Using an appropriate writing style Different academic subjects will demand different styles of writing from you. Some might require you to use the third person ('Smith argues that …', or 'He said …') and to achieve a certain amount of distance from the arguments you are writing about. Other subjects expect the first person ('I placed the seeds in full daylight ...'), for example, in the reports that you might write for a science or technology subject. Using reflective writing in professional subject areas Some assignments (for example, some within Health and Social Care) require students to use their professional judgement to make an informed subjective comment. Self-reflection On many modules you may find that a part of your assignment is devoted to self-reflection and your own view of how you've developed during your studies (a little like a learning-progress diary). Using objective writing There are a number of ways to achieve this. First person or third person? Hedging language Hedging language means cautious language.
BATEFL - Bachelor of Arts Teaching English as a Foreign Language This is a model answer which I wrote a couple of days back for my tuition student. The question is from October / November 2009 ESL Extended paper (Exercise 6). I’ve done some analysis of the answer to give you a short guide on writing an effective letter to a pen-friend. First of all, let’s go through the question and quickly analyse the GAP and LIST. Genre: Informal letter (descriptive narrative) Audience: Pen-friend Purpose: To describe the experience of visiting a new sports and leisure center. Language: Informal and descriptive. Information: The three bullet points of the question Style and Tone: This is equal to register, which has to be informal or friendly for this letter. What makes this letter good? The introduction: is short and simple and ‘yesterday’ indicates that the writer is writing about a very recent event. Did you notice any other thing good about this answer or would like to critique? Download the model answer and analysis: ESL Letter - November 2009 Analysis (775 downloads)
Let's Write a Newspaper Story! Motivation and Prior Knowledge: Think, Pair, Share Exercise: Ask the class, "Who wants to be a writer? Why?" Have the class think quietly about this question for a minute. Ask students to pair up with a partner or in groups and share their thoughts. Ask the class, "What are some of the different types of professional writing in the world?" Types of Writing: Novels Short stories Non-fiction Plays Movies Poetry Newspapers Magazines Television Radio Advertising Public relations On the board write the title: What is it like to be a writer? 1) Good and 2) Not so good Ask the class, "What are some good and not so good things about being a writer?" Good Travel Meet interesting people Learn new things Get to create Many readers Can influence people Not so good Deadlines Editors change things People may not like what you write Think, Pair, Share Exercise: Ask the class, "What does it take to be a writer?" Being a Writer Good knowledge of English. Additional Exercises:
I Love Free SoftwareSpellChecker: Online Grammar Checker By Saurabh Chauhan on October 11, 2012 | Sponsored Links SpellChecker, is an online grammar checker to check grammar online in the paragraphs provided by you. We all know that multiline boxes suggest spelling correction by default. Then why to use such application? On the web you will find many online tools for checking mistakes, but most of them demand a fee beforehand. This online applications is particularly helpful in detecting the glitches due to informal way of writing. Using SpellChecker Online Grammar Checker: On visiting homepage, you will find a text area as shown in the screenshot below: Sponsored Links As a user you will have to copy-paste content in it and click on ‘Spell Check’ button placed beneath.Next, a pop-up window will emerge on the screen. There you will find the detected mistakes (highlighted in red) in your content by SpellChecker. SpellChecker is a nice option to check grammar online, but is not a perfect solution. The Final Verdict: Link to This Page:
ePeer eEvaluation? I decided to take Peer Evaluation into the eLearning sphere. I experimented with my year 7 classes, as they have iPads. The students were registered into a class on edmodo.com. Earlier, I prepared this peer evaluation google form (picture of it below ) based on a template that I adapted from The DramaNotebook. I then posted the link to the peer evaluation form on the class' Edmodo page. The students were each anonymously assigned a peer to evaluate. An advantage of Google Forms is that you can hide certain columns, so I hid the columns that show the student names and projected the feedback they are giving each other, so it was all immediate and in real-time.
Descriptive-essay-transitions-exercise The Weekend Market (descriptive essay transitions) This is a transitions and linking words exercise for a descriptive essay. Well placed transitions help make essays easier to read. and understand. Click on the link or the image below to download the PDF file. <span><a target="_self" href="/AcademicWritng.html">Essay writing home</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/transitionalconnectingandlinkingwords.html">Transitions home</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/Descriptive-essay-transitions-exercise.html">Descriptive transitions</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/Cause-efffect-essay-transitions-worksheet.html">Cause effect transitions</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/Comparison-contrast-sentence-writing-exercise.html">Comparison transitions</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/Narrative-essay-transitions.html">Narrative transitions</a></span>
Discourse Markers In your writing, you will want to spend some time ensuring that your work has a sense of variety. In order to do this, you might think of the following : Use conjunctions as well as/instead of sentence connectors. A conjunction is a word like and, but, etc, which is used to join two ideas together into a complex sentence. Use conjunctions at least some of the time. It can also be helpful to omit discourse markers if they do not serve any useful purpose. Try joining two clauses together by making one subordinate to the other. Remember, it can be tedious to read a piece of writing which has too many discourse markers. An Introduction to Letter Writing Because the activities below were developed for students in the U.K., it uses some language specific to their school system. For example, KS1 refers to Key State 1, corresponding to children ages 5 to 7; KS2 corresponds to children ages 7 to 9. QCA stands for Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which is the regulatory body for public school examinations. PSHE refers to personal, social and health education, a topic in the national curriculum. Introduction Letter writing is an essential skill. Within the KS2 National Literacy Strategy, letter writing is a required element. Handwriting too is an essential element. To be legibleHave a consistent size and spacing of lettersShow flow and movementShow a confident personal styleThus letter writing exercises can fulfil two elements of the curriculum Back to Top What's so special about receiving a handwritten letter? Quite apart from curriculum requirements, being asked to write letters is a task that will appeal to children. Structure:
Learn Paraphrase Writiing Introduction Do you want to improve your essay writing skills? If yes, learn paraphrasing. It is a skill that will upgrade your writing abilities. Here is a free six lesson e-course. This self-study course can help you write better sentences, paragraphs and essays. I promise. Who should take this e-course? need better writing skills plan to take a TOEFL or IELTS test want to increase English writing abilities quickly dream of studying in a western university Learn Writing Skills This e-course teaches six kinds of paraphrase writing skills. Here are the six skills and links to the lessons. Lesson 1: Synonyms. What is Paraphrase Writing? Paraphrasing is a reading and writing skill. Paraphrasing is not copying. Paraphrasing Helps Essay Writing Paraphrasing helps build writing skills in many areas. improve vocabulary powerlearn different sentence patternsexpand knowledge of expressionsdevelop your own writing style Research and Results I believe paraphrasing is a great writing skill. Download the Worksheets
English Punctuation - Learn English Free English Punctuation If you think punctuation doesn't matter, think again:- When you are speaking you use inflection, tone, nuance, pauses and word stress to communicate meaning. When you are writing you replace all this with punctuation. Using a full stop at the right time, can save a lot of embarassment:- Lynne Truss made a fortune out of pointing out that punctuation does indeed matter. The title, Eats shoots and leaves, comes from a joke about pandas:- A panda walks into a restaurant, sits down and orders a sandwich. Of course the entry would have been less deadly for the waiter if it had read - Panda: A bear, in the Uridae family, of Asian origin, characterised by distinct black and white colouring. There's another common joke:- An English professor wrote the words, “Woman without her man is nothing,” on the blackboard and directed his students to punctuate it correctly.The men wrote: “Woman, without her man, is nothing.”The women wrote: “Woman: Without her, man is nothing.”
Writing task two Task description You will be given a discussion topic. Your task is to write a 250 word essay on that topic. You should spend around 40 minutes on the task. What is being tested is your ability to: Present a point of view with convincing evidence Challenge an alternate point of view Focus on the topic and avoid irrelevancies Communicate in a style that is easy to follow and cohesive Use English accurately and appropriately Sample task You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Your task Complete the task 2 exercise above. Sample answer It has been around forty years since television was first introduced into Australian households and people today still have mixed views on whether it has a positive or a negative influence on the society. “The essay has a clear introduction which poses the problem. Strategies for improving your IELTS score The style of essay required for Task 2 of the IELTS writing test is standard to academic courses. Connecting sentences A. B.