Foundations : Writing Skills 2, Intermediate, First Edition.

Preface
FOUNDATIONS WRITING SKILLS is a two-level, self-contained course in writing English aimed at elementary and intermediate level Arab students. The course guides students step-by-step towards writing simple and accurate paragraphs, paying close attention to sentence structure, vocabulary, grammar and mechanics, guided paragraph writing and the process of writing.

Continuous graded practice is provided through a variety of exercise types such as reading comprehension, gap-fill, table completion, the correction of passages and the writing of sentences and paragraphs using pictures and tabular information. All exercises are based on realistic topics and content and language functions, useful in real life situations. Places from various Arab countries are commonly mentioned, but the locale should be unimportant for the comprehension of the model compositions, and students will substitute their own environments in their writing.

The book is divided into ten units. Each unit is subdivided into six sections: model composition, vocabulary, grammar and mechanics, sentence-joining, guided paragraphs, and the process of writing.

All model compositions focus on certain purposes for writing, such as narrating and describing, and certain means of organizing ideas such as chronological and spatial ordering. The assumptions here are that even on an elementary level there is more to composing than mere sentence-level exercises and that English learners can understand and use sophisticated principles and techniques of English compositions writing without waiting until they are more fully fluent in English.

Contents
UNIT 1: Getting Information about Others 1

Interviewing someone 1

Part 1: Model Composition 2

Part 2: Vocabulary: Facts and Opinions 2

Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics 6

Using a/an 6
Simple Present of the Verb be 8
Simple Present Tense – Other Verbs 9
Affirmative Statements 9
Negative Statements 12
Capital Letters and Periods 12
Part 4: Sentence Joining 18

Using and 18
Using but 18
Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 20

Part 6: The Writing Process 22

UNIT 2: Describing People 23

Part 1: Model Composition 23

Part 2: Vocabulary 23

Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics: Predicate Adjectives 25

Descriptive and Predicate AdjectivesUsing 25
Future with be going to and will 27
Part 4: Sentence Joining: Using and, but, and so 30

Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 31

Part 6: The Writing Process 36

UNIT 3: Giving Instructions 44

Part 1: Model Composition 44

Part 2: Vocabulary: Action Verbs 44

Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics 47

Imperatives 47
Modals 49
Part 4: Sentence Joining 51

When clauses 51
Transition Signals for Chronological Order 52
Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 54

Part 6: The Writing Process 57

UNIT 4: Giving Directions 61

Part 1: Model Composition 61

Part 2: Vocabulary 61

Prepositions of Place 61
Nouns 62
Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics 63

Imperatives 63
Time Phrases: until and when 67
Modals 69
Part 4: Sentence-Joining 70

And 70
Transition Signals 71
Question Forms 73
Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 74

Part 6: The Writing Process 76

UNIT 5: Describing Past Events 78

Part 1: Model Composition 78

Part 2: Vocabulary 78

Regular and Irregular Verbs 78
Spelling Rules for Adding -ed 80
Words and Expressions Related to Time 81
Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics 85

Simple Past Tense 85
Part 4: Sentence-Joining 87

And 87
With 88
When 89
Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 90

Part 6: The Writing Process 93

UNIT 6:Biographies 96

Part 1: Model Composition 96

Part 2: Vocabulary: Transitive and Intransitive Verbs 98

Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics: Direct and Indirect Objects 101

Part 4: Sentence-Joining: And & Also 106

Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 108

Part 6: The Writing Process 112

UNIT 7:Describing What Happened 115

Part 1: Model Composition 115

Part 2: Vocabulary 115

Time Expressions – Review 115
Adverbs 116
Spelling 117
Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics 119

Simple Past Tense 119
Past Continuous (Past Progressive) Tense 122
Part 4: Sentence-Joining 124

So and But 124
As and Because 126
Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 127

Part 6: The Writing Process 130

UNIT 8: Future Plans 134

Part 1: Model Composition 134

Part 2: Vocabulary: Expressions Used to Talk about a Possible Future Action 134

Modals of Possibility: may and might 134
Other Expressions of Possibility to Express a Possible Future Action: 135
think, perhaps, hope to, want to, would like to

Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics 137

Expressing the Future with Simple Present Tense 137
Expressing the Future with the Present Continuous Tense Using 140
be going to, and the Simple Future Tense Using Will

Expressing the Future with the Present Continuous Tense Using 143
be going to be verb-ing, and will be verb-ing.

Part 4: Sentence-Joining 146

If as a Conditional Expressing a Possibility in the Future 146
Subordinating Conjunctions – When, Until, and Or 147
Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 150

Part 6: The Writing Process 153

UNIT 9: Contrasting People and Personalities 156

Part 1: Model Composition 156

Part 2: Vocabulary 156

Adjectives Useful for Describing Personalities 156
Predicate Adjectives 158
Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics 160

Simple Present Tense – Review 160
Adjectives Useful for Describing Physical Characteristics 160
Order of Adjectives 161
Simple Present Tense: subject + verb + to & infinitive 163
Modals of Ability 164
Part 4: Sentence-Joining: Transition Signals 166

Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 171

Part 6: The Writing Process 175

UNIT 10: Recounting Experiences 179

Part 1: Model Composition 179

Part 2: Vocabulary 179

Comparatives 179
Past Participles 183
Part 3: Grammar and Mechanics 185

Present Perfect Tense 185
Affirmative and Negative Statements 185
Questions 186
Answers 186
Simple Past Tense versus Present Perfect Tense 188
Part 4: Sentence-Joining: Transition Signals 190

Part 5: Guided Paragraphs 192

Part 6: The Writing Process 194