Writing is the most neglected skill in many classrooms.
Teachers avoid it because it’s hard to plan, even harder to mark, and students often hate it. There’s pressure to make students write fluently and accurately, but without clear guidance or enthusiasm, the results can be disappointing.
But writing doesn’t have to be painful - for you or them. This guide will walk you through a step-by-step approach to making writing lessons practical, structured and surprisingly enjoyable. You'll also discover how AI can support your efforts too!
What Is Writing in a Language Class?
Most people immediately think of writing as spelling and grammar. But in language teaching, it’s so much more than that.
Writing is the ability to express your thoughts clearly in another language. It demands vocabulary, structure, and coherence — and for students, it's often the first time they’re asked to produce language beyond a sentence or two.
There are many types of writing tasks in the classroom: story writing, emails, opinion essays, notes, descriptions, applications. Each one has different conventions. A good writing lesson makes these expectations clear and helps students build towards them.
Why Writing Is Worth Teaching
Writing helps students consolidate everything they’ve learned.
It turns passive vocabulary into active use.
It gives quieter or less confident students a chance to shine.
It reflects real-world communication: messages, blogs, reports, forms.
If you skip writing, you’re missing one of the best ways for students to organise and internalise what they know.
A learner once told me, “When I write it down, I realise what I do and don’t know.” That clarity? It’s gold.
Why Writing Is So Difficult (for Teachers and Students)
Writing is often dreaded, and not just by students.
For learners, it’s slow, challenging and often feels irrelevant. For teachers, it’s a mountain of marking, and lessons often fall flat. Why?
Students are told to write before they’re shown how.
The focus is on accuracy, not communication.
Teachers don’t have a clear structure to follow — so students flounder.
But none of this is your fault. Most training skips how to scaffold writing tasks effectively.
That ends now.
How to Teach Writing Step-by-Step
Here’s a reliable structure you can use for almost any writing lesson:
Start with a model
Give students a good example of the writing task. Highlight structure, tone, useful phrases.
Example: show a well-written informal email before asking students to write one.
Focus on features
Teach 1 or 2 key elements: connectors, layout, paragraphing, tone.
Example: how to use “although” and “however” to contrast ideas in an opinion piece.
Pre-task thinking
Brainstorm ideas. Plan content. Elicit vocabulary. Make it collaborative.
Example: for a story, students brainstorm the characters, setting, and problem first.
Write a first draft
Emphasise it's a draft. Take the pressure off perfection.
Example: give students 15 minutes to write, using their notes and the model as support.
Peer feedback or conferencing
Use a checklist or sentence starters. Focus on content and clarity, not grammar alone.
Example: “I liked how you described…” or “I wasn’t sure what happened in the second part…”
Rewrite and polish
Based on feedback, students make changes. This is where real learning happens.
Publish and celebrate
Share the final drafts: class wall, Padlet, read aloud, or email. It gives purpose to the task.
This structure works. It builds student confidence and encourages real improvement, not just correction.
Adapting for Different Levels
One-size-fits-all writing lessons don’t work. A beginner’s writing needs are miles apart from an advanced learner’s.
If you use the same tasks across all levels, you risk frustrating beginners and boring advanced students.
Here’s how to tweak your approach:
Beginners (A1–A2)
Focus on sentence-level writing: simple descriptions, lists, captions.
Provide heavy scaffolding: sentence starters, word banks, models to copy.
Keep tasks short and familiar: writing about their family, daily routine, or favourite food.
Goal: Build basic confidence and control of simple structures.
Intermediate (B1–B2)
Shift to paragraph writing: informal emails, short narratives, simple arguments.
Focus on organisation: topic sentences, connectors, paragraph structure.
Encourage creativity: “What would you do if...?”, “Tell a story with this picture.”
Goal: Develop fluency and clarity in expressing ideas.
Advanced (C1–C2)
Use real-world tasks: essays, reviews, reports, formal letters.
Challenge precision and nuance: hedging language, register, tone, cohesion.
Focus on editing and polishing: rhetorical impact, clarity, style.
Goal: Refine expression and develop a personal voice in writing.
The key? Match the task to what your learners can do - and gently push the edge of that comfort zone.
How to Get AI to Help
Writing lessons are time-consuming. But AI can take a big load off your shoulders:
Generate model texts: Ask ChatGPT to write an example at your students’ level, on your topic.
Highlight features: Get AI to underline topic sentences, connectors, paragraph structure.
Brainstorming help: Use it to generate ideas or sentence starters for your students.
Give feedback: Paste in student writing and ask AI to identify one thing to improve.
Try this prompt:
“You are a writing assistant for TEFL students. Please give feedback on this B1-level opinion paragraph. Focus on clarity and organisation. Do not correct grammar unless it affects meaning.”
You still stay in control - but with a helpful assistant beside you.
Top Tips
Don’t correct everything. Choose 1–2 focus points per task (e.g. organisation or vocabulary).
Build stamina slowly. Start with short tasks: complete the paragraph, write a reply, continue the story.
Match the genre. The tone and structure of a review is very different from a story or letter.
Make it meaningful. Write real things: an email to a friend, a review of a movie they like, a scary story for Halloween.
Celebrate effort. Public recognition motivates more than marks.
Final Thoughts
Writing doesn’t have to be the thing you squeeze in last or dread marking.
It can be structured, enjoyable, and one of the best tools you have to help students put their learning into practice. With clear models, a simple process, and some AI support, writing lessons can become something you (and your students) actually look forward to.
If you liked this article, you’ll love my books:
📝 Lesson Planning for Language Teachers - Plan better, faster, and stress-free.
👩🎓 Essential Classroom Management - Develop calm students and a classroom full of learning.
🏰 Storytelling for Language Teachers - Use the power of storytelling to transform your lessons.
🤖 ChatGPT for Language Teacher 2025 - A collection of AI prompts and techniques to work better, faster.
💭 Reflective Teaching Practice Journal - Improve your teaching in five minutes daily.
Disturbing to think of children being taught to write by an AI. Writing cannot be taught, rather, it must be felt.