Advice for writing a composition

Your compositions, both for the CA requirements and the Tests, will be assessed using the following criteria: Organisation: 1. Give your piece a title. Make sure you answer the question and that your comments are relevant. 2. Always include an introduction to the topic. Conventionally, this could be some kind of general statement beginning People often say that. Or Nowadays, the question of climate change is., for example. Then you can support or argue against this sentence. 3. Divide your piece into paragraphs according to the different aspects you consider. Each paragraph should begin with a mini introduction e.g. As for the disadvantages,. 4 Always finish with some sort of conclusion, which could be a summary of your ideas or your strongest argument Never end a narrative piece with Then I woke up and saw that it was all a dream. Your teacher will scream!

Language 1. Your English will be considered not only for accuracy (correctness) but also positively. That means you should try to use a variety of structures and vocabulary. 2. Try to incorporate the language you have learnt in the particular CA unit. 3. Keep a notebook for recording interesting words and phrases you have found while reading. It is good to incorporate these, but remember you should never just copy whole sentences. Its always obvious to the tutors when students do this, and plagiarism is taken very seriously at the UOC. If you want to quote (citar) somebody, make sure its correctly marked and you give the name of the source. 4. Use linking expressions like On the other hand, Unfortunately, In my opinion and linkers like because, so etc. These will give your piece coherence. I have highlighted some examples of these in the sample composition below. 5. Try not to mix up formal and informal language be consistent 6. Notice the errors that the tutor points out in her comments to the Forum. 7. Keep a record of these so you can check your own piece and start to eliminate those fossilised errors. 8. Use a spell-checker.

Here is a sample composition that incorporates examples of the above advice.

My experiences of learning foreign languages

The ability to speak at least one foreign language is undoubtedly a great benefit. This is not only for purposes of work and travel but because they can offer you a window into other cultures and ways of thinking. At school we had to learn one foreign language, which was French in my day. The methods were quite traditional: dictations, translations, grammar exercises. We didnt practise much speaking or listening, so I was never fluent. However, I find that I do remember quite a lot, so maybe those traditional methods have their value! In my twenties I lived in Lisbon for two years, and I learned some Portuguese both by studying in a language academy and by picking it up. That means by reading the paper, watching TV, listening to people on the bus and talking to friends. Then I moved to Barcelona in 1987, and learned Spanish the same way. I need to keep improving, however. I read the newspaper quite regularly and occasionally a novel. Sometimes I use a dictionary, but often I prefer just to read for enjoyment. I believe that has a lot of benefit too! I like going to the cinema and even if the film is in English, I often read the Spanish subtitles to notice idioms etc. Im pleased to say that when I saw Volver recently, I understood almost all of it! People often think that if you live in the country you must be fluent in the language after six months. But thats not true! I still make mistakes and some days I speak better than others. I think I will always be learning this language and now I am trying to learn Catalan too. For me, even if I get frustrated sometimes, learning foreign languages is a great pleasure.

I hope youll find it useful. Regards, Jolanta