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PDCEI
1ST Year “A”
Lic. Gloria C. de la Flor
Prácticas Discursivas De La Comunicación Escrita
The following material has been taken from Mary k. Ruetten’s Developing
Composition Skills published by ITP 1997.

Consider these assumptions.

1. Reading, writing, and thinking are interrelated activities.
2. To write well, writers must engage with ideas. They must find ideas interesting
and connect them to their knowledge and experience. The more that student
writers are intrigued by ideas, the more time and effort they will spend in writing
about them.
3. Writers must be aware of the context in which they are writing. They must
understand the expectations of audiences and the ways of thinking that typically
fulfil those expectations……………………………………………….
4. Fluency in writing is not to be confused with grammatical accuracy; writers need
to develop both. When creating a text , writers focus on rhetorical and
organisational issues . Once the text has been drafted, they need to pay attention
to grammatical accuracy.

Considering Audience

In writing, audience means the people who will read your piece of writing. If you know
the background and interest of your audience, you can focus your writing to that
audience more effectively……………………………………………..
In your writing you must be concerned about your audience. For example, if you are
going to write about an interesting tourist spot in your country, you must consider what
your audience may or may not know about your country. ………………………………
So you will need to give some background information.
……….. Think about the following when you consider your audience :
1. Who is going to read this piece of writing?
2. What does my audience know (or not know) about my topic?
3. What background information about my topic will my audience need to know?
4. What will my audience find interesting?
5. What is the main point I want my audience to understand?
6. How can I best get my audience to understand my point?

Getting Ideas
……………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………
There are a number of strategies to get ideas about your topic. All of them involve two
things: thinking about the topic and writing about the topic. Together thinking and
writing will help shape and develop your ideas.
Some ways to help you get ideas for writing are:
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Brainstorming
 Write your topic on a piece of paper. The topic can be a word, a phrase, or a
question.
 Write down any ideas that come to your mind. Write quickly without evaluating
your ideas.
Here is an example of brainstorming :
Coming to this country
study computer science
get a job
leave home
miss my family
strange food
must speak English
make new friends

 After you have listed as many ideas as you can, read over this list and circle
the ideas you might want to use in your writing.

Making a List
 Write your topic on a piece of paper.
 Think about your topic and write any good ideas that come to mind.
Here is an example of a list :
A Time I learned a Lesson
12 years old
teacher assigned descriptive essay
didn’t want to do it
played football with my friends
my team won the football game
six of us copied essay from friend
teacher kept our essays
called us to the blackboard
hit us on palms five times with ruler
called our parents
no football for one month
never copied again.
 After you have made a list, read over the list and
choose the ideas you want to include.

Drawing a Sketch
Drawing a sketch is a good way to get ideas and details to describe a person or place.
Follow these steps to draw a sketch:
 Write your topic on a piece of paper.
 Draw a brief sketch or diagram of the person or place you are describing.
Don’t worry if you are not an artist: draw the person or place to help you
remember.
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 After you have drawn your sketch, use it to help you write about the place.

Freewriting
Freewriting is a way to loosen your mind and let your ideas flow. Follow these steps to
freewrite:
 Choose a topic you want to write about.
 Write quickly about the topic for five or ten minutes. Don’t worry about
spelling or grammar. If you can’t think of a word in English, write it in your
language. The important thing is to keep writing.
 If you can’t think of anything to write, write the same thing over again.
Here is an example of freewriting:
My Grandmother’s Backyard
I remember this place very well. I used to sit on the steps and
look at it. It was always green in the summer with bushes on all
sides – there was a big lilac bush in the back on the left with a
huge oak tree in the back on the right. I used to crawl under the
lilac bush and hide it was dark and smelled like earth. I pretended
it was my house, I felt protected under there I tried to climb the
oak tree but I couldn’t reach the first limb. In the fall, when the
leaves fell, we raked the leaves and rolled around in the piles –
they smelled so good.
 When you have finished writing, read over your freewriting. Circle the
ideas you might want to use in your writing.
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Making a Venn Diagram

Making a Venn diagram will help you compare and contrast . Follow these steps to
make a Venn diagram:

 Draw two big overlapping circles.

 In the centre, where the circles overlap, list the ways in which the two
things you are comparing are alike.
 In the two outer circles, list the ways that they are different.
Here is an example of Venn diagram.

 When you have finished making the diagram, decide which points of
comparison/contrast you want to write about.

Clustering
Clustering is a way to help you see your ideas on paper. It helps you to see connections
between main ideas and supporting details. Follow these steps to cluster:
 Write your topic in the middle of the piece of paper. Circle it.
 Think about your topic. Write down each idea you have about the topic
in a smaller circle. Draw a line from smaller circles to the big circle in
the centre.
 Now think about the ideas in the smaller circles. Write down any ideas
you have about them, circle them, and connect them to the smaller
circles.
Here is an example of clustering:
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 When you have finished clustering, read over your ideas. Decide which
ones you want to use in your writing.

Narrowing the topic

When you first get your topic for writing, it will probably be a broad subject like
education, sports, or an important place, person, or decision in your life. You need to
think about this broad subject and narrow it down to a topic you can write about in a
paragraph.
One strategy for narrowing the subject is brainstorming.

Deciding on a Controlling Idea

One you have narrowed your topic, you will need to get more ideas about it in order to
focus on a controlling idea. You may want to brainstorm again or use another one of the
strategies . Write about as much as you can and think about the main point you want to
make.

Useful information
Topic sentence : the main idea sentence. Most general and most
important sentence of the paragraph.
Controlling idea : the writer’s attitude or idea about the topic.

Example: Receiving an F on my report card was a humiliating experience.

Receiving an F = topic sentence humiliating = controlling idea
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Choosing Support

Once you have decided on a controlling idea, you need to look again at the
brainstorming notes to find support for your idea. You may find all the support you
need, or you may need to add to your
notes……………………………………………………………………..
You may not use all the notes in your brainstorming: choose only those ideas that
support your controlling idea and leave the rest.
Next organise your notes in a logical way. Make a list of your support.
Once you have organised your notes, write a first draft.

Revising

After you have written your first draft, you will want to revise it. To revise means to
think about your work again and make changes. When you revise, you may want to
sharpen your focus and make sure that your reader can follow your
ideas…………………….
It is also a good idea to get a classmate to read your work and give you feedback
……………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………..
Using your partner’s suggestions, revise your paper.

Paragraph Guidelines

1. Write out the topic sentence.

2. Underline the topic and circle the controlling idea.
3. Summarise the support in one or two sentences. That is, tell the support in your
own words.
4. Is there a clear, focused topic sentence and controlling idea ?
5. Do all the sentences support the controlling idea ?
6. Is the paragraph organised in a logical way ?
7. What part of the paragraph do you like the most ?
8. Is there any part you do not understand ?

Following is a paragraph written by a student. Evaluate it using the questions in the

Paragraph Guidelines.

Language is one of the most difficult things foreigners face in another country. They
find it difficult to ask for directions to hospitals and hotels, but they will get used to it
after two or three months. Another thing Is the food. Foreigners find different food from
what they usually eat. This aspect is more difficult for people who do not know how to
cook. For example, when I arrived in the USA, I found that people eat pork, while in my
country we never eat it. I also found strange food which I liked very much.
Ali Al-Ghamdi