Contents Introduction Main body Chapter I. Difficulties of writing and the status of writing in elt

Chapter I. Difficulties of writing and the status of writing in ELT.

1. 
   Difficulties of writing
   

It seems that there is a consensus among educationalists that writing, either in L1 or L2, is the most difficult skill to master.
Ashwoth believes that children think of writing as hard work. Tribble thinks that an ability to write well and effectively evades many people either in L1 or L2. Richards and Renandya assure that writing is the most difficult task for L2 learners. This difficulty lies in both generating and organizing ideas, and translating these ideas into a readable text.
Tessem explains that even with the simplest exercises, pupils often lose interest and do not complete them. Because of the difficulty of writing, pupils lack the motivation needed for language learning. Tessema attributes the difficulty of wring to the following reasons:

1. 
   It requires knowledge of grammar and vocabulary.
   
2. 
   It requires clear organized presentation of ideas.
   

For Johnstone et al. the difficulty of writing is due to the cognitive processes such as generating ideas and translating them into sentences. These processes are difficult to measure. Therefore, it is highly recommended to provide repeated practice in writing.
Hug sum up the difficulties that affect the writing learning processes. They are as follows:

1. 
   Psychological difficulties:
   

The writer usually works in isolation and has no immediate contact with the reader. Thus the writer creates a mental image of the audience and imagines the responses. When the reader receives the piece of writing, the writer cannot modify it.

2. 
   Linguistic difficulties:
   

The writer has to write carefully, concisely and coherently to convey the message to the reader.

3. 
   Cognitive difficulties:
   

When writing, pupils have to carry out simultaneously many cognitive processes. They generate ideas, translate them into sentences, take care of the correct form, mechanics and / or orthography, and think of the readers and social setting.
In addition, Yan points out that education systems emphasize writing for taking tests only. Therefore, the main purpose of writing is to pass examinations. This reduces writing to producing a product and receiving a grade from the teacher.
Here are brief descriptions of common writing problems. Check them and email any questions you have about how they apply to your work. You may be required to rewrite certain sentences showing that you understand and can make the necessary corrections. Your paper may have two grades, lower and higher. If you make satisfactory corrections to the problems singled out in comments at the end of the paper, the higher grade will be recorded; if you do not make the corrections, the lower grade will be recorded. The corrections will be due one week after the date on which papers are returned. Problems marked with will be especially important to correct.

1. Agreement 2. Awkwardness 3. Citation style 4. Clichés 5. Combining sentences 6. Comma splices 7. Dangling modifiers

8. Documentation 9. Dummy subjects 10. Edit for economy 11. Emphasis 12. Evidence 13. Fragments 14. Generalizations

15. Nominalization 16. Paragraph design 17. Parallels 18. Parenthetical phrases 19. Passive voice 20. Possessives ('it's') 21. Pronouns

22. Punctuation 23. Repetition 24. Redundancy 25. Run-on sentences 26. Quotations 27. Quote marks 28. Subjunctive

29. Plot summary 30. Thesis and plan 31. Titles 32. Topic and. thesis 33. Transitions 34. Word choice

Agreement
Check carefully for errors in agreement; don't shift person (especially third person [he, she, it] to second [you]); number, or tense, without reason. If you are using the singular, stick to it unless you have cause to switch to the plural. Example: Everyone should know what they want. Correction: Everyone should know what he or she wants. Watch collectives—e.g., the Socialist Party is "it" not "they"; General Motors is "it" not “they.” Switches in tense are very annoying: "She drove to the mall and looks around for a store."
Awkward constructions
Awkward constructions contain errors in logic or are so imprecise that they can't be readily understood. Sometimes a sentence is awkward because a key term is obscure. You write that "the poem follows a decision-type format." What is that supposed to mean? If you know what it is supposed to mean, then say it clearly. Awkwardness is not only a matter of incorrect expression—although errors are awkward, of course. Awkwardness usually indicates a gap in expectations between you and your reader, created when you say something you don't need to, or fail to say something you should, fail to explain something completely. Very often a sentence is marked "awkward" because it is too long; the sentence can perhaps be divided into two sentences for clarity.

2.