Developing writing skills in english teachers handbook

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DEVELOPING | WRITING SKILLS IN ENGLISH Doug Case & John Milne EACHERS’ HANDBOOK A, PTRUNG TÂM BỌC LŠU E116 vn — TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ- ĐHOGHN j

TRUONG DAI HOC NGOAINGU- BHAGHN

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Heinemann Educational Books Ltd 22 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3HH

LONDON EDINBURGH MELBOURNE AUCKLAND SINGAPORE KUALALUMPUR NEW DELHI IBADAN NAIROBL JOHANNESBURG EXETER (NH) KINGSTON British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Case, Doug Developing writing skills in English Teachers’ handbook 1 English language—Text book for foreigners 2 English language—Writing I Title I Milne, John 808'.042 PE1128.A2 ISBN 0 435 28022 8

(Students’ Book ISBN 0 435 28021 X)

(Students' Workbook ISBN 0 435 28023 6) (CassetteISBN 0 435 28024 4)

Reprinted 1987

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CONTENTS 1 The components of the course

2 Introduction to the course

3 General teaching plan for each unit

Unit 1: information about yourself Unit 2: Your country

Unit 3: An invitation

Unit 4: A list of instructions Unit 5: This is what happened

Unit 6: Letters of enquiry

Appendix One: Suggestions for extension work

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1 The components of the course

Developing Writing Skills in English is the second bock of a writing skills course which began with Basic Writing Skills in

English by T C Jupp and John Milne It can be used by

students in the higher classes in secondary schools, in further and higher education centres and by adult learners, whether or not they have completed Basie Writing Skills in English

The components of the course are as follows:

STUDENTS’ BOOK

This consists of six units Each unit has seven sections:

Reading, Vocabulary Study, Preparation, Your Writing, Every-

day Written Tasks, Rules of Written English and Listening WORKBOOK

Written exercises which are to be done in the Workbook are

indicated in the Students’ Book by the symbol @® CASSETTE

The Reading passages and the material for the Listening

section are also available on the cassette which accompanies the course This cassette is an optional element Teachers

themselves can read the Reading passages and the material for the Listening exercises is given in this handbook in the teaching notes for the Listening section

| TEACHERS’ HANDBOOK

This Teachers’ Handbook gives a general introduction to the

course and unit-by-unit teaching notes

| Teachers who have already used Basic Writing Skills in

ị English (BWSE) will find that the format and techniques of

that book are continued in Developing Writing Skills in English

There are, however, a few changes in format:

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2 Developing Writing Skills in English

(ii) A greater variety of question-types follow the Reading passages

(iii) The Vocabulary Study sections are ‘activated’ by the

addition of question-and-answer and note-making activi- ties

(iv) A new feature — Listening — comes at the end of each

unit

New types of writing, new vocabulary items, and new grammar features are introduced and practised At the same time,

Developing Writing Skills recycles many of the topics, vocab-

ulary items and grammar features which have already been

introduced in Basic Writing Skills

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2 Introduction to the course

The aims of the course

The overail aim of the course is to enable students to develop

those skills which they need in order to write English which is

clear and fluent in style and which is suited to the purpose

and content of a particular piece of writing

In order to help students achieve this overall aim, special

attention has been given in the course to the choice of topics,

to the arrangement of the subject matter within the topics, and to those grammatical features which are used to link

sentences together in any piece of continuous writing

The topics of the units have been chosen so that the students can relate to them easily Students already face the

difficult task of writing in a foreign language and it would greatly increase the difficulty of this task if they were asked to

write about topics which were quite unfamiliar to them For this reason, we have chosen topics which allow the students

to write about things within their own experience — for

example, about themselves, their interests and hobbies,

about their own country and about events in which they have taken part

The emphasis which we give to the organization of the content within each topic is based on our own classroom experience Students often know what they want to say, but they do not know how to arrange what they want to say in a way which is clear and logical in English By studying the way the content of the Reading passages is arranged and by following the Guide provided in the Your Writing sections, students will learn how to organize the content of their own

writing

We have also emphasized certain grammatical features

which are used to link sentences together in any piece of

continuous writing in English Examples of these grammatical linking features which are covered in various exercises in DWSE are pronominal reference, the definite and indefinite

articles, sequence markers (firstly, next etc.) tenses and time markers Students who aim to learn how to write a piece of

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The writing skills: overcoming the difficulties

Writing skills are the most difficult skills to master in a second

language In seeking to overcome some of the difficulties

which students and teachers often experience in writing

lessons, this book continues the approach used in BWSE At the level of grammatical difficulty, students are likely to have already covered in their main course book all the linguistic forms required in this course Any language forms

which they have not encountered, because they are peculiar to continuous writing, are adequately presented and prac-

tised Students will, of course, have to deal with new vocabul-

ary, but this difficulty is greatly reduced by the illustrations

Students can often achieve a high degree of correctness in

written English when they concentrate on one or two gram-

matical features in single-sentence exercises These students cannot hope to achieve the same standard in continuous

writing because the skills are not the same But frequently students are not given any special preparation for the skills required in continuous writing As a result, they make so many mistakes that teachers have no opportunity to consider

whether students have anything of value to say in their

writing or whether they know how to say it Because of this type of discouraging experience, some teachers have argued

that continuous writing should be delayed until the later stages of language learning and, in some situations, it has been pushed out of the syllabus altogether The basic argument is that students should not be allowed to tackle con-

tinuous writing or ‘composition’ until they have shown clearly

that they are able to write English correctly But there is a serious flaw in this argument How can students learn how to write correct continuous English unless they are given the chance to do so?

Why is it that the teaching of continuous writing can go so

far wrong that teachers think it better not to tackle it at all?

First of all, students often have great difficulty in understanding what is expected in continuous writing in English This is particularily so when the written style and conventions of their

own language are very different from English, as in the case, for example, of written Arabic Secondly, students need heip

with the choice, planning and arrangement of content, which in this course we refer to as ‘content organization’ Lastly,

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introduction to the course 5 continuous writing do not occur in the study of single sentence grammar In this course, students are made aware of and required to tackle these difficulties of expectations, content and grammar in a systematic way

Another important area of difficulty is motivation and confidence, Motivation has to be tackled through the choice

of content and the opportunity for some element of personal communication But motivation is also strongly affected by

self-confidence It is an important principle of the method-

clogy of this course to build up student confidence in two

ways Firstly, the preparatory work is planned so that students are not likely to make many mistakes and, as a result of

this preparation, they can then successfully tackle their piece

of writing at their own level Secondly, students are made responsible for correcting their own work before giving it to their teacher

We do not accept that learning writing skills in English has to be unduly difficult or unsatisfactory Learning to express yourself and undertake certain tasks in written English can be an enjoyable and profitable experience for students and teachers alike Writing classes can become much more than simply part of the English language syllabus They can become experiences which enable students to be more aware

of their personalities and of their capabilities —- and such

experiences are one of the chief ends of all education

Types of writing covered in this course

Three main types of continuous writing are dealt with: Factual description of people and places (Units 1, 2) Narration of past events (Unit 5)

Instructions (Unit 4)

Several types of formal and informal letters are dealt with

(Units 1, 3, 6), and the course also covers other common

types of written English such as completing forms, making

notes, labelling maps and diagrams and writing telegrams

and postcards

Acomplete summary of the course can be found in Appendix

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6 Developing Writing Skilis in English The contents of each unit

Each unit of work in the Students’ Book is arranged in the following sections:

Topic: A title and brief description of the topic and type of

writing task

Reading: These passages introduce the topic and provide

-relevant examples of the arrangement of content and the

use of language They are followed by questions to check comprehension, and are recorded on the cassette for

possible ‘Look and listen’ follow-up

Vocabulary Study: These sections provide illustrations and notes on vocabulary and usage, based on the Reading

passages, and also include items which the students are likely to need in their own writing

Preparation: Oral and written exercises on grammatical

points and the choice and arrangement of subject matter

—< aoe

Your Writing: A simple guide for the studénts’ own writing, and instructions on checking their own work afterwards Everyday Written Tasks: These sections deal with everyday

written tasks which do not require continuous written

English (such as addressing envelopes, labelling maps and diagrams, writing telegrams, making notes for a curriculum vitae) or require only smail amounts of continuous written English {replying to informal invitations, writing postcards)

Rules of Written English: Guidance and exercises on punctuation and spelling

Listening: Exercises using the dictation principle in a variety of ways, such as making changes in a text, noting facts

and figures in a table, or extracting and noting essential

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introduction to the course 7 The contents of the Workbook

In the first three sections of each unit (Reading, Vocabulary

Study, Preparation), only some of the Students’ Book exercises are included in the Workbook However, the exercises in

the remaining four sections of each unit (Your Writing, Everyday Written Tasks, Rules of Written English, Listening), are always included in the Workbook

Topics and subject matter

We have already emphasized the importance of the choice of topics for writing practice and the detailed help which students need in planning the content of their writing if they are to'learn successfully We shall now examine some of the reasons for this more closely and outline the approach we have adopted to the planning of the content of student

writing —- ‘content organization’

We write in order to communicate and communication

presupposes that we have an audience and that we have

something we want to say to that audience So, in the first

instance, the form of a piece of writing is decided by its

purpose and its content It is therefore essential for students

to understand the real purpose of a piece of writing and to

have a reader in mind It is also necessary to include step-by-

step questions and exercises on the analysis, selection and planning of subject matter with this writing purpose in mind The traditional approach to the teaching of composition-

writing has always recognized the importance of content We think the traditional approach is right in principle, but has to be closely related to detailed and practical work on organiza-

tion of content and language study

A major difficulty for students in writing for a purpose and for a reader is that the classroom is an artificial situation, and

no amount of instructions ‘to imagine’ or ‘to pretend’ can

overcome this fact One answer to this problem of classroom artificiality is to use continuous writing as a means of-en-

couraging students to express themselves; to say in writing how they see and experience the world around them This broad, and rather idealistic aim of self-expression is also essential to a sense of motivation for students (as suggested

earlier) and, if this aim is ignored, students soon cease to feel

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teaching of writing skills then degenerates into the sterile

practice of impersonal exercises and grammatical forms

But, although students’ interest and motivation can be raised by giving them an opportunity for self-expression, students still need to feel they are writing for a reader Given the usual classroom situation, students will assume that the

only person they are writing for is a teacher who often seems

much more interested in finding mistakes in their work than in finding out what the students have to say In order to help

overcome this difficulty, we have created many opportunities for pair and group practice with the questions and Prepara-

tion exercises In this way, a sense of real communication can

be built up between individual students in the classroom There is also the recommendation, in the Correction suggestions accompanying Your Writing and Listening, that stu-

dents should read each other's work Finally, teachers can

regularly read out the better compositions to the whole class

Students can then feel that they do have a wider sympathetic and interested audience

Teachers and learners are more motivated if they understand the relationship between classroom work and use of

English in the real world outside the classroom But the

acquisition of skills in continuous writing is a slow process and a course of this sort can only include a few types of writing On the other hand, many real tasks using written

language do not demand the advanced skills of continuous writing, but only require knowledge of special conventions

and usage and some practice As well as pieces of continuous writing, therefore, work is also included on understanding

and completing forms, on letter layout and conventional

openings and closings of letters, on writing telegrams and

notes, and on understanding and labelling maps and dia-

grams These more ‘restricted’ types of writing are particularly taken up in the section in each unit called Everyday Written

Tasks

These then are the three principles which have guided our selection and handling of topics and content: the need for

students to understand the aim of a piece of writing and to analyse and plan content accordingly; the need for an element of self-expression; and the need for students to con- unue their learning of some other more limited written skills

which they can see applied in the world around them At

times, the demands ofthese principles can be in conflict with

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introduction to the course 9 emphasis to one than to another For example, the descrip- tions, narratives and letters in Units 1, 3 and 5 are personal,

whereas the sequence of instructions in Unit 4 and the factual

description in Unit 2 are impersonal An outline of the type of

writing for each unit is given in the sections entitled Genera/ aim at the beginning of the teaching notes on each unit in this

book An overall summary of topics, type of writing, and

content organization is given in Appendix Two: Summary of

content and language at the back of this book

Content organization

Help is given to students on what to say and on the organization of content by:

providing Reading passages based on the topic

showing students how the content of a piece of writing on this topic can be organized

relating the Preparation exercises (oral and written) to the topic and to the same pattern of content organization

providing useful vocabulary in the Vocabulary Study sections, as well as in the Reading passages and the exercises

5 providing a Guide to content organization for students’

own writing in the Your Writing sections

he

6

NS

Reading passages

The Reading passages offer students examples of how to write on the topic, but they are not intended to be treated as sample or model pieces of writing, except in the case of ‘restricted’ writing tasks (for example, the brief letter of enquiry in Reading 7, Unit 6) They are meant rather to arouse

the students’ interest in the topic and to show how the topic

can be written about

Content organization through a unit

The headings which are used in some of the Reading passages and regularly before each section of the questions on these passages show how the content of the various pass-

ages is organized This pattern of content organization ther often recurs in the Preparation exercises Finally, the Your Writing section contains a Guide for students, which sets out

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check-list under each heading for them to follow in their own writing The aim in making the organization of content expli-

cit In these various ways is to show students how to plan and

arrange their own ideas on a topic

A study of how content can be organized is very important

for a number of reasons:

1 Students are being trained to analyse the content organization of a piece of writing and in the process will become conscious of its importance and the choices and variations

which exist

2 They may compare the organization of content on a topic in English and in their own language This may be important when the style of the two languages is very different in this respect

3 This work will give students a solid basis for planning their

writing when they come later to completely free writing

and to writing in examinations

There is no suggestion that the particular pattern of content organization presented and used in a unit is the only way or the most correct way of arranging content for a piece of writing on the topic The organization of content used illus-

trates only one way Students of above average ability will be able to expand, develop and vary the headings given in the

Guide to suit their own interests and capabilities Students who follow the headings closely will be able to produce a

competent piece of continuous writing Preparation sections

All the oral and written exercises are closely related to the

topic Some exercises concentrate on specific grammatical points; some provide further examples of simple writing on

the topic; others enable students to choose and organize their

own content for their own piece of writing In addition, the Preparation sections provide practice in other very useful

written skills in English, such as completing forms -and making notes

Vocabulary

A lot of useful vocabulary is introduced in the Reading

passages and in the Preparation section This vocabulary can be used in the students’ own writing In addition, each unit

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Introduction to the course 17 Only a few examples are given in any one section, and

teachers-should regularly encourage students to ask for the vocabulary they want for their own writing

Language and Grammar

We have already briefly outlined the basis for the selection of grammatical and other language points for the course (see

page 3) We shail now outline this approach in greater detail and explain the type of analysis and of practice material used

in the course

Sentences in continuous writing are linked together in

three main ways:

First by position: The order of the sentences implies a meaningful relationship between them This is why the care-

ful organization of content is so important

Second by vocabulary: Sentences are linked by the repetition

of key items of vocabulary, by the use of synonyms (lexical

equivalents) and sometimes by the use of antonyms {lexical opposites)

Third by grammar: Awhole range of grammar is used to link sentences, including:

— substitution: particularly pronouns, other forms of pronominal reference (e.g the definite article), and auxiliary

verbs (e.g “Yes, | do.’) which are used to refer back, often without having to repeat words, phrases and clauses

— forms which show time and place relationships: adjectivals, adverbials, sequences of tenses, etc

— logical connectors (e.g finally, so, but, etc.)

Clauses within sentences are linked together in similar ways as well as by conjunctions

Language and grammar points in the course have been

chosen so as to provide students with language which is relevant to continuous writing and to the particular type of

writing in each unit There is practice in all the main features of sentence- and clause-linking described above This matter

of inter-sentence relationship is rarely dealt with explicitly in textbooks on grammar Many of the exercises in the Prepar- ation sections of units are specifically designed to draw the students’ attention to these various devices An example of

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England is part of Great Britain Great Britain is an island

‘ts closest neighbours are Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands

From this example, students can see the importance of the repetition of the keyword and the back-reference in the

possessive jts The accompanying exercise enables them to practise these features Such exercises may be unfamiliar to students, but when the techniques have been pointed out to them and when they have practised these techniques, they

will find that the style and correctness of their own writing improve considerably

it will be clear that the aim of the language work in the

course is not to provide mechanical practice in the whole

range of general grammatical structures Plenty of such

practice is already available for students in their main course book or in supplementary grammar practice books More general points of grammar dealt with in the exercises have been chosen on the basis of their relevance to the type of writing covered in a unit For example, the past simple tense, passive voice, and the past continuous tense are practised

because of their relevance to narrative (Unit 5), and the

present continuous tense referring to future arrangements is

used in the context of invitations (Unit 3)

Finally, students are given help with punctuation and spell-

ing Each unit includes a section on Rules of Written English which presents useful and simple rules for some aspects of

punctuation and speiling in English Each rule is preceded by examples of the rule and students should be asked to study

these carefully After learning the rules and doing the exercises, students can be asked to look again at their own written work and check if they have followed the rules correctly

An overall summary of points of language and grammar and rules of punctuation and spelling is given in Appendix

Two: Summary of content and language at the back of this book

Heip is given to students in understanding and practising

the language they need for each topic by:

1 providing Reading passages which contain examples of the type of structures and grammar needed to write on the

topic :

2 providing Preparation exercises (oral and written) which give intensive practice to language as well as preparing

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Introduction to the course 13

3 instructing students to check particular language points in

the Correction instructions for their own writing

We have already explained how these same sections are used

to help students prepare the organization of content (see

p.9) `

Reading passages and questions

The Reading passages provide examples of language structures used when writing on the topic After the passages, there are questions which often require understanding or use of the

same structures

Preparation sections

There are exercises in the Preparation sections which introduce key language points for the unit with examples from the

Reading passages Students often have to read through the

Reading passages again in order to find further examples At

the same time, they learn a name for the language point which will be useful at the Correction stage and in later classroom discussion,

Your Writing: Correction

Correctness in writing is more than a matter of practice — it is

essentially a matter of responsibility Teachers who offer to correct their students’ written work without insisting on the

students themselves checking it thoroughly are not only

adding considerably to their already heavy workload — they

are, in fact, not helping their students The Correction section given in each unit is specifically designed to make students

aware that they are responsible for their own work by asking them to check the particular language points they have been practising in the Preparation exercises They should also

check points of punctuation and spelling they have covered in Rules of Written English \t is only when students develop this

sense of responsibility that they will be capable of writing

English without numerous, unnecessary mistakes In exam-

inations and tests, it is the teachers’ responsibility to mark

and take note of the mistakes their students are making In

practice situations, when the students are learning to write, it is the students’ responsibility always to correct their own

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3 General teaching plan for each unit

Introducing the topic

Read out the title and discuss with your students It is often possible for you to give a brief oral example of what can be said about the topic based on your own experience Suggest- ions on how to do this are given in the Teaching Notes on

each unit It is also often a good idea to use local pictures,

maps, booklets, etc to introduce the topic further to the students The type of material you need in order to do this is listed under Teachers’ Preparation in the notes on each unit Reading passages and questions

By following these four steps for each Reading passage,

teachers will encourage students to work on their own and to

practise private, silent reading

1, Bring the illustrations to students’ attention and explain

their relevance Then explain any major difficulties — see Teaching Notes

2, Students read through the passage silently, asking questions only if they are totally unable to understand Stu- dents who have completed BWSE will be familiar with the system of content organization reflected in the passages

themselves and the accompanying questions If students

have not used BWSE, show them that the questions that follow the passages are arranged under content organiz-

ation headings

3 Do the questions on each passage immediately after the students’ silent reading (There is a variety of question-

types: ‘straight’ questions, True/False statements, ‘Cover the page and answer’ etc.) Students can work in pairs and ask and answer questions orally All factually correct answers should be accepted, and some variation of

answers may be possible If students need extra writing practice, they can write out some or all of the answers

When students are writing ariswers, you may ask them to

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General teaching plan for each unit 15

sentences will be examples of the kind of language they

will need to use in their own writing

4, When the questions have been answered, students read

the passage again This time it can be read out loud in

pairs, or by selected students to the whole class If you have the cassette, the passage can be piayed at this stage

for the students to hear They can follow it in their books as

they listen

As each unit contains more than one Reading passage, you

may sometimes want to vary this suggested treatment in a

single unit

Vocabulary Study

Make sure that all the words and illustrations are fully understood These sections always include an exercise (oral

or written) which enables the students to put the vocabulary

to inimediate use, and to prepare for its use in their own

writing later in the unit Preparation

There is a wide variety of different types of exercises Most are for writing, but many are designed to be done orally first Always make sure that the students see the relevance of each

exercise to the content and language they need for their own writing Notes on different types of exercises are given below 1 Completion based on a grammatical feature

Example: Unit 1, Exercise One -

This is a traditional type of exercise, often involving the insertion of a particular part of speech such as a tense Students should find no difficulty with these exercises, but

point out how they link up with the topic of the unit 2 Completion based on inter-sentence relationships

Example: Unit 2, Exercise Four

This type of exercise may be unfamiliar See the section on

Language and Grammar, page 11, for a full explanation

Examples are always given at the beginning of these

exercises Study them carefully with the students Once the example is understood, students should find them easy

3 Sentence-joining with conjunctions Example: Unit 6, Exercise Three

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sentences is an important feature of continuous writing, and involves points such as the possible omission of

subject pronouns when clauses are joined by a conjunc-

tion

4 Finding examples in the passages

Example: Unit 4, Exercise Six

This can be done in pairs with the students pointing out the examples to each other Or students can be asked to write out examples in full The specific examples are always related to the next exercise, and this should be

brought to the students’ attention

5 Substitution tables or completion dialogues Example: Unit 1, Exercise Three

Make sure that the students understand how the sentences are to be generated from the table They should practise in pairs

6 Completion of forms

Example: Unit 1, Exercise Five

These generaily follow the format of a form or similar text in the Reading passages, and the students should thus be familiar with the headings

7 Completion based on illustrations and diagrams

Example: Unit 1, Exercise Six

Ensure that the students understand the illustration or diagram before they do the exercise

8 Making notes in preparation for writing

Example: Unit 3, Exercise Eight

Where these exercises occur, they immediately precede

the Your Writing section, in which the notes made will be

used An example is always given of the way in which the notes could be set out The students can work in pairs

Note: Ail blanks in exercises in the Students’ Book are indicated by four dots ( ) whether one word or a number

of words are needed to complete the blank In the Workbook, the space given is always appropriate to the space required

for the answer:

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General teaching plan for each unit 17

already be familiar with the mechanics of the grammatical

forms practised in the preparation exercises and needed in their writing The aim of the exercises is to show how to use

_ these forms in continuous writing If students are having real

difficulty with the mechanics of any particular forms, you

should give them some additional exercises from a structure

practice book

Students’ writing (Your Writing)

Go back to the topic heading and also remind students of the content of the Reading passages Make sure they understand

the type of writing they are going to produce and its purpose

Read through the Content organization headings given in the

Guide Explain where necessary The average student should be encouraged to follow the Guide closely Above average students can be encouraged to develop and expand the steps

suggested Students should make notes using the Guide They should then write their first rough draft in their notebooks This can be done in the classroom or at home

Correction

Ask students to exchange their written work with other

students To overcome shyness, students can be allowed to

exchange their work with their friends Read through the

steps listed and make sure that the students understand what is expected of them Time spent on encouraging students to take these steps seriously and to regard them as a very

important part of learning to write compositions will be well spent When the students’ rough work has been thoroughly checked and corrected, ask them to write the corrected version of their writing in the appropriate page of their Workbook

Everyday Written Tasks

These exercises can be done by students working individually or in pairs Make sure students understand any visual or

tabular material provided and what is expected of them

Explain to students when or why people need to carry out

these written tasks and explain the possible relevance these exercises can have to their own future use of English

Rules of Written English

Study example: t gà ions of

the rules The TACEMALEGEAIG ONIN Seana After

PRUNG TAM HOC LIEU

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the exercises have been completed, students should look again at their own writing and check that they have followed

the rules correctly

(See also Teaching Notes to Unit 1, page 21.) Listening

The exercises in this section in each unit make use of dictation in a variety of ways (see above, page 6) Full instructions are given in the Students’ Book and in the Teaching Notes in this book, as each unit's exercise is of a different type The recorded material on the cassette can be substituted for the teacher's voice if desired

Other notes

Use of the students’ first language

This course has been carefully designed so that students can

know what they are doing and why in relation to learning to

write English You may find that it is quite often quicker or more effective to give some of your explanations of types of

writing, or the purpose of exercises, in the students’ own

language Obviously, you will also save time with some individual items of vocabulary if you provide a translation Workbook

One of the aims of the Workbook is to provide the students with a record of their own work Such a record demonstrates

to students their development and: progress with writing during the whole course For this reason, it is recommended

that all rough work is done in notebooks and then copied into the Workbook This method will provide students with a Workbook they can be proud of, which will motivate them, and which they can use for revision work A simple and clear handwriting style has been used for the completion exercises throughout the Workbook Students will use their own style of handwriting

The handwriting style of the Workbook, however, does: provide a model and can be used for remedial work if

required

Teachers’ preparation for each unit

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General teaching plan foreach unit 19

teachers may find useful to do before teaching the unit You

are advised to make sure you look at these suggestions several days before you are going to teach the unit

Unit-by-unit notes

The rest of this Teachers’ Handbook contains detailed notes on each unit, to be used in conjunction with this Genera/

teaching plan The unit notes also contain a key to many of

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Unit 1: Information about

yourself

Analysis

General aim

To write a personal factual description

Students learn how to write about themselves and their interests, and to set these facts in a formal letter (to a pen-friend service)

This first unit is a fairly straightforward one, which

(a} establishes the four characters who will reappear

throughout the book,

(b) revises several basic points — grammatical items and the

format of letters,

{c) enables the students to begin the book by writing about

themselves in a simple but realistic way

Introducing yourself

Nationality Age

Interests and hobbies Type of pen-friend required

These headings are used in the questions on Reading Pass- ages A and B, and in the form-filling (Exercise Five), The

letter-layout (into which they are integrated) is revised in

Reading Passage B and in Exercise Six Language points

(i) pronoun /, possessive my

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information about yourself 21

Practice with articles is included in this book (as in BWSE}, as they often cause difficulty for learners of English Examples

recur throughout the book, and there is another exercise in

Unit 4 (Exercise Two) Throughout this book, it is presumed that students will have learnt the basic mechanics of the grammatical features in their main language course They are highlighted and practised here because of their relevance to the particular writing tasks

Teachers’ preparation

1 Bring a world map to the class This will help to situate the

four characters in England, Bahrain, Australia and Spain 2 if a local magazine has a pen-friend column, bring a copy

of this to the class

3 If you yourself have English-speaking friends outside your

country, make notes about them Use the headings from

Teaching notes

Topic: Information about yourself

Introduce the topic of pen-friends, by asking the students if

they have any, by talking about people with whom you

correspond yourself, and by reference to the magazine pen- friend column (if appropriate)

Using the world map, discuss the countries where English is spoken around the world, and ask the students if they

would be particularly interested in any one area

Note: The ‘Worldwide Pen-friend Service’ mentioned in this

unit is fictional ‘International Penfriends’, however (Exercise Seven, 3), is a real pen-friend service, and the address given

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Reading Passage A

Indicate Bahrain, England and Australia on the map

Check understanding of various sports mentioned

Comment on different styles of postal addresses, if

necessary :

Ask if students share any of the interests and hobbies

mentioned

Oxford is situated north-west of London, and has a

population of about 110,000 It is famous for its university, founded in the thirteenth century, and its architecture There are some industries, including car manufacture Sydney is a port in S.E Australia, and is the capital of the

state of New South Wales it has a population of about

three million, and its Opera House is world-famous

(The students will find out more about England and Australia in Unit 2.)

Reading Passage B

Indicate where Fernando lives, on the map

Layout of letter — point out the features of the formal layout This should be revision for most students, but an exercise is provided later to consolidate it (Exercise Six)

Vocabulary Study

Students practise asking and answering questions orally, using the illustrations, and finally note down their hobb-

ies as indicated Exercise One

Students refer back to the Reading Passages as necessary

Note that the conjunction and is used to connect phrases (My hobbies are reading and collecting stamps ), and to connect clauses ( collecting stamps, and my favourite sport is football) A comma is inserted after stamps for clarity

Exercise Three :

If students are not familiar with the way substitution

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Point out that correspond with is more formal than write to

Teenagers are between the ages of 13 and 19 Young people could represent the ages of 15 to 25

Exercise Four

As in BWSE, the term zero article is used for cases where neither the definite article the nor the indefinite article a/an is used

Discuss the two ways of setting out addresses Point out

that both are possible when writing or typing The Work-

book exercise thus invites the students to write two examples of each style

The real pen-friend service is No 3;-No 4 is fictional The postcode in British addresses has taken on a greater importance in recent years, because of the automation of

the sorting process

Hants is the abbreviation for the county of Hampshire

Either can be written Rules of Written English

The aim of these sections throughout the course — as in

BWSE — is to give some simple rules which students can

easily and usefully apply The rules we have given are correct general statements However, teachers will be

aware that there are many variations and exceptions in English usage, particularly to the rules given on punctuation Teachers who are interested can look up further details in a reference book

However, teachers are ‘strongly advised against giving

their students complicated explanations of these rules,

because students will become very confused Students

may notice examples in their English books which are different from the rules given here Teachers are advised to explain the situation briefly and advise students to foliow the rule here

Listening

Play the cassette, on which the letter is read as follows, or

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24 Developing Writing Skills in English 57, Queen Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 21st December 1982 Worldwide Pen-friend Service P.O, Box 67, Andover, Hampshire, England Dear Sir/Madam,

1am Australian, and | am thirteen years old

My hobbies are cooking and collecting stamps |am

very interested in sports, especially volleyball and

table-tennis

| would like to write to boys and girls in England and

North America Can you help me? Yours faithfully,

Tom Sor@s

TOM JONES

Read (play) once, while the students follow the version in the Students’ Book Then read (play) again, for the students to make the changes in their Workbooks After they have compared their versions with each other,

correct on the blackboard

Key to Exercises Note concerning all units:

(a) Answers are not given to questions on Reading passages, (b)

where they are extremely straightforward Occasionally,

answers to less straightforward questions are given

Answers are not given to exercises which require individual answers from each student (for example, in this

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substitution tables Gor example, in this unit, Exercise

Three)

Answers to other exercises are given Even so, when other answers are possible, they should be accepted as long as they are appropriate and linguistically correct

Exercise One

1 | am fifteen years old My hobbies are cooking and reading, and my favourite sport is table-tennis

2 lam sixteen years old My hobbies are music and listening to the radio, and my favourite sports are volleyball and

swimming

3 | am seventeen years old My hobby is music, and my

favourite sports are sailing and surfing Exercise Two 1 [like music 2 like reading - 3 Llike /istening to the radio 4, llike watching TV Exercise Four

lam a Japanése girl, and | am fourteen years old My hobbies

are painting and drawing, and collecting stamps | like sports, especially tennis and swimming, and | like going to the

cinema | would like to correspond with young people all over

the world

Exercise Six

2 the closing of the letter

the sender’s name in block letters

the date

the opening of the letter

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26 Developing Writing Skills in English Exercise Seven

The line-divisions in the four addresses are as follows (stu-

dents should write two addresses like Type B (indented) and

two like Type A (not indented)):

1 Jane Thompson, / 25, Wilton Street, / Oxford OX3 9DQ, /

England

2 Tony Barrett, / 47, Queen Street, / Sydney, / New South

Wales, / Australia

3 International Penfriends, / 46, Frere Avenue, / Fleet, / Hanis GU13 8AP, / England

4 The Worldwide Pen-friend Service, / PO Box 67, / Andover, / Hampshire, / England

Exercise Eight

living making having agreeing giving

writing seeing leaving choosing driving

Exercise Nine

cycling reading writing letters

taking photographs

Exercise Ten

Italian Bahraini lragi Chinese French

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Unit 2: Your country

Analysis General aim

To write a factual description

Students learn how to write a factual description of their country Content organization Position Area Population Climate Landscape

Exports & imports

These headings are used in Reading Passage A (the reference book entry) and its questions; also in the questions on

Reading Passage B (the extract from the letter) They also recur in Exercises One and Five (form-filling) — all in preparation for the students’ own writing

Language points `

(i) adjectives in the superlative (ii) adjectival phrases with with (iii) repeating keywords

(iv) possessive adjective its

The exercise on repeating keywords and possessive /ts (Exer-

cise Four) is of a type which may be unfamiliar to students who have not studied BWSE It is based on the relationship between sentences: a feature of discourse, rather than an individual structural item (See above, page 15)

1 Bring maps of Australia and Great Britain’ to class, to

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2 Bring a world map, to show the countries mentioned in Exercises Three and Four

3 Prepare brief notes about the students’ country, using the

headings given in Content organization \f possible, bring

an encyclopaedia or other reference book with such an

entry in the students’ own language Also, if possible,

photographs of the country’s imports and exports

4 Ask the students to find out this information about their

own country from reference books, before the lesson

Teaching notes Topic: Your country

Discuss the students’ own country, using the facts they have discovered and your own notes Discuss under the headings

from Content organization Show any photographs or encyclopaedia entries which you have available

Reading Passage A

Indicate Australia and the other geographical locations on the map

temperate — neither extremely hot, nor extremely cold

Note that this passage, being a reference book entry, uses abbreviations (sq.kms., Dec to Feb., e.g.), and often

short phrases instead of full sentences This note-form

will be used by the students in Exercise One Vocabulary Study

Discuss the vocabulary with the students, who should

decide which items are relevant to their country and then ask and answer the questions

Reading Passage B

This passage uses the same content organization as Passage A, but this time in full sentences and paragraphs

(as it is an extract from a letter) The students’ own writing {( Your Writing) will be in this style

mild — not severe Exercise One

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Yourcountry 29

Exercise Two

This exercise includes three types of superlatives: adding -est (old, long), adding -st (close), doubling the final

consonant and adding -est (big)

Exercise Four

As noted above, under Language points, this type of exercise may not be familiar to the students If this is the case, spend a few moments ensuring that it is clearly understood

Exercise Five

The students use the information they have discovered from reference books, or from your opening discussion Everyday Written Tasks

Students study the map of ‘Agriculture in Australia’ For

their own map, they decide on agriculture or industry (whichever is more appropriate for their country, or of greater interest), and then consult reference books for the

relevant information Listening

Read out (or play cassette} to the students: (Words in italics can be omitted if desired)

Towns in Australia

Adelaide The population was nine hundred and

thirty-three thousand, three hundred in nineteen seventy-nine

Seaport

Industries: oil refining, cars, chemicals,

sugar

Brisbane The population was one million, fifteen

thousand, two hundred in nineteen

seventy-nine

Australia’s biggest river port

Canberra The population was two hundred and

forty-one thousand, three hundred in

nineteen seventy-nine Capital of Australia

Melbourne The population was two million, seven

hundred and thirty-nine thousand, seven hundred in nineteen seventy-nine Seaport and international airport

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For the first reading, the students look at the map and form in their books

Then read (play) again, allowing time for the students to

write in their Workbooks Obviously, the populations and dates should be written in figures

When the students have compared their versions, correct on the blackboard and ask the students to read out the populations (This is not as easy as it seems and is well

worth practising.) Key to Exercises

Exercise Two The biggest city

The o/dest university towns The biggest seaports

The /ongestriver

England's c/osest neighbours

KQPWNs

Exercise Three

1 Australia is an island continent with the South Pacific Ocean to the east

2 ltaly is a peninsula with the Adriatic Sea to the east and the Mediterranean to the south

3 Costa Rica is a small country with Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south

4 Canada is a huge country with the USA to the south

Exercise Four

1 Andalucia is part of Spain Spain is a European country Its

closest neighbours are Portugal and France

2 Manama is the capital of Bahrain Bahrain is a group of islands lts closest neighbours are Saudi Arabia and Qatar

3 Mogadischu is the capital of Somalia Somalia is an East

African country Its closest neighbours are Kenya and Ethiopia

Exercise Seven

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Yourcountry 31

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Unit 3: An invitation

Analysis

General aim

To write an informal letter, including an invitation The

students write an informal letter, inviting someone to visit them, but attention is also given to the other sections of such an informal letter: the content (recent news as well as the invitation itself) and mechanics (letter layout, and stages such

as greeting, changing the subject and summing up) Content organization Greeting Recent news Changing the subject Invitation Summing up

These headings are used in the questions on Reading Pass-

ages A and B, and in Exercises Six and Eight The ‘mechanics’

of informal letters are explicitly revised in Exercise Seven

Language points

(i) past simple/present perfect

(ii) present continuous: future arrangements

(ili) could + infinitive: suggestions

(iv) then/there referring back (v) we/they both/all reterring back

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Aninvitation 33

1 Collect a few photographs or posters, showing things or

places of interest to a visitor to the students’ country These will be useful in the preliminary discussion of the topic

Particularly if conventions on invitation-cards are very different in the students’ country, find a few examples to

compare with the English ones in Everyday Written Tasks

Teaching notes Topic: An invitation

Introduce the topic by discussing the best time for a foreign

visitor to visit the students’ country, and the things or places

which it would be interesting for such a visitor to see Use the

photographs or posters

Reading Passage A

The tone of the letter is very informal Note the direct opening (How are you?), the use of ‘lubricating’ words

similar to speech (We/l, Now here’s ), the use of

contractions throughout, and the exclamation mark

The questions on this passage are not exactly in the same

order as the answers to be found in the text Thus a small element of ‘searching’ is involved

The last two questions concern ‘discourse features’

rather than the factual content of the passage Discuss in the students’ own language if necessary

Reading Passage B

- What are you doing in September? — this use of the

present simple tense to talk about future arrangements may be unfamiliar to the students Exercise Two gives

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34 Developing Writing Skilis in English Compare: 1 present continuous: future arrangements i'm playing tennis on Friday

2 going to: intention

(decision already made) /'m going to speak to the manager 3 future simple: decision made at moment of ne trains? OK, I'll go by speaking us 4 future simple: forecasting, possibly 4

some doubt (especially Men probably see you

with perhaps, / think, | wonder, etc.)

5 future simple: formal The Queen will open the

announcement new hospital,

Do not enter into complicated comparisons, however, unless the students request clarification not too hot — hot but not uncomfortable (too hot — hot and uncomfortable) Reading Passage C

Tony’s reply to Fernando’s letter is equally informal

(contractions, exclamation mark)

Vocabulary Study

The students can use the examples provided, but

obviously should ideally answer the questions with sen-

tences which are true for themselves

Exercise One

The two tenses — present perfect and past simple — are

often confused by students of English If the two simple rules given are observed, however, the most common errors will be avoided

Exercise Two

Nothing special — a useful idiomatic expression in reply

to What are you doing ? when the speaker has no

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Aninvitation 35

Exercise Four

After the students have done the exercise, discuss in their language why the text is improved by the substitution of

then and there The back-references obviously remove

the unnecessary repetition This is emphasized if the two texts are read aloud

Exercise Five

Ensure that the students grasp clearly the back-reference

of we both and they aif in the examples: we both = / and Pedro; they all = Jane Thompson and two sisters

Exercise Six

The sentences for completion are taken directly from Fernando’s letter (Reading Passages A and B)

Exercise Seven

The layout of formal letters was revised in Unit 1 (Exer-

cise Six) This exercise revises the layout of informal letters

Exercise Eight

The students can make their notes individually, or they

can work in pairs — making their own notes, but discussing them with their partners The notes will form the

basis for their own writing of the letter of invitation (Your

Writing)

that weekend — in Britain, this would mean Saturday and

Sunday

Replying to informal invitations can be done by using a set format, as shown in the examples The acceptance is a mechanical exercise: the students simply use their own

name and address, and the same framework as in the

example For the refusal, the students again follow the format of the example, but insert a reason of their own

Listening

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36 Developing Writing Skiils in English

— My football team won last week

The score was two-one,

Do you know Mr Smith?

No, | don’t

My favourite book is ‘The Red and the Black’ | read it last year

My mother and father would like to meet you | never eat meat Rw oN vere oe oD

After the students have written the sentences in their

Workbooks and compared versions, they should circle

the homophones Correct by writing — or inviting the

students to write — the sentences on the blackboard

The Red and the Black — Novel (Le Rouge et le Noir),

published in 1831, by the French novelist and critic, Stendhal (pseudonym of Henri Beyle, 1783~1842)

Key to Exercises

Reading Passage A

1 He is fine (Deduced from ‘Everything here is fine.’)

6 that refers to Fernando's previous words (his news about

the football match)

7 here’s refers to Fernando’s next words (the important

thing in his letter: his invitation) Reading Passage B 5 No 6 No Fernando wrote: we a// want to meet you Exercise One

i //ost my wallet this morning 2 /ve just lost my job

3 /ve just passed my driving test

4 / received your letter yesterday

Exercise Four

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