WRITING EIC5 | ELT DEPARTMENT

[EIC 5] WRITING 1
WRITING PART 3 (SESSION 1)
SOCIAL NETWORK CONVERSATION

A. Understanding the task

Read the task below and discuss these questions. Guess if you’re not sure:
 How many answers will you have to write?
 Do you have 10 minutes per answer or 10 minutes for all your answers?
 Will the computer respond to your answer?

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1. Skill focus

- Interactive writing
- Responding to a series of written questions with short paragraph-level responses

2. Task description:

The candidate responds interactively to three separate questions. Each response

requires a short paragraph-level response. The questions are presented as if the
candidate is writing on an Internet forum or social network site (no more than 10
minutes).

3. Expected outputs:

- Make sure you correctly answer all three questions and don’t go off-topic
- Focus on accurate spelling and punctuation and write a text that is cohesive and
coherent
- Keep to the word count of approximately 40 words in response to each question

4. Give it a try:

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Checklist for Part 3

 Give yourself about 3 minutes for each reply and keep an eye on the time
 Reply fully to each piece of input
 Check each of you replies for errors of grammar and spelling before you post them.
 Include a nice range of vocabulary, but don’t go off the topic
 Use a few conjunctions to link your ideas together (but, so, although, etc.)
 Keep your replies informal (contractions are OK), but punctuate fully and don’t use
‘text slang’ (C U l8ter, etc.)

B. Common topics:
In this section, you are in a club chat room talking to another member. Common clubs
are as follows:
Language Club Book Club Club living
Sports Club Gardening Club Academic club
Community Service Club History Club Animal Club
Movie Club Cooking Class Students Association
Travel Club Catering Club Library Chat Room
Photography Club Computer Club Others
Example:

You have recently joined a cooking club. You are talking to M in a chat room. Answer M
using complete sentences. Use 30-40 words per answer. You have 10 minutes to
complete all 3 questions.

M: Hello. I see you’re new to our club. I’ve been a member for nearly a year now. Why
did you decide to join?
You: Hi, I decided to join this club because I love cooking and I would love to meet
new people. Learn to cook new dishes, and improve my overall cooking skills.
M: So what dishes do you enjoy cooking?
You: I love cooking all kinds of dishes, but my absolute favorite kind of food to
cook is Vietnamese food. Most importantly, cooking helps me feel relaxed, especially
when I create new dishes.
M: Apparently the club is going to start posting members’ favorite dishes on the
website. What do you think of this idea?
You:  I think that’s a great idea. I hope they post recipes as well. I look forward to
finding out what others in the club like to eat, and hopefully I can learn how to cook
some new dishes at the same time.

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C. Common questions:

1. Why did you join? / Why did you decide to join?

Useful phrases to answer these questions:

 I decided to join because (since, as)/ because of/ due to/ in order to/ so as to …
 I’ve only just joined but I already like it a lot. I hope I can …
 I decided to join for a number of reasons. First of all, I …

Example:

You have recently joined the pre-professional society at your university.

Q: Hi! I hear you are a new member of the club. I’ve been a member for about a year
by now. Why did you join?

A: I decided to join since the club can help me rub elbows with the “real-world”
members, aka1 the professionals. I also hope to make new connections and build
relationships, which can help me get my foot in the door for my first job.

1: abbreviation for also known as

2. How do you feel about the club?

Useful phrases to answer these questions:

 So far everything is good. I have got to know many new awesome friends who
share my interests and hobby.
 I’ve only been once but it’s really nice.
 I feel I took the right decision to join the club.
 My only criticism is that …

Example:

You have recently joined a cycling club at your university.

Q: How do feel about the club?

A: I’ve only been once but it’s really nice. The club members get really friendly
with each other. We had a very good time to share experiences together. Besides, staff
is very welcoming and helpful. There is always someone available who is ready
to assist new members.

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3. How do you like it here? / What do you enjoy about…? / What are the best things
about being a member?

Useful phrases to answer these questions:

 For me, there are a few things which make me feel excited about the club / feel
impressed with the club.
 I really love/ enjoy … / I am really into …
 The best part (of being a member) is that….

Example:

You have recently joined an English club at your university.

Q: What do you enjoy about learning English?

A: I enjoy what the language allows me to do, which is connecting with other people.
Not knowing English would hold me back from meeting new friends, studying in an
international environment, and reading a lot of great books that are not translated into
my mother tongue.

4. What do you think about this idea?

Useful phrases to answer this question:

 I think it’s a great idea.

 I couldn’t agree more.
 I agree entirely.
 That’s quite interesting, but…
 I’m not sure I agree with that.
 I’m afraid I don’t share the opinion.

Example:

You have recently joined a cooking club.

Q: Apparently the club is going to start posting members’ favorite dishes on the
website. What do you think of this idea?

A:  I think that’s a great idea. I hope they post recipes as well. I look forward to
finding out what others in the club like to eat, and hopefully I can learn how to cook
some new dishes at the same time.

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D. Practice exercises:

1. Now trying chatting to M using your own ideas.

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2. Read the following answers written by a student, underline errors (if any) and write
the corrections above them.