The process approach concentrates more on the means rather than the end. Students are free to construct their own compositions and are encouraged to use all the cognitive processes that are naturally required in order to do so. As with grammar translation, I do not advocate the wholesale return of product-focused writing, since it too relies on certain discredited principles. However, the synthesis of translation and guided writing can provide some beneficial and rewarding writing practice for lower levels and children's classes. I am not advocating translation from L2 to L1, as in traditional grammar translation methodology - there is little to be gained from translating a text from English to Portuguese since it is English, after all, that we want to practice.
Students read in Portuguese and have to translate to English.
This should not be seen so much as a translation exercise but rather one in guided writing. The students do not have to think about organisation or the reader, etc, or about using their imagination in order to write. This can be left to process writing practice. Learning can be facilitated through the comparison of the similarities between L1 and L2. It is cognitive.