DELTA

Writing

What does the writing skill involve?

An effective piece of writing requires:

 a high degree of organisation in the development of ideas and information
 a high degree of accuracy so there is no ambiguity of meaning
 the use of complex grammatical devices for focus and emphasis
 a careful choice of vocabulary, grammatical patterns, and sentence structures
 a style which is appropriate to the subject matter and the audience

How is this achieved? A good writer should be able to ….

1 focus on new information in sentences by appropriate clause or word order

2 guide the reader through the message by using the appropriate logical devices,
i.e. ‘signpost’ language in order to:
a) link the thought content of paragraphs and sentences

b) connect the thought content of clauses

3 lay out the text in a way appropriate to the text-type in order to make the message
easily accessible to the reader through the use of generally accepted conventions

4 organize the text in a way appropriate to the chosen purpose/function of writing

5 replicate the function of stress and intonation in oral language with

a) appropriate vocabulary

b) specific sentence construction or word ordering

c) appropriate punctuation, particularly the use of the full stop, comma, etc

6 manipulate the script legibly with good spacing between words and lines

7 select and use consistently

a) a register appropriate to the written medium/text-type

b) a style appropriate to the attitude to be conveyed and the relationship

between the writer and the reader

8 spell accurately and use capitals and hyphens, where necessary. This includes a
knowledge of where to divide words, when necessary.
DELTA
Writing

9 sequence logically the text’s message, taking into account shared information.
This takes place on two levels:

a) the text as a ‘whole’

b) the paragraph

10 connect sentences and clauses with:

a) grammatical devices for back reference (anaphoric) and forward referencing

(cataphoric), which help avoid unnecessary repetitions by either substitution
or elipsis (i.e. omission).

Example:
In the following text, devices denoting back references are ‘boxed’ and devices
denoting forward references are ‘circled’. Underlined devices refer to the
information shared between writer and reader which is outside the text
(exophoric).

The problem, Dr Moorhead said, is simply that not enough kidneys are
being donated. He said 120 of the 150 currently on dialysis treatment
at The Royal Free Hospital are merely waiting for a suitable kidney to be
donated.

He said this means the hospital is unable to take on new patients as

some people on dialysis have to wait an average of six to eight years for
a transplant. Such situations cause unnecessary distress and ****
(ellipsis) would, moreover, with suitable publicity, be avoidable.

b) Lexical devices which avoid repetition e.g.

The cat was sitting quietly on the windowsill, then the silly animal jumped
off and knocked over a vase of flowers. I was furious with the wretched
creature.

Conclusion

“Not surprisingly then, an ability to write appropriately is something which evades

many of us, even in our mother tongues. … It is not a skill that is readily picked up by
exposure.” C. Tribble, Writing, OUP 1996