Writing Better English for ESL Learners

252 Pages·2009·0.79 MB·English

by  Swick, Edward.

Second Edition
Writing Better
English
FOR ESL LEARNERS
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Second Edition
Writing Better
English
FOR ESL LEARNERS
ED SWICK
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Contents
Introduction vii
1 Preparing to Write 1
Verb Tenses 2
Auxiliaries 16
The Passive Voice 26
The Subjunctive Mode 31
Conjunctions 38
Pronouns 44
Possessives and Plurals 62
The Comparative and Superlative 68
2 Beginning to Write 75
Sentence Completion 75
3 Writing Original Sentences 87
Understanding the Format 87
Writing According to the Format 88
4 Story Completion 115
Understanding the Format 115
Completing Stories with Original Phrases 115
5 Writing Letters 151
The Friendly Letter 151
The Business Letter 157
6 Writing Original Themes 167
Appendix A: Irregular Verbs in the Past Tense
and Past Participle 173
Appendix B: Verbs and Tenses 177
Answer Key 187
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Introduction
Writing in any language is a difficult skill to acquire. Therefore, as an ESL stu-
dent you should approach writing in English carefully. In order to write well,
you want to first have an understanding of grammatical structures, vocabulary,
and tense usage. You practice those concepts until you can use them with rela-
tive ease. Then you are ready to practice writing original material.
This book does two things:
1. It gives you an abundant review of basic structures.
2. It provides various forms of writing practice within a controlled
program that focuses on improving the skills needed to write
accurately.
In Chapter 1 you will have the opportunity to learn or review grammar
basics. By checking the Answer Key at the end of this book, you can find the
correct or example answers to the exercises. If you have an English-speaking
friend, you might ask him or her to check your work.
If you wish, you can follow your progress by using a very simple method.
After each exercise, count every word that you have written—even little words
like the,a,and, or but. Then count every error you have made in spelling, tense,
word order, missing words, or any other potential mistake.
Divide the number of words you have written (W) by the number of errors
(E) you have made. The result is a number (N) that you can compare after every
exercise you write:
W(cid:2)E(cid:3)N
If you wrote sixty words and made twelve errors, you would come up with:
60(cid:2)12(cid:3)5
If the number is getting larger, you are making progress.
vii
viii IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn
After completing the review exercises, you will be ready to begin Chapter2.
In this chapter you will complete sentences with your original phrases, and you
will use your own ideas as you write. You will see a sentence similar to this:
John borrowed to get to work.
You might write something like this:
his father’s new car
John borrowed to get to work.
For each exercise in Chapter 3 you will compose ten short, original sen-
tences while using a phrase as the specific element in each sentence. For
example:
Sample phrase:The new car
Used as the subject:The new caris in the garage.
Used as the direct object:Mary loved the new car.
Used after the preposition to: A man came up to the new car.
You may, of course, use dictionaries and grammar books as aids in order to
write as correctly as possible. You could give yourself a time limit (fifteen min-
utes or thirty minutes) for writing the exercise, but use the same number of
minutes each time you write.
In Chapter 4 you will fill in the missing phrases or sentences in a story. They
can be any phrases or sentences that you wish, but they must conform to the
plot of the story. For example:
The Diamond Ring
The robber crept into the hallway of the dark houseand turned on the
light. On the desk he saw a beautiful silver box holding a diamond ring,
which he put in his pocket. Then he opened the window, jumped to the
ground, and fled down the street.
Chapter 5 deals with letter writing. Each letter can be written within the
same framework of time (fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, or longer). There is
a difference between “friendly” letters and “business” letters. This part of the
writing program will help you to write both types of letters.
IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn ix
In Chapter 6 you will write original stories. The stories are to be based on
the assigned topic, and they should include the grammar structures indicated.
For example:
Sample title:Lost in the Desert
Include these structures:
the relative pronoun which
to want toin the past perfect tense
the conjunction if
You would then write a story about someone lost and roaming the desert.
You would probably write of heat and thirst and of the difficulties of finding a
way to safety. And somewhere in your story you would have three sentences
similar to these (which include the required sample structures):
She believed she saw a lake, which, unfortunately, was only a mirage.
She hadoften wanted toclimb a sand dune.
Ifshe found water, she knew she would survive.
If you feel you have not done well enough in any chapter of this book, do
not go on to the next chapter. Instead, repeat the chapter that needs improve-
ment. Set a standard of quality for yourself and conform to it. Use the Answer
Key not only to check your work but also to find suggestions for how to write
appropriate sentences for any of the exercises.