2 Literacy skills 2.1 Writing skills Writing can be defined as the learners’ output when they have received
sufficient input. It is considered perhaps the most difficult skill since it involves
handwriting, spelling, grammar, syntax and the organization of paragraphs and
ideas (Ioannou & Pavlou, 2003). There are three approaches to writing; text-
oriented, writer-oriented and reader-oriented. To begin with, the text-oriented
approach considers texts as autonomous objects in which writers express their
intended meaning by following grammatical rules, focusing on form, product and
accuracy (Jones, 2006).
Next, the writer-oriented
approach focuses on the writer; his/her creativity,
cognitive processes and context (Flower and Hayes, 1981). Thinking before
writing, the free expression of ideas and the writer’s imagination are some of its
features (Hyland, 2002). Finally, the reader-oriented approach views writing as a
social interaction and a social construction. It became popular around the ‘80s and
considers writing as a social process to construct knowledge and negotiate
meaning.
2.2 Reading skills Reading is the
reader’s struggle to understand what the text is about. In other
words, it is a dialogue between the text and the reader (Hedge, 2000). Reading
serves specific purposes (Grabe and Stoller, 2002, p.6). For example:
•
Reading to find specific information. This is called scanning
. Readers try to find
out about a specific word or piece of information.
•
Reading to skim the text. This is done to get a general understanding of the text.
•
Reading to learn from texts. It occurs in an academic context where the reader
has to memorize information and details.
•
Reading to integrate information. The reader decides on which information to
use in order to write and critically analyze the contents.
