Writing Definitions

              

Writing Skills:

1.     Decide how important each of these skills is for you on the BA in ELT. Rank them from 5 (most important) to 1 (least important). 2.     For all the skills that you ranked with a 5 or a 4, decide on your current level from 5 (I am good at this) to 1 (I can´t do this). 3.     Subtract the score for your level form the score of importance and write this in the FINAL SCORE column. The ones that have a high number (3 or 4) are the skills that you need to concentrate on most.
Writing skills	Importance	Level	Final Score
1.     Making an outline	4	3	1
2.     Selecting relevant material to read	4	3	1
3.     Reading efficiently and taking good notes	5	4	1
4.     Making a logical order of ideas	4	4	0
5.     Making heading, sub-heading etc.	5	3	2
6.     Describing tables, charts and diagrams	5	5	0
7.     Writing an introduction	5	4	1
8.     Writing a conclusion	5	4	1
9.     Writing a bibliography	5	4	1
10. Quoting from other sources and writing references	4	3	2
11. Using your own words to express your ideas and the ideas of others	5	3	2
12. Being clear	5	4	1
13. Using correct grammar	5	3	2
14. Spelling correctly	5	4	1
15. Using the appropriate tone for the piece of writing	4	3	2
16. Using the correct punctuation	5	3	2
17. Staying on the topic	5	4	1
18. Proof-reading your work before handling it in	5	5	0

In order to be a good academic writer, first we must know what we are writing about. We must do research on the topic. Second it is very important to be clear and concise when writing. We have to use punctuation marks correctly in order for our writing to be more understandable. Giving a good format and order to our text will make it formal and clear.

The writing process has different stages. Since we first start learning how to write, we go through different stages. Learning the sound of the letters and how they sound when we match them together. Slowly we start making words. The next stage is being able to make sentences and from then on we elaborate sentences that have meaning to us. Before we know it we writing entire paragraphs, of course we need some guidance on how to organize our ideas and make them clear to the readers.

In order to become a better writer, I have found that practice makes a big change as well as reading.  If you have the habit of reading, you will realize it will be easier for you to write. Since reading helps you gain vocabulary and the use of punctuation.