Professional Documents
Culture Documents
MUET 800/4
PAGE 1
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
Writing 1:
In Question 1, you must write a short essay, article or report of at least 150 words which describes
and interprets what you see in a graph, table, diagram or text.
MUET 800/4
PAGE 2
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
I. Describing trends
Trends are changes or movements. These changes are normally expressed in numeric terms, for
example, population, production volumes or unemployment. There are three basic trends:
For each trend there are a number of verbs and nouns to express the movement. We can use a
verb of change, for example:
Unemployment levels fell.
MUET 800/4
PAGE 3
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
MUET 800/4
PAGE 4
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
Adjectives – Adverbs
Adjectives Adverbs
dramatic dramatically
sharp sharply
huge
enormous enormously
steep steeply
substantial substantially
considerable considerably
significant significantly
marked markedly
moderate moderately
slight slightly
small
minimal minimally
Adjectives – Adverbs
Adjectives Adverbs
rapid rapidly
quick quickly
swift swiftly
sudden suddenly
steady steadily
gradual gradually
slow slowly
MUET 800/4
PAGE 5
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
It is often useful to include reference to tables and charts when you are writing.
Example
MUET 800/4
PAGE 6
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
VI. Language
The following are some sentence structures that may be used to describe trends or patterns in
graphs, tables or charts.
Table 1 seen
Figure 2 concluded
can
shown
From figures it be that ...
estimated
the chart may
calculated
diagram inferred
The graph
shows that ...
Figure 1
MUET 800/4
PAGE 7
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
The following are some sentence structures that may be used to describe trends or patterns in
graphs, tables or charts.
rise
increase
decrease
There was a(n) decline of ...
reduction
fall
drop
MUET 800/4
PAGE 8
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
increased
shot up
grew
rose
X declined by ...
reduced
decreased
dropped
fell
increased slightly
shot up slowly
grew gradually
rose steadily
markedly
X declined
dramatically
reduced steeply
decreased sharply
dropped rapidly
fell suddenly
reached a peak.
X
levelled off
MUET 800/4
PAGE 9
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
In Question 2, the candidate is expected to write an essay in which a point of view or opinion is
presented. In this type of writing, express your opinions and give reasons to support them.
Here is a simple four-step guide to do Question 2.
Suggested Time
Steps Detail
MUET 800/4
PAGE
10
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
• Task Response (i.e. how fully and appropriately the student has answered all parts of the
task; the extent to which the student’s ideas are relevant, developed and supported; the extent
to which the student’s position is clear and effective)
• Coherence and Cohesion (i.e. how well the information and ideas are organised and
presented i.e. paragraphing; how well the information is linked)
• Lexical Resource (i.e. the range of vocabulary used, how accurately it is used and how
appropriate it is for the task)
• Grammatical Range and Accuracy (i.e. the range of structures used, how accurately they
are used and how appropriate they are for the task)
MUET 800/4
PAGE
11
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
Writing Task 2 takes the form of a statement or statements on a specific theme. Students must be
sure to read the question carefully and respond appropriately to the task. They should organise
their ideas well and make sure to support their argument with relevant examples or evidence. For
this task, students need to be able to communicate more abstract and complex ideas and use a
range of vocabulary and grammatical structures. They must be sure to draw upon their own
personal experience and should NOT attempt to produce a learnt response.
GENERAL
• Make sure that your students are at the right level before they attempt the Academic Writing
Tasks. Lower level students will not be able to complete these writing tasks and you should
always make sure that the writing tasks you give are at the right level for your students.
• Make sure that you focus on the writing process as well as on the testing process. You can do
this by giving students essays to write in their own time at home as well as timed essays in
class under exam conditions. It is important to develop their writing skills as well to give
them exam practice.
• Try to provide a balance of activities so that you do not always focus on grammatical
accuracy. While accuracy is important, it is equally important to develop planning skills,
organisational skills, fluency and coherence in writing. This will also ensure that your
lessons are more balanced.
• Encourage students to adopt new language learning strategies. For example, you can
encourage them to take an active approach to learning vocabulary by recording new words
and ensuring that they attempt to actively use them as often as possible.
• Increase your students’ motivation to write by making their writing more important. You can
do this by ‘publishing’ their work around the classroom or in a class journal. You can also
vary the readers of their work by swapping essays with a different class or with their
classmates or showing them to a different teacher.
• To do well in an exam situation, students need to perform independently, without
assistance or intervention from their teacher. If your classes are usually teacher-centred then
you may need to train your students by organising more student-centred activities. Make sure
that you encourage your students to actively participate in their own learning process.
• Timed writing practice is essential for your students to be able to do their best in the exam.
They need to develop a feel for how to plan, write and check their answers within the time
allowed. Timed writing practice can be done in class and also for homework so that your
students become less dependant on you telling them to stop one task and begin the next.
MUET 800/4
PAGE
12
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
Increasing Motivation
Clearly, getting your students to write is the best way for them to practise this skill. However,
motivation is often a problem as, while some might enjoy the writing process, many find it a
laborious task even in their own language. Below are some ways to increase student motivation
to engage in more writing practice.
• Make it clear from the start of your course how many pieces of writing you expect your
students to produce. Tell them when they will be due. If you set this into their weekly
timetable, they will develop an expectation to be engaged in writing at a particular time.
You can also get each student to commit to this at the start of the course.
• Explain exactly what will happen to the writing they produce. Will they be given feedback
1 or 2 days later or will this take longer? Will they be expected to re-write their essays?
Decide where, when and how you will handle marking, correction and feedback and let
your students know what to expect.
• Encourage your students to build up a portfolio of their writing and to look back at their
progress from time to time.
• Vary the tools your students use to write or the class organisation. They may write
individually, in pairs or as a group. You may choose to produce one whole essay as a class
written onto transparencies. You could ask them to write ideas onto large sheets of paper, in
a poster format to put around the classroom, or they could write onto transparencies so that
they may be discussed as a class. Any means you can use to get your students to writing
will help.
MUET 800/4
PAGE
13
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
1. Create an Essay with Three Main Parts. Help your readers by first (1) telling them what
you are going to tell them, (2) tell them, and then (3) tell them what you told them. Readers
appreciate having this guidance; teachers reward it with points.
2. State Your Main Point in the First Paragraph. Some styles of writing encourage writers to
unfold their main point slowly in order to give the reader a lot of work. However, most
teachers prefer that their students disclose their main point in the first paragraph. This helps
the reader's comprehension. The reader can then focus on finding adequate support and
explanation for that main point.
3. Divide Your Point into Logical Sub-sections. Students are often tempted to pick three
random points for supporting an essay topic. Strong writers look for the natural divisions in a
topic and then find a rational way to organize those points.
MUET 800/4
PAGE
14
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
Example Outline 1
Anecdote about driving around town with friends on a Friday night, arguing about
where to eat pizza. Thesis statement that Diamond Pizza was our best choice
Introduction
according to our criteria of convenience, atmosphere, service, ingredients and
price.
[Note how the points are organized chronologically, in the order that the student
experiences them.]
Return to anecdote of friends walking to the movie theater, wondering why they
Conclusion ever discuss where they will go for pizza since they always choose Diamond Pizza
at the end of their discussion.
Essay Structure
MUET 800/4
PAGE
15
Course Participant’s Module: Writing
MAJLIS PEPERIKSAAN MALAYSIA
(MALAYSIAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL)
Reference
1. M.K. Tickoo, English Language Learning and Teaching.
2.Materials adapted from www.ielts.org.uk.
MUET 800/4
PAGE
16