UNITED NATIONS ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMME

1 UNITED NATIONS ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMME English Report Writing Duration: This course is held once a week, 2 hours a class, for 13 weeks (Please check posted schedule for dates and time). Description: Principles of Report Writing is highly recommended for those who write reports for the United Nations. Participants begin to understand what is required to produce reports that are: accurate, action-oriented, brief, clear, concise, simple and well- organized. The course covers both pre-writing and writing processes, as well as style and tone, paragraph and sentence development and word choice. Objectives: This course will provide participants with the opportunity to: Determine reader and purpose Use one or more pre-writing techniques to get started Produce a flexible outline with the intended readers in mind Use appropriate formats State the purpose of a report in a brief summary or introduction Design a survey or questionnaire Recognize and use logical methods of reasoning and avoid logical fallacies Develop unified, coherent paragraphs Identify and correct sentence-level and word-level errors Proofread and revise their drafts. Eligibility: English Programme Level 6+ Last Update: January 2017 Page 1

2 Book used in class: Principles of Report Writing (2007), Modules 1 and 2 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Equivalent: C1 (Effective operational proficiency or advanced) Lesson Plan for Report Writing WEEK # TOPICS ACTIVITIES/ ASSIGNMENTS Week 1 Syllabus/Overview of Report Writing o What is a report? o Why do we write reports? o What are United Nations reports like? Examine various reports written at the United Nations. Participants can select one or two reports, have a quick look through them and answer these questions: o Who is the report written for? o o o o What is the report about? Why was the report written? Why did you choose this report to analyze? When was the report published? Where was the report published? Where was the report focused on? o How was the report presented? Share what they found out with the class. Give a short summary of what the report is about. Activity: Self-Introductions Students fill in a Student Profile and Needs Assessment Sheet Complete a Writing Test: write a one-page report to introduce yourself to the instructor. Also explain why writing is important to your job, describe your work and responsibilities and share what you hope to achieve by the end of the term. * For next class, please also bring a sample of your writing. Participants may borrow some reports from the Learning Centre to read for homework. Participants will receive their e- textbook along with a UN Spelling Manual by email. Participants are asked to print out all materials and bring them to each class session. Alternatively, participants may consult their materials electronically on their laptops or tablets. Week 2 Go over United Nations Resolutions and Recommendations on Writing, pages 2-6. Identify the Audience, Purpose and Format of reports and the different After having examined the various topics that will be covered, write a half-page report on your initial Last Update: January 2017 Page 2

3 types of reports, pages 8-10. Discuss Chain of Readers, Primary, Secondary and Intermediate Readers, pages 16-17. Examine the Contents Pages of the e- textbook. Examine some "Red Flags or, editors nightmares" on page vii. Discuss each of the issues outlined on pages xiii-xi. Complete a Grammar Pretest (pages 76-77) from The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation by Jane Straus. Go over some "Classic Quotations" about writing on pages xv and xvi. Complete Exercises 2 and 3 in class. assessment of our e-textbook. What topics are of particular interest to you? Why? Week 3 Cover "Week 3-Unit 3" and look at how to format a report (pages 22-26). Please pay particular attention to the outlines on pages 23 (Major Components of A General Report) and 25 (Presentation). Skip the part on "Reports of the Secretary General" as this is not relevant to most staff who work in Bangkok. Continue with ""Week 4-Unit 4" and look at different ways of planning: Brainstorming, Mind-mapping and Outlining. Complete Exercise 1 on pages 39-40 in class. Finish your one-page report if you were not able to do so in class. Go over the materials that we covered in class. In-class writing topic: How can international staff adjust to working at the United Nations in Bangkok and living in Bangkok? How did the United Nations/your agency help you with this transition (in terms of visas, housing etc.). If you're not an Last Update: January 2017 Page 3

4 international staff, write about your experience at the beginning when you first started working for your organization/agency. How did they help you transition to your new post? Don't forget to plan first! Use one of the planning techniques introduced this week. Week 4 Briefly review using "outlining" as a technique for planning on pages 45-49. Discuss and look at examples of "Collecting Data and Doing Research" (pages 50-52), focusing particularly on surveys. Examine some examples of "bad surveys," and discuss why they are not ideal. Start our new unit on the "Technical Report" on pages 56-59. Talk about the need to write for both specialist and non-specialist readers (the "two-tiered" approach). Complete Exercise 3 on pages 58-59. Finish your one-page report if you were not able to do so in class. Go over the materials that we covered in class. Bring examples of mission reports from your office to share with the class. In-class writing topic Write a report on something technical based on your expertise (either professional or personal). Week 5 Participants present and share their technical reports from the previous session. Examine two surveys from the Learning Centre and evaluate them based on the criteria from last week's class. The focus of today's lesson is on Mission Reports, pages 67-73. The textbook presents a few templates and formats that are used at the Untied Nations; however, there are many ways of writing such reports. Each agency or office will have a particular format. The key elements are objectivity (rather than subjectivity), clarity and Compare mission reports from your office with those from other agencies as well as the ones presented in our textbook. Write a short report to compare and contrast these different versions. Alternatively, you can work on an actual mission report if you had a chance to go on mission recently. Bring samples of minutes from your office to share with the class. Last Update: January 2017 Page 4

5 conciseness. Week 6 Discuss Summary of Minutes of Meetings, pages 77-89. Look at the guidelines on how to summarize a text on page 77 and complete Exercise 1 on the same page by analyzing the sample minutes. Examine two examples of minutes: one formal (pages 84-86) and one from an internal meeting (pages 87-89). Complete your minutes for today s class. Each office and agency will have its own format. There is no fixed way to do minutes. However, it is important to include the names of people who attended (and those who were not present - "apologies"), date, venue and main topics. We should include details on who will be responsible for what ("action"). In-class Writing Prepare minutes for our class session today detailing what we covered and what we planned for our next session. Week 7 In-Class Writing/Mid-Term Assessment Write an in-class report on the following topic: What you've learned thus far in our course. You should write about the following: Provide an overview of all topics/content we ve covered so far. Explain which topic(s) you found most relevant and useful to you (and your work). Explain why. Last Update: January 2017 Page 5

6 Analyse and comment on the materials used in this course. Provide some feedback and suggestions on how the course can be further improved. Give suggestions on other topics you'd like to cover in class. Students are permitted to consult all materials, both off- and on-line. Time limit: 2 hours Week 8 Cover Editing and Revising: Text Level on pages 93-97. Discuss the various types of patterns used to organize paragraphs: Review the materials covered in today s lesson. Come to next class with questions. Definition, Analysis, Time or space, Comparison/contrast, Cause and/or effect, and Recommendation. Use this time to catch up on any pending assignments. Examine the topic sentence and how it can act as "glue" to link all the other sentences in the paragraph together. Keep in mind that we should always put the topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph; however, some writers put this sentence in the middle or at the end of a paragraph. Complete Exercises 1, 2 and 3 in class, pages 93-97. Week 9 Cover the following topics: Development in the paragraph, pages 98-99. Complete Exercise 6. Organization over several paragraphs, pages 100-101. Complete Exercise 7. How to divide overly long paragraphs, pages 101-102. Complete Exercise 8. Using headlines to guide the reader, pages 102-104. Complete Exercise 9. Complete the in-class writing task if you were not able to finish it. Use this time to catch up on any pending assignments. Last Update: January 2017 Page 6

7 What to consider in formulating headlines, pages 104-108. Complete Exercise 10. Linking words, Exercise 4, page 116 Parallel structure: Exercises 5 and 6, pages 117-118 In-class Writing Write a report about your experience working at the United Nations, focusing specifically on what it is like to work with a diverse group of people from various countries (working in a multi-cultural setting). Week 10 Grammar and tips on how to improve your writing. Making sentences concise, Exercise 1, questions 1-3, page 137. Avoid repetition, page 138. Convoluted sentences, Exercise 3, question 5, page 139-140. Active versus passive voice, Exercise 7, questions 5-7, page 143. Look at "substitute long, heavy phrases with single words" on page 145. If you have time, please completed Exercise 11, questions 1-8 on pages 145-147. Complete other exercises which we were not able to complete in class. Calculate your FOG index. "Fog Index" on page 141-142. Please use this website to calculate your own Fog Index: Complete the in-class writing task if you were not able to finish it. Start reviewing for your final exam. Week 11 http://gunning-fog-index.com/ In-class Writing Write a report (around one-two pages) detailing what your unit, section, agency or organization does by explaining the main duties and focus areas. You may also add a section on how you feel about working here. Focus on writing tips. Avoid "there is/are/was/were" type constructions, Exercise 9, question 1, page 144 and Exercise 10, questions 1- Complete Exercises 15 and 16 (all questions) on pages 151-152 and submit answers to the instructor by email for Last Update: January 2017 Page 7

8 3, page 145. Substitute long,heavy phrases with single words, Exercise 11, questions 1-8, pages 145-147. Examine the use and abuse of adjectives and wording that can confuse, Exercise 12, questions 1-3, page 147 and Exercise 13, questions 1-4, page 149. correction before the exam. Review for the final Examination Vary sentence length, Exercise 14, questions 1-3, pages 150-151. Review for the final Examination / Review and integration of key targets Go over the topics covered during the previous weeks Question and Answer Time Week 12 Written Examination Written Examination Week 13 Give back the examination results and go over the correct answer. Instructor-- Student Consultations Course Wrap-up End of the course ************************* Last Update: January 2017 Page 8