Exploratory task 1.11

Write a balanced argument on the topic “Better late than never”

Arguments "for"	Arguments "against"

Rewrite the following making the language clear for your children

Peel potatoes, cut into thick slices and cook in the boiling salted water until potatoes feel soft when tested with a knife. Peel and slice onions and fresh garlic. Wash and chop celery. Drain potatoes when cooked. Mash with a potato masher. Beat in butter. Stir in some milk. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with sliced onions and garlic on this potato dish.

An important aspect of teaching to write is a set of cohesive devices. Halliday and Hasan (Halliday, M. and R.Hasan.1976). In all there five types of cohesive devices that make textual clauses related to each other: reference (word or sentence becomes comprehensible from a previous or the next sentence), substitution ("Everybody believed in the victory. We did so too"), ellipsis ("They might win or they might not"), conjunction (next, at the same time, earlier, on another occasion, meanwhile etc), lexis (reiteration of the same topical words in the text (crisis - crisis), the use of synonyms (victory - triumph) and super-ordinates (senators - congressmen - politicians). The following table of cohesive devices can be used for the purpose of teaching to write cohesively:<div align="center">

Conjunctions and but or for	To link a topic as for concerning with regard to with respect to	To Summarize in all in a word in brief briefly	To Show Purpose in order that in order to so that
To Show Cause and Effect accordingly as a consequence as a result	To Compare by comparison here again likewise similarly	To Contrast conversely instead in spite of that on the contrary	To Explain, Give Reasons actually certainly in fact
To Add Information and Reasons besides equally moreover to say nothing of , to say the least of	To Show Logical Order for example for instance in particular	To Show Conviction at least apparently evidently certainly presumably	To Show Concession after all at any rate however nevertheless

Exploratory task 1.15

Choose the most suitable word to connect to the following sentences.

The hotel is quite expensive. It is … beyond the reach of our customers. The resort is well worth a visit. … the beach is rocky, it is stunningly beautiful. The night life is exciting. … the resort is perhaps a little too noisy for families with small children. The service in the restaurant was not up to the standard. … the food itself was superb. … the noise, I was also annoyed by the lack of attention from the staff. As for the bar staffs, they are patient and efficient, … breakfast was never late. I found the lawns beautiful, … I have never seen anything in my life-time. The hills around are rather steep … the mountains, which I did not dare to climb. Something can certainly be done to improve the place, … one may speak to the owner on the vegetarian food and better paths. There were some problems as you can see … on balance I would thoroughly recommend the hotel.

Besides “cohesion”, the process of writing follows a certain thread of meaning towards a conclusive goal. The final goal in mind makes the whole text "hang together" and adds to it the quality of coherence (Nunan, D. 1993. A coherent discourse possesses a full and whole propositional meaning. One of the ways to teach “cohesion” is working with paragraphs that can be descriptive, narrative and persuasive.

Exploratory task 1.16

Using the format of the “descriptive paragraph” , write a description of a new purchase you have recently made. Do not name it! Let your partners make a guess from description

Topic Sentence:	Gives the main impression of the scene, object, or person.
Supporting Details:	Give the details that lead to the main impression. These details are usually arranged in a logical, spatial sequence (e.g., top to bottom, left to right).
Concluding Sentence:	Summarizes or emphasizes the overall impression.

Description can take for form of the parallel writing, i.e. using another text or data as a basis. Exploratory task 2.3: describe the person using the data from the table. Create your own table to describe a person in a more complex task.

Name	Age	Hair	Height	Clothes
Andrew Lucy Vera	17 16 17	Black Fair Blond	Very tall Medium Short	Blue sweater T-shirt and shorts Skirt and blouse

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© Millrood, R., 2001. Teaching to Write. Modular Course in ELT Methodology