English Writing Skills.pptx

English Writing Skills
Components of Effective writing
Skills
Robbia Gulnar

INTRODUCTION
• Writing skills are an important part of
communication.
• Good writing skills allow you to communicate your
message with clarity and ease.
• The communication takes place to a far larger
audience than through face-to-face or telephone
conversations.

GOOD WRITING: Features
Completeness: all information needed is
provided
Correctness: relevant and precise information
Credibility: support your argument
Clarity: should not be vague, confusing,
ambiguous
Conciseness: to the point
Consideration: anticipate the reader’s reaction
Vitality: use the active voice rather than the
passive voice

AUDIENCE AND FORMAT
• The first step to writing is choosing the
appropriate format.
• The format, as well as the audience, defines
the writing voice i.e., how formal or relaxed
the tone should be.
• With everything one writes, the readers/
recipients, should be able to define the tone
as well as aspects of the content

COMPOSITION AND STYLE
• Start with your audience- The reader
should be introduced with the subject.
• Create an outline- Outlines help in
identifying which steps to take in which
order.
• Use AIDA- Follow the Attention-Interest-
Desire-Action (AIDA) formula. These
steps can help in the writing process.

• Try some empathy- One should
remember the audience's needs at all
times.
• Use the rhetorical triangle- One should
make sure that one communicates why
people should listen , the message
should engage the audience.

STRUCTURE
• The document should be as reader friendly as
possible
• Use headings, subheadings, bullet points, and
numbering whenever possible to break up the
text.
is also a smart way
• Adding graphs and charts
to break up your text.
• Using questions is a good idea, questions help
keep the reader engaged and curious.

GRAMMATICAL ERRORS
• It's essential to learn grammar properly, and
to avoid common mistakes that the spell
checker won't find.
• Using words like “affect” instead of “effect” or
missing out the apostrophe should be
avoided.
• Everything that one writes should be of a
quality that every reader will find acceptable.

PROOFING
• Proof your headers and sub headers
– People often skip these and focus
on the text alone. Just because
headers are big and bold doesn't
mean they're error free!
• Read the document out loud –This
way one is more likely to catch
mistakes.

• Use your finger to follow text as you
read – This is another trick that helps
slow down.
• Start at the end of your document –
Proofread from the end to the
beginning. This helps focusing on
errors, not on content

• If one feels that there's too much information
to include, an outline should be created to
outline the thoughts.
• Learning grammatical and stylistic techniques
will also help in writing more clearly.
• Lastly, one should be sure to proof read the
document before sending it.

These are the stages of the writing process:
Prewriting
- is the stage in which you explore possible
topics, choose a topic, and then gather
details you can include in your writing.

Free
writing
-students write for a specified period of the
time without taking their from the page
(usually three minutes for a first attempt
an then typically for about five to eight
minutes)

Brainstorming
-a group exercise in which all students in
the class are encouraged to participate
by sharing their collective knowledge
about a particular subject

Listing
-the student is encouraged to produce
as lengthy list a listing as possible of all
the main ideas and subcategories that
come to mind as he or she thinks of the
topic at hand.

Clustering
-begins with a keyword or central idea
placed in the center of the page (or on the
blackboard) around which the student (or
the teacher, using student-generated
suggestions) quickly jots down all free
associations triggered by the subject matter,
using words or short phrases.

Choosing Your Topic
Writing with invisible ink
Narrowing Your Topic
Use a Planning Web or Cluster Diagram
Considering your audience and purpose
Considering your Audience
Identify who will read your article.
Think about what your audience does and does not
know about your topic.
Consider the type of language that would suit them.

Considering your Purpose
Identify what you want to accomplish through
your writing.
4. Gathering details
Gather the specific information and
ingredients you need before you write your
first draft.
Use the Reporter’s Formula Strategy to gather
details.
- Who, What, When, Where, Why, How

II.Drafting involves putting ideas down on paper in a
rough format.
1. Shaping your Writing
Focus on the form- each form of writing has its own set of
objectives.
Attract your readers’ attention with strong lead
2. Providing Elaboration
As you develop each of the paragraphs in the body of your
paper, focus on elaborating, or developing your key points
by providing a thorough set of facts, examples, and
details.

III. Revising - Is the stage in which you rework your rough
draft to improve both its form and its content
1. Using Systematic Approach
Ratiocination- applying logic to the way you look at your
work by color coding items for analysis. At each stage, use
a process of color- coding and marking clues in your work
to help you revise.
2. Revising your overall structure
Start by examining the soundness of your structure or
overall organization. Your ideas should flow logically from
beginning to end.

3. Revising your paragraphs
Consider the way each sentence contributes to
the point of the paragraph. As you evaluate your
draft, rewrite or eliminate any sentences that are
not effective.
Revising your sentences
Check to see that they flow smoothly from one to
the next. Look to see that you have avoided the
pattern of being most of your sentences in the
same way.

Revising your word choice
Make sure that each word conveys the
exact meaning you intend. Also, look for
the repetition of words, and make revisions
to reduce the number of the most
commonly repeated words.
Peer review
Work with one or more classmates to get
fresh perspective on your writing.

Revision and Editing Focused Exercises
•The content of the passage should be related as
closely as possible to whatever topics students
are working on so that they can review core
vocabulary or concepts.
•Similar exercises could involve other frequent
morphological errors, such as regular plural
nouns without –s. Students would then check
their own drafts to correct similar errors.

Example:
We tested velocity by placing a green trace dye on
the surface of the plot, at a measured point. After each run
we estimated the vegetation cover using a five-point pin
frame. We placed the pin frame in 20 places on the plot,
moving downward.
Rewritten:
Velocity was tested by placing a green trace dye on
the surface of the plot, at a measured point. After each
run, the vegetation cover was estimated using a five-point
pin frame. The pin frame was placed on the plot, moving
downward.

*To make texts as natural as possible, the
instructor can simply underline or number the
sentences in a text to be rewritten. Afterward,
students should identify contextual factors that
influence use of the passive.
1. Sentence Combining
-this technique for developing syntactic
fluency often involved combining a set of kernel
sentences

Example:
The man was old.
The man had gray hair.
The man walked down the street.
The man walked slowly.
Combined:
The old, gray-haired man walked
slowly down the street.

2. Guided Paraphrase
ESL/EFL writers often lack the facility with
vocabulary and syntax to rephrase ideas in their own
words; most experienced teachers are familiar with the
distorted paraphrases that result when novice writers
“slot” synonyms from a thesaurus into the original
sentence without adjusting the grammar.
In cued paraphrase exercises, writers transform
sentences or parts of sentences from assigned readings,
using cues as the first step.
The cues which may be words or phrases are
designed to require syntactic restructuring in the
paraphrase.

Example:
Original: People trying to interpret a situation often look
at those around them to see how to react. (Base reactions
on)
Rewrite: People trying to interpret a situation often base
their reactions on those around them.
Original: Even if a person defines an event as an
emergency… (Decides)
Rewrite: Even if a person decides that an event is an
emergency…

3. Text Elicitation
•The instructor specifies a topic or writing
objective and a grammatical structure or
structures to be used.
•Excellent sources for eliciting summary include
surveys, graphs or charts on topics related to
writing themes, or genres such as research articles.
•Can be used to focus on diagnosed structural
problems, to develop syntactic complexity, to
familiarize students with discourse-based grammar
conventions, and to provide strategies for
organizing and displaying information.

4. Dictation
•Can be an effective way to familiarize students
with the ways in which grammar and vocabulary
interact in common collocations as well as to
address errors in writing that may result in part
from mismatches between learners’ aural
perception of English forms and Standard English
grammar and spelling.
•The instructor reads aloud a short text several
times, usually one related to the topic or genre on
which students are working.

•The text is first read at a normal pace,
with the students just listening. For the
second reading, the teacher pauses after
each phrase to allow students to write.
•The third reading, done at a normal
pace, gives students the opportunity to
read over the texts and make
corrections.

5. Text Completion
Cloze Passage- each blank represents a
single word to fill in
-can be created either by random deletion
of words or by deletion of a specific item.
-if based on student texts can serve as an
error correction technique if the writer has
produced errors in the grammatical item
deleted.

Gapped Text- do not specify the number of words
required for each blank, they can be used to elicit
deleted verbs that include forms with more than
one word, such as passives, progressive aspect and
present perfect.
Third Type of Text Completion asks students to
consider syntactic structures with essentially the
same meaning and to choose the more appropriate
rendering of the information based on the
preceding discourse context.

Example
:
Climatologists have predicted that the continual
warming of the earth’s surface, commonly known as “the
greenhouse,” could have dramatic consequences.
1. (A) the melting of the polar ice caps could be one
result.
(b)One result could be the melting of the polar ice caps.
2. (A) this melting would, in turn, cause a rise of the sea
level.
(b) A rise of the sea level would, in turn, be caused by this
melting.

IV. Editing and proofreading
are the stages in which you
polish your writing, fixing
errors in grammar, spelling,
and mechanics.

Proofreading- This is a process
whereby the text is being scanned
for grammar, syntax and spelling
errors.
Editing- This process concentrates
less on the form and more on the
terminology.

Rules of Effective Writing
Basic Rules
1. Getting to the point
a. Being Concise
b. Paragraphing
c. Use of Lists
d. Framing Effective Questions
2.
3.
4.
Use of Non–Discriminatory Language
Punctuation, Grammar and Spelling
Tone
a. Choosing the Right Tone
b. Conversational Tone

Getting to the Point
• Being Concise
– Use of short sentences
– Start document with purpose
– Creation of ‘single screen view’ messages
– Elimination of unnecessary words
•E.g.. “Avoid bad miscommunication in email writing.”
(the word ‘bad’ is a modifier which is used unnecessarily)
– Use lesser number of words

Getting to the Point
• Paragraphing:
– Short Sentences
– Short Paragraphs (2 to 5 sentences)
• Creates “white space”
• Quicker to read
• Engages the reader
– Opening Paragraph
• Five “Ws” - “Who?”, “What?”, “When?”, “Where?”, & “Why?”

Use of Lists
• Benefits of using lists:
– Writer organizes thoughts
– Reader sees main points
– Important points are not overlooked
• Formatting a list:
– Use numbers or bullets
– Items should be parallel
– Capitalize the first word of each point
– Be consistent with punctuation

Use of Lists
• Spacing of a list:
– Double spacing makes reading easier
– Double spacing takes more valuable screen
space
– Single spacing does not enhance the list
– Single spacing takes less room

Use of non-discriminatory
language
• Nondiscriminatory language is language that
treats all people equally.
• Use language that is free of religious, age
and sexual bias
• Nondiscriminatory language can come
between you and your reader.

Methods to Avoid Errors
• Use ‘Spell Check’ function.
• Always Proof Read document.

T
one
• How can I make sure my messages have the
appropriate tone?
• Ask the following questions:
– Why am I writing this document?
– Who am I writing to and what do I want them to
understand?
– What kind of tone should I use?

T
one
• What kind of tone should I use with a negative
message?
• When addressing faults or issues concerning an
individual, maintain a professional tone that does
not attack the individual but that makes your
position on the issue clear.
• Example:
Incorrect: I do not understand why you made such
discriminatory remarks.
Correct: Discriminatory remarks are not tolerated in
this organization.

Greenlaw (2005)
• Focus - The paper should have a clear point,
expressed as a thesis sentence, early in the
paper.
• Organization - The purpose of the paper is to
prove its point. To that end, the paper should
be organized as a series of major sub-points
which lead logically to the thesis as the
conclusion.
• Solid Development - Each of sub-points
should be explained in sufficient detail to
convince the reader of their validity.

• Clarity, Concision, Precision - Say what you
mean, as clearly and concisely as possible.
Vagueness or ambiguity suggests to the
reader that you're not sure what you're
writing about.
• Grammatical Correctness/Avoidance of
Spelling & Typographical Errors - Grammar is
a convention to improve communication.
Grammatical mistakes or typos convey that
you either don't know how to write correctly
or you don't care.

APPROACH
Timing of communication; choice of medium;
tone and point of view (perspective, attitude,
and relationship regarding audience, purpose,
and material); recognition of audience (reader
vs. writer orientation); direct vs. indirect
presentation (ordering of evidence and
conclusions); persuasive strategies and
rhetorical appeals (logos, pathos, ethos)

Checkpoints:
□Timing and choice of medium are appropriate to
the purpose, audience, and material.
□Tone is appropriate to the purpose, audience, and
material.
□Material is made relevant to the reader (reader’s
interests and concerns are recognized).
□Conclusions are presented directly (conclusion
first, evidence last) to a sympathetic audience,
indirectly (evidence first, conclusion last) to an
unsympathetic or hostile audience.
□Persuasive strategy incorporates a mixture of
rhetorical approaches (appeals to logic, feelings,
and ethics or credibility).

DEVELOPMENT
 Organization (logical arrangement and sequence); evidence
and support (relevance, specificity, accuracy and sufficiency of
detail); knowledge of subject and material; quality of
perception, analysis, and insight

Checkpoints:
□Material is arranged in a logical and coherent
sequence.
□Conclusion or closing restates the argument
and identifies the action to be taken.
□Examples are relevant, specific, detailed,
sufficient, and persuasive.
□Quotations support the argument.
□Handling of material demonstrates knowledge
and insight.

CLARITY
Presentation of thesis or central
argument (statement of purpose,
delineation or narrowing of topic,
relevance of subordinate or
secondary arguments); word choice;
technical language and jargon;
structure (sentence, paragraph,
document); coherence devices
(organizational statement, repetition
of words and phrases, progression

Checkpoints:
□Purpose or central idea is sufficiently limited for
meaningful discussion.
□Purpose or central idea is stated clearly, usually in
the opening.
□Organizational statement is offered, usually at the
end of the opening.
□Subordinate ideas are effectively identified and
related clearly to the main purpose or central
idea.
□Language is clear, specific, accurate, and
appropriate to the audience, purpose, and
material.

□Word choice is clear, specific, accurate,
unassuming, and free of clichés and misused
jargon.
□Technical language and terms are defined and
explained as needed (depending on knowledge of
the audience).
□Sentences are free of ambiguity.
□Text is coherent, with new information linked to
previously discussed information (ordered within
sentences as “something old/something new”).
□Transitions between paragraphs are clear and
helpful.
□Text is appropriately highlighted (bullets,
paragraphing, boldface, italics, underlining, etc.)
to engage the reader and reinforce the main
points.

STYLE
 Word choice (economy, precision, and specificity of language
and detail; abstract vs. concrete language; action verbs vs.
linking or weak verbs with nominalizations; figures of speech:
schemes and tropes); tone (personality and humor); active vs.
passive voice; sentence variety

Checkpoints:
□Word choice is economical, clear, specific,
accurate, unassuming, and free of clichés and
misused jargon.
□Action verbs are preferred over weak verbs with
nominalizations (as in recommend over make a
recommendation).
□Language is appropriately concrete or abstract
(signifying or not signifying things that can be
perceived by the senses).
□Figurative language (metaphors and similes, as
well as other tropes and schemes) enrich and
deepen the argument.

□Active voice is preferred over passive voice
(active voice is used to emphasize the
performer of the action; passive voice is used
to emphasize the receiver of the action).
□Sentences are free of wordiness and
unnecessarily complex constructions.
□Variety in sentence structure and sentence
length creates emphasis.
□Author’s values, personality and – when
appropriate – humor are conveyed in a way
that reinforces the message.

CORRECTNESS
• Rules and conventions of spelling, grammar,
punctuation, usage, and idiom; style
(appropriateness of word choice and level of
formality to audience, purpose, and material);
social and cultural appropriateness; accuracy
in proofreading

Checkpoints:
□Spelling (including technical terms and proper
names) is correct.
□Correct words are used to convey the intended
meaning.
□Rules of grammar and syntax are followed,
including pronoun-noun agreement, subject-verb
agreement, appropriate verb tense, pronoun
case, possessive forms, parallel construction, etc.
□Punctuation (particularly comma placement)
reflects standard usage.
□Copy is free of mechanical errors and lapses in
proofreading.

CONCLUSION
• It's important to know how to communicate a
point quickly and professionally.
• Many people spend a lot of time writing and
reading, so the better you one is at this form
of communication, the more successful one is
likely to be.
• Identify the audience before even starting to
create the document.

Sources are taken from
•Slidesharenet.com
•Web sources

English Writing Skills.pptx

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