207718672 hec english skills development

8/12/2019 207718672 Hec English Skills Development

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English Skills Development for Teachers

FOREWORD

All of English cannot be taught but all of it is learnt: behind this simple but profound paradox

lies all the thinking in the following pages.

I have noticed that English in Pakistan is not a matter of class or expertise or even extra brain

cells: it is simply a matter of opportunities and the chance that one gets in the accident of

schooling. Just put a child in a class where they dont make fun of him and he is made for

life: reverse this and he is destroyed forever.

I have noticed another thing: teachers who wish to become better teachers !"#$ become

better at English: all that is worth reading is in English. All the arguments that make one

recall how the pride of ones own language pale into nonsense when you ask yourself: does

the world really care what we think about:...national pride% "rdu as a world language%

!ushairas in &slo% !acaulays minute% $he kala goras% And the brown #ahibs% All of the

cultural luggage is 'ust so much weight when you reali(e that the world after )*+, is -&$ theworld before it: in inevitable unalterable irreversible ways.

/hat is so special about the date% /hen you reali(e that there four clusters of inventions that

make the world in the 0)stcentury unimaginable without them you then begin to think: are

you willing to make your children fit for a world without them%

One: the 1omputer and #atellite 1ommunication: combine them and you have the Internet

Two2 -uclear Inventions: those that make the crop yields possible to feed the people

Three!edical Inventions: the ultrasound and the whole hospital system of today

Four: 1ommunication $ools: $he mobile and 3ax and the !odem and the 4roadband 1able

-ow 'ust think: would a rational life be possible without any or all of these% And would you

use any of them without English%

#o then: no wishy5washy attitudes. 6et us learn English honestly with a clear mind with a

sense of pride in our own culture and language and then use it as a tool for the issues of the

0)stcentury.

/elcome7

6et us begin.

ABBAS HUSAIN

Teachers' Development entre8ead &ff: )0*59 4lock 0 PE18# arachi5;),0); =>)>*0*=* e5mail: [email protected]

6ahore &ff: );5A !odel $own 6ahore2 $el: ,=0B +;,+2 e5mail: [email protected]

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$ROB%E&S OF S$EAIN( IN EN(%ISH

The )ollow*n+ are some o) the thou+hts o) $a#*stan*s a,out the En+l*sh lan+ua+e! T*c#

the ones -ou personall- a+ree w*th!

AgreeDontAgree

1.En+l*sh can onl- ,e learne" ,- those who #now *ts

+rammar.! An" s*nce that *s ver- techn*cal/ the ma0or*t- o)

the people )a*l to learn *t!

2. The s*mplest wa- to learn En+l*sh 1m- teacher sa*"2 *s to rea"the "*ct*onar- ever- "a- an" memor*3e ten wor"s!

3. It *s a )act that whoever spea#s En+l*sh well can4t wr*te well/an" whoever wr*tes well can4t spea# well!

4. I avo*" spea#*n+ *n En+l*sh ,ecause *) I w*ll ma#e a m*sta#e/people w*ll ma#e )un o) me!

5.The ,est wa- to *mprove -our pronunc*at*on *s to rea" alou"!

6. It ta#es so lon+ to translate what I want to sa- *n m- m*n"/that I +*ve up!

7.It *s har" to )*n" the r*+ht wor"s to e5press m- thou+hts!

8. 6ou must have ,een to man- "e,ates an" other act*v*t*es toreall- spea# w*th con)*"ence!

9. Someone tol" me to watch En+l*sh mov*es ,ut the- spo#e so)ast.!!I coul"n4t un"erstan" an-th*n+/ so I stoppe"!

10.

I am not sure *) I am spea#*n+ w*th correct +rammar an"

pronunc*at*on!

11.En+l*sh *s an *nternat*onal lan+ua+e an" we have to learn *t

whether we l*#e *t or not



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%ISTENIN(7 A NE(%ETED SI%%SELFHELPACTIVITIES

To *mprove one4s l*sten*n+ s#*lls one nee"s to "o some sel)8help ass*+nments on re+ular ,as*s!

We are e5pla*n*n+ some act*v*t*es here wh*ch *) "one on re+ular ,as*s w*ll enhance -our s#*lls

+reatl-!

). $ake a notebook and draw a box like this in it.

$erson $lace Event 555

0. 6isten to the English -ews on any of the $D 1hannels and catch the 8EA6I-E# only>. As you may have noticed the headlines are repeated at least three times: first in the

beginning then when the news are given in detail and at the end Fhere are the headlines once

againB

=. #o write the key words &-6G in each of the columns: the name of the person the place theevent usually is an action done by someone and in the final column whatever is remaining to

complete the sense.

. $he actors play roles in the films: write the names they are called in the movies in the third

column.

=. /hile watching the movie you may hear some words whose pronunciation you may like 555

write that in the fourth column.

. 6isten for a minute: with rapt attention: 3orce yourself to say silently what is

coming from the screen for ) minute exactly in the same way.



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Gou should try to catch the intonation the rise and fall the 'oking sound as exactly as

possible.



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AN O$EN %ETTER TO A HESITANT TEAHER

OF EN(%ISH

Dear Fr*en"/

8ow innocently you have asked me this profound Huestion: How do I remove my hesitation when

speaking English?$ruly it is the story of so many people like you in our country and indeed

elsewhereB: this hesitation as they call it keeps them from making the best contributions towards

making this country better7

/hy is it that we are unable to speak fluently when we are Huite capable enough to read different

things% $he answer to this grave Huestion is in out education system: and the fact that our educated

elite have taken English language not as a language that they have command over but as a metaphor

of P&/E. nowing the language becomes the dividing line between those who command and those

who dont. "nfortunately this discrimination brings out Kin most peopleL the worst arrogance self

righteousness and pride. $his becomes the reason why humble people like you are scared of making a

single mistake of pronunciation or grammar before them.

$he fact remains that we need to make our own efforts to forcefully get rid of this reluctance. -o one

from outside will come to help us learn the language. /e will have to help each other to master this

skill 'ust as mastery is achieved in other fields.

3ortunately like any other language English has a humbler more human side to it. It is this: Gou do

not 'ust speak you speak a,out.Gou do not 'ust speak2 you speak to. $herefore we declare that the

dream of speaking English with fluency cannot be materiali(ed unless you speak to someone. /hat

you reHuire is a companion not so much as an accessory but as a necessary condition of speaking

itself. I can almost hear you thinking 4ut where may I get such companions% All of them are busy

making fun of me. And my answer is MExactly7M #urely amongst all these malicious people who call

themselves your friends there are two or three nice human beings 'ust like yourself who would be

able to say with a large heart:

"It's ok to make mistakes !erfection is od's #usiness #ut we must try our #est So each time you try

we will help you improve$ %ust as our teachers helped us when we were learning&

And having found such people all you need to do is to practise. In the beginning you can mix "rdu

with English but you must consciously try to increase the number of English words per sentence.

$here is no harm if you sound like this: 'merey friends hi ka#hi enemies %aisay hain'. $his may turn

within two days to 'merey friends hi ka#hi enemies are like enemies' And then one day to

'Sometimes$ even my friends are like my enemies('$his is natural and there is nothing wrong to expect

it. If you think that you will suddenly turn into an entirely English speaking person it will not happen.In fact that dread of not being able to do so and slipping an "rdu word in the middle will not allow

you to begin at all and further increase your hesitation.

I have given you a starter. $here is no better place than the school you are in and no better people than

the colleagues who are with you. 4egin close at home and you will be on your way. All of us came

where we are today by this very way.

Gours hopefully

Abbas 8usain



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THE ON:ERSATION E;ERISE

$his exercise will help you polish your English conversation and reduce the hesitation youmight feel whenever you try to speak English.

Gou need the help of another person for this exercise as conversation always takes two. 6et

us say then you are Person A.

#elect a person we will call him?her Person 4B who can allocate ), minutes of his?her

time for you every weekExplain the rules of the exercise to this person.

-ow take a blank audiotapeNa *, minute cassette is fine.

#peak to the tape recorder Kthinking of the friendL and record your voice. 6imit the

duration of the recorded speech to < minutes. As you do this make sure that2

aB Gou are alone in the room so that no external distractions disturb you. Gou

will be more conscious of other people listening to you if you are not alone.

bB Gou do not read out from a written text such as a newspaper maga(ine or a

book. $his defeats the very point of the exercise.

Put the tape in its case and give it to person 4 on $hursday.

Person 4 listens to the recording and notes the topics you have spoken

about on a sheet of paper. 8e?she needs to do this as some 'ottings will help him?her

to respond accordingly to your speech.

-ow person 4 records his?her response to your speech. !ake sure that

your original speech is not erased.

&n !onday person 4 returns the tape to you N and so the

conversation continues.



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AD:ANTA(ES OF THIS E;ERISE

). Gou will overcome hesitation to converse in English as you are speaking to a machine

and no one is there to comment on you.

0. 4oth the speakers are learning from each other. #uppose you use a word incorrectly.

Person 4 may use the word correctly Kdeliberately7L and let you draw the conclusion

when you listen yourself7

>. If you speak too fast or mumble the words then by listening to your own speech you

will learn to control the pace and introduce clarity to your spoken English.

=. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


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S$EAIN( (A&ES

FIND THE DIFFERENES

If you are a daily reader of the English newspaper The News you must have noticed HOCU!

"OCU on the leisure page#

.

>. &ne person takes picture A.

=. &ther takes picture 4.


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WA%% DITATION

Attach a text to the walls of the classroom.

$ell colleagues to work in pairs.

Person A of each pair is the writer. $hey write down everything

their partner tells them to write.

Person 4 of each pair is the dictator. $hey go to the wall look at

the text and then return to their partners. $hey dictate as much of

the text as they can remember.

$he partners write down what has been dictated. !eanwhile the

dictators make as many trips to the wall as necessary in order to

dictate the entire text to the writers.

#witch roles when person 4 has dictated half of the text.

RO%E $%A6

PE#&- A

$om 1ruise has agreed to come to Pakistan on your special invitation. Gou want

him to visit all the universities libraries and book stores of your city. #o that he

may have an idea of educational system. 1onvince your friends of your choice.

PE#&- 4$om 1ruise has agreed to come to Pakistan on your special invitation. Gou want

to make him see the shopping areas of arachi so that he may buy things as

souvenir. 1onvince the others of your choice.

PE#&- 1

$om 1ruise has agreed to come to Pakistan on your special invitation. Gou want

him to see the old city of arachi and places of historical value here. $ry and

convince your friends of your choice.



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HOW TO I&$RO:E 6OUR $RONUNIATION

FRO&

THE O;FORD AD:ANED %EARNER4S DITIONAR6

1>thE"*t*on2

&ne of the most important ways to benefit from the dictionary is to be able to read sounds.

&nce we can do that we will be permanently free of the need for another person to tell us the

way a word is spoken. $o do that we must know the phonetic way of writing and the

following steps are a simple and effective way to learn the phonetics easily:

STE$ < In a note book write down 0, words of daily use whose pronunciation you

already know.

STE$ ? 6ook up these words in the dictionary and copy the exact phonetic script next

to each word. As you will observe the pattern of similar sounds will becomevisible to you and the phonetic script will no longer seem difficult.



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Wor"s

1anal

1ancel

1andidate

1andle

1ane

Wor"s Soun"

1anal

1ancel

1andidate

1andle

1ane

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$HOTOO$6 OF A $A(E FRO& THE OA%D >THEDITION



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FA%SE BE%IEFS ABOUT READIN(

It can be seen from the following that a number of commonly held beliefs about faster readers

are false:

Wor"s must ,e rea" one at a t*me7

/rong.

)ecause of our a#ility to fi*ate and #ecause we read for meaning rather than for single

words.

Rea"*n+ )aster than == wpm *s *mposs*,le7

/rong.

)ecause the fact that we can take in as many as si* words per fi*ation and the fact that we

can make four fi*ations a second means that speeds of +$,,, wpm are perfectly feasi#le

The )aster rea"er *s not a,le to apprec*ate7

/rong.

)ecause the faster reader will #e understanding more of the meaning of what he reads$ will

#e concentrating on the material more$ and will have considera#ly more time to go #ack over

areas of special interest and importance to him

H*+her spee"s +*ve lower concentrat*on7/rong.

)ecause the faster we go the more impetus we gather and the more we concentrate

Avera+e rea"*n+ spee"s are natural an" there)ore the ,est7

/rong.

)ecause average reading speeds are not natural They are speeds produced #y an incomplete

initial training in reading$ com#ined with an inade-uate knowledge of how the eye and #rain

work at the various speeds possi#le.



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READIN( TEST

/hile many of us would love to be able to read faster we fear that if we do well miss out.

/e may skim the words more rapidly but as a result we will lose meaning.

$he challenge therefore is to increase the pace at which we read while maintaining if not

increasing our level of comprehension.

/hen we want to savour the verse of 6ord 4yron or relish the prose of 8enry James speed

reading techniHues are the last thing that we want. 3or everything else from dishwasher

manuals to encyclopedias industry reports to psychology books faster reading helps both to

increase our knowledge and save precious time.

But )*rst "*scover how +oo" -our rea"*n+ spee" *s alrea"-!

o /hat you need is a stop watch your wrist watch with minute hand or your mobile

will probably be sufficientB.

o #tart the watch and start reading the passage.

o /hen you have read the passage note the finishing time.

o /rite down in minutes and seconds the length of time taken to read the passage.

o Answer the test Huestions

Start now.



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The avera+e person has a rea"*n+ spee" o) a,out

?== wor"s per m*nute!


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READIN( TEST . 8ow did !arina feel about court life in 3lorence%

=. /here did Dincen(o come in the order of the children%


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READIN( S$EED ON:ERSION TAB%E

T*me

ta#en

== == == >== == ==


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FASTER READIN( STRATE(IES G The $s

'6ou must read this #ook$' your friend assures you. Gou dont want to but you dont want to let

them down either. eading it Huickly using the earlier techniHues is an option but Huitehonestly even that is going to take too long.

$here is a form of intelligent reading that is designed for exactly this need: when we want to

devour a report newspaper article maga(ine or book without actually reading it.

Its focus is on becoming mindful of our reading and it consists of six steps:

P rime

eek

eruse

articipaterudent

ost mortem.

4efore you even pick the book up consider what you want from it and what you already know

about the sub'ect.

If we prime our thinking with some Huestions we are much more likely to find what we are

looking for Huickly. #ome good priming Huestions are:

/hy am I reading this%

/hat do I want to discover from it%

/hat do I know about the sub'ect%

/hat do I know about the author%

Imagine you were introduced to a buffet for the first time and you thought you had to eat

everything: that would be pretty daunting.

Its much the same with factual text. 8owever when we see the material as a source of

information rather than something we must read from beginning to end we can find what we want

a lot faster.

?! $EE

$his step is about searching for clues as to the whereabouts of the information and insights that

we are after. !uch reading time is spent churning through irrelevant material and peeking is

designed so that we can cut this out.

&ur cursory peek might include finding out whether there is:

a table of contents footnotes an index an index of tables

headings and subheadings

introductions and conclusions



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As well as:

how the book is arranged

what the blurb on the front and back claims

At this stage we are getting familiar with the structure of the material but not the content. A >,,5

page book should take us about < minutes to peek at. Along the way we should highlight the areaswe reckon are going to be useful to us so that we can come back to them later. And if we dont

think the material is going to give us what we want then lets put it to one side and save ourselves

a lot of bother.

@! $ERUSE

$his is when we consider the style of the book and begin to get a sense of the content. It also

starts the search for the core themes. #ome books make this startlingly clear from the outset but

more often the author wants us to read their whole work and so we will need to do some more

investigating.

/e do this by flicking through every page at a rate of about a page per second. $his might take

another < minutes. As we are doing this we ask ourselves the following Huestions:

/hat is the style of the book like%

Are there key words or concepts which keep coming up%

Are the sections highlighted at the peek stage the right ones%

Is there any technical terminology% /here is it%

! $ARTII$ATE

7ow is the time for real reading$ though even at this stage we dont want to waste our time on

every word. It is the largest part of the reading process and one where the techniHues in the earlier

part of this chapter can be helpful.

8ere we read the first and last sentence of every paragraph and possibly the first and last

paragraph of those chapters that we identified as useful in our initial scan. /e consider what the

authors are saying and what their key points are. $his phase may take >, minutes for a >,,5page

book.

Again we mark up the areas which are most relevant and discard those areas that do not fit with

our purpose.

! $RUDENT

$he penultimate stage is prudent reading. 8aving marked those areas which contain the items

which are of interest to us we can now speed5read them. Ideally this is done in 0,5minute chunks

with time for a stretch or change of atmosphere at the end of each section.



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! $OST &ORTE&

$his final part of the process looks at how the reading was done rather than the content of the

book. /hat worked what helped and where was time or comprehension lost% $he first few

attempts with the + Ps are going to be difficult but if we reflect on where the tools worked and

where we had problems then we will soon master the techniHue and devour documents in

moments.

That%ll impress them#

TI$S FRO& THE $ROS

8ere are some other techniHues that increase the rate at which we get through a book.

SANNIN(

/e all skim naturally whether it be looking for a name in the phone book running our eyes down

the results page in 9oogle or checking the shopping list. /e know what were looking for we

'ust want to find it Huickly. #canning is particularly useful in the Peek step of the + Ps.

SI&&IN(

#kimming is the process of passing our eyes across a page picking out core bits of information

and getting an overall impression of the text. $echnically were not reading every word but we

can get the gist of the piece. /hen people report reading speeds of more than +,, words per

minute the main techniHue they are using is skimming. Gou might use skimming in the Perusestep of the + Ps.

.Source8 The 5indym$ Time 9arner )ooks2



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%I$$IN(S



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HOW TO FIND TI&E TO READ%ou*s Shores

How many books did you read this past year? And why didnt you readmore? Most people reply by saying, I just didnt have enough time. In

that !ase, take time right now to learn how to "ind time "or more

reading pleasure.

If you are an average reader you can read an average book at the rate of >,, words a minute. Gou

cannot maintain that average however unless you read regularly every day. -or can you attain

that speed with hard books in science mathematics agriculture business or any sub'ect that is

unfamiliar to you. $he chances are you will never attempt that speed with poetry or want to race

through some passages in fiction over which you wish to linger. 4ut for most novels

biographies and books about travel hobbies or personal interests if you are an average readeryou should have no trouble at all absorbing meaning and pleasure out of >,, printed words every

+, seconds.

#tatistics are not always practicable but consider these: If the average reader can read >,, words

a minute of average reading then in )< minutes he can read =))>*0*=* e5mail: [email protected]


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SE%F REATED %OE



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ainforests are very dense warm and wet forests. $hey are havens for )millions of plants and animals. ainforests are extremely important in the

ecology of the Earth. $he plants of the rainforest generate much of the

Earths oxygen. $hese plants are also very important to people in other ways2

many are used in new drugs that fight disease and illness. ainforests are ! (*ve -oursel) mar#s out o) ten!

/hile this exercise is simple the following reflections on each step will allow you to understand

the benefits of doing it regularly every day in an organi(ed fashion. /e recommend that you put

a register or a large si(ed book and do all exercises recommended in this manual in appropriate

sections with dates and margins on each exercise.

!lease note the first word :choose; 9e hope that you will choose the te*t from what you

have liked to read It can #e a variety of sources8 from a newsletter to a product

#rochure$ or a we#page from the Internet to a newspaper article to a T< review to a

passage from a novel =ust good correct English

:&' (ines)is also important 6ou o#serve that it is not +/ sentences > it is +/ lines$ and

this will offer you a great variety of writing styles according to the different authors you

choose

?! Un"erl*ne ever- seventh wor"!

The man who did this research was 4ichard lo@e hence the credit to him in the name of

this e*ercise lo@e studied the pro#lems of comprehensi#ility of a te*t when a word was

removed with arithmetical regularity rather than its grammatical function lo@e looked

at the ways reading and comprehension could #e aided if every +A thword was removed or

every +Bthword or every +,th In this e*ercise$ the Cthword is %ust right #ecause at your

level of maturity and te*t processing you will note that all the grammatical categories

have #een touched The implicit sense of grammar is e*ercised which we #elieve to #e the

hallmark of language proficiency

@! op- the passa+e leav*n+ out the un"erl*ne" wor"s! Wr*te ,lan#s *nstea"!

It is a sad reflection of our relationship with this language that the last time we did any

sustained writing of any seriousness was an e*am or some deadline driven pro%ect where

we :cut and paste; from colleagues and the Internet 9hen we actually copy in our own

handwriting +/ lines of good English$ we are doing ourselves an immense #enefit ll

sorts of sentence structures$ spellings$ formation of ideas$ long and short sentences >

depending on the authors we choose > will #e unconsciously internali@ed and in time will

show the results



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WORD $OWER NOTE BOO

A person who knows how to use words effectively is successful in almost every field of life.

8owever to use words properly they have to be there in the first place7

$he complaints about using the dictionary during reading usually are:

4ecause there is more than one meaning to words to decide on the appropriate one is not

easy.

4ecause the concentration breaks whenever you go hunting for the meaning in the

dictionary enormous amount of energy and time is needed to get back that flow of

interest in the reading.

#o to ensure a better word pool in your language let us first learn some basic roles of reading.

According to research if the context you are reading has a new word or a Fslightly new

word after twenty5two words throw away the dictionary. $hat is to say if there are morethan four words new to you on a page of a paperback book then throw away the book7

9et an easier one to read7B

$he next rule is perhaps more profound than the first: DO NOTlook up a word in the

dictionary until and unless you have read it in #ix different places before. &nly then

should you look it up in a dictionary.

#o remember the magic numbers


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S! No Wor" Soun" &ean*n+ $r*nte" Sentence Own Sentence

) 8andicap #omething that makes it difficult

for somebody to do something

-ot speaking the language

proved to be a bigger handicap

than Id imagined

0 Penali(e Peen5 $o punish somebody for breakinga rule

Gou will be penali(ed for poorspelling

> 1uisine yu5 3ood served in a restaurant $he hotel restaurant is noted for

its excellent cuisine.



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DEFINITIONS OF WRITIN(

How "o I #now what I th*n# unt*l I see what I sa-J

E.!. 3orster

Wr*t*n+ *s the *nteract*on o) m*n" an" worl"!

onald 9raves

Wr*t*n+ has +ot to ,e an act o) "*scover- . I wr*te to )*n" out what I4m th*n#*n+

a,out!

Edward Albee

I) I wr*te what -ou #now/ I ,ore -ouK *) I wr*te what I #now/ I ,ore m-sel)K there)ore

I wr*te what I "on4t #now!

obert uncan

Wr*t*n+ to me *s a vo-a+e/ an o"-sse-/ a "*scover-/ ,ecause I4m never certa*n o)

prec*sel- what I w*ll )*n"!

9abriel 3ielding

6our wr*t*n+ *s tr-*n+ to tell -ou someth*n+! Lust len" an ear!

Joanne 9reenberg

I th*n# that one *s constantl- startle" ,- the th*n+s that appear ,e)ore -ou on the

pa+e when -ou4re wr*t*n+!#hirley 8a((ard

I "on4t start a novel or a pla- sa-*n+/ MI4ll wr*te a,out such an" such! I start w*th

an *"ea an" then )*n" out what I4m wr*t*n+ a,out!

/illiam Inge

Wr*t*n+/ l*#e l*)e *tsel)/ *s a vo-a+e o) "*scover-!

Arthur !iller

The lan+ua+e lea"s/ an" we cont*nue to )ollow where *t lea"s!

/right !orris

Wr*t*n+ *s l*#e e5plor*n+ . as an e5plorer ma#es maps o) the countr- he has

e5plore"!

6awrence &sgood

Wr*t*n+ ma#es me #now what I "*" not #now I #new!

Abbas 8usain



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THE CUA%ITIES OF (OOD WRITIN(

1. Meaning

$here must be content in an effective piece of writing. It must add up to something.

$his is the most important element in good writing but although it must be listed first

it is often discovered last through the process of writing.

2. Authority

9ood writing is filled with specific accurate honest information. $he reader is

persuaded through authoritative information that the writer knows the sub'ect.

3. Voice

9ood writing is marked by an individual voice. $he writers voice may be the most

significant element in distinguishing memorable writing from good writing.

4. Development

$he writer satisfies the readers hunger for information. $he beginning writer almost

always overestimates the readers hunger for language and underestimates the

readers hunger for information.

5. Design

A good piece of writing is elegant in the mathematical sense. It has form structure

order focus coherence. It gives the reader sense of completeness.

6. Clarity

9ood writing is marked by a simplicity which is appropriate to the sub'ect. $he

writer has searched for and found the right word the effective verb the clarifying

phrase. $he writer has removed writer so that the reader sees through the writersstyle to the sub'ect which is clarified and simplified.



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WHAT &AES READERS READJ

$here seem to be five principal elements which make readers read. $hese forces work

together and against each other to provide the excitement and satisfaction we find in readable

writing.

In)ormat*on7eaders hunger for specific information. $he more concrete and detailed the

information the more it will interest readers who delight in facts statistics brief Huotations

precise descriptions which satisfy the readers curiosity give the impression of authority and

provide readers with information they can pass on to someone else. $he writer must satisfy

the readers appetite for specifics but the writer should also be responsible and make sure the

specifics are accurate and used in an appropriate context.

S*+n*)*cance7eaders want to know the meaning of the information they read and how it

affects them. $hey are particularly interested when the writer reveals surprising connections

between pieces of information. $hese connections make the biggest impact when readersrecogni(e the significance of a connection they felt but had not articulated themselves.

$eople7eaders want to see people on the page hear them talk watch them in dramatic

action and reaction with other people. $hey like to read anecdotes the little scenes in which

people reveal both themselves and the sub'ect. eaders want to meet people with whom they

can identify and often readers become for a few moments the person on the page and so

extend their experience by living another life. eaders also en'oy a strong sense of place and

time2 they like to see the people they read about in their world Q to be shown as well as told.

Or"er7eaders en'oy writing which has a firmly built structure and provides them with a

sense of order. eading is satisfying because as 3rost said of poetry it provides Sa

momentary stay against confusion.T /riting gives shape to experience. A piece of well built

writing may have many shapes Q narrative problem and solution dominant impression

chronology argument2 a do(en different external or internal rhetorical forms Q but the form

itself is satisfying to the reader. eaders want writing to have resolution a sense of

completion. Above all readers Huestions must be anticipated and answered in a well5made

piece of writing.

:o*ce7 eaders respond to the voice of the writer one individual speaking to another

individual. /riting is not speech written down but writing which is widely read gives the

impression it is spoken. eaders pay attention to a voice which has authority concern andenergy. Authority comes from a convincing command of information2 concern comes from

caring expressed through opinion or point of view2 energy from language which is clear and

honest driven by verbs and sparked by the tension between ordinary words which reveals

extraordinary meanings.

#ource: onald !urray Q 6earning by $eaching)oynton ook



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THE WRITIN( $ROESS



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Analyze the topicWhat is it asking?

What is the purpose ofthe task?

2. BrainstormWhat do I already know?What have I read?What ideas or questions do Ineed to research?Which authors might be

interesting or valuable?

3. Plan your timeWork back from the due

date to allow time forresearch, writing drafts

and editing.Take account of other workdue and othercommitments.

4. Construct a rough planWhat are my main points?

What other ideas are worthincluding?

5. Start your preliminary researchRevise lecture notes and researchmaterial, identify gaps in yourknowledge.

6. Revise your plan

. Begin researching

eep your topic in mind.!ocus your research on relevantte"ts.Record your findings.

!. Revise your plan again#onsider the relationship betweenideas.$elect key points from sources.

". Start #ritingeep your topic in mind.

$%. &a'e several (ra)ts%dit, revise and refine your writing

$$. Proo)rea( )inal (ra)t!ollow formatting requirements.#heck for grammar coherence and flow.

$2. Su*mit your #or'+

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STARTIN( STRATE(IES

1. ree !riting

). $his is a timed exercise: all the following steps must be done without interruption in a singlesitting. 6ook at the watch and note the exact time: you will begin immediately.

0. #tart writing without pausing as fast as you can all the thoughts feelings memories biases

ideas and facts that come in the mind and continue writing for four minutes. eep writing even

while you are thinking. ont pause. ont read over what you have written. Just keep writing

for the allotted time. And make sure to let the writing go wherever it wants to go.

>. Pause at the end of four minutes.

=. eread what you have written. "nderline any three key ideas words or phrases Q the focus or

centre of gravity of your writing.


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207718672 hec english skills development

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