Students need to learn and practice the art of putting words together in well-formed sentences, paragraphs, and texts. One way of doing this is parallel writing where students follow a written model, as the following examples will show:

Sentence production (elementary)

The most basic form of parallel writing is the kind of sentence writing that is often used for grammar reinforcement. Students are given one or two model sentences and then have to write similar sentences based on information they are given or on their own thoughts.

In this lesson example, students are given information about a particular character. They then see how this onformation can be combined in sentences with and and but. They have to write similar sentences about themselves.

Look at the following information about Carlos’s likes (ü) and dislikes (ꓫ) an read the sentences which follow.

Carlos          Music: hip hop (ü), classical music (ꓫ)

                   Sport: football (ü), tennis (ü)

                   Entertainment: films (ü), clubs (ü)

                   Food: spicy food (ü), raw fish (ꓫ)

He likes hip hop but he doesn’t like classical music.

He likes football and tennis.

He likes watching films and going out to clubs.

He likes spicy food but he doesn’t like raw fish.

Now write similar sentences saying what music, sport, entertainment, and food you like. Use and  and but.

Paragraph construction (elementary)

This example employs a ‘sunstitution – drill’ style of procedure to encourage students to write a paragraph which is almost identical to one they have just read. This is like a substituion drill in that new vocabulary is used within a set pattern or patterns. Students read the following paragraph:

William Shakespeare is England’s most famous playwright. He was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564, but lived a lot of his life in London. He wrote 37 plays including Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, and Twelfth Night. He died in Stratford-on-Avon in 1616.

After the teacher has made sure they have understood the information about Shakespeare, students are given the following table of information and asked to write a similar paragraph about Jane Austen:

Name:                    Jane Austen

Occupation:            one of England’s most famou writers

Date of birth:         1775

Place of birth:         Steventon, Hampshire

Lived:                              Bath and Southampton (cities in the south of the UK)

Examples of wrk:    six novels, including Emma and Mansfield Park

Died:                     1817, Winchester