A rationale for a writing programme for form 4 students in a Hong Kong secondary school

by Williamson, David Bryn

The study contends to show that the content

of form four students' compositions can be made more

interesting if they are given literary extracts to

study and read. By giving them literary extracts, I nol

d~~intend them to deal with the extracts in a literary/

technical way. They are primarily to be used as a

basis for discussion and to generate ideas for the

content of their written work. While I would like all

students to take the writing course,

it is not possible

,

as small classes are necessary so that students can

be split up into small groups and the teacher can

give as much help and guidance as necessary. As a result

the course is to be taken as an extra-curricular

activity - two one-hour lessons per week. The students

would have to be strongly motivated and have a 'e' in

their last end-of-term examination. Critics might say

that it is elitist, but I would say that this,

unfortunately has to be so, as the extracts are original. )

The study looks at the state of the art, the creative

writing process and contends that students should be made

more aware of the writing process itself. In order to

generate ideas, students need to discuss issues in small

groups and then be given the opportunity to write

as frequently as possible. It is also the contention

that the more reading a student does the better will

be his writing and its content. More writing alone,

does not necessarily make a student a better writer.