Post 95 Writing as Product (Learning View)

Writing as Product

Product writing focuses on writing as a product, that is the focus is on the student's final product, the research paper. There is enhanced importance attached to the final product of writing, therefore, this influences how the writing lesson is taught. In Product Writing, students do not spend as much time brainstorming as they do in the Writing Process, instead, students follow a template or writing model and students are asked to replicate this writing template in their final product.

Steps to a Product Writing Lesson

1. Teacher gives student the model writing template.

2. Student replicates the writing template

3. Student has controlled practice worksheets or writing exercises to practice this template.

4.  The controlled practice provides students practice of the key features of that template.

5. Give time for students to generate content to fit the writing template. Give students to organize ideas around that template.

6.  Students hand in final draft based on that template.

7. Teacher grades the final draft and gets a grade on how well the student has written their paper to fit that template.

What is a Model Writing Template?

By writing template, I mean the different rhetorical modes that are taught in an English Composition class. Students are taught the following different rhetorical modes:

• The Personal Experience Essay
• The Process Essay
• The Problem Solution Essay
• The Definition Essay
• The Classification Essay
• The Comparison Contrast Essay
• The Cause and Effect Essay
• The Argumentative Essay
• The Persuasive Essay
• The Position Paper/Pro Con Essay
• The Evaluation Essay
• The Literary Analysis Essay

Writing as a Product corresponds to the Learning View of the Learning/Acquisition Hypothesis from Krashen where form is more important than meaning and the student follows the format of the template while the teacher corrects for errors.

How many of you have taught English Composition using the Writing as a Product Method?