The Six W Method, also known as the Six W Analysis or 5W1H, is the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. It helps students to identify the main information of a text in an organized and sequential manner, and is often used in reading instruction to help students sort out the storyline. In writing, teachers also use the 5W1H to guide students through the content-conceptualizing process, to outline their writing. However, it actually has its pedagogical limitations in writing instructions. When the students try to outline their writing, it seems that the Six W Method could not help them much. Why? Unlike reading, which is a receptive learning process, writing is a productive learning process. During the process of outlining before writing, the 5W1H information that the students choose is only a RESULT and ways of presenting of their selections, not a METHOD of selecting material. As for how to select materials, i.e., how to determine the information in the 5W1H, and why to determine this information instead of that information in each W/H, this is where students need special coaching and training from teachers. This process of thinking is less visibly and explicitly trained in the classroom. In this paper, we try to analyse the limitations and shortcomings of the Six W Method in the teaching of writing from the perspective of thinking process, and try to propose corresponding countermeasures to help students how to use the Six W Method for optimal material selection.

Authors:
Cheng Gong, Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Juan Wang, Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Boonpei Tay, Singapore Centre for Chinese Language, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

About the Presenter(s)
Dr Cheng Gong is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Singapore Centre for Chinese Language in Singapore

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