Writing Skills

The topic sentence - Every good paragraph has a topic sentence.

- It indicates the main idea of a paragraph.

- It is a helpful guide to both the writer and the reader.

Writing Skills

Two parts of a topic sentence

1. the topic: the subject or the main idea

2. the controlling idea: a specific comment about the topic

Writing Skills

Cautions1. Avoid topic sentences that are too

general or too specific.

2. Do not include too many unrelated ideas in your topic sentences.

Writing Skills

Facts vs. opinions- Facts are objective statements of truths.

- Opinions are subjective statements based on a person’s beliefs or attitudes

Writing Skills

Giving support to your opinions- examples

- statistics

- statement by authorities

Writing Skills

The concluding sentence - It signals the end of the paragraph.

- It summarizes the main point of the paragraph or gives a final

comment on the topic.

Writing Skills

End-of-paragraph signals:

A. followed by a comma

Finally, As a result,

In conclusion Indeed,

In summery In brief

Therefore, In short

Thus,

Writing Skills

A. not followed by a comma

We can see that …

It is clear that …

These examples show that …

There can be no doubt that …

The evidence suggests that …

Writing a Report

Four major parts of a report:- reference

- analysis

- conclusion

- recommendation

Writing a report - reference

• In the half-yearly estimates of…

• (Six Asian countries) are reviewed in…

• The chart compares / shows…

Writing a report - Analysis

• The comparison reveals a steady rise in …

• A has…, while B has grown rapidly

• The graph shows A as second only to B.

Writing a report - Conclusions

• The last (ten yeas) have seen (an improvement) in…

• It is clear that A has (risen) steadily as B has…

• The figures suggest / show that A’s situation is (serious).

Writing a report - Recommendation

• (The Government) needs to…

• As a first step, we should…

• In view of this, we recommend…

Describing Trends

The price increased

The population rose

The rate went up

grew

soared

Describing Trends

The price decreased

The population fell

The rate declined

dropped

went down

plummeted

Describing Trends

The price fluctuated

The population were erratic

The rate

Describing Trends

The price remained steady

The population stayed constant

The rate stable

stabilized

Describing Trends

increased significantly / substantially

decreased considerably

dramatically

swiftly / rapidly

slightly / somewhat

gradually / steadily

quickly / slowly

Describing Trends

There was a …in …

There was a slow/gradual/significant/substantial increase/decrease/rise/fall

in price of home products.

To describe increase

an increase to increase

an expansion to expand

a rise to rise

a growth to grow

a climb to climb

a leap to leap

To describe decrease

a decrease to decrease

a fall to fall

a drop to drop

a decline to decline

a collapse to collapse

a plunge to plunge

a dip to dip

To describe irregular changes

to go up and down

to fluctuate

to be erratic

fluctuations

To describe absence of change

to stabilize

to level out

to become steady

to remain stable

stability

no change

Adjectives and adverbs

to describe short, fast or sudden changes

dramatic/ally sharp/ly

sudden/ly abruptly

to describe important , large changes

substantial/ly steep/ly

to describe important but not very large changes

significant/ly marked/ly

Adjectives and adverbs

to describe small changesslight/ly slow/lynoticeable/noticeably

to describe changes that are slow and longgradual/ly steady/steadilysustained general/ly

to describe changes that last a short timeshort-lived brief/ly

Other useful expressions

recovery to recover

a peak to reach a peak

to show an upward/downward trend

erratic movements

to move erratically

the main trend

Showing contrasts

while: contrasting two related points

While 1998 saw sales grow substantially,

there was little growth during the previous year.

Showing contrasts

although: showing a stronger contrastThe dramatic increase in 1999 was

welcome, although it was short-lived.

Although less than half of households had a car ten years ago, more than three quarters own one now.

Showing contrasts

even though: showing a still stronger contrast

Even though many households still lack central heating, it is clear that living standards ate rising.

2001 saw an overall rise in sales, even though they were extremely erratic for most of the time.

Writing cause and effect

due toPopulation ageing is mainly due to a

decline in fertility.

We regret to announce that the football match has had to be postponed due to poor weather

Writing cause and effect

because of

Elderly women outnumbered elderly men because of gains in female longevity

 

as a result

The government raised tax on alcohol. As a result, sales declined by 20%.

Writing cause and effect

be attributed to

The fall in the number of people smoking can be attributed to education programs.

We attribute our success to being in the right place at the right time.

Writing cause and effect

be a direct consequence ofas a consequence of

The high number of visa over-stayers is a direct consequence of economic conditions.

As a consequence of his laziness, he was fired.

Writing cause and effect

lead to

It has been clearly demonstrated that smoking leads to heart disease and cancer.

The accident led to many lawsuits.

Writing cause and effect

contribute to

Immigration after the Second World War contributed to population growth.

Air pollution contributes to respiratory diseases.

Giving Comments

Overall comments

effective

well organized

well developed

generally well organized

adequately organized

Giving Comments

Overall comments

inadequate organization or development

serious disorganization or under-development

ineffective

undeveloped

Giving Comments

Overall comments

uses appropriate details to support a thesis

uses appropriate details to illustrate ideas

uses some details to support a thesis

Giving Comments

Overall comments

inappropriate or insufficient details to support generalizations

little or no detail to support ideas

incoherent

Giving Comments

Overall commentsdisplays (consistent) facility in the

use of languagedemonstrates adequate but

possibly inconsistent facility with syntax and usage

a noticeably inappropriate choice of words

Giving Comments

Overall comments

serious and frequent errors in sentence structure or us

age

severe and persistent writing errors

Giving Comments

To be positive and encouragingI was pleased to notice…

You are right in stating …

You’ve given strong support to …

I was gratified to see the improvements you have been making in …

Giving Comments

To be positive and encouraging- I am sure you could have done better

by giving more examples.

- You could have done better by …

- You’ve made a good point. However, you may need to give it more

concrete support.

Avoid Plagiarism

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is the use of words, facts, figures, ideas, graphics, etc. obtained from the work of others in such a way as to convey the impression that the material originated with you.

Avoid Plagiarism

Serious consequences of plagiarism

- loss of jobs and reputations

- serious academic penalties at school

Avoid Plagiarism

Documentation Documentation is the use of an agreed format to show which material came from sources other than the report writer and also to show where that material came from.

Avoid Plagiarism

You document for the following reasons:

  1. Honesty and courtesy:

to give credit to the person who wrote the words you are quoting or developed the ideas, information or graphics, etc. that you are using.

Avoid Plagiarism

2. Reliability:

to enable readers to check your accuracy by comparing your material to the source that provided the material, and to enable readers to judge whether your sources themselves are reliable and up-to-date.

Avoid Plagiarism

3. Utility:

to allow your readers to find your sources for themselves if they would like more information.

Avoid Plagiarism

Whether plagiarism occurs accidentally or deliberately makes no difference to the way your work is judged, since the effect is the same — credit has not been given for the words or information used.

Avoid Plagiarism

Some examples of acceptable documentation:

  1. Quotation:

"However, our graduates also need to be effective communicators in their personal and social lives. Good communications skills enable people to understand better and to express their opinions, dissent, agreement, concern and knowledge in an effective and useful way" (Smith 23).

Avoid Plagiarism

2. Paraphrase plus quotation:

Smith believes that college graduates need communications skills outside the classroom and the workplace, where they must be able to express "opinions, dissent, agreement, concern and knowledge" effectively (23).

Avoid Plagiarism

   

3. Summary:

Smith says college graduates need to be able to communicate effectively in a variety of personal and social situations (23).