Revisiting "Writing in Spite of Teachers: Issues in Teaching Writing (Trinidad and Tobago)" 20 Years Later

Abstract

This article investigates the extent to which Watts' (1993) claim that English teachers in Trinidad and Tobago used "simplistic, unintegrated and outdated strategies for teaching writing" (p. 68) was true. Four in-serivce English teacher trainees participate in the study, which used data from observaiton of lessons, post-lesson interviews, and tutor comments to the teacher trainees as its source of data. the study found support for Watts' claim, but only in teachers' initial teaching practices; their more informed practice showed some alignment with best practices in writing instruction.