Learning to write in either a first or second language is one of the most difficult tasks a learner encounters and one that few can be said to fully master (Richards, 1990: 100).

Anyone who has studied a foreign language (FL) will be aware of the implications of the above quotation. Hedge (1988) refers humorously to the way that students see writing as 'times of sighing, pencil-chewing, foot-shuffling agony'. She comments particularly on the difficulty of the writer not being able to use devices available to speakers (gestures, body movements, facial expressions, etc). Writing, Hedge argues, becomes detached in students' minds from the expressive possibilities of speech, and this can create a lonely, dispiriting experience for students. Richards (1990), researching FL learning and classroom practice, observes that written language is an 'autonomous system'. In addition to the fact that it is 'uncontextualized', it employs a different syntax and vocabulary from spoken discourse, and in comparison with spoken language, is characterized by at least some of the following features:

• writing has more complex clauses than speech;
• writing has a greater variety of clause types than speech;
• writing has more specific vocabulary than speech;
• writing has more complex verb phrases and tenses than speech.

Nunan (1990) supports Richards' view, but notes that the difference between writing and speech is really a 'mode continuum', in which language is 'more like written language' or 'more like spoken language'.

Undoubtedly, even though it is thought to be more difficult, writing is just as rewarding as speech when a task is completed satisfactorily and an appropriate level is achieved. Many FL students are intrinsically interested in writing, whether it be to communicate better in their professional lives or to write for pleasure. They may also enjoy grappling with academic style in the FL, or developing their skills in creative writing or translation.

The development of the communicative approach in the 1970s has led to a review of the place of writing in FL teaching. Writing, like speech, is central to the use of language in meaningful contexts. The communicative approach stresses the importance of written, as well as spoken communicative competence (ie the ability to use the linguistic system both effectively and appropriately). Proponents of the communicative approach argue that this is best achieved by providing motivating, realistic contexts where strategic competence can be developed: that is, an ability to draw resourcefully on all one's linguistic knowledge to complete a set task.

Although the development towards more communicative teaching of writing seems to be positive, you may find that the communicative approach has not been adopted in your own department, and that more traditional tasks such as prose, essay and translation are favoured. At higher levels, communicative ability is often assumed as 'given', and the objective of study may be a more literary, sophisticated or stylized form of language. High-level students are generally asked to demonstrate accomplishment and achievement in written language, and translations and essays are still seen as a means of doing this. Increasingly, though, university departments are placing greater emphasis on training and transferable skills, and this means that there is often a greater balance these days between the 'high' cultural practices of literary translation and the 'popular' nature of communicative tasks. Recent research also suggests that there is greater awareness of the diversity of writing activities engaged in during a typical working life, and this leads to the need to prepare for all eventualities and possibilities (Lea and Stierer, 2000; Ganobcsik-Williams, 2001).

From a more pragmatic point of view, writing is the main way that FL skills are assessed and evaluated, and it is used widely to provide evidence of successful learning (Richards, 1990). Writing is more durable than speech, so it can be more readily analyzed and is therefore easier to assess. If this may be an unhappy fact of life, it is generally accepted without question, even in leisure classes within language centres, where university accreditation has now become the norm. For this reason, the importance of teaching writing effectively needs to be carefully considered.

This module explores the subject of FL writing in classroom settings. In it you will be asked:

• to reflect on your own feelings about the purpose of writing in the FL classroom; ·
• to reflect on the practice of your own department and the rationale for its practice; ·
• to consider the factors (institutional and individual) which determine the types of writing task that are possible within your and other departments;
• to consider the wide variety of FL writing tasks that can be set;
• to consider practical techniques for developing your own teaching of writing;
• to reflect on some ways of providing feedback to students on their writing.

During the module, you will find references to a number of approaches to writing taken from various sources, both research-based and practice-oriented. These include:

• theoretical studies based on research into first language (L1) acquisition (eg Krashen, 1985);
• studies based on research into FL learning (eg Grabe and Kaplan, 1996; Richards, 1990; Hedge, 2000);
• research-based studies based specifically on the writing process itself (Sharples, 1999);
• general study skills books on writing for students (eg Creme and Lea, 2000; Stott et al, 2001);
• general books about educational issues, including writing (eg Brindley, 1995);
• writing skills course books for use by teachers in class (eg Sherman, 1994);
• teacher resource books (eg Hedge, 1988; Rinvolucri, 1990; Hadfield and Hadfield, 1990).

It is hoped that by the end of this module you will be more aware of different ways of teaching FL writing, and will have a greater repertoire of writing tasks appropriate to your own teaching situation.

Preliminary activity
To begin with, consider the following statements about how you use writing tasks in the classroom. With reference to your own teaching situation, decide whether each sentence is true or false. When you have finished working through the whole module, you will be asked to consider your responses again, and to decide whether you would change any of them.

This task may reveal that you tend to set writing as homework tasks, and that you do not see writing as particularly communicative. This is the most common scenario in FL teaching in higher education (HE), and you are not alone. If this is the case, it is hoped that you will approach the module that follows with an open mind, and will think about whether there are any other ways that you might introduce writing into the classroom.