An Experience Approach to Teaching Composition

The teaching of intermediate ESL composition presents a problem to the teacher: controlled composition techniques used at the beginning stages of training seem to leave the student unprepared to cope with the problems of free writing. While the usefulness and appropriateness of controlled composition in specific situations is not disputed, such techniques intrinsically involve two weaknesses. The first is that controlled composition techniques lack a means of determining gradations of control or decontrol which permit a smooth transition from highly manipulated writing practice to free writing. The second is that they seem to force students to write for teachers' or textbook writers' purposes, but not their own. An approach to composition for intermediate or better students is proposed here which utilizes students' own interests and knowledge, prepares them adequately for the writing task, makes smooth transitions from oral to written English, and encourages students to achieve their own purposes in written communication. A detailed example of the technique in use is provided. The teacher of intermediate level ESL composition faces a somewhat difficult problem. The students have reached a point where the use of controlled writing practice no longer serves a useful purpose; where, in fact, no further improvement is observable. On the other hand, few such students are writing with sufficient ease to be treated essentially as native speakers. Such "pre-criterion stationarity" may be remediated by an experience approach to teaching intermediate composition which develops the advanced writing skills free composition will entail. Experience-based Instruction The language experience approach is neither new nor especially original to English as a second language instruction. For several years the experience approach has seen extensive use with native speakers in the teaching of beginning reading and writing. The experience approach, especially as it relates to beginning reading, is based on the belief that learning must be rooted in the experience of the learner in order for it to be effective. It should be noted that there is nothing inherent in the experience approach itself which limits its use to either native or non-native speakers.