Topic:

Product vs Process Approach

Group Members

Hira Qayyum

Areej Fatima

Writing

Merriwether (1997)

“Writing is a process which involves several

identifiable steps”

Zamel (1987)

“Writing is a complex cognitive behavior and a

nonlinear process of discovery”

Product Approach

The Product Approach dominated the teaching of

writing in ELT until the 1980s.

It involves using ‘model’ sentences or texts which the

students copy.

The students read the model sentence or text, and do

exercises which focus on the language in the model

text.

Finally the students might be asked to transform a

text which is in the present simple into the past

simple. The model text will help them.

The focus is obviously on grammatical accuracy.

Stages

Stage 1

Model texts are read, and then features of the

genre are highlighted.

Stage 2

This consists of controlled practice of the

highlighted features, usually in isolation.

Stage 3

Organization of ideas.

Stage 4

The end result of the learning process.

Arguments in favour of the Product

Approach

Model texts give students confidence and security

something they can use as the basis for their own

writing.

To get results using model texts for students to copy

should guarantee students produce work with fewer

grammatical mistakes very quickly.

A good way of getting the students to focus on using

a specific piece of grammer in their own writing.

Arguments against the Product

Approach

It concerned only with correctness of spelling,

grammer etc and ignoring text.

It doesn’t give students practice writing because it

does not reflect what real writers do in real situations.

Lack of creativity and personalization

Repetitive

Unrealistic

Boring & demotivating

Too prescriptive

One of the main criticism is that it does not reflect

what real writers do in real situations.

Process Writing

Jordan (1997)

“Process writing evolved as

a reaction to the product approach”

Process Approach

The Process Approach aimed to reflect what real

writers did in real situations.

The Process Approach overtook the Product

Approach as the dominant writing methodology in

the 1980s in Britain & North America.

Two types of researcher favoured the

Process Approach

1) Expressivists

2) Cognitivists

The Expressivists argued that writing was creative

and personal. They wanted to get students to write

about what was important to them.

The Cognitivists tried to find out how real writers

composed in real situations.

Stages

Stage 1

Generating ideas by brainstorming and

discussion.

Stage 2

Students extend ideas into note form, and

judge quality and usefulness of ideas.

Stage 3

Students organize ideas into a mind map,

spider gram or linear form.

Stage 4

Students write the first draft. This is done in

class and frequently in pairs or groups.

Stage 5

Drafts are exchanged, so that students

become the readers of each others work.

Stage 6

Drafts are returned and improvements are

made based upon peer feedback.

Stage 7

A final draft is written.

Stage 8

Students once again exchange and read each

other’s work and perhaps even write a response or

reply.

The components of the Process

Approach

Susser (1994) argues that process writing pedagogy

has 2 components:

1) awareness

2) intervention

Arguments in favour of the Process

Approach

The emphasis on multiple drafting helps even the

weakest students write more confidently, knowing

that their 1st drafts won’t be assessed.

Students can interact and plan their writing together.

The Process Approach is therefore more suitable than

the Product Approach for those students with

extroverted learning styles, those who like to learn by

collaborating with others.

Arguments against the Process Approach

Process Approach at its most extreme perhaps pays

less attention to grammatical accuracy than it should.

Process Approach at its most extreme perhaps pays

less attention to showing students what good writing

looks like than it should. The emphasis is on writing

as a continuing process rather than as a finished

product.

Process Approach may teach students what good

writers do, perhaps it is less suited to exam writing,

where students are working under time constraints,

and only have a limited amount of choice regarding

what they write about.

STAGES IN PROCESS APPROACH

PRE-

WRITIN

G

WHILE-WRITING

DRAFTING -> REVISING ->

EDITING

POST-

WRITIN

G

Selecting

a topic

and

planning

what to

write

• Putting a draught version on

paper• Making changes to improve

the writing

•PUBLISHING

•EVALUATIO

N

-Assessment

of the written

work

PRE-WRITING

Group Brainstorming.

Group research on a writing topic.

Questioning (Journalists Questions)

Discussion and debate.

Cubing.

-Describe it -Analyze it

-Compare it - apply it

-Associate it - argue for or against it

Mapping / Clustering: The preferred

prewriting technique for writers who are

visually oriented because it allows them to

generate and organize ideas in a visual

context.

Outlining.

Pass-around topic.

Dialogue Writing.

Looping

WHILE-WRITING

Individual writing.

Collaborative writing. Students work together to

write a previously agreed text.

REVISING / EDITING

Peer editing / Proof-reading.

Self-editing.

Conferencing.

Reformulation.

Whole class discussion of how a particular text might

need adjustment according to the audience it is

addressed to.

POST-WRITING

EVALUATION

A rubric is…

◦ an assessment tool

◦ a scoring guide

◦ (a guide for students and teachers before an assignment begins)

PUBLISHING

Publishing the final product and sharing it with an appropriate audience. It may be oral, visual, or written.

What do real writers do?

Writing is messy, recursive, convoluted, and

uneven.

Writers write, plan, revise, anticipate, and

review throughout the writing process.

Good writers organize, plan, and re-write

throughout the writing process, changing

things lots of times if necessary, and writing

multiple drafts

Good writers may rehearse or discuss what they want to write before they actually do it.

Good writers read their writing carefully, trying to imagine how clear their ideas are to a reader. If something isn’t clear, they change it.

The motto of the Process Approach is: Writing is rewriting

“Good writing does not just happen. The

best writers spend a great deal of time

thinking, planning, rewriting, and

editing.”

- Elizabeth West

Differences

Product Approach Process Approach

It has a very defined

structure.

It has a much looser form.

It creates original business

model.

It uses tried and true

strategies

It focuses more on

collaboration.

It may

compartmentalization

departments in a strategic

manner.