Improving Your English Writing:Improving Your English Writing:An OverviewAn Overview

Tutor: Isabel Yajiao DengTutor: Isabel Yajiao Deng Oct. 11, 2012 Oct. 11, 2012

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.man; and writing an exact man.

- Sir Francis Bacon: Of Studies

阅读使人充实，交谈使人机智，写作使人严谨。

Why do I need to improve my English Why do I need to improve my English writing?writing?

• Writing to express: to share and exchange information or opinions through writing on a daily basis.

• Writing as a thinking tool: the writing process helps clarify our thinking.

AgendaAgenda

I.I. The Writing Process (The Writing Process (写作过程写作过程 ))II.II. English Writing Conventions (English Writing Conventions ( 英语写作规英语写作规

范范 ))III.III. Pitfalls to Avoid in English Writing (Pitfalls to Avoid in English Writing ( 写作写作

误区误区 ))IV.IV. Useful Resources (Useful Resources ( 有用资源有用资源 ))

Common Problems• Writer’s Block: A blank mind in front

of a blank piece of paper;

• Brief essays with general statements only but little substance;

• Language problems: grammar, vocabulary, style

Step 1: Consider Your Audience

• Their Interest

• Their Knowledge

• Their Purpose

Audience-awareness• Who is going to read what I write?• Why will my readers care about this issue? • What will my readers want or need to know

about this issue? • What do my readers already know about

this issue? • What do I want my readers to learn about

the issue? • If I am trying to persuade my readers of

something, how easily will they be persuaded?

• What will my readers use my writing for?

Step 2: Select Your Purpose

Possible Purposes:•to express or share•to entertain or give aesthetic pleasure

•to inform•to persuade

Step 3: Invention 1

• To invent: to develop a topic (to narrow the general topic down and to identify a manageable topic to work on)

• Brainstorming: Getting your ideas on paper so you can give yourself the widest range of topics possible

• Brainstorming Techniques:– Listing– Clustering– Free-writing

Brainstorming

Clustering: Mapping out ideas

Step 3: Invention 2

• Asking journalists’ questions about the assigned general topic:

– Who?– What?– When?– Where?– Why?– How?

Step 3: Invention 3

Rhetoric devices:

• Compare and contrast• Cause and effect• Problem and solution• Analysis • Classification

Step 4: Collection

• Gathering ideas: books, magazines, the Internet, and discussions

• Locating and evaluating research• Conducting interviews

Step 5: Organizing: putting information in an outlineoutline

OUTLINE

I. IntroductionA. Grab attentionB. State thesis

II. BodyA. Build pointsB. Develop ideasC. Support main claim

III. ConclusionA. Reemphasize main idea

Step 6: Drafting

• Give yourself ample time to work on your project.

• Find a comfortable place to do your writing.

• Avoid distractions.• Take breaks.

Step 7: Revising: reviewing ideas

• Review higher-order concerns:– Clear communication

of ideas – Organization of paper– Paragraph structure– Strong introduction

and conclusion

Step 8: Proofreading

• Review later-order concerns:– Spelling– Punctuation– Sentence

structure & grammar

the Writing Process

1. Revising2. Proofreading

1. Audience 2. Purpose3. Invention4. Collection5. Organizing

Drafting

Pre-writing Writing Re-writing

AgendaAgenda

I.I. The Writing Process (The Writing Process ( 写作过程写作过程 ))II.II. English Writing Conventions (English Writing Conventions ( 英语写英语写

作规范作规范 ))III.III. Pitfalls to Avoid in English Writing (Pitfalls to Avoid in English Writing ( 写作写作

误区误区 ))IV.IV. Useful Resources (Useful Resources ( 有用资源有用资源 ))

English Writing ConventionsEnglish Writing Conventions

What makes good writing?

a. Layoutb. Languagec. Organization

a. Layout

Manuscript Preparation Issues

• Punctuation Marks• Capitalization• Formatting Issues:

– 字体、字号、首行缩进、行距、页码设置、封面格式等等

Are they OK to you?

1. Online learning classroom is not a dream.We can achieve it!

2. This will be free style essay :it can be scientific, or imaginative .

3. Does it accurately state your main idea?Is it in fact supported by the paper?Does it need to be changed in any way?

b. Language

Language Issues: vocabulary and grammar

• Accuracy• Effectiveness• Variety

c. Organization

Writing Issues: unity, coherence and organization

Good writing?• We live in a world in which science and technology is

developing very quickly. The development of science needs scientists from all over the world to exchange their work more and more frequently. However, the scientists usually come from different countries and speak different languages. If there isn’t a common language that can be understood by everybody, they won’t understand each other. What’s more, we wish to know what others are doing and what experiences and knowledge we should learn to improve our work, so we must master the foreign language. However, there are countless languages in the world. And we can’t learn all of them. Fortunately, there is one kind of language that is commonly used all over the world—English. Most of the important academic journals are in English, and all the international academic meetings use English. If we master English, we can go to any corner of the world to communicate with the people without knowing their mother tongues. So English is important to scientists.

Revision• English is important to scientist because English, as the

vehicle of information, is the most widely used language in the scientific world. According to statistics, most of the scientific academic journals are in English. Most of the world important academic meetings use English as the working language. And most of the scientists of the world can speak, read, and write English. So, when it comes for scientists from all over the world to exchange their work experiences, the only bridge to mend the language gap is English. As far as China is concerned, if our scientists want to know what the outside scientific world is doing and what they should learn from it, the best vehicle of information to decide on is, no doubt, English. Therefore, English plays a very important role in the academic life of scientists.

Kaplan’s theory: The Asian 'approach by indirection'

• In the Asian rhetorical mode, the writer avoids a direct delineation of thesis (i.e., statement of topic) in the opening sections of text. The thesis may be mentioned towards the middle of the text, towards the end, or indeed perhaps never clearly at all. It is left to the reader to assemble the main thrust of the argument, based upon the clues in the text.

• The loops revolve around the topic and view it from a variety of positions, but never address it directly.

For clarity’s sake:

Place Points Place Points

before before

Particulars!!!Particulars!!!

主旨主旨 // 论点先行，论据随后。论点先行，论据随后。

Good Writing? ① Different people spend their weekends in

different ways ．② Some enjoy going to the mountains to hike ， ski or just relax ．③ Water skiing is much more difficult than snow skiing ．④ Others prefer going to the beach to enjoy the seashore activities and to get a suntan ．⑤ Some of these people work very hard during the week ； others have rather relaxing jobs ．⑥ Still others like to relax by staying home and reading a good book．

Convention: Unity

• Definition: The entire paragraph/essay should concern itself with a single focus. If it begins with one focus or major point of discussion, it should not end with another or wander within different ideas.

Convention: Coherence

• Definition: Coherence is the trait that makes the paragraph/essay easy to follow and understand to a reader.

Life in the city is quite different from life in the suburbs. People living in the city are constantly exposed to the hustle and bustle of urban life ． But life in the suburbs is generally quiet and casual and generally more low-key than in the city ． If city dwellers want to see trees and grass ， they must go to one of the public parks ．On the other hand ， the streets of many suburban communities are lined with trees and shrubs ， and each house has its own grassy yard ．A person living in the city is close to many sources of entertainment ， but people living in suburban areas must go into the city for entertainment ．

Identifying logical and verbal bridges:

Convention: Coherence Coherence Devices

Verbal Bridges:– Pronouns– Synonyms– Repetition of key words or phrases– Demonstrative pronouns

Logical Bridges:– Connectors (transitional words/phrases: therefore, on

the other hand, otherwise, for example, etc.)

Tense Use:– Consistent and proper tense to avoid unintentional

transporting ( 穿越 ）

Features of English academic writing

• Writing is linear.

• It is the writer’s responsibility to convey his/her ideas clearly and effectively to the reader.

So, some So, some challengingchallenging news for the writer: news for the writer: If the reader does not follow you, it is your responsibility.

AgendaAgenda

I.I. The Writing Process (The Writing Process ( 写作过程写作过程 ))II.II. English Writing Conventions (English Writing Conventions ( 英语写作规英语写作规

范范 ))III.III. Pitfalls to Avoid in English Writing (Pitfalls to Avoid in English Writing (

写作误区写作误区 ))IV.IV. Useful Resources (Useful Resources ( 有用资源有用资源 ))

a. Avoid Absolute Statementsa. Avoid Absolute Statements1. Chinese people do not wait their turn and will

squeeze their way onto the bus.2. Americans are aggressive and assertive in

business situations.3. All Americans like to show off their talents and

material wealth.

1. Americans sometimes form a line at the bus stop while waiting for the bus.

2. People from Latin America do not think it is polite to make direct eye contact in certain situations.

3. Japanese are used to living in relatively small space, and they know they sometimes can’t avoid bumping someone accidentally. Therefore, Japanese probably won’t apologize if they bump into you in an elevator.

b. Avoid “Random” Writingb. Avoid “Random” Writing

Everyone has her own lening methods.language is a skill,It is learned through practice reading enough information about it.

Tentative Revision:People may have various strategies

when it comes to the learning of a language. One way to improve language learning would be ample reading practice. …

c. Avoid Excessive Coordinationc. Avoid Excessive Coordination

• In order to improve ability on business, I would like to attend the training during my free time. I always feel tired after the five working days. I don’t want to spend any more time on traffic jam during weekend. The online training is a good method to solve this problem. I do not have to set up meeting times and travel great distances in order to work on a classroom project.

AgendaAgenda

I.I. The Writing Process (The Writing Process ( 写作过程写作过程 ))II.II. English Writing Conventions (English Writing Conventions ( 英语写作规英语写作规

范范 ))III.III. Pitfalls to Avoid in English Writing (Pitfalls to Avoid in English Writing ( 写作误写作误

区区 ))IV.IV. Useful Resources (Useful Resources (有用资源有用资源 ))

Recommended Writing ResourcesRecommended Writing Resources

参考书资源• 《牛津同义词词典》 The Oxford Thesaurus – An A-Z Dictionary

of Synonyms• 《朗文简明英语联想活用词典》 Longman Essential Activator

词汇提高资源• 《 Townsend Press 英语词汇学习丛书》

（共六册）

Recommended Writing ResourcesRecommended Writing Resources

写作书籍资源写作书籍资源

• The Elements of Style (by Strunk & White)• On Writing Well (by William Zinsser)• Writing Analytically (by David Rosenwasser )• Beyond Feelings (by Vincent R. Ruggiero)

Recommended Online ResourcesRecommended Online Resources

视频资源

• 《英语写作系列课程视频》 (The Complete Upgrade Your Writing Series)

• 《英语语法写作系列课程视频 》 (English Grammar Series)

http://www.youku.com/playlist_show/id_3442384.html

Recommended Testing ResourcesRecommended Testing Resources

免费英语测试免费英语测试http://www.beiwaibest.com/

Three “A” trainingThree “A” trainingAwareness training: One can’t write well if he has no knowledge of features of good writing.

Application training: One can’t write well if he has no skill of applying features of good writing to his own writing.

Assessment training: One can’t write well if he has no technique of critically reviewing his own writing and sustainably making progress.

Road to SuccessRoad to Success

Extracurricular Reading/Writing• 精读、泛读结合• 精写、泛写结合

• Improve your feel for the language• Raise your language awareness• Create writing opportunities

Sample use of Model Passages

Read aloud; Recite 朗读背诵 : the feel for the language

Dictation 听写 : language awareness 普特听写文本比较： http://home.putclub.com/tools/find/

Modeling 摹写 : awareness for the language and organization

Take-home MessagesTake-home Messages

• Writing is a process.Writing is a process.• Writing involves thinking.Writing involves thinking.• Writing is rewriting.Writing is rewriting.

Thank you for your Thank you for your participation.participation.

Good luck in your academic Good luck in your academic endeavors! endeavors!