Proposed Settings for English Diary Writing

  1. Classify writers according to level by making them write for the establishing of special editing guidelines per level—this is to make editing easier by categorizing students according to writing ability and English fluency. Categorizing will also help in isolating problem zones and trouble-shoot accordingly.
  1. Set the number of sentences per Diary entry—setting the number of sentences (and words per sentences) for daily entry will make editing (as well as writing for the students) more focused and specialized. For instance, the Beginners’ Level would set a limit of five-word sentences, four sentences per entry). The aim is to give more detailed lessons or explanations to students. Long sentences are likely to produce more mistakes, and the students may not be able to absorb the comments/editing if too many mistakes are noted. Editing will focus on ‘curing’ or teaching students from basic writing techniques, and length of entries will depend on the progress of the students.
  1. Edit on a friendly note—editors will teach, edit and comment in a friendly and manner. Use pleasantries like please and kindly and always greet Diary writers, wishing them a good day or something like that .
  1. Always provide a TIPS for TODAY or NOTES to REMEMBER at the end of every entry- providing such is aimed at educating students on how to write better on their next entry or submission; this section will also be used by the editor to explain further (and provide examples for) the important points or mistakes in an entry that were not fully explained earlier.
  1. Provide a good selection of words for a Vocabulary Pocket for each entry and editing- this will introduce the students to new and useful words that they can use in their daily Diary writing; words to be featured will also be those that the students misspelled or used incorrectly in their entry. The Vocabulary Pocket must contain a maximum of three words per entry so that the students would remember the words more easily.
  1. Provide step-by-step solutions using easily understood words and sentences- it’s important that instructions are handed or given using the most commonly spoken or popular English. Introduce technical English terms (such as verb, noun, modifier, adverb, noun clause, etc.) with an easy-to-digest definition, especially when editing students in the Beginners’ Level.