Writing Notes 010307

MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)

Course Participant’s Module: Writing

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Writing 1:

DESCRIBING AND INTERPRETING INFORMATION FROM CHARTS AND GRAPHS

In Question 1, you must write a short essay, article or report of at least 150 words which describes and interprets what you see in a graph, table, diagram or text.

Here is a simple four-step guide to do Question 1.

Steps Suggested Time Detail

Step 1Read and understand the task 3 minutes

Understand the topic by reading the title, the horizontal axis and the vertical axis or the table readings. Read and understand the accompanying text.Understand the question.Understand the requirements.

Step 2Plan what you are going to write

7 minutesPlan the introduction (summarise the topic, introduce the graph/table).Plan the body (state the main point and other important/interesting points).Plan the conclusion (restate the main point).

Step 3Write your answer 25 minutes

Summarise the topic and introduce the graph/table (the introduction).State the main point and other important/interesting points (the body).Re-state the main points/provide other thoughts/opinions (the conclusion).

Step 4Edit writing 5 minutes

Check: 1. content 2. language 3. presentation

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Some useful teaching notes:

I. Describing trends

Trends are changes or movements. These changes are normally expressed in numeric terms, for example, population, production volumes or unemployment. There are three basic trends:

II. Expressing movement: nouns and verbs

For each trend there are a number of verbs and nouns to express the movement. We can use a verb of change, for example:

Unemployment levels fell.

Or we can use a related noun, for example:

There was a fall in unemployment levels.

Direction Verbs Nouns

Rose (to)Increased (to)Went up (to)Climbed (to)Boomed

A riseAn increaseA growthAn upward trendA boom (a dramatic rise)

Fell (to)Declined (to)Decreased (to)Dipped (to)Dropped (to)Went down (to)Slumped (to)Reduced (to)

A decreaseA declineA fallA dropA slump (a dramatic fall)A reduction

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Levelled out (at)Did not changeRemained stable (at) Remained steady (at) Stayed constant (at) Maintained the same level

A levelling outNo change

Fluctuated (around)Peaked (at) Plateaued (at) Stood at (we use this phrase to focus on a particular point,before we mention themovement, for example:In the first year, unemploymentstood at …)

A fluctuationReached a peak (of)Reached a plateau (at)

III. Describing the movement: adjectives and adverbs

Sometimes we need to give more information about a trend as follows:

There has been a slight increase in the value of the dollar(degree of change)

Unemployment fell rapidly last year (the speed of change)

Remember that we modify a noun with an adjective (a slight increase)and a verb with an adverb (increased slightly).

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IV. Describing the degree of change

Adjectives – Adverbs

Adjectives Adverbs

dramatic dramaticallysharp sharplyhugeenormous enormouslysteep steeplysubstantial substantiallyconsiderable considerablysignificant significantlymarked markedlymoderate moderatelyslight slightlysmallminimal minimally

V. Describing the speed of change

Adjectives – Adverbs

Adjectives Adverbs

rapid rapidlyquick quicklyswift swiftlysudden suddenlysteady steadilygradual graduallyslow slowly

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It is often useful to include reference to tables and charts when you are writing.

Example

Look at the following example:

Figure 1 shows sales of mobile phones per month. As can be seen, it covers the years 1998 to 2001 and shows that the sales of mobile phones declined steadily in 1998, then remained steady from May until the end of the year. The sales rose, more and more steeply, throughout 1999, with a steep increase at the end of the year, and reached a peak of 6,200 in February 2000. A sharp fall followed but sales levelled off at about 5,300 per month in April, fluctuated slightly through the year, and are now increasing again.

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VI. Language

The following are some sentence structures that may be used to describe trends or patterns in graphs, tables or charts.

Referring to a diagram, chart etc.

As can be seen

fromin

the

chart,diagram,table,graph,figures,statistics,

...

It can be seenWe can see

that ...

As can be seenfromin

Table 1,Figure 2,Graph 3,

… It can be seenWe can see

From

Table 1Figure 2

itcan

maybe

seenconcludedshownestimatedcalculatedinferred

that ...the

figureschartdiagram

The graphFigure 1

shows that ...

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VII. Describing change

The following are some sentence structures that may be used to describe trends or patterns in graphs, tables or charts.

There was a(n) (very)

barely noticeableslightslowgradualsteadymarkeddramaticsteepsharprapidsudden

rise.increase.upward tend.

fluctuation.

downward trend.decrease.decline.reduction.fall.drop.

There was a(n)

riseincrease

of ...decreasedeclinereductionfalldrop

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X

increasedshot upgrewrose

by ...declinedreduceddecreaseddroppedfell

X

increasedshot upgrewrose

slightlyslowlygraduallysteadilymarkedlydramaticallysteeplysharplyrapidlysuddenly

declinedreduceddecreaseddroppedfell

Xreached a peak.levelled off

WRITING 2: ACADEMIC WRITING

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In Question 2, the candidate is expected to write an essay in which a point of view or opinion is presented. In this type of writing, express your opinions and give reasons to support them.Here is a simple four-step guide to do Question 2.

Steps Suggested Time Detail

Step 1Read and understand the task 5 minutes

Understand the topic. Understand the question.Understand the requirements.

Step 2Plan what you are going to write

5 minutesPlan the introduction (state your view)Plan the body (state the main point and other important/interesting points to support your view).Plan the conclusion (restate the main point).

Step 3Write your answer 35 minutes

State your view (the introduction).Support your view with reasons, arguments and examples (the body of the essay).Restate your view or present a fresh insight.

Step 4Check your writing 5 minutes

Check: 1. content 2. language 3. presentation

What do students need to do to answer Question 2?They need to write an academic piece of writing of at least 250 words.

How long does it take?Students are asked to spend no more than 50 minutes on this task.

How do students know what to write about?The instructions for the task give information about a point of view, argument or problem and tell students how to discuss this.

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What does the discussion involve?

To engage in the discussion, students may need to do one of the following:

provide general factual information outline and/or present a solution justify an opinion evaluate evidence and ideas.

What other skills must students have to complete this task?

They must be able to

analyse questions carefully. follow instructions. follow English discursive writing conventions, i.e. what order to put information in, how to start and finish academic writing and how to paragraph. organise and link information coherently and cohesively. use language accurately and appropriately.

Possible aspects to look into when assessing a student’s written work/essay:

Task Response (i.e. how fully and appropriately the student has answered all parts of the

task; the extent to which the student’s ideas are relevant, developed and supported; the extent

to which the student’s position is clear and effective)

Coherence and Cohesion (i.e. how well the information and ideas are organised and

presented i.e. paragraphing; how well the information is linked)

Lexical Resource (i.e. the range of vocabulary used, how accurately it is used and how

appropriate it is for the task)

Grammatical Range and Accuracy (i.e. the range of structures used, how accurately they

are used and how appropriate they are for the task)

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Understanding the Task

Writing Task 2 takes the form of a statement or statements on a specific theme. Students must be sure to read the question carefully and respond appropriately to the task. They should organise their ideas well and make sure to support their argument with relevant examples or evidence. For this task, students need to be able to communicate more abstract and complex ideas and use a range of vocabulary and grammatical structures. They must be sure to draw upon their own personal experience and should NOT attempt to produce a learnt response.

Introduction to Teaching Writing Skills

GENERAL

Make sure that your students are at the right level before they attempt the Academic Writing Tasks. Lower level students will not be able to complete these writing tasks and you should always make sure that the writing tasks you give are at the right level for your students.

Make sure that you focus on the writing process as well as on the testing process. You can do this by giving students essays to write in their own time at home as well as timed essays in class under exam conditions. It is important to develop their writing skills as well to give them exam practice.

Try to provide a balance of activities so that you do not always focus on grammatical accuracy. While accuracy is important, it is equally important to develop planning skills, organisational skills, fluency and coherence in writing. This will also ensure that your lessons are more balanced.

Encourage students to adopt new language learning strategies. For example, you can encourage them to take an active approach to learning vocabulary by recording new words and ensuring that they attempt to actively use them as often as possible.

Increase your students’ motivation to write by making their writing more important. You can do this by ‘publishing’ their work around the classroom or in a class journal. You can also vary the readers of their work by swapping essays with a different class or with their classmates or showing them to a different teacher.

To do well in an exam situation, students need to perform independently, without assistance or intervention from their teacher. If your classes are usually teacher-centred then you may need to train your students by organising more student-centred activities. Make sure that you encourage your students to actively participate in their own learning process.

Timed writing practice is essential for your students to be able to do their best in the exam. They need to develop a feel for how to plan, write and check their answers within the time allowed. Timed writing practice can be done in class and also for homework so that your students become less dependant on you telling them to stop one task and begin the next.

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Increasing Motivation

Clearly, getting your students to write is the best way for them to practise this skill. However, motivation is often a problem as, while some might enjoy the writing process, many find it a laborious task even in their own language. Below are some ways to increase student motivation to engage in more writing practice. Make it clear from the start of your course how many pieces of writing you expect your

students to produce. Tell them when they will be due. If you set this into their weekly

timetable, they will develop an expectation to be engaged in writing at a particular time.

You can also get each student to commit to this at the start of the course.

Explain exactly what will happen to the writing they produce. Will they be given feedback

1 or 2 days later or will this take longer? Will they be expected to re-write their essays?

Decide where, when and how you will handle marking, correction and feedback and let

your students know what to expect.

Encourage your students to build up a portfolio of their writing and to look back at their

progress from time to time.

Vary the tools your students use to write or the class organisation. They may write

individually, in pairs or as a group. You may choose to produce one whole essay as a class

written onto transparencies. You could ask them to write ideas onto large sheets of paper,

in a poster format to put around the classroom, or they could write onto transparencies so

that they may be discussed as a class. Any means you can use to get your students to

writing will help.

Structure of an Academic Essay

The following guidelines may help in the writing of an academic essay.

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1. Create an Essay with Three Main Parts. Help your readers by first (1) telling them what you are going to tell them, (2) tell them, and then (3) tell them what you told them. Readers appreciate having this guidance; teachers reward it with points.

Introduction Introduce your topic and then state your thesis.

BodyPresent 2, 3, 4 or more supporting points, organized so that they flow logically from point to point.

ConclusionConclude by restating your thesis statement and presenting a final insight. Do not add new points that need proof.

2. State Your Main Point in the First Paragraph. Some styles of writing encourage writers to unfold their main point slowly in order to give the reader a lot of work. However, most teachers prefer that their students disclose their main point in the first paragraph. This helps the reader's comprehension. The reader can then focus on finding adequate support and explanation for that main point.

3. Divide Your Point into Logical Sub-sections. Students are often tempted to pick three random points for supporting an essay topic. Strong writers look for the natural divisions in a topic and then find a rational way to organize those points.

4. Organize the Sub-sections to Highlight Their Relationship to Each Other. Students should find a relationship among the sub-sections and organize them accordingly, then write transitions between paragraphs. Creating an organization with purpose, aids the reader's comprehension.

5. Create an Inviting Introduction and an Insightful Conclusion. In most cases, students need to develop a context for their thesis before stating it. This helps prepare the reader for the main point. The introduction can also help attract the reader's interest as well. Conclusions should be more than a restatement of the thesis. The reader needs to feel a sense of closure that a well-earned insight provides. Be careful not to add any extra information in your conclusion; but save your most poignant thought for the end.

Example Outline 1

Here is a sample outline in response to this essay question: Explain who serves the best pizza locally and what criteria you used for selecting your choice.

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Introduction

Anecdote about driving around town with friends on a Friday night, arguing about where to eat pizza. Thesis statement that Diamond Pizza was our best choice according to our criteria of convenience, atmosphere, service, ingredients and price.

Body

[Note how the points are organized chronologically, in the order that the student experiences them.]

Point 1: Conveniently close to the movie theater. Point 2: Entertaining atmosphere with movie posters, movie memorabilia and monitors showing blockbuster films.Point 3: Staff is friendly, accurate and speedy.Point 4: Varied and fresh crust, sauce and toppings.Point 5: Price is reasonable, given the quality.

ConclusionReturn to anecdote of friends walking to the movie theater, wondering why they ever discuss where they will go for pizza since they always choose Diamond Pizza at the end of their discussion.

Essay Structure

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(Adapted from electronic page: http://www.jcu.edu.au/studying/services/studyskills/essay/structure.html)

Reference

1. M.K. Tickoo, English Language Learning and Teaching.

2.Materials adapted from www.ielts.org.uk.

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Writing Notes 010307