UNIT 2: WRITING SKILLS

I-PARAGRAPH WRITING

It is important to know how to write a paragraph. There are certain rules you should follow
in order to write a paragraph and to know how to write term papers. Your first sentence
should be a topic sentence and should contain the topic and an opinion on the topic.

A paragraph is a passage or a set, group or collection of sentences, logically arranged and

properly inter-linked and interconnected, with unity of purpose. It deals with one main idea.

 The topic sentence

The topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph. It introduces the main idea of the
paragraph.

Example: There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world.

 Supported sentences

They come after the topic sentence, making up the body of a paragraph. They give details to
develop and support the main idea of the paragraph.

Example:
First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical
services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are
taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally,
Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of
space for people to live.

 Closing sentence

The closing sentence is the last sentence in a paragraph. It restates the main idea of your
paragraph.

Example

As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

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Full paragraph

There are three reasons why Canada is one of the best countries in the world.
First, Canada has an excellent health care system. All Canadians have access to medical
services at a reasonable price. Second, Canada has a high standard of education. Students are
taught by well-trained teachers and are encouraged to continue studying at university. Finally,
Canada's cities are clean and efficiently managed. Canadian cities have many parks and lots of
space for people to live. As a result, Canada is a desirable place to live.

II-There are various categories of linking words in academic paragraph writing.

See the box

Time/order At first, eventually. Finally, firstly, in the end, in the first place, in the
second place, lastly, later, second, secondly, later next., to begin with
Comparison/ In comparison, in the same way, similarly
similar ideas
Contrast/ But, despite, in spite of, even so, however, in contrast, in spite of this,
opposite ideas nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, still whereas, yet
Cause and effect Accordingly, as a consequence, as a result, because, because of this,
consequently, for this reason, hence, in consequence, in order to, owing
to this, since, so, so that, therefore, thus
Examples For example, for instance, such as, thus, as follows
Generalisation As a rule, for the most part, generally, in general, normally, on the
whole, in most cases, usually
Stating the After all, as one might expect, clearly, it goes without saying, naturally,
obvious obviously, of course, surely
Attitude Admittedly, certainly, fortunately, luckily, oddly enough, strangely
enough, undoubtedly, unfortunately
Summary/ Finally, in brief, in conclusion, in short, overall, so, then, to conclude,
conclusion to sum up
Explanation/ In other words, namely, or rather, that is to say, this means, to be more
equivalence precise, to put it another way
Addition Apart from this, as well as, besides, furthermore, in addition moreover,
nor, not only, but also, too, what is more
Condition In that case, then
Support Actually, as a matter of fact, in fact, indeed
Contradiction Actually, as a matter of fact, in fact
Emphasis Chiefly, especially, in detail, mainly, notably, particularly

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 EXERCISE

You are a crash investigator for the railway. You were on duty at a nearby station at the time
of the crash. You went to the scene quickly and immediately interviewed the shocked driver.

Write a report of the accident. Your report should include details of the scene you saw on
your arrival and the causes and results of the accident. The report must not be longer than 160.

The driver said he heard a loud bang and then ...

 
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II -LETTER WRITING

Informal or personal letters are those you write to people you know – friends, cousins, aunts,
uncles, etc Informal letters should be friendly, chatty and relaxed as though you're talking to
the person.

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  Guidelines (Look at the chart for more explanations)

INFORMAL LETTER WRITING FORMAL LETTER WRITING

Address and date The address and date should be written Your Address should be written in
in the right hand corner. Note: the top right-hand corner of the letter.

After you have written the address, The Address of the person you are
leave a line and write the date. writing to should be written on the
left, starting below your address

The date You can write this on the right or the

left on the line after the address you
are writing to. Write the month as a
Word.

Salutation or Dear……/ Hello / Hi Dear sir or madam, If you do not

greeting know the name of the person you are
writing to, use this. It is always
advisable to try to find out a name

If you If you know the name, use the

title (Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms, Dr, etc.)
and the surname only. If you are
writing to a woman and do not know
if she uses Mrs or Miss, you can use
Ms, which is for married and single
women.

introduction How are you? I’ am fine/ I hope you

are well.
will consist of an
introduction Thank very much for you letter of
which will give December 1st.
the recipient an
idea about what I have some good news, I am writing
you are writing to to…(tell you about my last trip to
them with a short Ghana)
summary of the
main topic of
your letter.

Body One or more paragraphs Reason for writing:

Commenting on something
that consist of the (Paragraph 1) I am writing to inform you about
message you
want to get across I'm sorry to hear/learn ... I am writing to provide you with

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along with any I'm so pleased to hear ...
details you may It's great to hear ...
want to convey. • What wonderful news about ...
Moving the topic on (Paragraph 2)
Anyway, the reason I'm writing ...
I thought I'd write to tell/ask you
Anyway, I was wondering ...
conclusion Well that’s all my news
You can sum up Give my love/ regards to your parents/
your main idea in
this paragraph, my mother sends her love.
I look forward to hearing from you/ I
hope to hear from you soon/ write
soon
information about
I am writing to let you know that
Providing first point:
The first thing I would like to inform
you of is
The first thing I would like to tell
you is
The first thing I wish to inform you
of is
I would like to begin by informing
you
Providing further points:
I would also like to let you know that
I would also like to inform you that
You might also find the following
information useful
It might also be useful for you to
know that
Another piece of information that
might be useful
If you require further information,
please do not hesitate to as
If I can be of further assistance,
please do not hesitate to ask
I will willingly provide further
information on request
I am at your disposal should you
require further information
I am at your disposal should you
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 need further assistance

Please do not hesitate to ask should

you require further information

Ending Lots of love, Yours faithfully

If you do not know the name of the
Love, person, end the letter this way.

Best wishes, Yours sincerely

If you know the name of the person,
Regards, end the letter this way.
All the best
See you soon
Take care
Yours

Well, that's all for now

Write back soon

Signature Mariana/Jennifer Mrs. Jones, Mr. Jackson

Sign your name,

 Example of informal letter

An English friend of yours Anne is a student. She has written to you asking for advice. Read
Anne’s email and the note you have made. Then write an email to Anne using all your notes.

Hi,

I’ve got together with six of my friends from college and we are hoping to travel to your
country for about two weeks for a holiday. Can you give us some help please, please? We
would like to know when the best time of year to visit your country is. Also, we want to meet
people our own age (17-18). What‘s the best way to do this? We don’t want to carry too much
stuff, so can you tell us what clothes we should bring?

And while we are there, would you like to join our group and travel round with us? I think it
would be fun. Don’t you?

Many thanks and looking forward to hearing from you

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Anne

Assignments to be done

Letter 1

Writing an Informal letter You went on a trip somewhere and you're writing to your
friend telling them about the trip.

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Letter 2

Letter to a friend inviting him for your birthday party.

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Example of formal letter

Whitcomb Polytechnic
20-30 Newcastle Road

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 Whitcombe
Tyne and Wear
WT5 4AH

11 October 2007

The General Manager

Fukuoka Motors (UK) Ltd
PO Box 137
York Road
Loughton
Durham
LT3 5HD

Dear Sir,

I understand from my colleague, Professor William Jones, who visited your Loughton plant
last month, that you sometimes allow groups of students to tour the factory and see for
themselves how Japanese production techniques operate in a European environment.
Professor Jones himself was most impressed by his own visit, and recommended that I write
to you.

Would it be possible for a group of 20 Business Studies students - male and female, aged
between 18 and 22 - from Whitcomb Polytechnic to visit you before the end of this term,
which is on the 21 December? I realize that you must receive many requests for such visits,
and that the time available may already be booked up. If it is not, and you are able to see us, I
should be most grateful if you could suggest a date and let me know of any normal conditions
you lay down for visits of this kind.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

B Farrant (Dr)
Senior Lecturer

Assignment to be done

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 1. Asking for Information

You live in an English speaking country and you want to do some voluntary, unpaid work in a
developing country. Write a letter to a company called Cultural Expeditions, which organizes
such trips. In your letter:

 Explain why you want to do the voluntary work.

 State what your skills and experience are.
 Indicate where you would like to volunteer and for how long.

Begin your letter as follows: Dear Sir / Madam

You should write at least 150 words.

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