Level I
Chapter 3
Writing
English | Vietnamese Section
English | Vietnamese
IC3, IT, TOEFL, Best Answer
Self- and Teacher Evaluation
Health and Safety: Helmets
How do people seek to stay healthy in your culture?
Câu hỏi hướng dẫn
Vietnamese Language Skills:
Vocabulary for Traffic Directions
Writing about Traffic Directions
Helmets are protective headgear. They are made to prevent head injury. Helmets are worn for activities where the head is vulnerable to injury. People who participate in activities with wheels such as bike riding, riding a motorcycle, or roller skating, are advised to wear helmets by people concerned for public safety.
Read the following article then fill out the brainstorming charts or mind maps that follow.
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When will rice cookers stick in Viet Nam?
Vietnam News Agency
Monday, March 22, 2004
by Glenn PhillipsHot, heavy and unattractive, the rice cooker will never be fashionable in Viet Nam. Or will it?
The Vietnamese slang for motorbike helmets, noi com dien (rice cooker), says a lot about the way Vietnamese people feel about helmets and why you don't see many motorbike riders wearing them.
For most foreign visitors to Viet Nam, their first impressions are of narrow streets crammed with motorbikes. It seems dangerous and exciting just to cross the road.
Lots of visitors also notice that many Vietnamese women are immaculately dressed as they fly past on their motorbikes, and ask themselves why they top off their fashionable outfits with elbow-length beige gloves and garish masks.
It's a good question. Why are so many Vietnamese women prepared to look like ninjas or bank robbers to protect themselves from sun and pollution, but never even think of wearing a motorbike helmet?
Most of Ha Noi's motorbike helmet shops can be found along one side of Pho Hue, and there is little there to attract the eye of the fashion-conscious.
I spoke to some of the shop owners on Pho Hue, who said they sold few of their dark-brown, locally manufactured motorbike helmets to women.
Most of their customers are men who frequently drive out on country highways, and feel they need a helmet more than most – even if a full-face helmet means they can't smoke and ride at the same time, or talk on their mobile phones.
However, a splash of colour has appeared in the motorbike helmet market over the past few years.
"The rice cooker idea is a big problem. People think that helmets are hot and uncomfortable, that they don't match their clothes and ruin their hair," said Dao Cam Tu, the public relations manager at helmet manufacturer Protec.
The company is 100 per cent owned by an American NGO, the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation, and its plant near the Noi Bai International Airport is the first non-profit helmet factory in the world.
Protec designed the helmet with Viet Nam's traffic conditions and climate – not to mention its fashion sense – in mind.
"When we demonstrate our helmets, we ask our customers to hold the helmets and realise that they're not heavy rice cookers. They only weigh 500g," Tu said.
The helmets are not only light, but well-ventilated and colourful. They look more cycling helmets than the old brown rice cooker design.
Tu said the Protec shop opposite the Ha Noi Hilton Opera sells helmets directly to consumers – many of whom are parents whose children received free Protec helmets through its Helmets for Kids campaign.
So far, the campaign has provided 100,000 helmets to school children across the country.
Now the company is aiming to put more helmets on adults, especially in the lead-up to World Health Day on April 7, which has adopted the slogan "Road safety is no accident" this year.
The World Health Organisation estimates that 1.18 million people were killed on the world's roads in 2002, up to 50 million more were injured and about 5 million were permanently disabled.
There are currently an estimated 12 million motorbikes on the road in Viet Nam, and Government statistics show the death toll reached 11,864 last year.
The Asia Injury Prevention Foundation points out that this is equivalent to a jumbo jet crash every 20 days, but that this figure would be much lower if more motorbike riders wore helmets.
The foundation plans to celebrate World Health Day with a fashion parade to tackle the idea that helmets are uncool.
A few more bad hair days are a small price to pay for your life. After all, nothing is as ugly as a head injury. — VNS
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/2004-03/20/Columns/Talk%20Around%20Town.htm
Brainstorming and Mind Maps. Below are two brainstorming charts. Sometimes these are called Mind Maps.
In the first chart you will see a large circle with “ People wear helmets because . . .” This is your “Pro” chart—that is, this is the chart on which you list all the ideas in the article that promote the idea that wearing a helmet is a good idea. For example, in the “Reason #1” circle, you might write: “Too many traffic fatalities.” Two supporting ideas that can be written in the support boxes could be: “almost 12,000 deaths last year” and “jumbo jet crash every 20 days.”
If you cannot find enough reasons in the article, can you add some of your own? Add as many circles as you need and indicate with arrows how they are related either to the main idea or one of the reasons.
This second chart is the “Con” chart or contra side. These are the reasons helmet use is opposed.
For example, in the “Reason #1” circle, you might write: “Unattractive.” Two supporting ideas that can be written in the support boxes could be: “unfashionable” and “bad hair days.”
If you cannot find enough reasons in the article, can you add some of your own? Add as many circles as you need and indicate with arrows how they are related either to the main idea or one of the reasons.
Introduction to Skill(s):
Brainstorming Charts/Mind Maps —Generating Many Ideas
(resource: http://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html)
Brainstorming is a way of generating ideas. During the brainstorming process there is no criticism of ideas, as free rein is given to people's creativity. Criticism and judgment cramp creativity.
How to use tool:
Brainstorming is an excellent way of developing many creative solutions to a problem. It works by focusing on an idea, problem or topic, and then coming up with many examples, solutions, supporting ideas. Ideas should be as broad and varied or different as possible, and should be developed as fast as possible. Brainstorming is designed to help you break out of your thinking patterns into new ways of looking at things.
Using a web map or brainstorming chart helps you, too, to break out of old thinking patterns. Because it is visual and connecting ideas, it forces you to think differently.
During brainstorming sessions there should be no criticism of ideas. You are trying to open up all the possibilities of ideas related to your topic. As in freewriting, you want to let your ideas flow, so criticism at this point may stop the flow of ideas. You can later go back and cross out parts that you no longer find important or applicable.
Ideas should only be judged and analyzed once the brainstorming session has finished.
Individual Brainstorming
When you brainstorm on your own you will tend to generate many more ideas than with group brainstorming—you do not have to worry about other people's opinions, and can therefore be more freely creative. You may not, however, develop ideas as effectively as you do not have the experience of a group to help you.
When Brainstorming on your own, it can be helpful to use Mind Maps to arrange and develop ideas. In the introductory section, you were introduced to a mind map of circles with arrows that show how the ideas are connected. Another way of doing this would be to write ideas on small pieces of paper and connect the ideas by placing them on a table in different groups. There are many, many ways of brainstorming ideas in ways that you can see your ideas. What is most important is to devise a way that works best for you helps you bring out all of your ideas on a subject or topic.
Group Brainstorming
Group brainstorming can be very effective as it uses the experience and creativity of all members of the group. When individual members reach their limit on an idea, another member's creativity and experience can take the idea to the next stage. Therefore, group brainstorming tends to develop ideas in more depth than individual brainstorming.
Brainstorming in a group can be risky for individuals. Perhaps students are shy to share ideas or perhaps members of the group can take over the group with a strong personality. Everyone in the group should understand that no ideas are stupid and the important thing to do in brainstorming is to get all ideas out on paper.
To run a group brainstorming session effectively, do the following:
- Define the problem you want solved clearly, and lay out any criteria to be met.
- Keep the session focused on the problem
- Ensure that no one criticizes or evaluates ideas during the session. Criticism introduces an element of risk for group members when putting forward an idea. This stifles creativity and cripples the free running nature of a good brainstorming session.
- Encourage an enthusiastic, uncritical attitude among members of the group. Try to get everyone to contribute and develop ideas, including the quietest members of the group
- Let people have fun brainstorming. Encourage them to come up with as many ideas as possible, from solidly practical ones to wildly impractical ones. Welcome creativity.
- Ensure that no train of thought is followed for too long
Encourage people to develop other people's ideas, or to use other ideas to create new ones
Appoint one person to note down ideas that come out of the session. A good way of doing this is to use a large piece of paper that the whole group can see. This should be studied and evaluated after the session.
Where possible, participants in the brainstorming process should come from as wide a range of disciplines as possible. This brings a broad range of experience to the session and helps to make it more creative.
Business Letter Writing Format
The assignment for this chapter will be to write a persuasive letter. This is the format that you are to use for this assignment.
Your Street Address
First and Last Name of the Person to who you are writing
Dear Dr./Mr./Mrs./Ms. Full Name: This business letter format does not indent each paragraph. Paragraphs are separated by a space. This is the best format for a persuasive letter, which will be your writing assignment for this chapter. You want to do these things in this first paragraph of the letter: 1) Introduce yourself and the topic you are writing about to the reader. Have in mind whom your audience is. 2) In a persuasive letter, after you have introduced yourself, state your opinion or your feelings about something that is important to you after you have introduced yourself. You must sound as professional and passionate as possible. You do not want to belittle the reader or they will not finish reading the letter. 3) Your letter needs to have facts, reasons, and examples to support your position. Address issues that your reader may have in their argument. In a second paragraph, you must have solutions. Without solutions, you are only complaining. Offer assistance in solving the problem. Remind the reader where they can contact you. Sincerely, A. Student A. Student. |
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(Resource: Scholastic: http://www.scholastic.com)
Persuasive Letter Checklist
When you write a persuasive letter, you should do these things:
- Know your audience
- Have an appealing introduction
- Clearly describe the idea, product, or service you are promoting
- Include detailed reasons that make your argument more convincing
- State clearly what action you’d like the readers to take
- Anticipate the reader’s objections and have suggested answers
- The letter is concise and interesting
- The tone of the letter is polite and professional
- Use the “powerful words” in the letter (look in vocabulary section)
Topic Statements/Power Statements
The topic sentence tells the main idea of the paragraph. All other sentences in a paragraph support the topic sentence. Learning to write good topic sentences will be practiced throughout this curriculum.
One kind of topic sentence is the Occasion-Position Statement. This kind of statement is a good way to write a topic sentence for a persuasive paragraph.
Occasion-Position statements are complex sentences. This means that there are two parts to the sentence.
Begin the sentence with an occasion—an event, problem, idea, solution, or circumstance which gives you a reason to write. The second part of the sentence is the position you plan to prove or explain in your paragraph.
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Examples:
- Even though bike helmets are sometimes unfashionable and uncomfortable, all cyclists should wear them.
- As long as motorcyclists refuse to wear helmets, the death toll from head injuries will continue to rise.
- Whenever we mount a motorcycle, it should be our habit to hear a helmet.
- If the Vietnamese are to wear helmets, a more lightweight, cooler helmet should be invented.
- Although helmets offer safety, the inconvenience of wearing them far out-weighs their purpose.
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In Chapter 2, your story was organized by chronology. In this chapter, your letter will be organized in an accordion structure. That is, the structure will go in and out and in and out like the air pumping section of an accordion. The 8-Sentence Structure would look like this: Topic Sentence (Occasion-Position Statement) Conclusion |
Example:
Topic Sentence: As long as long as motorcyclists refuse to wear helmets, the death toll from head injuries will continue to rise in Vietnam.
Reason: Each year, nearly 15,000 people are killed in traffic accidents and twice that many are left with brain injuries.
Explain: Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death of children 15 years and older and boys are twice as likely to die as girls being the portion of the population to more readily experience driving motorcycles.
Reason: Because Vietnam’s economic prosperity is increasing and more and more people are able to afford motorbikes, the number of deaths and injuries is increasing daily.
Explain: During the last ten years, the number of road accidents has increased four fold.
Reason: This “epidemic” of death and disability from injury is one of the most preventable health problems today.
Explain: It is estimated that only 3% of Vietnamese motor cycle riders use helmets today.
Conclusion: If Vietnamese motorcycle drivers continue to refuse to wear helmets and the number of drivers increase, Vietnam will lead the world in numbers of deaths due to head injury.
The paragraph:
As long as long as motorcyclists refuse to wear helmets, the death toll from head injuries will continue to rise in Vietnam. Each year, nearly 15,000 people are killed in traffic accidents and twice that many are left with brain injuries. Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death of children 15 years and older and boys are twice as likely to die as girls—boys being the portion of the population to more readily experience driving motorcycles. Because Vietnam’s economic prosperity is increasing and more and more people are able to afford motorbikes, the number of deaths and injuries is increasing daily. During the last ten years, the number of road accidents has increased four fold. This “epidemic” of death and disability from injury is one of the most preventable health problems today. It is estimated that only 3% of Vietnamese motor cycle riders use helmets today. If Vietnamese motorcycle drivers continue to refuse to wear helmets and the number of drivers increase, Vietnam will lead the world in numbers of deaths due to head injury.
Writing Assignment:
Form an opinion about whether or not citizens of Vietnam should wear helmets when riding motorcycles and/or bicycles. Then write a formal business letter to the editor of an imaginary newspaper that has a readership of average Vietnamese citizens. It will be your choice if the readership is for an urban or rural population.
Your letter should be written in the Business Writing Format provided earlier in the chapter. It should have three paragraphs to form the body of the letter: The first paragraph should introduce yourself. This may include a reason why you are writing. The second paragraph should explain your opinion about wearing helmets. It should be written in accordion paragraph form. The final paragraph should bring the letter to a conclusion either restating your opinion or suggesting ways to go from here. Look to the reading passage for an example of such a letter.
Vocabulary:
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Powerful Words. When writing a persuasive letter, there are some words that sound stronger or more powerful than others. Rather than saying something is “big,” “beautiful,” or “nice,” it could be more powerful and persuasive if you used words such as “tremendous,” “gorgeous,” or “splendid.” Here is a list of powerful words. Use a thesaurus or dictionary to know synonyms and meanings.
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(from: http://www.scholastic.com)
Passage(s) in English:
(from: Head Injury in Vietnam: A Developing Country Struggles to
Cope with Head Injury in Traffic Vietnam Insight -
vinsight@netcom.com Update: November, 2000)
Exercises and Activities for Comprehension and Analyzing Content:
Accordion Paragraph. Look at the mind map and the second paragraph of the letter. Fill out this accordion format from what you see.
Topic Sentence (Occasion-Position Statement)
___________________________________________________________________________
Reason (detail, fact, example)
_____________________________________________________________
Explain _________________________________________________
Reason (detail, fact, example)
_____________________________________________________________
Reason (detail, fact, example)
_____________________________________________________________
Conclusion
___________________________________________________________________________
Persuasive Letter Checklist. With a partner or in a small group, read the letter from Ms. Nguyen again. In your opinion, did she follow the persuasive letter checklist? Discuss this in your small group. Put a mark (X) in the box where you think she accomplished the item on the checklist. If she did not, explain why not in the blank provided.
Exercises and Activities for Developing Content of Student Writing:
You may want to look ahead to IT Exercises and Activities for Developing Ideas to get more ideas before you Freewrite and Brainstorm.
Freewrite : Make a list of things to say about yourself in an introduction. How do you feel in traffic and/or riding a motorcycle or bike? What are your concerns? Do you know anyone who has been injured or killed in an accident?
Brainstorm and Create your own mind map . If you haven’t decided if you are for or against the wearing of helmets, brainstorm the pros and cons of helmet-wearing in your opinion.
___________________________________________________________________________
Exercises and Activities for Building Skills:
Generate topic/power statements . Finish the following sentences and make good topic sentences.
1. If you’ve ever been in a motorcycle accident, _________________________________.
2. Whenever you get on a motorcycle, _________________________________________.
3. As soon as I heard that ___________________________________________________.
4. Because more people than ever now own motorcycles, __________________________.
5. Whenever I feel the wind blow through my hair on a motorcycle, ___________________
Exercises and Activities for Incorporating Skills into Student Writing:
Create a Topic Sentence. Create five or more topic sentences that state your opinion about wearing helmets. Choose one to be your topic sentence.
Accordion Paragraph. Look at your freewriting and your mind map. Fill out this accordion format to begin to put your second paragraph together. You may not need all the lines (Explain) but you should have at least 3 Reasons.
Topic Sentence (Occasion-Position Statement)
___________________________________________________________________________
Reason (detail, fact, example)
_____________________________________________________________
Explain _________________________________________________
Reason (detail, fact, example)
_____________________________________________________________
Explain _________________________________________________
Reason (detail, fact, example)
_____________________________________________________________
Explain _________________________________________________
Conclusion
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
IT Exercises and Activities for Developing Ideas:
Search the internet for information on:
- Traffic fatalities in Vietnam—are they old or new reports? How does Vietnam compare to other countries?
- Find out more about the helmets being developed for Vietnam. For children?
- Find out what doctors in Vietnamese hospitals say about traffic accidents in Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City.
- How does one get a driver’s license in your country? Compare that to other countries.
- Does the UN do anything about traffic problems around the world?
- Other related ideas of what to search for?
Writing First Draft:
Write your letter to the editor following the format for a business letter. Remember, the body of the letter should have three paragraphs as explained in the Writing Assignment section. The first paragraph of the body of the letter should introduce yourself and your interest/relationship to the topic. The second paragraph should follow the accordion paragraph format stating your reasons/persuasions. The third and last paragraph should provide solutions and conclude the letter.
Editing Process and Exercises:
Use the Persuasive Letter Checklist . Did you do these things in your letter? Can you make your letter more persuasive?
- Know your audience
- Have an appealing introduction
- Clearly describe the idea, product, or service you are promoting
- Include detailed reasons that make your argument more convincing
- State clearly what action you’d like the readers to take
- Anticipate the reader’s objections and have suggested answers
- The letter is concise and interesting
- The tone of the letter is polite and professional
- Use the “powerful words” in the letter (look in vocabulary section)
Read your letter aloud. Does it sound good?
Check spelling, capitalization, and punctuation (Check Appendices in chapters 1 & 2)
Writing Second/Final Draft:
Re-write your letter and turn it in to your teacher.
Exercise 1: Alex has a problem; his wife is very sick. He needs to find out how to get to the hospital from his good friend Quyen. Below is some helpful vocabulary that we can use to give and understand directions. Read over the vocabulary with your teacher and use it to create a conversation between Alex and Quyen. Draw a small map of a fictional city and trace out the path that Alex takes to arrive at the hospital.
Đi thẳng |
Go Straight
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Ngã ba |
Three way intersection
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Quẹo |
Turn (Southern)
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Ngã bốn |
Four way intersection
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Rẽ |
Turn (Northern)
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Một chiều |
One way
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Quay lại |
U-Turn
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Hai chiều |
Two way
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Đường phố |
Street
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Hướng |
Direction
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Giao thông |
Traffic
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Đứng lại |
Stop |
Exercise 2: Draw your map for the conversation between Alex and Quyen in the box below:
Exercise 3: Fill in the blanks of this conversation:
Alex: |
Anh làm ơn chỉ giùm! Vợ của tôi bị bệnh! Tôi phải đi bệnh viện nhưng mà không biết đường đi! |
Quyen: |
_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ |
Alex: |
Cảm ơn Quyền nhiều! Tôi sẽ đi nhưng mà nếu bị lạc đường đi tôi muốn gọi điện thoại cho anh. Anh có số di động không? |
Quyen: |
_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ |
Alex: |
Cảm ơn anh Quyền! Tôi đi đây! |
Exercise 4: Now, let’s switch gears a bit and talk more clearly about health and health services. In your remaining classroom time, please write a short paragraph that describes the health care system in your country. What do you know about it? How does it deal with people who can not pay for services? What would you do if you had to go to the hospital? Explain the pros and cons of your country’s health care system as if you were talking to someone who didn’t know anything about it.
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