Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 13:9 September 2013 Anindya Syam Choudhury, Ph.D., PGCTE, PGDTE, CertTESOL (Trinity, London) Of Speaking, Writing, and Developing Writing Skills in English 27 Of Speaking, Writing, and Developing Writing Skills in English Anindya Syam Choudhury, Ph.D., PGCTE, PGDTE, CertTESOL (Trinity, London) ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 13:9 September 2013 ==================================================================== Abstract Of the four core language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, writing is obviously the most difficult skill for second and foreign language learners to master. The main reason for this difficulty is the fact that writing is a very complex process which involves both creating and organizing ideas and translating them into cohesive texts which are readable. However, in the English classrooms in India, this skill is generally taken for granted with little or no focus on the complex process of writing. This article takes up this issue, beginning with a few introductory remarks on the teaching of English language skills in the Indian context, and then moving on to a discussion about the differences between speech and writing before proposing a five-step procedure for the development of writing skills in English. Keywords: Language skills, speaking, writing, cohesive texts, second language learners Skills Tapestry When we consider second or foreign language pedagogy today, we tend to focus our attention on the development of the four macro-skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – on the acquisition of which hinges the ability of the language user to use the language with proficiency in a variety of contexts. Of course, there is a school of thought which believes that in the tapestry of a language, the linguistic elements and skills are woven so intricately together that they can’t be separated without destroying the fabric of that language. While there’s no gainsaying that such a view has weight and we, therefore, advocate the teaching of language skills in an integrated way, it is also essential sometimes, especially in an acquisition poor