[A feedback sheet I used with students writing problem and solution essays. It was based on the common mistakes my students were making. I included some information from the disadvantages and advantages feedback sheet because I thought it was also relevant to this class. The Linking Words and Phrases section is borrowed from a colleague.]
Problem Solution Writing Common Mistakes
Phrase mistakes
On the other hand
By the way
Nowadays
Especially
Grammar Mistakes
It has—there are
easy—easier
cause--occur
make us easy
make us difficult to live
wrong modal verb
effect/ affect
Structure Mistakes
weak conclusions
less than 3 paragraphs of solutions
Two different topics in the same paragraph
Solutions unrelated to main problem (e.g. talking about
solutions to global warming in an essay on traffic jams, or in an essay on
deforestation.)
Linking Words and Phrases
To
introduce points:
·
One
advantage/disadvantage of
·
A further
advantage/disadvantage is
·
One point of view
in favor of/or against
·
It can be argued
that
To
list points:
·
In the first
place,
·
First of all,
·
To start with,
·
Firstly,/Secondly,/Thirdly,
·
Finally,
To
add more points to the same topic:
·
What is more,
·
Also,
·
Furthermore,
·
In addition to
this/that,
To
make contrasting points:
·
On the other
hand,
·
Although
·
However,
·
In spite of
this/that,
·
Nevertheless,
·
Despite
this/that,
·
Even though
To introduce examples:
·
For example,
·
For instance,
·
In particular,
To
conclude:
·
To sum up,
·
All in all,
·
In conclusion,
·
All things
considered,
·
As was previously
stated,
Additional advice:
Remember that phrases used to
make contrasting points (like “On the
other hand”) are good to use at the beginning of a contrasting
paragraph. You shouldn’t use it in the
middle of a paragraph.
This is correct:
The
Internet is useful for finding new information.
On the
other hand, the Internet can also waste a lot of time.
This is incorrect:
The
Internet is useful for finding new information. On the other hand, the internet is also
useful for keeping in touch with friends and family.
Also
remember that you can use “but” or “although” in a contrasting sentence, but
don’t use both in the same sentence.
|These are correct sentences.
Although I like pizza, I don’t like
hamburgers.
I like pizza but I don’t like hamburgers.
This is an incorrect sentence:
Although I like pizza, but I don’t like
hamburgers.
Below
is the correct example of how paragraphs should be written.
The food of Cambodia includes tropical fruits, rice,
noodles and various soups. Cambodians
like to eat a rice noodle soup called 'kah-tieu' in the morning. Cambodians are
famous for a type of 'kah-tieu' called 'kah-tieu Phnom Penh' which has shrimp,
beef balls, fried garlic, pork broth and chicken. Cambodians also eat a red
curry noodle soup with rice vermiclle noodles. Curry is also eaten with rice or
French bread in Cambodia. Cambodian food is similar to Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai food.
Cambodia also has a mystical tattoo called a yantra
tattoo that is popular with soldiers. A yantra tattoo has ancient Khmer and
Pali(An ancient Indian language) writing. A yantra tattoo is usually done by a
religious person or monk. The tattoo artist guarantees that the person cannot
receive any physical harm as long as they follow certain conditions. A person
is suppose to not talk to anyone for three days and three nights. Another
alternative is to follow the five Buddhist percepts. Movie star actress
Angelina Jolie is known to have a yantra tattoo.
The
example below is incorrect.
The food of Cambodia includes tropical fruits, rice,
noodles and various soups. Cambodians
like to eat a rice noodle soup called 'kah-tieu' in the morning. Cambodians are
famous for a type of 'kah-tieu' called 'kah-tieu Phnom Penh' which has shrimp,
beef balls, fried garlic, pork broth and chicken. Cambodians also eat a red curry
noodle soup with rice vermiclle noodles. Curry is also eaten with rice or
French bread in Cambodia. Cambodian food is similar to Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai food.
Cambodia also has a mystical tattoo called a yantra
tattoo that is popular with soldiers. A yantra tattoo has ancient Khmer and
Pali(An ancient Indian language) writing. A yantra tattoo is usually done by a
religious person or monk. The tattoo artist guarantees that the person cannot
receive any physical harm as long as they follow certain conditions. A person
is suppose to not talk to anyone for three days and three nights. Another
alternative is to follow the five Buddhist percepts. Movie star actress
Angelina Jolie is known to have a yantra tattoo.
Introduction:
Work with a partner. What mistakes can you find in the following
essay:
Nowaday the Internet
is becoming more and more popular all the time.
Many people use the internet everyday now. However, using the Internet has many
advantages and disadvantages.
There many advantages for
using the Internet. One advantage is
that you can find information very easily using the Internet. For example, you can use the Internet to find
a lot of information. On the other hand,
the Internet is very useful for studying, and finding information.
There also many
disadvantages to using the Internet and
although you can find lots of useful information, but it can also be a waste of
time and especially many people use the Internet
too much these days, and will ruin their eyesight. If we use the Internet too much, it will be
bad for your eyesight.
In fact although there
are many advantages and disadvantages to using the Internet, but I think the
Internet has more advantages than disadvantages. Using the Internet is very useful for us.
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