Contents: Christine's Materials | Outside Resources | Business Communication | Report Writing | The Essay | The Research Paper | Reaction/Response Paper
 

My Materials
 

Writing Help

Techniques of Sentence Combination
(Discourse Markers)

Correction Symbols
(Revision Strategies, & Words to Avoid in Academic Writing)

Run-on sentences and fragments
       Quizzes/practice on repairing

• comma splices

• run-on sentences

• fragments and run-ons

Articles -- Decision Tree

Writing a paraphrase

Guidelines for writing a summary

Essay Questions -- Types, cues, strategies for answering

Checklist for Paragraphs

The Structure of a Paragraph

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Writing Help

Paragraphs

• assertion/evidence, assertion/development, assertion/example, it, this, these, repeat pronouns, modified repetition

The Basics: The Elements of Style

1. Elementary Principles of Composition (William Strunk, Jr.)

2. Elementary Rules of Usage (William Strunk, Jr.) -- possessives, commas, dangling participles, word division

3. A Few Matters of Form (William Strunk, Jr.) -- headings, numerals, parentheses, quotations, references, titles

Adam Turner's Types of Documents (resources for all types of writing, including essays, letters, and email, applying for jobs, job writing, general academic writing, applications to colleges, graduate-
level writing, and more)

Purdue OWL's General Technical Writing Guidelines: (sentence clarity, Subject-Verb Agreement, Active/Passive Voice, Sentence Fragments, Transitional Devices, Independent and Dependent Clauses, Using Pronouns Clearly, Non-Sexist Language, Proofreading for Commas; also see Jargon, Defining Terms, and Writing Numbers)

Michael Harvey's Nuts and Bolts of College Writing:

Plagiarism

Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
Interactive video/lesson about the not-so-obvious as well as the obvious ways students may commit academic integrity offenses.

Intro Tutorial to Plagiarism
An interactive tutorial with multiple-choice questions and answers about examples of paraphrases and plagiarized passages

Avoiding Plagiarism (Purdue OWL)

Please consult the Purdue OWL Web site for Writing a Report, including

• What are research reports and why should I write one?
• Writing a Report: Where should I begin?
• Audience Analysis
• The Sections of the Report: Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents, Introduction, Body, Recommendations, References, Appendices

See also Reports in English

Reports

• Report writing template: useful phrases and expressions to use in your report.
• Types of Report - the names of different types of report and what they mean.
• Report Stages and Content - what goes in each section of a report.
• Stages and Language of a Report - useful phrases for the sections of a report
• Report Headings - understand the type of information each section of a report should contain.
• Subject Headings - how to write correct subject headings.
• Report Introductions - a text-reconstruction exercise to help you remember the language of the introduction to a report.
• The Procedure / Method section of a report - a text-reconstruction exercise to help you remember the language of this section of a report.
• Matching Nouns and Verbs for Reports - an exercise in choosing the right vocabulary for reports.
• Formality - an exercise to help you to write reports using formal language.
• Describing Numbers - an explanation, a program to write and speak a number, and an exercise
• Trends - this exercise introduces the vocabulary and grammar needed to describe trends. Includes an exercise.
• Trends Headings - this exercise shows how to use headings when describing trends. Includes an exercise.
• The Language of Approximation - an exercise in describing numbers in an easy-to-understand way
• Approximation Correction exercise - to check that you can use the language of approximation correctly
• Approximating Dissatisfaction - an exercise to help you describe dissatisfaction
• Describing Satisfaction in the Findings and Conclusion sections of a report - choosing between 'satisfy', 'satisfied', 'satisfying' and 'satisfactory', etc.
• Important or Importance? Explanation and exercise on which word to use when describing Findings and Conclusions.
• Report Correction Exercise - correct these common errors made by students in report writing, so that you can avoid making the same mistakes.
• Common Errors in Report Writing - revision exercise.
• Report Recommendations Correction Exercise - correct the common errors.
• Report Writing Scenario Site - practice the whole process of report writing
• List of Materials in CILL for Business reports

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Outline Form for a 5-Paragraph Essay (or piece of writing)
Rubric for evaluating academic writing

The ESOL Essayist--Writing the 5-Paragraph Essay
Basic Structure of an Essay
The Essay

• Steps in Process Writing - an ordering activity
• Explanation of functions in essay titles, and an exercise on which functions to use
• Formal and Informal Sentences - a matching exercise
• Common Errors in Formality in Academic Writing - an exercise in choosing a more formal phrase
• Introductory Paragraph Techniques - identify four basic techniques for composing the opening statement of your introductory paragraph: the general statement, the rhetorical question, the impact statement, and the anecdote.
• Functions - exercise on definition, comparison and contrast.
• Categorisation 
• Using precise words
• Replacing idioms with formal verbs in academic writing
• Coherence in a Text on Palmistry
• Academic essay writing checklist

• Organization, including introduction, context, key concepts, main body, sequencing, conclusion, abstracts, appendices and Quizzes for each concept
• Style, including noun phrases, acronyms, ellipsis, 'there', specifying, generalizing
• Tone, including tentativity, 'one', 'we', impersonal 'it', opinions, commenting

• Evidence, including citations, quotations, statistics, examples, paraphrase, case studies, secondary sources
• Language, including essential, advanced (introduction/conclusion, tenses, keywords, passive, vocabulary for different types of essays, transitions)
• Quizzes, including 1 Introductions quiz 2 Context quiz 3 Argument 1 quiz 4 Argument 2 quiz 5 Argument 3 quiz 6 Argument 4 quiz 7 Conclusions quiz

Types of Documents (including all types of essays)

Types of Essays

Cause and effect - this exercise introduces the vocabulary and grammar needed to describe causes and effects. Includes an exercise.
The Cause - Effect Essay
Problem and solution
Comparative
Advantages and disadvantages
Chronological
Classification

 Argumentative Essay -- includes topics, issues, thesis statements, sources of information on different topics
Argument -- includes scaffolding (vocabulary, explanations, examples) for advancing, reviewing, internal reference, counter arguments, conceding , qualifying, analogy, questions, hypothetical, argument 1 quiz, argument 2, quiz, argument 3 quiz, argument 4 quiz

Resources

• The Error Detector  - copy and paste your essay into the box and
  the Error Detector finds some common problems in academic essay writing and gives you tips how to solve them.
• Organisation Tool - helps you to re-organise lists; e.g. lists of topics to put in essays
• Pros and Cons Calculator - helps you decide which side of an argument is stronger
• Scanner - a program that highlights the words in a text that are easy
  for a reader to find. Use it to improve the organisation and reader-friendliness of your writing
• Advanced Dictionary Skills - this site will teach you how to find
  the meaning of words faster, and teach you how to improve your vocabulary and pronunciation

Grammar Help

Sentence Parts and Parts of Speech

Articles -- Decision Tree
Articles - Exercise
Articles - Exercise (answers)
See also this Cloze Exercise on Do We Really Need to Sleep--A, An, The, or No Article

Grammar Resources on the Web

• Subject-verb agreement - an explanation and an exercise.
• The Error Detector  - copy and paste your essay into the box and the Error Detector finds some common problems in academic essay writing and gives you tips how to solve them.

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Vocabulary Help

Vocabulary Development Graphic Organizers
Dictionaries: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/online_dictionaries.htm#Dictionaries (suggestion: Use Merriam-Webster for English-English and yourDictionary.com for your language>English; there is also an online English learners’ dictionary on the page; it’s the one by Newbury House).
Advanced Dictionary Skills - this site will teach you how to find
the meaning of words faster, and teach you how to improve your vocabulary and pronunciation
Thesauri: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/online_dictionaries.htm#Thesauri (suggestion: Use Merriam-Webster and/or Newbury House)
Encyclopedias: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/online_dictionaries.htm#Encyclopedias (suggestion: use InfoPlease)

Business Communication

Writing a Business Letter -- steps, content, sample

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E-Mail

• How to write e-mail -- includes E-mail Guidelines | Activity
• Language to Show Status - shows the right language to use to show a boss-to-worker or worker-to-boss relationship
• Adam Turner's Writing Tips, including Guidelines for writing E-Mail and Sample E-Mail format
• See also E-Mail Etiquette.

Business Letters

The Basic Business Letter
(Purdue Online Writing Lab)
Parts of a Business Letter
Writing Business Letters--Core Vocabulary Sheet 1
Writing Business Letters--Core Vocabulary Sheet 2
Writing Business Letters--Core Vocabulary Sheet 3

Guide to Basic Business Letters -- includes conventional phrases and several types of letters
Online Technical Writing: Business Correspondence: Overview (components, formats, style--correct/incorrect)

Memos

How to write memos -- includes

• Organisation of Memos - how to use headings to make the organisation of a memo clearer. This exercise also looks at ways to persuade your reader to do the action you want.
• Formality in Memos - shows the right language to use for a formal memo of resignation
• Memo Headings - making the organisation of your memos more reader-friendly
• Memo writing scenario and practice task - read the interactive office scenario, then write a memo and submit it. The computer will give you feedback on your memo.

The Research Paper

Citing Electronic Resources

Purdue OWL's Writing a Research Paper (includes genre--types of research papers, audience, plagiarism--topic, scope, thesis or question, research, outline, first draft, revisions, proofreads, and additional resources

Research and Writing Tips

Research Paper Checklist and Evaluation Criteria

Evaluating Internet Sources

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Citing Internet and Electronic Sources (Steve Burks, 2005) -- includes

• Major Distinctions Between Citing Electronic and Print Sources
• Basic Elements in Citing Electronic Sources
• [MLA] Example Citations  / (Parenthetical reference)
• [APA] Example Citations / (Parenthetical reference)
• Other Citation Guides Online

• Organisation Tool - helps you to re-organise lists; e.g. lists of topics to put in essays.
• Pros and Cons Calculator - helps you decide which side of an argument is stronger.
• Scanner - a program that highlights the words in a text that are easy for a reader to find. Use it to improve the organisation and reader-friendliness of your writing.
• Advanced Dictionary Skills - this site will teach you how to find the meaning of words faster, and teach you how to improve your vocabulary and pronunciation.

• The Purdue University On-line Writing Lab handouts list. Writing Lab

• How to Use Words and Phrases Correctly (Use the Concordancer in the middle of the page)

Reaction/Response Paper

From the Writing Studio at Duke University: Response/Reaction Paper

• Definition of Genre

• Questions to Ask

• Actions to Take

• Actions Not to Take

• Helpful Links