Page 283 - English - Teaching Academic Esl Writing

SUBORDINATE CLAUSES 269
(b) The same task can be carried out if students are asked to identify the writer's implications or possible outcomes of the argument/position ex- pressed in the article/review. The reporting verbs in the starter list can in- clude those in the belief verb list (see appendix to this chapter; e.g., imply,
forget, deduce, conclude).
(2) Analyzing and Explaining Data
This activity can take 2 to 3 hours of class time and can be carried out in in- termittent phrases with gaps of 1 to 3 days between phrases.
(a) Students can be presented with data in graph, charts, table, or text form. The data should deal with issues that most students find useful and in- teresting. For instance, the U.S. Census W eb site (www.census.gov) contains a wealth of such information, including data on immigrants and immigra- tion, education, men and women, college enrollments, cost of housing in a particular area of the country, or food. Sociological and demographic data can also be useful for students to practice their academic vocabulary in writ- ing (see chaps. 4, 8, and 9).
Students can be asked to describe and explain the data. In some cases, it may be helpful for students if the data in the graphs or text are discussed without explanations before students begin writing. This exercise can be useful for students to work in pairs.
Sample 1. Figure 10.1 shows that the number of college students 25 years of age and older has grown dramatically over the past half century. The same can be said about traditional students who are younger than 25. What can explain these changes? In your opinion, why do older students in the United States attend colleges and universities?
Sample 2. According to the U.S. Census, in 1999, 54% of all college stu- dents were women. Among traditional students who are 25 years old or younger, 52% are women, and their proportion among older students overall constitutes 57%. In addition, in the age group of students older than 35 years, 62% are women. Approximately 3 million students attend graduate school, and graduate students consist of 1.8 million women and 1.4 million men.
(a) Please propose a tentative explanation (3-5 paragraphs) for these develop- ments in U.S. education from a social and economicpoint of view. What do these fig- ures demonstrate ? What possible trends and changes in the social structure does the gender imbalance imply? What could demographers, sociologists, economists, and employers conclude from these census findings'?
Pleaseusesomeorallofthefollowing verbs(oranyothertypesofverbs)tohelpyou construct your text:
TLFeBOOK