Hints for Success

• Use normal word order.

• Write sentences of 12-25 words.

• Use parallel structure.

• To achieve coherence and ensure a smooth forward movement from one piece of information to the next use transitions: conjunctions and linking words.

• Build each paragraph around a central idea. This idea is expressed in a topic sentence – often the first sentence of the paragraph – and developed in supporting sentences.

• Check your essay carefully for correct spelling, good style, clear thesis and strong supporting details.

Appendix 4 The Group Charter Samples

The Group Charter

We, the people of the group ‘Smart Guys’, in order to form a more perfect union, to make the process of learning more enjoyable and effective and to achieve realistic but impressive goals in the English language, to broaden our minds and equip ourselves with the communicative and intercultural competence, establish this Charter.

We promise:

• to be always active;

• to help each other;

• to be patient;

• to speak English in class;

• to do home assignments;

We promise NOT:

• to be late for classes;

• to sit back;

• to be passive;

• to be lazy;

• to criticize each other;

• to bring pets;

• to chew loudly;

• to skip classes.

Please, sign

Appendix 5

Vocabulary Map

When one plans to communicate effectively, s/he, first of all, thinks about the topic or the subject of communication and answers to the question ‘What should communication be about?’ Then s/he tries to evaluate the situation of communication answering the questions ‘What is my own role in communication?’, ‘What is my audience?’, and ‘What are time circumstances, motive, and goal of communication?’ Only after getting this holistic vision one can choose the vocabulary items that will not only suit the topic but also match the audience, goal and physical settings of communication.

Where from does a communicator take vocabulary items? Of course s/he takes them from personal vocabulary that is being built throughout the person’s life. One's life experience influences the vocabulary that one uses. Think of yourselves. When you get to know something, you immediately try to name it, finding different words – nouns – for the new concept. You also try to characterize the phenomenon that you named, describing it with some other words – adjectives. You may even want to tell others about your experience with this named phenomenon, so for this you need words that express actions – verbs – and their characteristics – adverbs. It is necessary to make your story relevant to the situation of communication, so you need specific conversational formulas and set expressions. All the words and expressions reflect your experience and feelings toward the phenomenon. This is the way a personal vocabulary is being built both in your native language and in a foreign one.

T o facilitate your learning of English we recommend you to build your personal vocabulary consciously. To do it efficiently you can make a Vocabulary Map for each concept that you find important to discuss in English. A Vocabulary Map is a list of words and expressions that describe one concept, are divided according to the purpose of their usage and are graphically organized in the way you like it. One of the ways to organize a Vocabulary Map is given in the picture.

T he Map in the bottom-right corner gives you an example of how to fill the Vocabulary Map with the words relevant to the notion 'University'. However you can organize your personal vocabulary in lots of different ways: as a graph, as a table, as a tree, etc. In this book we propose you a form of a table (see Suggested Vocabulary for Unit 1, pp. 132-133, 143-145) and a list (see Suggested Vocabulary for Unit 2, pp. 150, 159, 168). Try several variants and you will definitely find the most suitable one.