Module 1:Self-Check

* What implications does the Available Designs theory have for the second language writing teacher?

: In comparison to speaking skills, the development of writing skills involves many of the same difficulties and some additional challenges, including differences in grammar and vocabulary use, spelling, structure, punctuation and others. When language learners are taught in writing, the teachers should consider the teaching of writing, namely product-,process-, and genre-based approaches. Product approaches focus on the inner core of design, Process approaches add elements from the middle layer of communicative contexts, and Genre-based approaches address the outermost layer of sociocultural context (Richard Kern, 2000, p.180).In formal academic writing, design involves the elaborate and recursive processes of planning, drafting, revising, and editing. Whatever the type of writing, the outcome is a texture product made possible by various Available Designs which are either reproduced or transformed into new resources for subsequent writing (Richard Kern, 2000, p.171). According to Kern (2000) states that Available Designs provide the initial knowledge, know-how, and patterns that allow reading or writing to begin. Vocabulary, grammar, organizational schemata, and spelling knowledge may also be enhanced (Richard Kern, 2000, p.63).

As for the second language learners, I think, especially the second language writing teachers should become aware that writing is useful to their students only when the activity involves tasks that are realistic and relevant to students' lives.