📝 A glimpse of my writing class: a high-level structure - effortlessly 📝

I don't teach grammar as such in my writing classes, but there is one thing I often do to help my students introduce more complex structures into their writing. I want to show you a glimpse of what we did today in my C2 Proficiency writing class.

Whenever we are reading something, be it an article or my essay, I am always on the lookout for structures and patterns. Here is what we were reading today: "If language is like a game of charades, then that has real-life implications. Words, phrases and sentences are only the tip of the communication iceberg. They give clues to meaning, but below the surface lies a whole range of other things that are necessary for us to interpret what is said."

So what do I see in this fairly simple piece of writing? It's "but below the surface lies a whole range of other things" - inverted word order (without any inversion!). The verb "lies" goes before the subject "range." This is a low-frequency structure that will definitely give my students' writing some "substance."

I don't bother going into long-winded theoretical explanations here. Instead, I give my students a sentence frame and ask to finish it: "Essay writing seems fairly straightforward, but below the surface lies a whole range of ..."

And look at the results I got today. Are they a thing of pure beauty? 💜

1️⃣ "Essay writing seems fairly straightforward, but below the surface lies a whole range of cohesive devices that have to be used appropriately."

2️⃣ "Essay writing seems fairly straightforward, but below the surface lies a whole range of devices that are yet to be studied."

3️⃣ "Essay writing seems fairly straightforward, but below the surface lies a whole range of subskills that have to be mastered."

This is one sentence frame I gave my students. I typically give two or three. Here is the second one: "... but below the surface lies a whole range of problems that ... ." Feel free to write a sentence in the comments. 📝

At the end of the class, I gave my students a challenge: Use "but below the surface lies a whole range of" in your next essay.

And this is how we add a high-level structure into our writing effortlessly. No long-winded explanations required. 💜