In this guide
Cambridge Veritas · Original TESOL self-study resources
Understand the idea
Adjust support while retaining the writing purpose. Some learners need a frame or word bank; others can add nuance or a more demanding audience. Spellcheck and translation tools should be discussed in relation to authorship, judgement and the learning objective.
What you will practise
- Explain the key idea in “Differentiation and digital writing support” using a concrete example.
- Choose a teaching response that fits the learner and the purpose.
- Identify evidence you could collect to evaluate that response.
A closer look at the teaching
Digital tools can support planning and checking, but learners need to retain responsibility for the message. Ask them to review a suggestion against their intended meaning. Provide a frame or model where access is difficult, and increase audience or reasoning demands where learners are ready for greater challenge.
Writing instruction makes the process of creating a message available for learning. A writer must select ideas, organise them for a reader and revise language and content. Models can support these decisions without dictating every phrase. Feedback needs to give the learner something manageable to do, and the lesson must leave time to act on it. Evaluate the revised text against its communicative purpose as well as its selected accuracy focus.
In the classroom
A mixed-level group writes a short review with access to digital tools.
Before choosing an activity, identify what the learner needs to understand or communicate. Separate the language demand from other demands such as reading instructions, managing equipment or speaking to a large group.
A teaching sequence you can adapt
Use these stages as a starting point for this topic. Keep the language goal visible, and change the support when learner responses show a different need.
- 01
Define the reader, purpose and response expected from the text.
- 02
Examine a useful model and help learners generate and organise their own content.
- 03
Draft with suitable support, then obtain focused reader or teacher feedback.
- 04
Revise the text, explain an important change and check whether the intended message is clearer.
Ask the writer to explain one accepted and one rejected suggestion with reference to purpose or meaning.
A common mistake to avoid
Do not treat accepting every automated suggestion as evidence of improved writing judgement.
When reviewing the activity, distinguish what you observed from what you inferred. Use the task outcome and a fresh example to decide whether another explanation, a different scaffold or more independent practice is needed.
Adapt it for your learners
Make the task accessible.
Provide a paragraph frame, a relevant model and a small checklist that makes essential information visible.
Extend the thinking.
Change the audience, add a competing viewpoint or require the writer to justify a tone and organisation choice.
Keep the intended outcome consistent when comparing responses. Record which support was available so you do not confuse a supported performance with the same task completed independently.
Try it, then compare.
Take a moment to make your own decision. Compare your reasoning with the example, then adapt it for a teaching context you know.
Try it in a teaching context
Provide one support option and one extension.
Your questions, answered.
What is a common mistake with Differentiation and digital writing support?
Do not treat accepting every automated suggestion as evidence of improved writing judgement.
How can I check whether the teaching worked?
Ask the writer to explain one accepted and one rejected suggestion with reference to purpose or meaning.
How can I support learners who find the task difficult?
Provide a paragraph frame, a relevant model and a small checklist that makes essential information visible.
How can I add a useful extra challenge?
Change the audience, add a competing viewpoint or require the writer to justify a tone and organisation choice.
Quick revision
- The key idea: Adjust support while retaining the writing purpose.
- The context to remember: A mixed-level group writes a short review with access to digital tools.
- A useful next step: Provide one support option and one extension.
For your teaching portfolio: keep a brief plan, a note of what learners actually did and one change you would make next time. Use anonymous examples.
Take the module self-checkSources and authorship
This module maps to the supplied syllabus PDF, Focus on writing skills (5 pages). The study notes, examples, application tasks and self-checks on these pages are original Cambridge Veritas resources.
View the supplied PDF ↗ · Publication reference: source chapter
Written by Cambridge Veritas. Updated .
Use these resources for preparation and reflection. Browser self-check results are for personal study and do not award a qualification or replace observed teaching practice.