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Writing skills

Davide Melzi

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First things first

• Familiarise students with the tasks • What tasks ?

2

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TASK 1

Description of visual information:

7 possible variations

3

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LINE GRAPHS

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BAR CHARTS

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PIE CHARTS

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MULTIPLE CHARTS

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TABLES

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MAPS & PLANS

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DIAGRAMS

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TASK 2

Essay Give personal opinion about

contemporary issues

Personal opinion must be supported by reasons and examples

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QUESTION TYPES

•STATEMENT AGREE vs DISAGREE

•TWO SIDES OF AN ARGUMENT DISCUSS & GIVE OPINION

•PROBLEM DESCRIBE CAUSES & SOLUTIONS

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ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

4 for each task (25% * 4)

❖ TASK ACHIEVEMENT (T1) / TASK RESPONSE (T2)

❖ COHERENCE & COHESION

❖ LEXICAL RESOURCE

❖ GRAMMATICAL RANGE & ACCURACY

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Task achievement / response = task fulfilment

TASK 1

• OVERVIEW

• KEY FEATURES MAIN POINTS AND DATA

• 150 WORDS

TASK 2

•TAKE POSITION

•ADDRESS ALL THE POINTS

•GIVE EXAMPLES AND REASONS

•STAY ON TOPIC

•250 WORDS

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Task 1: OVERVIEW AND WORD COUNT

OVERVIEW Summarises / gives a general picture of the most relevant

visual information

Example: The graph below gives information about the technology that households in one US city used for watching television between 2004 and 2014

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Sample

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Word count• It bears a close and direct relation to the:

OVERVIEW

RAISE STUDENTS’ AWARENESS ABOUT:

✴ Copying or lifting phrases or clauses from the rubric ✴ Repeating the exact wording of the question

➢ Copied words are detracted

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Synonyms and paraphrases• Students need to expand their vocabulary

• Expose students to authentic materials (e.g. newspapers articles, The Economist daily charts)

• Gapfill exercises

• Consolidation exercises aimed at recycling vocabulary

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Task 2 MOST COMMON PROBLEMS IN ESSAY WRITING

A PARAGRAPH is a paragraph is a paragraph is a paragraph is a paragraph

✓ You absolutely have to insist on this

✓ Paragraphing helps progression, which is assessed according to COHESION AND COHERENCE

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LACK OF EXAMPLES AND REASONS

DIFFERENT SIDES OF AN ARGUMENT ARE NOT DISCUSSED

NO PLANNING

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Task 2 POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

• Have DISCUSSIONS in class

• Promote DEBATES based on contemporary issue

• Divide the class into groups for BRAINSTORMING PURPOSES

• Have students to discuss PROS AND CONS

• This should be followed by some Writing practice

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SKILLSIELTS is not JUST about

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY

Students DO have to write in: CLEAR, COHERENT, WELL-ORGANISED ENGLISH

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BUT LET’S NOT FORGET ABOUT

•STRATEGY

•TIME MANAGEMENT

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TIME MANAGEMENT• TASK 1 20 minutes

• TASK 2 40 minutes

• Students are subject to time restrictions THIS MEANS

PLANNING IS CRUCIAL

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BAND 6 BAND 7• Strategy and planning increase students’ chances of

SUCCESS Contrary to what might be generally expected: Band 6 : LR attempts to use less common vocabulary but with some inaccuracy makes some errors in spelling and/or word formation, but they do not impede communication

•

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• Band 6 : GR makes some errors in grammar and punctuation but they rarely reduce communication Band 7: LR may produce occasional errors in word choice, spelling and/or word formation Band 7: GR produces frequent error-free sentences has good control of grammar and punctuation but may make a few errors

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GRAMMAR & VOCAB• Task 1: Past and future tenses Active vs Passive voice Adjectives & adverbs + Collocations Comparison & Approximation + Contrastive devices Prepositions Modals Vocab for trends and movements

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GRAMMAR & VOCAB cont.• Task 2 Impersonal contructions IT constructions Passive voice Participle clauses Noun phrases Linking devices