Unit4_section1 Written Discourse

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Written Discourse

Summary

In this section we will start by looking at what discourse analysis is. We will go on tofocus on different categories of cohesive devices. We will then be looking at writtendiscourse and in particular at the characteristics of different genres in differentcontexts.

Objectives

By the end of this section you will have:

• Identified cohesive devices and considered how to categorise them.

• Identified typical features of a variety of written genres.

• Considered the effect context has on language.

• Practised answering an exam question on cohesion.



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Contents

1. What is Discourse?

2. Cohesive Devices

2.1. Grammatical Cohesion

2.1.1. Reference

2.1.2. Substitution

2.1.3. Ellipsis

2.2. Conjunctions

2.3. Lexical Cohesion

2.3.1. Lexical Sets / Chains

2.3.2. Repetition

2.3.3. Consistency of Register

2.4. Parallelism

3. Written Genres

4. The Importance of context

5. Terminology review

Reading

Appendices



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1. What is Discourse?

Historically, language study focused on the sentence as the basic unit of discourse.Sentences such as ‘There are three cats in front of the house’ were used fortranslation practice. The main problem with this is that there is no context, making ithard to see the relevance of the cats and the house. In addition, it could be argued

that these types of sentences are contrived and unnatural, although of course, it canbe useful to study isolated sentences from a grammatical point of view.

Discourse Analysis as a separate field of study evolved in the 1960s and 1970s. Itfocused on stretches of authentic language produced in context and used for realcommunication, rather than decontextualised single sentences.

More recently, Discourse Analysis has also evolved to include the study of howlanguage use and speech acts vary between cultures (and also between differentcontexts within the same culture), and how the interpretation and production oflanguage is affected by environmental and situational concerns.

Many people find the term ‘Discourse Analysis’ hard to define. What we are reallyconcerned with is whole texts e.g. letters, conversations, reports, etc., and the links

between utterances and sentences (in spoken and written English respectively). Thismeans that elements below and above sentence level are involved. So, under thewide heading of discourse we look at:

• How we organise conversations or texts, following conventional sequences offunctions. For example, if we buy something that doesn’t work, we don’t go backto the shop and say ‘please replace this toaster’. We go through a particularsequence of functions - giving factual background information, stating theproblem, waiting to find out what the response is, etc.

• How we order information in and across sentences according to whether weunderstand information to be either new or familiar to our reader or listener. Forexample, in the question, ‘ Where’s the stapler?’ the speaker clearly expects the

listener to understand which stapler they are talking about.

• How we make texts and conversations ‘hang together’ through using, forexample, words like pronouns, demonstrative adjectives, definite articles andcertain kinds of conjunction. (See subsection 2 on cohesive devices).

• How we interact in conversations, for example, how we show that we want tospeak (e.g. by leaning forward), how we compete with other people to speak (e.g.‘ Yes, but…’) and how we introduce new topics into a conversation (e.g. ‘Anyway,after that I…’).

• How we vary the language we use, and how we interpret what we hear,according to who we are speaking to, where, and for what purpose. “Who’sserving?”, for example, means very different things on a tennis court, at a dinnertable and when spoken by a customer in a department store.

Recommended reading for a basic introduction to Discourse Analysis

Cook, G. 1989, Discourse, Oxford University Press, Chapter 1, What is Discourse?

McCarthy, A. 1993, Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers, CambridgeUniversity Press, Chapter 1, What is Discourse Analysis?



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Thornbury, S. 2005, Beyond the Sentence: Introducing Discourse Analysis Macmillan, Chapter 1, Unlocking Texts & Chapter 2, What Makes a text?



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2. Cohesive Devices

In this section we will be looking at features of discourse that help texts hangtogether through the use of formal links called cohesive devices. A cohesive device isone that contributes to the coherence of a written or spoken text, and provides thelistener or reader with the means to see the relationships within and outside the text.

These devices can be put into four main categories:

2.1 Grammatical Cohesion

2.2 Conjunctions

2.3 Lexical Cohesion

2.4 Parallelism

Here are some examples:

• Milan is in the north of Italy. It is quite close to the lakes. (grammatical)

• I like football and swimming. (conjunction)

• The film was incredibly boring. In fact it was so tedious that I fell asleep. (lexical)

• Pisces: Are you excited? You should be. Are you inspired? You will be, soon. Areyou ready for a different kind of experience? You had better be. (parallelism)

Now we will look at each area in more depth.

2.1. Grammatical Cohesion

Grammatical cohesion is concerned with the ways in which clauses and sentencesare linked by grammatical connections such as reference, substitution, andellipsis.

2.1.1. Reference

A referent is a device that refers to something which has been mentioned before orwill come later or is even outside the discourse but is something all parties areexpected to know. Pronouns are typically used for reference, as are demonstrativesand articles. There are three main types of referents:

Anaphoric Reference

E.g. I live in a large flat in Istanbul. It has two bedrooms.

The word 'it' in the second sentence refers back to the word 'flat' in the first sentence.

Cataphoric Reference

E.g. At the beginning of a story:

She had been complaining again. Mrs Jones never hesitated in calling the policewhen they had a party.

In this case ‘she’ refers forward to Mrs Jones because they are one and the same.Cataphoric reference is often used by writers to create interest in the story andencourage the reader to continue reading. Rather than naming Mrs Jones first, thewriter has chosen to refer to her as ‘she’ first.



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Exophoric Reference

E.g. The Queen is expected to give a speech today.

The Queen has not been mentioned before in this piece of discourse and no furtherclarification follows. This is because it is assumed that the person to whom thiscomment has been addressed knows very well which queen is being referred to.

Something referred to outside the discourse is called exophoric reference.

2.1.2. Substitution

Substitution is a device that can be used to avoid repetition or shorten phrases bysubstituting a word or phrase with another one. Determiners are often used for thispurpose e.g. both, another, more, several, neither, enough, little, none, few, some. Adverbs of time and place such as ‘then’ and ‘there’ are also used.

E.g.1. I need a pen. Have you got one?

Here the word ‘one’ is a substitute for the word ‘pen’.

E.g.2. Have you been to the new Armani shop yet?

No, I'm going there next week.

See you at 8 o' clock.

Yes, see you then.

'There' is used as a substitute for the new Armani shop. 'Then' is used as a substitutefor 8 o'clock.

2.1.3. Ellipsis

Ellipsis is another device that is used for shortening words or phrases. In this casethey are simply omitted.

E.g. A Would you like a cup of tea?

B Yes, I would.

Here the reply has been shortened from 'Yes, I would like a cup of tea,’ to ' Yes, Iwould'.

2.2. Conjunctions (also called linkers or linking words)

Linking words or phrases are used to show logical relationships between and withinsentences and also between paragraphs. They give coherence to a text enabling thereader or listener to make sense of what they are reading or hearing. Someexamples are: however, firstly, if, for example.

As an experienced teacher, you will already be familiar with a range of these linkwords, so we will not go into detail here. In Unit 6 on Spoken Discourse we will belooking at the wider area of Discourse Markers.

2.3. Lexical Cohesion

2.3.1. Lexical Sets/Chains

E.g. The audience were very appreciative. The crowd gave the orchestra a standingovation at the end of the concert.



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In the second sentence 'the crowd' is used as a substitute for 'the audience.' Theyare partial synonyms (people watching an event) and are used to avoid repetition.

See Appendix 1 for a coursebook example, which aims to introduce learners to theprinciples of this.

2.3.2. Repetition

E.g. Pasta is one of the most famous Italian foods. In fact, most Italians eat pasta three or four times a week.

Key words may be repeated throughout the text, especially when we want toemphasise something.

2.3.3. Consistency of Register

E.g. The patient presented with a ruptured spleen.

This is medical register. If the text continued: ‘he has a consistent bellyache,’ wewould find the use of ‘bellyache’ inconsistent with this register and the result wouldnot be cohesive.

2.4. Parallelism

This relates to a repetition of form, rhyme, rhythm or sound, which is used to create alink between clauses or sentences and can be used to reinforce a message.Consider the following examples:

• We will reduce taxes.

• We will increase spending on education.

• We will abolish the death penalty.

• We will give teachers a pay rise.

In this case an election manifesto repeatedly uses the structure we + will + infinitiveto reinforce the promises that the politician makes.

They are rich. They are famous. They are young. They are Hollywood’s new stars.

The first three sentences use the pattern they + are + adjective, a grammatical andrhythmical pattern, to create interest in the reader’s mind as to who these people are.

TASK 1: Cohesive Devices (25 mins)

Look at the question below from the old DELTA exam from June 1999. Please note,

this question is not used in the new Delta examination. We have included it here asuseful consolidation of cohesive devices.

Write an answer for Task 1.

Check Appendix 2 for the guideline answer.



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Question 2

There are two authentic texts for this question:

Text A: The Beginner’s Guide to the Internet published by Which Online (p.27

Text B: Global Economy – an article from the Eastern Daily Press (Monday March 1,

1999)

Task One (20 minutes)

Look at Paragraph 1, Text A.

Identify and comment on each type of cohesive device used in this paragraph.Include examples from the text in your answer.



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Recommended reading on Cohesive Devices

Bolitho, R. & Tomlinson, B. 1995, Discover English, Macmillan Heinemann,Cohesion

Byrne, D. 1979, Teaching Writing Skills, Longman Handbooks for LanguageTeachers, Appendix 1, Cohesive Devices

Cory, H. 1996, Advanced Writing with English in Use - CAE, Oxford UniversityPress, Cohesion

Thornbury, S. 1999, About Language, Cambridge University Press, Cohesion

3. Written Genres

In this section we will concentrate on features of written discourse. Spoken discoursewill be covered in Unit 6 Section 2.

Generally we can distinguish one piece of writing from another by the characteristicsof that writing. For example, I can distinguish an extract of a formal letter from anextract of a novel because they are laid out differently, the content is organiseddifferently, and they use different kinds of language; the novel may contain directspeech whereas the letter probably won’t, and so on. We can say these are twodifferent text types or genres.

These terms are used rather loosely in ELT literature; in some books a text type is abroad category e.g. a letter; and genre is a sub category of that e.g. a letter ofcomplaint. Other books refer to genres and sub-genres. Because of the apparent‘interchangeability’ of these words it is best to give examples of what you mean whenusing them. In this section we will use the term genre. Our main concern, though, isthe differences between texts and how these can be useful in teaching.

Tricia Hedge classifies writing into six types: (Hedge, 1988 Writing, OUP25

)



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We ourselves may have little experience of writing some of these genres, but we mayneed to prepare our learners to write them either for professional reasons or as arequirement in public examinations.

If we are teaching our learners how to produce these different genres we need to befamiliar with their typical features and have teaching ideas for dealing with them.Some genres may be more ‘formulaic’ than others. However, we will need to take the

following factors into consideration:

Purpose: What is the purpose of the text? Is it to advise? Persuade? Inform?

Content and Organisation: How are the ideas organised? In what order? How arethe paragraphs divided? What type of cohesive devices are used?

Status: What relationship does the writer have with their audience?

Style: Is it informal, neutral or formal?

Grammar : Are any particular tenses / structures used (e.g. passives in a type ofscientific report)?

Lexis: What kinds of words are used (e.g. adjectives in an advertisement)? Are anywords or fixed lexical expressions common in this genre?

Layout: How does the text look on the page? Are there headings? Addresses? Isthere a title? Are points numbered? Are bullet points used?

Example

What are some of the key features of a book or film review? Authentic examples mayvary and some magazines develop a highly idiosyncratic style in their reviews but apossible ‘model’ of the genre may include:

Content and organisation

• A beginning that grabs attention by witty comment, shocking statement,

interesting fact etc.

• Introduction/background to the story

• Brief description of the plot (without saying what happens at the end)

• Comments/evaluation of the film/ actors/director/effects etc., good and bad points

• Recommendation (positive or negative)

Style and language

• The language should be neutral in style, and relatively impersonal (even though itis subjective it should not be presented as such).

• Present tenses may be used to describe the plot.

• Precise descriptive vocabulary

Layout

• Paragraphs to divide up text, each paragraph with a clear function.



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TASK 2: Investigating Genre (30mins)

Look at the review provided below and see if the notes above are reflected in thisparticular review.

Find specific examples of style and language which typify the genre?

Do the same for another review from a newspaper, the internet or a coursebook;does it fit the characteristics of the genre?

Life of Brian:

A beautiful film, a perfect comedy, and a gentle triumph of silliness over pomposity,self-importance, and intolerance - "Life of Brian" could be the best British comedy

ever.

In Judea, a mother tends her newborn child. Lo, from the East three wise menappear to pay tribute to the infant - but they want the stable next door: this is BrianCohen not Jesus Christ! Rolling forward 33 years, Brian joins the People's Front ofJudea, a wannabe terrorist cell out to undermine the occupying Romans. Brian getsroped into their plot to kidnap Pontius Pilate's wife but they run into another terroristgang on the same mission and everyone is captured while squabbling amongthemselves.

From the opening scene and the belting Shirley Bassey-esque score, this is Pythonpar excellence. This is the "Catch 22" of cinema, and in its politics, like JosephHeller, the Python crew refuse to spare anyone. Always threading in and aroundbiblical stories, the plot never contradicts or denies the Bible, it just pokes fun at thehangers-on, charlatans, and pompous officials that organised religion often attracts.This playful subversion is hilariously shown in the scene where Brian escapes fromthe Romans by posing as a preacher. At first he is mocked by a crowd of jadedmessiah seekers, then they seize on a bizarre interpretation of his words andproclaim him their Messiah. Brian denies it, only to be told, "I say you are Lord, and Ishould know. I've followed a few"

A true comedy classic.

From the BBC Online web site 23/02/01

For further teaching ideas see:

Clementson, T. 2005 Natural English: Reading and Writing Skills Pre-Intermediate Oxford University Press

Cory, H. 1996 Advanced Writing with English in Use - CAE Oxford UniversityPress, Unit 4, section 4B

MacAndrew, R. and Lawday, C. 1999 Cambridge First Certificate Writing Cambridge University Press, Unit 8



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O’Dell, F. 1996 CAE Writing Skills Cambridge University Press, Unit 10

Philpot, S. & Curnick, L. 2007 New Headway Academic Skills Oxford UniversityPress

Stephens, M. 1992 Practise Advanced Writing Longman, Unit 10

Stephens, M. 1996 Practise Writing Longman, Unit 12

TASK 3: Identifying Features of Different Genres (1 hour)

Choose two of the following genres; find two authentic examples and make notesabout the key features of that kind of text in terms of content and organisation, styleand language, and layout.

• Narrative (short story)

• Letter of application for a job

• Discursive essay

• Report

List three useful awareness-raising and three useful productive activities for teachingthe two genres you have chosen.

See Appendix 3 for suggested answers and some reference books for teachingideas.

Essential reading for this subsection:

Holme, R. 1996 ESP Ideas, Longman, Chapter 2

Richards, J. 1990 The Language Teaching Matrix, Cambridge University Press,Chapter 6

Thornbury, S. 2005, Beyond the Sentence: Introducing Discourse Analysis Macmillan, Chapters 5 to 7

4. The Importance of Context

In this section we will consider the role that context has to play in language use.

In our daily lives, almost all language we encounter or produce is contextualised. Werarely hear, read, say or write anything and have little idea of the subject matter, whatwent before, or who – and where - the people involved are. Exceptions might includethe initial seconds after switching on the TV or radio, or overhearing someonespeaking on a mobile phone, but these situations are few and far between. Almostalways, language taken out of context is meaningless, or at least puzzling. If I ring afriend and say “You’re round”, I risk confusing or puzzling (or even insulting) him;



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saying the same thing as we walk into a bar, I can be certain that he knows it is histurn to buy a drink.

In the section above, we saw how genre governs features of texts such as layout andorganisation, content and selection of appropriate grammatical structures and lexis.

This can be summarised in this way:

(Socio-cultural) context

Genre / text type

Function of the text

Style / register

Language chosen

Text

Therefore, selecting a portion of a text at random and looking at the aspects lowerdown the diagram, it would be possible to infer elements of the context for which the

text had been produced, and what genre it belonged to; similarly, giving someonedetails of a context would allow them to make very educated guesses about whattype of language and what texts they would probably encounter therein. This hasimportant implications for the classroom, where learners tend to focus on the bottomfeatures of the table and neglect the importance of those at the top. To some extent,this is a result of the teaching they receive which focuses on the accuracy of the textproduced and it’s ability to communicate a message accurately, rather thanconsidering aspects of context.

The function of a text, essentially, fits in to one of the following five: referring (transmitting information), expressing feelings, regulating (making requests,ordering, warning etc), interacting (maintaining social relationships) and playing (word jokes and punning etc). The language chosen to perform these functions, andthe conventions observed, vary from language to language, which can lead to non-standard, utterances from learners, or utterances which are inappropriate to thecontext. For example, English tends to use quite flowery language to perform someregulatory functions (I’m very sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering whetheryou might be able to…) which can cause difficulties for learners whose languageperforms this function using more direct language.



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5. Terminology Review

The terms below all refer to aspects of discourse. Can you define them all? There isan example provided.

Example. ANAPHORIC REFERENCE

In discourse analysis, the use of pronouns, determiners, synonyms and so on torefer back to something already mentioned, e.g. in A: I love your new sweater B:Thanks. My girlfriend knitted it , “it” refers back to “your new sweater”.

1. ELLIPSIS

2. DISCOURSE MARKERS

3. REGISTER

4. CATAPHORIC REFERENCE

5. GENRE

6. EXOPHORIC REFERENCE

See Appendix 4 for suggested answers.



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Reading

Essential Reading

Cook, G. 1989 Discourse Oxford University Press

Thornbury, S. 2005, Beyond the Sentence: Introducing Discourse Analysis

Macmillan

Recommended Additional Reading

Allison, D. 1999 “Key Concepts in ELT: Genre” in ELT Journal 53/2 OxfordUniversity Press

Baigent, M. 2004 Natural English: Reading and Writing Skills Upper-Intermediate Oxford University Press

Bolitho, R. & Tomlinson, B. 1995, Discover English Macmillan Heinemann,Cohesion

Brookes, A. & Grundy, P. 1998 Beginning to Write Cambridge University Press

Byrne, D. 1979 Teaching Writing Skills Longman Handbooks for LanguageTeachers, Appendix 1, Cohesive Devices

Celce-Murcia, M. & Olshtain, E. 2000 Discourse and Context in LanguageTeaching Cambridge University Press

Clementson, T. 2005 Natural English: Reading and Writing Skills Pre-Intermediate Oxford University Press

Cory, H. 1996 Advanced Writing with English in Use - CAE Oxford UniversityPress, Cohesion

Harmer, J. 2004 How to Teach Writing Pearson Longman, Chapter 2

Harrison, R. 2001 Better Writing (International Edition) Garnet Education

Hedge. T. 1988 Writing Oxford University Press, Types of Writing

Holme, R. 1996 ESP Ideas Longman, Genre-Switching

Hopkins, A. & Tribble, C. 1989 Outlines Longman, Unit 12 for teaching ideas

Hopkins, A. 1989 Perspectives Longman, Unit 14

MacAndrew, R. and Lawday, C. 1999 Cambridge First Certificate Writing Cambridge University Press, Units 2 and 13 for teaching ideas

McCarthy, A. 1993, Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers CambridgeUniversity Press

Naylor, H. & Hagger, S. 1999 Cambridge First Certificate Handbook CambridgeUniversity Press, Chapter 2 Unit 7 for teaching ideas

O’Dell, F. 1996 CAE Writing Skills Cambridge University Press Unit 10 on teachingideas



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Parrot, M. 1993 Tasks For Language Teachers Cambridge University Press,Classroom-based Task 11

Philpot, S. & Curnick, L. 2007 New Headway Academic Skills Oxford UniversityPress

Richards, J. 1990 The Language Teaching Matrix Cambridge University Press,

From Meaning Into Words

Stephens, M. 1992 Practise Advanced Writing Longman, Unit 10 on teaching ideas

Stephens, M. 1996 Practise Writing Longman, Unit 12 on teaching ideas

Thornbury, S. 1999, About Language Cambridge University Press, Cohesion

White, R. 1987 Writing Advanced Oxford University Press, Unit 12



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Appendices

Appendix 1: Coursebook material



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Appendix 2: Exam Question on Cohesive Devices

Guideline Answer

There are two categories of cohesive devices used in the paragraph:

Category 1: - Grammatical Cohesion

There are 4 types of grammatical cohesion found in the text.

1.1 Nominal Reference/Substitution

Line 7/8 Cataphoric reference ‘one of the strengths of the web’ referscataphorically to ‘that it is very easy to publish’.

Line 10 Anaphoric reference ‘this’ refers anaphorically to the fact ‘that it is veryeasy to publish’.

1.2 Pronominal reference

Line 4 -‘it’ refers anaphorically to ‘the www’ (line 1).

Line 7 -‘it’s refers anaphorically to ‘the www’ (line 1).

Line 8 -‘it’ refers exophorically to ‘our understanding of a dummy subject’.

Line 12 –‘their’ refers anaphorically to ‘ordinary people’ (line 11).

Line 13 –‘You’ refers exophorically to ‘the reader/addressee’.

Line 14- ‘who’ refers anaphorically to ‘businesses small and large’.

Line 15 – ‘you’ refers exophorically to ‘the reader/addressee of the passage’.

1.3 ConjunctionsConjunctions of addition

Line 2, 4, ,12, 14, 18: ‘and’

Line 13: ‘also’

Line 15: ‘as well as’

Conjunctions of consequence

Line 9: ‘because (of)’

1.4 Ellipsis

Line 3: ‘(being) part’, ‘notice board’

Category 2: - Lexical Cohesion

2.1 Parallelism/consistent feature of register

There are two feature of parallelism/consistent feature of register found in the text.

Feature 1:

Line 3/4: - part + noun x3



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Feature 2;

Line 2: - ‘attractive’ and ‘easy’

Line 12/13: - ‘interests’ and ‘enthusiasms’

Line 14: - ‘small’ and ‘large’

Line 18: - ‘newspapers & magazines’

2.2 Lexical collocation

Line 2: - ‘easy to use’

Line 5/6 & 17: - ‘traditional publishing’

Line 6/7: - ‘with completely new possibilities’

Line 10/11: - ‘plenty of contributions’

Line 12: - ‘share their interests and enthusiasms’

Line 16: - ‘a selection of information’

2.3 Lexical sets

Lexical set related to the ‘web’

Line 3: - ‘Internet’

Line 8: - ‘web’

Line 9: - ‘publish information

Line 16: - ‘a selection of information’

Lexical set related to publishing

2.4 Lexical repetition

Line 6, 9, 17: - ‘publish/(traditional) publishing’



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Appendix 3: Identifying Features of Different Genres

Following are some features of genres and references to teaching ideas. (Pleasenote that these do not include references to coursebooks, where you may also finduseful material).

Short storyContent and organisation

• A beginning, a middle and an end with the following features:

• Beginning: background, setting, location, participants, feelings

• Middle: events, often a problem arises, a solution to problem is found

• End: outcome, evaluation

Style and language

• If it is based on a personal experience, an informal or neutral style is appropriate.

If not, a neutral style.

• Direct speech, past perfect, past continuous, past simple

• Descriptive language, interesting and varied vocabulary and idioms, variedadjectives and adverbs

Layout

• Paragraphs, use of inverted commas for direct speech

For some teaching ideas, see:

Hopkins, A. & Tribble, C. 1989 Outlines Longman, Unit 12

Naylor, H. & Hagger, S. 1999 Cambridge First Certificate Handbook CambridgeUniversity Press, Chapter 2 Unit 7

Hopkins, A. 1989 Perspectives Longman, Unit 14

Mac Andrew, R. and Lawday, C. 1999 Cambridge First Certificate Writing Cambridge University Press, Units 2 and 13

White, R. 1987 Writing Advanced Oxford University Press, Unit 12

Stephens, M. 1996 Practise Writing Longman, Units 5 and 7

Letter of application for a job


• Reason for writing, reference to advertisement (where and when seen),background information about self, why interested in the job, skills, request forfurther information



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Style and language

• Formal style (i.e. no contractions, use of fixed formulaic phrases e.g. I am writingwith reference to..., as you will see from the enclosed CV,...., my duties haveincluded, I look forward to hearing from you

• Appropriate endings / beginnings e.g. Dear Sir/Yours faithfully etc.

• Use of present, past and present perfect.

Layout

• Address top right, address of receiver above opening salutation on left, date etc.

• Indent at beginning (if hand written)

For some teaching ideas see:

Stephens, M. 1996 Practise Writing Longman, Units 4 and 10

Mac Andrew, R. and Lawday, C. 1999 Cambridge First Certificate Writing Cambridge University Press, Unit11

Cory, H. 1996 Advanced Writing with English in Use Oxford University Press, Unit6

Discursive essay


• Introduction to the issue and background information

• Ideas for

• Ideas against

• Conclusion- your opinion and justification

• Clear organisation within paragraphs, topic sentence comes first, then furthersentences expand on the point. Connections between ideas are important.

Language and style

• Formal style. Presented as factual, opinion only comes at end.

• Use of connecting words (addition, contrast)

Layout

• Paragraphs each with a very clear function

For some teaching ideas, see:

Cory, H. 1996 Advanced Writing with English in Use Oxford University Press, Unit4 section 4A


Mac Andrew, R. and Lawday, C. 1999 Cambridge First Certificate Writing Cambridge University Press, Units 5 and 9



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Report


• Introduction saying what the report is about and how it’s organised

• Facts divided by topic

• Summary and conclusion/recommendations at end

Language and style

• Depends who it is for: neutral or formal, probably a lot of present tenses,connecting words

Layout

• Use headings to divide up content and make organisation clear

(Report is a bit of an umbrella term)

For some teaching ideas see

Naylor, H. and Hagger, S. 1999 Cambridge First Certificate Handbook CambridgeUniversity Press, Chapter 2 Unit 9

O’Dell, F. 1996 CAE Writing Skills Cambridge University Press, Unit 6

MacAndrew, R. and Lawday, C. 1999 Cambridge First Certificate Writing Cambridge University Press, Units 6,10, and 15


Cory, H 1996 Advanced Writing with English in Use Oxford University Press, Unit8

Appendix 4: Terminology Review

1. ELLIPSIS – leaving out elements of a sentence because they areunnecessary, or because context makes meaning clear. For example, theoffer Coffee? is a reduction of Would you like a coffee? The context makesthe four initial words redundant.

2. DISCOURSE MARKERS – In spoken language, language items used toeither indicate some kind of change of direction in the discourse (e.g. anyway,actually, well ), or to appeal to the listener in some way (e.g. Yukon? Right?). A set of discourse markers are also used to organise ideas, e.g. and,therefore, because and so on. This latter group are also referred to as

linkers, conjunctions or conjuncts.

3. REGISTER – the way in which language use varies depending on context.The forms we select differ depending on cultural, social and contextualfactors.

4. CATAPHORIC REFERENCE Referring forwards to a portion of a text whichahs not previously been mentioned. In It’s brilliant, this song , “It” refers(forwards) to “this song”.



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5. GENRE Any piece of spoken or written text which conforms to theexpectations of the reader in terms of content, stylistic devices and languageused. For example, the features of a postcard to friends are very differentfrom those of a radio news bulletin.

6. EXOPHORIC REFERENCE In Discourse, referring to something notmentioned previously in the text and which is assumed by the speaker / writer

to be shared knowledge. For example, in the utterance The Tube was downthis morning , the speaker assumes that the listener is aware that The Tube means London underground and not a length of drainpipe.

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