Written Communication Skills

“True ease in writing comes from art, not chance…” (Alexander Pope, as cited in Campbell & Green, 2006, p. 165) As a professional and future educator, it is essential that I develop the art of a high standard of written and oral communication skills. The four main areas of writing that I need to be focus on to ensure a higher level of written communications are; writing style, writing format and grammar and punctuation. Lexicon is another area that was not highlighted through external feedback, but is beneficial to expand, as knowledge and understanding of subject specific content grows. Correct referencing style and technique is necessary in all academic writing styles. I am challenged by how to correctly reference secondary sources and

These are phrases that include words that if removed do not detract from the meaning. For example; “advance planning” and “all meet together.” (Fun-with-words.com, 2015) (http://www.fun-with-words.com/redundant_phrases.html). The words ‘advanced’ and ‘together’ can be removed as the meaning is implied in the other parts of the phrase. I plan to use the website, “The Guide to Grammar and Writing” (http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm), as a recourse that I will consulted on a weekly basis to assist in developing an ability to include necessary words in a sentence but avoid wordiness. In addressing the issues of wordiness those detected that relate to the format of writing formally, will also be addressed. Writing can take on an informal tone when phrasal verbs and terms like, ‘you’ and ‘we’ are used. Although these were not detected in the sample writing, at times I use them and need to replace them with the words “people” or “citizens” (Grellier & Georke, 2014, p.177). This skill will be developed through a comprehensive proof read of the writing and rewriting sentences, omitting the informal language all together, or replacing it with an equivalent formal word (Grellier & Georke, 2014). Submitting my writing through websites such as Paper Rater (http://www.PaperRater.com) is another strategy that will assist in ensuring the writing style is formal, grammar issues are highlighted and are spelling and the use of active voice. Paper Rater recommended using the blog, Inkiling (http://rachelstarrthomson.blogspot.sg/2006/09/writing-tips-using-sentence-length-to.html), as it contains examples of how to keep writing formal. By viewing this blog regularly, reading comments and asking