COLEGIO COLOMBO AMERICANO CAS

“Educating Transformative Leaders”

ENGLISH B HIGHER LEVEL – GRADE 10

UNIT 5: SHARING THE PLANET – MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
KEY REPORT FEATURES
MR. DIEGO CORTÉS
Adapted from: https://www.thinkib.net/englishb/page/18429/-report-official

STUDENT NAME: __________________________________________________ DATE: _______________ G1 G2 G3

KEY REPORT FEATURES

Context, audience, purpose -
* The basic context will be explained in the question - and the student will then have to invent the details of
the report, expanding on the basic background provided.
* The audience will, again, be specified in the question i.e. the specific person or group of people who have
asked for the report. Ideally, information should be given in the question about why the report is needed, and
what kind of information is expected.
* The fundamental purpose is to provide an objective, reliable account of some situation or event -
methodically, clearly, and efficiently. Personal and subjective reactions would not be considered appropriate.
Register and tone -
* It will adopt a generally formal register.
* It will have a tone which aims to be impersonally authoritative.
Conventions -
* It will have a title
* It will use a neutral/objective style (eg presents ideas and facts plainly)
* It will have a clearly structured layout (eg a clear introduction, sub-headings, short brief
paragraphs/sections, etc)
* It will have a conclusion; or a recommendation if this has been required.
NOTE:  an official report may be presented within the framework of a letter / email - provided the features above
are present.

Appropriate?
A report will be appropriate if the task requires you to describe a particular kind of situation and explain how and
why the situation exists – its causes, its logic, and its positive and negative consequences. The audience is likely to
be those involved in the situation, particularly if they have the responsibility for making decisions about it
Format and Approach discussed
The essence of this text type is the ability to present a clear explanation of a given subject – which involves (i)
analysis, (ii) summary and (iii) organization. The fundamental skill in handling this text type must be to organize
explanation in a cool, objective, lucidly logical way.
The key to handling a Report (as with a Proposal, actually) is to emphasize the clear and methodical structure of the
ideas presented through careful and helpful use of conventions such as headings, numbered paragraphs, etc. It
should be easy to direct attention to any precise point in the text by referring to e.g. "Have a look at section 2.1.3..."
Basic Format
- overall subject title
- main headings
- sub-headings, bullet points, numbered sections
- explicit clear organization: determined by the precise nature of the task, but these main elements should
probably be recognizable :
background … overall description … description of important details … concluding summary.
Approach
> register: use of (basically) formal language
> 'address': How well does the script direct the information to a specific audience?
> 'audience’: What does the audience not know - and therefore need to know - and why?
 ACTIVITY 1 – LET’S SUMMARIZE

1. Complete the chart below summarizing the key features of a report.

FEATURE SUMMARY

Context, audience, and purpose

Register and tone

Conventions

When is an appropriate text type?

2. Complete the chart below summarizing the format and approach of blogs.

FEATURE SUMMARY
Basic format
Approach