TEACHING WRITING TO PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of teaching psychology students writing. It highlights the importance of the development of writing skills in English speaking class and investigates the conceptual understandings of writing distinguishing it as complex activity that involves both composing ability and language. In this research we consider the role of writing in the foreign language curriculum and analyze main principles of designing and teaching writing proposed by scientists. Special attention has been focused on classroom application which has led to understanding of fundamentals of designing a writing course for foreign language learners which includes objectives and assessment, lesson planning, designing writing tasks, and responding to student writing. In this article we explore goals for writing teachers who develop the writing course for psychology students and try to present some recommendations to a written lesson plan which is essential for every class period and which can become a road map for both writing teachers and psychology students.
In terms of writing cycle we distinguish three stages that need to be considered when doing lesson planning: pre-writing, writing and revising. Each of the three stages has been carefully described and supported with possible activities. Among the pre-writing activities which are targeted toward linguistic development, idea generation, building up knowledge about the topic, we distinguish free writing, generating lists of thoughts, mind maps. Among writing tasks which are designed to help psychology students to develop a wide range of writing skills, we differentiate between activities for students with lower and higher proficiencies. Special attention is paid to the last stage which presents feedback, revision and editing and where peer feedback can be very important.