The Ministry of Higher and secondary education of the Republic of Uzbekistan The Uzbekistan state World Languages University

II. Chapter one
§ 1.1. Theoretical basis of teaching writing skills
Writing is productive skill about constructing written texts. It is indeed complex language skill, as it requires writers to be able to control various cognitive activities simultaneously. For example, it demands a lot of time for thinking process and reflecting on a topic. It also requires writers to analyze and classify background knowledge and gained information. After all these difficult processes writers need to use corresponding language to express their ideas into written discourse with logical content.
Writing skills are communicative skills, through which people can express their opinions, thoughts and feelings regarding some topic. Teaching writing is challenging as it considers teaching a lot of aspects of qualitative writing skills. Emphasizing the importance of writing skills Harmer (1998) stated: "the reasons for teaching writing to students of English as a foreign language include reinforcement, language development, learning style and, most importantly, writing as a skill in its own right."
It is all known that writing skills are often the least favorite skills of students. The success of improving writing skills depends on the degree of improvement of other language skills. In the process of learning and development of any language writing skills are considered to be the last skill to learn compared to the other three language skills of listening, speaking and reading. However, the most difficult one for learners is writing skill. The difficulties of learners in writing suggested by Hedge (1988) are a good ability to develop ideas and information, high level of accuracy to help readers avoid misunderstandings, the use of diversified grammatical structures, syntax and vocabulary.
All of them are factors which should be taken into consideration during the writing process by students. The ability to write demands a lot of practice and study, it is not something given by nature. Learning to write in English is influenced by such factors as lack of motivation, limited reading activities and and the impact of the mother tongue. Therefore, in order to improve writing skills learners should spend time practicing writing in English and reading a lot of materials.
There are four main types of writing styles used in teaching writing. Each of them is used for a specific purpose within the passage. A single text can include more than one type of writing style. They are as follows:

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  Narrative writing – it is a type of writing when the author or writer narrates the story. The story can be fiction and nonfiction as well. Narrative writing includes novels, short stories, poetry, anecdotes and oral histories. This style of writing usually has situations like conflicts, problems, disputes and solutions. The presence of a solution to any kind of problematic situations in writings is a specific characteristic of narratives.
  
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  Descriptive writing – it is a style of writing about describing a person, a thing, a place or an event in detail. Descriptive writing is expressive type of writing, as it uses five senses as sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste to express author’s feelings about the object. It is often found in fiction, although its appearance in nonfiction is not an exception as well. The writer when using descriptive writing does not want to persuade the reader or explain something. The main purpose is to describe the things as they are. Examples of descriptive writing are: poetry, diary writing, descriptions of nature, fictional plays or plays.
  
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  Expository writing – it is one of the most common types of writing styles, the main focus of which is on facts about a topic, including statistics or other evidence. When writing in an expository style, the author does not include his or her opinion. The only thing which the writer needs to do is to explain a concept, an idea or something else to the audience. Readers often find expository writing style in textbooks, How-to articles, recipes, news stories, business, technical or scientific writing.
  
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  Persuasive writing – it is a type of writing style which contains the opinions, biasness, justifications and reasons of the author with the aim of convincing the readers to believe in what the author believes in. Examples of writings that should include persuasive style are: cover letters, Op-Eds and editorial newspaper articles, reviews of items and letters of recommendation.