- The virtual language school, not language travel, is now the best way to learn English.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
English for Study Abroad
Writing Skills 2
Signposting in an Essay
[Writing Extra (book) - photocopy pg. 87]
Agree or disagree?
Create a mind map for an essay
In small groups, create a mind map that could become an essay based on your agreeing or disagreeing with the statment above.
Introduction = agreeing or disagreeing + outline the structure
Body = 2-3 main points with subpoints and examples/evidence
Conclusion = summarising and restating your main thesis
- Read the Cyberstudy essay and discuss if you agree with the writer (in your groups).
- For each signpost phrase in the text, what is a similar signpost in the boxes below? (match 1-10 to a-h).
- How do those signposts and other discourse markers show the writer's attitude?
- Roughly, which signposts and transitions would you likely use in your mind map essay?
Essay Structure and Coming to a conclusion
Writing our own paragraph
Chain paragraph
In groups of 5-6 (or the whole class), using a blank piece of paper, write an introduction sentence to your paragraph. You could choose a topic from the list below or decide on your own related topic.
Topic ideas
- How to recover from culture shock.
- How to find sports and activities to do in a foreign country.
- How to find and make new friends in another country.
- How to best approach your professors for help.
- How to get your classmates on your side or actively doing the group project.
- What is most interesting about ... (your choice)
After you've written the intorduction sentence, pass it to the person on your left who will write the second sentence.
Continue passing to your left and adding a sentence until the last person (the one before the original author) who adds a concluding sentence.
Read out your resulting paragraph and we'll vote on our favourite.
The first time, let's use the paragraph from transitions, and then a second that is free form (remember to add your own transitions).
Paraphrasing
Paraphrase by Condensing
Using the culture shock paragraph from last week, how would you summarise (and paraphrase) all of the important information into two sentences. Work with a partner.
The next step is to condense your two sentences into one sentence whilst keeping all the same information present.