Encouraging Writing
Literacy means ability of reading and writing . If you ask for ability to comprehend what is being read or to write as fluently as speaking, many literate people will not be able to pass the test. Why? Because these abilities should have been developed in the primary classes. Teachers during those formative years should have attended to it.
Though the ability to write is much harder to learn, attention is not paid to develop it. While teaching language, acquiring the ability to write is supposed to be synonymous with its development. This basic fault leads to many problems later and hinder the growth of a self-confident and communicative personality.
Generally what happens is that a child is encouraged to develop his vocabulary as fast as possible and some basic grammar. She is asked to write some essays in examinations and more often than not the number of subjects is limited. The students tend to go by the set format of “introduction, description and conclusion”.
Neither they are asked to write something by thinking on their own, nor suggested steps to improve their way of writing. They can be given some new topics every day and asked to write upon them.
Topics can be very simple and related to their environment, e.g. my classroom, my teacher, the school building, etc. They can be asked to write only fifty or hundred words, depending upon the standard in which they are studying. This way their writing capabilities can be developed which will later enable them to express themselves freely and effectively.