ELC230: INTEGRATED LANGUAGE SKILLS (WRITING)

FURTHER EXERCISE: INTEPRETING AND ANALYZING DATA

Figure 1: Reasons for choosing a University, Malaysia 2013

Reputation
Good preparation for work
Quality of lectures
Cost of accommodation
Modern teaching methods
Reasons

Good language support

Up-to-date teaching facilities
Language used in lectures
Location
Cost of tuition
Friendliness

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percentage (%)

Study the bar chart carefully. Then write the answers to the questions below about the bar chart.

1. What does the bar chart show?

The bar chart shows 11 reasons why Malaysian students chose a particular university in
2013.

2. What are the top three reasons for choosing a university and their percentages?
The top three reasons are language used in lectures, quality of lecturers and up-to-date
teaching facilities. The language used in lectures is top at 95%, up-to-date teaching facilities
comes next at 93% and quality of lecturers at 90%.

3. What two other university-related factors that are crucial when deciding on a university?
Reputation and location of the university are two other university-related factors that are
crucial in deciding on a university.

4. What are two most important non-teaching related reasons for choosing a university?
The two most important non-teaching related reasons for choosing a university are the cost
of accommodation and tuition.

5. Which two reasons for choosing a university are rated as equally important at 65%?
Friendliness and good preparation for work are equally important at 65%.

6. What are the least important reasons or factors when deciding on a university?
Good language support and modern teaching methods are considered the least important
reasons when deciding on a university.

7. The reasons for choosing a particular university can be grouped into two main reasons.
What are they?
The reasons for choosing a university can be grouped into teaching-related and non-
teaching related reasons.

8. According to the chart, what is the main factor for choosing a university?
The most important factor for choosing a university is the language used for lectures.
ELC230: INTEGRATED LANGUAGE SKILLS (WRITING)
FURTHER EXERCISE: INTEPRETING AND ANALYZING DATA

SAMPLE ANSWER

Reasons for Choosing a University in Malaysia, 2013

By: Sample Writer

The bar chart shows eleven reasons why Malaysian students chose a particular university in
2013. The top three reasons are the language used in lectures, quality of lecturers, and up-to-
date teaching facilities.

The results of the survey show that the language used in lectures is top at 95 per cent while
up-to-date teaching facilities comes next at 93 per cent. The third reason is the quality of
lecturers, accounting for 90 per cent. The reputation and location of the university are two
other crucial university-related factors when deciding on a university. Non-teaching related
reasons are also important. As observed, cost of accommodation and tuition are major
factors for more than three-quarters of the students when choosing a university. Two other
factors that are considered almost equally important at 65 per cent when choosing a
university are friendliness and good preparation for work. However, good language support
and modern teaching methods are considered relatively unimportant when choosing a
university, rated at 20 percent and 30 percent respectively.

In conclusion, the reasons for choosing a particular university can be grouped into teaching-
related reasons and non-teaching reasons. The most important factor for choosing a
university is the language used for lectures.

198 words
ELC230: INTEGRATED LANGUAGE SKILLS (WRITING)
FURTHER EXERCISE: INTEPRETING AND ANALYZING DATA

SAMPLE ANSWER FOR THE MID-SEM SAMPLE TEST PAPER

Main Goals for the Year Ahead of Professionals from Two different Age Groups
By Suzie Rahman

The tables represent the profile of professionals and their main goals for the year ahead
according to age group. Generally, the two age groups of professionals differ in their main
goals for the year ahead.

Junior Executives aged between 18 to 25 years ranked making more money as their top
priority due to their average income of RM3000. On the contrary, Senior Managers aged
between 46 to 55 years ranked being more healthy as their main goal while making more
money is ranked fourth since their average income has reached RM10000. With average
working experience of 5 years, the Junior executives ranked ‘improve technology’ and
‘communication skills’ as second and third respectively. Meanwhile, both goals were
ranked among the least important by the Senior Managers at fifth and sixth ranks
respectively before ‘making new friends’ which was ranked last. Instead, saving money and
spending more time with family were ranked as second and third most important goals by
the Senior Managers since 65% are married compared to only 40% of the Junior Executives
who are married and ranked both goals as the least important.

Overall, the profiles of the professionals have influenced their ranking of goals for the year
ahead.

200 words