how to write an essay esl students

How to Teach Essay Writing to ESL Students Better

23 December 2020 Guest posts

Teaching essay writing to ESL students is no easy feat. There's a lot of things to consider, such as making sure the language is correct, of course, as well things like structure, accurate covering of the topic, the context of the essay, and how well the points are represented.

Throughout this guide, I'm going to detail some of the ways you can make every essay writing task as beneficial as possible. Your students can take on board these tips with the aim of making their essays better than ever before.

There are lots of tips and advice I could share, but today I'm going to focus on the most important, hopefully giving you a great place to get started when it comes to improving your students essay writing abilities

Start with the Basics

The absolute first place you want to start is with improving your student's sentence structure since sentences, after all, are what go into making an essay what it is. You'll want to start with teaching your students about basic sentences and then move onto compound and then complex.

Build it up slowly and highlight the key differences between each sentence type and why they would be used and what effect each sentence type has.

There's plenty of information online on how you can approach the basics of essay writing, such as on websites like Revieweal , Boomessays , Studydemic , Ukservicesreviews , and Assignment writing service , or you can simply ask a question you may have in your preferred search engine.

Understanding the Topic

A student will not be able to write a proper essay if they don't truly understand the topic they're writing about. Whether your students get to choose their topics or not, it's important that you explain that they should take their time to research and have a proper grasp on the topic they're writing about.

"It's important to remember that you can also suggest topics if the students are struggling to think of their own, ones that you believe will play to their strengths. Remember, essay writing within the ESL community is all about building confidence. If the students believe they can do a task, then they will be able to do it," explains Fergie Marie, a writer at Ukwritings and Custom Writing .

It's all about overcoming that first hurdle.

Break the Essay Down

Most essays are written in the same way, very similar to how stories are written. They have a start, a middle, and an end, and highlighting this structure form is a great way to make essays seem a little less daunting.

After all, being tasked with a 1,000-word essay can feel overwhelming at first, but when you break it down into three main sections that can be focused on individually, the task seems a little more manageable.

Of course, each section of the essay has a specific purpose. The introduction is meant to grab the reader, hook them into the writing, and sets the tone for the essay ahead. The middle is for laying down and explaining the points that would answer the question of whatever the essay topic is about.

Finally, you have the conclusion, which wraps everything up, answers any questions that were asked, and rounds off the essay nicely. Focusing on these points can help massively when it comes to writing an essay because there's less thought needed on what you need to write and more focus on what the actual writing will be.

Practice, Practice, Practice

"It might seem a bit mean to set regular essays all the time, and you don't want to be that kind of teacher, but the best way to get better at essay writing, as with everything else in life, is to practice. This means giving your students essay tasks to complete, and then reviewing the mistakes and highlighting what they did well," shares Duncan Turner, an educator at Assignment Help and Essayroo .

And that's the important bit. Not only do you want to highlight the areas where your students can improve or perhaps correcting mistakes they made, you always want to make sure you're showcasing what they did well and congratulating them on the bits they got right.

This inspires confidence and will encourage your students to keep trying, keep writing, and keep getting better.

Katherine Rundell is a book writer at Essay Writing Service and BigAssignments . She writes about teaching and helping ESL students make the most of their educational efforts. Also, she is a proof-reader at Essay writing services reviews .

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Teaching Writing to ESL/EFL Students: Tips and Activities for Any Level

• Linda D'Argenio
• August 19, 2022

Teaching writing to non-native speakers of a language presents a plethora of unique challenges and can feel overwhelming for new and seasoned teachers alike. However, teaching writing to ESL students can be dynamic and meaningful when approached with a bit of ingenuity.

If you’re new to teaching, you’ll want to get initial training and qualification with a TEFL certificate . You can explore our online TEFL courses to get started!

Why is it important to teach writing to ESL students?

In order to effectively participate as contributing members of society, individuals need to be able to communicate their thoughts in written form, whether they are using the English language as their vehicle or not.

Writing is an essential component of productive language, and ELs will need to demonstrate their ability to write in English if they hope to be competitive in a globalized world . Building competency in English-language writing supports reading comprehension, vocabulary expansion, and oral fluency , so there’s so much to be gained. And even if your students don’t plan to use the lingua franca on a regular basis, the skills gleaned from learning to write in another language transfer to all facets of life, making students more aware and more effective communicators in their native language(s) .

Teaching ESL writing aids in self-expression , which might be particularly meaningful for individuals who are hesitant to express themselves verbally. You might have the next Henry David Thoreau or Gabriel García Márquez in your class!

Why do ESL students struggle with writing?

Writing in another language is no easy feat, so it’s only natural that your ESL/ EFL students encounter difficulties when asked to do so.

First, it’s essential to recognize that writing conventions differ from one language group to another . Students from various linguistic backgrounds might declare that writing in English (particularly in an academic setting) is “boring,” something they perceive as formulaic. Often, these students come from backgrounds that value writing in a way that might seem “tangential” to native English readers.

In “Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education,” Robert B. Kaplan (1966) put forth a model for examining written discourse patterns, which illustrates how different thought patterns influence how speakers of other languages express themselves in written form.

You can observe that English is illustrated as being very straightforward, which aligns with the directness of spoken English. Kaplan poses here that other language groups tend to branch off in different directions in written form, pulling in supporting elements that might not be directly correlated to the main idea and that present as “off-topic” for native English speakers.

Secondly, it’s crucial to keep in mind that writing requires a vocabulary lexicon that can adequately support sharing . Often, even the most proficient English learners struggle to select the language they need to convey their point. When tackling writing instruction, make sure to consider how you’re supporting vocabulary development to support the conventions you’re teaching.

Lastly (and perhaps most importantly), writing is a form of self-expression, and self-expression through writing isn’t valued the same way in all cultures . There is a great deal of value placed on sharing one’s opinions in the U.S., for example, but this is not the reality all over the world. Some of your students might have been taught that they receive and process information, but that they are not in the position to make statements of their own or have the authority to teach others. Therefore, putting their thoughts down on paper might feel formal, high-stakes even, for your students.

What are some tips for teaching ESL writing?

Regardless of the age and proficiency level of your students, or whether you’re teaching writing in an ESL or EFL classroom, there is a myriad of strategies that you have at your disposal.

Don’t underestimate the value of conducting needs assessments

When it comes down to how to teach writing skills, even if you are teaching a group that is considered a certain proficiency level, recognize that there is always going to be a range of experience and ability present. Spend time getting to know what your students have been exposed to and in what ways before deciding on your approach. Teach to the middle to ensure no one is left behind.

Check out the following sample needs assessment to get started:

Think about how you can lower learners’ affective filters

A large portion of all successful teaching comes from relationship-building. In addition to getting a true sense of your learners’ experience and abilities, try to understand their attitudes towards writing as a process and any challenges that might be borne from those attitudes. How can you increase your students’ comfort level? How can you engage the individuals sitting in front of you?

Check out these 5 ways to build rapport with your students when teaching English.

Think about how the writing task can act as a building block for other assignments

Learning how to write in another language can be intimidating, and even more so if your students don’t enjoy writing in the first place. When wondering how to teach writing to ESL/EFL students, think about how you can integrate writing more often and more seamlessly into your lesson plans. Instead of approaching writing in isolation, teach writing skills alongside other “more engaging” activities that students tend to enjoy more. Have your students participate in role-playing and storytelling activities that require writing but don’t make writing the focus of the activity. This is your chance to be sneaky and get your students to build their writing skills without even knowing!

Present opportunities to examine authentic, written language

Providing students with examples of the target language is non-negotiable, but challenge yourself to move beyond the sample texts in your curriculum where possible. Students might feel bored by the selected works in their textbooks – they need to recognize that written language is all around them. Pull from authentic texts that cover an array of topics that you know matter to your students to keep them enticed.

Try incorporating pop culture into your ESL classroom to spice up writing activities!

Lead with function over form in instruction, and then alter your focus

Students can be discouraged to find their paper covered with red ink, highlighting their fallacies. While it is important to provide corrective feedback, consider the purpose of the assignment before marking up the composition. Was the output comprehensible? Did it touch upon everything that you asked for? Focusing on both function (the purpose of the assignment) and the accuracy in form simultaneously can feel overwhelming. Choose your objectives carefully, make them known to the learners, and provide corrective feedback accordingly .

Choose writing activities that pertain to your students’ learning goals. For example, the following clip, from a BridgeUniverse Expert Series webinar , covers how to teach Business English students to write an email in English:

Consider formative assessment and reflective strategies

Whenever possible, assess student work periodically, examining the process with various checkpoints and iterations throughout, instead of just evaluating the final product. Writing is an iterative process, and students benefit greatly when offered opportunities to reflect on their process. Create opportunities for students to participate in self- and peer-revision processes, which in turn will result in more conscientious and focused writers.

What are some ESL writing activities and lesson plans for beginners?

It can feel challenging to come up with writing activities for learners with beginner proficiency, but with proper scaffolding , writing can be inclusive and participatory.

Try group writing processes in class to get students comfortable

Writers with beginner proficiency might default to a deficit mindset, believing that writing is inaccessible for them due to a dearth of vocabulary or experience, so when you start to look at how to teach writing in the ESL/EFL classroom, your first job is to inspire confidence and get students into a growth mindset. To get them comfortable with the writing process, engage them in group writing activities.

• Choose a familiar topic (or have your students choose a topic together), and explain that you are going to “group-author” a paragraph.
• Have the students share what they know about the topic, and you, as the teacher, act as the scribe, jotting down their thoughts in a central location.
• Continue gathering their ideas until everyone has shared, remembering to emphasize that this is a process and that there is no wrong contribution.
• Examine the individual contributions and note overlap: How can a few thoughts be grouped together? In the process, ask students to elaborate on what they meant and provide examples.
• Organize these preliminary thoughts to the best of your ability, involving the students and getting them to notice organizational structures and decipher between the main idea and details.
• After celebrating what you can refer to as the “first draft,” provide specific and limited ways to improve the piece. Did they include everything they thought was relevant to the topic? Could the paragraph benefit from additional cohesive devices? Do the subjects and verbs agree? Provide ample support in the form of examples, formulas, and sentence frames alongside the piece. Invite students to examine the paragraph and seek out these common mistakes (in partners or individually).
• Create your “final draft” together, and ensure that it’s displayed prominently in the space.

By engaging them in the writing process in this way, you are instilling habits that will aid them in writing autonomously when the time comes.

Make the most of brainstorming – both individually and with others

Have you ever had students tell you that they don’t know what to write? Students, particularly those at the beginner level, need ample time to think about the content before diving into the actual writing process . Emphasize the importance of brainstorming as a way to collect their thoughts and aid them in their writing. Engage students in different kinds of brainstorming activities, going beyond “write down what comes to mind.”

Consider Think-Pair-Share as a framework for brainstorming, where students take time to think independently about the topic, share their ideas with their peers, and then share aloud to a larger group. Typically, the sharing is done orally, but you could also consider the independent writing portion of the activity as “sharing” with a larger audience, just in written form.

What are some ESL writing activities and lesson plans for intermediate and advanced students?

Facilitate a two-way journal experience with your students.

Create a way for individual students to exchange their ideas with you in an informal way with a two-way journal . Have the students maintain a writing journal that you periodically collect to write comments and ask questions. The objective of this exchange is not to formally evaluate your students’ writing, but to gather intel about your students’ progress and connect with them as individuals. Within these exchanges, not only are you building and sustaining rapport, but you are also augmenting critical thinking and meta-cognitive skills with strategies like noticing and annotation.

Cultivate peer revision routines

Learning to write in a non-native language is as much a social process as it is a cognitive process. Involving students in peer revision activities can be incredibly beneficial in that students can learn from their peers (potentially those who are stronger writers than themselves) and develop the ability to think more critically about their own writing. While getting students to effectively participate in peer revision activities requires a lot of frontloading and the establishing of routine, it is the gift that keeps on giving. If you’re interested in facilitating peer revision with your students, consider the following as general guidelines:

• Start by determining your focus for the activity. What are you asking the students to do? Make it clear to the students what you’re looking for, and provide supports that they can use in the process (e.g., a checklist or rubric).
• Demonstrate how students would use the rubric, and go through the revision process as a group.
• Provide sample pieces to examine, and engage the students in discussion around the samples.
• Make sure that students are aware of what is considered appropriate and useful feedback through modeling. Have them practice, and give them feedback on their feedback.
• Monitor the peer review sessions and jump in as needed, ensuring the quality of feedback for all involved parties.
• Reflect on the peer feedback activity in whole-group format, asking students to share what they got from reading their peers’ work, defining areas that they excelled in and areas for improvement.

Timed writing

Once your students feel comfortable with the writing process and the structure at hand, consider different contexts that they’ll be writing in. Perhaps they are planning to take the TOEFL or the Pearson Test of English (PTE) and hope to study abroad, or maybe they’re about to enter the workforce and work collaboratively with others.

In either case, your students will need to demonstrate their ability to communicate their ideas in written form while adhering to time constraints . Plan timed writing activities for your students on a variety of topics and with different parameters. In a standardized test prep context, have students write under the same conditions as the test that they’re preparing to sit for.

Take a Micro-credential course in Teaching TOEFL Test Prep or Teaching PTE Test Prep to help students ace these high-stakes exams.

In a workforce development setting, illustrate a scenario in which an email from management warrants an urgent (and polished) response. In either context, examine the output and discuss strategies that the students used. Student output from timed activities provides fertile ground for examining accuracy in form. Walk students through noticing activities, and challenge them to remember their tendencies in subsequent timed writing tasks.

Teaching writing to ESL/EFL students requires commitment and perhaps a bit of innovation on the part of the teacher, but if done well, it can prove immensely useful in a globalized world, aiding individuals in self-expression and beyond.

In addition to writing, there’s another subject that can sometimes fill teachers with dread: grammar! Here are 7 simple strategies for teaching grammar to English language learners , so you can tackle this topic with confidence .

Linda D'Argenio

Linda D'Argenio is a native of Naples, Italy. She is a world language teacher (English, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese,) translator, and writer. She has studied and worked in Italy, Germany, China, and the U.S. In 2003, Linda earned her doctoral degree in Classical Chinese Literature from Columbia University. She has taught students at both the school and college levels. Linda lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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5 Tips for Teaching Essay Writing to ESL Students

So your ESL (English as a Secondary Language) students have become more fluent in their new language. That’s great! Now, it’s time to learn and focus on more advanced forms of writing. But how can you get started?

One way would be to teach them to practice writing essays . This way, they can learn to conduct research, organize relevant information, and present their thoughts and ideas clearly and concisely.

But writing an essay in their second language isn’t as easy and your students will need some help. Following are 5 easy steps for teaching essay writing to your ESL students.

1). Get Down to Basics

Before teaching essay writing to your ESL students, make sure that you’ve already covered the fundamentals of sentence structuring. Start by teaching them how to write simple sentences, move on to compound, and then to complex sentences. Once they’ve mastered sentence formation, only then can you move on to teaching prepositions, conjunctions, and adverbs.

Next, have you r students focus on linking their language , as well as sequencing. For instance, you can ask them to come up with a process or guide , and then use language linking to connect the dots. One idea is to have them use bullets or numberings in a series of steps and link them by using time connectives .

2). Choose A Topic

Once your ESL students are ready to move on to essay writing , it’s time to come up with an engaging topic. This is an effective way to help a student maintain their interest throughout th e essay writing process.

I f they’re struggling to come up with a topic, feel free to give suggestions and then pick one that will get their creative juices flowing. If they choose a topic you think is too broad, help them narrow down their focus.

Once a student has picked a topic, it’s time to help them shape it into an actual stance . Have them form the topic into an argument, something that they can explain and justify in their essay. To encourage brainstorming, have your students think up ideas and draft them in a rough outline.

3). Writing the Introduction

Next, teach your ESL students to write a proper , attention-grabbing introduction. Show them how to get their readers hooked and interested in reading on, and share some examples or ideas. Some good essay writing prompts include a relevant quote or information from one of their sources, a fascinating fact or trivia, an adage, or even a joke, depending on their chosen topic.

Explain how this part of the essay should inform and prepare their readers to the central argument, as well as the main points that will be presented to defend their stance or argument.

Essay writing involves several steps and requires a number of skills. If your students are still struggling to work on more complex forms of writing, have them use resources that can help improve their writing. There are plenty of online tools and services they can use. For instance, they can visit IHateWritingEssays to find great insights and reviews on services that aim to assist students in their essay writing needs.

4). Working on the Main Argument

Since your students are new to writing essays in their second language, it’s best to have them stick to the traditional three-paragraph format of explanation. Teach them how e ach of these body paragraphs serve to explain and support one of their points of argument .

Have them start with a sentence that will explain each point, and then back it up with evidence from their research , which will comprise the rest of the paragraph. To improve clarity and con sistency , i nstruct them to explain complex point s by breaking them down to shorter and simpler sentences .

Teach your students the rule of three : The idea that readers will be more engaged and remember something better if they hear it reiterated in a set of three. Some examples are “blood, sweat, and tears” and “stop, look, and listen.”

5). Writing the Conclusion

Wrap it up with a conclusion that will sum up all the main points your students have written in the body of their essay.

This is the ir final opportunity to drive home their argument , so make sure they know they should no longer be adding new points in the conclusion. However, they can still include a quote or a thought for the future. Adding quotes or interesting facts is always useful in an essay because they add authority and credibility to one’s argument – not to mention they’re a great way to wrap things up.

Final Words

For ESL students, writing an essay in their second language can be challenging , but not with proper guidance and instruction from their teacher . Make sure your students have mastered the basics of writing . By following this guide, you’ll serve your ESL students wel l when putting together a written piece in the future.

Choosing the right TEFL course provider can be a tough one. Take a look at  Gallery Teachers TEFL Courses  and find the most suitable course for yourself. Never stop learning! Do you already have your TEFL qualification? Check  our available jobs here !

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Improve Your Writing Skills: 8 Writing Strategies for ESL Students

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You’re asked to write an English essay, and you’re in panic mode. You find yourself second-guessing every sentence you write; before you know it, it’s time to submit the essay.

Have you ever experienced this? After reading this article, we hope you aren’t in such a situation.

As someone who isn’t a native English speaker, we understand how unnerving essays, dissertations, research papers , and other assignments might be.

In this article, we outline eight useful writing strategies to help ESL students like you improve their writing.

8 Writing Strategies for ESL Students to Write Better

For ESL students, it can be difficult to find the right words or phrases to articulate or follow grammar and sentence formation rules while writing essays. Here are eight writing strategies to improve your writing skills.

Read multiple times

Reading books, novels, articles, biographies, or any other reading material helps enhance your vocabulary, familiarize yourself with metaphors, idioms, or even sentence structure, and guides you into constructing complex phrases.

Read everything in English that you can find -- form the words, and narrate them out slowly and coherently.

Pick out words from the text that you are not familiar with and write them down. You can continue finding the meaning of these words online or in dictionaries for better understanding.

You can also underline or highlight phrases or sentences that are confusing so that later you can ask your professors about what they meant.

In short: the more you read in English, the better you’ll be able to understand and write in English.

Use sentence frames

Your professor gives you a writing assignment, but it can be intimidating to write without any help. Use sentence frames to make the writing task more manageable. A sentence frame is a pre-written sentence with spaces in it for you to fill in the remaining words to complete it.

Using sentence frames can help in figuring out the correct structure and the flow of the English language, and can help you in easing the pressure of not trying to come up with your own sentences.

If you are unsure about what word to use, you can write the word down in your native language and continue with the rest of the sentences that you can fill in without any difficulties. After you finish, you can come back to the words that you don't know and try to find alternatives to make sense of the sentence given.

Work towards writing in the language you already know while also gaining the experience of using proper grammar and practicing writing in sentence frames until you are confident and comfortable in writing similar sentences independently.

You can find sentence frame structures for multiple writing tasks such as compare and contrast, persuasive, narrative , sequence, and many other forms of writing.

Organize your thoughts graphically

Graphic organizers are a very beneficial writing strategy for ESL students to help them learn how to read and write better in English. Using this method can help you learn how to organize your thoughts, points, or even sentences systematically with the use of different kinds of graphics.

These organizers can be used for every stage of the writing process -- from brainstorming, pre-writing, and drafting to revision.

Graphic organizing writing tools such as Word Clusters or Topic Wheels can be handy for brainstorming your thoughts and finding purposeful meanings every time you get stuck on a word or phrase.

Here’s what the word clustering method looks like.

You can also use Story Maps if you need guidance to learn how to write a story on your own.

Use templates instead of blank sheets of paper to note down points, and answers, and fill in sentences. You can use these templates to model your writing method and use it as a reference.

Use the Four Square Writing Method

The Four Square Writing Method is a tried and tested writing and organizing strategy that teaches students better structure and helps them write cohesively. Through this strategy, you can also learn how to properly organize a paragraph.

In this method, a blank square is divided into four quadrants. In the center, you make a smaller square and write your topic sentence. Fill in your opening statements and support in the first quadrant, and write down any important points and supporting facts that relate to the topic sentence in the other two quadrants. Leave the 4th quadrant for writing your closing statements.

This visual method will help you focus on writing, provide details and enhance your vocabulary. This will also help you conceptualize, understand and structure a piece of writing without difficulties.

Keep sentences simple and short

A sign of good writing is crisp, short, and easy-to-understand sentences. Some people use complex words because they think they sound more academic, but that is far from the truth.

Using complicated, formal words and unnecessarily long sentences will only make your readers get confused and bored with your writing. They will probably lose track of what you’re trying to convey. So instead, cut short your sentences, use terms related to your topic, include transition words correctly, and keep the language simple.

When editing your work, look out for long sentences and try to divide them into two separate sentences. This will allow you to break down what you want to say in manageable chunks of words.

As an ESL student, you might not be confident about using English words, and this might make you stick to one particular sentence structure, but try to vary your sentence length based on the purpose of what you want to say.

Check out this insightful video by Karen Dudek-Brannan on simple sentences

Practice writing

Practice makes you perfect, and what better way to enhance your English writing skills than just writing whatever you want on a blank piece of paper?

Every time you take notes, try to understand a novel, write an email, or even a text message, practice it in writing first to improve your English writing skills. Allot a period in your daily schedule to sit and write.

You can also practice by writing a paragraph about the day that you have had, some exciting experiences, your fears, goals, likes, dislikes, or literally anything else to increase your speed and dexterity of writing in English.

Use online tools

If you want to be clear and make it easy for your readers to understand what you want to convey in English, it is very important to know the grammatical rules because using the wrong verb tense or writing a sentence in the wrong order will make your readers confused.

That's why you can find multiple websites and online tools that can help you write better in a different language, such as:

• Grammarly (one of the sleekest tools for checking grammar);
• The Purdue Online Writing Lab (comprehensive online writing source that has a dedicated space for ESL students and teachers);
• Merriam-Webster Online Dictionaries ;
• Quora (you can ask questions and seek answers from people in this online community).

Keep a journal

Suppose you still feel insecure about your language skills in English. In that case, it’s good practice to keep a journal as a daily habit to write down anything that comes to your mind, thoughts, new phrases, unfamiliar words, etc., without having the pressure to show anyone what you wrote.

This creates an opportunity to write as much as you want in English and, if needed, words in your native language to understand the meaning behind the English words you’ve used.

When you are and feel skilled enough to read, write and speak fluent English, you can go back to your journals and re-read your notes. This will show you the progress you’ve made and can help you feel more confident.

It is okay to make mistakes in your journals because as you keep practicing how to write, you will only get better and faster and gain momentum and fluency in your English language skills. So, go ahead, and challenge yourself.

Using the right strategies and tools makes learning how to write in a different language much more accessible, interesting, and fun.

These eight writing strategies for ESL students will help you become more confident about writing in English and be open to feedback.

If you’re still in two minds about writing that essay, reach out to Writers Per Hour. Our native English speakers are not just well-versed in the language but also subject matter experts.

So, write to us with your requirements, and we’ll get back to you with a 100% original, high-quality essay.

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11 Brilliant Techniques to Boost Your Students’ ESL Writing Skills

The writer: an almost mythical creature.

Alone and aloof, at the mercy of some ethereal muse and her whims.

How can we hope to inculcate the skills of the mysterious discipline in our ESL students when it can seem an insurmountable task for even native speakers?

Luckily, much of our image of writers and writing has as much in common with reality as the Flying Spaghetti Monster !

Like much in life, discipline and craft can overcome most disadvantages for the struggling writer .

So get ready to get your students to apply some “wrist-grease” as we take a look at 11 techniques to take your students’ ESL writing skills to the next level .

1. Understand Planning, Success Criteria and Writing Structures

2. build strong sentences by beginning with subjects and verbs, 3. build coherent paragraphs, 4. order words for the most powerful impact, 5. paint pictures with words, 6. keep sentences fresh by varying their length, 7. punctuate for rhythm, 8. build on what your students already know, 9. let your students communicate and work together , 10. engage your students when presenting writing topics, 11. teach your students about formal vs. informal writing.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Planning is an essential element for the successful completion of many tasks , and none more so than for ESL writing. Good planning helps a student maintain focus, producing cogent and coherent writing.

Planning involves the structure and purpose of a piece of writing. As a teacher, you know the importance of structure when developing your lesson plans, so let your students in on the secret! 

Show your students how to develop an outline that will make their writing easier. Emphasize that a good outline can save them time thinking of what to write next, giving them a flow that will keep them confident and prevent midstream writer’s block.

How to implement it:

How can we implement planning and structure in ESL classes? ESL students will often need clear instructions to go about their planning, so it can be helpful to use writing frames . You can find a variety of free templates available online that are suited to an array of writing genres.

At the pre-writing stage, s hare success criteria with your students. The success criteria will include all the elements you expect to see in a successful piece of writing. This can even be turned into a simple checklist that students can use to check their work after completing their first draft.

You can develop a structure together or use a workable student handout. The student handout will provide a set structure for your students to follow . Including a section for topic sentences and supporting sentences on this handout or on the board will keep their writing minds organized and focused.

In English writing, there are many forms and styles to suit different writing scenarios and needs.  Each lesson can incorporate a new topic and writing style for them to learn . For example:

By teaching your students about planning and structure, their ESL writing will start to become more focused.

We are all aware that writing in a new language is more involved than the simple case of substituting one word for another. Each language has its preferences for certain sentence structures and idiosyncrasies of meaning.

Linguists regard English primarily as a right-branching direction (RBD) language. Sentences begin with subject and verb, with relative clauses that branch to the right, just like in this sentence. Not all languages display this characteristic. Japanese, for example, is considered to be an LBD language.

So, how can we make use of this theory in class? An excellent way for your students to really embed their understanding of the RBD sentence is to give them copies of newspapers. Have them hunt through articles identifying subjects and verbs and taking note of their position in sentences .

This will help make English’s RBD tendency apparent to them. For further practice, and to engage their own writing skills, have your students identify some sentences that are not RBD and rewrite them as RBD sentences .

The devil is in the details. Let’s take a look at an example :

Attired in a knee-length black cashmere cardigan, and sipping from a mug of Oolong tea, Jean, conscious that all eyes were on her as she stood silhouetted in the doorway, raised her hand in greeting.

Confused? No wonder! There are sixteen words before the subject is even mentioned, and a further fourteen before the important verb! Don’t be afraid to encourage students to break convoluted ideas into several simpler sentences to convey the same idea. Consider this rewrite in light of our understanding of the RBD nature of the English language:

Jean stood silhouetted in the doorway sipping her Oolong tea. Her long black cashmere cardigan hung down to her knees. All eyes were on her, as she raised her hand to greet them.

These exercises will build students’ confidence in writing strong sentences. It is important to point out to more advanced students that not every sentence needs to begin with the classic subject-verb construction. Where appropriate, model sentences that play with this sentence structure. For example, suggest opening a sentence with an introductory phrase or simply varying sentence length, to avoid a monotonous style, as is clear in the example above.

Once your students have a solid understanding of how to create proper sentences, you can move them into paragraphs. Showing your students how to construct paragraphs will give them a lifelong skill they’ll use in everyday life as well as professional ventures.

But how can we implement this in ESL classes? A good way to implement this is to separate sentence construction and paragraph building into two or three separate lessons . Make sure they have a very good handle on sentences before moving forward. Otherwise, you’ll spend half the class time backtracking.

In most paragraphs, the topic sentence is at the beginning, summing up what the paragraph will cover. Following that are the supporting sentences, covering the thoughts and ideas that hold the topic sentence in place, giving it validity and weight. Explain the structure of a paragraph to your students and let them see a visual of this structure on the board or in a handout.

You can then give them examples of a topic sentence and a few supporting sentences before letting them give their own paragraph-building a shot. Good visuals and easy-to-understand directions will go a long way in this crucial area of ESL writing lessons.

You can also touch on some key linking words we use to combine two sentences together. Here are some examples your students will be able to easily learn and understand:

These words will help them make their sentences more coherent with a nice readable flow.

In many ways, a sentence is a microcosm of a story. And like any gripping story , a good sentence ideally should have a strong beginning, a meaningful middle and an end that echoes on and on… and on. Once your students have mastered the structure of RBD sentences, they can bring greater depth to their writing through consideration of word order .

What does all this mean for the struggling ESL student? At the word level, students should be encouraged to put their strongest words and images at the beginning and the end. We can think of the beginning of the sentence as the “hook,” just as we would for a short story, and the end should impact the reader.

In his wonderful book “Writing Tools,” Roy Peter Clark writes:

For any sentence, the period acts as a stop sign. That slight pause in reading magnifies the final word, an effect intensified at the end of a paragraph, where final words often adjoin white space.

How do we implement this in the context of teaching ESL? A useful practice is to have students go back through their first draft with a pencil. Ask them to underline the most interesting words in each sentence. If the most powerful words are buried in the middle of sentences, can the sentence be restructured to bring these words to the beginning or the end?

Not only does this bring variety to your students’ writing, but it will increase the dramatic impact of what they have to say.

The fact that as humans we can draw seemingly arbitrary squiggles onto a page and convey our deepest thoughts to another human being is surely one of the human race’s greatest accomplishments. We can convey everything from the fleeting essence of an emotion such as love, to the details of an immense building, at first seen only in the architect’s mind. And all this from scratching marks onto paper.

Much of the meaning communicated through the written word takes the form of mental images. The task of the writer can be likened to that of a painter, except the canvas is the reader’s mind. Encourage your students to appeal to the senses in their creative writing . Good writing is evocative, and sensual writing is the most evocative of all.

In practical terms, a good method for encouraging your students here is to spend some time on literary devices, such as simile, metaphor, personification  and so forth. There is a good chance students will be familiar with the concepts, if not the vocabulary, from studying their own language at school.

Model a few examples of, say, a simple simile, on the board, (i.e. as hard as a rock). Students can then brainstorm possible substitutes for the adjective “hard,” and are welcome to reference a thesaurus. Examples might be “solid,” “strong,” “tough,” etc.

This activity is also useful for students to get a feel for the language, and the different shades of meaning associated with various synonyms. This can then be repeated for the noun in the simile.

Once your students have a good grasp of the particular figure of speech they have been working on, they can graduate to producing their own original examples. Ultimately, students should be able to use them seamlessly in their independent writing.

Nothing is more frustrating for a reader than boredom, and a sure-fire way to ensure boredom is for your student to write all their sentences the same length. It is the literary equivalent of speaking in a monotone.

This is a common problem for ESL students. Often lacking confidence in their grammar knowledge of their target language, students stick to the one or two structures they are most comfortable with. For example, the classic English sentence structure outlined in #2 above.

When we teach students to vary the lengths of their sentences, be sure to point out that this does not need to be done arbitrarily. Sentence length can be varied according to the purpose of the sentence . A good rule of thumb here is to encourage your students to keep sentences short when they are explaining or describing something complex. This allows them to break down what they want to say in manageable chunks of language.

The reverse is true for expressing simpler concepts. Here the long sentence can be employed, affording the student a more expansive canvas to express themselves, unintimidated by the complexity of what it is they have to say.

An example of how to implement this could be during the teaching of instruction writing. Have your students write a set of instructions for something they know how to do and encourage them to employ short sentences for complex concepts, and longer sentences for simpler ideas rule .

You could also have them rewrite examples you provide where this rule has not been applied.

Now I am not suggesting we ask our students to write exclusively in iambic pentameter. But, judicious use of punctuation in English is an excellent means to convey meaning and to control the rhythm of a piece of writing. It is the literary equivalent of using note values, rests and bar lines in music notation.

Punctuating for rhythm is not just a pleasing sonic folly that provides variety in your students’ writing. It is crucial to conveying meaning accurately . The language’s reliance on this has been the source of countless hilarious memes, and has even been the source of some bestselling book titles, such as  “Eats, Shoots & Leaves.”

Nitty gritty time. What does this look like in the classroom? As is often the case, teaching the new skill in isolation is the first step. Show your students how to use a particular piece of punctuation, give examples from printed material, whether the Internet, or the old-fashioned print variety.

Then, have students generate their own sentences based on this modeling. After they have successfully looked at several different punctuation marks and applied them correctly, write a sentence on the board and see how many different ways they can punctuate the sentence and still have it make sense.

This can be great fun for students, especially in a group. The longer the sentence, the more variability in answers available. Often the results are very funny!

Here is a classic example of how punctuation can entirely change the meaning of a sentence:

A woman, without her man, is nothing.

A woman: without her, man is nothing.

Lots of fun can be had with these ambiguities. Check out this site for more fun examples.

Instead of having your students jump into the vast seas of writing all at once, teach them to strengthen their writing bit by bit. Teach them the skill of building their writing around what they already know.

Their vocabulary doesn’t need to be anything special. You can start them off small and teach them how to build as they go.

How can you start to implement this in your ESL classroom? Try encouraging a little writing in every class , whether it be note taking, dictation of a few sentences or a short paragraph about their weekend. Let them try it out. You may be surprised at what they create.

Building confidence in note taking will create ample opportunities for your students to practice writing . They can copy what you’ve written on the board or any important information you’ve presented. Clue your students in to the importance of using writing as a tool and explain how much easier it will be for them later on if they take a few notes from time to time.

Incorporating communicative learning into your ESL writing lesson will foster creativity and confidence in your students. They’ll have a solid understanding of what they need to do when communicative learning is implemented prior to writing.

Letting your students openly discuss the writing topic with you and their classmates is a great warm-up activity . It’s exciting, and it allows them to generate fun, interesting ideas while learning the value of collaboration.

A great way to get students to communicate and come up with ideas together is to break up the class into groups or pairs, depending on size, and let them work out some of the writing topic details together. Brainstorming is one of the most important aspects within writing and your students can build on their writing through discussion .

You can also allow some class time for presentations on what each pair or group has come up with. This can lead to collective brainstorming as students share their thoughts and ideas with everyone.

Communicative tasks are always great in any ESL lesson, so don’t forget to use it in your ESL writing lesson plans!

In an ESL lesson, you’ll always need to present writing topics  in a way that’s effective, concise and fun for your students. An exciting presentation of writing topics will lead to a cascade of enthusiasm with eager students ready to write at the drop of a hat. Furthermore, making them part of the process will teach them to choose topics for themselves and open up future ideas and possibilities for writing.

So, how can you engage students when presenting writing topics? A great way to engage students is by utilizing short personal stories when presenting a topic. Visuals such as pictures or short videos can also be effective, but make sure that the videos will be relevant and at the right level for your students.

Another great strategy you can implement into your lesson is to present a broad topic and give your students the opportunity to shout out related words as you write them on the board , creating a brainstorm of ideas for students. This gets them directly involved in the presentation and they can begin to build creative ideas about what words they’ll use to construct their sentences.

As your students progress into well-crafted writing, you’ll want to move them toward understanding the difference between formal vs. informal writing . Depending on the students’ ages, levels and interests, understanding formal and informal writing styles could be incredibly useful.

Granted, the young learner may not need this information for some time, so know your students and gauge what’s most important for them.

How can you teach students the difference between formal and informal writing in an ESL lesson?

Here are some key points to present when teaching a formal writing style to your students:

• Stay away from contractions. Always writing the whole word is the best policy.
• Never use slang in your formal writing.
• Learn, recognize and expand on your formal phrases. For example, using phrases such as “approximately,” “due to,” “sufficient” and “Sir/Madam” will come in handy for formal writing.

Here are some key points for informal writing :

• Contractions are fine. Just don’t use too many, since this may be confusing to your reader.
• Phrasal verbs or idioms are always welcome in informal writing.
• Including informal words like “hey,” “thanks,” “best wishes” and “about” are more than acceptable in informal writing and help create the right tone.

Now you have learned 11 ESL writing techniques, it’s time to start implementing them in your lessons.

With a little planning and brainstorming, you can create exceptional, exciting and encouraging writing lessons to teach your students essential writing skills.

Be creative, be engaging, and your students will follow your lead into excellent English writing.

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How to Teach Essay Writing

A guide on how to teach essay writing skills from the ground up

Jagseer S Sidhu / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0

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As ESL students become more fluent, it's time to focus on how to use that fluency in specific tasks, such as making a presentation or writing an essay. The advanced topics you choose should depend upon what your students have planned for the future. In classes with mixed objectives, there's a need for balance to make sure that students who don't necessarily need the task at hand still profit from the lesson.

This is never truer than when teaching essay writing skills. Classes that are preparing for academic English objectives require the skills while " business English ," or English for specific purposes classes, might find the entire exercise a waste of their time. Chances are, you have a mixed class, so it is recommended to tie essay writing skills to other important skills — such as using equivalencies, the proper use of linking language, and sequencing in writing. Students not interested in essay writing skills will gain valuable experience in developing these skills regardless of the task.

Build Toward Essay Writing Skills

Start by modeling clear writing at the sentence level. The best way to approach essay writing skills is to start at the sentence level. Once students have learned to compose simple, compound, and complex sentences, they will have the tools necessary to write longer documents such as essays, business reports , formal emails, and so on. All students will find this help invaluable.

Focus on Equivalencies

I find the best place to start is with equivalencies. Before moving on, make sure students understand sentence types by writing a simple, compound, and complex sentence on the board.

Simple sentence: Mr. Smith visited Washington three years ago.

Compound sentence: Anna advised him against the idea, but he decided to go nonetheless.

Complex sentence: Since he was in Washington, he took the time to visit the Smithsonian.

Build up students' knowledge of equivalencies by beginning with FANBOYS ( coordinating conjunctions ), moving on to subordinating conjunctions, and finishing with other equivalencies, such as preposition and conjunctive adverbs.

Focus on Linking Language

Next, students will need to link their language, creating organization through the use of linking language, including sequencing. It helps to write out processes at this point. Ask students to think of some process, then use sequencing language to connect the dots. It's a good idea to ask students to use both numberings in a sequence of steps and linking through time words.

Writing Essay Practice

Now that students understand how to combine sentences into larger structures, it's time to move on to writing essays. Provide a simple essay to students and ask them to identify various structures and written objectives:

• Underline linking language
• Find examples of FANBOYS, subordinating conjunctions , conjunctive adverbs, etc.
• What is the main idea of the essay?
• How does the essay seem to be organized?
• Essays generally contain an introduction, body, and conclusion. Can you identify each?

I like to help students by first explaining that an essay is like a hamburger. It's certainly a crude analogy, but students seem to get the idea of the intro and conclusion being like the buns, while the content is the good stuff.

Essay Writing Lesson Plans

There are a number of lesson plans and resources on this site that help with the many steps involved in developing the necessary writing skills. To focus on combining simple sentences into more compound structures, use a ​simple-to-compound sentence worksheet. Once students are comfortable at the sentence level, proceed from brainstorming through outlining to final essay production.

Challenges With Teaching Essay Writing

As previously stated, the main issue with essay writing is that it is not really necessary for every student. Another issue is that traditional five-paragraph essays are certainly a little old school. However, I still feel that understanding the structure of your basic hamburger essay will serve students well when putting together future written work.

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A guide to teaching essay writing to your esl students.

As your students become more fluent in their new language, it’s a good idea to start focusing on more complex forms of writing. Essays are a great way for ESL students to practice researching, organizing information, and clearly representing their ideas. However, writing an essay in a second language can be difficult, so your students are going to need some help.

Have the Basics Down First

Before you begin teaching your students how to write an essay, you should make sure they have basic sentence formation down. Show them how to write simple, compound, and complex sentences. Start with a simple sentence, then instruct them on how to make it into a compound sentence, and then a complex sentence. Then you can move on to conjunctions, prepositions, and conjunctive adverbs.

Picking a Good Topic and Thesis

“The best way to teach essay writing is to have students become engaged by allowing them to pick a topic they are interested in,” writes David Muse, ESL teacher. Guide them towards something they can actually argue for or against. Once the student has a topic, it’s time for them to brainstorm and do their research. Teach them how to look up facts and statistics that will support their argument. Explain to your students what a thesis statement is.

Introduction

Show you students how to write a proper introduction. Teach them ways to get the reader hooked and interested in reading on. Give them some ideas for how to hook their reader. Some good ones include a relevant quotation from one of their sources, an interesting fact, or even a joke, depending on their topic. Explain how an introduction should introduce the reader both to the central argument, as well as the main points that will be used to defend that argument.

Main Argument

Your students will probably find it easiest to stick to the traditional three main body paragraphs format. Each one of their body paragraphs will be concerned with one of their supporting arguments. They must explain each point and back it up with evidence from their research. Show them how to explain complex points by using shorter, more simple sentences to improve clarity. Teach them the rule of three. The rule of three is the idea that people will remember something better if they hear it reiterated in a group of three. A good example is “Stop, look, and listen.”

Wrapping Up

In the conclusion, your students will sum things up by reminding the reader of their main points. This is their last opportunity to really drive home their thesis. Make sure they know they should not be introducing any new points in their conclusion, but they can include a quotation or thought for the future. Quotations are useful because they lend some authority to the essay, and that’s a good way to end things.

Writing an essay in an unfamiliar language can be difficult, but your students can achieve it if they have the proper instruction. Remember to get them up to speed on the fundamentals of writing first. Follow this guide to teach your ESL students essay writing.

Grace Carter is an educator and curates teaching lessons, and improves the quality. She also teaches creative writing.

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How to Teach Essay Writing – to ESL Students

Let’s face it, having to write an essay for most people is a daunting prospect, even if it’s in your first language, let alone trying to write one in your second language.

There are a number of barriers for ESL students to overcome that native speakers don’t have to deal with when it comes to essay writing.

• Most ESL students are far better at speaking than writing because they have a lot more opportunities to engage in conversation. As a result, they know they lack ability in writing and are afraid to expose this to others.
• Their first language, to a greater or lesser extent depending on the student, will impede their ability to successfully write using their second language.
• ESL students don’t have a fully developed lexicon. This means that they will find it hard to write in a clear, appropriate, or nuanced way.
• Essay writing is a skill that they can’t improve on their own because they don’t have an instinct for the language. They need instructions and feedback from a teacher in order to progress.

Given these barriers to learning, good TESOL teachers will ensure they have a very clear lesson plan when teaching essay writing.

I recommend that you start by giving your students a clear and defined process to follow – one that will work for whatever essay topic they need to answer. My process is called ‘The 3 Ps’ – Planning, Paragraphs, and Polishing .

My first writing professor in college told me that there are two unbreakable rules in essay writing. The first of these was…

‘What you leave out is more important than what you leave in.’

What he meant by that is that any essay writer will only mention 0.00000000001% of information that can be written on any given topic. This concept is especially salient for ESL writers.

When considering an essay topic, ask your students to brainstorm every point they can think of and then put them into two categories – important and less important.

Explain that they should focus on the most compelling ones – and leave out minor ideas or things that are too difficult to explain because of language issues.

Now let me share with you a maxim that I teach my students…

‘Essay writing is essentially about making assertions and then backing them up with evidence (reasons, examples, statistics, reliable news sources and expert opinion).’

The key pieces of evidence are reasons and examples. When they choose the most important points to write about, make sure they add reasons or examples for each point before they start writing.

The second unbreakable rule my writing professor taught me was…

‘When you’re writing, imagine your readers are idiots.’

Often when I read an essay written by an ESL student, there are logic gaps – missing links in chains of reasoning.

Students sometimes mistakenly believe that the thinking behind their writing is self-evident, so some links are quickly glossed over or not mentioned at all. If this is the case, I tell them it’s necessary for them to very carefully explain every single link in all chains of reasoning – like their readers are idiots.

Many ESL students are prone to having a breakdown in communication between what goes on in their minds and what they end up writing in their paragraphs.

This is because of their lack of practice in developing this skill.

I impress upon my students that…

‘Writing is the evidence of your thinking.’

I tell them that there needs to be a well-constructed bridge between their mind and their hands when writing their paragraphs.

The better the bridge, the less chance there will be a disconnect between their thinking and writing, resulting in them displaying their writing skills at their optimum level.

Have you ever heard of the expression, ‘putting lipstick on a pig’? Let me explain…

Polishing an essay is overrated. As an Academic Director at various Language Schools and Universities, I have seen some TESOL teachers who think that all that writing teachers need to do is to make as many corrections in red pen as possible.

Yes, proof reading an essay for spelling, grammar and punctuation needs to be done. But there is little point if the planning and paragraphs are substandard.

‘Polishing an essay that fails in the planning and paragraph stages is like putting lipstick on a pig.’

Or to put it another way, a hard, dry, crumbly cake with delicious icing is still a cake fail.

My teaching experience with ESL students has shown me that the vast majority of them have reached or are close to reaching their CURRENT potential with regard to spelling, grammar and punctuation.

They are usually a long way from reaching their CURRENT critical thinking potential.

By all means, spend some time on polishing techniques. However, it’s imperative that English Language Teachers create essay writing lesson plans that emphasise developing critical thinking in the planning and paragraph stages.

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ESL Essay Writing: 7 Tips for Success

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ESL essay writing is crucial for students who must cope with organizing their thoughts and building their arguments using the second language.

5 Easy Steps to Teach Your ESL Students How to Write Essays

1. get back to the basics.

Before teaching your ESL pupils essay writing, ensure that you have taught the essentials of sentence structure .

Start by teaching them simple sentences, compound sentences, and finally, complex sentences.

Once they have mastered sentence building, you can teach them prepositions, conjunctions, and adverbs.

Next, have your students focus on linking and sequencing their language. For instance, you can request that they develop a method or guide and then utilize language linking to connect the dots.

One suggestion is to have them utilize bullet points or numbering in a sequence of steps and connect them using time connectives.

2. Select a subject

When your ESL students are ready to begin writing essays, choose a topic that will pique their interest. This is an efficient method for keeping students interested throughout the essay-writing process.

If they have trouble coming up with a topic, feel free to offer alternatives and then choose one that will spark their creativity. If you believe their chosen topic is too broad, assist them in narrowing their focus.

Once a student has selected a topic, it is time to help them formulate a position on it. Instruct them to transform the issue into an argument they can explain and defend in their essay. To promote brainstorming, have your pupils generate ideas and outline them roughly.

3. Introductory paragraph

Next, instruct your ESL students on creating a proper, captivating introduction. Show them how to captivate and engage their readers, and provide examples or suggestions. 

Depending on the topic, some fantastic essay writing prompts include:

• A pertinent statement or information from one of their sources.
• An intriguing fact or piece of trivia.
• A proverb or even a joke

Explain how this essay section should enlighten and prepare readers to defend their position or opinion. Writing an essay requires multiple procedures and a variety of skills. If your pupils continue to struggle with more complicated forms of writing, advise them to utilize resources that will improve their writing. There are numerous internet tools and services available for their usage. 

4. Developing the main argument

Since pupils are new to writing essays in their second language, they should adhere to the standard three-paragraph pattern.

Teach them how these body paragraphs explain and support one of their claims.

Students should begin each paragraph with a sentence explaining the point followed by evidence from their study that makes up the rest.

To increase clarity and consistency, urge them to simplify and condense their explanations of complex concepts.

Teach the rule of three to your students. This is the belief that readers would be more engaged and retain information better if repeated three times. The phrases “blood, sweat, and tears” and “stop, look, and listen” are examples.

5. Creating the conclusion

Students should conclude their essays with a conclusion that summarizes the primary points made in the essay’s body.

This is their last opportunity to present their case, so make sure they understand they should not add new points in the conclusion.

However, they may still include a quote or a forward-looking notion.

Quotes and facts are essential to an essay since they provide credibility and authority in the argument, and they also make a great conclusion.

ESL essay writing: 7 tips for success

1. center the essay on a central question.

Encourage your students to organize their writing around the essay’s key question. This fundamental question should be the driving force for the entire composition.

If a word or phrase does not clarify a problem or its potential solutions, it must be reworded, rephrased, or eliminated.

A lean writing style is cruel. Prewriting, writing, and revising phases help build the necessary faculties necessary for determining what to retain and what to discard.

2. The 5-paragraph essay format

Providing students with a clear format for essay writing can do much to boost their confidence. The 5-paragraph essay, or “hamburger” essay, gives emerging ESL writers a clear format.

This arrangement often includes five paragraphs for the entire essay. Each paragraph has a distinct role and combines to make a unified whole.

First paragraph is the introduction. It provides the thesis statement and orients the reader to the essay’s objective. The 2nd to 4th paragraphs are referred to as are the body paragraphs. These make distinct arguments that are supported by various types of evidence.

The fifth paragraph is the conclusion. This section provides a summary of the arguments and a conclusion to the thesis. This simple structure can serve as fantastic training wheels for your students, even though they do not need to adhere to it rigidly forever.

3. Use the PEE method

Using the 5-paragraph framework mentioned in the previous section makes planning simple. P.E.E is an absurd acronym that represents the point, explanation, and evidence.

Body paragraphs should present arguments supporting the main thesis, followed by an explanation of the main point and supporting evidence.

Experts have pioneered mental mapping techniques that work in the planning phase and provide handy reference points to keep the essay focused. Having a visual reference will help ensure that your student-writers see each component of the whole as well as the elusive “larger picture”.

4. Research

As important as planning is, so too is research. Frequently, thoughts or associations do not emerge until the writing process has begun.

Since essay writing is a creative process, students can generate and incorporate more ideas as they work. The key is to always have evidence to support these claims. Students who have completed their assigned assignments will be far more confident and articulate when presenting their arguments.

Before beginning the daunting chore of writing an essay, students should explore and comprehend their topic area. Even with careful planning and research, it is common to write oneself into a linguistic dead end.

Once the plan is completed and the student begins writing the essay, it may or may not be smooth sailing. Often, especially with our higher-level pupils, unanticipated currents can steer the student-writer astray.

Sometimes it helps to simply abandon the sentence. Often, it is best to go back to the drawing board and rewrite it.

When presenting elementary concepts and arguments, students can be inventive with their phrase constructions. Help them learn to use shorter phrases to break down their arguments into smaller, more digestible portions when conveying more complicated ideas.

5. Repetition

Repetition is a particularly beneficial tactic in essay writing. Argument relies greatly on rhythm, much as poetry does. This sensation of rhythm can be achieved via repetition. Oral language is the ancestor of written language. Consider how great orators and demagogues utilized repetition. Speechwriters are aware of the effectiveness of repetition.

Writing an essay in English can be difficult for ESL students. Mistakes are bound to arise in any student’s essay because thinking and writing are two different skills.

Notwithstanding, ESL students can gain mastery of essay writing in no time with the techniques mentioned in this article.

Pam is an expert grammarian with years of experience teaching English, writing and ESL Grammar courses at the university level. She is enamored with all things language and fascinated with how we use words to shape our world.

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Tips For Teaching Essay Writing to ESL Students

September 24, 2018 | guest blogger , instructional content.

As your ESL students become more and more fluent, it’s time to start thinking about practicing more complex forms of writing, such as essays. Essays are a great way for them to refine skills such as organizing information, doing research, and presenting an argument. Here are seven steps for teaching essay writing to ESL students.

Before you get into teaching essay writing, make sure your students have a firm grasp of sentence building fundamentals. Go over how to write simple, compound, and complex sentences. They need to be familiar with these, because they are the building blocks of more complex writing, such as essays. Work on equivalencies by practicing coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and then moving on to preposition and conjunction adverbs. Then make sure they have a clear understanding of sentence connectors and sequencing.

Once you’re confident your students are ready to move on to an essay it’s time for them to choose their topics. “An interesting topic is the best way of helping the student maintain their interest throughout the writing process. Don’t be afraid to suggest topics if they’re struggling to choose one, and pick one you think will get their creative process jump-started. If they choose one that is too broad, help them narrow their focus a bit,” recommends Fernando Horne, ESL teacher at Academized . You might also need to help them shape their topic into an actual stance. They’ll need to form their topic into a thesis, something they will be arguing for in their essay. Have them brainstorm some ideas and draft a rough outline.

Introduction

This is the section of the essay where the writer needs to get the reader’s attention, and then briefly explain what they will be arguing for. There are a few good ways of piquing a reader’s interest in the introductory paragraph. If it suits the tone of the essay, a joke can be effective at getting the reader’s attention. Or, they could open things with a quotation that is relevant, interesting, and maybe even inspirational. If the student has come across a particularly interesting fact, they could use that to open things up as well.

Explanatory Paragraphs

Since your students are new to essays, it’s best to stick to the basic three paragraphs of explanation. Show them how each of these paragraphs explains one of their points. Begin each one with a sentence that makes a point in support of their thesis. Then explain that point in the rest of the paragraph. Show them how to explain points clearly by breaking things down into short and simple sentences. Be sure they know to support every claim they make with evidence from their research.

Wrapping Up

The conclusion is where your students will reiterate the points they have just explained. Make sure they know not to introduce any new arguments here. The conclusion is all about driving your message home to the reader. The can, however, end with a point that encourages further thinking from the reader. Often a statement looking towards the future is a good way to go.

Try Out These Online Tools

Essay writing involves quite a few steps and several skills. These resources can help your students write, edit, and proofread an essay.

• StateofWriting & AcademAdvisor : Grammar is something a lot of ESL students struggle with. These grammar resources can help make it more approachable.
• EssayRoo & BigAssignments : Proofreading is a pain for anyone, but when you’re learning a new language it’s especially tricky. These online proofreading tools, suggested in BigAssignments review , can help.
• ViaWriting & StudyDemic : These are academic writing guides. Using a writing guide helps to break down the essay writing process and make it simpler.
• BoomEssays & UKWritings : These are editing tools that have been recommended by SimpleGrad . It’s easy to miss an error or two when you’re editing writing you’ve done in a language you’re still learning, but these tools will help.
• WritingPopulist & MyWritingWay : Give these writing blogs a read to get some ideas to help improve your students’ essays. Read them to see what has worked for other ESL students.

Driving the Point Home

One very good way to write a convincing essay is to follow the rule of three. Teach your students that people are much better at remembering things when they hear them three times. Some of the most memorable quotes from history are memorable because of the rule of three. I came, I saw, I conquered. Government of the people, by the people, for the people. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You get the idea. This rule is why you state your points (introduction), explain them in your main body, and then reiterate them in your conclusion.

Writing essays is a great way for your students to learn and refine some more advanced writing skills. Make sure they have a good enough grasp of the basics, then move them on to the fundamentals of essay writing. Use these seven steps to teach your ESL students how to write an essay.

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An opinion essay

Learn how to write an opinion essay.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.

Preparation

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Information will soon be so easy to find on the internet that people will not need to remember anything. Do you agree?

Nowadays all the information we could ever need is available online and some people say that means the end of having to learn anything.

It is true that these days everything you want to know is a few clicks away as long as you have internet access. However, not everyone has working internet all the time, for example in certain buildings or remote locations, so we do need to be able to remember information. Moreover, it takes time to look up everything you need to know online, whereas remembering something is immediate. The human memory is a much more efficient system.

Another problem is the quality of the information online. How do we know if it is accurate or reliable? We need to think about other facts we know and remember how to compare information from different websites. Knowing (and remembering) how to find certain information will be more important than knowing the information itself.

Finally, the internet is a good tool but it is not a useful replacement for our brains. If we did not remember anything, we would all spend even more time on our phones and computers than we already do, which is not good for society.

In conclusion, the internet offers us many things but it is still important to use our knowledge and memories. We need our memories to function without the internet and we also need to know how to use the internet properly.

• Read the question carefully. Respond to all ideas in it or all parts of it.
• Plan your ideas first and then choose the best ones.
• Introduce your essay by restating the question in your own words.
• Show understanding of both sides of the argument.
• Use linking words to connect your ideas.
• Draw your conclusion from the main ideas in your essay. Don't introduce new ideas at the end.

What do you think about the question? Would it be better or worse if we never learned anything and just used the internet instead?

Language level

It would be worse. If we only look for information on the internet, for everythingg and every time when we have a question about something we will become ''rusty robots''.

In other words, our minds, without exercising the creativity and memory of our brains, will be almost completly out of purpose. What's more, we will be lazy and with a slow capacity of thinking properly.

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It is evidently known that in recent days, the exchange of information is progressive over the network of various channels which we call it as Internet. Experts have made some definite predictions about the availability of data and information on the above mode of communication in near future. This particular development is totally agreeable. With respect to the technological advancements pertaining to the above, the human life shall be prepared to be compatible with the communication platforms on the network of servers. The key strengths will mainly focus on speed of communication, less errors and information accuracy. This aspect of technological development will eventually replace the traditional modes of information storage. This requires no effort in preservation of information on physical devices as all the core information will be stored in virtual servers. On the other hand, the above paradigm shift in terms of data centralization will certainly replace human brains. This attempt will not trigger any living beings to memorize information physically. It is quite obvious that our brains are limited and restricted with space constraints. Hence, this technology of information storage will drastically replace these drawbacks. Overall, this phenomenal trend of networking has provided a seamless mode of gathering, interpreting and storing information. At the same time, the consequences will be tremendous and noticeable as it will lead to an era where in people across the globe can surf and search their expected piece of data with-in no time. Practically, they don’t have to bother about any challenges related to failure of storage elements. Finally, this pattern of information storage is promisingly going to be accepted.

I think the use of the internet is not only in conflict with learning, but It has made the speed of learning faster and more comfortable.

On the one hand, With the advent of the internet and access to data whenever we want, we were able to free our minds from memorizing a lot of unnecessary data. It caused that instead of spending our time to remember the formulas and data, we use our time for a deeper understanding of the concepts. Concentration on understanding was a big step in order to make us more clear about how to apply scientific concepts practically, and It made the evolutionary process of turning scientific concepts into experimental tests go faster. Going through this evolutionary process quickly, in turn, caused, firstly, the faster growth of modern technologies and, secondly, the creation of many new data, concepts, and sciences. And now the data volume is so much that not only you can never remember or learn them, but you have to choose the best one that works for you. Somehow, the internet has changed how to learn. It has focused on analyzing the options and choosing the best one to learn Instead of memorizing a bunch of content.

On the other hand, Theoretically speaking, One of the laws In the world is that everything can be useful or harmful in turn. This law also applies to the internet. In fact, how to use the internet determines whether it is useful or harmful. Like many other tools that have been invented such as smartphones, smartwatches, electric cars, and so on we have spent time learning how to use them. In order to get the best out of the internet and don't waste our time, we must take the time to learn how to search. The searching skill is the most important one that helps us find better results.

In conclusion, Given the two analyzed reasons above, I agree with the idea that easy access to Information makes people get rid of memorizing lots of data. But this has nothing to do with the quality or quantity of learning.

I think it depends on the type of information. Some information are easier to remember, and hence it's more efficient to have them in memory instead of looking for them online. However, some complex information is offered online, and it will be impractical if we tried to remember it. Additionally, I believe that learning is not just about acquiring knowledge. It's about learning how to think with this knowledge available and solve problems efficiently. That's why the internet is considered a valuable tool to promote learning, not to replace it.

Nowadays we are witnesses how far technology has developed in a short time. A huge of information is backing up on internet and if you have access of surfing you can find any information that you are looking for. However, there are some relevant aspects that should be taking into account when we are talking about using always internet instead of learning. In this sense, the purpose of this essay will be to explain why it is not a good idea. Firstly, as you know, most of the information on internet is fake. For that reason, it is impossible the learning process can be replaced by internet use. If you are looking for reliable information you have to learn how it works. In other words you need of learning even if you want to use internet all the time because you have to discern what of all information is useful for you purpose. For example, if you are a student and want to write an essay about a specific topic you likely have to search for the best information if you want to get a job position or scholarship. Secondly, there is a high demand for professionals who have specific skills in the field that they are pretending to be involved. That’s why learning always is a must for satisfying the requirements of companies and institutions. For instance, in the education field, the main aim is the learning and knowledge which are essential on a daily life to be an expert in your field of action and these skills can’t be acquired through internet surfing. To sum up learning and knowledge are fundamentals in a current world that is demanding professionals highly qualified even in our daily live and the internet is far away of satisfying the required skills that you get every day through the practice, research and networking.

I think it become worse and dangerous for our society, we need to control it making rules. Without internet, many skills and knowledge could´nt be used.

I believe that, The internet become even more dangerous for young people who barely discovered the world around them, If they count on it for seeking information without parental supervision, it would be a disaster!

In nowadays,there are many ways to reach information.The Internet is just one of them but maybe most promising one.The Internet helps us to find information easily and efficently.

However there are some negative sides of Internet.For instance realibilty of information.There are no real control on Internet.I reckon there will not be soon.This reduces the trust in internet.This is why People will always need another source to be make sure and need to remember information.

It is also necesseray for objectivity. You can not just have one source and expect true and impartial information. It is against nature of science.This is not how science works.People must have and process the information.In this way we expand our knowledge.When we make brainstorm we always end up with another information. If we don’t have and process the information how Science works?

I suppose in the future People will never trust completely to Internet. They will always need another source and they will need to interrogate source of information.In conclusion Internet is by far most promising invention People have ever invented.However Internet is not beyond our brain and imagination.We will always need to posses and process the information.

It is about my hometown: My hometown is a beautiful, attractive and cool. N'beika is one of the most famous places in Mauritania where attractive views and economic capacities are in. It is located in Tagant which is in middle of the map. Therefore, It is one the biggest cities in the country. As there are interesting geographical features such as: high Mountains, nice valleys, light hills and wonderful pools. Historically, N'beika played an important role in culture, trade exchange and fighting colonialist. Also it has saved historical landmarks, for example: manuscripts, books and cities which the most important is Gasr Albarka. In the north, there have tourist views and in the East big mountains with lovely valleys like Matmata where there are some Alligators in and other attractive animals. As well as from the south and the west there are some fields, forests and farms. Moreover, people are interested in agriculture, trade, development and education. Furthermore, there are many schools and Mahidras and three colleges providing well-deserved education to students. What's more, mall shops is offering demands and created jobs for unemployment. There are different favourite for people , some of them are crazy about football as youth, and some people like doing agriculture and development. Moreover, there are entrepreneurs doing a small business like selling clothes, pitch, barbershop... etc. In conclusion, N'beika is a gift of Allah that has given to people to spend nice moments in order to feel happy and to invest for everything we want due to gain lots of money .

I believe it is amazing updated technology which has helped us a lot in our lives. In todays era everyone has access to internet over the globe. you can easily find all the information on internet that is required to you. Even though learn many new skills which aren't even taught you from the help of internet. it is good help for book writer like us where we can be part of book writing communities or book writing resources to enhance our skills and provides more guidance to others.

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How to Teach Writing to ESL Students

• May 9, 2022
• Lesson Planning , Teaching Writing

Are you wondering how to teach writing to ESL students? Here are four tips for teaching writing that you can incorporate.

1. Modeling

Different cultures have vastly different structures and styles when it comes to academic writing. For example, in low-context cultures like the United States, arguments are clearly and directly laid out and the thesis (main argument) is in the beginning of the essay. In other cultures, it is common to put the thesis toward the end of the essay. This is an indirect, and arguably more interesting, way to make an argument, and the reader is expected to connect the dots themselves. 

This is why it is important for writing teachers to show students models of the type of writing they expect students to produce. These samples need to be broken down and analyzed so that students understand how all the pieces work together in the finished product.  

2. Teach the Writing Process

Don’t skimp on teaching each step of the writing process! If students complete these steps, the quality of their writing will be much better. That means less work for you!

The basic writing process steps are:

1. Brainstorming – This is a free writing exercise that helps students get several ideas down on paper. I tell my students not to worry about spelling and grammar when they free write. I also show them how to brainstorm using a mind map so they can see interconnected ideas. After they free write, I have them discuss their ideas with a partner and jot down any additional ideas that come up from the discussion. Then I have them look at their brainstorm notes and select ideas that would be good topics to write about. I often help them with this step.

2. Outlining – Students are not ready to organize their ideas into an outline. Make sure that they have the main components of an essay or a paragraph – thesis (for an essay), topic sentences, supporting details, and a conclusion of some sort. I tell my students that they can write in note form in their outline. They are simply organizing ideas, not writing sentences or paragraphs yet. Then I check their outlines and make suggestions. For example, if a student barely has any supporting ideas to support a topic sentence, I’ll ask them if they really want to include that idea.

3. Drafting – Students are now ready to write their first drafts! I usually have them do this in class so that I can provide some feedback in real time and answer questions as they arise. Then I collect the drafts, give written feedback (with some kind of rubric), and hand them back to students to revise. Then students write a final draft!

3. Engaging Prompts

Make sure the writing prompts you assign are appropriate for diverse students and are engaging. Giving them a choice of 2-3 topics works well in my classes. Make sure to build up schema (background knowledge) on topics so they have ideas to write about. 

For example, if you just wrapped up a reading unit on climate change, they can write a cause and effect essay on that topic. If you share a group of students with another teacher, ask what units they’ve completed to get ideas for what students can write about in your class. 

You can certainly have them choose their own topics, but I recommend having them check the topic with you first. 

4. Instruction on Interpreting Feedback

Teaching students how to decipher and implement your feedback is just as important as teaching them academic writing structure and organization. 

Before giving them feedback on their writing, you need to prep them by teaching a lesson on exactly how to interpret your feedback. Every teacher gives feedback differently, so teach them your method. Give them a handout with a set of editing symbols that you will use on their drafts and written comments. Do a whole lesson on what these symbols mean and how to make changes to drafts according to your feedback. Show them an example “rough draft” with the editing symbols and comments on it, and work together to edit the draft according to the feedback. Give them opportunities in class to read over your feedback and ask questions. 

You know how long it takes to give quality feedback on drafts! Don’t let all that hard work go to waste. 

We want out students to improve their academic writing skills in order to achieve their language goals. Implement these tips for how to teach writing to ESL students today in your class!

If you want no-prep writing units that your students will love, check out these writing units from my store. These units will take students through the entire writing process, and they include reading passages for building schema and background. They also include teacher feedback keys and rubrics for faster grading!  Click the images below to get to the resources!

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Academic Writing for ESL Students: 7 Tips and Strategies You Can Start Using Now

Many of us are under the impression that English is a global language that is spoken and written by everyone. However, only around 20% of the world’s population speaks English at all, and just 5% of the world speaks English as a native language.  1 The fact that a number of people speak English as a second language is what makes it one of the most widely used languages in the world. 2 It is the main language used in the academic and research arena around the world. Given that a large majority of researchers and academics employ multi-lingual techniques, there are multiple challenges faced by ESL authors.

If you are an ESL author or scholar you can easily understand how unnerving it can be to hand in those essays, dissertations, research papers, and other assignments in English if you are not a native English speaker. In this article, we will highlight a few ESL writing tips and strategies that you can use to improve your ESL writing skills.

ESL writing strategies

Writing for ESL students, especially in the field of academic writing is a formidable challenge. By following the ESL writing strategies listed below, you can improve your writing skills and also increase your confidence and credibility in the academic and research world.

Understand the main academic writing conventions and structures: One of the key aspects to ensure that your academic writing is effective is to follow the typical structure for academic writing which typically includes an introduction, main body and a conclusion. You can also choose to insert sub-sections to classify the content and make it easier to read. Remember, as you start your ESL writing journey, adhering to proper planning and structuring your research output goes a long way in keeping you focused.

Keep your language style professional/formal for research content: Using formal language and ensuring that you follow a professional style for your writing is very critical. In ESL writing, especially in the academic and research field, you should be always alert not to allow conversational/informal expressions or slangs to creep in. To be able to communicate ideas and observations in a clear manner, stick to using clear and short language. 

Organize your ideas and thoughts visually to create a strong outline: ESL authors need to call upon their inner artist as they break down their body of work into smaller, adaptable pieces. You can use tools like mind maps, flowcharts or concept maps as you begin to flesh out your all-important outline. For example, you can write your key research idea in the centre of the page and go on to create branches relating it to sub-topics or concepts, denoting each one with various colors or symbols.

Aim to create clear, concise, and well-structured sentences: Remember not to use complex words or unduly long sentences as you write. Focus on writing simple sentences with clarity. Aiming to sound highly academic with complex sentences can leave your reader confused.

Do not insist on perfect English in the first drafts or it may slow you down: Never aim for perfection in your early drafts as an ESL academic writer. Always work on writing your drafts by re-reading it several times and focusing on specific aspects. This process of fine tuning your writing will eventually lead to a very good English narrative as you progress.

Ensure there is coherent and logical flow between the paragraphs/sections: ESL writers should ensure that transition words and phrases like, ‘however’ or ‘therefore’ are used to connect the flow of ideas between paragraphs and sections. Weave in topic sentences to convey your idea in the paragraph with clear introductory sentences.Thoughtful editing and revision is necessary on your drafts to make it engaging and easy to understand for readers .

Use tools like Paperpal that can help you translate or improve your writing: ESL writers can benefit from using AI tools like Paperpal   that help to overcome academic writing challenges. It delivers a comprehensive English language check providing you with grammar and vocabulary corrections, rephrasing suggestions, highlighting academic writing conventions, consistency checks and offering you invaluable writing tips as well. It is no surprise therefore that over 20,000 authors use Paperpal to improve their academic writing and is trusted by leading global publishers as well.

In conclusion, the seven tips provided will serve as valuable tools to enhance your writing skills and boost your confidence. Remember that practice, perseverance, and continuous improvement are key here. By employing these strategies, you can effectively bridge language barriers and elevate the quality of your academic work.

• Top Languages of the Internet, Today and Tomorrow. Unbabel.com. https://resources.unbabel.com/blog/top-languages-of-the-internet
• What Is the Most Spoken Language in the World. Gurmentor.com. https://gurmentor.com/what-is-the-most-spoken-language-in-the-world/#:~:text=What%20percentage%20of%20the%20world,spoken%20people%20in%20the%20world

Paperpal is an AI writing assistant that help academics write better, faster with real-time suggestions for in-depth language and grammar correction. Trained on millions of research manuscripts enhanced by professional academic editors, Paperpal delivers human precision at machine speed.   

Try it for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime , which unlocks unlimited access to premium features like academic translation, paraphrasing, contextual synonyms, consistency checks, submission readiness and more. It’s like always having a professional academic editor by your side! Go beyond limitations and experience the future of academic writing. Get Paperpal Prime now at just US$12 a month!

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• 3 Easy Ways for Researchers to Improve Their Academic Vocabulary

Paraphrasing in Academic Writing: Answering Top Author Queries

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How to write an essay in English

By ielts expert, 29 june 2023 - 16:00.

Many students say writing is the worst part of their English, but it’s often just a case of confidence. With practice, and the tips in this post, you can gain the confidence you need to maximise your English and really show it off. This post will look at the three stages of writing - planning, writing the text and reading it back.

If you are preparing for an exam, please be aware that for the latest information on exam format you should always go straight to the source – IELTS website . You can practice free online IELTS Academic Writing tests or General Training Writing tests . You can also practice writing your answer by downloading an IELTS Writing Answer Sheet .

Planning is an integral part of your writing. You might say “I don’t plan”, but somewhere in your subconscious, you do! By raising your awareness of your own planning process you can improve enormously. As a teacher, I see many students who plan and many who don’t. In general, the students that plan produce much better work, so if you are in the “no plan” camp, you should at least experiment with some of the ideas coming up.

Planning 1: Address the question

If you are writing for a class assignment or an exam, it is crucial that you address the question given. Adequate planning (five minutes is better than nothing) will keep you on track. 

Start by breaking the question down into its parts. There will usually be two or three aspects to the question. You want not only to cover all aspects of the question, but also make it obvious to your teacher or the examiner that you have done so, and the best way to demonstrate this is to give each aspect its own paragraph.

Planning 2: Brainstorm vocabulary as well as ideas

Once you have identified your paragraphs, think about what vocabulary you have at your disposal. Perhaps you would like to write one paragraph from a particular angle, but when you start planning you might find there are holes in your vocabulary and you are better able to write from a different angle. Choose ideas which best overlap with what you can clearly state in English.

Planning 3: Write chunks of language

Even with all the vocabulary in the world, some ideas are complex to express in writing. Causality, speculation and hypothetical scenarios are all abstract concepts which make it more challenging to say exactly what you want, but these are also an opportunity to push your English ability to the max and show your grammatical range. 

Sound out in your head how you will make your arguments, and when you get stuck, try writing this part down in your plan. It might be a whole sentence of just a clause. This will help you decide if you have enough English ability to get across a really impressive idea, or if you need to simplify your thoughts in order to remain clear to the reader.

Writing the text 1: Use your plan!

I have seen many students write logical, competent plans that address the question, only to go off on a random tangent when they start writing! 

Of course, you might change some things as you go along, for example if you have a new idea, but keeping an eye on your plan will prevent you from getting distracted and bring you back to the question you must answer. It will also keep you aware of how you are doing for word count and time.

Writing the text 2: Write your introduction last

You should at least consider this idea. The purpose of an introduction is to tell the reader what they are going to read, so how can you write the introduction when you haven’t written the content yet?

Introductions are fiddly to write on a blank canvas, but much easier when we already have the content written in front of us.

If you are writing on paper, it is still possible to write the introduction last - you just need to leave a few lines for it.

Writing the text 3: Make sure your introduction and conclusion match

Your introduction and conclusion should also match the content of your main body paragraphs. This might seem obvious, but I wish I had a euro for every time I have seen an introduction passionately in favour of something followed by body paragraphs and a conclusion that were passionately against.

This problem can be avoided by writing your conclusion last, as suggested above. It will also be avoided by planning, and thinking a little more deeply how you feel about the question before you start. When I say a little more deeply, I’m talking about a minute or so, not hours.

Writing the text 4: Use linkers

Linkers are often misunderstood as simply a way of showing “formal English” but in fact, we use linkers all the time, even when chatting with friends. We use them in speech and in writing to indicate “I’m going to add to what was just said,”  “I’m going to contradict what was just said,” and generally to help the listener or reader understand where we are going next.

After writing the text

This is another area where many students are very reluctant - you need to read what you wrote! 

Check for spelling errors, missing third person s, capital letters, whatever errors you are prone to make… and if you don’t know what errors you are prone to make, it’s because you aren’t checking your writing, so you need to start today! You can be the expert on your own writing strengths and weaknesses, and this will just make you better and better.

Moreover, you should read back your text because it’s enjoyable to see how skillfully you put your ideas down and how convincing your arguments are. You did it! Well done! Enjoy the moment with some positivity!

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Short Essay Examples for ESL Students

If i ruled the world – short essay (444 words).

Imagine a world without war, injustice and suffering. A world where everyone is treated equally and has the chance to live a happy and fulfilling life. This is the world I envision if I were to rule the world.

To begin with, I would prioritise the abolition of all weapons of war, such as tanks, guns, bombs and rifles. The idea of war and violence is a major cause of suffering in our world, and I believe that by removing these weapons we can prevent the catastrophic consequences of war and create a safer and more peaceful world.

Next, I would abolish borders between countries, allowing people to travel freely and experience the different cultures and lifestyles of other nations. This would help promote unity, understanding and respect between different cultures and foster a sense of community and belonging among all people.

I would also work to eliminate economic injustice by creating a fair and equal distribution of wealth. I would encourage the wealthy to share their wealth with those who are less fortunate, and I would also provide incentives for the poor to work hard and succeed. This would create a more balanced and fairer society where everyone has the opportunity to succeed and prosper.

Another aspect of my vision for the world is a strong emphasis on education. I would introduce an education system that focused on creativity, problem solving and critical thinking, rather than competition and rote learning. This would help to foster a love of learning and a desire to grow and develop as individuals. I would also prioritise education about hate crimes, such as racism and sexism, and work to eliminate these harmful beliefs from society.

I would also ensure the protection of nature and animal life. I would create laws that prohibit the exploitation of animals and ensure that animals are allowed to live comfortably in their natural habitats. I would also encourage people to plant trees, flowers and other vegetation to help protect and preserve the natural world.

Finally, I would introduce a system that rewards positivity and kindness. For example, I would offer discounts to people who smile, as this would encourage people to spread joy and positivity around the world.

Finally, if I were to rule the world, I would work to create a world that is safe, peaceful and just for all people. A world where everyone has the opportunity to succeed and prosper, and where the natural world is protected and preserved for future generations. This vision may seem idealistic, but I believe that with dedication and hard work it is possible to create a better world for us all.

Would You Like to Live in a City or a Town Essay (195 words)

Living in a city or town is a personal preference influenced by a number of factors including lifestyle, job opportunities, cost of living, access to amenities and services, safety and social scene.

City life offers a fast-paced, diverse and dynamic environment with a wealth of job opportunities, cultural activities and entertainment. People who enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life often find it stimulating and energising. They have access to excellent public transport, world-class shopping and dining, world-class museums, theatres and sporting venues.

On the other hand, city life offers a more relaxed and peaceful environment, with a sense of community and close-knit relationships. The cost of living is generally lower and people have more green spaces to enjoy. City dwellers often enjoy a slower pace of life, with plenty of opportunities for outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing and camping.

In conclusion, the decision to live in a city or a town is a personal one, based on individual needs, interests and preferences. Both city and town life have their advantages and disadvantages, and it’s up to you to weigh them up and decide what’s best for you.

Why I Want to be a Police Officer – Short Essay (327 words)

I have always been drawn to the idea of serving and protecting my community. The idea of being a police officer has always appealed to me and I believe that this is the career path that will allow me to fulfil my desire to make a positive impact on the world.

There are several reasons why I want to be a police officer. Firstly, I have a strong sense of justice and a desire to ensure that people are treated fairly and that the law is upheld. I believe that being a police officer will allow me to play a direct role in ensuring that justice is served and that people are held accountable for their actions.

Secondly, I have a strong desire to help others and make a difference to people’s lives. I believe that being a police officer will allow me to serve my community in a meaningful way by protecting citizens, responding to emergencies and helping people in need. I am driven by the desire to make a positive difference to people’s lives and I believe that being a police officer will allow me to do this in a tangible way.

Finally, I am attracted to the challenge and excitement of policing. I believe it is a demanding and rewarding career that will test my physical, mental and emotional strengths. I am excited by the prospect of working in a high-stakes environment, using my critical thinking skills to solve problems and make decisions that affect the lives of others.

In conclusion, I believe that becoming a police officer is the perfect way for me to fulfil my desire to serve and protect my community, make a positive impact on people’s lives, and face exciting and challenging work. I am confident that I have the skills, qualities and determination to succeed in this career and I look forward to the opportunity to serve and protect my community as a police officer.

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Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

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Student Story: Admissions essay about community impact

Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

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Planning Writing Lessons for the Early Elementary Grades

Teachers can provide thoughtful instruction that supports the sustained development of young students’ literacy skills.

Often, attempting to plan effective and purposeful writing instruction raises many questions: What does lesson planning look like? How will I manage so many students who may be in different stages of their writing? How often should they be editing and revising? The list doesn’t stop there.

By utilizing on-demand writing for assessment and long-range writing for scaffolded practice of applying various writing techniques, teachers can approach their instruction with intentional and tailored lessons that meet the needs of the learners in the classroom, as well as help students develop self-regulated behaviors when crafting a piece of text.

On-Demand Writing

Just like any area of instruction, assessment is critical for knowing what the students’ strengths and areas of growth are, and on-demand writing is how teachers can gather that evidence. An on-demand piece of writing simply means that the teacher provides a specific prompt for the student to write to for the purpose of anecdotal data. For example, let’s say a second-grade teacher prepares for a narrative writing cycle. In the first couple of days before the cycle begins, they’ll ask students to write a narrative about something fun they’ve experienced (with their family or a friend). 

After the prompt is given, students get one or two days to write and are provided with all necessary tools to carry out the process of developing a piece of writing without additional modeling or instruction. Effective tools might include graphic organizers, writing paper, tools for editing, and a writing checklist. However, the teacher will not model how to use the tools. The teacher is informally assessing if the students know how to use these resources to develop a story.

After students complete their piece, the teacher collects them for analysis. It is critically important to determine realistic expectations for what writing should look like throughout various points of the year, so creating a common rubric as a grade level is a great way to stay on the same page for analyzing the assessment. 

Writing growth, similar to reading, happens along a continuum of skills. At the beginning of the year, a second grader can’t be expected to write like an end-of-the-year second grader because they haven’t been taught the grade-level skills necessary to do so yet. On-demand benchmark assessments along the way will gradually raise the expectation of what that student should be able to do. Websites such as Reading Rockets and Achieve the Core provide useful anchor examples of real student writing in various genres that provide annotated explanations of students’ overall writing ability and possible next steps for instruction.

As students engage in daily lessons about crafting a narrative within the instructional cycle of a long-range writing piece, another on-demand prompt may be given at the halfway point of the cycle to track growth and drive future instruction. This could be the same prompt as before or a prompt given in response to a story or passage the student has read.  

It’s important to remember that it’s easy to fall into the trap of using writing prompts daily for students to produce writing simply because it’s easy to manage. If we use this approach exclusively, we rob our students of the opportunity to dive deeply into producing self-chosen, elaborate pieces full of voice and author’s craft.

Long-Range Writing

Long-range pieces give students the autonomy to choose their own writing topic while the teacher assists in walking them through the process. This type of instruction instills the executive-functioning behaviors needed when students are asked to write a piece on demand. When considering how to implement this type of writing instruction, it can be overwhelming. Breaking down long-range instruction using the following components allows for a more manageable approach.

Keep your lesson mini: A mini lesson is 15 to 20 minutes long and organized in a gradual release format, and it allows the teacher to model a specific, focused lesson. For example, narrative writing could be broken into the following mini lessons for a beginning-of-the-year cycle for second grade: introduce and describe a setting, introduce and describe the character, edit on the go (this means to stop and edit before we add more writing), describe the first event in the narrative, introduce a problem, etc. Essentially, each lesson will invite students to add to their story one chunk at a time.

Model, provide independent practice: The teacher begins by modeling one learning target using a well-crafted organizer . An effective organizer teaches students that each genre has a specific structure. As learners begin to recognize the pattern in text structure, they can replicate it when assessed in on-demand pieces. For example, the teacher can start by using a text that clearly introduces and describes the setting, and then read that page out loud and ask students what they notice about how the author introduced the setting.  

Next, students are invited to help the teacher write a setting to a story together by offering verbal suggestions. The teacher records the students’ ideas and writes an example introduction in the organizer. Then students think about an idea for an introduction of a setting on their own and are prompted to talk to a partner about their story. The students verbally rehearse what they plan to write, as this provides them an opportunity to organize their thoughts and prepares them to get started as soon as they are released to write independently, using the same organizer that the teacher used to model the mini lesson.  

The benefit of this approach is that it gives the teacher time to provide specific feedback over the same crafting element. Having every student write their complete thoughts directly in the organizer in a chunked manner allows for a better visual of where to correct capitalization and punctuation. Essentially, each lesson should invite students to write one or two complete sentences that can be quickly edited before adding the next part of the story.  

Share and reflect: Close each lesson by bringing students back together so that they have an opportunity to share what they’ve produced. This time celebrates students’ creativity, as well as giving them an opportunity to reflect on how they can improve their writing.   

Both on-demand writing and long-range writing are vital in developing confident writers across various genres. It’s important to approach them with a cyclical scope and sequence that allows students to learn the craft, structure, and development of narrative, informative, and opinion styles of writing. By scaffolding and supporting students’ growth in each genre of writing, learners will begin to automatically apply these techniques more independently as the year progresses because of the solid foundation that has been built. 

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Obituaries submitted on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays are accepted from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. by email only [email protected]

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Obituaries received after Deadline will not be published in the following edition of the paper.

Sending Procedure:

Email is the preferable method for receiving Obituaries (and the only method on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays), they can be sent to [email protected] (Feel free to call and confirm that we’ve received the email)

Formatting:

Obituaries will continue to visually look the same as they currently do, but you will no longer be restricted in what you can say (ex. As much Family can be listed as you’d like; Wording like “Went to rest with the Lord” is now permissible)

There is a cost for each obituary. Pricing and payments are only available Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. All weekend and holiday submissions will be provided a cost the next business day.

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All New accounts, Out of State Funeral Homes and Private Parties will require prepayment upon approval of the obituary. Weekend and Holiday staff are not authorized to set up a new account or process payments

Deadline for the above is before 4:00 PM Mon – Fri. only (Holiday schedules may vary).

Prepayment required submissions will be handled on the very first business day following the weekend and/or holiday schedule. A complete name, address and best contact phone number are required upon submittal of your obituary request to set up your account. A proof will then be emailed for review but placed on hold until payment is received.

Sponsored Content | The 7 Best Essay Writing Services in the U.S.

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We’ve identified the top seven online essay writing services, picking only the cream of the crop based on a multitude of genuine reviews and comprehensive research from our side..

PaperHelp has very high customer service ratings, with a 4.7 out of 5 rating according to more than a thousand reviews as of April 3, 2024. Ease of use, quality of custom papers, and value for money are the most-cited reasons for the high ratings given to the company by undergraduate students.

We consider PaperHelp to be the best essay writing service in the United States and beyond due to the consistently high quality, originality, and value for money it provides to its customers.

The company allows the customer to be involved in the paper-writing process from its very beginning. You can get updates from the writer, review the essay while in progress, and request free revisions if needed. You get three revisions for free, which is usually more than enough to get the required result.

PaperHelp offers a variety of writing services, including essay, research paper, thesis, and dissertation writing for every level of academia.

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• Great value for money, affordable
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• Great loyalty program for regular customers and resellers
• Most essential extras are paid and expensive
• It takes quite some time to find a suitable writer for Master’s degree assignments

No matter the level of academia you are working in, PaperHelp can provide high-quality, original, written-from-scratch, plagiarism-free essays at a great value. We highly recommend PaperHelp to students as the top college essay writing service in the United States.

    2. BBQPapers — The Best Essay Writers, Premium Service

BBQPapers offers high-quality research papers and essays, plagiarism-free, and a high level of customer service. In addition, the company claims to have professional-level editors in the top 2% of academic excellence write and review your essays.

BBQPapers have a process whereby each paper is checked against the web and its own database for originality. BBQPapers also offers free revisions within ten days, accurate citations, professional editing, and a 60-day money-back guarantee.

BBQPapers offers incentives in the form of loyalty program discounts and a “pay as you go” zero-interest plan option for projects priced over $500. The company also offers standalone editing and proofreading services and custom services for odd academic assignments.

This service guarantees security and confidentiality to its customers and guarantees the quality of the papers it produces for students.

Pricing is around $6 per 100 words, with editing and proofreading priced separately as standalone services. This is a bit pricey for writing services in the United States compared to the others we reviewed.

• The best quality among all essay services, writers are Ph.D. and M.A. degree holders
• Extra long money-back guarantee (60 days)
• Pay as you go option for expensive papers
• 99% of the writers are native speakers of English
• Essential add-ons are free
• Prices are above average
• Writing samples are not available

Customer satisfaction with BBQPapers is high. Students appreciate the quality and security this essay service offers to them and have been largely pleased with the final results, garnering good grades for their submissions.

   3. MyAdmissionsEssay — The Best Service for Application Essays

Even though the name suggests that this company specializes solely in admission essays, this website offers writing assistance with various academic tasks to all levels of academics, from high school to Ph.D.

In addition, this professional essay writing service boasts a pool of diverse writers with a variety of language skills. Your paper will be written from scratch by a well-educated writer in that particular field of interest. College papers are delivered quickly, as soon as 3 hours turnaround time.

Students may give specific instructions and have access to the writer during the process, as well as opportunities for revision to get the paper edited to their satisfaction.

This company guarantees confidentiality, safety, and plagiarism-free original content written according to scholars’ instructions.

MyAdmissionsEssay has some great reviews on the site, but there are not many available. Customers appreciate the quality of the writing and the quick delivery times.

The pricing of this essay writer service is competitive and affordable, and the service offers 24/7 online support to its customers. The company’s online pricing table is transparent and easy to navigate.

• Best and affordable option for personal statements
• Professional editing & proofreading service
• Quick turnaround
• Truly confidential service
• Limited payment options, the service doesn’t accept PayPal
• Minor typos and grammar errors found in final product

This service seems best for personal statements and simpler essays. Some customers complain of minor mistakes or formatting errors, and students dislike the limited payment options offered by MyAdmissionsEssay.

   4. WritePaperForMe — The Cheapest Paper Writing Service

WritePaperForMe made our list because of its reputation as a truly cheap essay writing service with good quality and customer support.

This service provides the best value for money. If you’re a student on a budget, this is a great service to consider for a simple and original essay with fast delivery at an affordable price.

WritePaperForMe promotes customer-centered service with round-the-clock support as well as free revisions to get your paper exactly where you want it before you submit it. This essay writing company also offers complete confidentiality to college students using its essay services.

Using WritePaperForMe is safe because it has been rated 4.8 out of 5 stars for customer satisfaction, according to hundreds of customer reviews on SiteJabber and other review platforms. In addition, most reviews state that students received good results. Generally, quality and efficiency were also highly rated, but mostly with simple requests.

WritePaperForMe is a place where you can hire a cheap essay writer who is knowledgeable enough to write a short, simple essay that you just don’t have enough time to write yourself.

This site has hundreds of writers online and takes pride in the speedy delivery of good-quality papers. The WritePaperForMe website also provides quite a few essay samples listed by category. Students have free access to these essays and excellent customer support for ordering the perfect paper to suit their needs, regardless of topic.

Some customers complained that some of the writers struggled with research-intensive assignments like research papers and dissertations, but the general response to this service was positive.

• Quick and truly affordable
• Great customer service
• Might not be the best option for anything but essays
• Plagiarism report is a paid add-on

We would advise hiring a more professional paper writing service for more in-depth and important papers. WritePaperForMe might not be ideal if you need someone truly knowledgeable to work on your STEM research/term paper, thesis, or dissertation.

   5. GradeMiners — The Fastest Writing Service

This college paper writing service has gone through some changes over the last couple of years. With time, customer reviews of this site are becoming better and better.

GradeMiners is striving to improve its quality, and it shows. This academic writing company is getting high ratings for speedy delivery, updated satisfaction guarantees, and incentives for return customers.

Those incentives are now present in the form of daily discounts and exclusive email offers for return customers who sign up for the newsletter, something that wasn’t available back in the day.

In addition to academic writing services, GradeMiners also offers homework help and problem-solving assistance for high school and college-level students.

This service has fewer professional college essay writers than other sites, and the company generally employs ESL writers. This service offers writing in everything from academic papers to thesis and dissertations.

GradeMiners offers a money-back guarantee as well as free revisions for up to 30 days. The company received a 4.6 out 5 customer rating and claimed to deliver 70% of its orders earlier than the specified deadline.

In spite of claims, discounts, and guarantees, reviews on some services are mixed. Pricing is of great concern because there is no dedicated pricing table for services.

• Great option for rush orders and last-minute papers
• Extra long revision period of 30 days
• Writers are professional enough to handle most papers
• The prices are somewhat high
• Mostly ESL writers

Overall, GradeMiners prices out as a more expensive option than other comparable services. For some students, the trade-off for fast delivery makes it worthwhile.

   6. EssayPro — One of the Most Popular and Reliable Services

EssayPro offers features and perks that other essay writing websites do not. For example, it allows you to browse its writing staff and choose your own writer based on their academic qualifications, areas of interest and expertise, as well as past customer ratings and reviews.

Once you’ve chosen your paper writer, you have access to free unlimited editing, a free title page, and around-the-clock customer support.

EssayPro is certainly a legit essay writing website that offers professional services and has the best reputation for quality, security, and customer satisfaction.

In addition, the company guarantees confidentiality and anonymity so that no one ever knows that you outsourced your essay.

Some customers complain that this service is overpriced, but we found EssayPro to be quite competitive in terms of price. Papers with a shorter return time will be more costly. The more lead time you give, the more writers will garner you a break on the price.

Access to the writer during the process and unlimited editing capability make EssayPro one of the most highly regarded and popular college essay writing services out there.

• Popular and trusted site
• There’s an option to choose your writer yourself
• Round-the-clock support
• No phone support
• Isn’t the best option for theses and dissertations

To make its services affordable, EssayPro mostly hires ESL writers with excellent academic credentials, giving customers a pool of talent to choose from and making the best fit possible for the subject matter being addressed.

   7. EssayNoDelay — Legit Writing Service for ESL Students

EssayNoDelay is a reputable college essay writing service that comes highly recommended. It is an international company based in Bulgaria that employs hundreds of writers, most of whom are ESL.

The company provides excellent customer service via live chat and email. Turnaround times are fast for delivery, but customer service response to student emails can take up to a week, even for emergent requests.

This service, out of all the ones we reviewed, has the deepest discount for first-time customers and returning requests, but you can expect to pay significantly more for subsequent orders.

This online paper writer service has decent pricing but could do better by adding loyalty programs or better discounts for returning customers.

The quality of work from EssayNoDelay is generally good, and reviews are positive. This service boasts that 91% percent of its clients have returned to place more than 5 orders. Most complaints are with regard to minor grammatical or formatting errors in the work.

This company guarantees to provide an original, plagiarism-free paper, with a 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee on its work.

• The best loyalty program among other sites
• Good quality
• Mostly caters towards ESL students, it’s hard to find a writer from the U.S., the UK or Canada
• While first order is cheap, repeat orders are way more expensive

EssayNoDelay has proven to be a cost-effective custom essay writing service that provides professional writing assistance to students at all levels of academia.

Paper Writing Services: Common Questions, Answered

How long does it take to have my essay written for me.

Depending on your chosen service, your essay can be written within hours, days, or weeks. The longer the lead time you allow for some services, the deeper the discounts. You can expect to pay more for rush orders.

The complexity of the paper you order can also impact the turnaround time. If you need to monitor the process, make suggestions to the writer, edit the work, or request revisions after the paper has been produced, it will add time to the process.

We suggest you don’t wait too long to place your order, there are sometimes unexpected issues that can delay the delivery of your paper, and since deadlines and due dates in academia are mostly fixed, it’s up to the scholar to make sure there is enough time for the professional writer to complete the order including proofreading, editing, and revisions if required.

It’s recommended that you keep in contact with the writing service and the hired writer, in particular, to make sure that everything is to your satisfaction to avoid delays.

The responsibility falls to the student or scholar to ensure that essays are submitted to teachers and professors on time with all requirements met regardless of academic level.

Will my essay be written by a professional essay writer?

Some of the reliable essay writing services we have listed hire professional writers at all levels of academia.

Most services will allow the customer to choose the writer based on their field of expertise, academic credentials, and customer reviews posted on the website.

In addition, most websites enable the customer to select either a Native English speaker/writer or an ESL expert.

Some colleges consistently check students’ writing styles, so if you’re an ESL student, it makes sense to hire an ESL writer so that your paper only stands out a little from your own writing.

The most popular sites profile the college essay writers who are the most requested and most highly reviewed to promote them to customers.

Other services will assign the best essay writer based on the type of paper, subject matter, and level of academia needed to complete the task.

All of the services we reviewed guarantee their results and hire experts who are true professionals in their fields or have the academic experience to write with authority on the subject they specialize in.

Most of the services allow you to monitor the process. If communication is an issue, or if you are unhappy with the results, their guarantees allow you to substitute another professional to satisfy your requirements.

How much does it cost to purchase an essay?

If we’re talking about undergraduate writing assignments, the typical price for a single page is about $11-20. It usually varies depending on how fast you need your essay written. On average, a typical three-page college essay written in three days will cost you $50-110.

We advise you to be wary of some cheap essay writing services selling papers for prices lower than $9. While the price may seem appealing, it’s best to steer clear of such sites because they hardly ever deliver papers of subpar quality, let alone high-quality, plagiarism-free essays.

Is it safe to buy essays online?

Yes, you can be reasonably certain that buying papers and essays online through any of the academic writing companies that we have reviewed here will be safe and secure. By using any of these sites, your personal data will be kept confidential and fully protected.

Your school should never learn that you hired an online essay writer to produce a paper for one of your classes. This is a valid concern when employing a writing service to write a paper for you. The possibility that your teacher or professor will learn that you bought your paper online is small.

Here’s the thing. The only way these college paper writing services can continue to thrive and stay in business is to keep student data confidential and safe. Most of them post a security and confidentiality guarantee on their websites. Some students opt to give a pseudonym or merely their initials to help guarantee themselves anonymity.

The companies we mentioned in this review keep their databases secure and do not sell or share student data. In most cases, they have a customer satisfaction guarantee which covers security and quality.

If a company is offering a 100% money-back guarantee, you can wager that they are doing their utmost to avoid giving any refunds.

Are online essay writing services legit?

As with any kind of service you employ, it’s always a case of “buyer beware.” The responsibility falls on the customer to do their due diligence in choosing a reputable and honest and online essay writing service from which to purchase papers.

However, be wary of basing your decisions solely on customer reviews, as many of these companies are plagued by scores of negative reviews from scam sites provided by rival essay writing companies.

Look for well-established websites with a large pool of writers, and be sure to utilize the live chat feature that is on most of the websites, to ask the questions that are pertinent to your situation.

You want to be sure that you employ a writing service with professional paper writers who specialize in your field of study. At the higher levels of academia, you need to be sure that the writers have the academic experience and credentials to produce the quality level required for a thesis or dissertation.

When special formatting and citations are required, you will need to do diligent interviewing of your essay writer to be assured that they are able to produce the quality of content that you require.

What if I am not satisfied with my paper?

The majority of the services you will consider have a process whereby you get edits and revisions for free within a specified period of time after the completion of the work.

In some cases, future edits and revisions will be charged a fee.

Many services also offer a customer satisfaction guarantee which means that the expert essay writer you engage (that the service contracts with) promises to revise the finished product to your satisfaction, or you are entitled to 100% of your money back.

We understand that it rarely goes to that extreme. Most of the time, you will be able to obtain a final product to your satisfaction on the first try, even without asking for a revision.

If you want to achieve that, please provide the most descriptive order instructions that you can. This way, you can avoid the revision process and save yourself and your writer some time.

Part of making sure that the best outcome is to choose a writing service that employs proficient and professional essay writers in your area of study and that you give clear and explicit instructions as to the formatting, citation, and style of essay you require.

We also recommend that you check in regularly with your writer throughout the process so that you may be able to catch any issues that may arise and be able to correct them right away.

What are the main drawbacks of essay writing services?

The main drawbacks of using companies that write essays for you are the expense and the risk of discovery. While most essay writing services online are not too costly, getting into larger projects with extensive proofing and editing can become expensive, especially on a student’s budget.

While these sites generally guarantee security and confidentiality, there is always the chance that your professors/teachers may notice a change in the quality or style of your essays and figure out that you purchased the work rather than producing it.

The other drawback of using the services of essay writing websites is that you don’t benefit from the work the same way you would have if you had done the work.

If you are doing the research and the citations, you will be enriched by the process and gain knowledge in the subject from doing the work.

Using a writing service only gives you the benefit of the result, the grade, or the points you gain, rather than a more profound knowledge of the subject matter.

This has the potential to trip you up later in life when you may be called upon for that knowledge in your field of study and lack the expertise because you paid someone else to do the work.

Professional essay writing services fill a need in providing writing assistance to students at all levels of academia, but they should only be used infrequently and in urgent or timely situations where the student or scholar is unable to provide a quality essay on the subject assigned.

We understand that there are circumstances where a writing service can be a real lifesaver. Still, we caution students not to abuse these services or use them as a replacement for acquiring knowledge in their chosen field of study. Instead, when the need arises, choose a reputable service that guarantees good quality work.

The news and editorial staff of the Delco Daily Times had no role in this post’s preparation.

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