您现在的位置: Language Tips> Columnist> Brendan John Worrell  
   
 





 
Towards improving our writing skills
[ 2008-11-14 18:05 ]


Writing is an 'active' language skill that makes ones grammar level clear and easy to grade and perhaps one of the hardest tasks facing Chinese language students when it comes to passing English tests.

I am not sure if it is because of the difference between English and Chinese – perhaps readers can help me and write in with that answer.

In a test like the IELTS there are four key areas in writing that are looked at, task response (do you answer the question), grammar, vocabulary and coherency and cohesion.

The first three are easier to understand though the last part, coherency and cohesion - this is a real problem for many.

In many cases it is what separates a student crossing over from a lower intermediate into an upper intermediate language user. In many cases it is the hurdle preventing a student from getting into a course overseas.

Obviously this critical area in our writing needs some attention so let's check first of all just what is coherency and cohesion.

From the dictionary coherency - refers to systematic or logical connection or consistency and cohesion the state of sticking together. Put simply it is the ability to make your ideas and words hang well together, which means your phrases are linked, your sentences join correctly with the ones before and after, and in general, the overall structure fits well together.

Now a good starter to build awareness is to do a google search with the word “connectives”. This will bring you up a lot of English language writing websites so try and spend some time surfing through these. If you have more time do a search under “logical connectives” and this will bring you up even more specific examples.

One favorite site I have used previously when working on writing with Chinese students is that from the University of Melbourne. This link, though outdated, provides a good example of some of the key concepts we are looking at here. http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/llsu/resources/esl/gram003.html

Finally, if you can, look beyond this page and start from the top, where they discuss writing structure and essential things like introduction, body, conclusion etc. It may be old news to you but from my experience, revising your writing foundation skills is always useful.

Developing writing skills takes time so try to enjoy this process by writing about what you love and are passionate about.

我要看更多专栏文章

 

About the author:
 

Towards improving our writing skills

About the author: Brendan has taught at universities, high schools and primary schools in Japan,the UK, Australia and China. He is a Qualified Education Agent Counsellor and has extensive experience with International English Language Examinations. In the field of writing Brendan has been published in The Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, Inflight magazines and the Asia News Network. He can be contacted at brendanjohnworrell@hotmail.com.

 
英语点津版权说明:凡注明来源为“英语点津:XXX(署名)”的原创作品,除与中国日报网签署英语点津内容授权协议的网站外,其他任何网站或单位未经允许不得非法盗链、转载和使用,违者必究。如需使用,请与010-84883631联系;凡本网注明“来源:XXX(非英语点津)”的作品,均转载自其它媒体,目的在于传播更多信息,其他媒体如需转载,请与稿件来源方联系,如产生任何问题与本网无关;本网所发布的歌曲、电影片段,版权归原作者所有,仅供学习与研究,如果侵权,请提供版权证明,以便尽快删除。
相关文章 Related Story
 
 
 
本频道最新推荐
 
Walking in the US first lady's shoes
“准确无误”如何表达
英国新晋超女苏珊大妈改头换面
猪流感 swine flu
你有lottery mentality吗
翻吧推荐
 
论坛热贴
 
别乱扔垃圾。怎么译这个乱字呀?
橘子,橙子用英文怎么区分?
看Gossip Girl学英语
端午节怎么翻译?
母亲,您在天堂还好吗?