©2015 Paul Read 5.2 Describing Charts in Part One 7331669/sizes/z/in/photostream

©2015 Paul Read http://www.theenglishsite.com

5.2 Describing Charts in Part One

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5.2 Describing Tables in Part One

• What kind of information is contained in a chart?

• What makes a good answer?• How to plan an answer• Worked example• Extra practice


What kind of information is contained in a chart?

• Data are organized into pie, line or bar charts to make it easy to compare or see what the numbers mean

• Pie charts are normal for showing percentages

• Line charts often show changes in data over time

• Bar charts allow us to compare data across categories


What makes a good answer?

• The reader must understand the main points of the chart and what it wants to show

• You must select the main features: don’t write about everything. Choose 2 or 3 important facts

• Write a short introduction to explain what the chart shows, without copying from the question

• Write a sentence to summarize the general information contained in the chart


How to plan an answer

• Spend a few minutes looking carefully at the chart. What is it telling you? What are the main features?

• Choose 2 or 3 important differences or features • Write a brief paragraph to explain to the reader what

you are writing about – do not copy the information from the question

• Describe each of the main points in turn. Use language of comparison or of trends if necessary

• Don’t try to speculate about why the numbers are as they are

• Remember to include a short summary of the whole chart


Worked ExampleThe chart below gives information on the reliability of various airlines in one country in one year. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and making comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

Northern Imperial Whoosh South East Mountain0%

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Airline company reliability in one country in 2007

On timeDelayedCancelled


Worked Example - Introduction

The chart compares the reliability of five different airlines in one country, with respect to the percentages of their flights that were on time, delayed or cancelled over one year (2007).


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Worked Example – Main Body 1 (Summary)

The data show that in general each airline had more on time flights than delayed or cancelled flights. Three of the five airlines had more than half of their flights on time. It is clear that there are large differences in reliability between the airlines.


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Worked Example – Main Body 2

Of all five airlines, Northern was the most reliable with 70% of its flights on time in 2007. The least reliable was Imperial, with just 40% of flights on time. South East and Mountain were also more reliable than unreliable, with more than 50% of their flights arriving on time at their destinations.


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Worked Example – Main Body 3

Imperial and Whoosh airlines were the least reliable of all of the airlines. Whoosh airlines had just under 30% of flights that were delayed and more than one fifth of its flights were cancelled (21%). Imperial was even less reliable still, with 30% of its flights cancelled.

In summary, Northern was the most reliable airline, while Imperial was the least.


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Extra Practice

• Go to The English Site website to find another table writing practice exercise

• Look at some student answers to the exercise and read my comments on these answers

Documents

©2015 Paul Read 5.2 Describing Charts in Part One 7331669/sizes/z/in/photostream