For my advanced writing class, it has been somewhat of a challenge to come up with appropriate process prompts. I like the idea of describing a process, as it is an authentic academic task, requires advanced objective language (formal tone, passives, focus on objects and procedures rather than people, adjective clauses, etc.). It is also more challenging for students than the typical ESL topics, such as "Should cell phones be used in the classroom?" and "Culture Shock." However, it is difficult to select processes that do not required extensive research or background knowledge. So far, I have come up with two lists:
a) "Ready-to-Write" Process Prompts - For these prompts, I supply a chart or outline of content for each step. Students need to organize the information, expand and describe, include examples, and produce a polished piece with a thesis statement, topic sentences, introduction, and conclusion. These prompts work well at any time, but also for in-class assessment.
- Modern Education: a) Elementary/Secondary Education; b) Post-secondary/University Education; and c) On-the-job training/Internships
- The Water Cycle: a) Precipitation; b) Surface Runoff; c) Evaporation and Transpiration; d) Condensation
- Recycling Plastics: a) Collection; b) Sorting and Cleaning; c) Melting and Re-processing
- How Products Get to Consumers: a) Manufacturing; b) Packaging/Transportation; c) Selling at Stores
- Air Transportation: Booking Flights; Check-in; Security Screening; Boarding
b) "Need-Prep" Process Prompts - These are prompts that require students to read articles or watch videos to glean information on the process in order to write their paragraph or essay. Usually, I supply them with quality resources. For these assignments, I focus on source integration (direct quotes and paraphrases), as plagiarism can be a temptation here.
- Uber
- GPS
- Starting a New Business
- Water Cycle
- Product Life Cycle
c) "Hybrid" Process Prompts - I think sometimes it may be a good idea to have students research a process and take notes. But then, for to compensate for reading/listening ability or lack of background knowledge, I will also give them a chart of information to use.
- Product Life Cycle - I first had them watch a video (recorded business lecture), but then supplied them with the following notes to which they could compare their own with. This helped the students who were not as familiar with business topics.
STEP 1: Take notes
Step 2:
Compare your notes with this
information. Is there any information from the video you can add?
Body:
What are some examples to use for each stage?
Stages
|
Examples, support
Think of
specific products and companies
|
Introduction:
|
|
Growth
|
|
Maturity
|
|
Decline
|
Step 3: Organize the information
With the information on the chart, number and organize
the details. See this one as an example. You don’t need to use ALL the examples
you can think of à
only choose two or three products you think are good support for that
paragraph.
Growth
o E.g. companies making fitness
trackers à Fitbit (original), now others: Nike Fuelband, Digifit
iCardio, Jawbone Up
o E.g. smart watches – Apple
(original); now other companies: Samsung, etc.
o E.g. fitness trackers, smart watches,
virtual reality games, etc.
|
Fitbit – fitness
tracker
Smart watches
Virtual reality games
3D printers
Electric cars
|
Step 4: Plan your intro and concluding paragraphs
Introduction
strategy (choose one or two):
__ Startling fact
__ Anecdote (briefly tell the story of a company and
what happened to their product)
__ Give historical background
__ Give general background about new products
Conclusion
strategy (choose one or two):
__ Give advice to new business owners
__ Make predictions about how this cycle may change in
the future (with technology, as consumers change, etc.)
__ Give explanations as to why products follow this
cycle? (what does this show us about human nature and consumer behavior?)
__ Talk about why knowing about this cycle is
important for people and who should care about this