In the minds of ESL exam candidates, e ssay writing is one of the most daunting tasks they are required to complete, regardless of the level of the exam, the administering body or the ease with which they themselves use the language. The same applies to students who are asked to write an essay by their teachers at school. In the previous sample essays posted on the blog, the main point I stress is the need to become acquainted with this form of writing (as opposed to writing a letter, review or report, for instance), to get a feel of what authorial voice is and how to organize and progressively express the arguments you wish to make in a coherent manner. Unfortunately, the best way to prepare for exam writing or learn how to write good essays for school is to read as many essays from as many sources as possible, then write as
This is the third sample article that conforms to the writing section requirements of the ECPE (Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English) of the University of Michigan. Reading a variety of articles will help candidates and ESL students acquire a better understanding of what such types of writing involve. As mentioned in the first post to deal with articles , there are a number of points candidates need to bring to the table when it comes to writing. The main ones are: argumentation organization of paragraphs development of one's reasoning wide range of grammatical structures lexical range authorial voice Creating a solid piece of writing that will combine all these points requires a lot of hours spent reading