further proved by studies.
It is generally assumed that people write to communicate. But things would be different for Chinese learners of English. For most of them are still students, they write, in most cases, because they have to, and they must write as an indispensable part of various tests and exams. They write to pass exams, to achieve degrees, to study abroad, to get satisfactory jobs. They are said to have instrumental motivation rather than integrative motivation. According to some researchers, learners who have integrative motivation are more likely to succeed in language learning than those with instrumental motivation. Frankly, they are not highly motivated. For this reason, how can Chinese students be expected to be actively involved in the writing activities, which are always advocated and required in the process of writing instruction.
From what shown in the above table, we can see that process approach changes the teacher-centered position thoroughly. The class no longer belongs to teacher only, but all people in the classroom. This method reflects interactive between teacher and students, but also between students and students. Process approach, from its very beginning, has kept its stand of making radical changes to the traditional writing instruction.
3. 2 Providing effective feedback to students
Providing feedback is often seen as the ESL writing teacher’s most important tasks, offering the kind of individualized attention that is otherwise rarely possible under normal classroom conditions. In the writing instruction in the ESL context，error correction is always something that baffles teacher. Positive or formative feedback provides opportunities for students to see how others respond to their wok and gives helps to the students in repairs and amendments, which are often done according to the evaluations of readers and their own increasing critical judgment. However, the previous investigation has indicated that inappropriate feedback is a main factor that de-motivates the college students in English writing, and it is to some extent responsible for the students’ poor performance in English writing.
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