EB MB lesson 5 - Lecture notes 5 PDF

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Summary

MAP of Writing andEffective ReadingOBJECTIVESAt the end of this unit you should be able to: - Understand language use in various contexts - Identify the Message, Audience and Purpose - Use different text types according to purpose and audience - Identify the basic meanings of long and complex senten...

Description

Session

5

MAP of Writing and Effective Reading

OBJECTIVES At the end of this unit you should be able to: • Understand language use in various contexts • Identify the Message, Audience and Purpose • Use different text types according to purpose and audience • Identify the basic meanings of long and complex sentences.

1.

What is Writing? Writing is an integral part of the thinking and learning process. It is a way of • expressing / discovering what we mean, as well as what others are trying to tell us. • remembering and manipulating information, of preserving it for later reflection and better understanding. • taking apart ideas and concepts, of examining relationships and meaning. Writing helps us to make sense of ourselves, others and our world. It is a powerful tool, not just for learning but for the world at large. The help that writing gives you with learning and controlling what you have learned is why you are expected to write substantially when pursuing a diploma in business.

Learning the complex and

diverse world of business professional takes more than a passive understanding of facts or a passion for numbers. You have to understand theories and practices of the business world well enough to be able to apply them to a variety of situations and environments. Writing is the entryway into business. Everything that happens in business happens on paper first. Often, in business as elsewhere, gaining recognition for our ideas depends less upon what we say than upon how we say it. Accurate and persuasive writing is absolutely vital to the business leader and to those who aspire to lead. Task: Convert the above into a mind-map. Using ‘Writing’ as the centerpiece, use the keywords to construct a mind cluster that would help you understand the functions and benefits of writing. English for Business

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2.

Elements of Good Writing? The three most important elements of good writing are: • • •

Message Audience Purpose

Keeping these three elements in mind will help your writing stay focused.

2.1 Message The message refers to ‘What’ do I want to write about? It refers to a topic or an area of study that interests you and that you know and understand well. It is important to narrow down the message until you find an appropriate topic.

2.2 Purpose Before writing, it is important to determine the purpose of the writing task. In other words, the writer has to ask himself/herself, “Why am I writing this?” Purpose is your reason for writing. It provides direction and limits. There are seven main purposes for writing: •

To interact

•

To inform

•

To find out

•

To influence

•

To regulate

•

To entertain

•

To record

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Activity 1 The table below describes the function of each of the purposes of writing. Look at the examples of texts that follow and identify the purpose of each of the text and complete the table. As you are reading the texts, highlight some the elements and language used in the text that show the purpose of the text. Purpose of writing

Function

Examples of types of Business Writing

To Interact

Help us to get on with other people

Personal emails, invitations, postcards etc

To inform

Help us to put across the facts clearly and according to the needs of the audience.

Manuals, reports, information brochures, articles

To find out

Help us to ask the right questions in writing and then follow them up with further enquiries

Questionnaires or surveys

To persuade/ To influence

Helps you to convince the reader. Hence, you need more than opinion; you need facts or examples to back your opinion. In order to influence or persuade, you would need to make use of these: -Make a claim -Chose an emotional or rational appeal -Support the claim -Anticipate and respond to objection

Text 1 Adverts, letters to solicit favour or help

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Purpose of writing

Function

Examples of types of Business Writing

To regulate

Helps us to follow a particular course of action. Advertisers and manufacturers make use of language to regulate our actions.

Manual, instructions, rules and regulations etc

To entertain

Helps us to entertain and add some fun to the writing.

Writing in the form short stories, anecdotes or poems can be entertaining to attract readers’ attention to a product or service

To record

Helps us to keep a record with the primary intention of getting something down on paper so that it is not forgotten.

Order list, an attendance register, a log, minutes of meeting, report

Text

Note that these purposes are not always mutually exclusive. It is possible for a piece of writing to accomplish several purposes at the same time. For example, an advertisement can be entertaining but also informative and persuasive.

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TEXT 1

LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING It isn’t just the sleek design that makes BeoCentre 9300 so satisfying to own. It’s also the way it’s constructed to be at the forefront of technology to give you the very best in sound quality. The way it functions is equally impressive too. Take the CD and cassette doors. Watching them glide back and forth is a pleasure in itself. Touch ‘play’ with your fingertips and the real beauty of the 9300 will be revealed to you. Would it be going too far to describe the sensation as sensual? Perhaps. Perhaps not. So why don’t you experience it for yourself at one of our dealers seeing is believing.

TEXT 2 25 First Avenue Singapore 200400 15 September 2008 Dear Dr Malone Thank you once again for the wonderful presentation. The staff found the demonstration particularly enlightening. We will be implementing some of the strategies you mentioned during your presentation in the next review exercise. I hope we could arrange for you to conduct more talks in the future. Sincerely

DCooke David Cooke

TEXT 3 Winnipeg City Route 23 is a city route in Winnipeg, Manitoba, connecting Route 180 (McPhillips St.) and Route 52 (Main St.). Route 23 is a minor arterial road connecting Main St. and the Garden City business district. The road is mainly known as Leila Ave. There is a one-way section between the railroad crossing and Main St. where Leila Ave. is the westbound section of road, and the eastbound section becomes Partridge Ave. The speed limit is 60 km/h (37 mph).

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TEXT 4

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TEXT 5 A. STARTING SAMPLING.

o

Place the sampling equipment on the employee so that it does not interfere with work performance.

o

Attach the collection device (filter cassette, charcoal tube, etc.) to the shirt collar or as close as practical to the nose and mouth of the employee, i.e., in a hemisphere forward of the shoulders with a radius of approximately six to nine inches. The inlet should always be in a downward vertical position to avoid gross contamination. Position the excess tubing so that it does not interfere with the work of the employee.

o

Turn on the pump and record the starting time.

o

Observe the pump operation for a short time after starting to make sure it is operating correctly.

o

Record the information required by the Air Sampling Data Form (OSHA 91A).

TEXT 6 Number of years in the present line of work • Below 5 years • 6 to 9 years • 10 to 19 years • 20 years and more Types of nationalities with whom you liaise with often. • Americans • English • Asians (e.g. Japanese, Taiwanese, etc) (Please specify_______________ ) • Others (Please specify) __________________________

TEXT 7 The Queen of Hearts She made some tarts All on a Summer’s day The Knave of Hearts He stole those tarts And with them ran away Because they were baked with Ceresota Flour

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TEXT 8

(Source: www.vahealth.org/teeth/pubsden.asp)

TEXT 9

1. Apologies for absence Apologies for absence were received from Nicholas Chua who was on reservist training.

Action By

2. Minutes of previous meeting There were no amendments to the minutes of the previous meeting. Chairperson confirmed the minutes.

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2.3 Audience What you write about (message) and your reason for writing (purpose) are greatly affected by whom you are writing for (audience). Knowing your audience helps you determine: • • • •

What kind of vocabulary to use What the audience already knows about the subject What the audience is interested in What you believe the audience needs or wants to learn from your writing

Activity 2 Read the following passages and state how the audiences differ? Passage 1

A new gift and home furnishing store, Dan’s Discount Dishes, opened at Guild Road near Sixth Avenue a few weeks ago. You’d love shopping there. They have earthen ware, china and porcelain starter sets and serving pieces. Of course, you can get individual place settings in Lenox, Wedgwood, Rosenthal, Mikasa and others. Best of all, the salespeople are knowledgeable and helpful.

Passage 2

A new gift and home furnishing store, Dan’s Discount Dishes, opened at Guild Road near Sixth Avenue a few weeks ago. You’d love shopping there. They have all kinds of dish sets with great designs and in all terrific colours we’re seeing in magazines these days. You can even get some of the square-shaped sets that are trendy and popular. Best of all, the prices are lower than in most other stores.

In sum, the writer is multi-faceted. He/she writes in order to meet and match the demands and needs of a varied segment of society. Thus, the story Hansel and Gretel or Snow-white and the Seven Dwarfs can be written to meet the needs of any group of audience be they young children, teenagers, young adults or adults. All you need is to be sensitive to the needs of the audience, their maturity level, their interest, their language competence and other such categories.

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Activity 3 Given below are three paragraphs. Read the three paragraphs carefully a number of times and then decide on the responses you will give to the questions which follow. Paragraph 1

Life is a matter of organising the varied elements that we face daily into categories. The human mind is a kind of computer that reads information and then documents them into files that can be kept in the hard disk or in the floppy convolutions of our grey matter. We term this storage as the long or the short term memories respectively. We need both to be effective users of information. We need both as information needs to be classified and organised for ease of retrieval.

Paragraph 2

Our mind is like a computer. You know that you can play games and store things in a computer. Just like that we too use our mind like a computer. All the important pieces of news that we think we need to remember we keep in our memory. Some of this information we keep for a long time and some we keep for a short time. You will know that we need to keep information

Paragraph 3

A long time ago in Never-Never Land there lived a bonny little lass by the name of Noni. Noni was as sweet as sweet sugar can be. She had pretty little curls that were the envy of all the little girls in Never-Never land. One day Noni sat in the shade of the coconut tree and thought to herself, “How come I can remember some things from so long ago and some things from just about now?” So Noni came to realize that we have long and short memories and that her head keeps all this information for her to use when she needs to convince Mommy that something has happened.

1. Do all three paragraphs have the same main message on the whole? Provide some support from the paragraphs to substantiate your answer. 2. Who are the audiences that the writer is trying to reach? How do you know?

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Activity 4 You are given three scenarios below which describe the audience for whom you will be writing. The message you wish to impart to them is one that concerns the need to develop the habit of saving for the future. Write at least one paragraph but not more than three for each of the scenarios making sure that you are conveying the same message. SCENARIO ONE:

You could be writing for a group of adults who are professionals. This group is well educated, is widely read and composed of individuals who enjoy a well written text. They can be highly critical if the written text is not what they had expected.

SCENARIO TWO:

You could be writing for a group of teenagers who are in tertiary education. They are young, easy going and enjoy light reading. The issue of saving for the future has not touched them and they are in a bubble state cushioned by the financial support given to them by their parents. You need to write in order to inform and alert them that there is a need to start now.

SCENARIO THREE:

You think that little children who are in the early years of primary education are the ones who need to be educated on the habit of saving for the future. These young people have a really curious mind. They are trusting and will believe what they are told as long as you offer them an interesting story.

References • • •

Ready to Write More – From Paragraph to Essay by Blanchard and Root Oxford Guide to Effective Writing & Speaking by Seely Good Writing! by Meiser

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EFFECTIVE READING In the previous section, we focused on the 3 key elements of writing. We learned that, as writers, we should bear in mind the importance of who our audience are, what our message and purpose are. What happens when we are on the receiving end? What if we are the readers? As the recipients, we no longer have an influence on the writing itself, our goal then shifts to making sense of the words and the intended meaning. We have often encountered long complex sentences in course notes, business reports, financial news, exam passages, and research journals, just to name a few. We have not even touched on online articles, where long complex sentences are the norm. One of the probable causes would be the notion that complicated sentences somehow seem more intelligent, and therefore more credible. The common readers, on the other hand, spend countless hours scratching their heads and pulling their hair, trying to figure out what the authors are really trying to express. Therefore, reading, especially long sentences, requires skill sets that are different from writing. Before that, let’s revise the basic sentence structure.

Pre-Activity Basic Sentence Structure Subject [The main noun]

+

Predicate [tells the reader something about the subject; what it is or what it is doing]

Identify and circle the subject in each sentence. 1.

Gary conducts lectures on Thursdays and Fridays.

2.

The lectures can be quite dry sometimes.

3.

Needless to say, the students in this class have to revise the notes.

4.

This is a golden opportunity.

What about the rest of the sentence? What did it do? Most importantly, regardless of the length or complexity of most sentences, almost all of them follows the basic structure of having a subject (the main ‘thing’) and a predicate.

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The only exception would be the imperative, i.e. giving commands or asking directly. Examples of imperatives would be “Please have a seat.” or “Charge!”. Otherwise, you will realize that all other sentences follow Subject + Predicate format. Long and complex sentences merely have more details/ additional thoughts that may sometimes interfere with comprehension. The following is a guide on how readers can temporarily filter the extra details, in order to understand the main idea in a sentence. Identifying the basic meaning When sentences are really long and complex, identify the basic meaning by 1. Identifying the basic sentence and/or 2. Removing extra details Example If businesses reduce their marketing budgets during these difficult economic times, they are going to see a decrease in sales, while their competitors will continue to grow. To simplify the above, readers should first identify the main subject and predicate in the sentence, and filter the extra details. If businesses reduce their marketing budgets during these difficult economic times, they are going to see a decrease in sales, while their competitors will continue to grow. Comparing the before and after, it’s clear which is easier to understand. Practice Now it’s your turn to give it a try. Simplify the following. In today's very competitive marketplace, a strategy that ensures a consistent approach of offering your products or services to the customer is critical. _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

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Specific Tips 1. Remove phrases within double commas Information within double commas are extra details that can be temporarily removed to make it easier to understand. Simplify the following. Any successful business model, no matter how well-known it is, needs to be adapted accordingly to suit the situation. Simplified: _____________________________________________________________

2. Remove the adjectives / adverbs Adjectives and adverbs are basically descriptors that adds information / details to the subject or predicate. Filtering them would also help make the key idea clearer. Try the following. Any successful business model needs to be adapted accordingly to suit the situation. Simplified: _____________________________________________________________

3. Remove phrases with that / which / who / where That / which / who / where are commonly used as relative clauses, where additional information is introduced. Try removing phrases that proceed these clauses to simplify sentences. This marketing approach which may work in the short term, may not be as effective in the long run. Simplified: _____________________________________________________________

Conclusion The basic idea of effective reading is sacrificing details of long and complex sentences to achieve comprehension. Once the main idea is identified, those details can be added back on. Readers have no direct influence on the writers and their writing styles. However, readers can adapt to make it easier to comprehend what was being written.

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