Cambridge B2 First (FCE): How to Write a Report

in this video we are going to look at how to write the perfect report in b2 first fce we are going to look at how to analyze a typical task what the different parts of a report are and how to go through it step by step from beginning to end hello and welcome to teacher phil where i help people like you pass the cambridge exams make sure you subscribe to the channel and like the video and also don't forget to check out the full article on my website the link is in the description box below so with all that being said let's jump right into it many people believe that reports are boring and dry i can agree with that to some point but i also think that reports give you a great opportunity to score really high marks very easily i will show you how to be as effective and efficient as possible when it comes to writing reports so you can collect these marks as quickly as possible a report is a formal piece of writing similar in tone to an essay you always write reports in b2 first to a superior this could be a teacher a director or anyone who you should be respectful towards you always have to present some factual information followed by a suggestion or recommendation the four main bullet points for successful report are presenting factual information organizing your report well using impersonal and persuasive language as well as using formal language so after giving you a little overview let's jump into a concrete example and let's see how we can analyze a task whenever you see a task for b2 first writing your brain should switch to autopilot and there should be three specific questions that come to your mind immediately let's go through these three questions and let's analyze an example task together with the first question you find out more about the topic of your report knowing the topic helps you to get a general idea of what you need to write about and it also helps you to get a first impression of possible vocabulary and expressions that you might want to include later in this example task active leisure club wants to improve their facilities and they have asked you to write a report about it the next question about what exactly you have to include helps you determine the specific topic points that will make the main part of your report let's look again at our example from before there are two topic points that we need to discuss the first one is the best and worst aspects of the club the second one is giving suggestions on how the club could improve in the future last but not least we always need to look at who's going to read your report as i've mentioned before reports are always written for a superior so for example your teacher the director of your school or as in our example the manager of the center once we know the reader of our report we can decide what style or register is most appropriate for our report luckily for you every report task is basically the same and we should choose a formal to neutral style for our text writing in a formal style put some restrictions on what we can or cannot do in our report first of all try to avoid contractions contractions are words that we make by putting two words together for example is not becomes isn't the second feature of form language is to avoid phrasal verbs and more specifically informal phrasal verbs phrasal verbs have very specific meanings and very often there is simply a more formal way of expressing the same idea so if you are not sure always take a breath and think about can i say this in a more formal way and then do that instead of using the phrasal verb and last but not least the third feature of formal language is to avoid colloquial expressions as the word colloquial suggests these expressions are more common in spoken language because we are writing in a formal way we should try to leave them out as well now we know the topic we know the specific topic points and we know the right language for our report we are ready now to look at the different parts of an excellent report and we are going to dive into more detail every great report can be structured and organized in a very similar way we normally start with an introduction where we describe the purpose of our report followed by the main topic paragraphs here we try to address the topic points from the task and finally we try to make a suggestion or recommendation once again based on the requirements of each individual task in reports however there is one special feature that we don't find in any other writing task in b2 first it is always a good idea to include subheadings in a report which means each paragraph gets something like a small headline that describes what the following paragraph is going to talk about don't worry about them too much for now you will see some examples when we go through each individual part as i said just a moment ago a good report starts with a good introduction in a good introduction there are a couple of things we want to do first and foremost you want to state the purpose of the report as clearly as possible this gives the reader a clear idea of what to expect and sets the tone for the rest of the report finally you might want to mention how you collected the data for your report this is not something that you have to do but it can help your report stand out a little bit here you can see an introduction to our example task as you can see i kept it short and to the point first of all i clearly state what the report is going to talk about and it is also mentioned how i collected the data once again you don't have to do this but i think it's a nice feature and i recommend doing so simply put these two ideas together and you can make every introduction to a report something a little bit more special and interesting for the reader and of course the examiner the topic paragraphs are the most important parts of your report here we give the main pieces of information so they should be the longest parts of your report and carry most of the substance however it is really important that you don't get carried away stick to the point and stick to the task also remember that a report is formal and impersonal the information you present is not your own information but you've collected it from other people that means it can be a good idea to use some impersonal language and to generalize the things you say so have a look at my example topic paragraphs so here you can see that i started both paragraphs with subheadings they are underlined here and as i said before they should be included in every good report they don't have to be anything special once again they should just say what the paragraph is going to talk about i've decided to divide the topic paragraphs into the good aspects of the club and the bad aspects of the club you might choose a different structure which is perfectly fine once again this is just an example but as long as your structure is logical and makes sense please go for it i try to include a lot of formal language and expressions to generalize a little bit as you can see highlighted in the different paragraphs this helps make the report more formal and again it moves it away from my personal opinion and more towards a general opinion i stuck to the topic but i gave a little bit of supporting information for each point that i make in these paragraphs you can see that topic paragraphs are not really that difficult subheadings the right language and good arguments make it quite easy to write really really good topic paragraphs and last but not least we always finish with a good conclusion a conclusion as in many other writing tasks serves the purpose of summarizing what you've mentioned before but in a report we more specifically also have to make a suggestion or recommendation to do this we can use some specific language that is there to persuade in this case the manager of the center to take up our idea and to implement it so once again let's look at an example my suggestions here are well connected to the two topic paragraphs as i mentioned some of the little details again i also use some specific expressions to make my recommendation to persuade the manager as well as some passive structures to keep it formal again so there you have it each part of a good report has a specific formula that you can follow each time you sit down to write one if you apply this plan step by step you get peace of mind more confidence and the ability to write amazing reports each time you try i hope you found my example useful if you take these ideas and apply them to your everyday practice you will see improvements very quickly and you can see that introductions topic paragraphs and conclusions in a report are nothing crazy and you don't have to be scared of them at all however if all of this information in the video hasn't been enough for you you can also download my free b21st writing cheat sheet i also offer an ebook that goes into even more detail about the structure of the exam how it is marked how you can practice and of course tons of examples that show you exactly what you should and shouldn't do when you write any of the different tasks in b2 first writing you can also check out my personalized writing feedback where you can send me your practice writing tasks and i give you individual feedback on the different marking criteria so you know exactly what you already do well and the different points that you can improve all the links are in the description box below and of course before you leave don't forget to like the video subscribe to the channel and i see you next time

Channel: Teacher Phill

Views: 15,392

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Id: wlNQYrYEF5A

Length: 12min 52sec (772 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 10 2021