Study the following information about ways of writing a report

Discuss the following questions in pairs or in small groups

1. Does collaboration between universities is a good way of increasing students’ interest to education?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of universities’ collaboration?

3. Would you like to study at university in another country? Why? Why not?

4. What foreign university would you prefer to study?

5. What are the ways of winning a chance of getting education abroad?

Writing a report

A report is a presentation of facts and findings, usually as a basis for recommendations; written for a specific readership, and probably intended to be kept as a record. All sections of the report should be clearly defined and structured. Report writing begins with being asked to write a report. Reports are almost always asked for, and are documents - short or substantial in size. The following should roughly be the structure of a report. Note that these are just guidelines, not rules. You have to use your intelligence in working out the details of your specific writing. The report has the following structure:

1. overview

2. background

3. discussion

4. conclusion

1. The overview is a brief summary which tells the reader quickly what the report is all about. Begin with a brief summary of the main points of your report. In this part briefly tell what the report is going to tell and then state the objectives of the report. You should identify the purpose and the most important features of the report, states the main conclusion, and sometimes makes recommendations. It does this in as few words as possible, condensing the report to several key sentences.

2. The background sets the scene for your reader. There is no need to confuse the overview with the background if you remember that the overview provides a brief summary of the entire report, whereas the background introduces the subject and explains the reason for the report. According to the requirements of your report, the background should try to answer such questions as Who? What? Why? Where? And When? The background information should place your reader mentally in the picture before he/she has to consider your findings and conclusions.

3. The discussion presents your findings. You should have as much evidence (facts, arguments, details, data, and results) as a reader will need to understand the subject. You must develop these findings in an organized, logical manner to avoid confusing your reader. You should also present your findings imaginatively to hold his/her interest. During the discussion, you may want to use headings and subheadings if you are discussing different aspects of the subject. Each heading or subheading must be an informative mini-title, summarizing the material covered in the paragraphs it is meant to introduce.

4. Conclusions briefly state the major points that can be drawn from the discussion. If there is more than one conclusion, state the main conclusion first, and the remaining conclusions in decreasing order of importance. Although recommendations are not a necessary part of a report, you may include a discussion of your recommendations in this part of the report.

Useful language for report
Opening remarks	I recently visited and have prepared the following report for your consideration / further to my visit to / the following report relates to my resent visit to…
General comments	On the whole, I found that … / although …, I should point out that…/ It is a fact that …
Comparing places or facilities	One of the most differences between X and Y is that… / X is completely / entirely totally different from Y in that … / Unlike X, Y is … / While / whereas / although X is …, Y is … / X is a little / slightly / somewhat / a great deal that Y / X is not quite / nearly / as (good, convenient) as Y because… / X is virtually / exactly the same as Y when it comes to…
Closing remarks	All things considered, I believe that… / Taking all these points into consideration, I would recommend… / I recommend that we look into the possibility of…

2) You would like to get familiarized with Purchase College, State University of New York (SUNY), in order to have some idea about it before you possibly decide to enrol there.Study the http://www.purchase.edu/ site and inform your classmates on the following subjects:

• Undergraduate Credit Courses
• Hybrid and Online Courses
• School of Liberal Studies and Continuing Education
• School of Humanities
• Interdisciplinary Majors and Minors
• Personal Enrichment Courses

You would like to know about the minimum number of hours for getting credits, content and expectations, tuition fees, enrolment policies and any relevant additional information.

Write a report sharing this information and expressing your opinion on the available choice. Use appendix 7 for samples of report.

Read the information of the second part of the textbook “Academic writing practice” about writing a grant and compose the preliminary table of contents of the proposal.

Use appendix 6 to follow the sample of the table of contents of the project proposal.

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