Factors that help in forming good writers

Abstract

The field of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) now recognizes the importance of writing as one of the major means of communication. Thus, communicative language teaching is more and more concerned with improving students' writing skills. Especially in academic settings such as the teaching of English at universities, one of the main goals is to develop students' writing abilities. Although research on writing and the teaching of writing in foreign language has been late and sporadic, with the increasing interest in the field, it has become one of the attractive areas in TEFL. This study is based upon two main issues both related to the cognitive dimension of composition writing. One of the concerns is the composing processes of second language student writers and the other one is the acquisition of writing style through reading. On the one hand, composing strategies that good writers effectively use are studied. On the other hand, the influence of the amount and quality of pleasure reading on writing ability is researched. When we think of an EFL context where Turkish students write in English we are immediately interested in the implications of the above issues for the teaching of writing.