MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO

FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Department of English Language and Literature

Teaching essay writing to upper-

intermediate to advanced EFL students

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2006

Thesis Author: Ilona Legnerová Thesis Supervisor: Rita Collins

Bibliografický záznam
LEGNEROVÁ, Ilona. Výuka psaní esejů pokročilých studentů anglického jazyka:
bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Fakulta pedagogická, Katedra
anglického jazyka, 2006. 38 l., 20 l. příl. Vedoucí bakalářské práce Rita Collins

Anotace
Bakalářská práce „Výuka psaní esejů pokročilých studentů anglického jazyka” popisuje
výuku psaní, a to psaní esejů (úvahy), jako jedné ze čtyř jazykových dovedností. Cílem
práce je poskytnout kantorům postup při výuce psaní esejů a podobně studentům
průvodce jak postupovat při učení se dovednosti psaní.

Klíčová slova
psaní esejů, druhy esejů, druhy vět

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Bibliographic note
LEGNEROVÁ, Ilona. Teaching essay writing to upper-intermediate to advanced
students: Bachelor Thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education,
Department of English Language and Literature, 2006. 38 p., 20 p. app. Thesis
Supervisor Rita Collins

Annotation
Bachelor Thesis “Teaching writing to upper-intermediate to advanced students”
describes teaching writing, essays in particular, as one of the four language skills. The
objective of the thesis is to provide teachers with a strategy how to teach essay writing
and students with a strategy what steps to take when learning to write.

Keywords
writing, essay, essay types, sentence types

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Announcement
Hereby I state that I worked on the Bachelor Thesis by myself. All the sources of
information that I used are listed in the bibliography.

Brno 9th May 2006 Ilona Legnerová

.................................................

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Acknowledgement
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rita Collins for her kind help and valuable
advice that she provided me throughout my thesis as my supervisor.

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Content
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................7

1 THEORETICAL PART.......................................................................................................................9

1.1 THE ESSENTIALITY TO TEACH WRITING............................................................................................9

1.2 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WRITTEN AND SPOKEN DISCOURSE............................................................10
1.3 THE RESEARCH ON SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING...........................................................................12
1.3.1 Process approach to writing..........................................................................................................12
1.3.2 Differences between L1 and L2 writing.........................................................................................14
1.3.3 The role of the teacher...................................................................................................................16
1.4 WRITING AT UPPER-INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED LEVEL.............................................................17
1.5 ESSAY WRITING.............................................................................................................................19
1.5.1 From paragraph to essay..............................................................................................................19
1.5.2 What is an essay and its parts.......................................................................................................20
1.5.3 Types of Essays..............................................................................................................................23

2 PRACTICAL PART...........................................................................................................................26

2.1 THE WRITING PROCESS...................................................................................................................26

2.2 STAGE ONE – PREWRITING – CHOOSING AND NARROWING THE TOPIC, BRAINSTORMING...............27
2.2.1 Listing............................................................................................................................................28
2.2.2 Freewriting....................................................................................................................................30
2.2.3 Clustering, mind-mapping.............................................................................................................33
2.3 STAGE TWO – PLANNING (OUTLINING)..........................................................................................33
2.4 STAGE THREE – WRITING AND REVISING DRAFTS.........................................................................35
2.5 STAGE FOUR – PROOFREADING AND THE FINAL COPY....................................................................39
2.6 GRAMMAR RULES...........................................................................................................................40
2.6.1 Clauses, Type of Sentences............................................................................................................40
2.7 ADDITIONAL HELP FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS.........................................................................42
2.7.1 To the teacher................................................................................................................................42
2.7.2 To the student.................................................................................................................................42

CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................44

BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................................48

LIST OF APPENDIX..................................................................................................................................50

APPENDIX..................................................................................................................................................51

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INTRODUCTION

I chose the topic of the thesis since writing is a part of second language

acquisition. It is one of four skills, which a student of a second language learns.

Listening and reading are receptive skills. Writing, together with speaking, belongs to

productive skills. The teacher’s objective is to devote sufficient time to all four skills in

order to lead the students towards improvement and simultaneously achieve successful

exam results. In listening and reading lessons, all students are given equal time to study

and improve these skills since they listen and read individually first. On the other hand,

in speaking lessons the time is divided among all the students in the class, even though

not always equally. Still, speaking is very often part of listening and reading activities,

either as pre- or post-listening or post-reading activity. Thus, the students have adequate

time to practice and improve. Indeed, after students cover any listening activity, they

speak about the topic; and consequently, they might be encouraged to come up with a

writing task. However, the whole process of acquiring a certain level in writing is far

more complicated. Therefore, ample time must be devoted to writing. It must, without

any doubt, be part of the syllabus.

I have been working for DLI (Defence Language Institute) in Vyskov (for The

Ministry of Defence) for more than two years. DLI works as many Language Institutes

which prepare their students for an Exam in English. I teach mainly upper-intermediate

to advanced students, and one of the requirements to successfully pass the exam is to

achieve coherent writing. Not only for students of the Institute I work for, but basically

for any EFL student, the essay is considered the best piece of writing for evaluation of

students at such a high level of English. I do agree; however, very often the Czech

students seem lost in a sense as they do not write in such an academic way even in their

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mother tongue. So, I decided to work on essay writing, and thus give to both students

and teachers, a certain view into the problem of successful writing.

The thesis consists of two parts, theoretical and practical. In the theoretical part,

I concentrate on the position of writing in the process of learning a second language,

difference between spoken and written discourse, and the importance of coherence in

written English. For the purpose of my work, writing skill is focused on essay writing.

So, the theoretical part also includes theory on what an essay is, describes its types, and

of course provides information on parts of an essay. The practical part then covers

stages of the writing process, supported by examples, and it introduces grammar rules in

terms of sentence types. In the appendix, I included sample essays, grammar rules for

punctuation, commas in particular, and transition words to provide a concrete look on

both the teaching and learning process of writing.

The purpose of this thesis is to give the teachers good support when their main

aim is to prepare upper-intermediate or advanced students for their exams, and where

the written part is an essay. Similarly, students of English can find some useful essay

samples, grammar exercises which might help them prepare for their own written

assignments, and more importantly they would not have to study hard-cover books on

writing. However, although passing an exam successfully is the aim for the vast

majority of students, I do feel that once they know how to get through possible

difficulties in their writing process, they may start to enjoy writing more and become

more proud of themselves in terms of the second language acquisition.

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1 Theoretical Part
1.1 The essentiality to teach writing

Language is traditionally divided into two forms: spoken and written. All human

beings learn to speak their mother tongue naturally. However, no one is born with the

ability to write. As Harmer (1) says “Spoken language, for a child, is acquired naturally

as a result of being exposed to it, whereas the ability to write has to be consciously

learned.” Indeed, as it has been mentioned several times by diverse experts such as

Harmer, or Brown (2), writing is a learned process, and it reflects a representation of a

language the writer has acquired. According to Harmer “...For about the last two

hundred years literacy – ability to read and write – has been seen as a desirable skill for

whole populations.” Consequently, it became clear that education was desirable for the

whole population not only as a fundamental tool for achieving a certain level of

education, but also for the “fulfilment and advancement of individuals. Thus, we no

longer have to ask ourselves whether writing is good thing or not. We take it as a

fundamental right,” as Harmer points out. Teaching the ability to write became a part of

the educational process.

Thinking about the process of acquiring a certain level in writing in English as a

foreign language, one can compare it to learning to swim, as it is noted in Brown’s

book. According to a psycholinguist Lenneberg “human beings universally learn to

walk and to talk, but swimming and writing are culturally specific, learnt behaviours.

We learn to swim if there is a body of water available and usually only if someone

teaches us. We learn to write if we are members of a literate society and usually only if

someone teaches us.” He also assumes that “....there are non-swimmers, poor

swimmers, and excellent swimmers, so it is for writers. Thus, for the students it takes

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time to become a successful writer, and simultaneously for a teacher the objective is to

help their students achieve such aim.”

1.2 Difference between written and spoken discourse

The difference in speaking and writing lies in the form of production and

reception. Teaching English, or any foreign language, covers teaching of both forms,

further divided into the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Out of

these, teaching writing seems the most difficult.

While in teaching listening, reading, and possibly speaking, each student is given

ample and sufficient time to acquire the knowledge and consequently express their

ideas, in writing; however, more time devoted to students is needed. Concerning the

productive skills, the similarities and differences between writing and speaking must be

pointed out. According to Cook (3) “...for the first sight, the differences only might be

seen. In spoken (English) language, communication operates in the here-and-now world

of immediate interaction, and spoken words fly away on the wind. Conversely, writing

goes beyond time and space, and written words stay around. Thus, writing tends to be

more permanent.”

Concerning the characteristics of spoken discourse, face-to-face communication

takes the advantage, unlike in writing. In some situations where the participants do not

have the opportunity to see each other, they can make assumptions about who they are

talking to. Similarly, when engaged in spoken communication, a person makes the

decision about what and how to say or pass a message from an immediate situation, and

diverse tools such as pitch, tone and intonation help the listener and the reader to

understand each other. Moreover, in face-to-face communication, the body language

provides the participants with ample clues to derive the concrete understanding in a

concrete situation from the conversation, which cannot be achieved in a written text.

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 However, what is similar for both spoken and written discourse is a dialogue

which takes place in both forms. In speaking, it is a dialogue between the speaker and

the listener. In writing, similarly, the dialogue goes on between the writer and the

reader.

Nevertheless, as mentioned above, a great advantage in spoken discourse, or in

speaking as such, is the opportunity of immediate response, and thus, the listener is

given the advantage to react immediately. Even though in both spoken and written

discourse the same basic unit is used, the sentence in writing must be much better

thought through since the reader does not have the opportunity of immediate response

from the writer. Consequently, if the sentences are not clearly stated, which means they

are not cohesive, the mutual understanding is disturbed. Since in writing the only tool

for the overall understanding of the text is the written discourse itself, the writer has to

put their thoughts together clearly, accurately and cohesively to avoid false

interpretation. Such an approach support Byrne, Harmer, and also Tribble (4)

Indeed, the purpose in writing is to capture, preserve, and convey some

meaningful information through the use of visual symbols which represent the

language. As mentioned above, unfortunately, pitch, tone and body language of the

writer do not accompany the writer’s efforts. The writing itself must bear the total

burden of producing the desired effect. Therefore, the written message must be as clear

and as complete as possible.

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1.3 The research on second language writing

1.3.1 Process approach to writing

Another issue concerning the nature of writing is the changed recognition of it. As

Brown states “about fifty years ago, teachers were interested in the final product and

what it should look like rather than give the students a chance to be the ‘creators of

language’.” He states that it was not until 1980s, when teachers “...learned more about

how to teach fluency, not just accuracy, how to use authentic texts and contexts in the

classroom, how to focus on the purposes of linguistic communication,...” and when

communicative language teaching appeared.

Indeed, such an approach could then be applied to all four language skills. As for

speaking; for instance, students have been involved in discussions based on real

situations, they have been using language as a means of expression, trying to express

their own judgements and values. The same approach can be applied to writing as well.

Therefore, students should be given writing assignments closely related to the real

world. Thus, they would be able to see the context and real purpose of a piece of their

writing. Also the students very often feel depressed when they are given a topic on

which they should express their opinion in three hundred and fifty words or even more.

They feel too much limited in terms of the number of the words, and the first idea which

would come up in their minds would be that they are not able to write so many words

on one topic. They may have similar feelings as the student in the cartoon (Byrne p.21)

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 So, the teacher should not start with the number of the words but give the students

a chance to express their ideas since the students are in the process of learning to write.

Indeed, after several trials following the writing process and strategies, the students’

writings will improve in both quality and quantity. Then the students themselves will

realize that they are able to achieve good piece of writing, even in more than three

hundred and fifty words, which is mostly the number of words at exams.

Brown’s view was similar to Byrne’s (5) who describes how in the past the

teachers gave their students a topic of some kind, and they asked them to produce a

‘composition’ without any further help. Byrne, similarly as Brown, expresses that in the

past, teachers were focused on the composition itself, just underlining the students’

mistakes; however, they did not provide their students with much help of how to avoid

them.

A big change, then, concerns the difference in approaches to teaching writing

described by Byrne. First, it is a focus on accuracy. As Byrne points out, “it was

assumed that students made mistakes because they were allowed to write what they

wanted, and accuracy-oriented approach therefore stressed the importance of control in

order to eliminate them from written work.” In contrast, in a fluency focused approach,

students are encouraged to “write as much as possible and as quickly as possible –

without worrying about making mistakes. The important thing is to get one’s ideas

down on paper. In this way students feel that they are actually writing, and they write

what they want to write and consequently writing is an enjoyable experience.” This

approach is also dicsussed later in the practical part of the thesis - in brainstorming

stage. Another approach concerns focus on text. “This approach stresses the importance

of the paragraph as the basic unit of written expression and is therefore mainly

concerned to teach students how to construct and organise paragraphs.” (Byrne p.4)

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 Although each of the described approaches can be used for diverse writing

purposes, in practice most teachers have drawn on more than one of the approaches and

modified them to suit their purpose.

1.3.2 Differences between L1 and L2 writing

A very important point was brought up by Kaplan, as it is stated in Brown’s book,

who pointed out that “...different languages have different patterns of written

discourse.” He described English discourse schematically as proceeding in a straight

line (the schematic structure is provided in the appendix p.51). Since the students try to

acquire English as their second language, they are not that much aware of the way the

native speakers write. As Brown states “....native writers bring with them certain

predispositions, which come from their native language.” For this reason, writing in a

second language can cause many problems to second language learners.

However, it is not only the difference in the written pattern, what causes writing

difficult to many students concerning the differences in writing in mother tongue and a

foreign language. As Byrne states, “Most children learn to write in their mother tongue

at school. Many of them do not enjoy writing, partly because of the nature of the task

and partly because, out of school, it has little value for them as a form of social

interaction. Very few children succeed in becoming really proficient at writing and

many cease to use this skill once they leave school, or use it only occasionally for

specialised purposes.”

Indeed, in this sense, writing does not cover essays only, as it is for the purpose of

this thesis. However, concerning writing as a skill, we as teachers should be aware that

most of the students are not proficient at writing in their mother tongue. Similarly,

according to Byrne, a teacher should not count on that the ability to write in the mother

tongue can be transferred to the foreign language, although at upper-intermediate level

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students are very often familiar with the process of writing already. Indeed, it is

necessary to introduce the writing practice with some sort of balance which prevents

students form going beyond their linguistic attainment in the foreign language, and it

still will provide the students with writing activities which will satisfy them on an

intellectual level, as also pointed out by Byrne.

Other difficulties in second language writing were also brought up by Byrne.

These concern psychological, linguistic, and cognitive problems. For the psychological

problems, Byrne explains that “Writing is, unlike speaking, a solitary activity and the

fact that we are required to write on our own, without the possibility of interaction or

the benefit of feedback, makes the act of writing difficult.” The linguistic problem in

writing concerns the absence of features used in speaking, such as interaction,

spontaneous reactions, or repetition. The writer then must concentrate on the choice of

sentence structure and how the sentences are linked together and sequenced so as the

text could be interpreted on its own, as it has already been mentioned above in the

section describing the difference between spoken and written discourse. The third

problem is a cognitive problem. As stated in Byrne, “Writing is learned through a

process of instruction. We have to master the written form of the language and to learn

certain structures which are less used in speech, or perhaps not used at all, but which are

important for effective communication in writing. We also have to learn how to

organise our ideas in such a way that they can be understood by a reader who is not

present.”

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1.3.3 The role of the teacher

Students trying to become successful in terms of writing in a foreign language

have to get over many difficulties, as already mentioned above. Thus, the fundamental

role of a teacher, as Byrne points out, is to “guide them in various ways towards a

mastery of writing skills, and control what they write.” In that sense, Byrne expresses

similar idea as Brown who sees a teacher as “a responder to students’ writings.” As

Brown describes, “The teacher offers guidance in helping students to engage in the

thinking process of composing, but in a spirit of respect for student’s opinion.”

Indeed, each teacher’s aim is to develop students’ ability to write a text. Thus, one

way of helping them is, as Byrne states, “by using the text as the basic format for

practice, even in the early stages. Thus, we can make writing activities much more

meaningful for the students and thereby increase their motivation to write well.” Such

an approach is again connected with communicative language learning approach. If the

students are given real texts, first they become more interested in the topic, and second

they may find a good source for brainstorming their own ideas as such a text serves

them as a good example for their own writing task.

This example reflects what has already been mentioned about how all the four

skills are connected. Based on a reading or even listening activity, a discussion topic is

brought up, followed by a writing assignment. Using such a method, not only do we

draw students’ attention, but we also motivate them to write as we give them ample

time to put their thoughts together through listening, reading and speaking activities.

The ability to write is a vital skill for a learner of a foreign language, as already

mentioned in the first chapter, as it is for using their first language. Indeed, a great

responsibility for the teachers arises, since teaching how to become a successful writer

demands a great amount of care and attention.(Harmer, p.5) The teacher, in the first

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place, has to be aware of what features make the text coherent, or understandable on the

level of fluency, and correctness. Thus, the teacher can introduce the students to the

problem of coherence in writing.

Coherence, as described in Cook (3), is understood as connectedness between

sentences, or use of explicit cohesive devices at the paragraph level. In other words,

how the sentences are related to each other, and how they contribute to the overall

coherence of a text. Indeed, the diverse purpose of academic writing rules the style of

the piece of writing itself.

Cohesion of a paragraph is the clear line of thought from one sentence to the next.

The connectivity is expressed by the uses of cohesive devices, which are words and

phrases helping us to establish relationships between different sentences or between

different parts of a sentence. The features to achieve such effect are transitional devices.

These devices may be pronouns, which refer to words in the preceding sentences, the

repetition of words and phrases, and connectives. Discourse markers help the reader

understand the organization, interpretation, and evaluation of the writing.

1.4 Writing at upper-intermediate to advanced level

Since writing became a part of education, it similarly became a part of an exam,

thus testing the students’ abilities relying on their writing proficiency in order to

measure their knowledge. For the students of upper-intermediate to advanced level of

English, writing essays became the only measurement to precisely asses their language

level and ability. As described by Byrne, “once the learners have acquired a reasonable

proficiency in written expression, further practice in this skill can be given mainly

through tasks in the form of some kind of ‘composition’ or ‘essay’. Essay writing also

provide opportunities for what is often called ‘free expression’. The learners are allowed

to say what they like on a given topic or theme.

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 As again both Brown, and Byrne state, written language may be seen as “the

graphic representation of spoken language, and written performance is much like oral

performance, the only difference is lying in graphic instead of auditory signals.”

However, these are old views. Both authors express agreement in a sense that writing is

much more than the production of sounds. The symbols have to be arranged to form

words, and words have to be arranged to form sentences. However, the sentences are

not put together randomly. A sequence of sentences is arranged in a particular order and

linked together in certain ways. As Byrne states, “the sequence may be very short,

perhaps only two or three sentences, but, because of the way the sentences have been

put in order and linked together, they form a coherent whole. They form what is called a

‘text’.”

Indeed, writing is a skill the process of which does not develop naturally. One has

to go through the procedures of thinking, drafting, and revising. However, revising and

consequently editing cannot last forever. The process – product stages must be

balanced. As again Brown emphasises “...without the final product, we could quite

simply drown ourselves in a sea of revisions.” One cannot forget about the fact that the

steps of prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing are taken to achieve the final product.

Brown states “....the product is, after all, the ultimate goal; it is the reason why we go

through the process...” “...process is not the end; it is the means to the end.”

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1.5 Essay Writing

Naturally, writing serves for diverse purposes, and it is produced in many

different forms. For the purpose of the students’ assessment at the upper-intermediate

level, essay writing is the one discussed. However, for any type of writing, a well-

thought through plan and what strategies create a good piece of writing are the matter of

focus, as expressed by Harmer, for instance. Once a student becomes an experienced

writer, they plan what they are going to write. Individual students might need different

lengths of time for their planning. Still, one of the purposes of this part of the thesis is to

give some basic idea how to plan. For some students, making detailed notes means a

great help, whereas others may not necessarily put down any preliminary notes, and

they can start on the spot.

However, for any type of writing, one important feature remains the same.

Students must show the purpose, address the right audience, and show context of a text

effectively in expressing their ideas in any type of writing, essay in particular. These can

include illustration or description, narration, cause and effect, compare and contrast, and

persuasive essays. Each of these follow a certain structure about which the students are

told by the teacher and each of which they try to analyse before the writing itself. In

other words, coherence depends on a genre chosen for a specific piece of writing.

1.5.1 From paragraph to essay

Before a student starts writing essays, they should be taught how to write a good

paragraph. A paragraph is a basic unit of organization in writing. In a paragraph, a

group of related sentences develops one main idea. Even though the number of

sentences does not take such a great importance, the paragraph should be long enough

to develop the main idea clearly.

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 Each paragraph begins with a topic sentence. The topic sentence states the main

idea of a paragraph, and it also limits the topic to one or two areas that are discussed

completely within one paragraph. It briefly indicates what the paragraph is going to

discuss. For this reason, the topic sentence is a helpful guide to both the writer and the

reader. The writer can see what information to include. The reader, then, can see what

the paragraph is going to be about and is, therefore, better prepared to understand it.

Then, supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. Thus, they explain the

topic sentence by giving reasons, examples, facts, statistics, or even quotations. The

ideas in sentences are well connected using diverse transition signals. Transition means

using of various discourse markers the choice of which depends on the essay type. A

writer uses different transition for expressing contrast, and different ones for adding

information, for instance. Some examples of transition words are provided in the

appendix p.62-66. Finally, the concluding sentence, if present, ends the paragraph and

leaves some important point.

Indeed, a good paragraph contains five elements: a topic sentence, supporting

sentences, possibly a concluding sentence, unity, and coherence. Unity means that in a

paragraph a writer concentrates on one main idea, which is very often stated in the first

sentence of a paragraph, and this idea is developed into further detail with the help of

supporting details. After the students know how to write a good paragraph, they start

developing the entire essay.

1.5.2 What is an essay and its parts

An essay is a short composition containing a group of related paragraphs which

develops one subject or main idea. On the level of essay writing, three main parts are

distinguished: the introduction, body, and conclusion.

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 The key importance of the introduction is to introduce the main idea of the essay.

Simultaneously, the introduction includes a general statement which gives some general

background of the topic. The first few sentences of the introduction are used to capture

the reader’s attention and prepare him or her for what is to follow. In addition, the

introductory paragraph contains the thesis statement which presents the main, or

controlling, idea of the entire essay. Based on the concrete type of an essay, interesting

facts, quotations, or definitions are also used in the introduction, and these provide key

information later in the essay.

The body of an essay consists of, ideally, three paragraphs the purpose of which

is to support and develop the thesis statement. If the thesis statement mentions specific

subdivisions, these represent a separate paragraph in the body for each one. The body

paragraphs develop the main idea of an essay. Each body paragraph is developed by

supporting details of facts or examples. For each paragraph, transition words are vital

tool. Not only are sentences connected by diverse connectors – transition words -, but

for the overall correctness these are essential to combine individual paragraphs.

The last paragraph of an essay is the conclusion. Again, the conclusion has three

purposes. First, a conclusion serves as a summary of the main points of the essay.

Second, it restates the thesis in different words. Third, it includes the writer’s final

comments. Again, depending on the particular type of essay, some solution may be

suggested within the concluding paragraph. The following picture is an essay outline,

taken from the book “Writing Academic English,” Oshima p. 102.

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22
1.5.3 Types of Essays

SUBJECTIVE or OBJECTIVE

An essay might be subjective, or objective, depending on the topic of it. For an

objective essay, the writer focuses on idea or concept and offers support. The writer is

then idea-driven and does not appear as “I”, and they also use formal academic style.

However, in subjective essay, a writer focuses on personal idea or reaction and offers

support. Unlike an objective essay, a writer is author-driven and appears as “I”, and

simultaneously may be personal and intense in style. An example of such an essay could

be “What type of personality do you consider an ideal roommate?” For such a topic,

which is at the same time an example of Description essay, most writers would use

personal experience; therefore, they would use first person singular.

NARRATION

Another type of essay is Narration. In narrative essays, one must tell what

happened, it is like storytelling. Ordinarily events begin, move along, and conclude. If

the event or narration leads to a moral or lesson, the writer must state the lesson in the

conclusion since the reader may interpret the account differently. The order is almost

always chronological, and time words that indicate progression are used freely. To get

the reader interested in the story, a writer may express feelings. In narration, unlike

other essay types, the writer may use dialogues. Since narration takes the style of a

story, the writer must include plot, character, and setting. Also, a good narration

includes conflict which may be solved at the end of the story. Similarly, a description

can be included in this group. We can see, hear, taste, touch and even smell through the

words on the page. An example of a narration/decription – paragraph – is provided in

the appendix no 2, p.52.

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PERSUASIVE

In persuasive essays, a writer places reasons, causes, or ideas, either in

descending or ascending order of importance. The writer, obviously, is the one to decide

about the degree of importance. It is vital that the writer chooses a topic which is

debatable. For instance, nobody wants to read about “smoking is a bad habit”, that is

clear and thus not a topic of two contradicting sides. A possible topic could be, for

instance, “the question of legalizing soft drugs”. That is a question to which a clear

answer has not been given yet. Based on the topic, the goal of any argument is to

express ideas and convince the reader to accept them. For such an essay, it is vital to put

all pros and cons of the argument before they start writing. Thus, the writer will easier

identify which side they want to take. It also gives the writer a chance of making crucial

points and determines the desired success. An example of persuasive essay is provided

in the appendix no 3 p53.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

In cause and effect essays, the causes are stated first and the writer moves to the

effects or the other way round. In this particular type of essay, the topic is what matters

while deciding about what should be mentioned first. In some cases, the writer can state

one cause for three effects, which is the number of body paragraphs, or they can state

three causes for one effect. The writer describes why things happen, these are the

causes, and what is their result, which is the effect. An example of a cause and effect

essay could be “Pollution”. For this topic a writer can describe what causes pollution, or

what the bad effects of pollution are. For the writer, an important task arises to state

clearly what they want to express in the thesis statement and based on that what they

will develop the body paragraphs. An example of cause and effect essay can be found in

the appendix no 4, p. 55.

24
COMPARE/CONTRAST

Compare/contrast essays describe similarities if the writer compares, in contrast the

writer points out the differences. The strategy in compare/contrast essays is the way you

order the similarities or differences. The writer can also choose to only either compare

or contrast. However, there is the possibility to present both similarities and differences

within one essay. Then the task is how the ideas are organized. In the first body

paragraph only similarities can be mentioned, giving supporting details. Consequently,

in the following paragraph the differences can be presented. That type is block by block

organization. We can also express comparison or contrast in point by point

organization. So, first the writer compares or contrasts one point about the two topics,

then the second point but within one paragraph.

Since every student needs an entirely different period of time to acquire their

knowledge, and consequently apply it in their own writing, some sample essays might

give them some background knowledge on what an essay can look like on the bases of

all the stages preceeding the final copy. That is the main reason why I added some

sample essays, created by non-native speakers of English, in the appendix no5, 6 p.57,

59.

25
2 PRACTICAL PART
As it is understood from the theoretical part, writing as a skill is very often

taught for exam purposes. However, as teachers, the key task for us is to help students.

At an exam level, the choice of the topic is rather limited. At most exams, the students

are given a choice of two topics. At the Institution I work for, one topic is military

based, since most of the candidates are military personnel, and the other one covers any

topic of either social, or cultural area. For any topic, however, the same steps are to be

followed. Since the exam itself is time limited, it is essential that the candidates come

well prepared for the exam. Thus it is up to us, teachers, to provide the students with

sufficient to help them pass the exam successfully. Nevertheless, essay writing should

not be aimed at the exam only. If we, teachers, manage to help our students to become

better writers, they might start writing in a foreign language maybe more and better than

in their mother tongue, which is a great success.

2.1 The writing process

Since we describe mainly limited time writing, and essay writing for the exam

purpose, the advantage of choosing a topic is taken away. Still, the stage of narrowing

the topic takes its place in the writing process. Very often the subject is general. The

task of this stage is to narrow it to the more specific or particular aspect. In the

introduction, the general background of the topic is provided; however, towards the end

of the introduction, the thesis statement takes place and the subject of the paragraph is

narrowed to a specific focus so that a student writes about it clearly and completely. All

the stages are described in in Oshima (6) which I used as a source for this practical part.

26
2.2 Stage one – prewriting – choosing and narrowing the topic,
Brainstorming

As several words have been devoted to planning already, the stage of

brainstorming comes after choosing and narrowing the topic. Brainstorming for ideas

gets a writer started writing more quickly and saves them time in the later stages of the

writing process. Three useful brainstorming techniques are listing, freewriting, and

clustering. Since there is not much time for brainstorming during the exam, the students

should be taught how to get to the point of the essay quite quickly. Since the written

part of the exam takes very often sixty minutes, the candidates should spend not more

than ten minutes on the brainstorming stage, forty minutes covers the essay itself, and

within the last ten minutes a student goes through the essay for checking the overall

understanding. Writing under time pressure is not easy, so sufficient time must be

devoted to writing strategies and all the needed stages within the course. Thus, the

students are given ample time to practise and become successful essay writers.

An example of narrowing – the topic is ENVIRONMENT, (Oshima, Writing Academic

English, p. 5).

Environment as a topic is rather broad. So, the student narrowed it down.

27
2.2.1 Listing

As previously mentioned one of the choices for brainstorming is listing. “Listing

is a brainstorming technique in which you think about your topic and quickly make a

list of whatever words or phrases come to your mind. Your purpose is to produce as

many ideas as possible in a short time, and your goal is to find a specific focus for your

topic.” (Oshima, p. 4)

First, a student writes down the general topic at the top of the paper. Then they

make a list of every idea that comes into their mind about that topic. It is helpful to keep

the ideas flowing and try to stay on the general topic. When this procedure is practised

in a course, there is ample time for brainstorming, so even the ideas which are a little off

the topic can be included in listing, since they can be crossed out later, or they might

help the writer to come up with more appropriate ideas for the topic. Apart from words,

the writer can use phrases or sentences, and simultaneously they do not have to pay so

much attention to spelling or grammar. After such a list is finished, a student rewrites

the list and groups similar ideas together. That is the time for crossing out items that do

not belong to the group or are duplications.

After this stage is finished, three main groups, or three lists are created, each of

which has a central focus. The central focus is the key for each body paragraph in the

essay. The other words or phrases take the role of supporting details for each of the

paragraphs. Three lists are mentioned since a five-paragraphed essay is supposed as

most suitable for an exam essay. Of course, the number of paragraphs depends on the

type of essay, and also the quality is more important than the quantity; however, for

most essays, five paragraphs supposedly cover the topic most appropriately. The

following box provides an example of listing. The topic was Culture shock experienced

by international students in the United States (Oshima, Writing Academic English p.5).

28
In the first box the student puts down all the ideas which came to his mind.

In the following chart, the student rewrote the list and put similar ideas together, as you

can see some of the ideas are even crossed out, which is absolutely fine and possible.

Going through such a strategy is what this stage is aimed at.

29
2.2.2 Freewriting

Another style for brainstorming is freewriting. Using such a strategy, a student

writes freely about a topic since they are looking for a specific focus. While a student is

writing, one idea will spark another one. As with listing, the purpose of freewriting is to

generate as many ideas as possible and to write them down without worrying about

appropriateness, grammar, spelling, logic, or organization. The most important rule for

freewriting is the more a person writes the more ideas will come up. Even though the

ideas seem to flow nowhere or run dry, keep the pencil moving, and the good ideas will

appear.

As just mentioned, freewriting, concerning the stages of writing, belongs to

brainstorming. However, freewriting used as a strategy towards successful writing does

not have to be used only when a topic of an essay is given. As it has already been

mentioned in the theoretical part where the fluency focused approach mentioned in

Byrne was discussed, the strategy of freewriting was perfectly described by Elbow (7).

“Freewriting, done regularly, three times a week at least, enables a potential successful

writer to achieve a good piece of writing. Freewriting, sometimes called “automatic

writing,” “babbling,” or “jabbering” is the most effective way to improve one’s writing

skills.” The exercise concentrates on your writing for ten minutes at least on any topic.

The important feature is not to stop. Even though you have no idea what to write about,

keep writing. Sentences such as “I have no idea what I should write about. I am

completely lost in my words and thoughts,” is acceptable. You never stop, that is the

only requirement.

A very important feature is that a teacher never consults such a piece of writing

with a student. The purpose of such writing is not coherence of the text, although it is

absolutely fine and good if they are. The importance of freewriting lies in a student’s

30
will to write. That is another reason why such writing is not corrected at all. Freewriting

in this sense is the closest to speaking. When you speak freely, a person does not

concentrate on spelling at all, and similarly does not consider mistakes in grammar that

much. Whereas in writing, which is supposed to be handed in to the teacher, several

steps must be taken, pre-writing, outlining, drafting, proof-reading, editing and final

copy. A big advantage of freewriting is that you write simply in a way you speak. Thus,

a person does not struggle with spelling or grammar.

Freewriting exercises are short. A person should not stop, go back, correct, or

reflect. In a sense, the writing seems careless. However, while writing and at the same

time not giving full attention, focus or energy, freewriting helps you pour more

attention, focus, and energy into what you write. Such short writings might seem

rubbish since you just put your thoughts on a sheet of paper; however, it is a way to

produce pieces of writing that are genuinely better than usual. Such a feature can be

realized after several weeks of writing. They become less random, more coherent, more

highly organized. Freewriting, of this kind, should without any doubt become an

essential part of every English or foreign language course.

Going back to the procedure of freewriting for an essay purpose, the first step is

to write the topic at the top of the paper. Then the writer tries to put down as much as

they can about the topic until they use all the ideas they can come up with. An author

includes supporting items as facts, details, and examples that come into their mind about

the subject. Similarly as in listing, a writer goes through the writing and circles the main

ideas that could be developed in body paragraphs with supporting details. After that, a

stage of re-writing takes place. A writer goes through the main points and freewrites

again. A vital help is to choose one of the ideas, focus on it, and write more about it;

thus, providing the needed supporting ideas of the focused topic. The student can

31
continue freewriting as long as they can generate ideas related to the topic. After

completing that task, a student rereads it again and develops the main points, add some

more ideas, or even delete others. The student can do this freewriting activity several

times until they are satisfied what they have written. An example bellow shows

freewriting strategy, the topic is “Problems at Evergreen College” (again it is taken from

Oshima, Writing Academic English p.7).

As it is seen in the text, the student at the very beginning did not know at all what he

was going to write about. Then, as the thoughts were coming, he came up with some

subtopics, which are circled.

32
2.2.3 Clustering, mind-mapping

A third brainstorming activity is clustering. In clustering strategy, a student puts

in the centre of a paper the topic and draws a bubble around it. That is the centre, the

main topic for the essay. All ideas that come up in a writer’s mind are placed around it.

For each of the following ideas, the writer can add as many other ideas or details as they

come up to their mind. All of the ideas are placed in bubbles. Lines between the

individual ideas provide the linkage of thoughts and ideas for each of them. The

example following is a mind map on “Holiday” (taken from Harmer, Teaching Writing

p. 89).

2.3 Stage Two – Planning (Outlining)

In the first stage, ideas for a topic of an essay were generated by brainstorming.

The second stage in the process of writing is planning. In this stage, the generated ideas

are organized into an outline. So, the main points, which were decided in the

33
brainstorming stage, are now listed further into sublists, and any items that do not

belong to the group are crossed out. Such sublists provide the supporting detail for each

body paragraph. More precisely, from such a sublist, the most important idea is taken as

a topic sentence for the body paragraph and other words or phrases support that idea.

When all of the points are grouped into their appropriate sublists, an outline has been

created of a paragraph.

What was taken as the most important idea, serves for the topic sentence. The

topic sentence is the most general sentence in a paragraph, and it expresses the central

focus of it. An outline is a formal plan for a paragraph. Oshima describes outline “like

an architect’s plan for a house. An architect plans a house before it is built to make sure

that all the parts will fit. As an architect, a writer plans an essay, or in the first stage a

paragraph before they write it to make sure that all of their ideas will fit.”

Why write an outline?

First of all, it helps to organize ideas. More precisely, an outline will ensure the

writer they do not use any irrelevant ideas. In contrast, it helps the writer to make sure

they will not leave out any important points, and that the supporting sentences will be in

logical order.

Second, learning to outline will help the writer to write more quickly. In an

outline, a writer puts down the main points and the subpoints in such an order as they

plan to write about them. After the outline is finished, the stage of itself writing is much

easier. As the steps follow, a student should at this point have the topic sentence for a

paragraph and some supporting points and details for developing the paragraph, thus

giving some evidence for the topic sentence. While writing the paragraph, some other

examples and a concluding sentence may be added, but the main planning has been

34
achieved. Not every paragraph has to have a concluding sentence. Such a conclusion is

again dependent on the essay type.

All in all, each outline should contain a topic sentence, one or two main

supporting points, and one or two supporting details for each main supporting point.

The following chart provides an outline for the topic of “Problems at Evergreen

College,” which was brainstormed by the use of freewriting (thesis, page 21). The

student came up with a sublist. (Oshima, Teaching Academic Writing p.9)

The outline, then, can look as follows:

2.4 Stage Three – Writing and Revising Drafts

After a student finishes the outline, they write the first draft. This stage means to

go through the paragraphs as many times as necessary until the final copy is produced.

Of course, the teacher’s role is to go through the draft together with the student, thus

providing the help the students might need. A student must remember that at this stage,

within their course as they try to become successful writers, no piece of writing is ever

35
perfect the first time. Each time a student writes a new draft, they will refine and

improve their writing.

The first step of the revision process is to write a rough draft from an outline.

The procedure starts with writing down the topic sentence, which serves as the main

focus of the paragraph. A good help or hint is skipping one or two lines per line of

writing since this space will allow the student to put any new ideas, or more details in

order to fully develop the points. Together with writing the first draft, all the notes about

spelling or defining precisely the mentioned detail can be added, thus drawing the

writer’s attention when editing and revising the writing later on. While writing, the

outline is followed as closely as possible. A student writes steadily; however, he does

not hesitate to add ideas that are not in an outline. If the ideas seem relevant to the topic,

let the student put them down.

The following chart provides the first draft written in accordance with the outline on the

topic of “Communication Problems at Evergreen College.” (Oshima, Teaching

Academic Writing, p.12).

36
 At this stage, grammar, punctuation, or spelling does not have to be accurate.

The first rough draft will probably not be perfect since the student tries to write down as

much information as they can, following the outline. If there is not much written, there

is not much to check for accuracy, spelling, of grammar. Thus, the main aim of the first

draft is to write as much as possible. It may happen, within this first step of writing, that

the student cannot come up with a good phrase or an accurate word for what they want

to express. As a teacher, point out that such situations may occur, and make sure that the

students know they may leave a space for later when they check the draft alone or with

a teacher, and they can add the information in the following stage of revising and

rewriting. It is good to mention to the students that writing is a continuous process of

discovery. Therefore, as they are writing, the students will think of new ideas that may

not be on the brainstorming list or in the outline; however, any new ideas can be added,

or they can leave out original ones at any time in the writing process. Still, all the ideas

that are part of a paragraph must be relevant to the topic.

Next is the revising step where what has been written can be changed for better.

The aim of this stage is to improve the writing. Now, the content is checked, and a

special attention is devoted to unity, coherence, and logic. To achieve such aim, the

thoughts can be changed, rearranged or some new may be added. However, at this stage,

the students do not check for grammar or spelling mistakes. That is a proofreading

stage.

During the first revision, content and organization are taken into consideration.

A student reads through the paragraph carefully to focus on a general overview. If any

part needs to be improved, a student can make notes in the spaces provided within the

lines of their writing. As a teacher, help the student to check for understanding. That

means that a teacher serves as the audience and checks if the ideas are easy to follow

37
and understandable. Also, check the topic sentence and whether the supporting points

develop it. At this stage, try to help the student check for unity. Any sentence that does

not support the topic sentence is left out. Simultaneously, each paragraph should give

the reader enough information to understand the main idea. Transition is a vital feature

for achieving the unity of a text. As a teacher, try to lead the students to see all these

features, thus providing them with essential help towards their successful writing. After

all these revisions, give a student time to work on the second draft.

Here is the second draft rewritten after the first one. (Oshima, Teaching Academic

Writing, p.13).

The notes in handwriting actually belong to stage four – proofreading, as written below.

38
2.5 Stage four – proofreading and the final copy

At this stage, the paragraphs of the essay are checked for accuracy. That means

the teacher helps the student check the grammar, sentence structures, spelling, and

punctuation. After proofreading the whole text, a student writes the final copy. For the

exam purpose, the essay is done in handwriting. Thus, it is vital for the students to get

used to handwriting, thus focusing on legible and if possible neat handwriting. The

student should take all the corrections into consideration; thus, they can achieve a good

piece of writing. Also, after reading this final copy to check the unity, and accuracy,

some changes may come up to a writer’s mind. The students should hand in such

writing, they themselves are satisfied with. So, the following example is the final

paragraph on the topic of written after the stages of brainstorming, drafting, and

edditing. (Oshima, Teaching Academic Writing, p.14).

39
2.6 Grammar rules

2.6.1 Clauses, Type of Sentences

The basic tool for writing is English sentences. These are put together by

combining words, which are made up out of individual sounds, into phrases, or more

complex clauses. Individual words bear their meanings, and by arranging these words

into larger units, phrases and clauses, we convey ideas and information. By combining

these features we achieve the level of English sentence.

Clauses are either independent and can stand alone, or they can be dependent and

thus must be combined with and independent clause. By combining diverse clauses into

sentences, and consequently into paragraphs we achieve the needed level of essay

writing.

Every English sentence must have a subject. This feature sometimes causes a

great problem to Czech students since in Czech sentences, subject can be omitted. The

subject of a sentence occupies the supreme noun position in the sentence and determines

whether the verb can be plural or singular. In the English sentence, subject-verb accord

must be achieved. The verb has the authority to determine the type of sentence. There

are three verb types, and almost all utterances, in written English, use one of them.

Transitive verbs take direct objects; intransitive verbs do not take objects, and copular

verbs are followed by subject complements which tell something about the subject such

as what, how, or where the subject is.

According to their function, four types of sentences are distinguished:

declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory. Based on the number and kind

of clause (dependent and independent), different sentence types are distinguished:

simple, compound, complex, and complex-compound. A simple sentence contains only

one independent clause. A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined

40
by a co-ordinating conjunction (FANBOYS), and a comma connects them. A complex

sentence connects one or more dependent clauses to the independent one. A dependent

clause has a subject and a predicate, but it does not form a complete sentence. If the

sentence starts with a dependent clause, a comma must separate if from the independent

clause. When the dependent clause (subsequent clause) comes after an independent

(main) clause, a comma is not written (used). For combining the clauses, subordinating

conjunctions are used. A compound-complex sentence combines two sentence

structures. Such sentence may start with a dependent clause, therefore it is separated

with a comma from an independent clause which follows, and consequently this

independent clause is separated with a comma from another independent clause which

comes after the first independent clause.

Indeed, using diverse type of sentences supports the overall satisfaction of the

whole piece of writing. However, sometimes the simpler the sentences is, the better

result is achieved. Shorter sentences are better understood. The reason for combining

the sentences is not to get the reader bored by reading one simple sentence after the

other. Thus, the writer must be aware of the rules of various sentence types,

punctuation, and transition words. The examples are provided in the appendix p.

41
2.7 Additional help for teachers and students

2.7.1 To the teacher

As you proofread the student’s writing, check to make sure that the essay

matches the assignment. Check for the paragraphs, following the rules of unity and

coherence of a text. Also, check for whether the supporting details complete the

assignment of an essay. Another important feature is transition. Provide the students

with discourse markers, pointing out the differences in their usage so that they can use

them in their writings.

Since the courses at DLI (Defence Language Institute) take twenty-four weeks,

there is ample time for the teacher to explain, advice, and supervise the students.

Despite the length of any course, sufficient time must be devoted to writing skill. So,

within the course, the teacher gives the students advice and ideas to write successfully.

Thus, time management is one of the essential tools towards successful writing. Indeed,

certain steps must be taken prior to writing the whole essay. As mentioned above, the

students are lead by the teacher, and they start from writing paragraphs to essays. First,

the students must be given sufficient time for brainstorming, drafting, and editing.

Consequently, the students themselves should plan a rough timetable to avoid finishing

their piece of writing in a rush.

2.7.2 To the student

First, students must understand what the topic is asking. A good help for this is

to read the statement, or the question, several times for understanding. Next, while

writing, a writer concentrates on the topic, paying great attention to stay focused on the

topic and controlling ideas.

Some pieces of advice towards the writers include time management. When at

the exam, one has to concentrate and devote the entire time to the essay itself. The only
42
task is the topic of the essay itself. Since most of the exams take sixty minutes for

writing, about ten minutes should be devoted to brainstorming, fourty to writing itself,

and ten minutes then remain for reading the final work and possible little corrections. If

the students follow the steps of the writing process, they will be able to achieve a

succesful piece of writing even with the time limit.

43
CONCLUSION
In my Bachelor Thesis I presented the importance of teaching writing as a part

of the syllabus. Writing is one of four skills, and thus inevitably makes part of a

language learning process. The truth is that to become a successful foreign language

writer is a demanding task. However, with a good approach, which communicative

language approach definitely is, students may develop writing as any of the three

remaining skills. At the advanced level, the students are capable of understanding how

writing is important for achieving their goal. Such a goal may, for some of them, be

their success at the language exam; however, for some others it can be just the proof

they have become better at their level by the end of a course.

I might seem rather optimistic, but I really am. I tried to devote as much time as

possible to my previous course (which finished in January 2006) where four students

out of six achieved the best possible score for their writing. The other two lost just a few

points. I based my approach on the theory I presented in this work, and I followed the

steps described in the practical part. More importantly, however, I would like to point

out that what Elbow describes in the strategy of freewriting, had the biggest influence

on my students’ motivation and their improvement.

Indeed, what remains the task for the teacher in either case is to provide the

students with sufficient time and help to acquire the knowledge and achieve the desired

goal, as described in both theoretical and practical part. This Bachelor work, hopefully,

fulfilled the expectations. My aim was to show the way towards successful essay

writing through process stages of writing, which clearly showed what steps to follow to

achieve it.

I definitely have to express agreement with the approach of Byrne and Brown,

who point out the importance of the stages in the writing process. Moreover, without a

44
certain structure in the writing process, a successful piece of writing cannot be achieved.

I have experienced several times when students feel embarrassed if they are asked to

think their writing through once again and rewrite it. They do not know how. It is not

enough to go through the writing, correct or point out the mistakes, and give the piece

of writing back to the student. Concerning corrections, much more is hidden behind this

task. Correcting students’ writing is in the first place cooperation with the students.

When a teacher provides their students with what they should be aware of when writing,

and if they correct the mistakes together with their students, they give them the best

help for their own writing.

Any teacher can imagine struggling with an assignment of writing a composition

within a limited time without feedback. Putting all ideas on a sheet of paper in

accordance with all the features of a good composition, which are described in the

theoretical part and in the stages of an essay writing in the practical part, is not an easy

task at all.

Hopefully, all the sample exercises provide a good look on first essay types, and

also on the importance of grammar, coherence, and transition.

45
RESUME

Bachelor Thesis “Teaching writing to upper-intermediate to advanced students”

describes teaching writing, essays in particular, as one of the four language skills. The
theoretical part deals with the difference between spoken and written discourse, thus
focusing on the importance of coherence in writing. Moreover, it explains what an essay
is, its parts and types. The practical part then describes writing process, from pre-
writing to the final copy. This part also includes examples of the brainstorming
strategies. It also covers some grammar structures, such as sentence types, punctuation
rules, commas in particular. Apart from that, some hints for both teachers and students
to use while writing are also provided. In the appendix, some sample essays are
provided together with sentence types used in sentences, and examples of transition
words. The objective of the thesis is to provide teachers with a strategy how to teach
essay writing and students with a strategy what steps to take when learning to write.

46
RESUME

Bakalářská práce „Výuka psaní esejů pokročilých studentů anglického jazyka” popisuje
výuku psaní, a to psaní esejů (úvahy), jako jedné ze čtyř jazykových dovedností.
Teoretická část popisuje rozdíl mezi mluveným a psaným projevem, čímž zdůrazňuje
důležitost koherence písemného vyjádření. Dále je v teoretické části věnována
pozornost tématu eseje jako slohového útvaru v anglickém jazyce, co vyjadřuje, jeho
hlavní části a možné typy. Praktická část je pak věnována jednotlivým krokům při psaní
esejů. Součástí tohoto oddílu práce jsou i příklady jednotlivých strategií při psaní. Dále
také zahrnuje některé gramatické struktury, jako typy vět a pravidla interpunkce,
přesněji pravidla psaní čárek. Nedílnou součástí jsou také rady kantorům a studentům,
které mohou napomoci při výuce či samotném psaní. Příloha obsahuje příkladové eseje
a v praktických větách také výše uvedené gramatické struktury, pravidla čárek ve
větách, i příklady tranzice. Cílem práce je poskytnout kantorům postup při výuce psaní
esejů a podobně studentům průvodce jak postupovat při učení se dovednosti psaní.

47
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS

1. HARMER, Jeremy. How to Teach Writing. Longman, Pearson Education Limited,

2004, 154p, ISBN 0-582-77998-7
2. BROWN, H. Douglas. Teaching by Principles. Longman, Pearson Education
Company, 2001, 480, p.334-360, ISBN 0-13-028283-9
3. COOK, Discourse, LANGUAGE TEACHING, A SCHEME FOR TEACHER
EDUCATION Oxford University Press, 1990, ISBN0-19-437141-9
4. TRIBBLE, Christopher. Writing. Oxford University Press, 1996. 172p., ISBN 0-19-
43-71-41-7
5. BYRNE, Donn. Teaching Writing Skills. Longman Group UK Limited, 1991. 154p.
ISBN 0-582-74651-5
6. OSHIMA, Alice. Writing Academic English. Longman, 1999, 269p., ISBN 0-201-
34054-2
7. ELBOW, Peter. Writing Without Teacher. Oxford University Press, London, Oxford,
New York, 1973, ISBN-0-19-501679-3
8. SWAN, Michael. Practical English Usage. Oxford University Press, 2004, 656p.,
ISBN 0-19-431197
9. QUIRK, Randolph. A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman, 1990,
490p., ISBN 0-582-05971-2

WEB PAGES
I have used the web pages mainly for describing what an essay is, its types, and I have
also used some links for the practical part where I describe the process stages.
http://www.onestopenglish.com/Skills/Writing/index.htm
http://eleaston.com/writing.html#Howto
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/teach/ielts/academic_writing/
http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/soho/Atrium/1437/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

48
I have also used my notes which I made during the “Advanced English Language

Instructor Course” at DLI (Defense Language Institute), Eglish Language Center, in

Texas in 2005. These mainly concern part 1.5 – essay writing.

Some of the sample essays were written by students I took the course in the United

States with, namely Mr. Mariusz Piotrowski from Poland and Mr.Famouke Camara

from Mali.

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APPENDIX

1. Patterns of written discourse by Kaplan (Brown, Teaching by Principles p. 337)

2. An example of narration/description – written by Ilona Legnerova

3. Persuasive essay – sample essay – written by Ilona Legnerova

4. Cause and effect essay – sample essay - written by Famouke Camara

5. Compare/contrast essay – sample essay – written by Famouke Camara

6. Compare/contrast essay – sample essay – written by Mariusz Piotrowski

7. Handout for students – Essay - steps to follow, taken from Oshima p. 103-108.

8. Handout for students – Discourse markers – to provide some help with

transition words and expressions, taken from Swan, p. 151-158.

9. Sentence types – to show students different types of sentences so as they avoid

using only simple sentences in their writings, taken from Quirk.

10. Commas – to help students where to use commas in English. This part is

important since the rules are different from Czech language.

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1 Patterns of written discourse by Kaplan

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2 Example of description/narration – by Ilona Legnerova

Describe your very first day of teaching

I was on the verge of entering the raudy classroon. Before I felt confident

enough to open the door, I had to take a deep breath. I accepted the challenge, took

the door handle and entered the classroom. As I was approaching the teacher’s desk,

my confused mind carried toward my fate of standing for falling down. After I

succeded in balancing myself, the crucial moment awaited, encounter the students. I

bravely stood in front of alter of all student’s judgement facing thirty potential

mixture of angels and devils who were staring at me, standing and waiting for what

the fresh teacher was about to tell them. I felt like a five-year old child, who broke a

priceless vase and waited for her punishment. The vast majority of boys were taller

than me. Moreover, they were observing me very carefuly, as I could feel from their

face, thinking about my age. I was a really difficult day.

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3 Persuasive Essay – written by Ilona Legnerová 13 April 2005

Non-intensive language courses do not meet the expectations

The military in the Czech Republic considers both working on duties and
learning a second language, English being a mandatory language to use. For many
military personnel, such a challenge means to go and sign up for an English course at
DLI in Vyskov. Depending on their commander and the branch they work in, they are
sent to either intensive or non-intensive course. The difference concerns the schedule.
Intensive courses last for five months whereas students who are sent for non-intensive
course come only once a month for a week. Based on their commander’s requirements,
they are appointed either for course preparing for level two or level three. Passing the
SLP 3 exam, the level of which is comparable to upper-intermediate or even advanced,
in all four skills listening, speaking, reading, and writing is a real challenge and signifies
hours and hours of torturing time spent over books and handouts. Speaking about non-
intensive courses, the success of passing such a difficult exam is rather impossible.
Several reasons support this fact. For instance, students do not spend sufficient time at
school. Moreover, neither do they learn much nor they are able to focus on their
working tasks in their own job. Indeed, a vast majority of the students leave the course
depressed since they did not achieve what they had desired the entire year.
First, non-intensive courses do not provide the students with sufficient time for
studying. Comparing the intensive with non-intensive courses, when the intensive
course starts, the students themselves know what is ahead of them. They have to accept
the fact they are not going to see their families but on weekends for five months.
However, being aware of that fact, they have much more time to concentrate and work
hard on their improvement. So, students can devote much more time to studying. On the
contrary, non-intensive students do not have such an advantage since they leave their
daily duties for only a week every month for a year. Such a student cannot acquire much
during one week. During the very first week, they try to get back to English because
many of them had not used the language for a long time. Thus, they very often do not
gain anything within that time. As a result, they do not learn anything and go back home
frustrated to work for another three weeks. Naturally, they forget everything they heard
the first week of the course and are forced to start from scratch. Indeed, such a course
can hardly lead to any achievement.

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 Another cause for unsuccessful exam results is the fact they cannot concentrate
fully on the course itself. Although they are wholeheartedly willing to learn, the
students cannot stop thinking about their families and job. Then, such a student has only
about two days to learn something new. Moreover, as the time passes, they also have to
revise what they have already learned. Thus, on Monday they first need to realize they
are back at school, and similarly, on Friday they are at home in their thoughts from
eight in the morning. Hence, teacher and students have only one or two days to work.
Therefore, non-intensive courses are not effective and the only result is that the students
come up to the conclusion that they have only a little chance to be successful at the
exam.
Then, their own work is a distracting element for the course. Since they are
coming only once a month, the students very often think about their own business back
at their working place, and they cannot concentrate on their studies fully. As mentioned
above, they are not given sufficient time for studies; moreover, they are disturbed by
their commanders. They bother their subordinates with phone calls and spoil the whole
week of learning. Since they send them for such a course, the commanders have to
understand the importance of time, patience, and calm environment when studying a
foreign language. Simply, the students cannot even start studying efficiently if they
have to worry all the time about their own work. Thus, non-intensive courses are not
efficient at all.
In conclusion, almost all military personnel have to study English. However,
they need adequate time for their studies. Moreover, they cannot be disturbed with
unconscious thoughts about their families, and they also should not be disturbed by their
commanders if they are to succeed. Nevertheless, even if they had perfect conditions for
their studies, these students can hardly achieve level 3 in all four skills when they have
only one week a month for learning English. Indeed, non-intensive courses do not meet
the expectations of successfully passed exam.

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4 Cause and effect essay – written by Famouke Camara, 18th April 2005
Why do people immigrate?

Immigration has been practiced since the dawn of time from all over the world
and in different aspects. That common habit is nowadays starting to be a big concern
and causing the big cities to be very populated. However, for many good reasons people
immigrate because they want to escape to poverty, to have better life and for personal
feelings.
First, many people immigrate because they are from the third world where
poverty is a big issue. Generally, they travel to countries that have a strong economy in
order to get better jobs and earnings since in their home countries they don’t have those
opportunities. Moreover, people, for many reasons in Africa and Asia, have to help their
parents who do not work. Consequently, the only and best way for those people is to
travel abroad to gain money since the chances of success are very few in their own
countries; then in return, they invest that money in their families or even in other areas
of their own countries.
Besides the lack of money, people also immigrate because of the better life they
can not get in their own countries. As a matter of fact, they travel to better countries
where they can have more education and nursing facilities. Most of the time, students
and disable persons can be put in that category; however, they are not the only people
because of the diverse aims of people when they immigrate. Furthermore, some people
also immigrate for political reasons and generally because they are prosecuted
politically in their own countries. Immigration
Finally, people immigrate for personal feelings such as love, marriage and
freedom. However, those personal feelings are, considering the huge rate of
immigration, quite tiny but still not to be neglected. Generally, single people leave
everything behind them to immigrate in the country of their love ones such as their boy
friend, girl friend, husband or wife. In addition, people sometimes immigrate just for the
deep feelings they have for the country itself. That describes mostly people who, after a
stay or while serving their own country abroad, decide to immigrate after their
retirement to retrieve their habits or enjoy the feelings they previously had in the
immigration country.
In conclusion, people, in search of happiness, immigrate to get more money in
order to accomplish their wish, having a better life and satisfying their personal feelings.

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However, even though immigration can be helpful, people still have to think about
returning back home to make immigration more enjoyable and less concerning for the
immigrated countries.

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5. Compare/contrast essay, written by Famouke Camara
The Educational system France Versus the USA
Nowadays, the educational system, varying from culture to culture and even
from country to country, has at least a universal value that is teaching and learning.
However, all educational systems, despite of this variation, have a different approach
concerning how to reach their goals and a good illustration of this diversity is the
French and the USA educational system. Although they differ in teaching styles, exams
and learning, they have some common ground.
First, from the perspective of teaching and the value or worth of exams, the
French teachers are feared by students and are supposed to know almost everything
whereas in the USA, the teachers are fearless and are not required to know everything.
Nonetheless, they are expected to be good facilitators for the students by mastering a
little bit of what they have to teach at lower levels, which reasonably makes the teaching
less demanding. Furthermore, in France, the exams, considered as diplomas, are not the
same and do not have a real equivalence with the ones in the USA. In France, four years
of study after baccalaureate diploma equals to Master diploma whereas in the USA, it
corresponds to bachelor degree.
Besides teaching and exams, study in the USA is less broad and covers only a
specific item and its ramifications. World history or geography is not need at lower
levels. The student can pass his exam whereas he has a little worldwide knowledge
Moreover, the student is individually at the center of learning process where he has
more freedom and sometimes even power over the teacher. In contrast, the French
learning process is designated to reach the majority of the students together, and also the
study, being general, covers many aspects of the world especially geography, history
and a general knowledge about it. They are so emphasized that they are even part of
every exam.
However, those differences are the only characteristics of both educational
systems in their uniqueness. They also have some similarities especially in the realm of
classroom management and testing process. The students, when misbehaved, become
subject to disciplinary council where they face most of time a sanction, and also the
testing process do not allow and reprimand severely any student who cheats. Moreover,
they both believe and aspire to the principles of better education for all their students
even though it may not be apparent to students.

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 In conclusion, the educational system in both countries is of excellent quality
and bloom perfectly in their uniqueness. This distinctiveness shows the multiple ways
of reaching a better education without stereotyping one system. They are all striving to
improve the system and by having more similarities especially with the diplomas.

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6 – Compare/contrast essay, written by Mariusz Piotrowski
Airplane vs. Bus
People have been traveling since they appeared on the Earth, and the curiosity
with the need of moving created machines to travel. Therefore, people can cruise freely
now from one place to another using their favorite vehicle type, among which a plane
and a bus are the most well-liked. Although both are means of transportation, which
make them similar, they differ not only technically, but also enjoyably.
Although technical differences of using planes or buses mean nothing to many
people, traveling by air is quite trendy to some of them, even though they still can not
use it because of the fairly expensive tickets. Moreover, the baggage capacity is strictly
limited because of the luggage compartment size and the total weight of the aircraft.
Obviously, the most differing feature is the operational environment which is air for
aircraft, but the buses apparently use roads. Although, the quantity of suitcases is also
limited by the luggage section size, but no flying considerations have to be taken.
Furthermore, the price is rather reasonable, which makes buses more accepted among
travelers.
Not only technical characteristic is significant to people, but also enjoyment
during the trip plays fundamental role in choosing the particular manner of transport.
For instance, travelers prefer airlines because of the speed, but others love relaxing and
admiring gorgeous views of countryside. Moreover, the comfortable seats mixed with
an superb meal on the board of a luxurious airplane drag those passengers who are tired
of rough and unpleasant bus trips. Besides, long air voyages deliver such attractions as
drinks or other goods to purchase, which are unfortunately unavailable on the board of a
bus.
However, both means of transportation have similarities. First, people use them
to move from place to place constantly for many reasons. Additionally, airplanes and
buses are well-liked among a wide range of travelers dependently on the personal needs
and preferences. Eventually, the essential simile is the opportunity not only to meet
spanking new people, but also to make friends, sometimes even forever.
All in all, the travelers use planes and buses in spite of the technical or
satisfaction differences. Therefore, all the means of transport are widely used to cover
even the shortest distances, and in addition, the human nature keeps pushing people to
all possible locations in the constantly shrinking world.

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7. Handout for students, from Oshima, Teaching Academic Writing p. 103-108

Essay

1. An Introductory paragraph

it introduces the topic of the essay

it gives a general background of the topic

it often indicates the overall plan of the essay

it should arouse the reader’s interest in the topic
• general statement – the subject of the essay to attract your reader’s
attention

introduce the general topic of the essay

give background information on the general topic
• thesis statement – the specific subdivisions of your topic; a thesis
statement for an essay is like a topic sentence for a paragraph = it names
the specific topic and the controlling ideas or major subdivisions of the
topic

state the main topic

list the subdivisions of the topic

is usually the last sentence in the introductory paragraph

General statement

Thesis statement

2. A body
• It very often consists of three paragraphs – each of them has the topic
sentence, which is further developed by supporting points and details of
the essay topic
• The main supporting points in a single paragraph are organized by
chronological order, logical division of ideas, comparison and contrast,
depending on the essay type

3. Conclusion
• It is a summary or review of the main points discussed in the body, or a
restatement of the thesis in different words
• It may include the final comment on the subject, or a possible solution
for a described problem.

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8. Handout for student

DISCOURSE MARKERS
FOCUSING AND LINKING
with reference to talking/speaking of/about regarding as regards
as for as far as…..I am/isconcerned

- focus attention on what is going to be said, by announcing the subject in advance.

Some of them also make a link with previous discourse, by referring back to what was
said before.

with reference to – is a very formal expression used mainly at the

beginning of business letters. followed by a comma

Speaking/talking of/about – is used to make a link with what has just
been said. It can help a speaker to change the subject.

regarding – can come at the beginning of a piece of discourse.

As regards/ as far as…(is concerned) - usually announce a change of
subject by the speaker/writer as regards –no commas

As for – often suggests lack of interest or dislike.

BALANCING CONTRASTING POINTS

on the other hand while whereas

- these expressions are used to balance two facts or ideas that contrast, but do not
contradict each other.

While and whereas can be put before the first of the contrasting points.

On the contrary is used to contradict – to say that what has been said is
not true. CONTRADICTING

On the other hand – if we want to give the other side of a question.

• “I suppose the job wasn`t very interesting?“ “On the contrary, it was
fascinating. I loved it.”
• The job wasn`t very interesting, but on the other hand it was well
paid.

EPHASISING A CONTRAST

however nevertheless mind you still yet

in spite of this

However and nevertheless emphasise the fact that the second point contrasts
with the first. Nevertheless is very formal.

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Mind you /less formal/ and still introduce the contrasting point as and
afterthought.

Yet, still and in spite of this can be used to suggest that something is
surprising, in view of what was said before. Yet is normally used in
questions and negative sentences, but it is occasionally used in affirmative
sentences /with a similar meaning to still/ in a formal style.

SIMILARITY

similarly in the same way

these are most common in a formal style

• The roads are usually very crowded at the beginning of the holiday
season. Similarly, there are often serious traffic jams at the end of the
holidays.
• James Carter did everything he could to educate his children. In the
same way, they in turn put a high value on their own children’s
education.

CONCESSION AND COUNTER-ARGUMENT

concession: it is true of course certainly if

may stressed do
counter-argument: however even so but nevertheless
nonetheless all the same still
- these expressions are used in a three-part structure 1) the speaker or writer mentions
facts that point in a certain direction 2) it is agreed (the concession) that a particular
contradictory fact points the other way 3) but the speaker or writer dismisses this and
returns to the original direction of argument

• …cannot agree with colonialism It is true that the British may have done
some good in India. Even so, colonialism is basically evil.
• …incapable of lasting relationships with women. Certainly, several
women loved him, and he was married twice. All the same, the women
closest to him were invariably deeply unhappy.
• It was a successful party. The Scottish cousins, if a little surprised by the
family’s behavior, were nonetheless impressed by the friendly welcome
they received.
• I’m glad to have a place of my own. It’s true it’s a bit small and it’s a
long way from the center and it does need a lot of repairs done. Still, it’s
home.

DISMISSAL of previous discourse

anyway anyhow at any rate at least

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- these expressions can be used to mean “What was said before doesn’t matter-the main
point is as follows”.

At least can suggest that one thing is certain or all right, even if everything else
is unsatisfactory.

Anyway is not the same as in any way, which means “by any method”.

CHANGE OF SUBJECT

by the way incidentally

By the way and incidentally are used to introduce something one has just
thought of that is not directly connected with the conversation. These two
expressions can also be used to change the subject completely.

RETURN TO PREVIOUS SUBJECT

as I was saying as it was mentioned above as listed above…

- this is used to return to an earlier subject after and interruption or a brief change of
subject.

STRUCTURING

first(ly) first of all second(ly) third(ly)

to begin with to start with in the first/second/third place
for one thing for another thing
lastly finally

- we use these to show the structure of what we are saying.

- note that firstly, secondly .. are more formal than first, second….and are more
common in British than American English.

at first we use to talk about the beginning of a situation, when we are making a
contrast with what happens/happened later. It is often followed by BUT

at last suggests – very strongly – the idea of impatience or inconvenience
resulting from a long wait or delay. – can be used as an exclamation. (Finally
cannot be used in this way. LASTLY –introducing the last item in a series- is
not the same at AT LAST
o James has passed his exams at last.
o At last! Where on earth have you been?

ADDING

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 moreover (very formal) furthermore in addition as well
as on top of that (informal) another thing is what is more…that
besides in any case

- these expressions can be used to add information or arguments to what has already
been said

GENERALISING

on the whole in general in all/most/many/some cases

broadly speaking to some/a great extent apart from except
for

- these expressions say how far the speaker/writer thinks a generalization is true. –
followed by a comma

except with or without FOR – after all, every, no, everything, anybody,
nowhere, whole etc.
• I’ve cleaned all the rooms except (for) the bathroom.

except with FOR – and before prepositions and conjunctions

• I’ve cleaned the house except for bathroom.
• It’s the same everywhere except in Scotland.
• He’s good-looking except when he smiles.

GIVING EXAMPLES

for instance for example e.g. in particular

- these expressions introduce particular examples to illustrate what has been said.

….., for example/for instance, ….

e.g. (Latin exempli gratia) is used in writing

In particular, followed by a comma focuses on a special example.

LOGICAL CONSEQUENCE

therefore (formal) as a result (formal) consequently (formal)so then

-these expressions show that what is said follows logically from what was said before. –
not followed by commas

MAKING THINGS CLEAR; GIVING DETAILS

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 I mean actually that is to say in other words

I mean – when we are going to make things clearer, or give more details.

Actually can introduce details, especially when these are unexpected.

That is to say and in other words are used when the speaker or writer says
something again in another way.

SOFTENING AND CORRECTING

I think/ feel/reckon/ guess (Am)

in my view opinion
apparently so to speak more or less sort of (informal) kind of

well really that is to say at least I’m afraid I suppose or

rather
actually I mean

Apparently can be used to say that the speaker has got his/her information from
somebody else (and perhaps does not guarantee that it is true).
• Have you heard? Apparently Susie’s pregnant again.
• I sort of think we ought to start going home, perhaps, really.
• I kind of think it’s more or less a crime.
• I’m not working for you again. Well, that’s to say, not unless you put my
wages up.

+ GAINING TIME

let me see let’s see well you know I don’t know I mean
kind of sort of

SHOWING ONE’S ATTITUDE TO WHAT ONE IS SAYING

honestly frankly no doubt literally

Honestly can be used to claim that one is speaking sincerely

Both honestly and frankly can introduce critical remarks.

No doubt suggests that the speaker or writer thinks something is probable, but
does not know for certain himself/herself.

PERSUADING

after all look look here no doubt

After all suggests this is a strong argument that you haven’t taken into
consideration.

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Look is more strongly persuasive.

No doubt can be used to persuade people politely to do things.

REFERRING to the other person’s expectations

actually (especially GB) in fact as a matter of fact to tell the

truth well

- these expressions are used when we show whether somebody’s expectations have been
fulfilled or not.

Actually can be used to say that somebody ‘guessed right’.

Actually, in fact, as a matter of fact can introduce additional information.

Actually is often used to introduce corrections.

Well can soften corrections, suggesting ‘That’s nearly right’.

SUMMING UP

in conclusion to sum up briefly in short

- these expressions are most common in a formal style

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9. Sentence Types, taken from Quirk, A Student’s Grammar of the English
Language

SENTENCE TYPES

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence contains only one independent clause.

Mrs Bergey enjoys teaching writing.

Compound Sentence

A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a

coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS), and a comma connects them.

The students write well, for they want to increase their confidence.
The students write well, and the instructor is pleased.
The students do not copy other essays, nor do they come to class late.
The students write well, but they want to learn more.
The students take English 101 with a lecture, or they can take English 101 over
the Internet.

The students write well, so they can get better results.

Coordinating
Conjunctions Correlative Conjunctions

F for both…….and
A and not only………….but also
N nor either……………..or
B but neither………………nor
O or whether…………….or
Y yet
S so

Complex Sentences

A complex sentence joins one or more dependent clauses to the independent

clause. Complex sentences are useful when your writing includes some ideas that are
more important than others. A dependent clause has a subject and verb, but it does not
form a complete sentence. When you start a sentence with a subsequent (dependent)

67
clause, a comma must separate the two clauses. When the dependent clause comes after
the main clause, do not write a comma.

Because you write well, you receive good grades.

Because you write well is the dependent clause.
You receive good grades is the independent clause.
You receive good grades because you write well.
After she finishes work, Mrs Bergey goes home.
Mrs Bergey goes home after she finishes work.

Compound-complex sentence
- combines two sentence structures

Because I forgot to pay my bills, the bank repossessed my car, and the phone
company cut off my service.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Time Place Reason Concession Condition Manner

after where because although If as if
before wherever since though unless as though
since so that even though Until how
when in order that while in case
whenever why Provided that
while Assuming that
until even if
as
as……..as
once

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10 Handout for students – taken from Swan, Practical English Usage

COMMAS
Transition Words – first, moreover, for example….
If the transition word of phrase comes at the beginning of the sentence, use a comma to
separate it from the sentence.

For example, we read many military articles.

If the transition word or phrase comes in the middle of the sentence, use two commas to
separate it from the sentence.

We read, for example, military articles.

If the transition word comes between two sentences, use a semicolon before the
transition and a comma after it.

The instructor writes many sentences on the board; for example, yesterday she
wrote fifty sentences on military topics.

Appositives

An appositive is a word group which adds information about another noun or pronoun.
The word group (does not have a verb) usually follows the word it describes.

Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, is in the desert.

Camelback Mountain is in Phoenix, the capital of Arizona.

Commas and a Series

Use commas between three or more words connected in a series. A series means a group
of words which have the same grammatical form and are joined in a sentence.

Examples:
Verbs – Students study, discuss, and write.
Nouns – Students need books, pencils, and notebooks.
Phrases – To study hard, to graduate with a degree, and to begin a career were
some of the student’s goals.
Dependent Clauses – I never knew where he had been, what he had done, or
why he had done it.
Sentences – Natalia was the senior manager, Kasakow was the junior manager,
and Juan was the finance manager of the International Club.

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Exceptions – The comma before the last item in a series is optional. Sometimes a group
of words is considered one item such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bagels and
cream cheese, and bacon and eggs.

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