Luận Văn A study on how to write an effective cause and effect essay in English

Khóa luận tốt nghiệp
Đề tài: A study on how to write an effective cause and effect essay in English


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement
PART ONE : INTRODUCTON . 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study 2
3. Methods of the study . 3
4. Scope of the study . 3
5. Design of the study 4
PART TWO : DEVELOPMENT . 5
CHAPTER I : THEORETICAL BACKGROUND . 5
1. An overview on academic writing 5
1.1 What is Academic writing? . 5
1.2 Characteristic features 5
1.2.1. Audience 5
1.2.2. Tone . 6
1.2.3. Purpose . 6
2 : An overview on essay 7
2.1. What is an essay? . 7
2.2. The structural parts of an essay . 7
2.2.1. Introduction . 7
2.2.2. Body 8
2.2.3. Conclusion . 8
3. An overview on Cause and Effect essay . 8
3.1. Definition 8
3.2. Structure of Cause and Effect Essay . 9
CHAPTER II: AN ANALYSIS ON PROCEDURE OF WRITING A
CAUSE AND EFFECT ESSAY . 21
1. Process of a cause and effect essay . 21
1.1. Stimulating ideas . 21
10
1.2. Brainstorming and Outlining 22
1.3. Developing ideas 24
1.3.1. Cause Connectors 24
1.3.2. Effect Connectors 26
2. Rules for a good cause and effect essay 27
CHAPTER III : SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO WRITE A CAUSE AND
EFFECT ESSAY IN ENGLISH EFFECTIVELY . 30
1. Some possible problems encountered by Vietnamese learners 30
1.1. Repeating transitional words in an essay 30
1.2. Omitting transition words in an essay . 32
1.3. Incorrect form of topic sentences in body paragraphs 34
2. Some suggestions to improve writing cause and effect essay 36
2.1. Using various transition words . 36
2.2 Writing correct topic sentences in body paragraphs 42
PART THREE: CONCLUSION 44
REFERENCE 45
APPENDIX 47


PART ONE : INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Nowadays, almost countries in the world speak English and English can
be considered one of the most essential languages for international
communication. In Vietnam, there are a lot of foreign investors, they establish
their own companies in Vietnam. They all sp eak English and of course, they
will employ the people who have ability of using English. Therefore, English
is an important criteria to find a good job in Vietnam. It becomes the second
language to many people. When we learn English, we can widen knowledg e
about culture, customs, and lifestyle of this country. However, it is not easy to
learn a foreign language well. In order to use English fluently, I think the
learners have to pay attention to four skills: reading, writing, Listening and
Speaking. Of four skills, writing is considered the most difficult to many.
Different from the rest, writing requires not only the learners to have
knowledge of grammar (grammatical structures) but also plentiful source of
vocabulary to write a paragraph as well as an essay completely. Many
learners think that when they can speak well, they will automatically write
well. However, when they begin writing first sentence, everything is not easy
as they expected. There are many differences between spoken and written
languages. So, writing requires much patience and constant practice.
In all walks of life, people use writing as a basic working skill. It is a
process, a skill of hard- work and people must perform almost daily. As a
student, you will have a lot of writing tasks such as: assignments, essays,
graduation training report, graduation paper Therefore, we should think
clearly about what to write, how to write in order to have a good writing
If you want to write an essay effectively, first of all, you must write
paragraphs well.
To my knowledge, there are many factors which help the learners to
write an essay successfully. During of studying writing skill, especially
writing essay, I am very interested in Cause and Effect essay , I realized how
12
important it is and its effects when being used to write a paragraph or essay.
But due to the limitation of time, the study on how to write a Cause and Effect
essay effectively is not introduced clearly in writing subject. Students do not
have chance to understand much about them. With the hope that I can study
more about Cause and Effect essay deeply and share with everybody the
useful knowledge of transition signals. Thus, I decided to choose a study on
how to write a Cause and Effect essay in writing an English paragraph as my
graduation paper.
2. Aims of the study
It is not easy for us to study any subject because we have to spend a lot
of time to research all factors related to it. Similarly, to study Cause and
Effect essay in English, we have to consider and study the theory of writing,
specially the basic theory of essay. Basing on that foundation, my study aims
at the following concrete goals:
Providing learners with the theoretical background of writing, such as
the theory of academic writing, essay and especially, the theory of
Cause and Effect essay.
Studying the processes of writing Cause and Effect essay in detail
Pointing out the common mistakes facing the learners in the process of
writing Case and Effect essay
Giving some suggested advices and specific exercises to help English
learners improve writing Cause and Effect effectively.
3. Methods of the study
Getting a scientific method of study is very important. In order to finish
my graduation paper, I try with my best effort to search the necessary
documents in reference books or from web pages on internet. After reading
clearly those references, I tried to get and select the valuable information
relating to my study. Therefore, most examples are collected from many
different writing materials and grammar books.
13
Besides, I also provided the learners with a lot of specific samples to
demonstrate and help them understand deeply about Cause and Effect essay in
each example.
I applied my knowledge and experience achieved in the process of the
study at Haiphong Private University on this subject.
Especially, my supervisor as well as my friends have given me lots of
useful advices.
4. Scope of the study
Cause and Effect essay is used in every types of discourse, such as
speaking, reading, listening and especially in writing. However, due to the
limitation of time, of knowledge and materials, I can only focus on theory of
Cause and Effect essay, types of Cause and Effect essay and methods to help
students write such essay effectively
5. Design of the study
This paper consists of three parts:
Part one: Introduction- shows the rationale, aims, methods, scope and design
of the study.
Part two: Development ( the main part of the study) is divided into three
chapter:
Chapter I: Theoretical background – provides an overview of Academic
writing, essay, Cause and Effect essay ( definition, structural parts and
types of Cause and Effect essay)
Chapter II: Studies on how to write a Cause and Effect essay in English
effectively. It presents the processes; the rules and transition words of
Cause and Effect essay
Chapter III: The implication of the study - states the problems facing
learners and suggested solution in writing Cause and Effect essay
Part three: Conclusion: - Summarizes the main points of the study.
- Suggestion for further study.
14
PART TWOdata:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABAQMAAAAl21bKAAAAA1BMVEXh5PJm+yKVAAAAAXRSTlMAQObYZgAAAApJREFUCNdjYAAAAAIAAeIhvDMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt="" title="Big Grin ">EVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I : THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1 : An overview on academic writing
1.1. What is academic writing?
In college or university, as a student, you need to write stories that you have
experienced, events that make you most impressive, or describe objects, etc.
These all are called academic writing. So what is academic writing?
Oshima (2004.Addition Wesley Publishing Company) says that
“Academic writing, as the name implies, is kind of writing that you are
inquired to do in college or university”
Stephen Bailey (2006.Routledge Publishing Company) defines :
“Writing Essays and dissertations can be a major concern for overseas
students studying at English-medium colleges and universities, almost courses
are assessed by written work. Academic writing is a new kind of writing
course for all international students who have to write coursework or exams
in English.”
1.2. Characteristic features:
According to Oshima, “Academic writing is different from the other
kinds of writing (personal, literary, journalistic, business, etc) in several ways.
The difference between academic writing and other can explain by its special
audience, tone and purpose”.
(Oshima, A, 2004: 03)
1.2.1. Audience:
Whenever you write, consider your audience, that is, the people who will
read what you have written. Knowing your audience, will help you reach the
goal of communication clearly and effectively. In Academic writing, your
audience is primarily your instructors and professors.
(Oshima, A, 2004: 03)