TYPES
AND METHODS OF COMPOSITION
What
is it?
Composition is the
expression of thoughts, ideas, feelings, observations, experiences in written
form. It refers to the process of collecting thoughts or information, arranging
them in a sequence and expressing them in accordance with recognized standards
of form.
An essay, a story a letter,
a poem, a description etc are some of the forms of composition. Proper
organization, clarity and effectiveness of the subject matter are some of the
important points to be kept in mind while writing composition.
Aims
of Teaching Composition
General Aims
(i)
To encourage the students to express their
ideas in an organized and systematic way.
(ii)
To enable them to develop their skill of
writing.
(iii)
To enable them to use appropriate vocabulary
in writing various forms of composition.
(iv)
To enable them for logical presentation of facts and ideas.
(iv)
To develop their communicative competence.
Steps
of Composition Writing
ü Put
the ideas in a readable written format.
ü Organize
and draft the ideas in a sequence.
ü Structure
the entire content, punctuation, grammar check, sequence of the words in a
coherent manner.
ü Understand
the needs of the readers.
ü Include
all components of composition writing.
ü Final
Drafting write cleanly with combining the useful ideas.
ü Review
the write up and finally, editing should be done.
ü Motivation
and the presence of clear concepts are appreciated.
The
Importance of Writing Composition
Writing composition
improves students’ writing skill. It indirectly enhances the reading and
speaking skill. Writing and speaking any language is closely related to each
other and hence, the improvement of any one among them impacts on the other.
Writing Composition allows
students to improve their imagination skill and thinking as well as analyzing
ability. To be a successful writer, students must have good imagination skill
and to brush up this skill, they should write compositions on a regular basis.
To create different kinds of write ups, students need an immense imagination
skill.
Writing composition is a
right way to express the thoughts and views of the individual. Through
compositions, students can communicate with others and give a message to the
society.
How
to Write a Composition
To write a composition,
students should follow some constructive steps.
•
Introduction: This is the most important part of any
writing. An Introduction should be engaging and well-prepared so that readers
can complete the entire content without taking a break. The thesis statement or
thesis question should be included in the introduction and the style should
draw the readers’ attention and allow them to finish quickly. However,
transition sentences should be added in this part to make the readers
inquisitive about the body of content.
•
Body of the Content: The entire facts and views are usually
elaborated and narrated in the body part. Hence, it should be catchy and to the
point. A good body structure of any piece of writing represents both pros and
cons. However, three main components are available in the body of any write up.
First is elaboration where the information is elaborated or clarified with
pertinent examples. Second is illustration, where a writer tries to make a
verbal picture to give the readers a clarity of the topics. Well illustrated
compositions are more understandable than abstract. Third is argumentation
where a writer gives justification and finally makes inferences for the better
understanding of the readers. However, some logical connectors such as thus,
still, but and others should be used while moving from one sub-point to another
to keep the readers engaged in reading.
•
Conclusion: The wrap up sentences act as the clear
conclusion of any write up. The purpose of a conclusion is to give readers a
space with constructive ideas to understand the essence of the composition.
However, the finishing lines should be lucid, convincing and clear in all
manners.
Types
of Composition and Their Teaching Methods
There are two types of
composition:
1.
Oral composition
2.
Written composition
They are further divided
as:
Written
Composition
Written composition should
follow oral composition when the students have gained sufficient knowledge of
English vocabulary, structures and spellings. The aims of written composition
are as follows:
·
To develop their writing ability
·
To enable them to write correctly
·
To enable them to express their ideas and
thoughts in writing in an organized way
There are two types of
written composition:
o
Guided written composition
o
Free written composition
Teaching
of Written Composition
Guided Written Composition
is usually introduced at the early stage. The teacher guides the students to
write with the help of controlled vocabulary and structures. It lays the
foundations for writing free composition. Guided written composition can be
done by using the following methods:
Ø By
giving dictation
Ø By
giving certain words and asking the students to make the sentences using those
words
Ø By
giving substitution table to make various sentences
Ø Writing
description of an object or a picture with the help of key words
Ø By
asking to complete the story or a paragraph by filling the gaps
Ø By
giving few sentences from the text book and ask them to write parallel
sentences
Ø By
reproducing the gist of story
Ø By
reproducing the description of the picture
Ø Expansion
of a topic on the basis of the given outlines
Free Written Composition
should be introduced at the later stage. In free composition, there is no
restriction on the students regarding use of vocabulary, structures and the
length of composition etc. Students are free to tackle the topic on their own
freely. They are encouraged to think freely and express themselves freely.
Types
of free composition
There are five types of
free composition:
1. Narrative composition
It involves description of
an event like visit to the zoo, a journey by train etc. Before making them
writing the narrative composition on a given topic, the teacher may refresh
their memory by discussing the event or the incident and ask them to write on
their own in their own words.
2. Story type composition
The teacher can present a
picture or series of pictures before the students and ask them to write the
story. Or teacher may give certain hints and some sentences and ask them to
develop the story.
3. Reflective Composition
It includes essay writing,
letter writing application etc.
A.
Essay writing: At the early stage, teacher
should give easy topics for essay writing but at the higher stage, students can
be given all types of topics to write in their own style. They should be made
clear about the parts of the essay i.e. introduction, main body and conclusion.
B.
Letter writing: Letter writing can be
divided into two categories:
(i)
Informal letters (ii) formal letter
The students should be made
familiar with various parts of formal and informal letters and about different
style of writing them. Initially they may be given the format of particular
letter and asked to complete it.
4. Imaginative composition
The teacher can give some
imaginary situation or topic to the students to write on it using their own
imagination. For example: If I were a principal! When I trapped in a road jam!
5. Literary composition
Literary composition
includes abstract writing and explanation writing.
Composition
Writing Exercises
Students start writing
composition from their junior classes. Some elementary level composition
writing topics are story writing, writing about different animals such as crow,
cow, cat and others. On the other hand, they can write about their summer vacations
or the experience of visiting any hill station, the fair, the zoo, the Birthday
party, some good memories.
Furthermore, students can
write about their favorite day, favorite music, favorite place, favorite movie,
favorite food and others. These topics are interesting, engaging and students
feel comfortable in writing these topics by sharing their own feelings and
words. Thus, they can improve their writing skill as well as imagination skill.
However, they can collect online worksheets for composition writing and
practice these topics at their convenient time.
Some aspects of writing
different compositions are mentioned here.
§ Narrating an event: a memorable wedding, a moment of failure,
your last day on job, a frustrated experience, etc.
§ Describing places or things: a
favorite restaurant, an art exhibition, experience of visiting your first book
fair, a memorable photograph, an inspiring movie, etc.
§ Explaining a process:
How to enjoy your vacations, How to deal with exam stress, How to keep your
mind calm, How to deal with mental anxiety, How to revise the syllabus, etc.
§ Illustrations:
Body piercing, the violence in video games, contemporary music, superstitions,
roles of a student, etc.
§ Comparison:
experiencing joy, dealing with failure, handling peer pressure, losing a close
friend and others.
§ Classification:
Hobbies, road trips, selfish people, helpful friends and others.
Reference
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