106 developing writing skills in teaching foreign languages

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DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS IN TEACHING 
FOREIGN LANGUAGES 
Zokirova Z.T. 
Zokirova Z.T. 
DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS IN TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES 
Zokirova Zulfiya Tursunovna - Senior Teacher of English,
DEPARTMENT OF TEACHING LANGUAGES,
MANAGEMENT IN PRODUCTION FACULTY, 
FERGANA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE,
FERGANA, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN 
 
Abstract: 
the article under discussion reveals the importance of 
developing writing skills in teaching foreign languages. The 
author of the article suggests several interesting strategies that 
improve writing skills of the learners. 
Keywords: 
writing skills, message, needs, balance, free, revised 
writing, praise, challenge, outside the classroom.
 
Good writing conveys a meaningful message and uses English 
well, but the message is more important than correct presentation. 
If you can understand the message or even part of it, your student 
has succeeded in communicating on paper and should be praised 
for that. For many adult ESL learners, writing skills will not be 
used much outside your class. This doesn't mean that they 
shouldn't be challenged to write, but you should consider their 
needs and balance your class time appropriately. Many adults 
who do not need to write will enjoy it for the purpose of sharing 
their thoughts and personal stories, and they appreciate a format 
where they can revise their work into better English than if they 
shared the same information orally [1, p.p. 1-4].
Two writing strategies you may want to use in your lessons are 
free writing and revised writing. Free writing directs students to 
simply get their ideas onto paper without worrying much about 
grammar, spelling, or other English mechanics. In fact, the 
teacher can choose not to even look at free writing pieces. To 
practice free writing, give students 5 minutes in class to write 
about a certain topic, or ask them to write weekly in a journal. 
You can try a dialog journal where students write a journal entry 
and then give the journal to a partner or the teacher, who writes 

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another entry in response. The journals may be exchanged during 
class, but journal writing usually is done at home. The main 
characteristic of free writing is that few errors are corrected by the 
teacher, which relieves students of the pressure to perform and 
allows them to express themselves more freely. 
Revised writing, also called extended or process writing is a 
more formal activity in which students must write a first draft, 
then revise and edit it to a final polished version, and often the 
finished product is shared publicly. You may need several class 
sessions to accomplish this. Begin with a pre-writing task such as 
free writing, brainstorming, discussion of a topic, making a 
timeline, or making an outline. Pairs or small groups often work 
well for pre-writing tasks. Then give the students clear 
instructions and ample time to write the assignment. In a class, 
you can circulate from person to person asking, "Do you have any 
questions?" Many students will ask a question when approached 
but otherwise would not have raised a hand to call your attention. 
Make yourself available during the writing activity; don't sit at a 
desk working on your next lesson plan. Once a rough draft is 
completed, the students can hand in their papers for written 
comment, discuss them with you face to face, or share them with 
a partner, all for the purpose of receiving constructive feedback. 
Make sure ideas and content are addressed first; correcting the 
English should be secondary. Finally, ask students to rewrite the 
piece. They should use the feedback they received to revise and 
edit it into a piece they feel good about. Such finished pieces are 
often shared with the class or posted publicly, and depending on 
the assignment, you may even choose to 'publish' everyone's 
writing into a class booklet. 
Writing, though, should not be viewed as an activity that 
happens only within a classroom’s walls. Teachers need to 
support students in the development of writing lives, habits, and 
preferences for life outside school. We already know that many 
students do extensive amounts of self-sponsored writing: 
emailing, keeping journals or doing creative projects, instant 
messaging, making Web sites, blogging and so on. As much as 
possible, instruction should be geared toward making sense in a 

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life outside of school, so that writing has ample room to grow in 
individuals’ lives. It is useful for teachers to consider what 
elements of their curriculum they could imagine students self-
sponsoring outside of school. Ultimately, those are the activities 
that will produce more writing. 
Writing and reading are related. People who read a lot have a 
much easier time getting better at writing. In order to write a