10 Tips to Enhance Your Writing Instruction

How to assign quality writing practice, give meaningful feedback, and maintain a reasonable grading load

I was grading my beginning students’ writing submissions when I came across this little gem: 

“Je suis The Rock! Sentez-vous ce que cuit le Rocher?! J'ai fait tellement que quand tu le vois, tu pourrais devenir aveugle”  (I am The Rock! Do you smell what the Boulder is cooking? I did so much that when you see it, you could become blind.)

“Students needed more structure and more writing practice than I had given.”

Sigh. Students were supposed to write 3 sentences about their favorite celebrity. This charming submission was obviously courtesy of Google Translate. Unfortunately, this “work” was pretty representative of many of my students’ writing. I didn’t ask them to write that often! (The grading would kill me if I did!) Why was it so difficult, once per unit, to formulate a few original sentences?

The answer, of course, was that students needed more structure and more writing practice than I had given. If I wanted a different end result, I needed to scaffold my instruction to lead in that direction. I began experimenting with more effective writing instruction. These 10 tips helped me - and my students - the most.

Tip 1:  Write small!

Writing a big, high-stakes essay at the end of each unit is stressful for students and difficult for you to grade. The temptation to use a translator will be high, as kids attempt to perform a task they haven’t really practiced. Additionally, writing formal papers is not a task most learners will do very often in real target language use. Instead of one major writing assignment, consider giving several short assignments in each unit, to result in more practice and deeper learning.

Tip 2:  Write often!

Closely related to Tip 1, give your language learners regular practice. Consider assigning a short journal entry as a daily warm-up or a regular homework assignment. Practicing writing several times per week will help students develop expressive competence.

Tip 3: Have students write in class, by hand

This discourages use of translators  and forces students to slow down a bit and think about their use of language. Moreover, there is a wide body of research supporting the benefits of handwriting on memory and cognition. (For example, see this 2009 study.) Devoting class time to writing encourages students to invest in the process vs. focusing only on the final product.

Tip 4: Give guidelines for using translators

Typing paragraphs into Google Translate is a siren song. If students are to resist, we must teach them why and how translators can be avoided. One helpful tool is the “Google Translate Songs” YouTube trend, in which musicians will translate and then back translate a song, and then sing the nonsensical lyrics. Here’s an example from the Twisted Translations YouTube Channel: 

These videos are a fun way to make the point that Google Translate is not a substitute for target language knowledge. I encourage students to use wordreference.com instead, and we compare the information available on wordreference vs. Google Translate to understand the value of this site. Unspoken is the fact that wordreference only allows kids to look up one word, instead of typing in sentences and paragraphs. This feature alone makes it a better instructional tool.

“Typing paragraphs into Google Translate is a siren song. If students are to resist, we must teach them why and how translators can be avoided.”

Finally, as kids are writing, I give an objective limit on the number of words they may look up (no more than one word per sentence, for example). If kids need more than this, they should look for ways to simplify what they’re trying to say.

Tip 5: Don’t grade everything students write.

This is overwhelming for you, but it’s difficult for students to incorporate so much feedback as well. One technique I’ve used successfully: after kids have written 4-6 journal entries, I’ll ask them to select their BEST entry to revise and submit for a grade. Sometimes I require inclusion of specific structures we’ve been working on. Other times the assignment is open ended. I give a completion grade for finishing all the journal entries for that time frame, but only give feedback on each student’s one revised selection.

Tip 6: Develop a shorthand system for common errors.

Identify the errors you see repeatedly and create a code for each. Some codes I use in my classes include:

“If students are stretching to express themselves, they’re going to make some mistakes.”

• VT = verb tense error

• VC = verb conjugation error

• GA = gender agreement error

• WC = word choice error

• SP = spelling error

• RO = run on sentence

• SF = sentence fragment

I have kids copy these codes into the front of their writing notebook, as well as posting them around the room. When I find a mistake in written work, I jot the shorthand code above the error. With a little practice, this can become very quick and greatly reduces the time I spend grading writing while maintaining the quality of feedback to students. (Thanks to my amazing colleague, German teacher David Lovin, who shared this technique!)

Tip 7: You don’t need to correct every error.

If students are stretching to express themselves, they’re going to make some mistakes. I try to focus on patterns in my corrections - structures we’ve learned already, or the next step a student can take to improve. A paper covered in red is discouraging, but a few pinpointed corrections can motivate students to pay attention to the details of their writing while still promoting communication as the primary goal.

Tip 8: Give students a chance to correct their mistakes.

After giving feedback on their writing, I always give students the opportunity to correct and resubmit their work. This does increase my grading load, but usually the revised journals are much better and grading them is quick. I’ve found students are less likely to turn to translators in their writing if they know they’ll have a chance to correct their mistakes and will be held accountable to understand the language structures they use. Encouraging revisions reinforces the growth mindset that is so critical to growth in expressive language. 

Tip 9: Teach peer-editing

“When students use the rubric to have conversations about their own writing, the resulting learning is profound.”

Without training, peer-editing is basically a waste of time. Students either give their classmate a half-hearted “It looks good”, or they harshly correct every error. Either way, no real learning takes place. For peer editing to be effective, students must really understand how to use a rubric. Click here to read suggestions for Writing Student-Friendly Rubrics and Teaching Students to use Feedback and Self-Evaluation. I also teach and strictly enforce the expectation that peer editors may make suggestions, but ONLY the author may write on his or her paper. This requires peers to use the rubric to have conversations about their own writing. The resulting learning is profound.

Tip 10: Curate engaging writing topics

Here are a few my students have enjoyed, with an instructional focus where applicable:

• 7 interesting things about me

• (After completing an online survey) Which ____ (super hero / profession / personality type / etc.) are you? Do you agree with your results?

• What is the definition of a true hero? Give examples of real-life heroes

• Are you most like a llama, a turtle, an eagle, or a shark? Explain why.

• Tell about an amazing vacation (real or imaginary).  (past tenses)

• Share an experience you’ve had with extreme weather or a natural disaster (past tenses)

• Share about an illness or injury you’ve experienced (past tenses, reflexive verbs)

• Write about a memorable gift you either gave or received. (object pronouns)

• Tell about a bad experience you had in a restaurant or with food. (past tenses)

• How does your family celebrate (insert holiday: Thanksgiving / New Years / birthdays / etc.)

• What are your wishes for the new year? (subjunctive)

• Give advice to these teens:   (subjunctive)

  • Teen 1: I want to get good grades, but my friends always distract me in class. What should I do?

  • Teen 2: I lied to my parents: I told them I was going to the library, but I actually went to my friend’s house. They found out, and now they don’t trust me and are very strict with me. What should I do?

  • Teen 3: I’m working on a group project in science class, and one of the kids isn’t doing their part of the project. I don’t want to get a bad grade! What should I do?

Implementing these tips have really improved the quality of French writing assignments I receive, and my students’ improved writing skills carry into their core classes as well. Teaching writing takes some investment, but the improved target language production is worth it!

Do you have a great journal prompt, or a tip to develop writing skills? Share in the comments!l