| | Written English
By Leon
of Leon's Planet
©2000 ~ present
How to write for
anything!
IELTS
, TOEFL
, IGCSE , CIE Checkpoint, CIPP,
ELA,
Englsih classes,
Homeschoolers,
etc.
Foreword /
Introduction
Hi.
My name is Leon. I am the webmaster and sole contributor to
content on this website. I have taught English for 25 years and
those students who listen to me, and follow my instructions score very
well on their writing assignments and writing tests. No matter
what you are writing for, I have a template which you can follow to get
a good writing score. To see ALL of my credentials, please click here. |
Skip
to the Writing Templates
(if that's why you are here)
Common English
Writing Exams
CIE
According to CIE
(Cambridge International Examinations), which include CIPP,
Checkpoint, and IGCSE; markers are
looking for:
Narrative
(Fiction) |
Non-fiction |
Content |
4pts |
Text Structure |
4 pts |
Style |
4pts |
Sentence Structure |
4pts |
Vocab |
3pts |
Audience |
3pts |
Audience |
3pts |
Purpose |
4pts |
Text Structure |
4pts |
|
|
Spelling |
2pts |
|
|
Total |
20pts |
Total |
15pts |
This is especially true for CIPP.
|
TOEFL
According to TOEFL,
markers are looking for: (1) development, (2) organization, (3)
appropriate and precise use of grammar and (4) appropriate and precise
use of vocabulary. Scores are given for each category.
Score of Six (Highest Score)
An essay at this level:
- shows effective writing skills
- is well organized and well developed
- uses details clearly and properly to support a thesis or illustrate ideas
- displays consistent ability in the use of language
- demonstrates variety in sentence structure and proper word choice
|
IELTS
According to IELTS,
markers are looking for: (1) Task Achievement, (2) Coherence and Cohesion,
(3) Lexical
Resource and (4) Grammatical Range and Accuracy. The four
criteria are equally weighted.
Task
1 |
Task
2 |
Task
Achieve-
ment |
9pts |
Task Response |
9pts |
Coherence
&
Cohesion |
9pts |
Coherence
&
Cohesion |
9pts |
Lexical Resource |
9pts |
Lexical Resource |
9pts |
Grammatical Range & Accuracy |
9pts |
Grammatical Range & Accuracy |
9pts |
Raw Score |
36pts |
Raw Score |
36pts |
Average Band Score |
9pts |
Average Band Score |
9pts |
|
Skip to the Writing
Templates
DEFINITIONS
Terms |
Definitions |
Task Achievement
& Task Response |
Did you do the RIGHT
task? Did you complete the task? |
Coherence and Cohesion |
See 'Cohesiveness'
below. |
Lexical Resource |
Use extensive Vocabulary |
Grammatical Range |
Extensive Grammar
knowledge and use |
Grammatical Accuracy |
Proper usage of
English grammar |
Styles |
Styles of writing
include the following:
- informative (give
information, like news)
- persuasive (convince your reader to agree with you)
- narrative (story, fiction)
- artistic (poetry or prose)
These are explained in detail
below |
Registers |
Registers of writing
include the following:
- formal / informal
- technical / non-technical
- academic / non-academic
These are explained in detail
below |
Cohesiveness |
Cohesiveness [I
coined this term, 2003] = Cohesion + Coherence
Cohesion = (on linguistic
level) grammatical & lexical relationships within a text.
Coherence = (on semantic level)
making a text completely comprehensible, and easily so.
Note: all styles and
registers require cohesiveness. |
Skip to Writing
Templates
EXTRAPOLATION / EXPLANATION / EXAMPLES:
|
Styles
1. Informative: like the
news, just giving information. This is also called expository
style.
2. Persuasive: trying to
convince one's reader that your idea is superior to other ideas.
This requires:
a. at least two points, given in the introductory paragraph
b. at least two supporting "evidences" for each point
c. a short summary of the points.
3. Narrative: writing a
story. All stories must have:
a. Setting (time & place). The setting must
be elucidated at the beginning of a narrative
b. Plot (problem, solution). After the solution to the
problem, the narrative can have a cute, terse ending.
4. Artistic: like prose
and poetry.
|
|
Registers
1. Formal. This register
requires:
a. no use of slang
b. avoidance of idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs (as much
as possible). It is 99.9% possible, but you may not know how to do
it, so, I say, "As much as you possibly can."
c. avoidance of literary forms, such as hyperbole, alliteration,
apostrophe, sarcasm, irony, etc.
2. Informal. This
register allows:
a. use of slang
b. use of idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs
c. use of literary forms, such as hyperbole, alliteration,
apostrophe, sarcasm, irony, etc.
3. Technical. This
register requires:
a. use of formal register
b. use of proper nomenclature/terminology (of the technical field
that applies)
4. Non-technical. This
register allows:
a. use of informal register
b. use of lay-persons' terminology
5. Academic. This
register requires:
a. use of formal register
b. avoidance of active voice as much as possible; use of passive
voice as much as possible.
c. avoidance of contractions
d. avoidance of absolute statements that cannot be substantiated.
6. Non-academic. This
register allows:
a. use of informal register
b. either voice (active or passive)
c. contractions
d. hyperbole or generalizations
|
|
Cohesiveness [Leon Priz, 2003]
Cohesiveness is composed of two things: cohesion and coherence
COHESIVENESS
|
------------------------
|
|
COHESION
COHERENCE
DEFINITIONS:
1. COHESIVENESS [Me, 2003]: Cohesiveness
includes both cohesion and coherence
2. COHESION: linguistically
"sticking" words, sentences, and paragraphs together, logically.
[linguistically
means grammatically and lexically]
3. COHERENCE: semantically
"sticking" words, sentences, and paragraphs together, logically.
[semantically
means meaningfully]
EXAMPLES:
First, let me deal with cohesion.
Please look at the following paragraph:
Frogs are amphibians.
Giraffes are mammals. It is green with brown spots.
They live in Africa. |
That example lacks cohesion for
several reasons:
- Cohesion Problem 1: Why is the author
writing about amphibians AND mammals in the same text? There is no
linguistic devices to "tie" or "connect" the two
together.
- Cohesion Problem 2: In the third sentence,
the pronoun "it" is used, but we have no idea what
"it" might refer to.
- Cohesion Problem 3: In the fourth sentence,
the pronoun "they" is used, but we don't know if it is referring
to frogs or giraffes.
Sample Correction:
There two kinds of animals
that shall be discussed in this text. One kind is amphibian,
and the other kind is mammal. An example of an amphibian is
a frog. An example of a mammal is a giraffe. Both
frogs and giraffes have spots; and thus, they are not in different
categories because of their appearance. Both frogs and
giraffes live in Africa, so they are not categorized differently
because of region.... etc. |
Ah! Now we have cohesion (and coherence)!
According to Halliday & Hasan (1976) as reported by
Carrel (1982) in TESOL QUARTERLY, coherence comes only as a result
of proper register and proper cohesion. Carrel is quick to point out
that it's not so simple (and she quotes a lot of other famous
researchers).
Let's K.I.S.S. (Keep
It Simple, Silly)
For simplification, I like to explain it in terms of...
(1) sentence structure
(2) paragraph structure, and
(3) textual structure.
First: Sentence structure
Sentence structure includes syntax, clauses, and phrases, such as noun
phrases, verb phrases, adverbial phrases, and prepositional phrases.
This is commonly called "grammar".
Second: Paragraph structure
Paragraph structure is different for narratives. I will not discuss
narratives here. For non-fictions texts, paragraph structure
includes a topic sentence that is supported by two or more
sentences. The sentences must be linked together with
connectives (conjunctions).
Third: Textual structure
Textual structure is all about linking paragraphs together and putting
paragraphs in logical order. Here is the pattern that you should
follow when writing a narrative or a non-fiction article.
General Writing Templates
Narrative
Writing
(Story Writing) |
Writing
a Persuasive Paper or Essay |
Non-fiction
Writing
Writing a Report |
I. 1st
paragraph: SETTING
a. Setting (Time and
Place)
1. TIME: Time doesn't mean clock time (although that
might be important, depending on the plot). NO. Rather
it means, tell the reader the year and the season. You don't
have to give the exact date, unless you really want to.
2. Describe in detail the place.
3. Mention the main character.
II. 2nd paragraph: CHARACTER
a. Character
development
1. Describe your main character in great detail.
2. You may want to describe other characters as well.
III. PROBLEM
a. Every narrative must
have a problem and a solution. You will make new paragraphs
only if/when the time or place changes.
IV. SOLUTION or Resolution
a. If there is no
solution to the problem, there must be a resolution. A
resolution is what happened as a result of the problem not being
solved. You will make new paragraphs only if/when the time
or place changes.
V. ENDING
a. A common fairytale
ending is, "And they lived happily ever after."
However, your ending should be more creative and imaginative.
VI. SHARE
a. I think it is very
important to share one's work and get feedback (both positive and
critique-like feedback). We can all improve our writing
skills.
SUGGESTION:
Make a Title Page
with Title
and "by ______________";
and illustrate. |
I. 1st
paragraph: Introduction
a. Your first
sentence should be an attention-getter! It should get your
reader's attention.
b. Introduce your topic
to the reader.
c. Give your
opinion (briefly)
d. Some writers may
wish to hide their opinion until the end, but I suggest you don't.
II. 2nd paragraph: Pro (support)
a. You must support
your opinion with 2 or 3 examples (3 is better).
III. 3rd paragraph: Con (against)
a. Give some of the
examples which are against your opinion.
IV. 4th paragraph: Counter Strike
a. Counter the
"cons". Give your reason why the cons are not
correct or strong enough.
V. 5th paragraph: Conclusion
a. Give your
opinion (or restate your opinion.
b. Summarize your
"pros" (support) very briefly. (I can do this in
one sentence).
VI. Sources
a. For this style of
writing, MLA
format is used to document one's sources of
information.
b. For younger
learners, just have them make a list of their
resources/sources at the end of the document. It would be
good for them to get into the habit of documenting sources,
because plagiarism is taken very seriously in upper grades.
c. As to how many
different sources are required, that is entirely up to the teacher
or professor. When I'm writing for myself, it takes as many
as it takes to get the point across. The general rule
is: the more sources the better.
|
I. 1st
paragraph: Introduction
a. Maybe start with an
attention-getter. (I really like to do this, but it is not a
requirement).
b. TELL THEM WHAT
YOU'RE GOING TO TELL THEM. (Give a brief introduction to
what you will cover in your report).
II. Body
a. TELL THEM.
This will take several paragraphs or possibly even several pages
(depending upon which grade you are in). Each paragraph will
deal with a certain aspect of the topic you have chosen.
(For upper grades, make sure you are following APA
format, to document your sources along the way.)
III. Summary
a. TELL THEM WHAT YOU
JUST TOLD THEM. Give a brief summary of all that you just
wrote in the body. I can usually do this in two or three
sentences. IV. Sources
a. With Non-fiction writing,
the writer is usually asked to provide sources of information used
in the author's writing, so as to not be accused of plagiarism.
b. RE:
"Bibliography"
The word "bibliography" has fallen out of use, because
the word "biblio" means book in Greek and nowadays, most
sources of information don't even come from books.
c. RE: Resources
The words "resources" and "sources" are used
pretty-much interchangeably. Personally, I'm partial to
using "Sources", but ask your teacher/professor which
one he/she prefers.
d. For this style of
writing, use APA
format for documenting sources
e. For younger
learners, just have them make a list of their sources at the
end of the document under the heading "Sources".
It's good to get into the habit of citing sources at a young age. |
Important: Paragraphs must be "connected" with
connecting phrases as well, as best as one can.
|
SAMPLES |
Prepare for ORAL EXAMS |
Pronunciation |
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Essays |
Oral
Exams (Interviews) |
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/ Intonation |
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