Language Focus

Lesson Overview

This part will explain this week’s language focus point. As you already know, all texts should have structure. That is, they need to have clear main ideas and details that support them. Different types of texts will still need details, regardless of whether you compare or list ideas.

In this lesson, you will:

  • look into different types of supporting details;
  • discuss how to describe a process or sequence of events;
  • discuss how to compare or contrast ideas;
  • practice recognizing details;
  • practice recognizing sequences and comparisons.

Supporting Details

As you learned from the previous lesson, supporting details make it interesting, engaging, and clear what the author of the text wants to say. Each paragraph may have only a couple of ideas but many supporting details. Supporting details can be expressed in the following ways:

  • facts – information that is proven to be accurate and can be found in reliable sources (when something happened, under what condition things happened, where something is, etc.);
  • opinions – things experts say (can be recognized by the words like according to X or X said/claimed/stated/etc.);
  • explanations (why or how something happens);
  • examples – concrete events or things that illustrate more general ideas (you can easily recognize examples by phrases for instance/example);
  • statistics – facts expressed in numbers and percentages (usually refer to the findings of surveys, research, polls, etc.).

Examples

Examples are the easiest of all supporting details. As all the details, they provide more specific information for general main ideas. They are easy to identify by signal words for example/instance and easy to write. Let’s consider an example:

In the paragraph above, the main idea revolves around the popularity of people’s names. This is a good topic to support by using examples. Here, different studies exemplify the author’s claim that names can have a positive or negative effect on their holders. If we were to annotate this paragraph, here is what we would get:

People’s first names can have an influence on them.

A. In a positive way

    1. American men consider the name Susan to be very sexy
    2. British study thought Tony to be the name of someone very friendly

B. In a negative way

    1. teachers gave lower grades to essays written by boys named Hubert and Elmer
    2. girls with unpopular names did worse on IQ and achievement tests

As you can see, there are two points (positive and negative effects of names), which are supported by different examples. These examples provide more evidence and make these general statements more reliable. Try converting the paragraph below into an outline to help you see where the examples are located.

Finding meaningful work requires a thorough job search. There are three main ways to search for such a job. In today’s technological world, most people start their job search on the Internet. Many websites, such as Headhunter or LinkedIn are available with job postings, descriptions, and contact information for job seekers. Another way to find a job is to talk to people in the field of interest. For instance, if you want to be a teacher, you could join relevant forums and Facebook groups where teachers communicate. Finally, a person looking for a meaningful job might first take an internship or apprenticeship in the field in which they are interested. For example, volunteering at a local design agency could be the first step if you would like to be a graphic designer. By searching the Internet, talking to people in the field, or taking an internship, job seekers can find meaningful, fulfilling work.

Three ways to search for a meaningful job:

A. Job search on the Internet

      1. Headhunter
      2. LinkedIn

B. Talk to people in the field of interest

      1. Want to be a teacher – forums & Facebook groups for teachers

C. Take an internship or apprenticeship

      1. Want to be a graphic designer – volunteer at a local design agency

Sequence Pattern

Recognizing the pattern of organization is an important skill. Once you recognize the pattern, you will understand and follow their ideas more efficiently. You have already learned about the listing pattern in the previous lesson. Sequence is another common way to organize ideas. This pattern is used to talk about events or steps of the process.

In the sequence pattern, the writer explains the main idea with a series of events or steps in a process that follow one after the other. Watch out for the signal words: began, account, story, process, history, sequence, first/second/third, then, next, after, while, since, then, soon, finally, at last, in 1965, last June, later, over time, the next step, the following week. Let’s consider an example:

The reason why this paragraph is considered a sequence is because the stages of human brain development can’t be interchanged. In other words, you can’t start talking about adolescence before you discuss all other stages, this would be confusing. That is why we say that the order of ideas plays a crucial role in sequence paragraphs. Complete the task below to check your understanding of the sequence pattern.

Comparison/Contrast Pattern

Comparison/contrast is a technique that we use every day. For example, we compare and contrast courses and teachers when we decide which classes to take. We compare and contrast products and prices when we shop.  When we compare two (or more) things, we say how they are similar. When we contrast, we say how they are different. If you see both similarities and differences, this paragraph will still be considered a comparison. Knowing whether a section follows a comparison or contrast pattern will help you choose the correct signal words. Here are some signal words that are commonly used to discuss these two patterns:

    • Use these words to discuss how the two things are similar: similarly, alike, likewise, same, in the same way, just as, equally, resemble, not only … but also, as well as, etc.
    • Use these words to discuss how the two things are different: however, on the other hand, in contrast, conversely, nevertheless, different, unlike, whereas, but, yet, while, instead, etc.
    • Use these words to signal that you are going to compare things:  compared to/with, in comparison.
    • Use these words to say how much or little things differ or resemble:  more/less than, greater than/less than, better/worse than, higher/lower than, stronger/weaker than, more/less important than, more/less effective than, etc.

Let’s take a look at the example of a comparison/contrast paragraph.

If we convert this paragraph back to the outline, this is the structure that we will expose:

Assertive and submissive are two different kinds of behavior.

A. The ways they express opinions and desires

    1. Assertive people – confident, know what they want
    2. Submissive people – prioritize the desires of others, and can’t say ‘no’

B. The ways they communicate

    1. Assertive people – speak confidently and clearly
    2. Submissive people – speak softly, avoid eye contact, are unclear

C. The ways they resolve conflicts

    1. Assertive people – can resolve conflicts constructively
    2. Submissive people – avoid conflicts, want to maintain peace, lose arguments

As you can see, the author of this paragraph compares two types of behavior according to different criteria (communication or ability to resolve conflicts). The author uses contrasting signal words to indicate the difference between these two types of behavior. When you use different criteria to discuss the points, you organize your ideas point-by-point. Another way to organize your ideas is called block – firstly you talk about similarities and then discuss all the differences. Complete the task below to practice recognizing comparisons.

Lesson Wrap-up

In this lesson, you have learned about text structure and how it can be organized in a form of a list of ideas. Following structure can help you be a better speaker and writer. Review the concepts from today’s lesson:

  • supporting details

small ideas (e.g. examples or reasons) that give weight to your main idea
  • sequence pattern

the way to organize ideas in order (for example, step-by-step or in time)
  • specific

detailed and concrete
  • general

abstract, vague, or lacking details
  • compare

to talk about how things are similar and different
  • contrast

to talk about how things are different
  • criterion 

(pl. criteria) a quality according to which you compare two or more things (e.g. price)
  • point-by-point

when you organize your comparison/contrast paragraph according to different criteria
  • block

the way to organize your comparison/contrast paragraph when you first talk about similarities and then differences or vice versa
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