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Seven
Steps into Getting ESP Students to Write Technical Reports
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More than half of a technical professional's
working time is spent on some form of writing (Okoye 1994). Therefore, writing technical
reports is an essential skill ESP students need to develop for their future professional
careers.
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I have had great success with the following 7
steps, aimed at providing guidelines to ESP students learning to write their first
reports.
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Before beginning the activity, each student
receives a worksheet with different sections which they must complete after having covered
each of the steps (see Figure 1 ).
Students may then consult their worksheet whenever they write a report.
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In completing the worksheet, students carry out
most of the activities on a cooperative basis. They always work in pairs, discussing
ideas, comparing results, and then sharing them with the rest of the class. This procedure
prepares them for a more interactive participation in the professional community of which
they will become members. (Ramani 1988)
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Step 1: What is a report?
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I have found that most students in my ESP
courses have little, if any, knowledge of what a report really is. They are more
acquainted with other writing genres, such as the editorial, the essay, or the newspaper
or magazine article. Therefore, I start the writing lesson by giving each student a chart
outlining the main features of the genre under consideration. Students then pair up to
compare and contrast these characteristics. This activity helps students become aware of
what a report is all about. After analyzing the basic characteristics of a report
(objectivity, intended for more than one reader), students state what a report is not (an
expression of opinion, a summary of known information).
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Another possibility is to provide students with
authentic reports (Ellis & Johnson 1994) for them to analyze. In cooperative
environments, students may be asked to provide the examples themselves (Okoye 1994).
Finally, and regardless of the methodology followed, students prepare a check list
containing the most typical features of a report, which becomes the worksheet that they
receive at the beginning of the class.
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Step 2: What is a report for?
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Defining the purpose of a report is our second
step. To deal with this aspect of report writing, students are presented with a set of
questions they discuss in pairs. The set contains questions such as "What is your
report for?", "Is your report intended for more than one purpose?"
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Once every pair has considered each of the
questions, the whole class discusses the answers and chooses the most appropriate ones.
Students use the selected answers to complete section 2 of the worksheet.
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Step 3: Who are my readers?
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Knowing the audience is important for any
writer. It is essential, for the report writer. Thus, before writing a report, students
proceed to complete section 3 of their worksheet.
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Before dealing with the steps that follow, we
make an analysis of the previous steps. The students' choices of purpose and audience will
have direct bearing on the language, organization, content, and presentation of their
reports (Singh and Mitali De Sarkar 1994).
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Step 4: How do I have to organize the information?
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Selection of information is a key aspect in the
organization of a report. The selection will be most certainly limited by constraints of
time, place, and importance of the topic dealt with. Students select those items
(relevancy, accuracy, facts, and opinions) they believe are most applicable and complete
section 4 of the worksheet.
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Step 5: What do I have to consider before writing my report?
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At this stage of the writing exercise, we
discuss the possible topics for a report for "their companies' next meeting."
Then, students consider writing a draft outline of the report, consulting with other
students and with both their subject matter teacher and their language teacher. This
aspect of team teaching is quite relevant in ESP environments (Dudley-Evans 1984, Gim,nez
1995, Okoye 1994). It encourages cooperation among students and gives the activity a sense
of worth, so important for the language class.
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Immediately after the discussion period,
students start the actual writing of a report, which, due to class time constraints, is
finished at home using the ideas discussed in class.
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Step 6: How do I have to edit my report?
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When students believe their report is ready for
reviewing, the whole class discusses which are the most relevant aspects to check:
spelling mistakes, unclear sentences, ambiguous referencing, and the like. In pairs,
students then design a short checklist with which they will complete their worksheet.
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Step 7: What does an effective report look like?
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Once, the report has been edited, students start
considering aspects that have to do with the report presentation process.
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They discuss at length aspects such as dividing
the report into subsections, adding tables and graphics to enhance it and to aid
understanding. Finally, students once more have a discussion in order to reach an
agreement on the most relevant aspects to be included in their worksheets.
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English programs for ESP as well as EST and
Business students should aim at developing students' professional
performance-"training learners to become operationally effective" in Ellis and
Johnson's words (1994).
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These seven steps have proven highly successful
in helping students develop report writing, one of the skills which will make them become
"operationally effective." By the same token, these steps have also made ESP
writing classes more cooperative in nature. Students have worked with one another in the
writing process while their subject matter teachers have guided the language teacher so
that students practice virtually the same activity in English as in their mother tongue.
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Julio
C. Gim,nez is an EFL instructor at the School of Languages of the Cordoba National
University in Argentina. |
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Return
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- Dudley-Evans, A. 1984. The team teaching of writing skills. In Common ground: Shared
interests in ESP and communication studies (ELT Document 117). Eds. R. Williams, J.
Swales, & J. Kirkman. Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
- Ellis, M. and C. Johnson. 1994. Teaching business English. Oxford, UK: Oxford University
Press.
- Gim,nez, J. C. 1995. Cooperative teaching in ESP: A third view. TESOL Matters, 5, 1.
- Okoye, I. 1994. Teaching technical communication in large classes. English for Specific
Purposes. 13, 3, pp. 223-237.
- Ramani, E. 1988. Developing a course in research writing for advanced ESP learners. In
ESP in the classroom: Practice and evaluation. (ELT Document 128) Eds. D. Chamberlain and
R. Baumgardner. Oxford: Modern English Publications and The British Council.
- Singh, R. K. and M. De Sarkar. 1994. Interactional process approach to teaching writing.
English Teaching Forum, 32, 4, pp. 18-23.
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Figure 1
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Report Writing: A Checklist
1. A report is:
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2. Defining the purpose:
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3. Knowing the readers:
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4. Organizing information:
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___________________________________
5. Before writing:
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
6. Editing a report:
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________
7. Presenting a report
___________________________________
___________________________________
___________________________________ |
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