supplementary material for Academic Writing for the Master in TEFL / FUNIBER

1. Paragraph
Writing
Compiled by M.Ed. Maria Luisa Mu, 2012-2013

2. What is a paragraph?
O A paragraph is a group of sentences
about a single topic.
O The sentences of the paragraph explain
the writer’s main idea about the topic.
O In academic writing, a paragraph is often
between five and ten sentences long.
Taken from Academic Writing from paragraph to essay by D. Zemach & L. Rumisek, Macmillan,
UK. 2009

3. Paragraph organisation
O The topic sentence: The main idea of the
paragraph.
O The supporting sentences: They explain
the topic sentence.
O The concluding sentences: The last
sentence of the paragraph
Taken from Academic Writing from paragraph to essay by D. Zemach & L.
Rumisek, Macmillan, UK. 2009

4. The topic sentence
O It is the most important sentence in a
paragraph.
O It indicates what the paragraph is going to
discuss.
O It is a complete sentence.
O It contains both a topic and a controlling
idea.
O It is the most general statement in the
paragraph.
Taken from Writing Academic English by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Pearson Educ. 2006

5. Topic sentences
Taken from Writing Academic English by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Pearson Educ.
2006

6. Supporting sentences
O After you have chosen a topic and written
a topic sentence, you develop your main
idea by adding more information to
explain what you mean.
O Three common ways of doing this is:
O Giving details
O Giving an explanation
O Giving an example
Taken from Academic Writing from paragraph to essay by D. Zemach & L.
Rumisek, Macmillan, UK. 2009

7. Supporting sentences
Taken from Writing Academic English by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Pearson Educ. 2006

8. Example of supporting Sentences
Taken from Writing Academic English by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Pearson Educ. 2006
Example
Quotations
Statistics

9. The Concluding Sentence
O It is the final sentence of a paragraph.
O It sums up the main points or restates the
main idea in a different way.
O It reminds the reader of what the writer’s
main idea and supporting points were.
O It should give the same information in a
slightly different way.
O It should not introduce a new point.
Taken from Academic Writing from paragraph to essay by D. Zemach & L.
Rumisek, Macmillan, UK. 2009

10. The Concluding Sentence
O A concluding sentence serves two
purposes:
O It signals the end of the paragraph.
O It leaves the reader with the most
important ideas to remember by
summarizing the main points of the
paragraph or by repeating the topic
sentences in different ways.

11. End of Paragraph Signals
Taken from Writing Academic English by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Pearson Educ.

12. Concluding Sentences:
Another example
Taken from Writing Academic English by Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue, Pearson
Educ. 2006

13. Peer Editing
O There are two reasons for peer-editing:
O To get a reader´s opinion about your
writing (whether you should add more
details, something is not organised
clearly, you have some information that is
not relevant).
O To read more examples of writing.

14. How to peer-edit
O Read the work several times. The first time
from the beginning to an end, the second time
more slowly and look for specific parts of the
writing.
O Look for topic sentences and concluding
sentences.
O Note places where it is difficult to understand
and where there is unnecessary information.
O Pay attention just to the content and
organisation of the work.