Reviewed by Huma Adnan
Title: Teaching writing skills
Author: Donn Byrne
'Writing tends to be the Cinderalla of the four skills'.
The book ' Teaching writing skills' is based on years and years of hands on teaching experience of Donn Byrone
While one truly enjoys books that are on politics or on sensational topics because they make for interesting dinner party conversation, but as an educationalist we have to hav more appetite for books like "TEACHING WRITING SKILLS".
What writing is and how it is developed has been a subject of discussion and debate for centuries, from the time of Aristotle to the present.
According to the Donn Byrne writing is not the mere production of graphic symbols. In this particular book he discusses the importance of producing a coherent text by arranging the graphic symbols to form words that in tarn are arranged to form sentences which are ordered or organized in a proper sequence and linked to form a coherent whole.
According to him writing involves alot of mental effort because we have to keep the reader in when we write. The reader may not be present physically and in some cases the reader may not even be known to us. So we have to ensure that what we write is "....as explicit as possible and complete in itself."(DONN BYRNE)
The book is en-lighting and informative, a must for any EFL teacher. The theory is well grounded and the practical tips open new horizons to both new and experienced teachers.
Each chapter sets out principles, discuesses methods and materials, gives clear example and concludes with a dissions and excercise section. Thus making teachers to stimilate theirs thought and and develop ideas for technique and material on their own.
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