Episode 2
【Writing-Wise Series】
[Standardized English exams]
You already have a basic idea about various common forms of statistical representations 😉. Perhaps you think how to write about them is something trivial, and it’s not worth my introduction here 😪.
If you really have this thought, please read this short paragraph below first 🤓. Do you think it is wise writing?
“About students’ main concern with online learning, 54% think there is a lack of social interaction, 29% cast doubt on whether they can stay focused in class, 12% of them do not think they are able to get teachers’ feedback and 5% are worried about low motivation.” 😐
Frankly speaking, for the readers who can see the relevant chart or graph, the above paragraph does not mean anything to them at all! 🥱 You are nothing but merely copying all the details without any analysis and summary based on your own understanding! Writing-wise, your readers could hardly be impressed even if you wrote with high accuracy and sophisticated sentence structures. (In fact, this happens not only in exams, but also in your oral presentations 👨🏫 in lessons/conferences or your explanations to prospective clients 👩💻 in your future career.)
Now, let’s consider the following paragraph:
“Among the various concerns with regards to online learning, a large majority of students have worries about their well-being in such classes – over half of them are afraid of inadequate interaction with peers while just above a quarter might not have enough confidence in staying focused. A small number of them have other doubts such as the ease of receiving feedback from instructors and being motivated.” 😃
How do you feel about this second version? Fascinated? 😊 It does not mean that you have to abandon all exact numbers, but please try your best to write about the statistics in your own words and include brief summaries as well as suitable comments. These make a perfect presentation of statistical charts and graphs. 👍
I am sure you already understand the principle of how to wisely present such information, but you might be interested in what vocabulary items, besides “a majority of”, “half” and “quarter” in the above example, can be used so that you can achieve wise writing. 🤔 Then, stay tuned for the next issue of Writing-Wise! 🤗
(The two paragraphs of self-written responses in this issue are the ones to a sample writing question of BESTEP exam. For the original question, please refer to this link: https://bestep.tw/Resource/detail?id=99c626434e944e559c5703833b605bfd)