Working on Writing
Workshop Announcement
Marva A. Barnett, Director and Professor, Teaching Resource Center, University of Virginia
Faculty, Department of French

Writing well is a great intellectual challenge.
How can we teach students to write meaningfully, coherently, persuasively in a foreign language?

This workshop can be designed for teachers teaching intermediate- or advanced-level language, literature, and/or writing courses and can emphasize various aspects of the writing and grading process.

Depending on the focus of the workshop, participants might . . .

• share ideas and concerns about assigning writing
  
• examine why people write and what students learn by writing
  
• discuss why writing, even in one’s first language, is difficult
  
• consider why it is valuable to teach writing as a process
• and grading students’ writing
  

What will participants gain, depending, of course, on workshop focus?

• techniques for engaging students in caring about their writing
  
• ways to develop students’ writing skills
  
• pre-writing (including brainstorming, free writing, semantic mapping)
  
• teaching structure, approaches to writing
  
  • draft writing
    
  • peer-editing
    
  • self-editing
    
• methods for grading final drafts effectively and efficiently