This presentation provides relevant concepts in writings.

1. COMMUNICATION
AND TECHNICAL WRITING
By:
ANA LIZA C. LOPEZ, PhD
Jose Rizal Memorial State University – Tampilisan Campus
Znac, Tampilisan, Zamboanga del Norte

2. What is Communication?
- the art of transmitting information, ideas and
attitudes from one person to another
- the process of meaningful interaction among human
beings.

3. Why Written Communication?
Creates a permanent record
Allows you to store information for future reference
Easily distributed
All recipients receive the same information
Necessary for legal and binding documentation
Writing Skills = career requirement
More than a “nice thing to have” – a necessity
Your Writing = Your Personality
As a professional, it is crucial to write well

4. The ability to write does not require a unique talent or an
outstanding mental ability
Everyone has the basic skills necessary to write well
A basic understanding of writing and a commitment to
writing well in all situations is needed as a professional
Questions a writer asks
How do I begin?
What is my purpose?
How do I make my point clear?
How do I create a logical flow?
How do I say what I mean?
How do I avoid grammatical errors?
How can I make my message brief?
How can I create a visual effect?

5. The Writing Process
Planning Writing Quality Control
Characteristics of Good Writing:
Completeness: all needed information are provided
Correctness: relevant and precise information
Credibility: support your argument
Clarity: should not be vague, confusing, ambiguous
Conciseness: to the point
Consideration: anticipate the reader’s reaction

6. A REVIEW OF THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF
GRAMMAR DISCOURSE
LESSON 1
THE SENTENCE
Well-created sentences express ideas clearly.
An effective composition – like a well-written theme, article,
narrative or an essay – is developed from a series of related
paragraphs, which in turn are created from clear and coherent
sentences.
A well-structured composition cannot be framed from faulty
paragraphs, nor god paragraphs be made from awkward, choppy
and incomplete sentences.

7. ERRORS IN WRITING SENTENCES
Two common errors in writing sentences are sentence
fragments and run-on sentence.
Sentence Fragments
- a group of words that does not make sense at all.
Avoiding Sentence Fragments
To avoid sentence fragments, make certain that each sentence
contains a subject and a verb, and make sense. Pay attention to how
the following sentence fragments have been revised to form complete
sentences:
Example 1. Water pollution which can be prevented through waste
water treatment
Example 2. Population rapidly increasing
Example 3. Wastes from factories polluting rivers and seas

8. Example 1. Water pollution which can be prevented through
wastewater treatment
The above example does not make a complete sentence because it
has a subject but no predicate. Which can be prevented through
wastewater treatment is a subordinate clause and subordinate clauses
do not function as predicates.
To correct example 1, delete the relative pronoun which and replace
this with an auxiliary verb.
a. Water pollution can be prevented through waste water treatment.
Another way is to retain the subordinate clause and add a complete
predicate.
b. Water pollution can be prevented through waste water treatment,
is a government-initiated project.

9. The second and third examples contain participial phrases. To
correct such fragments, change the participles to predicates by
using auxiliary verbs or participles as main verbs.
Example 2. Population rapidly increasing
•a. Population is rapidly increasing.
b. Population increases rapidly.
Example 3. Wastes from factories polluting rivers and seas
•a. Wastes from factories are polluting our rivers and seas.
b. Wastes from factories pollute our rivers and seas.

10. Skilled writers sometimes use sentence fragments for the purpose of
style. These are called elliptical sentences. An elliptical sentence is a
grammatically incomplete group, a part of a sentence without a
subject or a predicate or both, but the omitted parts are understood
from the context. This is common in recording dialogues or giving
answers to question like:
” Where have you been?”
“ In the library.”
“ Did you work on your assignment?”
“ Yes.”
Or in some exclamatory or transitional statements like:
Fine!
What a mess (that was)!
Never again (will I let him enter my house)!
Now (here is) another important matter.

11. Run-On Sentences
Another common writing fault is the run-on sentence. A run-
on sentence occurs when its writer fails to recognize the end of a
sentence which runs on into the next sentence without proper
punctuation or any punctuation.
Run-on sentences, also called fused sentence, consist of two
or more grammatically correct sentences written as if they were one
sentence. The reader is confused because the writer has not indicated
where one complete thought ends and another complete thought
begins.
Run-on: Every season of rain raises threat of disastrous flooding
watersheds without trees cause rivers to dry up and fertile
fields to turn hollow.
Complete: Every season of rain raises the threat of disastrous
flooding. Watersheds without trees cause rivers to dry up
and fertile fields to turn hollow.

12. 1. Separate the run-on sentence into two or more sentences.
Run-on: The loss of rain forests has caused grave climatic changes
extending the dry season into lengthy droughts the erosion
of mountain slopes causes serious problems.
Correct: The loss of rain forests has caused grave climatic changes
extending the dry season into lengthy droughts. The
erosion of mountain slopes causes serious problems.
Several Ways to Correct Run-on Sentences

13. 2. Join the independent clauses with a comma and a coordinating
conjunction such as and, but, or, for, nor, and yet.
Run-on: The loss of rain forests has caused grave climatic changes
extending the dry season to lengthy droughts the erosion
of mountain slopes causes serious problems.
Correct: The loss of rain forests has caused grave climatic changes,
extending the dry season to lengthy droughts, and the
erosion of mountain slopes causes serious problems.
Several Ways to Correct Run-on Sentences…..

14. 3. Join the independent clauses with a semicolon
Run-on: The loss of rain forests has caused grave climatic changes
extending the dry season to lengthy droughts the erosion of
mountain slopes causes serious problems.
Correct: The loss of rain forests has caused grave climatic changes,
extending the dry season to lengthy droughts; the erosion
of mountain slopes causes serious problems.
4. Use conjunctive adverbs such as moreover, consequently,
therefore or furthermore.
Correct: The loss of rain forests has caused grave climatic changes
extending the dry season to lengthy droughts; furthermore,
the erosion of mountain slopes causes serious problems.
Several Ways to Correct Run-on Sentences…..

15. EXERCISE
Complete Sentences vs. Sentence fragments and Run-on Sentences
Write S on the blank if the group of words is a sentence, F if it is a fragment and R
if it is run-on sentence. Provide the correct punctuation marks when necessary.
Example: F The verdant surroundings of Benguet State University
______1. National policy poses the environmental challenge as a vital and urgent
concern of society as a whole
______2. Water supply a major problem in many parts of Manila
______3. Pollution is a serious problem that should concern everyone
______4. Participating in a fund raising campaign for the restoration of the forest
______5. The island ecology is inherently fragile, the depletion of forests lands,
destruction of marine life, pollution of water resources, our diminished
wilderness, dwindling flora and fauna constitute an unfolding crisis in our
midst
______6. The clean, fresh air of the countryside
______7. Our supply of drinking water is dwindling and if we continue to pollute
our stream as we are now
______8. That night, the river overflowed its banks and spread over the lowlands
thousands of people were left homeless by the time the waters receded.

16. EXERCISE
Study the groups of words in the preceding exercise. If the group of
words is a sentence fragment, complete the fragment to become a
complete sentence; if it is a sentence, leave it as it is; and if it is a
run-on sentence, rewrite it to become an effective sentence.
Example: F The verdant surroundings of Benguet State
University
Ans. The verdant surroundings of Benguet State University attract
many tourists. (Since the given example in the previous exercise is a
fragment, the phrase attracts many tourist is added to make it a
complete sentence.)
•______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
•______________________________________________________
____

17. LESSON 2 WRITING EFFECTIVE SENTENCES
UNITY IN A SENTENCE
An effective sentence must have unity. Unity means “oneness or
singleness of purpose”. A sentence should contain a single thought or
a group of closely-related thoughts. In other words, ideas are closely
related and for a unit of thought.
To achieve unity in a sentence, avoid:
1. Introducing too many details; and
2. Combining unrelated ideas; thus, you should shorten long rambling
sentences and omit unrelated ideas.
Many details: Farms, pastures, forests, fisheries and wild species
should be preserved and protected to stop their deterioration through
careful planning for they are considered irreplaceable resources.
Unified: Farms, pastures, forests, fisheries and wild species
should be viewed as irreplaceable resources.

18. PARALLELISM IN A SENTENCE
Parallelism means “like construction for like ideas”.
If a sentence is well-constructed, the precise meaning is conveyed
surely and effectively to the readers; they can immediately see what
ideas are of equal importance.
Parallel construction for like ideas is indispensable for clear,
grammatically correct and effective sentences. Parallel movement
when correctly handled, is one means of attaining an emphatic,
vigorous style.
Example:
Parallel words: The plants looked vigorous, fresh and green.
Parallel phrases: Trees prevent soil erosion and flood, and provide
our basic needs.
Parallel clauses: I will continue cleaning the surroundings when
the mower is repaired and gasoline is here.

19. Nonparallel: The earth provides every living organism with food to eat,
air to breath and water for drinking.
Parallel: The earth provides every living organism with food to eat,
air to breathe and water to drink.
Nonparallel: If we produce a lot of carbon dioxide by burning fossil
fuel and we do not maintain our vehicles properly, fuel is
burned incompletely.
Parallel: If we produce a lot of carbon dioxide by burning fossil
fuel and if we do not maintain our vehicles properly, fuel
is burned incompletely.
Nonparallel: Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method,
while now the laboratory method is employed.
Parallel: Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now
it is taught by the laboratory method.
Nonparallel: My income is smaller than my wife.
Parallel: My income is smaller than my wife's.

20. CONSISTENCY IN TENSE
Consistency in tense refers to using the same tense of verbs
throughout the sentence.
Example:
A. The students were planting trees when the rain fell.
and not
The students are planting trees when the rain fell.
B. It is somewhat surprising that ozone has come to be popularly
associated with pure air and that devices which produce ozone
have been regarded as air purifiers.
and not
It is somewhat surprising that ozone has came to be popularly
associated with pure air and that devices which produce ozone
have been regarded as air purifiers.

21. PRONOUN REFERENCE
Appropriate pronouns should be used in place of nouns.
Singular nouns require singular pronouns and plural nouns
require plural pronouns. Pronouns agree with their referents in
number and gender.
Example:
Now that we have a general idea of what pollution and air
pollutants are, we can discuss these air pollutants and trace their
sources, causes and possible effects.
Another example:
Everyone should be aware of his/her role in environmental
conservation. and not
Everyone should be aware of their role in environmental
conservation.

22. Erroneous Sentences
The following sentences are erroneous. They may contain faulty
parallelism or inconsistency in tense or in pronoun reference.
Rewrite the sentences to make the effective sentences.
1. The destruction of our forests removes the soil cover and soil
erosion is accelerated.
2. May Ann and Ivan climbed up the mountain where we can
breathe fresh air.
3. Food is important; without them, we cannot survive.
4. Forest destruction creates flooding, polluting marine resources
and resulting in ecosystem imbalance.
5. Boki, the nine-year old artist writing, reading and to swim for
hours.
6. Lapulapu is a high value fish with great potential in aquaculture
while galunggong remained the poor man’s fish.

23. Lesson 3 MODIFIERS
(that contribute to the ineffectiveness of sentences)
misplaced squinting dangling
MISPLACED MODIFIERS
A misplaced modifier is a modifier which is not placed close
enough to the word or to the phrase it modifies.
Example:
Misplaced: The denuded mountain was visited by the
environmentalist to be planted with seedlings.
Improved: The denuded mountain to be planted with seedlings was
visited by the environmentalist.

24. SQUINTING MODIFIERS
- a modifier between two words both of which it could
modify. This could lead to confusion as to which word the modifier
modifies. To avoid this, the modifier should be placed as closely as
possible to the word it modifies.
Example:
Squinting: The boy admitted to his mother with a sad face that he
accidentally cut the trees.
(In the sentence, it is not clear whether the prepositional phrase
modifier with a sad face is describing the boy or the mother.)
Improved: With a sad face, the boy admitted to his mother that he
accidentally cut the trees.

25. DANGLING MODIFIERS
- a modifier that is not related to any of the words in the
sentence. In other words, the word being described is not present in
the sentence. To avoid dangling modifiers, be sure to supply the word
being modified and place it close to the modifier in the sentence.
Examples:
Dangling: To ensure the attainment of a quality environment, it is
advisable that the resources of the earth be managed carefully.
Improved: To ensure the attainment of a quality environment, we
should carefully manage the resources of the earth.
Dangling: Standing by the window, the garbage was noticed
uncollected.
Improved: Standing by the window, the teacher noticed the
uncollected garbage.

26. Business Letters
A business letter is more formal than a personal letter.
Parts to a business letter:
1. The Heading. This contains the return address (usually two or
three lines) with the date on the last line.
Sometimes it may be necessary to include a line after the address and
before the date for a phone number, fax number, E-mail address, or
something similar.
Often a line is skipped between the address and date. That should
always be done if the heading is next to the left margin
It is not necessary to type the return address if you are using
stationery with the return address already imprinted. Always include
the date.

27. Parts of a Business Letter….
2. The Inside Address. This is the address you are sending your
letter to. Make it as complete as possible. Include titles and names if
you know them.
3. The Greeting. Also called the salutation. The greeting in a
business letter is always formal. It normally begins with the word
"Dear" and always includes the person's last name.
The greeting in a business letter always ends in a colon.
4. The Body. The body is written as text. A business letter is never
hand written. Depending on the letter style you choose, paragraphs
may be indented. Regardless of format, skip a line between
paragraphs.
.

28. Parts of a Business Letter….
5. The Complimentary Close. This short, polite closing ends with a
comma. It is either at the left margin or its left edge is in the center,
depending on the Business Letter Style that you use. It begins at the
same column the heading does.
6. The Signature Line. Skip two lines (unless you have unusually
wide or narrow lines) and type out the name to be signed.
The signature line may include a second line for a title, if appropriate.

29. Business Letter Styles

30. Elements of the Scientific Research Paper
· Title
· Abstract
· Introduction
· Methods
· Results
· Discussion
· Works Cited
· Appendices

31. Title
· informative and specific
· concise
· understandable
. The title is descriptive and concise
(no jargon). It tells the reader what
effect you measured and on what
organism

32. Abstract
The abstract is a one paragraph (ca. 100 words) summary of
the report, including the question investigated, the methods
used, the principal results and conclusions.
· offers a complete but selective summary of most significant
ideas and information
· uses clear, precise wording (increase precision through
successive revisions)
· accurately reflects the paper's organization, emphasis, and
content on a very small scale

33. Introduction
The introduction is designed to inform the reader of the
relevance of your research and includes a short history or
relevant background that leads to a statement of the problem
that is being addressed.
Introductions usually follow a funnel style, starting broadly
and then narrowing. They funnel from something known, to
something unknown, to the question the paper is asking.
· focuses on the overall issue, problem, or question that your
research addresses.
· develops the rationale for your work: poses questions or
research problems and
outlines your main research focus. What was your research
question?

34. Methods
The Methods section chronologically describes the process
you undertook to complete the research.
The method is written as a process description, not as a lab
manual procedure. Be precise, complete, and concise: include
only relevant information—no unnecessary details,
anecdotes, excuses, or confessions.
· details experimental procedures
· describes techniques for tracking functional variables
(timing, temperature, humidity, etc.) and rational for
tracking those variables
· explains analytical techniques used

35. Results
DESCRIBES but DOES NOT INTERPRET the major findings
of your experiment.
Present the data using graphs and tables to reveal any trends
that you found. Describe these trends to the reader.
The presentation of data may be either chronological, to
correspond with the Methods, or in the order of most to least
importance.
If you make good use of your tables and graphs, the results can
be presented briefly in several paragraphs.

36. Results….
. Organize logically and use headers to emphasize the ordered
sections.
· Report; don't discuss or interpret.
· Illustrate and summarize findings: organize data and
emphasize trends and patterns with appropriate visuals.
· Integrate visuals with text: the text offers claims and general
statements that the visual details support.

37. Discussion
What's the Discussion? Interpretation.
This section offers your interpretations and conclusions about your
findings. How do your results relate to the goals of the study, as
stated in your introduction, and how do they relate to the results
that might have been expected from background information
obtained in lectures, textbooks, or outside reading?
Demonstrate your ability to synthesize, analyze, evaluate, interpret,
and reason effectively.
Your readers are looking for well-supported opinions, not for leaps
of fancy or mere repetitions of your findings, so you will need to
think carefully about your findings in order to draw conclusions that
are neither too narrow nor too broad.

38. Discussion…..
· Explain key limitations: questions left unanswered, major
experimental constraints, lack of correlation, negative results.
· Discuss agreement or contrast with previously published
work; explain the significance of the corroboration or
disjunction.
. Offer possible alternative hypotheses.
· Offer general conclusions, noting your reasoning and main
supporting evidence.
· Recommend areas for future study and explain your choices.

39. Works Cited
If you reference an outside source in your report, you
should cite where you found that source.
You should also cite sources which your reader, a
fellow student, may be unfamiliar with.
The appropriate style for citing sources in this report
is IEEE style. Cite only material that you have
actually read.

40. Appendix
Appendices include the original data taken during the
laboratory session.
Appendices should be numbered A, B, C, etc.