The Use of Substitution Tables in Controlled and Guided Composition Writing

Abstract

When the pupil is given the task of writing a composition, and that too in a foreign language like English, he is in fact burdened with more than one task. He not only has to think of what to say but how to say what he wants to say in a way relevant to the situation in which the language is used. “How to say what he wants to say” involves a good stock of vocabulary, a sound knowledge of grammar and ability to link his ideas in a logical order. For a learner of English as a Second Language, this is indeed a big task especially as we do not want to nurture a negative attitude towards the writing of compositions. I remember how we moaned and groaned over the idea of having to produce, without any teacher guidance, a lengthy essay. When it was all done it was like having scaled Mt. Everest but when we got back our books many of us felt the reverse — a dead plunge to the foothills. We do not want history to repeat itself and to find our students completely demotivated by an abundance of red marks and low scores.