6A Writing and Vocabulary An essay

1 Look at the Writing task. Do the notes agree with the topic of the panel discussion?

Your class has attended a panel discussion on the topic Memorisation of facts and figures is useless for our generation. You have made the notes below:

• Memorisation is a necessary first step in learning. For example, learning letters and sounds in order to read.
• If we don’t spend too much time memorising facts, that frees up our time and brain power to do more challenging things.
• If we are too reliant on technology to remember things for us, we may lose our ability to memorise.

  Write an essay for your tutor discussing two of the ideas in your notes. Explain which idea is most important and provide reasons to support your opinion.

2 Read the essay written for the task in Exercise 1 on page 57. Answer the questions.

1 Which two ideas did the student choose to discuss from the question?

2 Which idea did the student consider most important? What reasons did they give?

3 What is the topic of each paragraph?

As he cannot use a calculator, he will have to work out the sum in his head.

Not being able to use a calculator, he will have to work out the sum in his head.

Many people automatically use calculators these days, which has resulted in an inability to do mental arithmetic.

Many people automatically use calculators these days, resulting in an inability to do mental arithmetic.

3 Study Watch Out! Then replace the underlined parts of the sentences with participle clauses.

1 Due to the fact that I memorised certain poems at school, I can still recite them.

2 Because I did a lot of revision, I passed the test easily.

3 I missed a lot of training sessions, which left me struggling during the match.

4 Because they know critical thinking is important, teachers try to include it in lessons.

5 I got up late, which meant that I missed my bus to training.

6 As I am not very good at cricket, I need to practise more.

4 In pairs, read the essay question. Which of these methods do you think is most effective and why? Do you agree with the opinions expressed?

Your class has listened to a radio discussion about different ways to learn a language. You have made the notes below.

Ways of learning a language:

• with a self-study app,
• with a teacher,
• living in the country where the language is spoken.

  Some opinions expressed in the programme:

• ‘A teacher isn’t always available in the way that an app is.’
• ‘Having lived abroad, I think it’s much easier to learn the language because you’re surrounded by it all the time.’
• ‘A teacher can explain things so you really understand.’

5 WRITING TASK Write an essay discussing two of the ways of learning a language in the notes in Exercise 4. You should explain which way is the best and provide reasons to support your opinion.

Use the Graphic Organiser to help you plan your writing.

Being able to look up facts and figures instantly online, it is debatable whether it is still necessary for students to learn information by heart. However, I believe that there are substantial benefits to memorising key facts.

Those who would agree that memorisation is now an outmoded skill would contend that the time teachers spend drumming information into their students could be better employed in teaching them how to think. It is certainly a practical approach as this way students learn how to interpret and apply the knowledge. This critical thinking skill comes in handy when looking for a job as it is now highly valued by employers, leading to an overall greater emphasis on such skills within the field of education.

On the other hand, having spent a great deal of time learning my times tables as a child, I am now able to easily do simple sums in my head, and I greatly value that ability. Naturally, we all have access to a calculator on our phones these days, but do we really want to be so utterly dependent on technology? We should be able to do basic maths unaided, and we ought to have at least a rudimentary knowledge of world history and science. There is also an argument that we need to continue to use our capacity to memorise or it is likely to atrophy. The brain is quick to adapt to the new normal, and discard any skills it perceives as unnecessary.

In conclusion, while it is of course important to leave room in the curriculum for developing creativity and thinking skills, it is ultimately vital that we continue to memorise. I would therefore argue that we need to retain both our ability to do so, and our ability to function without being reliant on technology.

□ I can write an essay considering other people’s points of view.