Skillful 4: Reading and Writing, page 9 - After you watch

Discuss (v.) & discussion (n.) 

page 8

In every unit of Skillful 4, authors Lindsay Warwick and Louis Rogers make frequent use of the verb discuss (2018). The noun discussion is in fact the very first word of every unit, and the third word in every unit is the verb, for example on page 152. Rogers and Zemach almost always collocate the verb discuss with the object noun partner, or put them in close proximity. They clearly intend the discussion to be spoken, which is what we sometimes do, but in many cases, it helps our reading and writing class more to have a written discussion of the questions the authors ask us to discuss.

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Why hold the discussion on an online forum? 

Apart from the fact that ours is a reading and writing class, there are several solid reasons for holding at least some of our discussions online. 

• It practices response writing for fluency. Unlike in more formal academic writing, the goal is not to do research or even to plan carefully, but to quickly communicate your own ideas on a topic or in response to an issue. You should still write complete sentences organized in paragraphs, but we are not looking for a carefully planned piece of work that was extensively reviewed and revised after it was first written and posted. Response writing is not academic writing; it does, however, practice the fluency that is also important in more formal work.  
   
• This sort of response writing is common at universities today. As part of their assessment, students are often expected to participate in online discussion forums that explore issues raised in lectures, seminars, or tutorials. This sort of response writing is a common component of academic work. 
   
• Brainstorming and sharing ideas independently of face-to-face group discussion typically produces a wider and more thoughtful variety of responses, which is good for the group. See, for example, the articles on this in the Harvard Business Review by Art Markman (2017), Andrew O’Connell (2010), and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (2015). (If you are interested, read some of the sources I've cited here after our class. They are all short.) 

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Warwick and Rogers' questions 

Rogers and Zemach's questions are: 

1. 

   Click to enlarge image

   Would a service like On Your Way be useful for you? 
    
2. Would you be happy to fulfil an On Your Way request for somebody? Why or why not?
    
3. Can you foresee any issues a cross-border courier service like this may face? 
    
4. What impact do you think a service like On Your Way could have on online retailers? 

 

A helpful strategy

Imagine you are writing for someone who has neither seen the question you are answering nor the video that the question follows up. Your job is to clearly communicate your response to that reader. Because your writing should make sense independently of the question it might be answering, it is usually helpful to give background, which can often be done by paraphrasing the question into statements that begin your answer. 

Also, it might work better not to respond to the questions in the order they are given here. That is not necessary. Whatever you do, do not number your answers. Do not write 1, 2, 3, or 4 anywhere in your response. It's OK if you don't cover all five questions. 

You have 12:00 minutes. I strongly suggest you spend at least 2:00 minutes thinking and planning before you start writing. It's a good idea to have some idea where you are going before you start to write, but in quick response writing like this, you might not follow that plan; that's not a problem, but it's still good to have a plan before you start to type.  

 

Remember: sentences in paragraphs 

This is response writing. You want to communicate your ideas fluently as if you were speaking for two or three minutes to someone listening carefully. However, that person can't stop you to ask questions, so it's important to state your ideas in complete sentences organized into paragraphs. 

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References

• Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015, April 2). Why brainstorming works better online. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-brainstorming-works-better-online
   
• Markman, A. (2017, May 18). Your team is brainstorming all wrong. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/05/your-team-is-brainstorming-all-wrong
   
• O'Connell, A. (2010, February 4). Sometimes, it’s better to brainstorm alone. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2010/02/when-its-better-to-brainstorm
   
• Warwick, L. & Rogers, L. (2018). Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, Student's Book Pack (2nd. ed.). London: Macmillan Education