Writing Techniques

Persuasive Writing - For and Against

Intermediate Level Writing

By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide

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Read the following paragraphs. Notice that this paragraph presents the pros and cons of a shorter work week.

Introducing a short work week may lead to both positive and negative affects on society. For workers, the advantages of shortening the work week include more free time. This will lead to stronger family relationships, as well as better physical and mental health for all. An increase in free time should lead to more service sector jobs as people find ways to enjoy their extra leisure time. What is more, companies will need to hire more workers to keep production up to past levels of a standard forty hour work week. All together, these benefits will not only improve quality of life, but also grow the economy as a whole.

On the other hand, a shorter work week may damage the ability to compete in the global workplace. Moreover, companies may be tempted to outsource positions to countries where longer work weeks are common. Another point is that companies will need to train more workers to make up for the lost productivity hours. To sum up, companies will likely have to pay a steep price for shorter work weeks.

In summary, it is clear that there would be a number of positive gains for individual workers if the work week were shortened. Unfortunately, this move could easily cause companies to look elsewhere for qualified staff. In my opinion, the net positive gains outweigh the negative consequences of such a move towards more free time for all.

Tips for Writing a For and Against Argument

·         Before you begin, write down at least five positive points, and five negative points for your argument.

·         Begin your writing by making a statement about the general statement about outcome of an action, or the overall situation.

·         Dedicate the first paragraph to one side of the argument. This can be either positive or negative. Generally, it is the side with which you agree.

·         The second paragraph should contain the other side of the argument.

·         The final paragraph should shortly summarize both paragraphs, and provide your own general opinion on the matter.

Helpful Language

Expressing Both Sides

pros and cons
advantages and disadvantages
plus and minus

Providing Additional Arguments

What is more,
In addition to ..., the ...
Further,
Not only will ..., but ... will also ...

Showing Contrast

However,
On the other hand,
Although .....,
Unfortunately,

Ordering

First of all,
Then,
Next,
Finally,

Summarizing

To sum up,
In conclusion,
In summary,
All things considered,

Expressing Your Opinion

In my opinion,
I feel / think that ...
Personally,

Exercise

Choose an for and against argument from one of the following themes

Attending College / University
Getting Married
Having Children
Changing Jobs

 Process Writing

By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide

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Process writing is an approach to incorporating writing skills from the very beginning of the English learning process. It was developed by Gail Heald-Taylor in her book Whole Language Strategies for ESL Students. Process writing focuses on allowing students - especially young learners - to write with plenty of room left for error. Standard correction begins slowly, and children are encouraged to communicate through writing irregardless of their knowledge of English grammar and structure.

Process writing can also be used in an adult ESL / EFL setting to encourage learners to start working on their writing skills from a beginning level. If you are teaching adults, the first thing learners need to understand is that their writing skills will be well below their native language writing skills. This seems rather obvious, but adults are often hesitant to produce written - or spoken - work that is not up to the same level as their native language skills. By easing your students' fears about producing sub-par written work, you can help encourage them to improve their writing abilities.

Only mistakes made in grammar and vocabulary that has been covered up to the current point in time should be corrected. Process writing is all about the process of writing. Students are striving to come to terms with writing in English by writing in English. Allowing for mistakes and refining based on materials covered in class - instead of "perfect English" - will help students incorporate skills at a natural pace, and improve their understanding of materials discussed in class in a natural progression.

Here is a short overview of how you can incorporate process writing into your students' learning routine:

Aim: Improve writing skills from beginning levels of English

Activity: Process writing - journals

Level: Beginning to advanced

Materials Needed: Notebook for each student

Outline:

·         Encourage learners to write in their journal at least a few times a week. Explain the idea of process writing, and how mistakes aren't important at this stage. If you are teaching higher levels, you can vary this by stating that mistakes in grammar and syntax on material not yet covered aren't important, and that this will be a great way to review material covered in past levels.

·         Students should write on the front side of each page only. Teachers will provide notes on the writing on the back. Remember to focus only on material covered in class when correctly student work.

·         Start this activity by modeling the first journal entry as a class.

·         Ask students to come up with various themes that could be covered in a journal (hobbies, work-related themes, observations of family and friends, etc.). Write these themes on the board.

·         Ask each student to choose a theme and write a short journal entry based on this theme. If students do not know a particular vocabulary item, they should be encouraged to describe this item (for example: the thing which turns on the TV), or draw the item.

·         Collect the journals the first time in class and do a quick, superficial correction of each student's journal. Ask students to rewrite their work based on your comments.

·         After this first session, collect students' workbooks once a week and correct only one piece of their writing. Ask students to rewrite this piece.

 Teaching Writing Skills

Writing

By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide

Teaching Writing: Strategies

The most important factor in writing exercises is that students need to be personally involved in order to make the learning experience of lasting value. Encouraging student participation in the exercise, while at the same time refining and expanding writing skills, requires a certain pragmatic approach. The teacher should be clear on what skills he/she is trying to develop. Next, the teacher needs to decide on which means (or type of exercise) can facilitate learning of the target area. Once the target skill areas and means of implmentation are defined, the teacher can then proceed to focus on what topic can be employed to ensure student participation. By pragmatically combing these objectives, the teacher can expect both enthusiasm and effective learning.

Choosing the target area depends on many factors; What level are the students?, What is the average age of the students, Why are the students learning English, Are there any specific future intentions for the writing (i.e school tests or job application letters etc.). Other important questions to ask oneself are: What should the students be able to produce at the end of this exercise? (a well written letter, basic communication of ideas, etc.) What is the focus of the exercise? (structure, tense usage, creative writing). Once these factors are clear in the mind of the teacher, the teacher can begin to focus on how to involve the students in the activity thus promoting a positive, long-term learning experience.

Having decided on the target area, the teacher can focus on the means to achieve this type of learning. As in correction, the teacher must choose the most appropriate manner for the specified writing area. If formal business letter English is required, it is of little use to employ a free expression type of exercise. Likewise, when working on descriptive language writing skills, a formal letter is equally out of place.

With both the target area and means of production, clear in the teachers mind, the teacher can begin to consider how to involve the students by considering what type of activities are interesting to the students; Are they preparing for something specific such as a holiday or test?, Will they need any of the skills pragmatically? What has been effective in the past? A good way to approach this is by class feedback, or brainstorming sessions. By choosing a topic that involves the students the teacher is providing a context within which effective learning on the target area can be understaken.

Finally, the question of which type of correction will facilitate a useful writing exercise is of utmost importance. Here the teacher needs to once again think about the overall target area of the exercise. If there is an immediate task at hand, such as taking a test, perhaps teacher guided correction is the most effective solution. However, if the task is more general (for example developing informal letter writing skills), maybe the best approach would be to have the students work in groups thereby learning from each other. Most importantly, by choosing the correct means of correction the teacher can encourage rather discourage students.

 Writing Narrative Paragraphs II - Habits

By Kenneth Beare, About.com Guide

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Narrative paragraphs are often used to describe our routines. Read this example narrative paragraph, notice how words like 'sometimes, often, etc.' are used to say often something happens.

Every Saturday morning I get up at eight o'clock. I immediately cook breakfast and my daughter and my wife and I usually have breakfast together. I usually go shopping. My daughter and wife usually go to the park to have some fun with the other children in our neighborhood. After I do the shopping, I come home and my wife and I clean the house. My wife then cooks lunch while my daughter plays in her room and then we eat together. After lunch, we sometimes go shopping. If we don't go shopping, we often go to the countryside for a nice walk. We often get home quite late and have a small dinner. We usually watch a film on TV and then go to bed at about eleven o'clock.

Written Exercise I

Answer the following questions by choosing the words that best fit your habits. Click on the arrow to choose the word you want to complete the sentences.

·         When do you get up?

I usually / sometimes / rarely get up early / late .

·         What do you usually do on Saturday mornings?

I often / sometimes / never go to the supermarket / the gym / the park to do some shopping / take a walk / get fit .

·         Do you go to the temple / the mosque / church on Fridays / Saturdays / Sundays ?

Yes / No , I go / don't go to the temple / the mosque / church on Fridays / Saturdays / Sundays .

·         What do you like doing in your free time?

Sometimes / Often I like reading books / playing sports / watching TV / listening to music / walking in the countryside . I also sometimes / often like reading books / playing sports / watching TV / listening to music walking in the countryside .

Written Exercise II

Now that you have a good feeling for the form of a narrative paragraph describing habits. Fill in the gaps in this paragraph with information about what you usually do on Sundays.

Sunday is a _______________ day for me. I _______________  like _______________. I _______________ get up _______________ and then I _______________. After _______________, I often go _______________. Sometimes, I like _______________ . In the evening, I _______________ like _______________  . I usually go to bed around _______________.

Practice

 Prepared by SANN RAKSMEY