Better writing NEW!!!

Cada tarea se califica sobre 50 puntos divididos en  los apartados de: eficacia comunicativa, adecuación y coherencia, léxico, cohesión y morfosintaxis, de 10 puntos cada uno.

1. EFICACIA COMUNICATIVA

Se refiere a la facilidad con la que se lee un texto, si hace falta o no una relectura o si el mensaje es claro y satisfactoriamente transmitido.

2. ADECUACIÓN

Se refiere:

-           al cumplimiento de la tarea, es decir, al desarrollo adecuado de los puntos solicitados en dicha tarea.

-           a la observancia de la extensión o número de palabras que se haya estipulado para el texto.

-           al ajuste al formato requerido (carta, nota informal, narración, etc.) y al registro en función del destinatario, propósito y situación, reflejado en léxico y estructuras.

3. COHERENCIA

Se refiere a la estructura semántica del texto, tanto en lo referente a la organización de la información y de las ideas, como en lo que respecta al mantenimiento de la línea discursiva (introducción, desarrollo y conclusión).

4. COHESIÓN

Se refiere a la organización sintáctica de la información, de las ideas y del mantenimiento de la línea discursiva.

La cohesión se refleja en la disposición y la unión de oraciones y párrafos mediante:

-        el uso de conectores discursivos lógicos y cronológicos, tanto para unir una frase con otra como un párrafo con otro.

-        el uso de mecanismos de referencialidad (pronombres, deícticos, cadenas léxicas, secuenciación temporal, etc.).

-        el uso adecuado de los signos de puntuación.

5. LÉXICO

Se refiere a la variedad y a la precisión del vocabulario utilizado.

6. MORFOSINTAXIS

Se refiere a la variedad y a la precisión de las estructuras gramaticales. 

	GREETING	OPENING SENTENCE	CLOSING SENTENCE	SIGNING OFF
SENDING AN EMAIL or WRITING A LETTER TO A FRIEND	®Hi [Sarah], ®Hi there! ®Hey! ®Sarah, ®Hello!	®How’s things?  /  How’re things? ®How’s life? ®How you doin / doing / doin’ ? ®It was great to hear/hearing from you ®It’s ages since I got your letter/e-mail ®Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply/answer/get back to you ®How are you? Hope you are well / Hope all’s well	®Give us a ring   /  Write soon ®Take care  /  All the best ®I’ll [give you a] ring you next week ®LMK [Let me know] when ...  ®KIT [Keep in touch] ®Look after yourself ®Give my love/regards to your sister ®My mother sends her love	®Cheers ®See ya / CU [See you] ®Bye for now ®Bye / Good bye ®Ta ta ®xxx xoxo [women/teens?] ®Love [and hugs] ®Lots of love

Writing a composition: General suggestions

Before writing

Understanding the question.

Read the question you intend to answer very carefully. Make sure you understand exactly what you are being asked to write about.

Obeying the instructions.

You may be asked to use a certain number of words or write one, two or three paragraphs or perhaps to give a conversation between two or possibly three people. Other such instructions may be given. Read the question and understand and obey the instructions.

Preparation and planning.

Before starting, spend several minutes thinking about what you are going to write and how to arrange it. This time is not wasted: in fact it may be time saved. You can write with far less hesitation and delay if you know already what you are going to say.

Plan your work carefully. Your ideas must be in the right order, following each other logically. Even in a short composition, some paragraph arrangement may well be necessary. It is a very good idea to decide on the subjects of your paragraphs before you begin writing, to make some kind of plan.

When writing

Legible handwriting.

Write as legibly or clearly as possible. Remember, if someone cannot read your writing, it does not matter how accurate it is.

Avoid literal translation from your language.

In all kinds of written work it is very important indeed to think in English and not to translate from your language. Translation from your own language encourages mistakes and also unnatural English. Advice: Try to remember English sentence patterns when you read them and try to use them in your writing.

Naturalness.

Each language has its own atmosphere which it is difficult to express in another language. So ideas and expressions which seem natural and right in one language may seem unnatural and unsuitable in another, even when they are not grammatically wrong. By using the English she/he is already familiar with and avoiding translation, the student is far more likely to write in a natural English way.

Style.

If you try to write English in the same way as you speak it, you will probably write in the wrong style. Spoken language is often informal. Academic writing is normally rather formal.

Writing in paragraphs.

Remember to write in paragraphs, each about one subject –as you have already planned. Writing in paragraphs makes it easier to read and creates a better impression.

Make sure you keep your paragraphs clearly distinct and do not forget to indent your paragraphs.

After writing

Reading through.

Read very carefully through what you have written, sentence by sentence. Look for mistakes of all kinds, especially those connected with the following:

1. Agreement subject and verb
2. Verb forms
3. The articles “the” and “a”
4. Grammatical and sentence constructions
5. Word order
6.  Complete sentences
7.  Punctuation –especially the correct division of sentences
8. “No” and “not” differences in using the negatives
9. The correct use of prepositions
10. Vocabulary mistakes
11. Uncountable nouns are often wrongly used (as if they were countable nouns)
12. Spelling

Correction

When you have to make changes, cross out and write again rather than cause confusion by altering on the word itself.

Build up a list of your common mistakes and try to avoid them in your future writing.

This was taken from Low, Ona: First Certificate in English Course for Foreign Students. Edward Arnold. 1974

 

Spelling

Spelling matters. If you want to create a good impression in your writing and make sure you get your meaning across clearly, it’s important to get your spelling right.

This section contains lots of quick-reference spelling tips. For example, if you can never remember whether the plural of potato is spelled potatoes or potatos, then you can jump straight to Plurals of nouns to get some straightforward advice. There’s also a handy list of Common misspellings, arranged in alphabetical order of the incorrect spellings, and a guide to the differences between British and American spelling. 

Grammar

Grammar is the way in which words are put together to form proper sentences. It’s important to write well-formed grammatical sentences if you want to create a good impression and get your meaning across effectively. Explore the list of topics to the left to get practical guidance and useful tips on a wide range of grammar issues. Or, if you’re searching for the answer to a specific point, such as whether it’s wrong to use split infinitives or to end a sentence with a preposition, you can go straight to our quick-reference Grammar tips.