BUSINESS ENGLISH 1 [BBA 1113]

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY
 TABLE OF CONTENT
Sl No. Subject Description Page No.
1 Introduction: Objectives of the course; Lecturer and student expectations.
Free writing exercise for assessment. Skimming and scanning, 1 – 16
comprehension. Listening for comprehension and note taking
2 Writing Skills: Types of paragraphs; narrative, descriptive; Expository:
compare, analyze, argue, etc.; Pre-writing: getting ideas: brainstorming: 17 – 34
free writing; Organizing ideas: outlining: spider diagrams. Linear
planning. Vocabulary in context
3 Reading comprehension and making notes, summarizing listening
comprehension.
Writing skills: Organizing of paragraphs: the topic sentence: supporting
35 – 57
sentences: concluding sentences; Rewriting: revising and editing, peer
editing adjective and noun collocation, comparing and contrasting
vocabulary in context
4 Reading comprehension. Summary writing listening. Comprehension
writing skills: coherence and cohesion in paragraphs: logical, spatial, 58 – 68
explanatory ordering cohesive devices: linking words, pronouns, articles,
synonyms vocabulary in context using participles, articles and
determiners.
5 Reading comprehension listening for information writing skills: unity and
completeness in paragraphs-all supporting statements relate to topic 69 – 74
sentence words easily confused, vocabulary in context

6 Reading comprehension and making notes. Listening comprehension and

discussion writing skills, from paragraph to essay: expanding the 75 – 84
paragraph, vocabulary in context reporting. Reading comprehension
writing skills: the thesis statement.
7 Summary writing, punctuation, vocabulary in context/opposites using
inversion for emphasis. 85 – 96
Reading comprehension: listening comprehension, writing skills: the
introductory paragraph, describing people and objects vocabulary in
context.
8 Reading comprehension recognizing voice listening comprehension
writing skills: the concluding paragraph. 97 – 104

9 Summary of restatement fanning adjectives, vocabulary in context 105 – 110

 participles and infinitives oral presentations: Choosing a topic, how to
prepare.
10 Library research listening comprehension writing skills: Body paragraphs:
sufficient and support for the thesis appropriate vocabulary in context oral 111 – 119
presentations: preparation and presentation skills.

11 Reading comprehension, listening comprehension, revision and practice- 120 – 129

timed essays the passive voice.

12 Reading comprehension: listening comprehension: essay writing –

revision and practice making notes, describing a process, adjectives and 130 – 143
principles.

13 Reading comprehension listening comprehension essay writing – revision 144 – 148

and practice adverbs of degree, vocabulary in context using the future.

14 Reading comprehension, summarizing listening comprehension, essay 149 – 156

writing: revision and practice.
 UNIT I: INTRODUCTION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Introduction: Objectives of the course.

 Free writing exercise for assessment.
 Skimming and scanning, comprehension.
 Listening for comprehension and note taking.

COURSE DETAILS

Available worldwide, choose from weekly sessions at your offices, an intensive training

programme at a Communicaid centre or an English immersion course at our London training

centre. In addition to our wide range of Business English courses we also offer specialist

programmes including Legal English, Financial English, Insurance English and English for the

Oil & Gas Industry.

Learn Business English with Communicaid, one of the world’s leading providers of Business

English courses.

BENEFITS OF OUR BUSINESS ENGLISH COURSES

A Communicaid Business English course will provide you with:

 More confidence in your ability to conduct business in English

 Greater verbal fluency for face-to-face business situations

 More professional approach and interaction with clients

 Greater confidence to effectively represent your organisation at an international level

 Improved cross-border communication with colleagues and clients

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  Enhanced comprehension skills and clearer pronunciation

COURSE OBJECTIVES

 Build your Business English language skills and develop the business skills necessary for

your career;

 Communicate more confidently, effectively, accurately and fluently in both written and

spoken English;

 Build confidence in using English in real-life situations such as emails and meetings,

combined with working successfully in a cross-cultural environment;

 Improve your understanding of grammar to allow you to work more successfully in

English;

 Expand your English for business vocabulary;

 Increase your grammatical knowledge, enabling you to use a greater range of structures

while speaking English;

 Learn how to create presentations;

 Become confident in using English at work and in situations connected with work;

 Develop presentation skills by analysing figures, graphs, and describing trends;

 Develop a broader understanding of topical international issues.

LECTURER AND STUDENT EXPECTATIONS FROM BUSINESS ENGLISH

Learners’ and teachers’ evaluation of what constitutes useful, appropriate, and goal-relevant

English may well shift in view of the globalization of English and its dominance in non-native

contexts, business, and new media. Against this background, this study explores the extent to

which a specific Business English university programme meets teachers’ and learners’

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expectations. We argue that students’ own experiences and goals, including their past, present,

and projected use of English, shape their expectations and, consequently, their evaluations of the

teaching reality. The results of our study reveal that though learner and teacher beliefs tend to be

aligned in most areas, students’ judgements of effective teaching and learning practices are

highly dependent on personal motivations and specific language use purposes, and this

difference manifests itself most clearly in teachers’ and learners’ divergent views on the value of

grammatical accuracy and corrective feedback.

FREE WRITING EXERCISE FOR ASSESSMENT

 In order to get students thinking about business letters, ask how many reasons they can

think of for writing this type of letter. Give a couple of examples, then get students to

brainstorm in pairs, before feeding back to the class.

 Give learners the inappropriately informal letter (Worksheet 1). Ask a few simple

comprehension questions.

o Have they been in contact before?

o What's it about?

o What are the problems with the system?

 Then ask what's wrong with the text. (Too informal, doesn't follow letter-writing

conventions). Elicit some of the kinds of things they will need to change to make it more

formal (vocabulary, sentence structure, layout, paragraphing, greeting and close).

 In pairs, students re-write the letter to make it more appropriate as a formal letter. Don't

help them too much at this stage - the idea is that students write the best letter they are

capable of using their existing language resources. This creates a need for the

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 conventional letter-writing language which may be 'missing' from their current

knowledge.

 Give students the model letter (Worksheet 2) and ask them to compare it with their letter.

Emphasise that the model is only one possible way of re-writing the letter - this can lead

to a discussion on whether any differences are equally correct. Ask the students to

identify language from the model which they could use to improve their letter. In this

way, some of the conventional sentence frames which are so common in business letters

are 'fed in'.

 At this stage you might also wish to draw attention to the conventional greetings and

endings for formal letters. (In British English, if the name of the person is used, e.g. Dear

Mr. Jones, then the ending is Yours sincerely. If you don't know the name of the person

you are writing to, then the letter begins Dear Sir / Madam, and ends Yours faithfully.) It

may also be worth highlighting the punctuation used here, i.e. a comma after the greeting,

as this can vary between languages. In addition, some students are not familiar with the

form of address Ms, which refers to a woman without specifying her marital status. Other

issues which are problematic for your learners, such as paragraphing, over-long sentences

etc., can also be dealt with here.

 Students choose a situation from Worksheet 3, brainstorm in pairs, and select appropriate

language from their own letter and Worksheet 2. They then write the letter, working

collaboratively. This stage could also be done individually for homework if time is short.

The letters can be collected in by the teacher for assessment / correction purposes, or used

for a peer-evaluation activity. (See the Peer evaluation form for an example of how this

can be done).

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SKIMMING AND SCANNING

kimming and scanning are reading techniques that use rapid eye movement and keywords to

move quickly through text for slightly different purposes. Skimming is reading rapidly in order

to get a general overview of the material. Scanning is reading rapidly in order to find specific

facts. While skimming tells you what general information is within a section, scanning helps you

locate a particular fact. Skimming is like snorkeling, and scanning is more like pearl diving. Use

skimming in previewing (reading before you read), reviewing (reading after you read),

determining the main idea from a long selection you don't wish to read, or when trying to find

source material for a research paper.

Use scanning in research to find particular facts, to study fact-heavy topics, and to answer

questions requiring factual support.

Skimming to save time

Skimming can save you hours of laborious reading. However, it is not always the most

appropriate way to read. It is very useful as a preview to a more detailed reading or when

reviewing a selection heavy in content. But when you skim, you may miss important points or

overlook the finer shadings of meaning, for which rapid reading or perhaps even study reading

may be necessary.

Use skimming to overview your textbook chapters or to review for a test. Use skimming to

decide if you need to read something at all, for example during the preliminary research for a

paper. Skimming can tell you enough about the general idea and tone of the material, as well as

its gross similarity or difference from other sources, to know if you need to read it at all.

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To skim, prepare yourself to move rapidly through the pages. You will not read every word; you

will pay special attention to typographical cues-headings, boldface and italic type, indenting,

bulleted and numbered lists. You will be alert for key words and phrases, the names of people

and places, dates, nouns, and unfamiliar words. In general follow these steps:

1. Read the table of contents or chapter overview to learn the main divisions of ideas.

2. Glance through the main headings in each chapter just to see a word or two. Read the

headings of charts and tables.

3. Read the entire introductory paragraph and then the first and last sentence only of each

following paragraph. For each paragraph, read only the first few words of each sentence

or to locate the main idea.

4. Stop and quickly read the sentences containing keywords indicated in boldface or italics.

5. When you think you have found something significant, stop to read the entire sentence to

make sure. Then go on the same way. Resist the temptation to stop to read details you

don't need.

6. Read chapter summaries when provided.

If you cannot complete all the steps above, compromise: read only the chapter overviews and

summaries, for example, or the summaries and all the boldfaced keywords. When you skim, you

take a calculated risk that you may miss something. For instance, the main ideas of paragraphs

are not always found in the first or last sentences (although in many textbooks they are). Ideas

you miss you may pick up in a chapter overview or summary.

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Good skimmers do not skim everything at the same rate or give equal attention to everything.

While skimming is always faster than your normal reading speed, you should slow down in the

following situations:

 When you skim introductory and concluding paragraphs

 When you skim topic sentences

 When you find an unfamiliar word

 When the material is very complicated

Scanning for research and study

Scanning, too, uses keywords and organizational cues. But while the goal of skimming is a

bird's-eye view of the material, the goal of scanning is to locate and swoop down on particular

facts.

Facts may be buried within long text passages that have relatively little else to do with your topic

or claim. Skim this material first to decide if it is likely to contain the facts you need. Don't

forget to scan tables of contents, summaries, indexes, headings, and typographical cues. To make

sense of lists and tables, skim them first to understand how they are organized: alphabetical,

chronological, or most-to-least, for example. If after skimming you decide the material will be

useful, go ahead and scan:

1. Know what you're looking for. Decide on a few key words or phrases–search terms, if

you will. You will be a flesh-and-blood search engine.

2. Look for only one keyword at a time. If you use multiple keywords, do multiple scans.

3. Let your eyes float rapidly down the page until you find the word or phrase you want.

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 4. When your eye catches one of your keywords, read the surrounding material carefully.

Scanning to answer questions

If you are scanning for facts to answer a specific question, one step is already done for you: the

question itself supplies the keywords. Follow these steps:

1. Read each question completely before starting to scan. Choose your keywords from the

question itself.

2. Look for answers to only one question at a time. Scan separately for each question.

3. When you locate a keyword, read the surrounding text carefully to see if it is relevant.

4. Re-read the question to determine if the answer you found answers this question.

Scanning is a technique that requires concentration and can be surprisingly tiring. You may have

to practice at not allowing your attention to wander. Choose a time and place that you know

works for you and dive in.

COMPREHENSION

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately

understand written material, children need to be able to (1) decode what they read; (2) make

connections between what they read and what they already know; and (3) think deeply about

what they have read.

Reading Aloud to Build Comprehension

Once upon a time, there was a grownup, a child, and a very good book.

Goodnight room

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Goodnight moon

Goodnight cow jumping over the moon

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is a beloved children's bedtime story. Young children

instantly relate to the struggle of the little bunny trying to get to sleep. Such stories are

memorable because they move children and allow them to make personal connections that

inspire them to think more deeply, to feel more wholeheartedly, and to become more curious

listeners.

Many of us can remember from our own experience the precious time spent sharing and talking

about stories. We remember relating to the friendship between a little girl and a teddy bear

named Corduroy in the book of the same name by Don Freeman. We also related to the

friendship between a spider and her pig friend, Wilbur, in E.B. White's Charlotte's Web.

We connected to the characters, their situations, or the settings in which the stories took place.

Little did we know that when we were making such connections we were learning to think and

act like good readers. Because reading aloud provides children with a model of confident and

expert reading, many parents and teachers make it a vital part of their teaching practice.

What Is Listening Comprehension

Listening comprehension is the precursor to reading comprehension, so it’s an important skill to

develop. Listening comprehension isn’t just hearing what is said—it is the ability to understand

the words and relate to them in some way.

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For example, when you hear a story read aloud, good listening comprehension skills enable you

to understand the story, remember it, discuss it, and even retell it in your own words. You use

these same comprehension skills when you read.

How Listening Comprehension Develops

Listening comprehension begins at a young age as babies interact with people around them. It

develops as they are read to, as they engage in conversation with their parents, and as they play

games.

Listening comprehension continues to be important even after a child learns to read. In grade

school, reading comprehension generally lags behind listening comprehension, so the best way

for a child to develop higher levels of comprehension is through non-print sources (read-alouds,

discussions, movies, and so on).

In the All About Reading program, we intentionally develop listening comprehension through

story discussions, vocabulary development, and read-alouds. In this way, kids grow in their

knowledge of the world, absorb language structure, and make connections between old and new

information.

Fantastic Ways to Develop Listening Comprehension

In addition to the activities built into All About Reading, you can help your child develop

listening comprehension skills by engaging in the activities below on a regular basis.

Play Fun Games

Play listening skills games such as Mashed Potatoes. This silly game will provide your child with

important listening practice and plenty of giggles, too!

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Talk to Your Child

If your child doesn’t understand what words mean, comprehension isn’t possible. The

Conversational Method for Teaching Vocabulary is simply talking with your child and

expanding upon vocabulary words that he has not yet learned.

Make Reading Aloud Interactive

Read lots of picture books aloud to your child. But don’t just read! You can help your child’s

listening skills by turning reading into an interactive activity.

Listen to Audio Books Together

Listening to audio books is another great “reading aloud” activity that provides ample

opportunities for building listening skills. As you listen to a story together, react to the story,

laugh at the funny parts, and express surprise or fear at the appropriate moments.

The Bottom Line on Building Listening Comprehension

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you help your child develop listening comprehension.

 Listening comprehension is vitally important because it is a necessary skill for reading

comprehension.

 Listening comprehension begins at a young age as babies interact with people around

them and continues in older children throughout the school years.

 You can develop listening comprehension with oral language activities such as listening

games, movies, vocabulary-rich conversation, interactive read-aloud time, and audio

books.

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LISTENING NOTE TAKING STRATEGIES

Taking effective notes in lectures and tutorials is an essential skill for university study. Good

note-taking allows a permanent record of key information that you can integrate with your own

writing, and use for exam revision. Taking reliable, accurate notes also reduces the risk of

plagiarising. It helps you distinguish where your ideas came from and how and what you think

about those ideas.

Fig 1: Note Taking

Six good reasons to take notes

 Notes are a useful record of key information, and the sources of that information.

 Notes inscribe information kinesthetically and help you remember what you heard.

 Taking notes helps you to concentrate and listen effectively.

 Selecting what to note down increases your understanding.

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  Notes create a resource for exam preparation.

 Notes taken in classes often contain information that can’t be found elsewhere.

Taking notes vs listening: which is more important?

You’ll get most out of lectures if you do both, but don’t focus on getting everything down to the

extent that you miss what the lecturer is saying—remember that actively listening and thinking

are what is important.

Lecture slides are usually an outline of the lecture content. They guide your listening and help

you identify the key topics and concepts. Take note of what appears on them, but don’t confine

your note-taking to simply copying it. The information is usually very limited compared to what

the lecturer says, so it’s more effective to listen to the lecture and take notes from that. Most

lecturers make their slides available before class, so print them out and take additional notes in

the lecture.

Before the Lecture: Be prepared

Preparation before the lecture provides the background knowledge you need to be an effective

listener and an effective student.

 Know what the lecture will be about. Check the course outline for weekly topics.

 Do any required pre-reading.

 If lecture slides are available before class, download them.

 Review notes from previous lectures.

 Set up notebooks/ documents for note-taking.

 Arrive on time and sit near the front - in order to take good notes, you need to hear and

see clearly.

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During the Lecture: Strategies for effective note-taking

Concentrate and pay attention

Arrive prepared to actively listen and learn, and to think criticially. Analysing and questioning

the information helps you to focus and understand what you hear.

Don’t try to write down everything being said

Be selective—you don’t have to transcribe the entire lecture. Effective listening note-taking

involves recognising key concepts and identifying and selecting what is relevant. Listen for the

overall argument and note the main points and key information.

How can I recognise what is important?

o Distinguish between main points, elaboration, examples, ‘waffle’ and new points

by listening for:

 introductory remarks. Lectures often begin with a useful overview of the

key ideas or themes of a particular topic. This helps you grasp the ‘big

picture’.

 verbal ‘signposts’ that indicate something important is about to be said.

Lecturers often signal key information with phrases like: “There are four

main aspects”, “This is important…” or “To sum up”.

 repetition. Important points will often be repeated, especially in

introductions and conclusions.

 phonological cues (voice emphais, change in volume, speed, emotion and

emphasis) often indicate important information.

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  final remarks. Most lectures conclude with a summary, a restatement of

the main ideas and an indication of how the topic connects with upcoming

material.

o Look for:

 non verbal cues (facial expressions, hand and body signals) that indicate

something important is being said.

 visual cues (note what is on the visuals, note references to names and

sources)

After the Lecture

To get the most out of your notes it’s important to review and re-engage actively with them

several times.

Review your notes while the lecture is fresh in your mind. Reviewing helps you remember what

was said, builds up your understanding, and helps identify gaps in your knowledge.

To review:

 Read through your notes. Make sure they are clear and legible. Clean them up - fix

spelling errors, expand on abbreviations, tidy up handwriting (if necessary).

 Fill in missing words or information and add anything extra that you may have thought of

since the lecture.

 Code your notes - use colour and symbols to mark structure and emphasis, highlight

major sections, main points and diagrams. Use different colours to emphasise main

points, classify different topics and link concepts or information.

 Explain and clarify diagrams by writing a simple version of their meaning.

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  Identify anything that needs further clarification.

Label and file your notes along with any lecture handouts.

Tips for re-engaging with notes

 Try “chunking” similar pieces of information into categories that you can remember more

easily.

 Transcribe key concepts in your own words.

 Add your own questions to the notes to help you recall the key ideas.

 Write a brief overall summary of the notes.

 Reflect on the learning process itself—what do you find confusing? How did you solve

problems or clarify your understanding?

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 UNIT II: WRITING SKILLS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Types of paragraphs; narrative, descriptive.

 Expository: compare, analyze, argue, etc.
 Pre-writing: getting ideas: brainstorming: free writing.
 Organizing ideas: outlining: spider diagrams. Linear planning.
Vocabulary in context

TYPES OF PARAGRAPHS

There are four types of paragraphs that you need to know about: descriptive, narrative,

expository, and persuasive. A quick search around the internet will yield other types, but to keep

this simple, it's a good idea to consider just these four.

The descriptive paragraph: This type of paragraph describes something and shows the reader

what a thing or a person is like. The words chosen in the description often appeal to the five

senses of touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste. Descriptive paragraphs can be artistic and may

deviate from grammatical norms.

The narrative paragraph: This type of paragraph tells a story. There's a sequence of action or

there's a clear beginning, middle, and end to the paragraph.

The expository paragraph: This type of paragraph explains something or provides instruction.

It could also describe a process and move the reader step by step through a method. This type of

paragraph often requires research, but it's possible that the writer is able to rely on his or her own

knowledge and expertise.

The persuasive paragraph: This type of paragraph tries to get the reader to accept a particular

point of view or understand the writer's position. This is the type of paragraph that many teachers

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focus on because it's useful when building an argument. It often requires the collection of facts

and research.

It important to point out that many paragraphs are a combination of these four types, but for the

purpose of instruction, let's consider some examples of each:

This is a descriptive paragraph:

The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is

playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is

easier minute by minute, spilled with prodigality, tipped out at a cheerful word . The

groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath;

already there are wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter

and more stable, become from a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group, and then,

excited with triumph, glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under

the constantly changing light.

This excerpt is taken from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this paragraph you can

hear, see, and feel the setting in which the story takes place. When you practice writing a

descriptive paragraph yourself, you should address all aspects of the physical world.

This is a narrative paragraph:

It's been almost ten years since I first ran for political office. I was thirty-five at the time,

four years out of law school, recently married, and generally impatient with life. A seat in

the Illinois legislature had opened up, and several friends suggested that I run, thinking

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that my work as a civil rights lawyer, and contacts from my days as a community

organizer, would make me a viable candidate. After discussing it with my wife, I entered

the race and proceeded to do what every first-time candidate does: I talked to anyone who

would listen. I went to block club meetings and church socials, beauty shops and

barbershops. If two guys were standing on a corner, I would cross the street to hand them

campaign literature. And everywhere I went, I'd get some version of the same two

questions.

This opening paragraph from Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope tell and interesting story

about how a man entered the arena of politics. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and it

raises the reader's curiosity about what will happen next.

This is an expository paragraph:

All toilet flush tanks work about the same. When the toilet is flushed, the trip handle lifts

the tank ball, opening the outlet and letting water flow into the bowl. When the tank is

nearly empty, the ball falls back in place over the outlet. The float falls with the water level,

opening the water-supply inlet valve just as the outlet is being closed, and the tank is

refilled through the filler tube. Water also flows through the bowl refill tube into the

overflow pipe to replenish trap-sealing water. As the water level in the tank nears the top of

the overflow pipe, the float closes the inlet valve, completing the cycle.

This paragraph from Reader's Digest Complete Do-it-yourself Manual gives detailed information

about how how the water moves through a toilet when it is flushed. It's instructive, and if you

like this kind of thing, it may even be interesting.

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This is a persuasive paragraph:

Immigration contributes to the overall health of the American economy. Despite recent concerns

related to the costs created by illegal and some legal immigration to the United States, this

country has largely benefited from the skills, talents, and ambition that immigrants bring with

them. American businesses gain from a good source of affordable labor, while town and cities

are revitalized by immigrant families who strengthen communities through civic participation the

generation of new economic activity. The United States must continue to welcome new arrivals

and help those who already here; otherwise, the country will lose the advantages it has over other

industrialized countries who compete against us in the global marketplace and seek to recruit

from a vast pool of unskilled and skilled global workers.

NARRATIVE

A narrative paragraph tells a story. Something happens first, second, third, etc. Of course,

narrative paragraphs are used in fiction as a writer describes the unfolding of events, but they are

also found when describing any actual sequence of activity.

Because narrative paragraphs resemble fiction (an untrue story), you have a little more freedom

to write the story in the style you prefer. This is known as artistic freedom or artistic license. You

can use the first person narrative style and include words that clearly refer to you (I, me, my,

mine, etc.), or you can try to tell the story from a purely objective point of view that is not

personal, but gives a straight-forward, factual account of what happened.

If your teacher asks you to write about a personal experience, try to tell it by using the first

person. This is the easiest style in which to write something. You might choose something that

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you remember well, or something that changed you life. Teachers who work with a large number

of foreign-born students often ask them to write about the time they first arrived in the United

States. That's a good assignment because it allows you to write in the first person and the details

in this kind of paragraph are likely to be very vivid. Here's an example:

I remember when I first arrived in the United States. Even before the plane landed, the little

windows in the airplane revealed snow and ice-covered houses and buildings. As I walked off

the plane, cold air crept though the corrugated ramp that led to the airport terminal. Some people

inside the airport were wearing big coats and hats, which I had seen on television, but never up

close. I felt a little dizzy and needed to sit down, and then my cell phone rang. It was my Aunt

Sophia. She was waiting for me outside in the passenger pick-up area, so I walked quickly to the

exit, forgetting all about my luggage. When the sliding glass door opened to the outside, there

was my aunt--a woman I hadn't seen in over ten years--wearing a parka and waving her arms

frantically in my direction.

The topic sentence in this paragraph is the first sentence, I remember when I first arrived in the

United States. The supporting sentences that follow should be about this experience and how it is

still remembered. The concluding sentence in this kind of a paragraph would lead to the action in

the next paragraph--if there is one.

The sequence of activity can be implied or reassembled by the reader as demonstrated in this

paragraph:

Those of us who found out early that our teacher would be Mr. Fine shuddered to think of having

to spend an entire year in his classroom, trapped and subjected to months of unending terror.

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We'd heard stories. We knew. Then a month before school was to begin, a list mysteriously

surfaced showing the names of all the sixth grade students at Fairmont Elementary, their

teachers, and their classrooms. Normally such information wasn't known until the first week of

classes, but John Patrick's mother was a secretary at the school, and somehow this list appeared.

It didn't matter how it was found, or who exactly leaked the information. It was that cold list of

names that would cause a couple dozen eleven-year olds to panic. But as it turns out, we were all

wrong about Mr. Fine.

Or the activity can be clearly sequenced so that there's no mistake about what happens first,

second, third, and so on:

Theo's day began with a shock. As soon as he arrived at the office that morning, he learned that

his best friend was dead. Wasn't it just twelve hours ago that they were eating chicken wings and

tipping back beer in front of a baseball game at the Cooper's Bar and Grill? After a long day of

crunching numbers at the office, they stopped at a bar for a Thursday afternoon happy hour.

They saw a few coworkers there, and before they knew it, it was closing time. Bill got in a car

with someone he met just that evening and that was the last time Theo saw him.

When you do the prewriting for a narrative paragraph, list the sequence of activity. When you are

ready to write, you can use this information in plotting out the events. It is not necessary to

always go directly in order. An event that happens last can appear first in the paragraph. In fact,

this is a good way to arouse interest in the reader. As long as the paragraph seems fairly logical,

you have a lot of creative freedom in writing this kind of a paragraph.

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You could also just start writing the paragraph in a stream-of-consciousness sort of way and let

the ideas and action flow freely from your mind as you remember them.

If you want to send me an example of a narrative paragraph that you have written, I'd like to post

some student work here on this page so that students can learn from each other. Email your

paragraph to your teacher:

DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPHS

A descriptive paragraph describes a thing, a person, or a place. Detailed information allows the

reader to form an image in his or her imagination. The better the description, the clearer the

image.

When teaching my students how to write a descriptive paragraph, I usually have them consider

the five senses of touch, smell, sound, taste, and sight. Before writing the paragraph, make five

columns and list words or ideas for the subject of the paragraph based on these five senses.

Descriptive paragraphs include details that appeal to the five senses: sight, taste, touch, smell,

and hearing. In a descriptive paragraph, the writer must convey information that appeals to all

the senses in order to give the best possible description to the reader. Descriptive paragraphs are

commonly used in fiction and non-fiction writing to help immerse readers into the world of the

author. Though there are no hard and fast rules for how exactly these paragraphs should be

structured, there are several suggestions that can help you write an effective and appealing

descriptive paragraph.

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FOUR TYPES OF ESSAY: EXPOSITORY, PERSUASIVE, ANALYTICAL,

ARGUMENTATIVE

1) The expository essay

This is a writer’s explanation of a short theme, idea or issue.

The key here is that you are explaining an issue, theme or idea to your intended audience. Your

reaction to a work of literature could be in the form of an expository essay, for example if you

decide to simply explain your personal response to a work. The expository essay can also be

used to give a personal response to a world event, political debate, football game, work of art and

so on.

What are its most important qualities?

You want to get and, of course, keep your reader’s attention. So, you should:

 Have a well defined thesis. Start with a thesis statement/research question/statement of

intent. Make sure you answer your question or do what you say you set out to do. Do not

wander from your topic.

 Provide evidence to back up what you are saying. Support your arguments with facts and

reasoning. Do not simply list facts, incorporate these as examples supporting your

position, but at the same time make your point as succinctly as possible.

 The essay should be concise. Make your point and conclude your essay. Don’t make the

mistake of believing that repetition and over-stating your case will score points with your

readers.

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2) The persuasive essay

This is the type of essay where you try to convince the reader to adopt your position on an issue

or point of view.

Here your rationale, your argument, is most important. You are presenting an opinion and trying

to persuade readers, you want to win readers over to your point of view.

What are its most important qualities?

 Have a definite point of view.

 Maintain the reader’s interest.

 Use sound reasoning.

 Use solid evidence.

 Be aware of your intended audience. How can you win them over?

 Research your topic so your evidence is convincing.

 Don’t get so sentimental or so passionate that you lose the reader, as Irish poet W. B.

Yeats put it:

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity

 Your purpose is to convince someone else so don’t overdo your language and don’t bore

the reader. And don’t keep repeating your points!

 Remember the rules of the good paragraph. One single topic per paragraph, and natural

progression from one to the next.

 End with a strong conclusion.

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3) The analytical essay

In this type of essay you analyze, examine and interpret such things as an event, book, poem,

play or other work of art.

What are its most important qualities?

Your analytical essay should have an:

 Introduction and presentation of argument

The introductory paragraph is used to tell the reader what text or texts you will be

discussing. Every literary work raises at least one major issue. In your introduction you

will also define the idea or issue of the text that you wish to examine in your analysis.

This is sometimes called the thesis or research question. It is important that you narrow

the focus of your essay.

 Analysis of the text (the longest part of the essay)

The issue you have chosen to analyze is connected to your argument. After stating the

problem, present your argument. When you start analyzing the text, pay attention to the

stylistic devices (the “hows” of the text) the author uses to convey some specific

meaning. You must decide if the author accomplishes his goal of conveying his ideas to

the reader. Do not forget to support your assumptions with examples and reasonable

judgment.

 Personal response: Your personal response will show a deeper understanding of the text

and by forming a personal meaning about the text you will get more out of it. Do not

make the mistake of thinking that you only have to have a positive response to a text. If a

writer is trying to convince you of something but fails to do so, in your opinion, your

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 critical personal response can be very enlightening. The key word here is critical. Base

any objections on the text and use evidence from the text. Personal response should be in

evidence throughout the essay, not tacked on at the end.

 Conclusion (related to the analysis and the argument)

Your conclusion should explain the relation between the analyzed text and the presented

argument.

Tips for writing analytical essays:

 Be well organized. Plan what you want to write before you start. It is a good idea to know

exactly what your conclusion is going to be before you start to write. When you know

where you are going, you tend to get there in a well organized way with logical

progression.

 Analytical essays normally use the present tense. When talking about a text, write about it

in the present tense.

 Be “objective”: avoid using the first person too much. For example, instead of saying “I

think Louisa is imaginative because…”, try: “It appears that Louisa has a vivid

imagination, because…”.

 Do not use slang or colloquial language (the language of informal speech).

 Do not use contractions.

 Avoid using “etc.” This is an expression that is generally used by writers who have

nothing more to say.

 Create an original title, do not use the title of the text.

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  Analysis does not mean retelling the story. Many students fall into the trap of telling the

reader what is happening in the text instead of analyzing it. Analysis aims to explain how

the writer makes us see what he or she wants us to see, the effect of the writing

techniques, the text’s themes and your personal response to these.

4) The argumentative essay

This is the type of essay where you prove that your opinion, theory or hypothesis about an issue

is correct or more truthful than those of others. In short, it is very similar to the persuasive essay

(see above), but the difference is that you are arguing for your opinion as opposed to others,

rather than directly trying to persuade someone to adopt your point of view.

What are its most important qualities?

 The argument should be focused

 The argument should be a clear statement (a question cannot be an argument)

 It should be a topic that you can support with solid evidence

 The argumentative essay should be based on pros and cons (see below)

 Structure your approach well (see below)

 Use good transition words/phrases (see below)

 Be aware of your intended audience. How can you win them over?

 Research your topic so your evidence is convincing.

 Don’t overdo your language and don’t bore the reader. And don’t keep repeating your

points!

 Remember the rules of the good paragraph. One single topic per paragraph, and natural

progression from one to the next.

 End with a strong conclusion.

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PRE-WRITING: GETTING IDEAS: BRAINSTORMING: FREE WRITING

Often times when you begin the process of writing a paper, you feel totally devoid of inspiration

and simply do not know where to begin. Finding a topic or main argument for a paper is a

difficult task for many writers, but one of the best ways to help you get started is to brainstorm.

Brainstorming is the process of coming up with ideas. You can brainstorm in order to decide on

a topic, to explore approaches to your paper, or to deepen your understanding of a certain

subject. Finding a brainstorming technique that works for you can greatly improve your writing

efficiency. There are myriad brainstorming techniques to choose from. Take some time to try out

several of these techniques and find one that suits your learning style:

 Key Word Clustering/Mapping: Write down key words or phrases relevant to your topic

of interest. Draw lines to identify connections between them.

 Listing: Make a list of ideas and/or quotations about your potential topic. For each idea

or quotation, write a question you would like your paper to answer, according to your

interests.

 Asking Questions: Write down every question you have about your topic. Circle the ones

you want to address in your paper.

 Making a Recipe: Write a recipe that lists all of the ingredients or basic ideas of your

paper.

 Writing Dialogue: Write a dialogue where person A agrees with your point of view and

person B disagrees. Try to be objective.

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  Writing Letters: Write a letter to someone explaining why you agree or disagree with a

particular point. Write another letter taking the other side. Write a letter to the author of

the text you are working with. What questions do you have about the text?

 Free Writing: Write without stopping for a set amount of time, using one idea as your

springboard.See reverse of this handout for further information about free writing.

Free writing is an exercise in which you write without stopping for a set period of time with no

consideration of grammar, punctuation, spelling, or even logical progression. The purpose of a

free write is to rely on your subconscious to make associations and to keep your pen moving

without editing each word or thought before it hits the page. This can be very useful in helping

you put ideas down that you might not have previously considered.

The following are some guidelines for a successful free write:

 Set a time limit between five and thirty minutes, and try to stick to it—don’t stop early or

continue too long.

 Allow yourself to continue writing regardless of what your “inner critic” might say (or

what your professor, parents, or best friend might say if s/he read what you were writing).

Write fearlessly. This free write is for your eyes only.

 Don’t stop for grammar, spelling, or word choice. In a free write, your first thought

isyour best thought.

 If you get stuck, don’t stop writing. It may sound silly, but keep your hand moving at all

times, even if that means rewriting the last word you came up with over and over again

until something else comes to mind.

Other key phrases to write your way out of being stuck include:

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  I remember…

 I forget…

 I hate…

 I love…

 This book is about…

 This book is not about…

 I just want to say…

SPIDER DIAGRAMS

A spider diagram is a boolean expression involving unitary spider diagrams and the logical

symbols . For example, it may consist of the conjunction of two spider diagrams, the

disjunction of two spider diagrams, or the negation of a spider diagram.

Fig 2: Spider Diagram

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Spider diagrams: how and why they work

When it comes to exams, the problem is often not ignorance, but simply that we forget to

remember the right things at the right time.

For essay writing in particular, there's nothing like having at your disposal a bird's-eye view of

the subject matter at hand. You want to be able swiftly to look over all that could be said and

pick out the most relevant parts, while leaving plenty of mental space for the crafting of an

ingenious argument.

Spider diagrams are an excellent tool for creating an overview, and remembering it crisply. They

help distil complex topics onto a single memorable page by using a branching spatial

organisation, colour and images.

There are two fundamental reasons why spider diagrams are such a powerful tool.

The first is simple: they're straight-out memorable. Colours, pictures, and simple keywords add

to a spatial structure that invites easy exploration in memory. You never get confused between

the top left and the bottom right of a spider diagram in the way that you can get confused

between different parts of a historical epoch, for instance. The space gives us meaning.

LINEAR PLANNING

Linear Planning is planning or scheduling of project management tasks where distance is a

significant factor in the project. Examples of projects include roads, rail, pipeline and

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transmission lines. Linear planning considers not only the time factors of a task but also the

location factors.

For example for any given location a crew digging a trench must preceed a crew laying the pipe.

Yet the trench does not have to be dug from end to end. Sections of the trench may be dug at

different times therefore the pipe laying crew need to know which sections of trench will be

ready at which times. The pipe laying crew also don't need to wait for the whole section of trench

to be complete before they can start laying the pipe.

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

Introduction: What is vocabulary in context?

Vocabulary in context refers to the sentences or the whole paragraph surrounding an unfamiliar

word. Context clues are used to make a good guess at the word’s meaning. There are six

different types of context clues:

 definition/restatement

 example

 synonym

 comparison

 contrast

 cause and effect .

Examples

1. Writers sometimes restate a word in order to define it.

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When Henry Gonzalez was elected to Congress, many of his Spanish speaking constituents, the

voters in his district, felt he would fight for their rights.

2. Examples used in context may help reveal the meaning.

The scientist was accused of several acts of espionage, such as photographing secret documents

and taping private conversations.

3. Look for familiar words that may be synonyms of words not known.

The club’s coffers were so low that the members had to ask for donations to refill the treasury.

4. An unknown word may be compared or shown to be similar to a more common word.

As in so many polluted cities, the air in our community is sometimes too contaminated to

breathe.

5. An unknown word may be contrasted with a more familiar word.

The team’s uniforms were immaculate before the game, but by the end of the first half they were

filthy.

6. An unfamiliar word may be related to the cause or effect of an action, feeling, or idea.

Will Rogers was considered to be a humanitarian because he worked to improve people’s lives.

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 UNIT III: READING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Reading comprehension and making notes, summarizing listening

comprehension.
 Writing skills: Organizing of paragraphs: the topic sentence: supporting
sentences: concluding sentences.
 Rewriting: revising and editing, peer editing adjective and noun collocation,
comparing and contrasting vocabulary in context

READING FOR COMPREHENSION AND NOTE-TAKING

Reading for Comprehension

The key to reading for academic purposes is to take the information you find in a book or an

article and to make it your own – the more you can make what you are learning your own (by

writing or repeating it in your own words), the easier it’ll be for you to recall it. This means that

you need to be actively engaged with what you are reading – taking the information in and

adding it to what you already know.

If you want to read most efficiently, you won’t be spending all of your time just reading. There

are things to be done before you read, as you read, and after you read. Now let’s turn to tips and

strategies to increase your reading comprehension.

Before You Even Look at the Reading

 Gather your materials in a comfortable, uncluttered workspace. Turn off any TV’s, radios

and cell phones. Let your family know that you are concentrating.

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  Relax. Give yourself a pat on the back for being such a hard-working student. Remind

yourself that you are capable of focussing to achieve your goals.

 Review your reading assignment, instructions, or lecture notes (this is like reading the

question before starting to answer it on an exam – know what you’re looking for and it

will by much easier to find).

 Confirm your purpose. Consider your answer to these questions: Why are you reading

this article or book? What answers are you looking for? What do you hope to learn?

Looking at the Reading for the First Time

The idea here is to create a context for what you are about to learn. Brains link new ideas to old

ones. You can give your brain a head start by thinking in general terms about the topic of the

reading before you begin, then it’ll be easier for you to understand and remember what you read.

 Skim the text. Notice: the title; the author’s name; the date the text was written; the table

of contents if there is one; and the chapter or section headings. Notice any bold or

italicized words or sentences. Consider the author’s purpose in writing the text and who

the intended audience is.

 Stop. Consider what you already know about the topic. Take a guess at what you’ll learn

from the reading. Making predictions in this way will actually help to increase your

reading speed. If you want to be really keen, before you go any further you’ll write an

outline of the reading including the section headings and fill in what you already know

about each topic.

Reading

 Turn the headings in the text into questions and then look for the answers.

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  Put a mark in the margin when you find an answer (or underline one or two word

answers). Try not to underline whole sentences.

 Mark or underline the answers to the Big 6 (i.e. who, what, where, when, why, and how).

 Periodically check in with yourself to see if you are thinking about what you are reading.

If you are distracted, take a break, re-focus, and begin again.

 Stop reading. Look at the headings again and recite (from memory! without looking!) the

answers you’ve just underlined or marked.

 If you’ve had trouble remembering the information, go back and re-read.

 Look for the main ideas in each section. Notice the supporting ideas and details (keep in

mind that it’s usually the main ideas that are tested, not the supporting details).

 Create mental pictures as you read.

Note-Taking

Notes from Readings

“I would advise you to read with a pen in your hand, and enter in a little book short hints of

what you find…for this will be the best method of imprinting such particulars in your memory,

where they will be ready, on some future occasion…”

Benjamin Franklin I have to agree with old Ben Franklin on this one, reading and note-taking

really do go hand in hand.

If you’re able to write directly on your text, make notes in the margins - this is an excellent way

to synthesize what you’re reading. One excellent tip is to write questions in the margins opposite

where you find the answers. In this way you’ll be able to review by reading your questions,

answering them from memory, and then confirming the answer.

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When you are taking notes on a separate piece of paper, what you want to do is to create an

outline for the content of the reading. Be sure to title the outline and date it. Then start by writing

the headings from the text, next, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, write the main idea the author is

putting forward for each heading. In point form include brief notes on the supporting details and

facts.

Again, as with reading for comprehension, the idea is to make the material your own. The more

you think about, rewrite, reword, and consider what you’ve read, the better you’ll be able to

remember what you’ve read.

Notes from Lectures

Lectures tell you what your teacher thinks is most important – this information is worth noting

down. As with notes from readings, when you are taking notes during a lecture, what you want to

do is create an outline for what is being discussed. You’ve got two goals in a lecture: one is to

understand what is being said, and the other is to take notes of key points IN YOUR OWN

WORDS so that you can easily review.

 Begin with a title, the date, the class name, and the teacher’s name.

 As main topics and ideas are stated, note them down. Use key words and point form to

record details and examples.

 It can help to create your own set of symbols and abbreviations to draw attention to

important facts, dates, etc.

 During the lecture, try to relate the new information you are hearing to what you’ve read

or heard before. Remember that creating links in your brain makes it easier to recall

information in the future.

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SUMMARISING

One of the most important aspects of listening for academic study is listening in order to make

use of the ideas of other people. This is important as you need to show that you have understood

the materials you have heard and that you can use their ideas and findings in your own way. In

fact, this is an essential skill for every student. Spack (1988, p. 42) has pointed out that the most

important skill a student can engage in is "the complex activity to write from other texts", which

is "a major part of their academic experience." It is very important when you do this to make sure

you use your own words, unless you are quoting. You must make it clear when the words or

ideas that you are using are your own and when they are taken from another writer. You must not

use another person's words or ideas as if they were your own: this is Plagiarism and plagiarism is

regarded as a very serious offence.

Strategies for Listening Comprehension

1. Use Listening Centers. I always purchase the book and CD Listening Centers from the

Scholastic Book Orders each month. Then, I use my bonus points to get a couple of additional

books to go along with each CD. Have students complete an activity after the story to work on

their comprehension skills.

2. Prepare comprehension questions or talking points prior to reading. I like to write

discussion questions on Post-It notes and put them inside the front cover of my books that I’m

reading aloud to students. The majority of the time, I can remember what discussion points I

want to hit, but let’s be honest, we have a million things going on in our heads at any given

moment. The Post-It notes allow me to pick up a book and be able to very quickly know what I

want to discuss, so I don’t overlook a particular skill.

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3. Have comprehension practice ready for any book. Preparing discussion questions and

comprehension skills for every single read aloud you do in your classroom would be very time

consuming and overwhelming. It is perfectly fine to have general comprehension discussion

points ready for any book. I know that plenty of times, I have received a new book from a

Scholastic Book order or from Amazon, and I just have to read it aloud right away. For these

times, I like to have ways to get the students involved in the story. I bought these pinwheels

from Dollar Tree a couple of years ago. They make wonderful Comprehension Wheels. I just

wrote with a Sharpie on each petal. After we read a book together, I spin the pinwheel and grab

a petal to see which question we will answer. It’s an easy way to add some novelty to a lesson.

WRITING SKILLS

Writing skills are an important part of communication. Good writing skills allow you to

communicate your message with clarity and ease to a far larger audience than through face-to-

face or telephone conversations.

Writing under Specific Circumstances

There are many times in your life when you will be asked to write something very specific.

Whether this is to take notes of a conversation, write the minutes of a formal meeting, or prepare

a report, all these types of writing require specific skills, and usually a particular style.

Writing at Home

Many people would say that the art of letter-writing is dying out. However, there are still many

times when you need to put pen (or word processor) to paper. See our page on How to Write a

Letter for more.

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Writing in the Workplace

Being able to write well is a skill which will get you a long way in the workplace, partly because

it is fairly rare in many places.

One skill that many people lack, especially in management and other professional environments

is the ability to write in plain English. That is avoiding unnecessary jargon, industry specific

buzzwords and clichés and keeping sentences short and concise. See our page Writing in Plain

English for more.

Taking the time to polish your writing skills is likely to pay off in the longer term, and learning

how to write specific types of documents will also be useful.

See our pages on How to write a report, a business case, an executive summary and a press

release for some specific examples that may also have wider applications. For example, being

able to prepare a strong summary is a skill that is extremely useful for briefing senior managers.

You may also find our pages on note taking for reading, note taking for verbal exchanges and

taking minutes: the role of the secretary useful if your job or a voluntary role includes recording

formal meetings.

Writing Job Applications

At one time or another, most of us need to write a job application.

Nowadays, job applications usually require a CV or résumé, together with a really strong

covering letter. A good LinkedIn profile will also help your application to stand out from the

rest, as will managing your online presence effectively.

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Writing for Study

Apart from the workplace, you are most likely to need writing skills as part of a course of study,

whether at college or university.

ORGANIZING PARAGRAPHS

The S-E-E Paragraph strategy will help you create organized, well-developed paragraphs for the

body of your essays and reports.

S for Statement

Begin with a topic sentence that gives the reader a sense of what the single main idea of the

paragraph will be:

 My roommate refuses to see the overflowing garbage. (nicely narrow)

 My roommate is a slob. (perhaps too broad for one paragraph?)

E for Example

This is the part of your paragraph where you support your topic sentence. Your

evidence/examples should be appropriate and specific. If you are writing an essay or report that

is not personal, you will need to use evidence in the same way, perhaps from a text, facts or

specific observations.

E for Explanation

If the evidence you use is dense (facts or statistics or quotations), you might want to explain the

importance of your evidence. Then you might need to explain how the paragraph supports your

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position and how the evidence connects with your overall thesis. Lastly, you might decide to

move out from the narrow topic and speak more globally.

The following is a well-developed S-E-E paragraph:

(Statement) My roommate refuses to see the overflowing garbage. (Examples) Even if I place

the can in the middle of the kitchen, she steps over it as she moves to the dining room. (a specific

detail). I've even seen her push the garbage down and gingerly place a used paper plate right on

top, taking great care that it is nicely balanced (even more specific). (Explanation) Of course, I

usually just give up and take the can down the stairs and out to the smelly dumpster behind the

old mattresses. Aside from throwing the garbage can at her and having a fight, I don't know what

else to do.

TOPIC SENTENCE

n expository writing, a topic sentence is a sentence that summarizes the main idea of a

paragraph. It is usually the first sentence in a paragraph.

Also known as a focus sentence, it encapsulates or organizes an entire paragraph. Although topic

sentences may appear anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they often appear at the

beginning. The topic sentence acts as a kind of summary, and offers the reader an insightful view

of the writer’s main ideas for the following paragraph. More than just being a mere summary,

however, a topic sentence often provides a claim or an insight directly or indirectly related to the

thesis. It adds cohesion to a paper and helps organize ideas both within the paragraph and the

whole body of work at large. As the topic sentence encapsulates the idea of the paragraph,

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serving as a sub-thesis, it remains general enough to cover the support given in the body

paragraph while being more direct than the thesis of the paper.

A well-organized paragraph supports or develops a single controlling idea, which is expressed in

a sentence called the topic sentence. A topic sentence has several important functions: it

substantiates or supports an essay’s thesis statement; it unifies the content of a paragraph and

directs the order of the sentences; and it advises the reader of the subject to be discussed and how

the paragraph will discuss it. Readers generally look to the first few sentences in a paragraph to

determine the subject and perspective of the paragraph. That’s why it’s often best to put the topic

sentence at the very beginning of the paragraph. In some cases, however, it’s more effective to

place another sentence before the topic sentence—for example, a sentence linking the current

paragraph to the previous one, or one providing background information.

Although most paragraphs should have a topic sentence, there are a few situations when a

paragraph might not need a topic sentence. For example, you might be able to omit a topic

sentence in a paragraph that narrates a series of events, if a paragraph continues developing an

idea that you introduced (with a topic sentence) in the previous paragraph, or if all the sentences

and details in a paragraph clearly refer—perhaps indirectly—to a main point. The vast majority

of your paragraphs, however, should have a topic sentence.

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SUPPORTING SENTENCES

Supporting sentences provide examples for the topic sentence. If a writer claims, for instance,

that "Early childhood education programs provide cognitive benefits well beyond preschool," the

second, third, and fourth sentences will include information supporting the main idea in the topic

sentence. Supporting sentences might look like the ones you see in green:

(1) Early childhood education programs such as Head Start provide cognitive benefits well

beyond preschool. (2) Recent studies that compare student test scores show that children who

are exposed to structured learning activities outside the home environment are better able to

adapt to formalized instruction in grades kindergarten through third grade than children who

remain at home. (3) This is particularly true among children from low-income families and

children whose parents have a limited proficiency in English. (4) Children living in states that do

not provide early childhood programs, on the other hand, lag behind their peers. (5) State and

local governments must continue to bridge the achievement gap so that students may reach their

full potential at an early age.

Leading into the next topic sentence if this is an essay... Standardized test scores prove that

academic preparedness contributes to a child's success in elementary school.

Supporting sentences are much more specific than the topic sentence. If you make an outline

before writing your paragraph, these are items A, B, and C and they almost always follow the

topic sentence, which is the first sentence of the paragraph; however, it's possible to begin a

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paragraph with a supporting sentence. For students who do not have a lot of experience in

writing paragraphs, I recommend that the supporting sentences come after the topic sentence.

Supporting sentences in a paragraph give information in order to explain, describe, and

develop the main idea in the topic sentence.

CONCLUDING SENTENCES

A concluding sentence indicates that you are bringing closure to a paragraph. Writing a

concluding sentence may not come as easily as you may think. Many writers fail to realize that it

closes out the final thoughts about the topic on which they are writing. This is why it is important

for you to be able to write effective concluding sentences. For each paragraph, the reader should

be able to identify what your key points are based on the concluding sentence. Remember, it

should not include any information that was not discussed in the paragraph.

When teaching students how to write concluding sentences, you may need to provide a few

examples they will be able to use as a guide for their own writing. Examples of concluding

sentence starters include:

 In conclusion

 Therefore

 As expressed

 Overall

 As a result

 Thus

 Finally

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  Lastly

 For this reason

 In general

Characteristics of Effective Concluding Sentences

It is important for your students to know how to write effective concluding sentences in order to

drive home the final point. Some characteristics include:

 Reviewing main points mentioned in a paragraph

 Restating the topic sentence

 Are found at the end of a paragraph

 Do not introduce new ideas or topics

As the writer, you should keep in mind that concluding sentences may look different for various

types of writing. Examples of these types of writing include narratives, descriptions, compare

and contrast, and argument.

The concluding sentence of a narrative paragraph should emphasize the moral lesson to the

audience. With descriptive paragraphs, the concluding sentence helps to tie everything together

by emphasizing details from the topic sentence, using different wording and summing up

supporting facts. When writing a concluding sentence for the compare and contrast paragraph,

you will want to restate both topics by pointing out the various similarities and differences that

were discussed. The concluding sentence in an argument paragraph will summarize the argument

being made. It may reaffirm why the argument is correct and the consequences that may occur if

the argument is not heeded.

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REWRITING

Although the name can be misleading, a rewrite does not mean that the editor completely

rewrites your text. This term merely refers to a more substantive edit. When an editor completes

a rewrite, he or she substantially rewords or reorganizes the text so it flows better and so it is

more clear and concise. A rewrite is also helpful if you need to reduce your word count;

however, a rewrite does not involve adding material to or significantly expanding a document.

For example, an editor will not turn a list of bullet points into a narrative text. In a rewrite, you

are responsible for creating the content; the editor makes necessary changes to help make sure

your readers understand what you’re saying.

As with a regular edit, editors completing a rewrite do not do research or provide fact checking.

Your editor may not complete or cross-check references, and editors do not reword content to

avoid plagiarism; it is your responsibility to put material in your own words, but an editor can

help you make sure your text is clear and correct.

When you have a document rewritten, it is important to go over the document after the editor

returns it to you so you can make any additional corrections or add any missing information.

Regardless of which service you need, it’s important to provide your editor with any information

that may be useful, such as the style guide you must follow or any word count requirements.

REVISING AND EDITING

Revision is the step or stage of the writing process where the writer reviews and then amends

their essay. Revision is not a one-stop stage in the writing process and often involves circling

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back and forth between drafting. Good writers will go through multiple drafts and revisions

before moving on to the editing and proofreading stage. Revising differs from editing and

proofreading because it requires the writer to look at large-scale or global matters in their essay

(Look at the graphic to the right for a quick way to remember the difference between revising

and editing).

To ensure that you are able to read your essay critically, you will have to create some distance

between your draft and yourself. Keep some of the following strategies in mind:

Ø Take a break after finishing the draft. A few hours may be enough; a whole night or day is

preferable

Ø Ask someone to read and react to your draft.

Ø Outline your draft. Highlight the main points supporting the thesis, and convert these

sentences to outline form. Then examine the outline you have made for logical order,

gaps, and digressions.

Ø Listen to your draft. Read the draft out loud to yourself or a friend or classmate, record and

listen to it, or have someone read the draft to you.

Ø Ease the pressure. Don’t try to re-see everything in your draft at once.

Once you feel you have a solid draft after multiple revisions, you then move on to the editing and

proofreading stage. Smaller-scale matters like sentence structure, word choice, grammar,

punctuation, spelling and mechanics are examined at the editing and proofreading stages. Some

strategies to keep in mind at this stage are:

Ø Take a break. Even fifteen minutes can clear your head.

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 Ø Read the draft slowly, and read what you actually see. Otherwise you are likely to read

what you intended to write but did not.

Ø Read as if you are encountering the draft for the first time. Put yourself in the reader’s

place.

Ø Have a classmate, friend, or relative read your work. Make sure you understand and

consider the reader’s suggestions, even if you decide not to take them.

Ø Read the draft aloud and listen for awkward rhythms, repetitive sentence patterns, and

missing or clumsy transitions.

Ø Learn from your own experiences. Keep a record of the problems that others have pointed

out in your previous writing. When editing, check for the same types of errors.

PEER EDITING ADJECTIVE

Few writers can rely on their own judgement to know whether something they've written is clear

to someone else. For one thing, by the time we finish writing anything, we usually know a lot

about the topic. We know it too well to tell whether it would be clear to someone who is reading

about it for the first time.

Peer editing sessions give writers an opportunity to find out what their writing looks like to

someone else. Reviewers can help you discover whether what you've written is

 appropriate to your purpose and intended reader

 organized so that it's easy to follow

 clear, concise and easy to read

Peer editing will also help you get used to having others review your work. In most government

workplaces, it's very common to be asked either to provide your work in draft form for others to

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review or to review draft documents written by others. In either case, it's useful to know what

works best.

When You are the Reader

Here are some suggestions for approaching a piece of writing that you are reading as a peer

editor:

1. Always read through a piece twice

Use your first time through just to get familiar with the piece. Your second reading is your

opportunity to really try to understand what is being said and how. If you still aren't sure after

two readings, the writer needs to know.

2. Take the role of the intended reader

What writers need most is someone who will read in the same way as the intended reader will—

that is, someone who is reading for content not for errors. The most valuable editing advice

concerns content, organization and style. Peer editors whose only comments are about

punctuation, mechanics or spelling may help the writer write a more correct piece of writing, but

it still may not be clear or engaging. Leave the copyediting to the writer.

3. Avoid "fixing" the problem

Your role as peer editor is not to fix the problems you find but to bring them to the writer's

attention. Do not take on the writer's work as your own. The biggest help you can offer is to

point out what works and doesn't work for you as a reader.

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4. Be honest but constructive

It can be hard to say what you really think about a piece of writing. It's often tempting to say

"Looks fine to me," but your writer will learn nothing from the exercise. A good approach is to

start by telling the writer what you like and then mention what doesn't work. Be tentative: rather

than saying "This is really muddled" try something like "I wasn't completely clear about what

this sentence meant."

5. Be specific

Try not to make blanket judgements ("It's really hard to understand) or vague statements ("Your

description here is ok) in favour of specific instances ("This list really makes the procedure

clear"; "I think you need to make this point more clearly"). Wherever you can, say why you

found that something worked or didn't work.

When You are the Writer

Here are some suggestions for how you can get the most out of having a peer editor review your

work:

1. Explain the purpose and audience

Always explain the purpose and audience to your peer editor as well as any other information

that will help your editor understand what the intended reader of the piece might need.

2. Take advantage of the opportunity

Writers benefit from the feedback they get from peer editors, even if they don't much like it at

the time. When you write, try to think of your work as open to revision. Take advantage of

having someone read your work to make what you write clearer and more readable.

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3. Ask when you don't understand

Feel free to ask your editor for clarification if you find the person's comments too vague or

otherwise unclear. Similarly, if your peer editor says what you've written "looks fine" ask about

specific parts of your draft ("Did you think the purpose was clearly stated in my introduction?").

4. Don't take it personally

If you feel rather bruised by the comments of your peer editor, remind yourself that the

comments are about your writing, not about you. If someone finds what you've written unclear,

confusing, muddled, repetitive or just plain boring, that's one person's opinion. Accept it and see

what you can do to correct it.

5. Feel free to decline

If you've considered your peer editor's advice and don't feel that it's helpful, you're always free to

ignore it. But usually if a reader says there's a problem it's worth taking a careful look.

NOUN COLLOCATION

5 Most Common Adjective – Noun Collocations

Let’s start with some adjectives and see which nouns they are commonly used with:

1. express (adjective)

an express bus / coach / train (travelling very fast; operating very quickly)

 Susan took the express train to the airport in order to save time.

express service / mail (for a letter / package)

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  Send the letter by express mail if you want it to arrive tomorrow.

an express wish / aim / purpose (clearly and openly stated)

 I came here with the express purpose of speaking with the manager.

2. chilly (adjective)

a chilly day / night / wind chilly weather (too cold to be comfortable)

 Take a jacket with you. It’s a chilly night.

a chilly reception (not friendly)

 They gave him a chilly reception.

3. rich (adjective)

a rich person (having a lot of money or property)

 She is one of the richest women in the world.

a rich history / culture / vocabulary (very interesting and full of variety)

 This region has a rich history and culture.

 He has a rich vocabulary.

a rich sauce / cake (containing a lot of fat, butter, eggs, etc. and making you feel full quickly)

 The spaghetti was covered in a rich sauce.

rich colors / sounds / smells / tastes (strong or deep; very beautiful or pleasing)

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  The artist is famous for the use of rich reds in her paintings.

4. heavy (adjective)

a heavy book / bag / suitcase / load (weighing a lot)

 The woman was struggling with a heavy suitcase.

heavy traffic / rain / snow (worse than usual)

 The noise of heavy traffic can drive you crazy.

a heavy coat / sweater (made of a thick material or substance)

 He put on his heavy coat and walked out into the snow.

heavy features (not delicate)

 He was tall and strong with heavy features.

5. strong (adjective)

a strong person / animal / wind / current (having great physical or natural power)

 He’s a strong athlete.

 A strong wind was blowing.

a strong supporter / opponent (holding an opinion or a belief very firmly and seriously)

 She was a strong supporter of the government.

a strong smell / taste / colour / accent (easy to see, hear, feel or smell)

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  He spoke with a strong Irish accent.

 There was a strong smell coming from the rubbish bin.

strong coffee / cheese (containing a lot of substance or having a lot of flavour)

 She drinks strong coffee.

 He loves strong cheese.

COMPARING AND CONTRASTING VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

Comparison clues are words and phrases that have the same or similar meaning as an unfamiliar

word. Words and phrases such as like, as, and in the same way often signal comparisons.

Contrast clues are words and phrases that mean the opposite of an unfamiliar word. Words and

phrases such as although, but, yet, however, except and on the other hand signal contrasts. In the

sentence below, the word “as” signals the comparison between the clue, “ready to bite me,” and

the meaning of menacing—threatening.

Comparison and contrast focuses on the similarities and differences between two or more

separate things. The purpose for using comparison and contrast in academic writing is to explain

how these similarities and differences reveal something meaningful that is not apparent when

either object stands alone.This writing should:

 introduce a fresh insight or new way of viewing something

 bring clarity to one subject by comparing it with another

 add commentary to an important concept or issue

In compare and contrast writing, at least two subjects or objects of interest are studied.

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The writer must be able to explain these two subjects separately and make meaningful

connections between them at the same time. It is also important to include both similarity and

difference in your analysis; the analysis is more useful and complete if similarity and difference

are both discussed so that the significant similarity or significant difference takes on its full

meaning.

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 UNIT IV: WRITING LISTENING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Comprehension writing skills

 Coherence and cohesion in paragraphs
 Logical, spatial, explanatory ordering cohesive devices: linking
words, pronouns, articles
 Synonyms vocabulary in context using participles
 Articles and determiners

LISTENING

Listening is a receptive language skill which learners usually find the most difficult. This often is

because they feel under unnecessary pressure to understand every word. The listener has to get

oriented to the listening portion and be all ears. The listener is also required to be attentive.

Anticipation is a skill to be nurtured in Listening. In everyday life, the situation, the speaker, and

visual clues all help us to decode oral messages. In due course of listening, be in a lookout for

the sign post words. Thirdly one should be able to concentrate on understanding the message

thoroughly. Listening Skills could be enhanced by focusing on making the students listen to the

sounds of that particular language. This would help them with the right pronunciation of words.

To equip students with training in listening, one can think about comprehending speeches of

people of different backgrounds and regions. This intensive listening will ultimately help a

student to understand more on the accents to be used and the exact pronunciation of words.

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COHERENCE & COHESION

Coherence and cohesion are essential for aiding readability and idea communication. Coherence

is about the unity of the ideas and cohesion the unity of structural elements. One way to do this

is through the use of cohesive devices: logical bridges (repetition), verbal bridges (synonyms),

linking words, and clear back referencing. If these types of devices are missing in the text, it not

only becomes more difficult to read the text, but also to understand its contents since the reader

must guess how the various parts of the paragraph or text are connected, which will involve re-

reading sentences or larger sections more than once.

With logical bridges, the same idea of a topic is carried over (repeated) from sentence to

sentence, and successive sentences can be constructed in parallel form. With verbal bridges, key

words or synonymous words can be repeated, pronouns can replace nouns and transition words

(as shown below) can be used. In the paragraph below, words and phrases that serve to increase

the coherence of the paragraph are highlight and underlined. As this sample paragraph indicates,

coherence and cohesion in a paragraph is established by combining more than one device.

Coherence means the connection of ideas at the idea level, and cohesion means the connection

of ideas at the sentence level. Basically, coherence refers to the “rhetorical” aspects of your

writing, which include developing and supporting your argument (e.g. thesis statement

development), synthesizing and integrating readings, organizing and clarifying ideas. The

cohesion of writing focuses on the “grammatical” aspects of writing.

One of the practical tools that can help improve the coherence of your writing is to use a concept

map. The concept map is also known as “reverse outline” since you make an outline of your

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paper after you have finished the main ideas of your paper. Write down the main idea of each

paragraph—which is called a topic sentence—on a blank piece of paper. Check to see if the

topic sentences are connected to the thesis statement of your paper or if you have strayed from

your main argument. As you repeat this process, it will help you become more aware of how to

develop your argument coherently and how to organize your ideas effectively. Here is a concept

map template you can use.

Cohesion is also a very important aspect of academic writing, because it immediately affects the

tone of your writing. Although some instructors may say that you will not lose points because of

grammatical errors in your paper, you may lose points if the tone of your writing is sloppy or too

casual (a diary-type of writing or choppy sentences will make the tone of your writing too casual

for academic writing). But cohesive writing does not mean just “grammatically correct”

sentences; cohesive writing refers to the connection of your ideas both at the sentence level and

at the paragraph level.

Here are some examples that illustrate the importance of connecting your ideas more effectively

in writing.

The hotel is famous. It is one of the most well-known hotels in the country. The latest

international dancing competition was held at the hotel. The hotel spent a lot of money to

advertise the event. Because the hotel wanted to gain international reputation. But not many

people attended the event. (The connection of ideas is not very good.)

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The hotel, which is one of the most well-known hotels in this region, wanted to promote its

image around the world by hosting the latest international dancing competition. Although the

event was widely advertised, not many people participated in the competition. (The connection of

ideas is better than in the first example.)

The latest international dancing competition was held at the hotel, which is one of the most well-

known hotels in this region. The hotel spent a lot of money on advertising the event since it

wanted to enhance its international reputation; however, it failed to attract many people. (The

connection of ideas is better than in the first example.)

COHERENCE IN WRITING

Coherence is product of many different factors, which combine to make every paragraph, every

sentence, and every phrase contribute to the meaning of the whole piece. Coherence in writing is

much more difficult to sustain than coherent speech simply because writers have no nonverbal

clues to inform them if their message is clear or not. Therefore, writers must make their patterns

of coherence much more explicit and much more carefully planned. Coherence itself is the

product of two factors — paragraph unity and sentence cohesion.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COHESION AND COHERENCE

Cohesion differ from coherence in several way which is considered closely linked according to

Debeagrand and Dressler(1981) emphasized that “cohesion is created on the bases of

predetermine coherence the presence of cohesive, conjunction, ellipsis, substitution, reference,

and lexical cohesion can help a text to be stable adequately understood” cited in ( vali&

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kianiparsa,2010) .in some cases cohesion is not enough to make the text understandable as Yule(

1985) “cohesion by itself is not sufficient to give the text the sense of semantic unity, the

resulting set of closes may resemble text, but it is not one cohesion is only one of the aspects of

texture which is what the distinguish a text from non text and helps to establish coherence in the

discourse . In addition to, Debeagrand and Dressler(1981), Enkvist(1990) “coherence has to be

clearly distinguish from cohesion, which cohesion refer to the overt semantic relation in the text,

where as coherence refer to semantic and pragmatic relations between text parts which are

interpreted against the back ground knowledge of specific world knowledge” cited in

Berzlànovich(2008,p:4). Similar to widdowson (1978) studied “cohesion and coherence from

pragmatic perspectives he believe that cohesion is overt relation chip between proposition

expressed through sentences, while coherence is defined as the relation chip between the

illocutionary act” cited in Tangkiengirisin (2010). The definition of cohesion is differ from

coherence as provide by Tanskanen (2006, p: 7) who states that “cohesion refer to grammatical

and lexical elements in the surface of a text which can form connections between parts of text,

where as coherence “resides not in the text but is rather the outcome of a dialogue between text

and its listener or reader” cited in Zmrzlà (2013, p: 26).furthermore, the role of cohesion is

characterized by relation to make connection in the text according to Witte and faigly(1981,p:8)

“cohesion define those mechanisms that hold a text together while coherence define those

underlying semantic relations that allow a text to understand and used” .

In broad context, Stoddard (1990, p: 91) acknowledged that “the basic difference between

cohesion and coherence is that totality and unity of “sense” in the text which means this concept

is “global” in nature” cited in sanczyk (2012).in addition to Raimes (1983) considered cohesion

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and coherence as tow different elements, he maintained “it should be clear that these are not the

same thing, that is a text may be cohesive (i.e. linked to gether) but n coherent(i.e. meaningless)

cited in Abusharkh(2012,p:26).

COHESIVE DEVICES

Any piece of writing must be organized away that ensuring its cohesion for that cohesive devices

is used one way to have cohesive writing. Indeed, cohesive devices seems a process that give a

good results and its have variety of connection which each one has special function in writing.

Cohesive devices are essential mechanisms to improve writing; they considered the formal links

that hold text together, which they used to connect sentences within a clear and logical manner;

to create strong communication. As described in Abdurrahman(2013) “The use writing as a

communication, it is necessary to go beyond sentence-level manipulation to the production of

paragraph and subsequently to multi paragraph composition, once people are involved in writing

tow or more interconnected sentences they have to use cohesive devices as means of linking

sentences”. In this view Reid(1992) define cohesive devices as “words and phrases that act as

signal to the reader, those words are phrases make what is being stated related to what has been

stated or what soon will be stated” cited in Na(2011, p:743).it is similar to Hedge(2005,p:83)

defined cohesive devices “are the means by which parts of text are linked as logically related

sequences, they signal the relationship between ideas in such a way that the writer intentions are

made clear”.

Classification and descriptions of cohesive devices

1. Grammatical cohesion

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Is one way to achieve clear connections between sentences in the text according to Carter etal

(1994, p: 309) “grammatical features are woven together across sentences boundaries “cited in

sanczyk (2010). This type is divided into sub types, which Halliday and Hassan provide us with

specific components of grammatical cohesion by classifying them into several categories that are

references, substitutions, ellipsis and conjunctions. These four types are illustrated in the

following diagram below cited in Akindele (2012).

2. Reference devices

It is a common c cohesive devices that consist of as in Salkie (1995, p: 64) “words which don’t

have full meaning in their own right” cited in Tangkiengirisin (2010). And Witte and faigly

(1981, p: 237) “reference cohesion is occurs when one item in a text points to another element

for its interpretation”. According to Halliday and Hassan (1976) “the principal of references is

based on the exploration of lexico grammatical of a text to look elsewhere to get a fuller picture

and to make complete sense word structure” (p: 31) The use reference in the text will help the

writer to avoid repetition in the text as Akindele (2011) point that “referring expression help to

unity the text and create economy because they save writers from unnecessary repetition” (p:

102).

3. Substitution devices

It is another type of grammatical cohesion that refers to the replacement of on item to another

According to Thompson (2004) cited in sanczyk (2010) “substitution occur where a substitute

from marks the place where the earlier element need to be brought in” (p: 184) and Mather and

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Jaff (2002) “a word is substituted for the referent that is not identical in meaning or carries some

differentiate, but performs the same structural function” (p: 02).

4. Ellipsis devices

This term is refer to omission as Halliday (1994, p: 316) ellipsis is defined as “presupposition of

something by means of omission and it is usually anaphoric relation” and he also declare that”

ellipsis is connected with the prominence of some element in the structure this, if the elements

are ellipted, they are not prominent” (ibid, 1994, 563).cited in the thesis of sanczyk (2010, p: 14).

In addition to, Akindele (2011, p: 102) ellipsis “is the idea of omitting part of sentences on the

assumption that are earlier sentence will make the meaning clear”.

5. Conjunction devices

It is the last type of grammatical devices which involves the use of formal tools to combine

sentences, ideas and paragraphs logically for refer to what want to said according to Eggines

(1994, p:105)conjunctions markes cohesive relation because they refer to how the writer signals

relationships between the parts of text” cited in thesis of sanczyk (2010). In addition to Mather

and Jaff (2002) “conjunction represents semantic relation that expresses how a clause or

statement in relation in meaning to previous clause or statement it is signaled by specific

connecting word or phrase” (p: 01).

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ARTICLES AND DETERMINERS

ARTICLES

The three articles — a, an, the — are a kind of determiner: they are almost invariably followed

by a noun (or something else acting as a noun). The is called the definite article because it

usually precedes a specific or previously mentioned noun; a and an are called indefinite articles

because they are used to refer to something in a less specific manner (an unspecified count

noun).

The is used with specific nouns. The is required when the noun it refers to represents something

that is one of a kind:

 The moon circles the earth.

The is required when the noun it refers to represents something in the abstract:

 The United States has encouraged the use of the private automobile as opposed to the use

of public transit.

The is required when the noun it refers to represents something named earlier in the text.

We use a before singular count-nouns that begin with consonants (a cow, a barn, a sheep); we

use an before singular count-nouns that begin with vowels or vowel-like sounds (an apple, an

urban blight, an open door). Words that begin with an h sound often require an a (as in a horse, a

history book, a hotel), but if an h-word begins with an actual vowel sound, use an an (as in an

hour, an honour). We would say a useful device and a union matter because the u of those words

actually sounds like yoo (as opposed, say, to the u of an ugly incident). The same is true of a

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European and a Euro (because of that consonantal yoo sound). We would say a once-in-a-

lifetime experience or a one-time hero because the words once and one begin with a w sound.

DETERMINERS

Determiners are those little words that precede and modify nouns. For example:

 the teacher

 a college

 a bit of honey

 that person

 those people

 whatever purpose

 either way

 your choice

Sometimes these words will tell the reader or listener whether we’re referring to a specific or

general thing (the garage out back; a garage near our house); sometimes they tell how much or

how many (lots of trees, several books, a great deal of confusion).

Determiners are said to “mark” nouns, that is to say, you know a determiner will be followed by

a noun. Some categories of determiners are limited (there are only three articles, a handful of

possessive pronouns, etc.), but the possessive nouns are as limitless as nouns themselves. This

limited nature of most determiner categories, however, explains why determiners are grouped

apart from adjectives even though both serve a modifying function. We can imagine that the

language will never tire of inventing new adjectives; the determiners (except for those possessive

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nouns), on the other hand, are well established, and this class of words is not going to grow in

number. These categories of determiners are as follows:*

 Articles (an, a, the)

 Possessive nouns (Joe’s, the priest’s, my mother’s)

 Possessive pronouns (his, your, their, whose, etc.)

 Numbers (one, two, etc.)

 Indefinite pronouns (few, more, each, every, either, all, both, some, any, etc.)

 Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those, such)

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 UNIT V: READING COMPREHENSION
LISTENING FOR INFORMATION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Reading comprehension listening for information writing skills: unity

and completeness in paragraphs-all supporting statements relate to
topic sentence words easily confused, vocabulary in context

PARAGRAPH UNITY

A paragraph is the basic unit of composition. It consists of a group of related sentences that

develop one main idea. It has three main parts; an introduction, a body of the paragraph and a

conclusion. In other words, it has a topic sentence, a few supporting sentences, and a concluding

sentence.

Unity in a paragraph means that the entire paragraph should focus on one single idea. The

supporting details should explain the main idea. The concluding sentence should end the

paragraph with the same idea. Thus, a unified paragraph presents a thought, supports it with

adequate details and completes it with a conclusion.

Coherence means establishing a relationship between the ideas presented in a paragraph. It

brings about a rationale in the arrangement of the ideas which are introduced either in the

chronological order or in the order of importance. Besides, transitions that compare, contrast,

illustrate, add or show cause and effect build logical bridges. The ideas, thus expressed in the

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paragraph, flow smoothly from one to the other in a logical sequence. This helps the reader to

understand the paragraph.

How do you write a paragraph?

A basic paragraph structure usually consists of five sentences: the topic sentence, three

supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence. But the secrets to paragraph writing lay in four

essential elements, which when used correctly, can make a okay paragraph into a great

paragraph.

1. Element #1: Unity. Unity in a paragraph begins with the topic sentence. Every paragraph

has one single, controlling idea that is expressed in its topic sentence, which is typically

the first sentence of the paragraph. A paragraph is unified around this main idea, with the

supporting sentences providing detail and discussion. In order to write a good topic

sentence, think about your theme and all the points you want to make. Decide which

point drives the rest, and then write it as your topic sentence.

2. Element #2: Order. Order refers to the way you organize your supporting sentences.

Whether you choose chronological order, order of importance, or another logical

presentation of detail, a solid paragraph always has a definite organization. In a well-

ordered paragraph, the reader follows along easily, aided by the pattern you’ve

established. Order helps the reader grasp your meaning and avoid confusion.

3. Element #3: Coherence. Coherence is the quality that makes your writing

understandable. Sentences within a paragraph need to connect to each other and work

together as a whole. One of the best ways to achieve coherency is to use transition words.

These words create bridges from one sentence to the next. You can use transition words

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 that show order (first, second, third); spatial relationships (above, below) or logic

(furthermore, in addition, in fact). Also, in writing a paragraph, using a consistent verb

tense and point of view are important ingredients for coherency.

4. Element #4: Completeness. Completeness means a paragraph is well-developed. If all

sentences clearly and sufficiently support the main idea, then your paragraph is complete.

If there are not enough sentences or enough information to prove your thesis, then the

paragraph is incomplete. Usually three supporting sentences, in addition to a topic

sentence and concluding sentence, are needed for a paragraph to be complete. The

concluding sentence or last sentence of the paragraph should summarize your main idea

by reinforcing your topic sentence.

Characteristic of a paragraph:completeness

1. Good Characteristics of Paragraph: COMPLETENESS

2. COMPLETENESS “The quality of being whole or perfect and having nothing missing.”

–Cambridge Dictionary Synonyms: absoluteness, entireness, fullness , perfectness,

wholeness

3. COMPLETENESS “Completeness means a paragraph is well- developed.”

4. Structure of a Paragraph 1.Topic Sentence 2.Body/Supporting Sentences 3.Concluding

Sentence -Topic Idea and Controlling Idea

5. The Topic Sentence A topic sentence states the main idea of a paragraph. It is the most

general sentence of the paragraph. A topic sentence has several important functions: • it

substantiates or supports an essay’s thesis statement •it unifies the content of a paragraph

and directs the order of the sentences •it advises the reader of the subject to be discussed

and how the paragraph will discuss it

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 6. The Topic Sentence Topic sentence not only states the topic of the paragraph but also

controls or limits the topic so that it can be discussed completely in the space of single

paragraph. Topic sentence, therefore, can be further divided into two: • Topic Idea Topic

idea states the topic of the paragraph. • Controlling Idea Controlling idea limits the topic.

Topic Sentence: My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features. The topic

is “my hometown is famous" and the controlling factor is “for amazing natural features."

7. Body/Supporting Sentences Supporting Sentences are sentences that develop topic

sentence or main idea. They explain the topic sentence by giving reasons, examples,

facts, and statistics, quotations, etc. My hometown is famous for several amazing natural

features. First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also,

on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.

The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and

is probably about six hundred years old. Ex.

8. Concluding Sentence My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features.

First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the

other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. The

third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is

probably about six hundred years old. These three landmarks are truly amazing and make

my hometown a famous place.

9. Characteristics of Effective Concluding Sentences It is important to know how to write

effective concluding sentences in order to drive home the final point. Some

characteristics of concluding sentences include: •Review main points mentioned in a

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 paragraph. •Restate the topic sentence. •Are found at the end of a paragraph. •Do not

introduce new ideas or topics.

10. COMPLETENESS My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features. First,

it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. On either side of this

river, which is 175 feet wide, are many willow trees which have long branches that can

move gracefully in the wind. In autumn the leaves of these trees fall and cover the

riverbanks like golden snow. Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which

is unusual because it is very steep. Even though it is steep, climbing this hill is not

dangerous, because there are some firm rocks along the sides that can be used as stairs.

There are no trees around this hill, so it stands clearly against the sky and can be seen

from many miles away. The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands

two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old. These three landmarks

are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place.

KINDS OF SUPPORTING SENTENCES

Good supporting sentences have different goals. Writers vary them to:

• explain:The family moved from the village to the capital for economic reasons.

• describe: She lived in a lovely three-story castle surrounded by a forest.

• give reasons: Lukas finally quit his job because of the stressful working conditions.

• give facts: More than ten percent of the university’s student population is international.

• give examples: Oranges and grapefruits grow in California.

• define: Many tourists visit Bangkok, which is the capital and largest city in Thailand.

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MATCHING SUPPORTING AND TOPIC SENTENCES

Read the two topic sentences below. Then read the list of supporting sentences. Match each

supporting sentence with the corresponding topic sentence by writing the correct topic sentence

number on the line beside the supporting sentences. Notice that each sentence is labeled in

parentheses with the kind of supporting sentence that it is.

Topic sentences

TS 1: Low-fat diets are an excellent way to stay healthy and trim.

TS 2: High-protein diets are favored by athletes and competitors.

Supporting sentences

a.______These foods help build muscles and increase energy. (fact)

b.______They are preferred by the general public because they help with weight reduction.

(reason)

c._________Low-fat diets are recommended by most physicians. (fact)

d._____Many athletes eat high-protein foods, such as meat, beans, and nuts. (example)

e._______Low-fat foods include fruits, vegetables, and pasta. (example)

f.________Because they are easy to find in stores, low-fat foods are convenient. (reason)

g.__________Athletes generally eat high-protein diets to give them more energy. (reason)

h.________Crispy steamed vegetables and grilled fish and chicken are all tasty parts of a low-fat,

heart-friendly diet. (description)

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UNIT VI: LISTENING COMPREHENSION
AND DISCUSSION WRITING SKILLS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Reading comprehension and making notes. Listening comprehension

and discussion writing skills, from paragraph to essay: expanding the
paragraph, vocabulary in context reporting. Reading comprehension
writing skills: the thesis statement.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION: AN IMPORTANT LANGUAGE SKILL

Speaking as a part of language learning is highly overrated, and before you protest, I’m going to

explain why.

Of course we all want to learn to speak the language we are learning, and to speak it well. That is

probably most language learners’ number one objective. The question is just how to achieve that,

and how to incorporate speaking in a program of language learning. In my view, the pressure to

speak, and to speak well early on, can create frustration and tension and delay achieving genuine

fluency.

Listening has a number of other advantages: it’s very easy to organize. When I’m listening I’m

not just listening to the language. As I progress past the beginner stage, which consists of

listening to simple stories, I move on to enjoying a novel, learning about the history of the

country or following a political or historical podcast. I can have a fascinating language

companion with me when I do the dishes, drive my car, exercise or go for a walk. I simply can’t

arrange to have a language tutor with me when I am doing these things.

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DISCUSSION SECTION

This section has four purposes, it should:

1. Interpret and explain your results

2. Answer your research question

3. Justify your approach

4. Critically evaluate your study

The discussion section therefore needs to review your findings in the context of the literature and

the existing knowledge about the subject.

You also need to demonstrate that you understand the limitations of your research and the

implications of your findings for policy and practice. This section should be written in the

present tense.

How to write a discussion section?

Writing manuscripts to describe study outcomes, although not easy, is the main task of an

academician. The aim of the present review is to outline the main aspects of writing the

discussion section of a manuscript. Additionally, we address various issues regarding

manuscripts in general. It is advisable to work on a manuscript regularly to avoid losing

familiarity with the article. On principle, simple, clear and effective language should be used

throughout the text. In addition, a pre-peer review process is recommended to obtain feedback on

the manuscript. The discussion section can be written in 3 parts: an introductory paragraph,

intermediate paragraphs and a conclusion paragraph. For intermediate paragraphs, a “divide and

conquer” approach, meaning a full paragraph describing each of the study endpoints, can be

used. In conclusion, academic writing is similar to other skills, and practice makes perfect.

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Approaches to the writing process of the ‘Discussion’ section

Generally the length of the ‘Discussion ‘ section should not exceed the sum of other sections

(ıntroduction, material and methods, and results), and it should be completed within 6–7

paragraphs.. Each paragraph should not contain more than 200 words, and hence words should

be counted repeteadly. The ‘Discussion’ section can be generally divided into 3 separate

paragraphs as. 1) Introductory paragraph, 2) Intermediate paragraphs, 3) Concluding paragraph.

The introductory paragraph contains the main idea of performing the study in question. Without

repeating ‘Introduction’ section of the manuscript, the problem to be addressed, and its

updateness are analysed. The introductory paragraph starts with an undebatable sentence, and

proceeds with a part addressing the following questions as 1) On what issue we have to

concentrate, discuss or elaborate? 2) What solutions can be recommended to solve this problem?

3) What will be the new, different, and innovative issue? 4) How will our study contribute to the

solution of this problem An introductory paragraph in this format is helpful to accomodate reader

to the rest of the Discussion section. However summarizing the basic findings of the

experimental studies in the first paragraph is generally recommended by the editors of the

journal.

In the last paragraph of the Discussion section “strong points” of the study should be mentioned

using “constrained”, and “not too strongly assertive” statements. Indicating limitations of the

study will reflect objectivity of the authors, and provide answers to the questions which will be

directed by the reviewers of the journal. On the other hand in the last paragraph, future directions

or potential clinical applications may be emphasized.

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FROM PARAGRAPH TO ESSAY

Writing to Learn: From Paragraph to Essay is the second book in a series of three, whose aim is

to prepare ESL students with "diverse educational backgrounds" for "academic and vocational

success." It is available with an Instructor's Manual, but this was not provided for review.

Consequently the following comments relate only to the student's book and are thus limited by

my inability to view the teacher's book. Writing to Learn: From Paragraph to Essay was written

with intermediate level, community college ESL students in the U.S. in mind, which limits the

usefulness of some of the content for teachers and students in other countries. However, this is a

minor problem, commonly encountered and easily overcome. The book will work well anywhere

with a target audience consisting of educated, middle-class learners from a variety of ethnic

backgrounds, studying in a western culture.

The authors claim the book is "process and product" oriented and at first glance it appears to

fulfil this claim. It is divided into six units of work, each based around a theme (myself, family,

education, work, leisure and recreation, and the natural world). The themes were selected on the

principle that it is easier for learners to apply new skills when writing about things relatively

familiar to them; later chapters begin to present more diverse thematic content. Presumably

because there is a teachers book available, little guidance to the teacher is provided in the preface

beyond a brief description of the beliefs underpinning the text and the way each unit is divided.

From the advice to the student one can discover that instructors will decide what order and which

activities are best for students, which suggests that the units are not necessarily designed to be

worked through chronologically. Each unit is divided into four main parts: Pre-Writing,

Structure, Writing and Editing, and Writing and Revising Assignment. These are followed by

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Additional Practice, Journal Topic Suggestions, and room for a Vocabulary Log, all of which

provide supplementary material.

The Pre-Writing sections present concepts such as brainstorming, speculating, freewriting,

ordering and organising ideas, generating vocabulary, writing first drafts, and notetaking.

Encouraging discussion and teamwork, the activities in these sections are generally designed to

be communicative but they lack a cohesive flow. That is, it is sometimes difficult to see how one

activity relates to the next or even whether or not it is intended to. The purposes of the activities

and how they fit into the writing process are not explained in the text. There frequently appears

to be little or no connection between the pre-writing activities and the later writing activities in

each unit. In addition, one has to question whether writing first drafts really qualifies as a

"prewriting" activity.

The next section of each unit, Structure, seems to be designed to review or present briefly

selected grammatical and structural features of writing, particularly conjunctions and transitions

for sentence combining. While some parts of this section (sentence combining) are clear and

easy to use, with a detailed and logical progression from less to more difficult concepts, other

parts (tenses) seem to have questionable value, as they serve only to gloss over the basics. It may

be better to leave out such inadequate or incomplete coverage, and leave the teacher to review

such aspects as required.

The Writing and Editing section provides guidance regarding the structure and editing of writing,

including the use of titles, punctuation, sentence problems, topic sentences, thesis statements,

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supporting information, and analysis of whole essays. This section also includes some activities

that appeared a little idiosyncratic to the general purpose of the section. These comprise a

notewriting activity (genre or warm-up?), an activity on grouping ideas (prewriting?) and an

activity on research (also prewriting?). The activities in units 5 and 6 introduce a lot of new

information about writing and editing and sharply increase the level of difficulty. From editing

titles and sentences (units 1-3), students are suddenly asked to conduct research (unit 4) and

analyse whole essays (units 5 and 6).

The Writing and Revising section presents the main writing task for each unit, which varies from

a descriptive paragraph about another person (units 1-3), through a job application letter, a

narrative (unit 5) and a description using spatial organisation (unit 6). Each activity guides the

student through the process of brainstorming, organising ideas, writing, editing, and redrafting.

Communicative exercises include pairwork and peer review.

The final section, Additional Practice, provides a variety of activities that give students further

practice with activities having a grammatical, structural, or lexical focus. These are all designed

around the same theme as the rest of the unit. They are useful choices for both students and

teachers to provide more practice or homework activities. At the back of the book some

appendices provide more information about presentation, journal writing, capitalisation and

punctuation, as well as a writer feedback sheet. All of the information contained in the

appendices was useful at a basic level, but could be improved.

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The layout of the book is clear, with plenty of space provided for writing answers. The photo

quality was adequate but could be better. In contrast the drawings were clearer, but seemed more

appropriate for younger students and were very culturally biased towards white middle class life

and activities. The photographs included people of more ethnic diversity.

The authors of Writing to Learn: From Paragraph to Essay have clearly attempted to encompass

a wide range of student writing needs, both academic and vocational. This is evident in the way

they have included both micro- and macro-level focus activities on all aspects of writing from

mechanics to genre to structure and process, as well as attempting to meet students' needs for

increased lexical knowledge and volume of practice. The result however, is a rather illogical

combination of features in many sections of the book.

In addition, there are few apparent connections between such sections as the prewriting and

writing, as well as inadequate coverage of some important concepts such as the patterns of

organisation and logical order in writing. Some of these inadequacies may be resolved by

viewing the Instructor's Manual, where such problems may be overcome by the information or

guidance presented therein. The book does present many communicative activities, but on closer

inspection is more "product" than "process" oriented, simply because it fails to teach the writing

process explicitly. There is a general emphasis on form, which fails to address the meta-features

of texts. By this is meant that not enough attention is paid to explaining some of the hows and

whys of written discourse, why different types of English are written the way they are, the

purposes of various kinds of writing (for example, types of academic writing versus types of

vocational writing). Furthermore, understanding some of the rhetorical aspects of languages,

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such as contrastive rhetoric, facilitates a student's ability to manipulate the forms to their desired

purposes. These aspects could be developed further, as students at any level benefit from such

knowledge. Attention to and awareness-raising of these fundamental features of writing in

English helps students to understand the relevance of what they're learning. None of these issues

are addressed in any of the activities where one might expect them. In addition, although the

book does model process writing in the Writing and Revising section, simply leading students

through the steps of the writing process does not teach it explicitly, and certainly does not

illustrate the recursive (as opposed to linear) nature of the process.

In conclusion, although the book presents many communicative and worthwhile activities, and

could be usefully employed in many classrooms, it cannot be blindly followed as a prescription

for moving students "from paragraphs to essays." That will require the teacher to select carefully

from the text and supplement the tasks with explanation and awareness-raising activities, if they

wish to draw students' attention to those meta-features of written texts mentioned above--a task

which has, arguably, always been the teacher's responsibility in any case, and which would

probably be confirmed by the teacher's book.

Using Context Clues to Understand Word Meanings

When attempting to decipher the meaning of a new word, it is often useful to look at what comes

before and after that word. The surrounding words can give readers helpful context clues about

the meaning and structure of the new word, as well as how it is used.

Common Types of Context Clues

 Root word and affix: People who study birds are experts in ornithology.

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  Contrast: Unlike mammals, birds incubate their eggs outside their bodies.

 Logic: Birds are always on the lookout for predators that might harm their young.

 Definition: Frugivorous birds prefer eating fruit to any other kind of food.

 Example or illustration: Some birds like to build their nests in inconspicuous spots —

high up in the tops of trees, well hidden by leaves.

 Grammar: Many birds migrate twice each year.

THESIS STATEMENTS

You have probably been in an argument. Maybe you were arguing with a friend over what you

were going to do that afternoon, or maybe you have been in an argument with your parents about

staying up too late or not helping out around the house. The more arguing you have done, the

more practice you have had at creating thesis statements.

Reading Thesis Statements

Identifying an author’s thesis statement, or ARGUMENT, is essential to understanding a

passage. If you cannot identify an author’s thesis, you have not clearly understood the passage.

Questions addressing Author’s Purpose and Author’s Argument in the Reading Lab will be

extremely helpful in practicing how to identify an author’s thesis.

Writing Thesis Statements

 You should develop your thesis statement based on available evidence.

 NEVER try to FORCE the evidence to support your thesis statement.

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  If you need to revise your thesis statement based on information you obtain, that is fine!

There is no reason to cling to a dead thesis statement.

 When writing, your thesis statement is most effectively included either in the beginning

or at the end of your essay. Most instructors prefer thesis statements to be the last

sentence of your introduction.

Strong Thesis Statement

1. are supported by the evidence. As a general rule, you should have at least 3 details to

support any thesis statement. If you cannot find at least three pieces of supporting

evidence, REVISE your thesis!

2. are specific and original. Stating that Romeo and Julietis good means that you then must

define “good,” and you are still left with a really boring thesis!)

3. incite debate. You could say that gravity is important, but could someone debate that?

Think of a thesis statement that gets people fired upand disagreeing with you!)

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 UNIT VII: SUMMARY WRITING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Summary writing, punctuation, vocabulary in context/opposites using

inversion for emphasis.
 Reading comprehension: listening comprehension, writing skills: the
introductory paragraph, describing people and objects vocabulary in
context.

WRITING A SUMMARY

A summary is condensed version of a larger reading. A summary is not a rewrite of the original

piece and does not have to be long nor should it be long. To write a summary, use your own

words to express briefly the main idea and relevant details of the piece you have read. Your

purpose in writing the summary is to give the basic ideas of the original reading. What was it

about and what did the author want to communicate?

While reading the original work, take note of what or who is the focus and ask the usual

questions that reporters use: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Using these questions to

examine what you are reading can help you to write the summary.

Sometimes, the central idea of the piece is stated in the introduction or first paragraph, and the

supporting ideas of this central idea are presented one by one in the following paragraphs.

Always read the introductory paragraph thoughtfully and look for a thesis statement. Finding the

thesis statement is like finding a key to a locked door. Frequently, however, the thesis, or central

idea, is implied or suggested. Thus, you will have to work harder to figure out what the author

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wants readers to understand. Use any hints that may shed light on the meaning of the piece: pay

attention to the title and any headings and to the opening and closing lines of paragraphs.

Remember to summarize the text you have read. Use the following tips:

1. Shorten the text in such a way that all facts are in the summary. Leave out examples,

evaluations and interpretations.

2. Skim the text. You should know what is the main content of it. Read the headline

carefully.

3. Read the text again to understand more details. You must have understood the whole

text.

4. Make notes (use keywords). Underline important words in the text.

5. Form sentences with the help of your keywords. These sentences should reflect the main

content of the text.

6. Connect the sentences using suitable conjunctions. The first sentence should describe

the main content of the text.

7. Use Simple Present or Simple Past. Write sentences in Reported speech.

8. Sometimes you have to change the persons.

9. Check your summary. Watch out for spelling mistakes.

PUNCTUATION

The most common punctuation marks in English are: capital letters and full stops, question

marks, commas, colons and semi-colons, exclamation marks and quotation marks.

In speaking, we use pauses and the pitch of the voice to make what we say clear. Punctuation

plays a similar role in writing, making it easier to read.

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Punctuation consists of both rules and conventions. There are rules of punctuation that have to be

followed; but there are also punctuation conventions that give writers greater choice.

Punctuation: capital letters (B, D) and full stops (.)

We use capital letters to mark the beginning of a sentence and we use full stops to mark the end

of a sentence:

We went to France last summer. We were really surprised that it was so easy to travel on the

motorways.

The Football World Cup takes place every four years. The next World Cup will be held in South

Africa. In 2006 it was held in Germany.

We also use capital letters at the beginning of proper nouns. Proper nouns include personal

names (including titles before names), nationalities and languages, days of the week and months

of the year, public holidays as well as geographical places:

Dr David James is the consultant at Leeds City Hospital.

They are planning a long holiday in New Zealand.

Can she speak Japanese?

The next meeting of the group will take place on Thursday.

What plans do you have for Chinese New Year?

We use capital letters for the titles of books, magazines and newspapers, plays and music:

‘Oliver’ is a musical based on the novel ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens.

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The Straits Times is a daily English language newspaper in Singapore.

They are performing Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony.

In addition to closing sentences, we also use full stops in initials for personal names:

G. W. Dwyer

David A. Johnston, Accountant

Punctuation: question marks (?) and exclamation marks (!)

We use question marks to make clear that what is said is a question. When we use a question

mark, we do not use a full stop:

Why do they make so many mistakes?

A:So you’re Harry’s cousin?

B:Yes. That’s right.

We use exclamation marks to indicate an exclamative clause or expression in informal writing.

When we want to emphasise something in informal writing, we sometimes use more than one

exclamation mark:

Listen!

Oh no!!! Please don’t ask me to phone her. She’ll talk for hours!!!

Punctuation: commas (,)

We use commas to separate a list of similar words or phrases:

It’s important to write in clear, simple, accurate words.

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They were more friendly, more talkative, more open than last time we met them.

We do not normally use a comma before and at the end of a list of single words:

They travelled through Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland.

American English does use a comma in lists before and:

We took bread, cheese, and fruit with us.

We use commas to separate words or phrases that mark where the voice would pause slightly:

I can’t tell you now. However, all will be revealed tomorrow at midday.

We had, in fact, lost all of our money.

James, our guide, will accompany you on the boat across to the island.

Punctuation: colons (:) and semi-colons (;)

We use colons to introduce lists:

There are three main reasons for the success of the government: economic, social and political.

We also use colons to indicate a subtitle or to indicate a subdivision of a topic:

Life in Provence: A Personal View

We often use colons to introduce direct speech:

Then he said: ‘I really cannot help you in any way.’

We commonly use a colon between sentences when the second sentence explains or justifies the

first sentence:

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Try to keep your flat clean and tidy: it will sell more easily.

We use semi-colons instead of full stops to separate two main clauses. In such cases, the clauses

are related in meaning but are separated grammatically:

Spanish is spoken throughout South America; in Brazil the main language is Portuguese.

Semi-colons are not commonly used in contemporary English. Full stops and commas are more

common.

INVERSION WITH NEGATIVE ADVERBIALS

In formal English, and in written language in particular, we use negative adverbials at the

beginning of the sentence to make it more emphatic or dramatic.

The word order is inverted: the negative adverbial is placed first, an auxiliary verb follows it

and the subject of the sentence comes next.

The inversion of the subject and the verb can take place after a clause that begins with Not until

and Only after/if/when.

Time adverbials:

Never (before), rarely, seldom;

Barely/hardly/scarcely...when/before;

No sooner....than

Only a time expression:

Only when, only after...

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Negative expressions:

Under,In no circumstances, In no way...

Expressions starting with Not...:

Not a noun, not only.... but also, not until...

Little with a negative meaning

Look at the following examples:

Never have I encountered such rudeness! (extract from a letter of complaint about the service in

a restaurant)

Not only is Amanda Swift a gifted musician, but she is also good-natured and responsible.

(extract from a covering letter)

No sooner had he locked the door than the phone started ringing.

Only when the last person had left did she sit down and try to relax.

Under no circumstances can you inform the staff about the imminent changes.

Not a sound could be heard in the church.

Little does Michael suspect that his daughter has been failing all her subjects at school!

LISTENING COMPREHENSION: AN IMPORTANT LANGUAGE SKILL

Speaking as a part of language learning is highly overrated, and before you protest, I’m going to

explain why.

Of course we all want to learn to speak the language we are learning, and to speak it well. That is

probably most language learners’ number one objective. The question is just how to achieve that,

and how to incorporate speaking in a program of language learning. In my view, the pressure to

91 | P a g e
speak, and to speak well early on, can create frustration and tension and delay achieving genuine

fluency.

Listening has a number of other advantages: it’s very easy to organize. When I’m listening I’m

not just listening to the language. As I progress past the beginner stage, which consists of

listening to simple stories, I move on to enjoying a novel, learning about the history of the

country or following a political or historical podcast. I can have a fascinating language

companion with me when I do the dishes, drive my car, exercise or go for a walk. I simply can’t

arrange to have a language tutor with me when I am doing these things.

The simple view of reading highlights the importance of two primary components which account

for individual differences in reading comprehension across development: word recognition (i.e.,

decoding) and listening comprehension. This paper reviews evidence showing that listening

comprehension becomes the dominating influence on reading comprehension starting even in the

elementary grades. It also highlights a growing number of children who fail to develop adequate

reading comprehension skills, primarily due to deficient listening comprehension skills (i.e., poor

comprehenders). Finally we discuss key language influences on listening comprehension for

consideration during assessment and treatment of reading disabilities.

THE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH

The paragraph that begins an essay causes students the most trouble, yet carries the most

importance. Although its precise construction varies from genre to genre (and from essay to

essay), good introductory paragraphs generally accomplish the same tasks and follow a few basic

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patterns. I have listed some of them below, but keep in mind that what follows are guidelines, not

immutable templates.

Tasks: The introductory paragraph to a short essay usually attempts to do three things:

 Introduce the topic with some indication of its inherent interest or importance, and a clear

definition of the boundaries of the subject area

 Indicate the structure and/or methodology of the essay, often with the major sections of

the essay or its structural principle clearly stated

 State the thesis of the essay, preferably in a single, arguable statement with a clear main

clause

Not every essay does all three in the first paragraph, and the degree to which an essay declares its

structure or methodology may vary widely, depending on how necessary that information will be

to the readers. Sometimes, the entire first paragraph will serve no other purpose than to generate

interest in the subject or raise a question, leaving the other tasks for the second paragraph.

However, this kind of opening requires a lot of skill, and you can lose your readers in the second

and third paragraphs if do not make your purpose clear.

Patterns: The standard pattern for an introductory paragraph follows the order of the tasks

outlined above. Below is an outline of that pattern, written as if it were the first section of a

formal outline of the entire essay:

I: Introduction

A. The topic

1. Its boundaries

2. Why it is interesting

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 B. Structure and/or Methodology

1. The essay’s main sections (structure)

2. Why they come in that order (structural principle)

3. How the author plans to draw the necessary conclusions from the

information available (methodology)

C. The Thesis Statement (usually a single sentence)

1. Its premise (the general claim about the information available)

2. Its conclusion (the consequences of the first claim)

Not every essay contains every element in precisely this order, but most good essays cover all of

them, either explicitly or implicitly. In longer and more scholarly essays, the

structure/methodology section should be longer, or can even be its own paragraph. It should also

include some mention of the essay’s position within the field as a whole.

DESCRIBING PEOPLE AND OBJECTS VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

In this lesson, students will learn about basic adjectives to describe people and objects through games and

acting out. Students will enhance their vocabulary as well as using certain aspects of the functional

language such as "What is he/she/it like? He/she/it is dirty/clean/old/young...etc."

It is necessary for students to learn how to use English for describing places, people and objects,

etc. They have to equip themselves with the knowledge and use of English structures and

vocabulary to be able to meet the requirement of the job-market, after their graduation. They

may take up a job of a salesman, tourist guide, or they may even like to take up journalism as

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their career. Whatever field they choose, they will need English for their efficient functioning in

that field. This unit and the following ones also have been written with this objective in mind.

 Describing Objects

When you wish to describe anything, you must have an eye for the detail. You must be a good

observer. Suppose you were going for a walk. There was a middle-aged man struggling up the

road on his bicycle. Suddenly, a car came at a great speed, its horn screaming, and its fend struck

the cyclist. The bike and the man fell down. The car did not stop. There was an enquiry. The

police inspector asked you:

The Inspector : Can you identify the car?

You : It was a big car. I think it was a Tata Sumo.

The Inspector : Are you sure? What was its colour?

You : Yes. It was a Sumo. And it was olive green.

The Inspector : Can you remember the number of the car?

You : No, I am sorry. It happened so quickly. I was looking at the

cyclist who fell down.

The Inspector : Couldn’t you at least see if the car was from this state or from outside?

 Describing Persons

Read the following very short descriptions of persons and the descriptive phrases, adjectives, etc.

.
1.Geeta Kulkarni is twenty two years old. She is very short and has long curly hair. The best

feature in her face is a set of lovely dimples when she smiles, which she often does.

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2. Mahendra is twenty five years old. He is a thin man. He has wheatish complexion and a small

moustache.

3. Ratna is a fifteen year old girl. She is dark skinned, and has a broad face and very long hair

always in a plait.

It is very important to observe people and be able to describe them. A woman was going for a

walk in the evening, and someone came running from behind, snatched her chain from her neck

and ran away. These incidents are now frequently being reported. The police will ask questions

to the woman :

: Can you describe the person?

: He was a young man, Sir. He was of a medium height. I saw only the side of his face. He was

rather dark-skinned. He had short black hair. He had put on a half-sleeved shirt of grey colour

and faint blue trousers. He slipped while running and I saw yellow rubber slippers on his feet.

This lady has been able to give comparatively better description, because normally, in such a

situation, a woman is so frightened that she may not be able to give any details of the chain-

snatcher. But it is not only chain-snatcher that you are going to describe. You may have to

describe people, young or old, who you come across in your life. What do you notice first when

you meet strangers, or even persons familiar to you? Here is Khushwant Singh, a very well

known writer, describing his very old grandmother.

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 UNIT VIII: VOICE LISTENING
COMPREHENSION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Reading comprehension recognizing voice listening comprehension

writing skills: the concluding paragraph

VOICE LISTENING

1. Listening is the most common communicative activity in daily life: "we can expect to listen

twice as much as we speak, four times more than we read, and five times more than we write."

(Morley, 1991, p. 82)

2. Listening is also important for obtaining comprehensible input that is necessary for language

development.

What is involved in listening comprehension?

speech perception (e.g., sound discrimination, recognize stress patterns, intonation, pauses, etc.)

word recognition (e.g., recognize the sound pattern as a word, locate the word in the lexicon,

retrieve lexical, grammatical and semantic inforamtion about the word, etc.)

sentence processing (parsing; e.g., detect sentence constituents, building a structure frame, etc.)

construct the literal meaning of the sentence (select the relevant meaning in case of ambiguous

word)

 hold the inforamtion in short-term memory

 recognize cohesive devices in discourse

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  infer the implied meaning and intention (speech act)

 predict what is to be said

 decide how to respond

Principles of Teaching Listening

1. Listening should receive primary attention in the early stage of ESL instruction.

2. Maximize the use of material that is relevant to students' real life.

3. Maximize the use of authentic language.

4. Vary the materials in terms of speakers' gender, age, dialect, accent, topic, speed, noice level,

genre,

5. Always ask students to listen with a purpose and allow them to show their comprehension in a

task.

6. Language material intended to be used for training listening comprehension should never be

presented.

THE CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH

Although conclusions generally do not cause students as much trouble as introductions, they are

nearly as difficult to get right. Contrary to popular belief, conclusions do not merely restate the

thesis, and they should never begin with "In conclusion…" They represent your last chance to

say something important to your readers, and can be used for some, or all, of the following tasks:

 Emphasizing the purpose and importance of your essay

 Explaining the significance or consequences of your findings

 Indicating the wider applications of the method developed in your essay

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  Establishing your essay as the basis for further investigation

 To show other directions of inquiry into the subject

Exactly which tasks your conclusion fulfills will vary according to your subject, your audience,

and your objectives for the essay. Generally, conclusions fulfill a rhetorical purpose—they

persuade your readers to do something: take action on an issue, change a policy, make an

observation, or understand a topic differently.

Structure

Conclusions vary widely in structure, and no prescription can guarantee that your essay has

ended well. If the introduction and body of your essay have a clear trajectory, your readers

should already expect you to conclude when the final paragraph arrives, so don’t overload it with

words or phrases that indicate its status. Below is an outline for a hypothetical, abstract essay

with five main sections:

V: Conclusion

A. Transition from last body paragraph

B. Sentences explaining how paper has fit together and leads to a stronger, more

emphatic and more detailed version of your thesis

C. Discussion of implications for further research

1. Other areas that can use the same method

2. How your finds change the readers’ understanding of the topic

3. Discussion of areas in need of more detailed investigation

D. Final words

1. Why the essay was important or interesting

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 2. Any other areas in which your essay has significance: ethics,

practical applications, politics

How to Write A Conclusion

In a conclusion paragraph, you summarize what you’ve written about in your paper. When

you’re writing a good conclusion paragraph, you need to think about the main point that you

want to get across and be sure it’s included. If you’ve already written a fabulous introductory

paragraph, you can write something similar with different wording. Here are some points to

remember:

 Use your introductory paragraph as a guide. You may have started by saying, “There

are three classes at school that I absolutely can’t wait to go to every day.” You can start

your conclusion by saying, “Gym, Math, and Art are the three classes I try to never

miss.”

 If it’s a longer paper, a good place to start is by looking at what each paragraph was

about. For example, if you write a paper about zoo animals, each paragraph would

probably be about one particular animal. In your conclusion, you should briefly mention

each animal again. “Zoo animals like polar bears, lions, and giraffes are amazing

creatures.”

 Leave your readers with something to think about. Suggest that they learn more with

a sentence like, “We have a lot to learn about global warming.” You can also give them

something to do after reading your paper. For example, “It’s easy to make your own

popsicles. Grab some orange juice and give it a try!”

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How to Make a Good Conclusion Paragraph

Remember that it’s important to wrap up your writing by summarizing the main idea for your

readers. This brings your writing to a smooth close and creates a well-written piece of work.

Essay Structure

Introduction

Thesis statement

Body of Essay

Rephrased thesis statement

Conclusion

What to include

 Your conclusion wraps up your essay in a tidy package and brings it home for your

reader

 Your topic sentence should summarize what you said in your thesis statement

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 o This suggests to your reader that you have accomplished what you set out to

accomplish

 Do not simply restate your thesis statement, as that would be redundant

o Rephrase the thesis statement with fresh and deeper understanding

 Your conclusion is no place to bring up new ideas

 Your supporting sentences should summarize what you have already said in the body of

your essay

o If a brilliant idea tries to sneak into the final paragraph, you must pluck it out and

let it have its own paragraph in the body, or leave it out completely

 Your topic for each body paragraph should be summarized in the conclusion

o Wrap up the main points

 Your closing sentence should help the reader feel a sense of closure

 Your closing sentence is your last word on the subject; it is your “clincher”

o Demonstrate the importance of your ideas

o Propel your reader to a new view of the subject

o End on a positive note

 Your closing sentence should make your readers glad they read your paper

Strategies for an effective conclusion

 Play the “So What” Game.

o When you read a statement from the conclusion, ask yourself, “So what?” or

“Why should anybody care?”

o Ponder that question and answer it

 Basically, I’m just saying that education was important to Douglass

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  So what?

 Well, it was important because it was a key to him feeling like a free and

equal citizen

 Why should anybody care?

 That’s important because plantation owners tried to keep slaves from

being educated so that they could maintain control. When Douglass

obtained an education, he undermined that control personally.

 Return to the theme or themes in the introduction

o This brings the reader full circle

o If you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as

proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding

o Refer to the introductory paragraph by using key words, or parallel concepts and

images that you also used in the introduction

 Summarize

o Include a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things

that were in the paper

 Pull it all together

o Show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you

used fit together

 Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for the

paper

 Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study

 Point to broader implications

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 o A paper about the style of writer, Virginia Woolf, could point to her influence on

other writers or later feminists

Concluding strategies that do not work

 Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase

 These may work in speeches, but they come across as wooden and trite in writing

o “in conclusion”

o “in summary”

o “in closing”

o “as shown in the essay”

 Stating the thesis for the very first time

 Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion

 Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of character with the rest of the paper

 Including evidence (quotations, statistics, etc.) that should be in the body of the paper

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UNIT IX: SUMMARY OF RESTATEMENT
FANNING ADJECTIVES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Summary of restatement fanning adjectives, vocabulary in context

participles and infinitives oral presentations: Choosing a topic, how to
prepare.

FANNING ADJECTIVES

The adjective fanned comes from the verb fan, which gained the meaning "spread like a hand-

held fan" in the late 16th century, when hand-held fans were quite common.

ORAL PRESENTATION

Making a good oral presentation is an art that involves attention to the needs of your audience,

careful planning, and attention to delivery. This page explains some of the basics of effective

oral presentation. It also covers use of notes, visual aids and computer presentation software.

The audience

Some basic questions to ask about an audience are:

1. Who will I be speaking to?

2. What do they know about my topic already?

3. What will they want to know about my topic?

4. What do I want them to know by the end of my talk?

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By basing the content and style of your presentation on your answers to these questions, you can

make sure that you are in tune with your audience. What you want to say about your topic may

be much less important than what your audience wants to hear about it.

Planning your presentation

In an effective presentation, the content and structure are adjusted to the medium of speech.

When listening, we cannot go back over a difficult point to understand it or easily absorb long

arguments. A presentation can easily be ruined if the content is too difficult for the audience to

follow or if the structure is too complicated.

As a general rule, expect to cover much less content than you would in a written report. Make

difficult points easier to understand by preparing the listener for them, using plenty of examples

and going back over them later. Leave time for questions within the presentation.

Give your presentation a simple and logical structure. Include an introduction in which you

outline the points you intend to cover and a conclusion in which you go over the main points of

your talk.

Delivering your presentation

People vary in their ability to speak confidently in public, but everyone gets nervous and

everyone can learn how to improve their presentation skills by applying a few simple techniques.

The main points to pay attention to in delivery are the quality of your voice, your rapport with

the audience, use of notes and use of visual aids.

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Voice quality involves attention to volume, speed and fluency, clarity and pronunciation. The

quality of your voice in a presentation will improve dramatically if you are able to practise

beforehand in a room similar to the one you will be presenting in.

Rapport with the audience involves attention to eye contact, sensitivity to how the audience is

responding to your talk and what you look like from the point of view of the audience. These can

be improved by practising in front of one or two friends or video-taping your rehearsal.

Effective use of notes

Good speakers vary a great deal in their use of notes. Some do not use notes at all and some

write out their talk in great detail. If you are not an experienced speaker it is not a good idea to

speak without notes because you will soon lose your thread. You should also avoid reading a

prepared text aloud or memorising your speech as this will be boring.

The best solution may be to use notes with headings and points to be covered. You may also

want to write down key sentences. Notes can be on paper or cards. Some speakers use overhead

transparencies as notes. The trick in using notes is to avoid shifting your attention from the

audience for too long. Your notes should always be written large enough for you to see without

moving your head too much.

Oral presentations typically involve three important steps:

1) planning,

2) practicing, and

3) presenting

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1. Planning

Oral presentations require a good deal of planning. Scholars estimate that approximately 50% of

all mistakes in an oral presentation actually occur in the planning stage (or rather, lack of a

planning stage).

Make sure to address the following issues:

Audience:

 Focus your presentation on the audience. Your presentation is not about how much you

can say, but about how much your audience can understand.

 Organize your information into three to five points/categories. Audiences can only easily

remember a maximum of three to five points.

 Build repetition. Listening is much different than reading. Your audience cannot go back

and read over something they missed or did not understand. Build repetition through

internal summaries, transitions, analogies, and stories.

Introduction:

 Introduce yourself if needed, providing your affiliation and/or credibility.

 Create an effective opening that will interest your audience: pose a question, give an

amazing fact, or tell a short, interesting story.

 Reveal your topic to the audience and explain why it is important for them to learn about.

 Give a brief outline of the major points you will cover in your presentation.

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Main Body:

 Explain your points. Give clear explanations. Provide sufficient evidence to be

convincing.

 Use transitions between sections of your presentation (introduction, body, and

conclusion) as well as between points in your main body section. The Writing Studio’s

handout on Roadmaps provides a great explanation of how to create clear signals and

“signposts” that will guide the audience through your presentation.

 Use analogies and stories to explain complicated ideas and to build repetition.

Conclusion:

 Signal your conclusion with a transition.

 Summarize your points.

 Refer to future action if needed.

 End with, “Thank You.”

 If answering questions, tell your audience, “I’ll now be happy to answer any questions.”

2. Practicing

Practicing your presentation is essential. It is at this stage of the process that you figure out word

and phrase emphasis and the timing of your sections and overall presentation.

 Record your presentation and review it in order to know how you sound and appear to

your audience. You may notice that you are pausing awkwardly, talking too fast, or using

distracting gestures.

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  Consider using different colored highlighters to remind yourself when to pause, when to

emphasize a particular point, when you have a slide change on your PowerPoint, etc.

 Practice in front of peers and elicit feedback. Ask your peers to comment on your

delivery and content. What aspects of your delivery work well to convey the information

and argument of the presentation, and what aspects of your delivery are not working as

well as they could? Also, are there moments in your presentation in which your peers

become confused, bored, or distracted?

 Remember that the more you practice, the more comfortable you will become with the

material. As a result of repeated practice, you will appear far more polished and

professional while delivering your presentation.

3. Presenting

As the person in charge of the situation when presenting, it is your job to make your audience

feel comfortable and engaged with both you and the material of the presentation.

● Maintain eye contact. Only look at notes or slides very briefly. Sweep the room with your

gaze, pausing briefly on various people.

● Be aware of your body posture.

● Be enthusiastic about your topic.

● Smile.

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 UNIT X: LIBRARY RESEARCH
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
WRITING SKILLS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Library research listening comprehension writing skills: Body

paragraphs: sufficient and support for the thesis appropriate
vocabulary in context oral presentations: preparation and presentation
skills.

BODY PARAGRAPH

A body paragraph is a group of related sentences about a particular topic or idea directly

relating to the thesis. Because essays are composed of multiple body paragraphs, writing and

organizing good paragraphs is one of the most important aspects of creating a well-organized

and developed essay.

Imagine that it's spring. The birds are chirping, the flies are getting in through the window, the

plants are budding their newborn leaves. Now, imagine that you want to tell someone about it all.

First, you need a topic sentence to begin the conversation; maybe something like: You wouldn't

believe how beautiful the birdsongs are this year, or My gosh, there must be at least a million

flies coming in through the kitchen window or The trees and the bushes are bursting with green.

Now, in order to continue the conversation, you will need to have supporting details that include

examples of what you are talking about. You might describe the birdsongs, using examples of

the most beautiful songs. You might describe the flies, using examples of where the majority of

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the flies have landed, or describe the trees and bushes using examples of particular trees or

bushes that are most lush and green. These are your supporting sentences.

Then, you need a statement that emphasizes the importance of birds chirping, flies getting in and

the new green leaves. It might be something as simple as I could listen to birds singing forever,

or I have got to get some fly strips or Man, am I glad spring is finally here! These are your

concluding sentences, and they emphasize the importance of the birdsongs, flies and new green

leaves.

In writing, the body paragraph is the main part of your essay or paper. Each body paragraph

contains a topic sentence that tells readers what the paragraph is going to be about, supporting

sentences that discuss the idea or ideas in the topic sentence, using examples and/or evidence to

support that discussion, and a concluding sentence that emphasizes the importance of the

supporting examples or evaluates the connections between them.

Each body paragraph will have the same basic structure.

 Start by writing down one of your main ideas, in sentence form. ...

 Next, write down each of your supporting points for that main idea, but leave four or five

lines in between each point.

 In the space under each point, write down some elaboration for that point.

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 Fig 3: Body Paragraph Structure

ESSAY BODY PARAGRAPHS

After the introduction come the body paragraphs. They usually take up most of the essay.

Paragraphs contain three main sections:

 Main point: the topic sentence, which describes the focus of the paragraph

 Support: explanations, evidence, and examples that reinforce the main point

 Transitions: connections between this paragraph and

o the thesis statement

o nearby paragraphs

Academic paragraphs are usually at least three sentences long, and can be longer still. However,

don't make those sentences too long. As a rough guide, a sentence longer than three lines is too

long.

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Main point

All paragraphs should be focused: they should discuss only one major point. That point should

connect with the overall focus of the essay (as described in the thesis statement).

The major point of a paragraph is often called the controlling idea. Every paragraph should have

a different controlling idea, each one discussing one aspect or part of the overall essay.

Body paragraphs will often begin with a summary of the controlling idea: the topic sentence. The

topic sentence summarises the paragraph in the same way that the thesis statement summarises

the whole essay.

The rest of the paragraph supports that topic sentence, by explaining it in detail, giving an

example, or citing evidence that reinforces it.

Support

The largest part of any body paragraph is the support: explanations, evidence, and examples.

Explanations use logic to fully explain the point raised in the topic sentence. It is not enough to

just explain an idea, however: you need to show that outside evidence supports it as well.

Evidence can include

 Facts

 Published opinions

 Research from books, journal articles, websites, etc.

 Published case studies

 Research data

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All evidence must be relevant to the topic, and it must be used and credited properly.

Outside sources can be quoted, summarised, or paraphrased. For information on the right and

wrong ways to do this, see quoting and paraphrasing. Crediting outside sources is known as

referencing, and is described in detail in the section titled introduction to referencing.

Transitions

Body paragraphs do not exist in isolation. They should fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Transitions show the connections between paragraphs themselves, and the connections between

the paragraphs and the overall focus of the essay (the thesis statement). They often appear at the

end of a paragraph.

Transitions are essential for maintaining momentum in your essay and showing the reader how

all the ideas fit together. They are described in detail in the next section, essay flow.

STEPS IN PREPARING AN ORAL PRESENTATION

Planning Your Presentation

Preparing a presentation can be an overwhelming experience if you allow it to be one. The

strategies and steps below are provided to help you break down what you might view as a large

job into smaller, more manageable tasks.

Step 1: Analyze your audience

The first step in preparing a presentation is to learn more about the audience to whom you'll be

speaking. It's a good idea to obtain some information on the backgrounds, values, and interests of

your audience so that you understand what the audience members might expect from your

presentation.

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Step 2: Select a topic

Next, if possible select a topic that is of interest to the audience and to you. It will be much easier

to deliver a presentation that the audience finds relevant, and more enjoyable to research a topic

that is of interest to you.

Step 3: Define the objective of the presentation

Once you have selected a topic, write the objective of the presentation in a single concise

statement. The objective needs to specify exactly what you want your audience to learn from

your presentation. Base the objective and the level of the content on the amount of time you have

for the presentation and the background knowledge of the audience. Use this statement to help

keep you focused as you research and develop the presentation.

Preparing the Content of Your Presentation

Step 4: Prepare the body of the presentation

After defining the objective of your presentation, determine how much information you can

present in the amount of time allowed. Also, use your knowledge about the audience to prepare a

presentation with the right level of detail. You don't want to plan a presentation that is too basic

or too advanced.

The body of the presentation is where you present your ideas. To present your ideas

convincingly, you will need to illustrate and support them. Strategies to help you do this include

the following:

 Present data and facts

 Read quotes from experts

 Relate personal experiences

 Provide vivid descriptions

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And remember, as you plan the body of your presentation it's important to provide variety.

Listeners may quickly become bored by lots of facts or they may tire of hearing story after story.

Step 5: Prepare the introduction and conclusion

Once you've prepared the body of the presentation, decide how you will begin and end the talk.

Make sure the introduction captures the attention of your audience and the conclusion

summarizes and reiterates your important points. In other words, "Tell them what you're going to

tell them. Tell them. Then, tell them what you told them."

During the opening of your presentation, it's important to attract the audience's attention and

build their interest. If you don't, listeners will turn their attention elsewhere and you'll have a

difficult time getting it back. Strategies that you can use include the following:

 Make the introduction relevant to the listeners' goals, values, and needs

 Ask questions to stimulate thinking

 Share a personal experience

 Begin with a joke or humorous story

 Project a cartoon or colorful visual

 Make a stimulating or inspirational statement

 Give a unique demonstration

During the opening you want to clearly present your topic and the purpose of your presentation.

Clearly articulating the topic and purpose will help the listeners focus on and easily follow your

main ideas.

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During the conclusion of your presentation, reinforce the main ideas you communicated.

Remember that listeners won't remember your entire presentation, only the main ideas. By

reinforcing and reviewing the main ideas, you help the audience remember them.

Practicing and Delivering

Step 6: Practice delivering the presentation

Most people spend hours preparing a presentation but very little time practicing it. When you

practice your presentation, you can reduce the number of times you utter words and phrases like,

"um," "well," and "you know." These habits can easily diminish a speaker's credibility. You can

also fine-tune your content to be sure you make your most important points in the time alloted.

In addition to planning the content of your presentation, you need to give advanced thought to

how you want to deliver it. Do you want to commit your presentation to memory, use cards to

guide you, or read from a script? Or, you might want to use a combination of methods. To help

you decide, read the advantages and disadvantages of the four delivery methods described below.

Speaking from Memory

A distinct advantage of speaking from memory is your ability to speak to the audience without

relying on notes or a script. This allows you the flexibility to move away from the podium and to

maintain eye contact with the audience. However, speaking from memory has disadvantages,

too. Presentations from memory often sound rehearsed and the possibility exists that you'll forget

an important point, present information that's inaccurate, or completely lose your train of

thought. If you decide to deliver your presentation from memory, have notes handy to jog your

memory just in case.

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Speaking from Notes

Many people like to speak from notes. Typically these notes are either on cards or paper in

outline form and contain key ideas and information. If you are using an electronic presentation

tool, you may be able to include your notes in the presentation itself. The benefit of delivering a

presentation from notes is that you sound natural rather than rehearsed and you can still maintain

relatively good eye contact with the audience. The down side is that you might not express your

key ideas and thoughts as well as you may have liked had you planned your exact words in

advance.

Speaking from Text

Speaking from text involves writing your speech out, word for word, then basically reading from

the text. As with speaking from memory, an advantage of this method is that you plan, in

advance, exactly what you're going to say and how you're going to say it. A disadvantage is that

you might appear to the audience to be stiff or rehearsed. You will need to make frequent eye

contact and speak with expression to maintain the audience's interest.

Using a Combination of Methods

You may find the best method to be a combination of all three. For instance, experts suggest you

memorize the first and last ten minutes of your talk so that you can speak flawlessly and without

notes. Notes may be suitable for segments of your presentation that you know very well, for

example, relating a personal story. Finally, speaking from a text might be appropriate when you

have quotes or other important points that you want to make sure you communicate accurately

and completely. You can make a smooth segue to written text by saying something like: "I want

to read this quote to you verbatim, to ensure that I don't distort the original intent."

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 UNIT XI: READING COMPREHENSION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Reading comprehension, listening comprehension, revision and

practice-timed essays the passive voice.

READING COMPREHENSION

Reading comprehension is the ability to process text, understand its meaning, and to integrate it

with what the reader already knows. Fundamental skills required in efficient reading

comprehension are knowing meaning of words, ability to understand meaning of a word from

discourse context, ability to follow organization of passage and to identify antecedents and

references in it, ability to draw inferences from a passage about its contents, ability to identify

the main thought of a passage, ability to answer questions answered in a passage, ability to

recognize the literary devices or propositional structures used in a passage and determine its

tone, to understand the situational mood (agents, objects, temporal and spatial reference points,

casual and intentional inflections, etc.) conveyed for assertions, questioning, commanding,

refraining etc. and finally ability to determine writer's purpose, intent and point of view, and

draw inferences about the writer (discourse-semantics).

An individual's ability to comprehend text is influenced by their skills and their ability to process

information. If word recognition is difficult, students use too much of their processing capacity

to read individual words, which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read. There

are a number of reading strategies to improve reading comprehension and inferences, including

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improving one's vocabulary, critical text analysis (intertextuality, actual events vs. narration of

events, etc.) and practicing deep reading.

Reading comprehension levels

Reading comprehension involves two levels of processing, shallow (low-level) processing and

deep (high-level) processing. Deep processing involves semantic processing, which happens

when we encode the meaning of a word and relate it to similar words. Shallow processing

involves structural and phonemic recognition, the processing of sentence and word structure, i.e.

first-order logic, and their associated sounds. This theory was first identified by Fergus I. M.

Craik and Robert S. Lockhart.

Comprehension levels are observed through neuroimaging techniques like functional magnetic

resonance imaging (fMRI). MRI's are used to determine the specific neural pathways of

activation across two conditions, narrative-level comprehension and sentence-level

comprehension. Images showed that there was less brain region activation during sentence-level

comprehension, suggesting a shared reliance with comprehension pathways. The scans also

showed an enhanced temporal activation during narrative levels tests indicating this approach

activates situation and spatial processing. In general, neuroimaging studies have found that

reading involves three overlapping neural systems: networks active in visual, orthography-

phonology (Angular gyrus), and semantic functions (Anterior temporal lobe with Broca's and

Wernicke's area). However, these neural networks are not discrete, meaning these areas have

several other functions as well. The Broca's area involved in executive functions helps the a

reader to vary depth of reading comprehension and textual engagement in accordance with

reading goals.

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LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Speaking as a part of language learning is highly overrated, and before you protest, I’m going to

explain why.

Of course we all want to learn to speak the language we are learning, and to speak it well. That is

probably most language learners’ number one objective. The question is just how to achieve that,

and how to incorporate speaking in a program of language learning. In my view, the pressure to

speak, and to speak well early on, can create frustration and tension and delay achieving genuine

fluency.

Listening strategies

Listening is the one skill that you use the most in everyday life. Listening comprehension is the

basis for your speaking, writing and reading skills. To train your listening skills, it is important to

listen actively, which means to actively pay attention to what you are listening to. Make it a habit

to listen to audio books, podcasts, news, songs, etc. and to watch videos and films in the foreign

language.

You should know that there are different types of listening:

 Listening for gist: you listen in order to understand the main idea of the text.

 Listening for specific information: you want to find out specific details, for example

key words.

 Listening for detailed understanding: you want to understand all the information the

text provides.

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Suggestions for improving your listening skills Before you listen

 Think about the topic of the text you are going to listen to. What do you already know

about it? What could possibly be the content of the text? Which words come to mind that

you already know? Which words would you want to look up?

 If you have to do a task on the listening text, check whether you have understood the task

correctly.

 Think about what type of text you are going to listen to. What do you know about this

type of text?

 Relax and make yourself ready to pay attention to the listening text.

While you are listening

 It is not necessary to understand every single word. Try to ignore those words that you

think are less important anyway.

 If there are words or issues that you don't understand, use your general knowledge as well

as the context to find out the meaning.

 If you still don't understand something, use a dictionary to look up the words or ask

someone else for help.

 Focus on key words and facts.

 Take notes to support your memory.

 Intonation and stress of the speakers can help you to understand what you hear.

 Try to think ahead. What might happen next? What might the speakers say, which words

might they use?

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After listening

 Think about the text again. Have you understood the main points?

 Remember the speculations you made before you listened. Did they come true?

 Review your notes.

 Check whether you have completed your task correctly.

 Have you had any problems while listening? Do you have any problems now to complete

your task? Identify your problems and ask someone for help.

 Listen again to difficult passages.

TIMED ESSAYS

If you’re facing a timed essay very soon, this handout offers some very basic, very quick tips.

1. Plan your time wisely.

2. Answer the right question.

3. Collect your thoughts.

4. Leave time to revise.

5. Revise your thesis statement before you turn in your paper, so it looks like the conclusion

you stumbled across was the one you planned from the start. (This small step can often

make a huge difference.)

1. Plan your time wisely

If you are, at this moment, frantically cramming for tomorrow morning’s exam, that first tip may

not sound all that useful. Procrastination is probably the biggest reason why bright students

sometimes get poor grades. (Start early!)

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You can also plan your time during the test itself. Your professor knows which paragraphs are

harder to write, and will evaluate them accordingly. Does the question ask you to “evaluate”? If

so, don’t fill your page with a summary. Likewise, if the question asks for “evidence,” don’t

spend all your time giving your own personal opinions.

 Start with the larger essay questions, so that you answer them before you burn out or run

out of time.

 If one essay question is worth 50% of the test score, spend 50% of your time on it.

 If you finish early, you can always go back and add more detail. (As long as your

additions and changes are legible, your instructor will probably be happy to see signs of

revision.)

2. Answer the right question.

Before you begin your answer, you should be sure what the question is asking. I often grade a

university composition competency test, and sometimes have to fail well-written papers that fail

to address the assigned topic.

If the question asks you to “explain” a topic, then a paragraph that presents your personal

opinion won’t be of much help. If the question asks you to present a specific example, then a

paragraph that summarizes what “some people say” about the topic won’t be very useful.

3. Collect your thoughts.

Resist the urge to start churning out words immediately. If you are going to get anywhere in an

essay, you need to know where you are going.

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4. Leave time to revise.

Sometimes, in the middle of a difficult paragraph, students will glance back at the question, and

get a new idea. They will then hastily back out of their current paragraph, and provide a rough

transition like: “But an even more important aspect is…”. They continue in this manner, like a

builder who keeps breaking down walls to add new wings onto a house.

 To avoid this problem before it starts, see the previous tip, or this nifty handout on

“Blueprinting.”

 To handle this problem when it occurs, don’t automatically add to the end of an essay —

write in the margins, or draw a line to indicate where you want to insert a new paragraph.

 Leave space to revise too — write on every other line and leave the backs of pages blank,

so you will have room to make legible insertions if you need to.

 Obviously, if you are writing your test on a computer, you should just insert and

rearrange text as you would normally.

5. Revise your thesis statement

If inspiration strikes while you are in the middle of an essay, and your conclusion turns out to be

nothing like you thought it would be, change your thesis statement to match your conclusion.

(Assuming, of course, that your unexpected conclusion still addresses the assigned topic.)

When a writer realizes that an essay is veering off in a new direction, and handles it by tacking

more paragraphs onto the end, the result can be extremely awkward.

 Joe Student writes a thesis statement that examines the relationship between

“independence” and public morals.

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  Midway through his essay, Joe hits upon a different idea that relates to “prosperity.”

 To mask the transition, he writes a sentence that refers to “independence and prosperity”,

as if the two concepts are interchangeable.

 After writing a few more paragraphs on “prosperity”, Joe realizes he needs to unify the

two ideas in his conclusion. He writes a new paragraph that examines the connections

between independence and prosperity.

 He then writes a conclusion that “proves” that independence and prosperity are

inseparable.

How to Write a Timed Essay

Timed essays task students with coming up with their own ideas on a topic. I always tell my

students that a good thesis statement on a text should answer this question: What point does the

author make about people or the world in general? If they have been taught to think about ideas

and meaning and are encouraged to come up with their own opinions on a regular basis, then this

shouldn’t be too hard for them. If they are used to sitting back and letting others give them

ideas, then they often struggle with this kind of challenge, and that passivity will show on an in-

class essay. Writing on the spot shows what students can do on their own—no parents, no

internet summaries, no using their phone to quickly look up some easy answers.

Timed essays task students with giving evidence to support their ideas. In this world of fake

news and alternative facts, evidence is more important than ever. Students need to learn that it’s

not enough to make a convincing argument—they need to back up their opinions with facts. And

this is also a skill that is easily acquired when students are interested and engaged in the

material. Students who notice and contemplate evidence as they learn it are usually able to bring

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it back when they write a timed essay on a subject. So, for example, if they are tasked with

writing an essay about the immigrant experience and they truly worked hard to analyze the poem

that we read about the struggles of a first-generation mother, then they will remember details and

maybe even quotes from that poem when it comes time to write an essay.

Timed essays task students with organizing the evidence in a way that makes sense to a

reader. It’s not enough to just have good ideas and evidence, writers also have to convey their

knowledge to a reader. Timed essays might not be filled with the kind of polished prose that

students will create after multiple revisions, but the essays will need to be sufficiently organized

and explained so that a reader can follow the argument.

Timed essays task students with convincing a reader. I purposely put this element last on the

list because students can employ all the rhetoric they want, but if they don’t have solid ideas and

evidence to back it up, they don’t have much of any essay. Still, what I’m looking for beyond an

idea and a list of facts is the explanation. I want to know why you believe what you believe and

why I should think the same. I want students to learn how to communicate their ideas, especially

to someone who might not already agree with what they are saying.

Ultimately, these utilitarian essays get the job done. They don’t teach students about subtle

grabbers or elegant transitions or integrating figurative language to create vivid imagery, but they

do teach kids how to think, use evidence, and convey their ideas to a reader. Students will need

to be able to think on their feet at many points in their lives, and writing a timed essay is a

great way to practice.

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Defining the passive voice

A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a

sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of

the sentence. Take a look at this passive rephrasing of a familiar joke:

Why was the road crossed by the chicken?

Who is doing the action in this sentence? The chicken is the one doing the action in this

sentence, but the chicken is not in the spot where you would expect the grammatical subject to

be. Instead, the road is the grammatical subject. The more familiar phrasing (why did the chicken

cross the road?) puts the actor in the subject position, the position of doing something—the

chicken (the actor/doer) crosses the road (the object). We use active verbs to represent that

“doing,” whether it be crossing roads, proposing ideas, making arguments, or invading houses

(more on that shortly).

Once you know what to look for, passive constructions are easy to spot. Look for a form of “to

be” (is, are, am , was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, will have been, being)

followed by a past participle. (The past participle is a form of the verb that typically, but not

always, ends in “-ed.” Some exceptions to the “-ed” rule are words like “paid” (not “payed”) and

“driven.” (not “drived”).

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 UNIT XII: REVISION AND PRACTICE
MAKING NOTES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Reading comprehension: listening comprehension: essay writing –

revision and practice making notes, describing a process, adjectives
and principles.

GENERAL ESSAY WRITING

Despite the fact that, as Shakespeare said, "the pen is mightier than the sword," the pen itself is

not enough to make an effective writer. In fact, though we may all like to think of ourselves as

the next Shakespeare, inspiration alone is not the key to effective essay writing. You see, the

conventions of English essays are more formulaic than you might think – and, in many ways, it

can be as simple as counting to five.

The Five Paragraph Essay

Though more advanced academic papers are a category all their own, the basic high school or

college essay has the following standardized, five paragraph structure:

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Paragraph 2: Body 1

Paragraph 3: Body 2

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Paragraph 4: Body 3

Paragraph 5: Conclusion

Though it may seem formulaic – and, well, it is - the idea behind this structure is to make it

easier for the reader to navigate the ideas put forth in an essay. You see, if your essay has the

same structure as every other one, any reader should be able to quickly and easily find the

information most relevant to them.

The Introduction

The principle purpose of the introduction is to present your position (this is also known as the

"thesis" or "argument") on the issue at hand but effective introductory paragraphs are so much

more than that. Before you even get to this thesis statement, for example, the essay should begin

with a "hook" that grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read on. Examples of

effective hooks include relevant quotations ("no man is an island") or surprising statistics ("three

out of four doctors report that…").

Only then, with the reader’s attention "hooked," should you move on to the thesis. The thesis

should be a clear, one-sentence explanation of your position that leaves no doubt in the reader’s

mind about which side you are on from the beginning of your essay.

Following the thesis, you should provide a mini-outline which previews the examples you will

use to support your thesis in the rest of the essay. Not only does this tell the reader what to

expect in the paragraphs to come but it also gives them a clearer understanding of what the essay

is about.

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Finally, designing the last sentence in this way has the added benefit of seamlessly moving the

reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper. In this way we can see that the basic

introduction does not need to be much more than three or four sentences in length. If yours is

much longer you might want to consider editing it down a bit!

Here, by way of example, is an introductory paragraph to an essay in response to the following

question:

"Do we learn more from finding out that we have made mistakes or from our successful

actions?"

"No man is an island" and, as such, he is constantly shaped and influenced by his experiences.

People learn by doing and, accordingly, learn considerably more from their mistakes than their

success. For proof of this, consider examples from both science and everyday experience.

The Body Paragraphs

The middle paragraphs of the essay are collectively known as the body paragraphs and, as

alluded to above, the main purpose of a body paragraph is to spell out in detail the examples that

support your thesis.

For the first body paragraph you should use your strongest argument or most significant example

unless some other more obvious beginning point (as in the case of chronological explanations) is

required. The first sentence of this paragraph should be the topic sentence of the paragraph that

directly relates to the examples listed in the mini-outline of introductory paragraph.

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A one sentence body paragraph that simply cites the example of "George Washington" or

"LeBron James" is not enough, however. No, following this an effective essay will follow up on

this topic sentence by explaining to the reader, in detail, who or what an example is and, more

importantly, why that example is relevant.

Even the most famous examples need context. For example, George Washington’s life was

extremely complex – by using him as an example, do you intend to refer to his honesty, bravery,

or maybe even his wooden teeth? The reader needs to know this and it is your job as the writer to

paint the appropriate picture for them. To do this, it is a good idea to provide the reader with five

or six relevant facts about the life (in general) or event (in particular) you believe most clearly

illustrates your point.

Having done that, you then need to explain exactly why this example proves your thesis. The

importance of this step cannot be understated (although it clearly can be underlined); this is, after

all, the whole reason you are providing the example in the first place. Seal the deal by directly

stating why this example is relevant.

The Conclusion

Although the conclusion paragraph comes at the end of your essay it should not be seen as an

afterthought. As the final paragraph is represents your last chance to make your case and, as

such, should follow an extremely rigid format.

One way to think of the conclusion is, paradoxically, as a second introduction because it does in

fact contain many of the same features. While it does not need to be too long – four well-crafted

sentence should be enough – it can make or break and essay.

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Effective conclusions open with a concluding transition ("in conclusion," "in the end," etc.) and

an allusion to the "hook" used in the introductory paragraph. After that you should immediately

provide a restatement of your thesis statement.

This should be the fourth or fifth time you have repeated your thesis so while you should use a

variety of word choice in the body paragraphs it is a acceptable idea to use some (but not all) of

the original language you used in the introduction. This echoing effect not only reinforces your

argument but also ties it nicely to the second key element of the conclusion: a brief (two or three

words is enough) review of the three main points from the body of the paper.

Having done all of that, the final element – and final sentence in your essay – should be a "global

statement" or "call to action" that gives the reader signals that the discussion has come to an end.

Taken together, then, the overall structure of a five paragraph essay should look something like

this:

Introduction Paragraph

 An attention-grabbing "hook"

 A thesis statement

 A preview of the three subtopics you will discuss in the body paragraphs.

First Body Paragraph

 Topic sentence which states the first subtopic and opens with a transition

 Supporting details or examples

 An explanation of how this example proves your thesis

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Second Body Paragraph

 Topic sentence which states the second subtopic and opens with a transition

 Supporting details or examples

 An explanation of how this example proves your thesis

Third Body Paragraph

 Topic sentence which states the third subtopic and opens with a transition

 Supporting details or examples

 An explanation of how this example proves your thesis

Concluding Paragraph

 Concluding Transition, Reverse "hook," and restatement of thesis.

 Rephrasing main topic and subtopics.

 Global statement or call to action.

STRATEGIES FOR ESSAY WRITING

Many people struggle greatly with writing reports and essays. From developing topics, to

conducting research, to formulating their non-fiction documents, the process of writing reports

and essays can be such an unwelcome task that some people consider it a cruel punishment.

Here are five successful strategies I have used with many professionals and students that can

serve as a stepping stone to transforming these experiences of dread into confidence:

Strategy 1: Research. Regardless if one is writing fiction or nonfiction, the author must do

sufficient research to provide substantial background for the work ahead. This research can take

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many forms, depending on the type of writing, but it is absolutely necessary to have deep, broad

information to provide full detail and accuracy in the account.

Strategy 2: Determine Your Angle. Once you, the author, have the information, it is critical to

determine your unique perspective or angle to approach the topic. How will you introduce your

reader to this portrayal in unique way which will sustain his attention through a compelling

account? Developing such an approach is a vital starting point.

Strategy 3. Discovering Your Concept Maps. In order to determine your unique approach, it

may be helpful to write key points of information on paper or digital note cards. Examine the

information and look for trends, patterns, and groupings of themes or topics. See if you can

envision ways the information can be arranged to present it clearly and fully to the readers. In

this manner, you may discover your unique angle, and certainly a good start on Strategy 4.

Strategy 4. Organize Your Work; Outline is not a nasty word! Our fourth grade teachers

taught us to use outlines for our writing, but we all try to find a shortcut. After about five books

and over 100 published articles and papers, I finally gave in and realized my teachers were right.

Before I start writing in earnest, I now create a tentative outline that will morph with my work. It

provides indispensable guidance and framing of my many hours of work. Colleagues I have

worked with have found this approach equally as beneficial, and I expect you will as well.

Strategy 5. Cyclical Writing. The strategy of cyclical writing is a surprise to many

professionals and students. Many people believe they must write documents from beginning to

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end in their entirety. Instead, I have found it very successful and rewarding to work through the

outline in a cyclical manner. The first time through, I do a few sentences for each outline point;

then maybe the next time through, I write a paragraph on each point. Finally, I begin settling

down to write in different areas. By approaching the writing process in his manner, it keeps me

focused on the big picture, the entire flow of the piece. Otherwise, the sections might become

disjointed if two months are spent on one chapter before finally moving to the next. By working

through all of the chapters and points repeatedly (iteratively) authors can weave together the

style, voice, and flow of the content, details, and the plot or message.

7 TIPS ON WRITING AN EFFECTIVE ESSAY

According to Kathy Livingston’s Guide to Writing a Basic Essay, there are seven steps to writing

a successful essay:

1. Pick a topic.

You may have your topic assigned, or you may be given free reign to write on the subject of your

choice. If you are given the topic, you should think about the type of paper that you want to

produce. Should it be a general overview of the subject or a specific analysis? Narrow your focus

if necessary. If you have not been assigned a topic, you have a little more work to do. However,

this opportunity also gives you the advantage to choose a subject that is interesting or relevant to

you. First, define your purpose. Is your essay to inform or persuade?

Once you have determined the purpose, you will need to do some research on topics that you

find intriguing. Think about your life. What is it that interests you? Jot these subjects down.

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Finally, evaluate your options. If your goal is to educate, choose a subject that you have already

studied. If your goal is to persuade, choose a subject that you are passionate about. Whatever the

mission of the essay, make sure that you are interested in your topic.

2. Prepare an outline or diagram of your ideas.

In order to write a successful essay, you must organize your thoughts. By taking what’s already

in your head and putting it to paper, you are able to see connections and links between ideas

more clearly. This structure serves as a foundation for your paper. Use either an outline or a

diagram to jot down your ideas and organize them.

To create a diagram, write your topic in the middle of your page. Draw three to five lines

branching off from this topic and write down your main ideas at the ends of these lines. Draw

more lines off these main ideas and include any thoughts you may have on these ideas.

If you prefer to create an outline, write your topic at the top of the page. From there, begin to list

your main ideas, leaving space under each one. In this space, make sure to list other smaller ideas

that relate to each main idea. Doing this will allow you to see connections and will help you to

write a more organized essay.

3. Write your thesis statement.

Now that you have chosen a topic and sorted your ideas into relevant categories, you must create

a thesis statement. Your thesis statement tells the reader the point of your essay. Look at your

outline or diagram. What are the main ideas?

Your thesis statement will have two parts. The first part states the topic, and the second part

states the point of the essay. For instance, if you were writing about Bill Clinton and his impact

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on the United States, an appropriate thesis statement would be, “Bill Clinton has impacted the

future of our country through his two consecutive terms as United States President.”

Another example of a thesis statement is this one for the “Winning Characteristics” Scholarship

essay: “During my high school career, I have exhibited several of the “Winning Characteristics,”

including Communication Skills, Leadership Skills and Organization Skills, through my

involvement in Student Government, National Honor Society, and a part-time job at Macy’s

Department Store.”

4. Write the body.

The body of your essay argues, explains or describes your topic. Each main idea that you wrote

in your diagram or outline will become a separate section within the body of your essay.

Each body paragraph will have the same basic structure. Begin by writing one of your main ideas

as the introductory sentence. Next, write each of your supporting ideas in sentence format, but

leave three or four lines in between each point to come back and give detailed examples to back

up your position. Fill in these spaces with relative information that will help link smaller ideas

together.

5. Write the introduction.

Now that you have developed your thesis and the overall body of your essay, you must write an

introduction. The introduction should attract the reader’s attention and show the focus of your

essay.

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Begin with an attention grabber. You can use shocking information, dialogue, a story, a quote, or

a simple summary of your topic. Whichever angle you choose, make sure that it ties in with your

thesis statement, which will be included as the last sentence of your introduction.

6. Write the conclusion.

The conclusion brings closure of the topic and sums up your overall ideas while providing a final

perspective on your topic. Your conclusion should consist of three to five strong sentences.

Simply review your main points and provide reinforcement of your thesis.

7. Add the finishing touches.

After writing your conclusion, you might think that you have completed your essay. Wrong.

Before you consider this a finished work, you must pay attention to all the small details.

Check the order of your paragraphs. Your strongest points should be the first and last paragraphs

within the body, with the others falling in the middle. Also, make sure that your paragraph order

makes sense. If your essay is describing a process, such as how to make a great chocolate cake,

make sure that your paragraphs fall in the correct order.

Review the instructions for your essay, if applicable. Many teachers and scholarship forms

follow different formats, and you must double check instructions to ensure that your essay is in

the desired format.

Finally, review what you have written. Reread your paper and check to see if it makes sense.

Make sure that sentence flow is smooth and add phrases to help connect thoughts or ideas. Check

your essay for grammar and spelling mistakes.

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10 PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE WRITING

1. Brevity

It is bad manners to waste [the reader’s] time. Therefore brevity first, then, clarity.

2. Clarity

It is bad manners to give [readers] needless trouble. Therefore clarity… . And how is clarity to

be achieved? Mainly by taking trouble and by writing to serve people rather than to impress

them.

3. Communication

The social purpose of language is communication—to inform, misinform, or otherwise influence

our fellows… . Communication [is] more difficult than we may think. We are all serving life

sentences of solitary confinement within our bodies; like prisoners, we have, as it were, to tap in

awkward code to our fellow men in their neighbouring cells… . In some modern literature there

has appeared a tendency to replace communication by a private maundering to oneself which

shall inspire one’s audience to maunder privately to themselves—rather as if the author handed

round a box of drugged cigarettes.

4. Emphasis

Just as the art of war largely consists of deploying the strongest forces at the most important

points, so the art of writing depends a good deal on putting the strongest words in the most

important places… . One of the most important things, to my mind, in English style is word-

order. For us, the most emphatic place in a clause or sentence is the end. This is the climax; and,

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during the momentary pause that follows, that last word continues, as it were, to reverberate in

the reader’s mind. It has, in fact, the last word.

5. Honesty

As the police put it, anything you say may be used as evidence against you. If handwriting

reveals character, writing reveals it still more. You cannot fool all your judges all the time… .

Most style is not honest enough. Easy to say, but hard to practice. A writer may take to long

words, as young men to beards—to impress. But long words, like long beards, are often the

badge of charlatans. Or a writer may cultivate the obscure, to seem profound. But even carefully

muddied puddles are soon fathomed. Or he may cultivate eccentricity, to seem original. But

really original people do not have to think about being original—they can no more help it than

they can help breathing. They do not need to dye their hair green.

6. Passion and Control

This, indeed, is one of the eternal paradoxes of both life and literature—that without passion

little gets done; yet, without control of that passion, its effects are largely ill or null.

7. Reading

One learns to write by reading good books, as one learns to talk by hearing good talkers.

8. Revision

Every author’s fairy godmother should provide him not only with a pen but also with a blue

pencil.

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9. Sophistication and Simplicity

My point is merely that the sophisticated (ready though they may be to suppose so) do not

necessarily express themselves better than the simple—in fact, may often have much to learn

from them.

10. Sound and Rhythm

Apart from a few simple principles, the sound and rhythm of English prose seem to me matters

where both writers and readers should trust not so much to rules as to their ears.

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 UNIT XIII: REVISION AND PRACTICE
ADVERBS OF DEGREE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Reading comprehension listening comprehension essay writing –

revision and practice adverbs of degree, vocabulary in context using
the future.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING COMPREHENSION ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ESSAY

Listening comprehension is an important receptive skill and also a useful preparation for

listening in real life.

The importance of listening has changed over the past years. Listening used to be defined as the

ignored skill. Listening skills were believed to be learnt automatically through the practice of

grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. It was very amazing as listening played a very

important life (Hedge 2000). According to Scott and Ytreberg (1994) the first skill that children

achieve is listening, mainly if they have not learnt to read yet. Listening is the activity in which

students concentrate and trying to obtain meaning from something they can hear. To listen

successfully to spoken language, we should understand what speakers mean when they use some

words in particular ways on especial occasions, and not simply to understand the words

themselves (Underwood 1989). The result of language learning depends on the learner's listening

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skills. As Pokrivčáková (2010, p.61) claims listening is "a receptive communicative skill. It

provides the aural input as the basis for development for all remaining language skills. By

developing their ability to listen well, learners become more independent, as by hearing

accurately they are much more likely to be able to interact in a foreign language effectively."

Listening is a conversable process. In this process the student should be able

 to comprehend the oral message,

 to comprehend the situation,

 to identify the speaker's feelings, ideas, purpose,

 to identify the context,

 to identify relationships between speakers (Pokrivčáková, 2010).

Learners also need to learn its phonology and syntax. Not only their knowledge of the structure

of the language. If they are able to listen successfully, they need to learn to establish the context

to which it relates (Underwood, 1989).

To sum up listening is a communicative process, in which the learners should be able to

understand the verbal message, the situation and the context.

Extensive and intensive listening:

Listening of both types is very useful because can help students to correct their listening skills

(Harmer, 1991). Listening, in which a person may listen to something for comfort and don't have

to concentrate on every word is called extensive listening. It takes place when students are on

their own, often for pleasure. This type of listening has many pros (Rixon, 1993). One advantage

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is that students can elect what they are going to listen to, which can be very interesting for them

(Harmer, 1991). It usually appears outside the classroom. It is necessary to give learners to keep

their motivation and interest and also giving them extra contact with English (Rixon, 1993).

Another advantage is that students can be asked to do various exercises, such as writing reports,

writing essays or summarising (Harmer, 1991).

However the same person has to listen with enormous attention. He is trying to learn and

remember important instructions. The speaker may be using unfamiliar language. This second

kind of listening is called intensive listening (Rixon, 1993). Is more concentrated, often

dedicated not to pleasure but to the achievement of a study goal. Rixon (1993) claims, that

intensive listening is the more widely-used form in modern classrooms. Students are asked to

listen to a text with the reason of collecting the information that is contains. The type of text is

usually different from that used for extensive listening. It includes more concrete information

and it is difficult for the listeners to take in on first hearing. Passages for this type of listening

should't be long, because they should be played more that once. Hard concentration on a long

passage would be exhausting, would result in making learners dislike the experience rather than

finding it challenging but rewarding (Rixon, 1993).

In conclusion extensive and intensive listening is very important because it provides the

opportunity to hear a variety of different voices, authorize students to obtain good speaking

habits and it helps to improve their own pronunciation.

The pre-listening stage:

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The first of three stages of listening comprehension is the pre-listening stage, which contains

things or activities that learners are asked to do before the listening. It should help learners to

obtain the most out of what they are going to do. This stage is usually used before the students

listen to a text (Rixon, 1993). According to Pokrivčáková (2010, p.64) „a pre-listening stage

must be sufficiently detailed and long." Students must be motivated and it is enevitable to help

them adapt to listen. Students need to know the reason to listen and see the listening material.

The teacher should debate with students their background knowledge of the topic and linguistic

aspects of the text (Pokrivčáková, 2010). The pre-listening stage is used for activating previous

knowledge. It is also used to help students to prepare for the listening process (Underwood,

1989). As Rixon (1993) claims, in the pre-listening phase, it is useful to evade pre-teaching the

language of the listening text, or telling learners as much as possible about the topic or the

instruction included in it, as this removes the challenges and interest. Pre-listening work should

be achieved in a kind of ways and appears quite naturally when listening forms part of an

integrated abilities course. When planning listening lessons, it is necessary to allocate time for

pre-listening activities and these activities shouldn't be attacked (Underwood, 1989).

To sum up, the pre-listening stage is primary and needful part of listening comprehension, which

could help learners to adapt for the listening.

ADVERBS OF DEGREE

An adverb of degree is a word that modifies an adjective, a verb, or another adverb that tells to

what level or extent. They are just one type of adverb. While you may have learned that many

adverbs end in the letters '-ly,' that is not always the case for adverbs of degree. Let's look at

some examples and learn about the meaning and usage of these words.

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Common Types

Chances are you've probably told someone that you've had 'too much to eat', or that a serving

was 'just enough'. At the time, you may not have realized that you were using adverbs of degree

to explain yourself. An adverb of degree usually comes before the word or words that it

modifies. Here are some examples of the most common adverbs of degree.

 Extremely (The soup was extremely hot.)

 Quite (He wasn't quite ready to walk out the door.)

 Just (The train had just left the station.)

 Almost (My piggy bank is almost empty.)

 Very (The doctor was speaking very quickly.)

 Too (It is too early to go to bed!)

 Enough (Have you gotten enough to eat?)

Adverbs of degree may be more difficult to identify in a sentence because they don't often have

the '-ly' ending that many adverbs have.

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 UNIT XIV: SUMMARIZING LISTENING
COMPREHENSION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this topic, you should be able to understand:

 Reading comprehension, summarizing listening comprehension, essay

writing: revision and practice.

SUMMARIZING LISTENING COMPREHENSION

1. Listen to and understand the text carefully.

2. Think about the purpose of the text. Ask what the author's purpose is in speaking the

text? ...

3. Select the relevant information. ...

4. Find the main ideas - what is important. ...

5. Change the structure of the text. ...

6. Rewrite the main ideas in complete sentences. ...

7. Check your work.

How to Effectively Summarize

A summary is a concise overview of the most important points from a communication, whether

it’s from a conversation, presentation or document. Summarizing is a very important skill for an

effective communicator.

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A good summary can verify that people are understanding each other, can make communications

more efficient, and can ensure that the highlights of communications are captured and utilized.

When summarizing, consider the following guidelines:

 When listening or reading, look for the main ideas being conveyed.

 Look for any one major point that comes from the communication. What is the person

trying to accomplish in the communication?

 Organize the main ideas, either just in your mind or written down.

 Write a summary that lists and organizes the main ideas, along with the major point of

the communicator.

 The summary should always be shorter than the original communication.

 Does not introduce any new main points into the summary – if you do, make it clear that

you’re adding them.

 If possible, have other readers or listeners also read your summary and tell you if it is

understandable, accurate and complete.

The essay writing criteria

First things first! Let us have a look at the criteria that the examiners will use to determine the

mark out of 20 that your essay will receive. The 20 marks available are broken down into three

components:

1. structure

2. argument

3. knowledge

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1. The structure of the essay

The marks for structure are awarded for the way you have introduced, developed and concluded

your essay. To attain full marks for structure your introduction, development and conclusion

must include a number of things.

The introduction should:

 Set the question in its wider context by giving background information on the event, issue

or development and/or explain some of the terms of the question.

 Indicate the relevant factors or the main ideas that you are going to use to explain the

event, issue or development.

 Have a clear line of argument. This means that even at this stage you should be indicating

what you believe to be the most important factors in explaining the event development or

issue.

The development should be clearly focused on the question and should not just be a story or

narrative of what happened.

The conclusion should:

 Summarise the argument (the points you have made to explain the event, development or

issue)

 Have balance by showing that some things are more important than others and that there

may be differing views.

 Come to an overall judgment directly related to the question

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2. Argument within the essay

The marks for argument are given for the way you have used the evidence you present to explain

an event, development or cause. When you create an argument you have to be careful that you

are not telling a story of what happened in the past.

You must make the argument that you believe X happened in some part because of Y. Present

the evidence that shows Y was important. Then explain why you believe the evidence you have

presented in relation to Y explains X. This will ensure that you are using the evidence to support

an argument and not just to tell a ripping historical yarn!

The argument should be:

 Focused directly on the question

 Supported by evidence

 Constant and balanced throughout the essay

 Aware of alternative interpretations and debate (views of historians)

3. Knowledge

The marks available for knowledge are for evidence that you present that is both relevant to the

argument and accurate. These marks are given for points of evidence and points which are

developed further.

Before we go any further we are going to introduce a question that should be familiar to most

people who have studied Standard Grade History. You will have had practice writing this as an 8

mark essay and now we are going to show how you would plan and write this as a 20 mark

Higher History.

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Planning your essay

The quality of your essay will be directly proportionate to the quality of your plan. Those few

minutes you spend formulating a clear, well thought out and logical plan will save you time a lot

of time when writing your essay and ensure that you are answering the question set.

When planning your essay you should focus on four things:

1. The question

2. The context of the question

3. The main factors in relation to your question

4. The conclusion of your argument

Fig 4: Planning Essay

1. The question

Understanding the question is the most important factor in writing a 20 mark essay. In your plan

you have to ensure that you are fully aware of what the question is actually asking you to do. By

breaking down the question at the planning stage you are ensuring that you are taking the correct

approach to answering it. There is really no room for mistake when you only have 40 minutes in

the exam to answer each of your 2 essay questions.

If we take the question:

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"How important was the Allied use of new technology in the victory over Germany by 1918?"

This question is asking you to do three things:

 Explain the importance of the use of new technology as a reason for Allied victory

 Explain the importance of other reasons for the Allied victory

 Make a judgment on the importance of the use of new technology as a reason for Allied

victory.

2. The context

By placing the question in context you are showing the marker that you have knowledge and

awareness of the historical period that you are studying.

When placing a question in context it helps if you think of the marker as an alien (and some

probably are!) who is visiting planet earth for the first time and has no knowledge of any event,

development or issue in the history of human civilisation. Therefore you need to give a bit of

background knowledge in your introduction that puts the question in its historical background or

explains some of the terms of the question.

There are a number of ways that you could set the wider context for the above question:

 By describing overall the course and outcome of the First World War

 By describing the causes of the war

 By explaining the importance of new technology in warfare today and in the past.

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3. The main factors

By identifying the main factors involved in answering the question this will give you an

overview of how you are going to develop the essay. The main factors for our question are:

 New technology, you would tackle this first as it is the factor identified in the question

 The entry of the USA into the war

 The Allied Naval Blockade

 The collapse of Germany’s Allies

 The collapse of the German Home Front

4. The conclusion

Finally, you should identify the overall judgment that you are going to make from your

argument. For example:

New technology was vitally important in the victory because of the battlefield superiority it gave

the allies.

The conclusion is the concluding (final) part of your essay. Again the essay writing criteria are

very specific about what the conclusion should include. It should summarise all the judgments

you have made in your argument. It should not contradict the evidence and judgments you have

made in the development.

The conclusion should:

 Summarise the argument (the points you have made to explain the event, development or

issue)

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  Have balance by showing that some things are more important than others and that there

may be differing views

 Come to an overall judgment directly related to the question

Your conclusion should start with something like:

 Therefore...

 In conclusion...

 To summarise...

 Over all...

Then summarise the argument (the judgements you have made on the evidence you have

presented). You will have already done this in the development of your main factors.

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 ASSIGNMENT
GROUP A: MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. It’s important to understand how other cultures behave so you don’t cause .
a. offence
b. problem
c. disaster
d. behaviour

2. In some countries it is quite to use the correct title when talking to business colleagues.
a. offensive
b. likely
c. formal
d. tricky

3. Having good may help you to make deals more easily.

a. entertaining
b. manners
c. demonstrations
d. handshaking

4. Ian has to be very organised as his work involves meeting tight .

a. problems
b. responsibilities
c. challenges
d. deadlines

5. Lesley doesn’t like having to wait for other people to work for her.
a. generate
b. solve
c. resolve
d. tackle

6. Paul enjoys working at Small World because he finds the stimulating.

a. installation
b. environment
c. application
d. opportunity

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7. If someone looks me straight in the eye without I tend to think they are honest.
a. yawning
b. sighing
c. blinking
d. sniffing

8. Your body usually gives other people information about how you really feel.
a. appearance
b. impression
c. language
d. relationship

9. Bob and Tony are business and have arranged to meet at the sales conference.
a. delegates
b. customers
c. associates
d. officers

10. I’ve given the latest sales to Mr Allen but he hasn’t had a chance to look at them yet.
a. systems
b. figures
c. worksheets
d. facts

11. There is always a lot of to attend to on a Monday morning.

a. letters
b. correspondence
c. communications
d. information

12. Please leave a message on the answer phone if you need to contact us office hours.
a. outside
b. over
c. through
d. against

13. The annual general meeting was in the conference centre.

a. conducted
b. provided
c. run
d. held

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14. One of the advantages of writing over talking to someone face-to-face is that you can
take your time.
a. remaining
b. related
c. relative
d. relevant

15. Make sure that the addressee’s job is correct.

a. title
b. description
c. name
d. type

16. A well laid out letter always gives a good .

a. idea
b. reaction
c. impression
d. effect

17. If you are in attending, please let me know as soon as possible.

a. concerned
b. pleased
c. sure
d. interested

18. You must your application by the end of the week.

a. submit
b. subject
c. subscribe
d. subcontract

19. There has been a agreement to supply Texmills with our products and services.
a. long-winded
b. long-lasting
c. long-standing
d. long-lived

20. Managers should staff to maintain the no-smoking policy throughout the building.
a. suggest
b. encourage
c. support
d. co-operate
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21. Mrs Perez is writing to the arrangements she made with you.
a. conform
b. confer
c. confine
d. confirm

22. I’ll see if Mr Watson is available.

a. Hold on
b. Keep on
c. Go on
d. Stay

23. I’ll put you to the Sales Department.

a. over
b. off
c. through
d. in

24. Oh, dear. I think I’ve the wrong number.

a. put
b. done
c. through
d. dialled

25. I’m Miss Johnson’s in a meeting.

a. worried
b. afraid
c. concerned
d. frightened

26. No. This is the Finance Department. I’ll check the number.
a. extension
b. external
c. exterior
d. extraction

27. There are no public phones in here but there is a phone in Market Street.
a. room
b. operator
c. booth
d. switchboard

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28. Would you like me to fix up an for you?
a. application
b. appointment
c. arrangement
d. attendance

29. Don’t make jokes on the phone as you may be .

a. misunderstood
b. misplaced
c. mistaken
d. misguided

30. You should always speak to customers .

a. slowly
b. politely
c. carefully
d. kindly

GROUP B: SHORT TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Read the following extracts carefully Choose any ONE extract and answer the questions that
follows: It was good that I lost my sight when I did, because having no memories of seeing there
was nothing to look back to, nothing to miss. I went blind in November 1937. At that rime we
were living in Gujrat, in the province of Punjab in northern India. After my sickness we moved
to Lahore, a few miles away, but the number of relatives who come to sympathies made my
father ask for another transfer, this time to karnal, where we had neither friends nor relatives.
There we got a cottage on the canal bank built in very peaceful and quiet surroundings.
(i) Who is the I in the passage?
(ii) Which sentence tells us that the author was not born blind?
(iii) When and where did it happen?
(iv) Why was his father eager for a transfer?
(v) Which word in the passage mean the same as “expressing a feeling of concern”.

2. Jagdish Babu had come form a distant regional and was alone. In the hustle and bustle of the
market – place, in the clamour of the café everything seemed unrelated to himself. May be after
living here for a

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while an growing used to it, he’d start feeling some intimacy in the surroundings. But today the
place seemed alien. Then he began remembering nostalgically the people of his village region,
the school and college boys there, and café in the nearby town.
Tea Sha’b
Jagdish Babu flicked the ash from his cigarette. In the boy’s pronunciation of shab he sensed
something which he has been missing. He started to follow up the speculation – ‘what’s your
name?
(i) What were Jagdish Babu’s feeling while sitting in the café?
(ii) What in the boy cought jagdish Babu’s attention?
(iii) What did Jagdish Babu sense?
(iv) Which two words /phrases in the passage refer to ‘loud confused noise’.

3. Do as directed
i) I’ am going away tomorrow, mother’, he said (change into indirect)
ii) Who put salt in my coffee?’ He thundered. (change into indirect)
iii) People didn’t build Rome in a day. (change in to passive)

4. Write a paragraph of about 100 words on any one of the following: -

i) A day spent alone about with your grand –mother.
ii) A handicapped beggar standing at a crossing.
iii) The description of your lost scooter to the local police station.

5. Your are Rajat Sharma / Anita Talwar. Write a letter to your employer asking for a two-day
casual leave to attend the weeding of your cousin who is in a different town.

6. On the basis of your reading of the passage given below make notes on it using heading and
sub.- headings. Also, use recognizable abbreviations wherever necessary.
The work of the heart can never be interrupted. The heart’s job is to keep oxygen – rich blood
flowing through the body. All the body’s cells need a constant supply of oxygen, especially those
in the brain. The brain cells live only four to five minutes after their oxygen is cut off, and death
comes to the entire body.

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The heart is a specialized muscle that services as a pump. This pump is divided into four
chambers connected by tiny doors called valves. The chambers work to keep the blood flowing
round the body in a circle.
Hearty diseases can result from damage to the heart muscle, the valves or the pacemaker. If the
muscle is damaged, the heart is unable to pump properly. If the valves are damaged, blood
cannot flow normally and easily form one chamber to another, and if the pacemaker is defective,
the contractions of the chambers will become will un – co-ordinated.
Until the twentieth century, few doctors dared to touch to touch the heart. In 1953, all this
changed. After twenty years of work, Dr. John Gibbon of USA had developed a machine that
could take over temporarily from the heart and lungs. Blood could be routed through the
machine, bypassing the heart so that surgeons could work inside it and see what they were doing.
The era of open heart surgery had begun.

7. Answer the following in about 100 words each:

a. What is the purpose of writing a business report?
b. What is the role of a chairperson in a meeting?
c. What is fax? List some of its features.

8. Answer the following question in about 150 words:

Mr. Jaydeep Das has gone to US to clinch a business deal. His business counterpart there is
friendly but he does not invite Mr. Das home for a meal or to meet his family. This makes Mr.
Das unhappy and unsure about securing the business contract. How will you explain the
American Business man’s behaviour to Mr. Das and make him feel better?

9. A male passenger refuses to fly in a plane which has a women pilot. What are the factors
responsible for his gender discriminatory attitude?

10. Draft a circular informing all employees of a company about the decision takenat the AGM
in April about celebrating ‘Health Day’ each month and the reasons for doing so.

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11. Draft an online complaint about the defective consignment of garments received from the
supplier in Singapore.

12. Write an email to your telephone service provider requesting it to relocate/transfer your
landline phone to a new address. You may also ask them if they charge for the service how long
the process will take. When they would activate the new phone etc.

13. Your younger brother has an important interview coming up. Write a letter advising him
about how to face an interview and how he should prepare for it.

14. Your sister has to negotiate an important deal with a Western firm. What strategies would
you suggest so that she may be able to negotiate successfully?

15. Make sentences with any five of the following words/phrases so as to bring out their meaning
in the business context:
Diversity, Network, Correspondance, Miscommunication, Opinion, Appendix, Monotonous.

16. Change the voice in the following sentences.

a. Inexpensive ways for people to have fun are provided by parks.
b. My brother taught me the principles of speaking english.

17. Write a brief email to a prospective customer regarding the facilitiesthat you entend to the
tourists who stay at your heritage hotel in Jodhpur.

18. Write a letter to your bank requesting them to open a new current account for the company.

19. Draft a mild reminder to a customer who has not made payments on purchase of goods from
you for the last two months.

20. As the convener, draft a common email for all seven members of the Grievance Committee
informing them of the cancellation of the scheduled meeting.

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GROUP C: LONG TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Complete the passage given below by using ‘is’, ‘has’, ‘was’, ‘are’ in the blanks:

The internet _________ created history by virtue of its speed, flexibility and convenience. Its
popularity __________ a measure of its success. It ________ only letter that the World Wide
Web developed in the early 1990s. Numerous and diverse groups have estimated that there
_______ between one billion and two billion web pages in the year 2000. The World Wide Web
conjures up images of a gaint spider web where everything __________ connected to everything
else.

2. The following lines are from a fax message. Choose the correct word in each sentence:

a. Thank you very much for sending the informative/informed brochure of your company’s
products.
b. We are very intersting/ interested in your products.
c. The information about your bulbs made fascinated/ fascinating reading.
d. But some of the information is confused/ confusing.
e. We are surprising/ surprised by the part about the kind of gases used in your bulbs.

3. Put the words in brackets in the correct place in the sentences:

a. I make phone calls. (sometimes)

b. We go to conferences. (often)
c. My sales officer meets customers. (once a week)
d. I work late. (never)
e. Our department goes for a picnic. (hardly ever)

4. The retail sales manager Mr. Bhavik Takia has gone on leave for a month. The industrial sales
manager Mr. Jaydeep Das is being given additional charge of retail sales for the leave period of
Mr. Takia. Prepare an office order to implement the change mentioned above.

5. As the Marketing Manager, draft a memo for the marketing team coordinator asking him to
urgently develop a scheme to attract the festival customers of your product.

6. Write short notes in about 50 words of the following:

a. Encoding
b. Listening
c. Audio Signs
d. All Channel Network
e. Information Overload
f. Stereotyping
g. Search Engines

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7. Given below are some questions and answers about a business trip. Complete the questions
using words from the list below. Then match each question to the correct reply.

Which How Was Who Why Did

a. _________ did you go? (Yes, a few)

b. _________ did you meet? (Yes, it was very useful)
c. __________ you make any useful contacts? (Some of our agents)
d. __________ long did you stay? (To do some market research)
e. __________ hotel did yoy stay in? (A week)
f. __________ the trip a success? (The Sheraton)

8. A publishing company is planning a new magazine for men. Read the notes and write
complete sentences about their plans.
Title Indian Man
Target Audience Men aged 20 – 50
Circulation target 50,000 copies per month
Articles Sports, Health, Work, Fashion
Cover Price Rs. 50 per issue
First issue Mid December

a. Intend/call
b. Aim/sell to
c. Hope/sell
d. Intend/have
e. Plan/charge
f. Hope/publish

9. Complete the following email with suitable words from the ones given below (there is an extra
option given).
Would are committed come up providing have devise

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Following our recent conversation, it is clear that we have to ____________ a new and strong
marketing strategy for our new product, CFL 2000 series. I ___________ like to know if your
department has _____________ with fresh ideas. We at SWITCH2CFL __________ to
_________ people with quality products.

10. You have applied for the post of an HR Executive in a Haier India Ltd. Write a letter to an
english teacher of your college, asking her/him if you can use her/his name as a reference.

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RELEVANT VIDEO LINK
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ZDNgtAsbw

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAUmGYm7IG0

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw25CM1MXlU

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4BzAiCJbWc

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwS-p9a0qNA

6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS6WhVY2tTU

7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS6WhVY2tTU

8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd4MScADY94

9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsW2ajasnMA

10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOZBrmODt6c

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