I am a Portuguese speaker and for the last 8 years I have been learning English as a second language. Learning to write, especially in a second language, requires a lot of effort. Writing is much more than just using the phonics in the right way and the English Language shows us that phonics and graphemes are not always aligned. Adoniou (2014) explains that “The result is an alphabetic orthography but not a phonetically regular language. This means that you cannot accurately predict how to pronounce most English words simply by looking at the spelling, nor can you spell most words accurately just through hearing them pronounced.” (ADONIOU, 2014).

Learning is a continuous process and in this paragraph I intend to discuss a little bit about my own process of writing in ESL (English as a second language). Firstly, I brainstorm in order to organize my ideas and thoughts better, after that, I organize the information in the paragraphs they are going to be placed and finally I begin to write. This process is very time-saving due to the fact that organizing your ideas makes the writing easier and faster. When the writing is finished, it is essential to proofread your text and see if there is anything you need to change. Moreover, it is interesting to have a friend that can also check your text.

Therefore, writing requires time and practice – particularly when it comes to write in another language – finding a way that best fits your writing needs is fundamental to improve your skills. As Halliday says “When people speak or write, they produce text. The term `text’ refers to any instance of language, in any medium, that makes sense to someone who knows the language.” (HALLIDAY, 2005).

REFERENCES

ADONIOU, M. (2014). What should teachers know about spelling? Literacy, 48(3), 144-154.

M. A. K. Halliday and Jonathan J. Webster. 2005. Computational And Quantitative Studies: The Collected Works Of M.A.K. Halliday. New York: Continuum. pp.28-30.