How to improve your reading and writing?
Part I
高雄市國民教育輔導團
語文領域國小英語組 輔導員
許儷齡
(Linda)
(
高雄市正興國小
)

• Unscramble the paragraph
- Please work with a partner to unscramble the paragraph.
- You have 3 minutes.

Warm-up Activity
• Unscramble the paragraph
• Time to check the answer now!
- Can you tell us why you rearranged the sentences the way you did?

What enables you to unscramble the paragraph?
• From the bottom up, text is comprised of:
- context
discourse
- paragraph
- sentence / clause
- words
- letters / sounds

What are discourse markers
• words or phrases that function to signal how the current utterance relates to
prior discourse contributing to the meaning of the message.

What are discourse markers
• in terms of their functions, a preliminary list of discourse markers can be specified as follows:
1. Focusing And Linking:
With reference to, Speaking/Talking of/about, Regarding, As regards, With regard to, With respect to, In regard to, As to, As for

What are discourse markers
2.
Contrasts:
• Direct Contrast:
However, Nevertheless, Mind you,
Yet/Still/In spite of, Conversely, In contrast/In contrast to
• Concession and Counter Argument:
It is true, Of course, If, May, But,
However, Even so, Nevertheless,
Nonetheless, All the same, Still

What are discourse markers
• Contradicting:
On the contrary
• Balancing Contrasting Points:
While, On the other hand, Whereas
• Dismissal of Previous Discourse:
Anyway, At least, At any rate

What are discourse markers
3. Similarity:
Similarly, In the same way, Likewise, By the same token
4. Change of Subject:
By the way, Incidentally, Right, Now, O.K
5. Structuring:
First(ly), First of all, Second(ly), Third(ly),
Lastly, Finally, To begin with, To start with, In the first/second/third place, For one thing, For another thing

What are discourse markers
6. Adding:
Moreover, Furthermore, In addition, As well as that, On top of that, Another thing, What is more, Besides, In any case,
Also
7. Generalizing:
On the whole, In general, In all/most/ many/some cases, Broadly speaking, By and large, To a great extent, Apart from, Except for....

What are discourse markers
8. Exemplification:
For instance, For example, In particular, Such as, e.g.
9. Logical Consequence:
Thus, Hence, Accordingly, Therefore,
As a result, Consequently, So, Then,
That ’ s why

What are discourse markers
10. Making Things Clear / Softening and Correcting:
I mean, Actually, That is to say, In other words, I think, I feel, I reckon,
I guess, In my view/opinion,
Apparently, So to speak, More or less,
Sort of, Kind of, Well, Really, At least,
I am afraid, I suppose
11. Gaining Time:
Let me see, Let ’ s see, Well, You know, I don ’ t know, I …

Warm-up Activity
• Information Gap
1. Partner A & Partner B work together to complete the passage.
2. Pair work: fill in the missing words

Warm-up Activity
• Information Gap
- Time to check the answer now!
- Can you share your passage with us?

What enables you to fill in the blanks?
• From the bottom up, text is comprised of:
context
discourse
paragraph
- sentence / clause
- words
- letters / sounds

Agree or not?
• When acquiring our first language, we begin developing it orally.
• We need to develop our oral
language to some extent before we can be expected to function in writing.
Yes

How to improve your oral
English
Intermediate level and below
• What is the most important
English skill?
- fluency (the ability to speak, and understand English quickly and easily)
= speak & understand instantly

Intermediate level and below
Listen to
English,
listen to

• Listen to easy English understandable listening materials => improve speaking
• A lot of repetition
- how many times
(30 times to remember a new word forever; 50-100 times to know and understand it instantly)

Intermediate level and below
• Practice “ Narrow Listening ”
“ Narrow Listening ” = listening to many things about the same topic
- find a speaker and find many things about him
(his podcasts, audio books, speeches, etc.)
- you can learn faster and deeper
(They repeat their favorite vocabulary and
grammar many times.)

Powerful listening and excellent speaking
Intermediate level and below
• Choose one topic to focus on
- e.g., read an easy book, listen to the same audio book, listen to a podcast about it, watch the movie
- e.g., read “ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ”
-> listen to the audio book -> watch & listen to the movie -> listen to interviews with the actors

Powerful listening and excellent speaking
Intermediate level and below
• Divide your listening time
- divide the time throughout the day helps you remember more and learn faster.
- e.g., 30 min. in the morning, 30 min. in the car, 30 min. after work, 30 min. before sleep

Powerful listening and excellent speaking
Intermediate level and below
• Listen to movies
- watch one scene or segment per week
(2-3 minutes).
1. watch the scene with Chinese subtitles
(to understand the general meaning)

Powerful listening and excellent speaking
Intermediate level and below
4. Listen to the scene a few times,
without subtitles.
5. Repeat 1 – 4 everyday for a week.
• Listen, Repeat, and Write
- It can enhance your speaking and help with your writing

Practice Time!
• Get a piece of paper and a pen
• Listen, Repeat, and
Write

Powerful listening and excellent speaking
Intermediate level and below
2. watch the scene with English subtitles.
(Pause to check up the new words in the dictionary and write new sentences in a notebook.)
3. listen to the scene a few times, with
English subtitles. Do not pause.

• Use 1 hour to practice English
every day.
- divide the 1 hour into three 20-
minute sections.
- use the first section for reading.
- use the second section for
listening.
- use the third section for writing.

- keep a dictionary with you
- read something challenging, and pause to summarize what you have read every 4 minutes.
- say it out loud.
- take 1 min. to give a clear
summary of what you read (as if you ’ re explaining it to your friend)

- repeat this three more times: 4 min. reading + 1 min. oral summarizing = 5 min. (5 min. x 4 times = 20 min.)
• Look up the meanings of the
unfamiliar words in the dictionary.
• Keep a list of the new words.
• Review the list regularly.

What to read
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
- academic writing (e.g., university textbooks)
- e-newspapers
- magazines (e.g., National
Geographic, Time, The Economist)
- books like the “ A Very Short
Introduction ” series

What to read
Intermediate level and below
• Read and Listen at the same time
- it improves your pronunciation
- it helps you to understand more difficult materials.
• Read little and often
- read something everyday, read something short
- read something you really enjoy
(e.g., short stories)

Key Reading Strategies
• Critical reading: to analyze the passage information in a clear, logical and systematic manner
– Spend 15-20 seconds to analyze the title
(& picture, if any) and predict the passage
– Ask: What (what is this title/picture?)
Why (why is this important?) How (How ?)
– Read each paragraph in the passage separately, and ask: What (what is this paragraph about?) Why (why does XXX happen??) How (how does it happen?)

Key Reading Strategies
• Paraphrasing: to express the same ideas using different words in order to understand the information clearly.
– using synonym (words with the same meaning) e.g., big -> large
– using antonym (the opposite word) + negative e.g., go -. Don ’ t stay
– using expression including idioms, or phrasal verbs e.g., run into -> encounter
– using grammar: e.g., I have visited France.
-> I went to France at some time in the past and this experience continues to influence my life now.

High-Intermediate – Advanced level
- Get something challenging on CD, the radio, or the Internet.
- Pause every 4 min. or so and use 1 min. to summarize what you heard.
- Repeat this 3 more times. (4 min. listening + 1 min. oral summarizing =
5 min. )

What to listen
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• CBC radio ( www.cbc.ca/listen )
- great for general listening, features both formal and conversational English
• Academic Earth
( www.academicearth.org
)
- free recorded lectures from some of the best universities in the USA

What to listen
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Randall ’ s ESL Cyber Listening
Lab ( www.esl-lab.com
)
- great for learning idioms

- Divide the 20 min. into two 10-minute segments.
- 1st 10 minutes: write a summary of what you just read or listen to
- 2nd 10 minutes: express an opinion about something you just read or listened to

Improve your writing level
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Read all the time
– especially formal or academic texts:
Google scholar, textbooks, essays, The
Economist, Time, journals, factual books.
– Reading provides a model for writing and helps with vocabulary.

Improve your writing level
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Review your basic grammar:
- Before you try to use lots of other forms, make sure you ’ re using the basic 100% correctly.
- Writing should be clear and concise.

Improve your writing level
• Keep a diary:
- This is a flexible, convenient way to build up writing fluency.
- Give it to a tutor to check for re-occurring errors.
• Write emails/messages in
English
- practice thinking in English

Improve your writing level
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Practice summarizing:
- Summarize articles, chapters of
books, essays or features from magazine.
- This improves paraphrasing, sentence
construction and use of lexis.

Improve your writing level
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Sentence construction:
- Compare sentences in your own language with those in English and look at the differences between them.
- This will help you stop translating at a sentence level.

Improve your writing level
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Learn your prepositions:
- Always learn any dependent
prepositions for new words, e.g., consisted of, interested in.
- Record these prepositions with new words in your vocabulary book.

Improve your writing level
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Always edit:
- Finish some writing, have a cup of coffee, and then go back and edit it.
- Look for common errors, and when you see them make a note of them for future reference.

Improve your writing level
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Linking words and phrases:
- Record collocations of two or three words, e.g., as a result of, in spite of,
due to,
- Record all of these words and phrases and make sure you can use them
correctly.

Improve your writing level
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Practice your structure:
- Use topic sentence, then develop the points you make with facts, details,
examples, opinions or evidence.
- The structure will get you the score you want.

Improve your writing level
High-Intermediate – Advanced level
• Practice:
- Writing is like everything else. If you don ’ t practice, you will not improve.
- Focus your practice on the structure and time constraints of your exam.
Resource: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck5CPk4_WNA

How to improve your writing
• Think in English
• Build your writing ability from sentence to paragraph
- Vocabulary
- Grammar
- Coherence
• Write in English as often as possible
- email, memo, diary, working journal, etc.

How to improve your writing
Sub-skills involved in writing (Anne
Raimes,1983)
- Syntax
- Grammar
- Mechanics
- Organization
- Word choice
- Purpose
- Audience
- The writing process
- Contents

How to improve your writing
- Syntax: sentence structure, sentence boundaries, stylistic choice, etc
- Grammar: rules for verb agreement, articles, pronounces, etc.
- Mechanics: handwriting, spelling, punctuation, etc.
- Organization: paragraphs, topic and support, cohesion and unity

How to improve your writing
- Word choice: vocabulary, idiom, tone
- Content: relevance, clarity, originality, logic, etc.
- The writing process: getting ideas, getting started, writing drafts, revising
- Audience: the readers
- Purpose: the reason for writing

How to improve your writing
Dangling modifiers:
1. Under a pile of garbage, Jack found his watch.
→
2. Trying to get under the fence,
Mark ’ s mother called him.
→

How to improve your writing
Dangling modifiers:
3. After standing in line for four hours, the manager announced that all the concert tickets were sold out.
→
4. Sitting under a tree, an apple hit
Jack on the head.
→

How to improve your writing
Dangling modifiers:

How to improve your writing
Dangling modifiers:
7. After graduating from college, Sean ’ s father wants him to join the family business.
→
8. Lacking the necessary qualifications, the job was not for Peter.
→

How to improve your writing
Dangling modifiers:
9. She wrapped the scarf around her throat that she bought on sale.
→
10. The audience enjoyed the concert that sat on the grass.
→

How to improve your writing
Dangling modifiers:
11. The dog belongs to Ms. Smith that is black and white.
→
12. Writing hurriedly, the deadline was met.
→

How to improve your writing
• Practice paraphrasing
- build your vocabulary
- use synonyms when you write
- identify main points
- listen to recorded lectures and write down the main points

How to improve your writing
- read 2 articles on the same topic and write a summary of each
- explain ways they are similar
and ways they are different

Hurricanes, which are also called tropical cyclones, exert tremendous power. These violent storms are usually a hundred miles in diameter and their winds can reach velocities of seventy-five miles an hour, or more.
Furthermore, the strong winds and heavy rainfall that accompany them can completely destroy a small town in a couple of hours.
The energy that is released by an hurricane in one day exceeds the total energy consumed by mankind throughout the world in one year.

Does a hot, humid summer day make you feel grumpy? Does a rainy day make you feel depressed? The weather seems to affect people’s moods. Hot weather makes some people irritable, while others love the heat, and are very happy and cheerful on a summer ’ s day. Others don ’ t mind the heat but say they hate it when it is humid because the humidity makes them tired.

In most schools, courses are offered in English, math, science, history, geography, physical education. Some schools also offer art, music, industrial science, home economics, computer science, foreign languages, business studies and even agriculture lessons. A lot of schools provide opportunities before, during, or after schools for students to participate in sport, cultural clubs, and other activities. Schools are also there to help students with problems, reward students for achievement, punish students for unacceptable behavior, and in some cases, even to feed students in addition to educating them. Schools address a large variety of needs.

Elements of a successful paragraph
2. Coherence
- how to achieve it?
* create logical bridges from one sentence to another by
1) repeat key words
2) substitute with synonyms
3) use pronouns
4) use transition words and discourse markers

Learning resources on the
Internet
• ELLLO (listening w/ text) http://www.elllo.org
• KanTalk (listening, Internet chat & conversation) http://www.kantalk.com
• VOA News (listening) http://www.voanews.com/english/podcasts.cfm
• ESL Pod (listening) http://www.eslpod.com
• Just Vocabulary (listening) http://justvocabulary.com/podcast/
• Podcast in English (listening) http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/index.shtml