Re a d i n g

a n d Wr i t i n g
Skills

Q U A RT E R 3 -W E E K 4
Learning
Objectives
Determine the
essence of proper
Determine language use in texts
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and,

Show appreciation on
Show the proper use of
language.

Evaluate a written
text based on the
Evaluate appropriateness of the
language use.

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INTRODUCTION
 Writing is a rigorous activity. Writing
with deep care and understanding will
make your document more significant and
substantial.

It is the writer’s responsibility to

choose the appropriate language to be
used and to regard the objective of the
writing, the context in which it was written
 • Study the conversation of three students during the first
What's New: day of school.

• Identify which is very formal, formal and informal?

Literacy Skills
• Oral Communication

Uses various strategies in order to

avoid communication breakdown.
W h a t ' s N e w:

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CC BY.

Identify all errors by

placing the correct
capitalization and
punctuations, correcting
misspelled words, and
writing the sentences in
paragraph form.
 Reading and
W r i t
Look at this message,
i n g S k i l l s
do you understand
the question?

WE E K 4
DEVELOPMEN
T

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 T h e r e a r e fi v e
major issues with
appropriate language
that should be avoided
W H AT I S I T
i n a n e ff e c t i v e a n d
well-written text, as
i d e n t i fi e d b y ( P u r d u e
On l in e Writ i n g La b
2020)
First, the formality of the language one uses should depend on
how formal the situation is and how the writer and the reader are
related to one another.
Second, jargons or specialized language used by groups of
individuals in the same field, should only be used if the target
readers belong to the same group.

Third, slangs and idioms should be avoided.

Fourth, euphemisms or words that veil the truth shall also be

avoided.

Fifth, avoid using any biased language including those associated

with any racial, ethnic, group, or gender.
Sorry, but you didn’t get the job.
We regret to inform you that your
application has been denied.

The patient presented with

hypertension and was prescribed an
ACE inhibitor.
The patient had high blood pressure and
was given medication to lower it.
That new policy is a real game-changer.
That new policy will significantly impact our
operations.
He passed away last night.
He died last night.

The nurse should check on her patients.

The nurse should check on their patients.
 PROPER
LANGUAGE
USE
Proper language use allows you to capture
the message that you want to convey to
your readers. It is all about choosing the right
words that accurately capture your ideas.
However, writers sometimes encounter
problems with the following:
• Misused Words
• Words with Unwanted Connotations
• Technical or Highfalutin Words
 MISUSED WORDS
A writer might sometimes use a word
incorrectly, and this occurs when the word
does not mean what he or she thinks it
does. So, it is important to be certain of
the definition of a word before using
it; this often happens with words that
sound or look alike.
There are many behaviors
that past societies
considered legal but are
now deemed amoral
including slavery, sexism,
and racism.
 Wo r d s w i t h U n w a n t e d
Connotations
There are words that take on a meaning
specific to a context. Some writers
might not be aware of these
connotations, so they end up using
language that is unintentionally
confusing, comical or even offensive to
Example 1: I sprayed the
ants in their personal
places.
Revision 1: I sprayed the ants
in their hiding places.
 Te c h n i c a l o r
H i g h f a l u t i n Wo r d s
Writers want to sound smart by using words
that are very technical or have deep
meanings. Though some writing genres
require the use of such words, writers
should still be careful about using them
since they make readers work harder to
understand texts
There is an ongoing
discourse about the
antidisestablishment
assemblage and the
administrative political
 Tip…
When you use words improperly, readers are
left confused as to what you are trying to say.
So, always choose words according to their
correct definition and connotation. Also, keep
your language simple enough to make your
text easier for readers to understand.
It is important that you make good
choices when it comes to language
use because how you use language
affects the tone of the text and the
readers’ interpretation of it. Before
writing, you have to think about and
consider your target audience.
"The red sweater is a
perfect complement/
compliment to the
outfit.”
Complement is a noun or verb that
means something that completes or
makes up a whole: "The red sweater is a
perfect complement to the
outfit." Compliment is a noun or verb
that means an expression of praise or
admiration: "I received compliments
about my new outfit."
 "They seemed
disinterested/
uninterested in our
offer."
Disinterested is an adjective that
means unbiased or impartial: "We
appealed to the disinterested
mediator to facilitate the
negotiations." Uninterested is an
adjective that means not interested
or indifferent: "They seemed
 "We won't be able to
suggest a solution until
we are farther/ further
along in our evaluation
of the problem."
Farther is an adjective and adverb that means
to or at a more distant point: "We drove 50
miles today; tomorrow, we will travel 100 miles
farther." Further is an adjective and adverb
that means to or at a greater extent or degree:
"We won't be able to suggest a solution until we
are further along in our evaluation of the
problem." It can also mean in addition or
moreover: They stated further that they would
not change the policy.
 "His loud humming
was
affecting/effecting my
ability to
Effect is usually a noun that means a result or
the power to produce a result: "The sound of
the falling rain had a calming effect, nearly
putting me to sleep." Affect is usually a verb
that means to have an influence on: "His loud
humming was affecting my ability to
concentrate." Note that effect can also be a
verb meaning to bring about or execute: "The
speaker's somber tone effected a dampening in
the general mood of the audience."
"You can choose a large
bookcase or, alternately/
alternatively, you can
buy two small ones."
Alternately is an adverb that means
in turn; one after the other: "We
alternately spun the wheel in the
game." Alternatively is an adverb
that means on the other hand; one or
the other: "You can choose a large
bookcase or, alternatively, you can buy
"Each company in the
conglomerate
operates as a
discreet/discrete
Discreet is an adjective that means
prudent, circumspect, or modest: "Her
discreet handling of the touchy
situation put him at ease." Discrete is
an adjective that means separate or
individually distinct: "Each company in
the conglomerate operates as a
discrete entity."
 "Taking that route
will mean less/fewer
miles on the road."
Few is an adjective that means small in
number. It is used with countable
objects: "This department has few
employees." Less is an adjective that
means small in amount or degree. It is
used with objects of indivisible mass:
"Which jar holds less water?"
"Stand here
beside/
besides me."
Beside is a preposition that
means next to: "Stand here
beside me." Besides is an
adverb that means also:
"Besides, I need to tell you
about the new products my
company offers."
"The family members
were finally
all together/
altogether for holiday
celebrations."
All together is applied to people or things
that are being treated as a group. "We put
the pots and pans all together on the shelf."
All together is the form that must be used if
the sentence can be reworded so that all and
together are separated by other words: "We
put all the pots and pans together on the
shelf." Altogether is used to mean entirely:
"I am altogether pleased to be receiving this
 "Shakespeare
makes a number
of biblical
illusions/allusion
Allusion is a noun that means an
indirect reference: "The speech
made allusions to the final
report." Illusion is a noun that
means a misconception: "The
policy is designed to give an
illusion of reform."
 TONGUE TWISTER

“Susie works in a shoeshine

shop. Where she shines she
sits, and where she sits she
shines”
 TONGUE TWISTER

”If you must cross a course

cross cow across a crowded
cow crossing, cross the cross
coarse cow across the crowded
cow crossing carefully”
 TONGUE TWISTER

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled

peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper
picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers,
 TONGUE TWISTER

Luke Luck likes lakes.

Luke’s duck likes lakes.
Luke Luck licks lakes.
Luck’s duck licks lakes.
Duck takes licks in lakes Luke Luck likes.
Luke Luck takes licks in lakes duck likes.
 Determine when it is
appropriate to use
formal language or
when informal
language is acceptable.
Informal language is usually
used in writing for oneself or in
writing to family, friends, and
colleagues. On the other
hand, formal language is used in
writing academic, business, and
official texts.
Examples:
• We asked the secretary to call the
professor and get her permission for us
to continue our research.
• We requested that the secretary
contact the professor and obtain her
permission for us to continue our
In the first sentence, the writer used casual
words such as asked, call, and get permission,
which made the sentence informal. The second
sentence used more serious words such as
requested instead of asked, contact instead of
call, and obtain permission instead of get
permission. This sentence is formal and is
appropriate to use when talking or writing to a
person of authority.
When you write, you should also
make sure that the language you
use is **direct and simple rather than
complicated so that readers would easily
understand the text.** If your readers
are the youth, then you should use
words that are familiar to young people.
You should also be sensitive enough
to use unbiased language so that
you will not offend any individual or
any particular group of
people. Unbiased language is language
that is free of racial bias, free of religious
bias, and free of gender bias.
Examples:
•A teacher should make it a point
to motivate her students.
•Teachers should make it a point to
motivate their students.
In the first sentence, the pronoun used
is she, but teachers may also be male,
so the statement shows gender bias.
The second sentence, on the other
hand, makes use of the gender-neutral
pronoun their, making it unbiased.
Informal language is used in
writing for oneself and to family,
friends, and colleagues,
while formal language is used in
writing academic, business, and
official texts.
Using simple, direct, and
familiar language rather than
choosing complicated words
would make a text easier to
understand.
Using unbiased
language could prevent
offending any individual or
any particular group of
people.
 W H AT I S I T

It also serves as a road

sign to guide learners
like you on how to use
MECHANICS describes words appropriately in
the technical aspects of terms of conventions
writing. such as spelling,
punctuation,
capitalization, and
others.
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SPELLING
When you write, always make sure
that you are consistently using one
standard with regard to the spelling
of your words. Remember that there
are slight differences in American
English spelling and British English
 PUNCTUATION
Punctuation is the act of using a system
of symbols such as the comma, period,
quotation marks, question marks, etc.
that are used to give structure to and
organize a text. The use of punctuation
guides the reader regarding how the text
• I love to paint portraits I would paint one
every day if I had the time
• I love to paint portraits. I would paint one
every day if I had the time.
• This book is dedicated to my parents Noel
and Corazon.
• This book is dedicated to my parents,
Noel, and Corazon.
Full Stop
The full stop or the period (.) is the strongest
punctuation in the English language. It indicates,
when used at the end of a sentence, a strong
pause. Look at the following examples.
• Let’s go there.
• I like this laptop.
• Read this book.
• I will go home.
Question Mark
The question mark (?) is an important part of the
English language and was developed sometime
around the 18th Century. Like the full stop (.), this
punctuation mark is used mainly at the end of an
interrogative sentence.
• Where are you going?
• What is this?
• Are you mad?
Comma (,)
A comma is a punctuation used to denote a
pause in the sentence. A comma is used to
structure a sentence and helps the reader
understand the meaning of the sentence.

The following are the most common usages of

the comma in the English language .
1. To separate a series of words
(nouns, adjectives, verbs or
adverbs) in a sentence.
• Ramesh, Shravan, Dilip and Radha
went for the meeting.
• Sheetal is an intelligent, loyal and
hardworking employee.
2. To separate a series of phrases in
a sentence.
• Amit completed his homework, packed
his bags, polished his shoes and went to
sleep.
• I went to the market, bought the
present, got it gift wrapped and came
to the birthday party.
3. To separate the parenthetical
elements (a part of a sentence that
can be removed without changing the
meaning of the sentence).
• M.S. Dhoni, India’s cricket captain, hit a six
to win the match.
• Vishnu, the head boy of the school, has
been absent for the last three days.
4. To separate the quoted parts
from the rest of the sentence.
• The great leader told the crowd, “I will
fast till death until our demands are
met.”
• “Please go back to your houses,” said
the policeman to the crowd.
Exclamation Mark
• The exclamation mark is a punctuation used to
express strong feelings or emotions. It is
commonly used after interjections or
exclamations.
• It is one of the most misused punctuation
marks in the English language. We tend to use
exclamation marks more often than what is
required.
The exclamation mark should be mainly used
to demonstrate shock, surprise, anger or a
raised voice. The following cases
demonstrate correct usage of this
punctuation.
Hurray!
Help!
Go away! I don’t want to talk to
you!
Colon and Semi Colon
Many English speakers are uncertain about the
correct usage of the colon and the semi colon. The
colon ( : ) is a punctuation mark consisting of two
dots one over the other whereas the semi colon
( ; ) consists of a dot above a comma. In the
majority of the cases, the colon is used to
introduce a list of things while a semi colon is used
to separate sentences where the conjunction has
been left out.
COLON SEMI COLON

I have packed my cricket Sumit likes to play cricket;

kit with the equipment I Amit likes to play soccer.
need: bats, gloves and
pads.

A man needs three things I drank lemonade; Manish

to survive: air, water and drank tea.
food.
Apostrophe
The apostrophe is an
important punctuation mark in
the English language which is
often used incorrectly.
Used to show possession:
- Bat owned by Ravi – Ravi’s bat

- Doll owned by Sita – Sita’s doll

• Used to show contractions of
words:
- It is so hot today
– It’s so hot today

- I have not done my homework – I

haven’t done my homework
 CAPITALIZATION
Capitalization is the act of writing
the first letter of a word in
uppercase while the rest of the
letters are in lowercase. There are
rules in capitalization that one has to
Below are a few examples of words that
require capitalization:
• proper nouns
Alex, Manila
• proper adjectives
Canadian
• days of the week
Sunday
• months of the year
January
• specific course titles
Theater 101
• kinship names used in place of personal
names and are followed by personal names
Grandma, Dad, Aunt Paz, Uncle Alvin
• adjectives, verbs, adverbs, nouns, and
pronouns in a title and the first and last
word in a title
Through the Looking-Glass, and What
Alice Found There (literature)
And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going
(song)
• historical periods, events, documents
Great Depression, the Renaissance, the
 Mechanics are conventions
that have to be considered in
writing. Some of these
conventions are punctuation,
capitalization, and spelling.
ENGAGEMENT
What’s more?
Clip an article from a
magazine, journal or
newspaper that is related to
your strand or specialization. Literacy Skills

Oral Communication- Employs various

communicative strategies in different
situations.
 Literacy Skills

• Media and Information Literacy -

Produce a creative text-based, visual-
based, audio-based, motion-based, and
manipulative-based presentation using
design principle and elements.

• CPAR- Applies artistic skills and

techniques in the process of creation.

• Create a short (3-to-5 minute) vlog about the importance of the

properties in written texts. You will upload in our facebook group.

What I can do?

A SS I M I L AT I O N
M o d i fi e d A c t i v i t y
• Week 4. Excuse Me with my LANGUAGE and MECHANICS

Write a letter of EXCUSE focusing on language use and

mechanics. State three to five (3-5) reasons why you were not
able to do and upload your vlog activity for this week. There
should be one (1) paragraph for each reason and the letter will be
inserted to an envelope. This will be submitted next retrieval
date.
“The students of the future will demand the learning support
that is appropriate for their situation or context. Nothing
more, nothing less. And they want it at the moment the need
arises. Not sooner, not later. Mobile devices will be a key
technology for providing that learning support. ”

- Dr. Marcus Specht, Professor of Advanced Learning Technologies,

Open University of Netherlands.