Controlled writing involves supplying students with some or all of the content and form of their writing to focus on specific writing elements. It is useful at all levels as it allows students to practice getting words on paper and concentrating on one or two writing problems at a time. Common controlled writing tasks include completing an outline, manipulating a paragraph, following a model, or continuing a passage. Controlled writing provides ample practice with correct grammar forms compared to free writing and allows students to monitor their own progress within the given parameters.

1. TECHNIQUES IN USING
CONTROLLED WRITING

2. WHAT IS CONTROLLED WRITING?
Raimes (1983) – “all the writing your students do for which a great
deal of the content and/or form is supplied.”
Opposite to free writing; similar to guided writing (not the same
though).
Compared to free writing, more is given to the students:
•
•
•
•
an outline to complete
a paragraph to manipulate
a model to follow
a passage to continue, etc.
 Silva (1990) still considers it as effective tool in helping learner
put down words on paper.

3. WHAT IS CONTROLLED WRITING?
A useful tool at all levels of composition teaching.
 Controlled writing tasks give students focused practice in:
1. Getting words down on paper.
2. Concentrating on one or two problems at a time.
Students are spared the complexity that is free writing.
Can fit into a writing curriculum at any level of student ability in these
places:
1. Before free writing – students practice a grammatical point or
syntactic structure within a text and not just as a sentence exercise.
2. After free writing – when we determine what problems students may
face and assign a guided task to give them practice with the
problematic areas.

4. PROS OF CONTROLLED WRITING
 A practical process of reinforcing grammar, vocabulary and syntax in context
(Raimes, 1983).
 When the students write the passages, conventions of written English
(indentation, punctuation, connecting words, spelling etc.) are used.
 Can be used with different levels.
 Provide learners with ample writing practice using correct grammar forms
compared to free writing.
 Allows learners to monitor their own progress within the parameters provided.
 Can be prepared and corrected quickly – reduces burden on the teacher.
 Helps to systematically and gradually cover different teaching points
(Paulston, 1972).

5. FIVE FREQUENTLY ASSIGNED
TASKS
CONTROLLED COMPOSITION, QUESTION AND ANSWER, GUIDED COMPOSITION, PARALLEL
WRITING, & SENTENCE COMBINING

6. CONTROLLED COMPOSITION
 Students are given a passage to work with; they do not have to be concerned with
things like content, organization, finding ideas and forming sentences.
 Usually writing down the passage and making a few specified changes of a
grammatical or structural nature.
 Students make changes to the passage given to them, but will not add anything
of their own to it.
 Example:
• Rewrite a passage describing a man to one that describes two men (singular/plural
changes).
• Rewrite a present tense passage in the past.
• Rewrite direct speech into indirect speech.

7. CONTROLLED COMPOSITION
Example:
Everyday Alice wakes up at 6.
She prepares breakfast for the whole family before preparing herself to go to work.
She drives to her workplace which is twenty minutes away.
She takes a coffee break at 10 a.m.
Instruction: Describe Alice’s routine last Monday, and change the report. Start with
“Last Monday, Alice woke up at 6.”
More examples can be found in Techniques in Teaching Writing by Ann Raimes (pg. 98 – 101)

8. QUESTION AND ANSWER
 This format allows students a little more freedom in structuring sentences.
 Students are not given actual text they are going to write, but rather are given a
series of questions, the answers to which form the text.
 Carefully constructed questions will produce a coherent text.

9. QUESTION AND ANSWER
Example:
Instruction:
Abu’s daily morning routine
By answering the following questions with
complete sentences, write a paragraph that
describes Abu’s daily morning routine.
6:00 wake up
1.
When does Abu wake up?
6:05 shower
2.
What does he do first?
6:10 put on school uniform
3.
What does he do next?
6:20 eat breakfast
4.
What does he do then?
6:35: put on shoes
5.
When does he eat his breakfast?
6:40 say goodbye to Mom and walk to school
6.
What does he do after breakfast?
7.
What does he do before walking to
school?
More examples can be found in Techniques in Teaching Writing by Ann Raimes
(pg. 101 – 103)

10. GUIDED COMPOSITION
 It is an extension of controlled composition.
 Less controlled than the previous ones – provides only some of the content and
form of the sentences students will use.
 Finished products will be similar but not exactly alike.
 Students are given a first sentence, a last sentence, an outline to fill out, a series
of questions to respond to, or information to include in their writing.
 Students can discuss, make notes, share findings and plan strategies before they
begin to write.

11. GUIDED COMPOSITION
Example:
Students are shown a picture. They are to write 3 paragraphs about the picture.
a. Begin by telling the reader that the picture shows__________. Then go on and
describe the ________ of the _________.
b. Start your second paragraph by saying something about the ________ in the
picture. Describe ________ in detail.
c. Start your third paragraph with “Other than that, the ______________ is also
__________.”. Go on and describe the rest of the characteristics of __________.
More examples can be found in Techniques in Teaching Writing by Ann Raimes (pg. 98 – 101)

12. SENTENCE COMBINING
 It is the combining of “base” or “kernel” sentences into one longer compound or
complex sentences.
 Researchers found that sentence-combining exercises improve students’
sentence structure, length of sentence, and sentence variety.
 A good way of introducing new language structures without the complicated
explanations and jargons.
 Content is given – does not provide students opportunity to formulate ideas, but
does provide plenty of practice with syntactic structures that are more common in
writing than in speech.
 Gives students chance to use grammatical knowledge they have to make choices
about structures.

13. SENTENCE COMBINING
Example:
 He didn’t get to eat his breakfast this morning.
 He woke up late this morning.
Combine the sentences to form a new sentences using the correct conjunction(s).
More examples can be found in Techniques in Teaching Writing by Ann Raimes (pg. 107 – 109)

14. PARALLEL WRITING
 The freest kind of controlled writing.
 Students read and study a passage and then write their own on a similar
theme – use as a guide the vocabulary, sentence structure, cohesive device
and the organization of the model passage.
 Thus, parallel writing can best be described as rewriting with different
basic information, which again is provided.

15. PARALLEL WRITING
Example:
Steve: I’m leaving for swimming practice, Mom. See you later.
Mom: Okay. Please close the front gate behind you when you leave.
Rewrite the dialogue into a narrative.
More examples can be found in Techniques in Teaching Writing by Ann Raimes (pg. 109 – 113)

16. USING CONTROLLED WRITING IN
TANDEM WITH THE PROCESS
APPROACH

17. USING CONTROLLED WRITING IN TANDEM
WITH THE PROCESS APPROACH

The best way of integrating controlled writing and the process approach is
to design the writing activity around one step in the writing process.

Through this simple organizational routine we break the writing process
down into bite-sized chunks which can easily be handled both by the
teachers and the students.

18. USING CONTROLLED WRITING IN TANDEM
WITH THE PROCESS APPROACH
 Thus brainstorming and different types of brainstorming can be turned into
controlled writing activities by, for example, inserting blanks into lists.
 Students could have to revise or fix up thesis statements/topic sentences.
 Even outlining can easily be turned into a controlled writing activity.

19. THE END
THANK YOU VERY MUCH

20. REFERENCES
Elturki, E. (2013). Controlled Writing: An Effective Traditional Practice for
Developing ELLs’ Composition. Humanising Language Teaching, 15(2).
Raimes, A. (2013).
Raimes. A.(1983). Techniques in Teaching Writing (Vol. 15). New York, NY: Oxford
University
Press.