Writing Skills
	Skill Check Use of English Use Of English - What To Consider (Starter Level) Use Of English - What To Consider (Development Level) Resources You Can Use Academic Abbreviations Academic Papers Writing An Academic Paper - What To Consider Getting Academic Papers Published Resources You Can Use Essay Writing Essay Writing - What To Consider (Starter Level) Essay Writing - What To Consider (Development Level) Examples of Sequences of Arguments in Essays Resources You Can Use Final Year Dissertations or Projects Final Year Dissertations or Projects - What To Consider Resources You Can Use Learning Logs and Diaries Producing Learning Logs and Diaries - What To Consider Note Taking Note Taking - What To Consider Resources You Can Use		Instruction Words Plagiarism Portfolios of Written Work Producing a Portfolio of Written Work - What To Consider Portfolios of Written Work - Examples of Possible Evidence Referencing How to Make a List of References Report Writing Report Writing - What To Consider (Starter Level) Possible Structures for Reports Report Writing - What To Consider (Development Level) Resources You Can Use Written Applications (for Jobs/Courses/Other Opportunities) Written Applications - What to Consider Application Forms Examples of Probing Questions in Application Forms Curriculum Vitae (CV) Examples of CVs Letter of Application Resources You Can Use

Why are writing skills so important?

Writing is the main means of communication on courses, and your ability to write well will influence your assessment. Developing your writing skills is also important for employment, as employers want employees who can write well.

The topics in this section cover your use of English (very important to ensure that what you write can be clearly understood), how to write in a range of formats (eg essays; reports; etc), and academic conventions (eg referencing).

Use this Writing Skills theme....

• when you have a writing task to do, making notes as you go through to help you with that task (eg use 'Report Writing' when you have an actual report to write);
• when you can give some time to generally developing your writing skills.

How to use the Writing Skills theme

You can either start by:

• working through the 'Skill Check'. This will help you evaluate your writing skills and will then suggest which topics in the system will most help you;
• going straight to items listed in the contents or menu.

Note that some of the topics are at two levels:

• Starter, for those new to the topic or those who want to review their skills in relation to it;
• Development, for those with experience of the topic.

It is strongly suggested that you begin by looking at the Starter Level, to remind you of the basics.

To navigate through this section keep clicking on + in the menu to the left of the screen to see all the topics, or click on the items in the contents at the top of this page. You can also use the search engine on the top tool bar. You can return to this page by using the arrows on the top and bottom tool bars.

The system includes a Scratch Pad, in which you can make notes and copy text and references from the system, so you can use this theme to help you prepare your work. There are also Activities in the guidance which you can copy into the Scratch Pad.

Click on the Scratch Pad symbol on the tool bar at the top of the screen. The Help in the Scratch Pad tells you how to use it. You need a floppy disk to save your work from the Scratch Pad.