What are writing skills?

Writing skills help the learner gain independence, comprehensibility, fluency and creativity in writing. If learners have mastered these skills, they will be able to write so that not only they can read what they have written, but other speakers of that language can read and understand it.

Writing skills are specific abilities which help writers put their thoughts into words in a meaningful form and to mentally interact with the message.

Here are some writing goals as defined by Hampton 1989:

• Writers are independent when they are able to write without much assistance.
• Writers gain comprehensibility when they can write so that it can be read and understood by themselves and others.
• Writers are fluent when they are able to write smoothly and easily as well as understandably.
• Writers gain creativity when they can write their own ideas, not copying what has already been written, so that they can be read and understood.

Here are some kinds of writing skills:

• Comprehensibility skills for writing include understanding that writing is communicating messages or information.

• Fluency skills for writing include

  • recognizing the linear sequence of sounds
  • mastering writing motions and letter shapes
  • recognizing the chunking of words
  • recognizing the need for space between words
  • writing quickly
• Creativity skills for writing include the ability to write freely anything the learner wants to write.

• What are literacy skils?

• Gudschinsky 1973
• Hampton 1989

• Concept module: writing skills
• In overview module: Glossary (Literacy): W
• In modular book: Glossary of literacy terms
• In document collection: Reference materials
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 16 March 1999

© 1999 SIL International