Writing and Good Language Teachers

As language teachers we may find ourselves teaching writing in many different and wide-ranging learning contexts. We may find ourselves teaching writing to beginner level learners in a private language school in Spain, teenagers in a secondary school in China, adult learners in evening classes in London. We may be teaching students to write stories, blog posts, emails, business communications, academic essays and PhD theses as well as poetry and examinations. Whilst it is not possible, or indeed desirable, to discuss each and every aspect of writing here, this chapter seeks to explore what might constitute ‘good’ practice in teaching writing. The chapter begins with an overview of what we mean when we talk about writing before moving on to look at some of the ways in which teaching writing has been conceptualized within the field. We then draw on interview data collected from ten experienced writing teachers, to explore the idea of what makes a good writing teacher, ending with a discussion of the implications of these findings as well as offering some suggestions for future research.