COURSE TITLE: WRITING COURSE DURATION: 60 PERIODS COURSE BOOK : Oshima, A.& Hogue, A(1997) Introduction to ACADEMIC WRITING (2nd ed) Longman REFERENCE: Blanchard, K & Root, C (1994) Ready to Write (2nd ed) Addition-Wesley Publishing Company Smalley, R L………… (2007) Developing Writing Skills learners Publisher Thanh, T M & Hoang, C T L.(2005) Academic Writing Tai Lieu On Thi National University of HCM Publisher LECTURER : CHU THI KIM PHUONG - Page of 16 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATION Focus: Paragraph Organization Aim: To recognize different main parts of a paragraph Assumed: Students are supposed to read the pages given below before class Duration: 12 periods  The Parts of the Paragraph (See p 71) The topic sentence (See p 71) Supporting sentences (See p.75) The concluding sentence (See p.80)  Practice Narrowing subjects from general to specific (p 72) Narrowing controlling ideas from general to specific (p72-73) Writing topic sentences A p73 B p.73 C In small group, write topic sentences on the following topics Ask questions to limit the topic and the controlling idea Example Camping  To set up camp requires a variety of special equipment, famous people (who/in what field) transportation (where) music movies education system Identifying supporting sentences (p76-78) Writing supporting sentences ( p 78-79) Brainstorming supporting sentences : Choose one of the topic sentences below Brainstorm for about four or five items to support it Then work with a partner and review your lists Decide which supporting items should remain Example Snow skiers must take extreme precautions on the slopes List some of the precautions a consider the weather conditions b consider their ability c obey warning signs d consider the slope conditions Topic sentences Giving presents is an art Jogging is beneficial to your health for several reasons Learning English is not easy Education is now available to everyone Page of 16 Writing concluding sentences: Write a concluding sentence for each of the following topic sentences Speaking English fluently is not easy if you follow these steps Playing video games can be very harmful to children Sapa is a perfect place to visit HOMEWORK: MAKING OUTLINE: Read carefully Part (Prewriting- Outlining a paragraph) p 82-87 and the exercises Page of 16 CHAPTER : UNITY Focus: unity Aim: to be aware of the characteristics of a paragraph: unity and learn how to make a paragraph united by some ways such as: identifying key words in the topic sentence, brainstorming ideas that are related to the topic, selecting ideas that suit the topic sentence and summarizing the main points in the concluding sentence Assumed: Students are supposed to learn the organization of a paragraph and read the pages listed below beforehand Duration: 12 periods  Unity: See p.98  Practice Find and cross out any sentences that not belong in the paragraphs (p.98-99) Read the following paragraphs Underline the topic sentence for each paragraph and cross out any sentence that does not belong in the paragraph There may be one or more irrelevant sentences Cats make wonderful house pets They are very loving and friendly They are also clean They don’t eat much, so they are not expensive Many people are allergic to their hair They look beautiful There are several reasons why many American women are waiting until they are thirty years old or older to have their first baby Some women have good jobs and want to continue their careers Many American couples have two children Other women don’t want the responsibility of having children until they are older Still others are waiting until they are financially secure before they start a family Running has many positive effects on the body First of all, it increases the efficiency of the heart and lungs Running also helps the body develop greater physical endurance However, many people prefer swimming Finally, it helps the body becomes more mechanically efficient The Japanese automobile industry uses robots in many phases of its production process In fact, one large Japanese auto factory uses robots in all of its production stages Some Japanese universities are developing medical robots to detect certain kinds of cancer Another automobile factory in Japan uses robots to paint cars as they come off the assembly line Furthermore, most Japanese factories use robots to weld the parts of the finished car together Page of 16 The packaging of many products is very wasteful Often the packaging is twice as big as the product Packaging is used to protect thing that are breakable Many food items, for example, have several layers of extra packaging Most of these layers are absolutely useless ( Blanchard K & Root C Ready to Write P10-11) Another problem facing a number of elderly people is living on reduce income Upon retiring, old people may receive the pension from their company or Social Security from the government The amount of their monthly checks is often half the amount of the checks they received when they were employed Suddenly retirees find that they can no longer continue the life style that they had become accustomed to, even if that life stile was a modest one Many find, after paying their monthly bills, that there is no money left for a movie or a dinner out Of course, sometimes they can’t go out because of their health Maybe they have arthritis or rheumatism and it is painful for them to move around This can also change their life style Some older people, however, discover that the small amount of money they receive will not even cover their monthly bills They realize with horror that electricity, a telephone, and nourish food are luxuries they can no longer afford They resort to shivering in the dark, eating cat food in order to make two ends meet ( Smalley L R Developing Writing Skills p.22) In our prison today, some people are falsely accused of crimes A solution to certain kinds of crime, restitution, is becoming more popular and rightly so It works like this If someone is convicted o defacing or destroying property, he or she is required to repaint or restore the property rather than simply sit in jail a certain length of time In another example, a person disabling a wage earner would be made partially responsible for that wage earner’s dependents until the wage earner has recovered Another way of dealing with this criminal is to make him or her pay a fine In other words, restitution requires the criminal to restore the damage to the person who has been hurt The criminal will contribute something to society rather than imply sit in jail, being clothed and fed with the tax dollars of law-abiding citizens Perhaps, through contributing to society by restitution instead of being dependent on society by sitting in jail, criminals will be more likely to become useful, working members of society after they have paid for their crime Page of 16 Despite their reputation, some workers in American factories take pride in helping their companies A good example of this is the 14,000 employees of Locheed-Georgia Company who submit ideas to management to help reduce production costs In one year, these ideas, ranging from a new way to recharge a dead battery to a more efficient way to paint airplane wings, saved the company $57.5 million Since 1979, employee suggestions have resulted in savings of over $190 million While we might think that workers submit ideas in order to receive large rewards, this is not the case According to Executive Vice President Alex Lorch, the financial benefit is minimum The employee with the best idea each year receives only $100 the employees, Lorch says, submit ideas because they are motivated by a desire to a good job Japanse workers, on the other hand, are generally considered the best example of workers who are loyal to their company Thanh T M & Hoang C.T.L Academic Writing Tai lieu on thi p.49-51)  More practice  Identifying key words in the topic sentence Underline key words/phrases in the following topic Reading books frequently brings a lot of benefits It is difficult to learn a new language There are many elements for a good paragraph Smoking cigarettes can be an expensive habit Eye contact plays n important role in public smoking Examination should be abolished Another way to reduce the rate of inflation is to balance the federal budget Saving bonds are also a safe investment Although bright, Maria is a very shy girl 10 Another problem for students is finding a part-time job  Brainstorming ideas Topics: superstitions pollution technology a memorable teacher an unforgettable event music fashion future job future life in 2050 Page of 16 10 Internet  Selecting ideas From the list, choose an idea that interests you and write a topic sentence for each topic Then sort out two ideas that suit the topic  Write the concluding sentence Write the concluding sentence for each topic sentence Page of 16 CHAPTER 3: COHERENCE Focus: Aim: Assumed: Duration: coherence to be aware of another characteristics of a paragraph: coherence and learn how to make a paragraph coherent Students are supposed to know paragraph organization and one feature that makes a good paragraph: unity 12 periods - Four ways to gain coherence  Repeating key nouns  Using pronouns which refer back to key nouns  Transitional signals  Logical orders  Repeating keys nouns Practice In the following paragraph, the key noun is never repeated Replace the pronoun ”it” with the key noun “English” wherever you think doing so would make the paragraph more coherent English has almost become an international language Except for Chinese, more people speak it than any other language Spanish is the official language of more countries in the world, but more countries have it as their official or unofficial second language More than seventy percent of the world’s mail is written in it In international business, it is used more than any other language, and it is the language of airline pilots and air traffic controllers all over the world Moreover, although French used to be the language of diploma, it has displaced it throughout the world Therefore, unless you plan to spend your life alone on a desert island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it is a useful language to know (Thanh T M & Hoang C.T.L Academic Writing Tai lieu on thi p.52) KEY English has almost become an international language Except for Chinese, more people speak it than any other language Spanish is the official language of more countries in the world, but more countries have it as their official or unofficial second language More than seventy percent of the world’s mail is written in it In international business, it is used more than any other language, and it is the language of airline pilots and air traffic controllers all over the world Moreover, although French used to be the Page of 16 language of diploma, it has displaced it throughout the world Therefore, unless you plan to spend your life alone on a desert island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it is a useful language to know In the following passage about dolphins, replace some f the pronouns with appropriate singular or plural nouns Interest in dolphins has increased in the past few years They are interesting because they display almost human behaviour at times For example, they help each other when they are in trouble If one is sick, it sends out a message Others in the area swim to help it They stay with it for days or weeks- until it recovers or dies They have also helped trapped or lost whales navigate their way safely out to the open sea The are so intelligent and helpful, in fact, that the U.S Navy is training them to become underwater bomb disposal experts (Thanh T M & Hoang C.T.L Academic Writing Tai lieu on thi p.52) KEY Interest in dolphins has increased in the past few years They (=> Dolphins) are interesting because they display almost human behaviour at times For example, they(=> Dolphins) help each other when they are in trouble If one is sick, it sends out a message Others in the area swim to help it (the sick dolphin) They (=> Dolphins) stay with it for days or weeks- until it recovers or dies They(=> Dolphins) have also helped trapped or lost whales navigate their way safely out to the open sea They(=> Dolphins) are so intelligent and helpful, in fact, that the U.S Navy is training them to become underwater bomb disposal experts  Using pronouns Practice: p.108-110 In the following paragraph, the pronouns are not consistent Correct them to make this paragraph more coherent An Olympic athlete must be strong both physical and mentally First of all, if you hope to compete in an Olympic sport, you must be physically strong Furthermore, an aspiring Olympian must train rigorously for many years For the most demanding sports, they train several hours a day, five or six days a week, for ten or more years In addition to being physically strong, he or she must also be mentally tough This means you have to be totally dedicated to your sport, often giving up a normal school, family, and social life Bing mentally strong also means that he or she must be able to withstand the intense pressure of international competition with its attendant media coverage Finally, not everyone can win a medal, so you must possess the inner strength to live with defeat An Olympic athlete must be strong both physical and mentally First of all, if you Page of 16 (he or she)hope to compete in an Olympic sport, you (he or she)must be physically strong Furthermore, an aspiring Olympian must train rigorously for many years For the most demanding sports, they train several hours a day, five or six days a week, for ten or more years In addition to being physically strong, he or she must also be mentally tough This means you (he or she)have to be totally dedicated to your sport, often giving up a normal school, family, and social life Bing mentally strong also means that he or she must be able to withstand the intense pressure of international competition with its attendant media coverage Finally, not everyone can win a medal, so you(he or she) must possess the inner strength to live with defeat  Using transitional signals : Practice: Read p.100-108 More practice:  Using time order Margaret read a gardening catalog and decided that she wanted to plant a vegetable garden She has to many things before she can enjoy the harvest Read the list and put the items in a logical order Write a paragraph about steps she has to Be sure to use signal words Remember to begin with a topic sentence - Plant the seeds - Pick the vegetables from the garden - Order the seeds from the catalog -Prepare the soil - Keep the garden free of weeds ( Blanchard K & Root C Ready to Write P 19) Vicky is having some friends over for dinner this evening She has no food in the house, and she has no cash, either Here is the list of things that she has to do, but they are not in the right order Number them so they are in a logical order Then write a paragraph - Buy food for dinner - Go to the bank - Make dinner - Return home - Clean the house - Go to the grocery store ( Blanchard K & Root C Ready to Write p.20) The following timeline gives you information about the life of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor in the U.S Use this information to write a paragraph about her life February 3,1821: born in Bristol, England 1832: emigrated to New York City 1949: graduated from Geneva Medical School in Geneva, New York 1853: opened the New York Infirmary because, as a woman, she could not get a job in a hospital Page 10 of 16 1868: opened the Women’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary 1875: assisted in founding the London School of Medicine for women 1910: died in Hastings, England ( Blanchard K & Root C Ready to Write p.21)  Organizing ideas by space Sometimes you will need to organize details according to where they are located in space Study this floor plan Then read the description that follows Note the underlined prepositions and prepositional phrases WOMEN’ SHOES HATS&CLOTHES HANDBAGS&BELTS CHILDREN’S CLOTHING SCARFS COSMETICS COATS JEWELRY MAIN ENTRANCE N W E Lourie’s is a large department store that sells clothing for the whole family As you enter the store through the main entrance, the jewelry department is directly in front of you, in the middle of the store On your left is the coat department, and the scarf department is behind the coats To the right of the jewelry department is the cosmetics department, the elevators are on the east wall In the northwest corner, you’ll find the women’ shoe department Next to it, on the north wall, are hats and gloves To the right of the hat and glove department are the handbags and belts The children’s clothes are between the handbag and belt department and elevators Here is the floorplan of the second floor of Lourie’s Fill in the floorplan below using the list provided Page 11 of 16 E L E V A T O R S W E s a The elevators are on the east wall b There is large ladies’ clothing department in front of the elevators It covers the whole width of the store c The men’s clothing department is in the middle of the north wall d To the left of the men’s clothing department is the men’s shoe department e The college shop is in the southwest corner f The junior shop is between the college shop and the ladies’ clothing department on the south wall ( Blanchard K & Root C Ready to Write p.22) - Page 12 of 16 CHAPTER 4: WRITING AND EDITING Focus: Aim: Assumed: Duration: writing process and writing paragraph To know how to write paragraph effectively and practice writing paragraph as much as possible by writing as directed Students are supposed to go over the three previous chapters and be ready to ask or answer questions Simultaneously, they should read this chapter beforehand 14 periods -  Writing process Prewriting 1.1 Generating ideas Techniques Brainstorming : a way to associate ideas and stimulate thinking - start with a word/phrase and let your thoughts go in whatever direction they will go - Not try to think logically but write a list of ideas as quickly as possible - When time is over, look through what you have listed to see if the ideas are related and could be grouped Freewriting : writing without stopping WH-questions : who, what, when, where, why, how - Clustering : making a visual map of your ideas write whatever - write out as - begin with your comes to your many WHtopic circled in the mind questions as you middle of a sheet of - not interrupt the can paper flow of your - Answer them as - draw a line out ideas, not censor fully as you can from the circle an thoughts or write an idea insights associated with the - Set a goal: for topic Circle this example, a time idea and from it limit or a draw lines and write number of lines ideas associated Then write with it continuously - continue until you until you reach cannot think of any your goal more ideas - When having - When having finished, read finished, see the what you have relationship of written and look ideas for interesting ideas that might be useful A brainstorm is a sudden insight or connection 1.2 Planning After generating ideas, writers will focus their ideas on a main point and develop a rough plan for the paragraph Page 13 of 16 - Drafting After making a plan, you are ready to write While writing, focus on getting your meaning down on paper; NOT be overly concerned with correctness of grammar Revising  Topics Suppose friends came to visit you in your hometown You want them to have an exciting time Write a paragraph telling how you would entertain them for a few days Name some sightseeing attractions and restaurants as well as some interesting night spots that you would take them to Explain your choices You have just had a pen pal living in Australia/England, etc who has never been to Vietnam Write a paragraph to describe a symbol of Vietnam, namely ao dai or non la(the conical leaf hat) In your description, include shape, material, colour and its use Many of your friends agree the idea that examination should be abolished You disagree Write a paragraph to protect your point of view by giving reasons, strong arguments, explanations or examples Your friend have just left his/her home for HCMC to study Write a paragraph to give him/her some pieces of advice to make ends meet because your friend is still dependent on his/her parents Your teacher wants to publish a book named “Strange Stories” He/she asks you to write a paragraph about interesting or unusual experiences Write a paragraph to tell your own story Use WH-questions (wherewhen- how-what- who/with whom) as guidelines  Editing checklist Questions FORMAT ORGANIZATON Is the format correct? Does the paragraph begin with a topic sentence? Does the topic sentence have a clear controlling idea? Do the supporting sentences prove the main idea stated in the topic sentence? Does the paragraph have Page 14 of 16 Peer Editor’s answers and comments GRAMMAR & MECHANICS SENTENCE STRUCTURE unity? Does the paragraph contain transitional signals? Is the use of pronouns consistent? Is there concluding sentence? 9.Is there a period at the end of each sentence? 10 Are capital letters used where necessary? 11 Are commas used correctly? 12 Are verb tenses correct? 13 Does each sentence have a subject and a verb and express a complete thought? 14 Are there subject and verb agreements? 15 Is there a variety of sentence types in the paragraph? (simple, compound and complex) (Adapted from Editing Checklist- p.112) Page 15 of 16 CHAPTER : PRACTICE TESTS- CORRECTION & COMMENTS Duration: 10 periods Page 16 of 16 ... sentence? 10 Are capital letters used where necessary? 11 Are commas used correctly? 12 Are verb tenses correct? 13 Does each sentence have a subject and a verb and express a complete thought? 14 Are... paragraph about her life February 3, 18 21: born in Bristol, England 1 832 : emigrated to New York City 19 49: graduated from Geneva Medical School in Geneva, New York 18 53: opened the New York Infirmary... agreements? 15 Is there a variety of sentence types in the paragraph? (simple, compound and complex) (Adapted from Editing Checklist- p .11 2) Page 15 of 16 CHAPTER : PRACTICE TESTS- CORRECTION & COMMENTS