1. Writing with a Purpose: Relating Contents to Readers Ismael Arinas Pellón Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

2. Reading, Writing, & Brain ± 200,000 years ago ± 8,000 years ago Humans ± 70 years ago T ă rt ă ria tablets General Literacy

3. Reading, Writing, & Brain New Connections (Maryanne Wolf 2008: 24-78 ) Non-innate

4. In the following 45 minutes… 1.Context in texts 2.Who are the readers 3.Purpose 4.Readers, purpose, & contents 5.Sentence and paragraph structure 6.Writing assignment

5. Text (1) Application  Rejection  Response Non-native speakers Standardised language Administrative Language Legal Purpose Pre-written

6. Text (2) Exam Question  Written Essay Reader = Examiner Purpose = Certificate Language = Bookish Limited extension Limited time

7. Text (3) Scholarship  Application  Letter Reader = Committee? Purpose = Admission Language = Respectful, Original? Cultural Conventions

8. Text (4) Interviews  Newspaper Article Reader = Higher Education Purpose = Inform Language = Spoken-like Tries to be interesting Limited words

9. Text (5) Research  Biography Reader = General Purpose = Inform Language = Clear Neutral – Fan - Critic

10. English Information Structure OLD INFORMATION  NEW INFORMATION LESS IMPORTANT INFORMATION  IMPORTANT INFORMATION Sentences

11. Example: Text (5) Born  Obama, USA president He  political activity He  elected for Senate He  elected & reelected presidency He  main policies

12. Example: Text (2) S1. Debate/Problem  to whom S2a. Option A  S2b. Option B  S3. For / Against  Choice P2. Advantages  P3. Disadvantages  P4. Contrasts  P5. Supported option 1 st paragraph

13. Example: Text (3) “I”  “What I want to achieve” “I”  “What has taken me here” “I”  “What I have done” “I”  “Your institution” I have a plan I am responsible I will contribute

14. Structuring Paragraphs (i) 1st sentence  paragraph topic Other sentences  info about topic 1st sentence  situation Other sentences  contrast situations 1st sentence  action Other sentences  results

15. Structuring Paragraphs (ii) 1st Text structure  2 nd Writing Active  Passive Linkers, Conjunctions, Discourse Markers Find good examples

16. Tools to Write Online Grammar Online Writing Labs Online Corpora Longman Language Activator Dictionary

17. WRITING ASSIGNMENT? Short structure analysis of text (3)? Write a motivation letter for a master’s schollarship in the UK? (350-400 words)

18. REFERENCES Wolf Maryanne (2008). Proust and the Squid. Icon Books Ltd. http://www.mediauk.com/newspapers/13698/the- guardian/readership-figures http://www.tu- chemnitz.de/phil/english/InternetGrammar/frontend/ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ http://corpus.byu.edu/ http://www.pearsonelt.com/products/Longman%20Langua ge%20Activator%20Paperback%20New%20Edition/9780582 419520