Teaching writing at basic schools : theoretical premises and practical implications

The article analyses how the requirements for writing and development of writing skills prescribed in the general curriculum framework for the Lithuanian Language are transposed into teaching aids and what writing strategies could be used to assist in achieving the curriculum requirements. The aim of this article is to analyse the requirements for writing in the general curriculum framework and how these requirements are implemented in the education process. The object of research is the Lithuanian language textbooks for the Lithuanian Language curriculum in grades V–X at the basic education school. The methods of research – analysis of subject-related and methodological literature and the analytical descriptive method. Writing is a complex process that involves both an understanding of what a pupil wants to write and the ability to express one’s thoughts in a cohesive way according to the requirements of the genre, style, and structure. In addition, the text must be grammatically correct. The text (both read and written) is the main communicative aspect pupils come across in learning any disciplines and it is during native language lessons that the basic skills of writing are formed. It is difficult to separate writing from an understanding of the text being read, because analysis of the text being read is the foundation for learning how to write a text: by reading the text pupils find information, learn structural requirements, and analyse linguistic expression. For some time now reading and writing in the international educational and methodological publications [1; 3; 4] have been treated not as a skill, but as a process of thinking that requires active participation of the reader and writerVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŠvietimo akademij