GUIDED WRITING

Step 1
Analyse the task

 Read and understand the instruction and the stimulus.

 The stimulus could be an email or a letter.
 Identify the sender of the email (your answer must be addressed to this person).
 Identify the keywords.
 Highlight the keywords.
 Analyse the keywords – understand what the email is about.

Step 2

Plan your response

 Respond to the question in the email or letter.

 The notes given guide your answer. Use the notes to plan your answer!
 Decide which style you want to use in your answer – informal or formal

Step 3

Present your answer

 Use the right or most appropriate expressions.

 Use linkers (e.g. and, but, so, therefore, because, etc.) to connect your ideas and
improve cohesiveness.
 Write using the appropriate style (either informal or formal) in your answer.
 If the stimulus is in an informal style and is addressed to a friend or family member,
your reply should be in an informal style too.
 If the stimulus is in a formal style, and is addressed to someone you do not know or
who is in a position of authority, your reply should be in formal style too.
EMAIL

STEP 1
Step 2

Plan your Response

Paragraph Question in the Notes given What you Sample response

stimulus should do to
expand the
notes
Paragraph 1 How was the Great! …. Describe how The Robotics
school Robotics you found the Camp was really
Camp? camp based great! I enjoyed it
on the notes very much, …..
given
The camp
was great –
why
Paragraph 2 What was your Describe Yes, describe It is true, there
favourite activity two things were lots of
during the camp? interesting
activities carried
out during the
camp. The most
interesting activity
for me was when I
got to assemble
some robot parts.
Then, there came
the part when I
switched on the
robot and it
moved! What a
thrill!
Paragraph 3 Were you there No, because Follow the No, I was not there
when it … notes, your because I was in
happened? answer another group.
should be no Lucky me.
and give the
explanation
Paragraph 4 Would you like to Tell Anna State that Of course I would
join me? you would be love to join you!
happy to join
another
camp with
Anna
Step 3

Present your Answer

Effective Expressions

Below are some of the most common expressions that can be used in your answer.

1. To establish contact

To welcome We are happy to have you here….

Welcome!
Welcome to ….
To greet Hi! ….
Good morning ….
Hello! How are you doing?
To introduce yourself or Hi, I’m Ahmad
someone else Hello, my name is Anna ….
Hi, I’d like you to meet Rayyan, …
This is Lily ….
To wish (for a festive or Selamat Hari Raya….
special occasion e.g. a Gong Xi Fa Cai …
wedding) Merry Christmas ….
Happy Deepavali …
Happy birthday, Husna!
Congratulations, ….
To excuse yourself politely / I am so sorry, I have to go now.
take your leave Please excuse me, I need to stop writing now.
Well, I should stop/get back to (something else)
now.
To say farewell Bye!
Goodbye!
See you!
Farewell!
2. To make or respond to requests
To enquire about people
To enquire about something
To ask for instructions
To ask for more information
(about a camp, programme,
event)
To offer
To decline (an invitation)
To offer
To invite
To suggest
How is Danial now?
How are you feeling now?
May I see the Principal, please?
What has happened to Alyn?
When does school start?
Why did you miss the camp?
How do I ease a sore throat?
How do I solve this Mathematics problem?
How do I fix….
What did you do during the camp/workshop?
Where was the programme held?
Was the event interesting?
What was (the camp, event, programme) like?
When will the next camp be organised?
How was the camp?
*Use Wh-questions to ask for more information
I can get the information on the next camp for you.
I can help you out with the notes.
I’m so sorry. I have other obligations.
I apologise, I won’t be able to attend your/ the
party.
Would you like to try this?
Would you like me to come with you?
Would you like to have dinner at my house
tonight?
Would you like to watch a film with me?
Why don’t you join me…?
Let’s go home now.
How about having dinner tomorrow night?
Shall we go to Genting this weekend?
What about planning a trip to Tioman next month?
3. To give information

To instruct This is how you cook chicken soup. First … Then, ...
This board game is played like this. Firstly, ….
Secondly …
To inform I am feeling better now.
I want to join the camp next time.
I will not miss any events from now on.
To explain I was absent yesterday because I was not feeling
well.
I missed the session because I had fever.
To describe (an event) The camp was awesome!
The programme was an eye-opener.
There were many interesting activities carried out in
the camp.
There was a ….., and some …
To describe (feelings) I felt so amazed …
Everything was so wonderful ….
It made me feel like ….
To confirm Yes, that is correct.
No, it is not true.
To summarise Our English period today was fun!
In short, the camp was …
To sum it up, I learned a lot of valuable lessons.
All in all, the programme was entertaining.
4. To respond to social situations

To promise I will write to you soon.

I will accompany you to the clinic.
To advise I think you need to put more effort into your studies.
Your performance is declining. You should …
I feel you should work harder to …
To congratulate Congratulations!
My heartiest congratulations on your graduation.
To thank Thanks!
Thank you for all your help.
To apologise I apologies for my mistakes …
I am so sorry for …
To assure Don’t worry, Anna. I’m sure everything will be all
right.
To offer Would you like to try this?
Would you like me to come with you?

5. To express emotions and thoughts

To express concern I hope she’s okay.

Are you all right, Alyn?
To express likes/dislikes I love chocolate.
I enjoy hiking and jungle trekking.
I hate snakes!
I don’t like ….
To express surprise My goodness! I never expected to win.
Wow! Unbelievable.
It’s so surprising that …
To express admiration Wany can cook so well.
Farah performed very well in drama class.
To express relief I’m so grateful that my exam results are quite good
 although I did not finish studying before the exam.
…..I’m glad we made it.
To express anxiety I am so worried that …
On no, where did we go wrong?
To express regret I should have done better at ….
I’m sorry to hear that …
If only I had studied harder …
To express disappointment I am so disappointed I could not join the camp.
I wish I could attend the event.
It was so disappointing that I had to miss the camp.
To express appreciation Hi! Ben, Anna and Hana were grateful for your help.
We appreciate your assistance …
To express sympathy I’m sorry that you could not attend the concert …
I am sorry for what had happened to you.
I feel bad that you couldn’t …
To express uncertainty Really? Are you sure the news is true?
I am not quite sure if I can do this.
To agree (with the You are right.
suggestions/opinions) I agree with you.
To disagree (with the I have to disagree.
suggestions/opinions) I disagree.
I don’t think so.
Cohesive Devices

 Cohesive devices are used to link sentences, paragraphs and ideas. They
provide connections between ideas and make our content more coherent.

Function Cohesive devices Examples

To show logical order of first, second, firstly, First, we had to sit in a
ideas and also time secondly, next, then, circle before the host
sequences finally, lastly played the music. Then …
To add ideas and to link besides, in addition (to), Besides, another activity
the new ideas to the other than that, and which I enjoyed and had
previous ideas fun with was the ‘Guess
the Song’ game.
To provide a reason or to this is because, this is due This is because the tent
illustrate to the fact was too small and there
was not enough space for
the three of us.
To summarise ideas either in short, in conclusion, all All in all, we had a whale of
at the end of sections or in all time participating in all the
explicitly state that email or activities organised by the
letter is concluding host.
To put the ideas together not only … but also The food served was not
and to show that they are only healthy but also
on an equal level delicious.
To state an opposing idea however, though, although However, I did not really
like the weather there
because it was too cold for
me.
Exercise