Introduction

Language is not knowledge， but a set of valuable skills. Unlike talking， it is not a natural skill. We must remember that humanity existed for centuries in highly communicative and linguistically sophisticated societies that were largely illiterate. Writing is social inventions that have to be taught and learned， practiced and mastered.

However， writing does seem the most challenging skill to teach. Many of my colleagues who are very fine and caring teachers have told me that they have simply given up on writing. They said they have to rewrite nearly everything in students writing.

Writing can be said to be the act of forming graphic symbols： making marks on a flat surface of some kind. But writing is clearly more than the production of graphic symbols， just as speech is more than the production of sounds. As we know， those symbols have to be arranged to form words， according to certain situations， and words have to be arranged to form sentences， though we can be said to be “writing” if we are just making lists of words such as shopping lists.

However， we do not write just one sentence or a number of sentences which are unrelated. We need to produce a sequence of sentences arranged in a particular order and linked together in certain ways， and they form a coherent whole， which we may call a “text”.

Differences between speech and writing

It is very clear that writing is a very different activity from speaking， and a comparison between them may help us to understand some of the difficulties involved in writing.

First， speech usually takes place in certain situation and at least some of the language we use when speaking relates to that situation. So when we speak， it is not necessary to be quite so explicit as we have to be in writing： many references are clear within the situation.

Secondly， the listener is normally present—even on the phone， we are still in direct contact. So there is continuous interaction and feedback.

Writing， on the other hand， is the whole of the relevant activity and we need to create the context as we write. The person， unlike in speech， is not present， so there can be no interaction between writer and reader. Then we have to try to stay in contact with our reader through words. So we have the necessary task of organising our sentences carefully because we do not have the help of feedback from our reader.

Difficulties

Why writing is difficult for most people？ Lets take a look at the three problems caused by writing.

1. psychological problems —As mentioned above， writing is a kind of activity which we need to do on our own， without the possibility of interaction or the benefit of feedback， in itself makes the act of writing difficult.

2. linguistic problems—In writing， we have to keep the communication with the readers through our own efforts， and we need to make sure the text we produce are coherent. So we have to choose sentence structure correctly and link the sentences together properly.

3. cognitive problems—As Donn Byrne said writing is learnt through a process of instruction： we have to master the written form of the language and to learn certain structures which are less used in speech， or even not used at all， but which are important for effective communication in writing. We also have to learn how to organise our ideas in such a way that they can be understood be a reader who is not present.

Solutions

1. talking on paper

In spite of everything you have read and heard， writing can be just talking on paper or on the computer， we know that in writing we dont get all the visual suggestions of gesture and facial expressions， or the phonic clues of voice level and tone that give us hints of meaning. At that particular moment， the best way to get rid of the most troubling aspect of writing –the phenomenon of writing anxiety might be to think of writing as just talk to someone who is not sitting in front of you.

2. practice makes perfect

Writing demand a lot of practice， and the students need to be comfortable with writing， they also need to acquire the set of skill in writing. To reach the level， they have to write a great deal. That may mean they need to write every day.

3. together with other skills

As we all know， nothing can exist well alone. Writing ought to be combined with the other skills – listening， speaking， reading and thinking. speaking and reading about a topic helps our students to rethink and formulate their ideas. Get new ideas from other students and gather vocabulary that will be used in their writing. Getting some ideas down on paper is helpful to speaking.

Conclusion

According to those above， we know clearly， the importance of writing can not be ignored， although it is not easy to write， we still can acquire the skills of writing （of course it cant e acquired only through several ways. ） through proper and continuous training.

【作者簡介】唐滟，安龙县第一中学。