Writing skills are very essential in student education especially in secondary schools. This is due to the fact that this group of students is creating a basis of their writing skills which they will use later on in life. This is one of the parts that teachers in secondary schools put emphasis on. In most cases writing skills is part of English grammar lessons that are taught in secondary schools. The subject is normally compulsory such that all students get to sharpen their skills in writing.
It is understood that writing skills form the core basis of the other subjects. This is because most of the subjects if not all have their exams answered in written form. The other subjects therefore borrow a lot from writing skills. Students who have poor writing skills can actually end up failing their exams in all the subjects because they are not in a position to communicate effectively. This paper is dealing with aspects of students writing skills in secondary school, the essence of writing skills among other factors.
The objectives of this paper are quite diverse in nature. One of the major objectives is to find out the different aspects of students writing skills in secondary school. It also aims at elaborating on the essence of writing skills to these students. Part of the paper clearly shows the level of students’ development of their writing skills. The general development of the students writing skills is also an aspect that is dealt with in this case. Methods of students development is also part and parcel of the objectives of this paper.
Different theories have been invented that are highly related to student learning. All these theories acknowledge that there are various factors that affect a student’s learning. They include their spoken language among other factors.
There are various aspects of student writing skills in secondary schools. They include students having the ability to spell all the words that they write correctly. This is part of the basic principles in writing skills in secondary schools. There is also the other aspect of the use of punctuation marks appropriately when wring essays and compositions. This has to be carried out in a logical fashion. Usually students in secondary schools are required to write sentences that are coherent in nature.
Another requirement in secondary schools language lessons is that students have to clearly and easily recognize the various parts of speech in a written document. Many students are prone to make many spelling mistakes when they are in secondary schools. These mistakes in most cases are caused by the inability to generally differentiate between a noun and a verb.
For instance, students can easily fail to differentiate the word makeup and make up. Students in secondary schools are prone to common mistakes. They include words like it’s and its, you’re and your among others. This is due to ignorance on the students’ part and sometimes they are just not keen in class when the teacher is teaching. There is much use of slang language and this greatly affects their written skills. An example of other words that students easily confuse include they’re, their and there. This is not very encouraging fact considering that secondary students are expected to know these simple facts. Teachers in secondary schools have the responsibility of ensuring that students master these simple principles and aspects in their writing.
The essence of writing skills is that they are highly used in the students’ lives later on. This is when they are even no longer students. The essence of writing skills is to have a generation that is well equipped in their written communication. Writing skills are quite essential because they are the core of communication in this twenty first century. Many students go to school with the aim of getting jobs later in life. When seeking for employment they need to write cover letters, and curriculum vitae. When one lacks the correct writing skills, he or she can miss or rather be denied the job opportunity.
Proper writing skills make communication to be very effective. This is the twenty first era and there are many communications made in chat rooms and through the emails. Without proper writing skills, an individual can be mistaken or misunderstood. It is also very clear that without proper writing skills, students will not be in a position of passing their examinations which are great determinants to their future life.
Communication is part and parcel of life. That is the main reason as to why students in secondary schools have to be taught writing skills. As the students pursue higher education, they tend to specialize in different sectors or professions they are no-longer taught the basics like writing skills. These skills are important because students in the long run will have to work with others and therefore need proper communication skills in writing. The information technology also requires skilful writing to be used.
Writing skills taught in secondary schools enable students to compete with other students all over the world on the same level. Secondary students in most cases have various competitions that they engage in with their peers all over the world. These competitions include writing essays concerning various matters of concern in the contemporary world. This includes essays on poverty alleviation and globalization.
When students develop their writings, they go through different levels. It is quite important that students go through all he levels of development in relation to their writing skills. This enables them to be quite all round and to have in depth knowledge in relation to writing skills.
The first level of students’ development of their writing skills is in relation to speech or the spoken language. It is known that the spoken has great influence to the written. That is why students are required to speak correct language in order to excel in the written. It is a requirement that students in secondary schools speak correct language and those who do not adhere to the rule are normally subject to punishment.
In the academic writing in secondary schools, there are different levels of development. As a good writer, one has to think of the main purpose as to why they are writing. It is also very essential to think about the reader and the expectations. This normally helps in knowing the level of formality of the written script. The written work can range from being extremely informal to extremely formal.
Students are expected that by the time they are joining secondary schools, they already have the basic knowledge of writing informal papers or documents. Examples of documents that require informality include personal letters, reminder document and diary. On the other hand formal documents include examination papers, cover letters, curriculum vitae and also other legal documents like a land title deed.
Students in secondary schools have to develop their writing skills both in line with formal and informal writing. Students can write personal reflections and journals in an informal manner. The formal style of writing is however highly emphasized compared to the informal. Formal scripts also include essays which evaluate, argue or even inform about an issue.
When writing various analysis and explanations about a case study and also reports from research, the formal writing is used. This is due to the fact that most of the papers and written work in secondary schools has to be carried out in a very formal manner. This is a very core requirement of the education curriculum.
Development of students writing skills in secondary schools is very essential. In most cases students are expected o fully develop their formal writing skills. In formal writing, secondary students have to develop and know essential matters. They include the student focusing on the issue and not beating around the bush.
It is highly expected that students research and evaluate a topic before writing their work. In this case the objective of writing has to be kept in mind. The work has to be quite impersonal in nature in order to be more convincing to the reader or teacher for that matter. It is a requirement that students choose words that have very precise meanings.
In this case secondary school students are required to avoid using words that have vague meaning because they are more colloquial in nature. As students develop their written skills in secondary schools, they are expected to avoid using abbreviations, clichés, and jargon and also slang language. It is also very important that as students develop their writing skills they avoid having definite claims but rather have them in tentative pose.
There are various methods of development of students writing kills in secondary schools. One other known method is the cooperative method. Cooperative method of learning development has been known to produce positive results. The outcome of using this method in secondary schools is very attractive in nature. In this method, students are generally provided with an environment where they can develop their language, share ideas, have constructive feedback and also develop their vocabulary. This method is highly incorporated in secondary schools. In this case students are put in groups where they have open forums of discussion and developing of their spoken and written language. In this case, cooperative interaction between students is successfully incorporated in all their stages of writing. Before writing a script or paper, students are allowed to brainstorm on ideas and discuss the important issues that need to be written. Students co-work in the whole process.
Students are allowed to share ideas in line with conferring, editing and proofreading their work. Cooperative method allows secondary school students to share and even present their work in the team. Through this, students are in a position to correct each other and also learn from each other. This method gives students the opportunity to get different views of the same topic.
Another method is the multiple intelligences (MI). In this method students are guided to have both interpersonal and intrapersonal connections that enable them to sharpen their writing skills. This is the integration of much intelligence. Intrapersonal connections involve the connections that are personal based. Interpersonal connections on the other hand are more of students interacting cooperatively. In this case there is performance of skits, drawing illustrations and generally use graphic organizers to facilitate learning.
The following hypotheses are used in the research concerning development of writing skills in secondary schools;
- Students in secondary schools are taught extensive writing skills
- There are different methods of development of students’ writing skills
- Students in secondary schools go through different levels of development of writing skills
- There are various aspects of students’ writing skills in secondary schools
Writing skills are quite essential to secondary school students. This is due to the fact that they form the basis of the other subjects taught in school. Writing skills are needed in learning mathematics, science and history among other subjects. There are various aspects of writing skills. They include students writing the correct spellings. Other aspects also include using both the past and the present tenses correctly.
Use of the right punctuation marks when writing essays and research papers is also very essential aspect of writing. Students go through different levels of developing their writing skills. This ranges from acquaintance to familiarity of the writing skills. They also get to learn more about formal and informal writing and the issues associated with the two during these levels. Developing of student’s writing skills when they are in secondary school is very essential. These skills are normally used later in life in different avenues. There are different methods of developing students’ writing skills in secondary schools. They include the cooperative method and multiple intelligences. All these factors well incorporated result in excellence in written languages in secondary schools.
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