Essay Writing: Ten important things EFL teachers should know

By Daniela Munca, PhD

For the ETRC Spring School,March 2010

Team Work • Team 1: How many types of essays do you know?

Name several types and give short examples.• Team 2: How should a student plan writing an essay:

what should he / she start with, what steps should be taken before the essay is laid on the paper, etc?

• Team 3: What is a paragraph? How many sentences are there in a paragraph? How should the sentences be structured?

• Team 4: How do you define a “thesis statement”? How should a student formulate a thesis statement?

• Team 5: How does a good essay start? What would make a strong introduction? How long should the introductory paragraph be?

• Team 6: If you could draw a graph of an essay structure – what would it look like? Think of a metaphor or a symbol which would be easy for your students to understand and memorize.

Sample Essay

Some people believe that technology will replace

teachers in the future; others argue that regular classes are still the best method to teach

• Some people strongly believe that technology will replace teachers in future. Technology by itself it’s[T1]  a huge sphere that develops [T2] worldwide with[T3]  the highest speed. In many spheres of our everyday life technology has replaced the humans.

• It goes without saying that technology has reached the top spot of the educational system. Many teachers assess their students using various online test sites. A lot of teachers use Internet as the main resource of inspiration. It was possible nowadays [T4] to use audio, video, online tools, smart boards in their classes, that was [T5] practically impossible to do 50 years ago[T6] .

• The progress is moving forward, but we still need somebody’s helping hand. As for example, let’s take well[T7]  known TOEFL exam preparation. The entire Internet is full of different books and self guides of acquiring the TOEFL basics, but still many people prefer regular classes. [T8] First of all, teacher[T9]  is a person who can psychologically influence a student, rising interest in him or completely make[T10]  him hate the subject. A teacher is a kind of God who slowly[T11]  step by step[T12]  leads you to the top of knowledge. A teacher is a person of soul and flesh. If you remember the film “Artificial Mind” when there was created a robot -boy who could feel as a human being and at the end all the people died because of flood[T13]  only he survived and during the whole film the boy wanted to become a real boy. [T14] Through this example we can conclude that even the artificial mind tends[T15]  to become a human being. Why do we tend to opposite[T16] ?

• In conclusion I’d like to say [T17] that hi-technologies are very useful and helpful in teaching. That[T18]  makes the teachers’ [T19] assessment much easier and more exact also[T20]  technologies make our boring classes more interactive, funny[T21]  and create cosier[T22]  atmosphere helping students learn boring grammar through online games. But the biggest disadvantage of no teacher participation for sure will lead us to mental breakdown. We are humans[T23]  we are not machines thus[T24]  we need human attention.

• Some people strongly believe that technology will replace teachers in future. Technology by itself it’s[T1]  a huge sphere that develops [T2] worldwide with[T3]  the highest speed. In many spheres of our everyday life technology has replaced the humans.

• It goes without saying that technology has reached the top spot of the educational system. Many teachers assess their students using various online test sites. A lot of teachers use Internet as the main resource of inspiration. It was possible nowadays [T4] to use audio, video, online tools, smart boards in their classes, that was [T5] practically impossible to do 50 years ago[T6] .

• The progress is moving forward, but we still need somebody’s helping hand. As for example, let’s take well[T7]  known TOEFL exam preparation. The entire Internet is full of different books and self guides of acquiring the TOEFL basics, but still many people prefer regular classes. [T8] First of all, teacher[T9]  is a person who can psychologically influence a student, rising interest in him or completely make[T10]  him hate the subject. A teacher is a kind of God who slowly[T11]  step by step[T12]  leads you to the top of knowledge. A teacher is a person of soul and flesh. If you remember the film “Artificial Mind” when there was created a robot -boy who could feel as a human being and at the end all the people died because of flood[T13]  only he survived and during the whole film the boy wanted to become a real boy. [T14] Through this example we can conclude that even the artificial mind tends[T15]  to become a human being. Why do we tend to opposite[T16] ?

• In conclusion I’d like to say [T17] that hi-technologies are very useful and helpful in teaching. That[T18]  makes the teachers’ [T19] assessment much easier and more exact also[T20]  technologies make our boring classes more interactive, funny[T21]  and create cosier[T22]  atmosphere helping students learn boring grammar through online games. But the biggest disadvantage of no teacher participation for sure will lead us to mental breakdown. We are humans[T23]  we are not machines thus[T24]  we need human attention.

State your opinion clearly in the

introduction: answer the main question • Some people strongly believe that technology

will replace teachers in future. Technology by itself it’s a huge sphere that develops worldwide with the highest speed. In many spheres of our everyday life technology has replaced the humans.

• For example: I believe that despite this, human influence on students can not be replaced by a machine.

Structure your essay in a clear way and then, in conclusion, simply summarize your main

ideas.

• Paragraph 1: Internet is a helping tool for the teachers.

• Paragraph 2: Technology can not replace the human approach.

• For example: Conclusion: Even though the Internet is an important resource for teachers, it can not have the same effect on the students as teachers.

To avoid repetition, build each paragraph in a simple way.

It goes without saying that technology has reached the top spot of the educational system. Many teachers assess their students using various online test sites. A lot of teachers use Internet as the main resource of inspiration. It was possible nowadays to use audio, video, online tools, smart boards in their classes, that was practically impossible to do 50 years ago.

It goes without saying that technology plays a crucial role in today’s educational system. Teachers use online resources to (1) test their students, (2) find ideas for their lesson plans, (3) facilitate teaching and (4) develop professionally. (This is the list of arguments. Next, support each argument) (1)Online tests and quizzes are very popular with students who like to spend their time in front of the computer, rather than writing in their notebooks. (2)For busy teachers, there are thousands of websites with ready-made lesson plans and photocopiable resources. (3)Using video and audio materials would definitely make your classes more enjoyable for your students. (4)Finally, if you want to learn more teaching methodology, then the Internet has a wide spectrum of resources for professional development. All these arguments prove that technology, especially the Internet, has already earned its place among teacher’s best helpers.

Each paragraph could have the following structure:

• Thesis 1 (technology plays a crucial role in today’s educational system)

• Arguments (online resources to (1) test their students, (2) find ideas for their lesson plans, (3) facilitate teaching and (4) develop professionally)

• Supporting information ((1)Online tests and quizzes are very popular with students who like to spend their time in front of the computer, rather than writing in their notebooks. (2)For busy teachers, there are thousands of websites with ready-made lesson plans and photocopiable resources. (3)Using video and audio materials would definitely make your classes more enjoyable for your students. (4)Finally, if you want to learn more teaching methodology, then the Internet has a wide spectrum of resources for professional development.)

• Conclusion (All these arguments prove that technology, especially the Internet, has already earned its place among teacher’s best helpers.)

• Thesis (A teacher is a person who can psychologically influence a student, rising interest in him or completely make him hate the subject)

• Arguments ( (1) Some students still prefer regular classes rather than study independently from books. (2)A teacher is a kind of God who leads his students to knowledge, (3) is a person of flesh and soul, no machines can do that. )

• Supporting information ( (1) TOEFL can be more effective or time efficient when studying with a tutor than when studying on your own. (2) In “Artificial Mind” a robot was trying to become a real human being)

• Conclusion (Why should we use technology to replace real teachers, who have such a huge positive impact on their students?)

Do not introduce new ideas in conclusion!!!

In conclusion I’d like to say that hi-technologies are very useful and helpful in teaching. That makes the teachers’ assessment much easier and more exact also technologies make our boring classes more interactive, funny and create cosier atmosphere helping students learn boring grammar through online games. But the biggest disadvantage of no teacher participation for sure will lead us to mental breakdown. We are humans we are not machines thus we need human attention.

• You didn’t talk about technology making classes fun in the body, so try to avoid this new idea in the conclusion.

• Your last paragraph should summarize all the thesis topics in the body and it should also answer the main question: “ Some people believe that technology will replace teachers in the future; others argue that regular classes are still the best method to teach.”

• Thesis 1 (Technology plays a crucial role in today’s educational system)

• Thesis 2 (A teacher is a person who can psychologically influence a student, rising interest in him or completely make him hate the subject)

(improved conclusion)

• In conclusion I could claim that hi-technologies are very useful and helpful in teaching, and therefore play a very important role in modern education (summary of Thesis 1). However, the biggest disadvantage of technology is that it does not have a human touch, which is so important for the psychological well being of students. (summary of thesis 2) Therefore, technology will never efficiently replace teachers. (your last answer)

Basic Rules:• State your opinion clearly in the introduction. • Structure your essay in a clear way and then, in

conclusion, simply summarize your main ideas. • To avoid repetition, build each paragraph in a simple

way. • Thesis

• Arguments • Supporting information for each argument (examples,

statistics, famous people, case studies, news, proverbs, your personal experience, etc)

• Conclusion • Do not introduce new ideas in conclusion!!! • The conclusion could have the following structure:

• Summary of thesis 1• Summary of thesis 2

• Your conclusion / deliberation / advice / motto / quote / forecast, etc