Comparing people: differences

An English for academic purposes webquest for EDGT940

In this webquest you will:
Gather information
Describe data and make comparisons
Use academic language
Why?
In your future academic exams you will need to describe
and compare graphs and presented data
It is especially important if you want to do academic
IELTS
Part one
In this lesson you will gather information and compare
data.

Evaluation
You will be evaluated on:
Completion of the work /5
Demonstration of effort in the work /5
Demonstration of understanding differences and similarities /5
Demonstration of critical thinking skills /5
Gathering information
Lets start with a survey to collect data about your
classmates.

A Survey (noun 2.1): Is a way of collecting information

through asking questions.Then we look at their
answers and find similarities and differences.

Academic Language: Collecting data means the same as

Gathering information.
Think
How do people meet their partners today?
Is it different to how your parents met?

Maral: How did your parents meet?

Chariza: Ahhh, they met when they were
kids but it was a traditional arranged
marriage.
Maral: Oooh! Is that how you met your
husband?
Chariza: Haha, nooo! We met in a bar!
Looking at data
Read this article from 2016 and look at the graph
Send your answers to these questions to John before you move on.
1. Which way of meeting has grown the most in the last 20 years?
2.Which way of meeting has grown the most in the last 5 years?
3.Which is the most common way of meeting?
4.Which way of meeting was just as popular in 1940 as it was in 2009?
Dating Apps
The fastest growing way that couples met in the last ten
years was by using dating apps.
What do you know about dating apps?
Do some research on google
Research two dating apps
Find two ways they are similar, and two ways they are
different
Complete this worksheet and send it to John
Part two
In this lesson you will learn to use academic language
when showing similarities and differences

Evaluation
You will be evaluated on:
Completion of the work /5
Demonstration of effort in the work /5
Appropriate use of academic language /5
Think
How do people meet their partners today?
Is it different to how your parents met?

Maral: How did your parents meet?

Chariza: Ahhh, they met when they were
kids but it was a traditional arranged
marriage.
Maral: Oooh! Is that how you met your
husband?
Chariza: Haha, nooo! We met in a bar!
Academic Language - differences
A good way of showing differences is by using these
words and phrases
however
whereas
in contrast to
Although
Academic Language For example
A good way of showing differences is by using these
words and phrases
however
whereas
in contrast to
Although

Charisa met her husband in a bar

whereas her parents had a traditional
arranged marriage.
Academic Language For example
A good way of showing differences is by using these
words and phrases
however
whereas
in contrast to
Although

Charisa met her husband in a bar

however her parents had a traditional
arranged marriage.
Academic Language For example
A good way of showing differences is by using these
words and phrases
however
Pay attention here
whereas to the sentence
in contrast to structure!

Although

Although her parents had a traditional

arranged marriage, Charisa met her
husband in a bar.
Academic Language For example
A good way of showing differences is by using these
words and phrases
however
whereas Pay attention here!
in contrast to
Although

Charisa met her husband in a bar

in contrast to her parents who had an
arranged marriage.
More complex sentences
You can make sentences more complex and academic by showing both similarities
and differences.
e.g. Janine and Mohammed both met their partners at university in contrast to Juan,
Hanbo, and Tram who all met their partners at work.
This shows a difference between Janine and Mohammed who are similar, and Juan,
Hanbo, and Tram who are similar.

Task: Use the data you gathered yesterday to write some complex sentences in this
worksheet.
Email it to John when youre done.
More academic language
Click here for more academic language
If everyone else has already started the survey, just go to
the next page
Another survey
Use this survey to collect information about your classmates.
Just use whatsapp this time. Use your writing skills!

No-one should be out of their seat!

Im watching you guys.

(click on the heart)

One more thing
Follow this link and complete Johns survey
Dont worry, you will be complete anonymous
The data will be used to make a graph for part three:
Part three
In this lesson you will write an essay describing a graph,
and then make graphs depicting the two surveys from
part one

Evaluation
You will be evaluated on:
Completion of the work /5
Demonstration of effort in the work /5
Appropriate use of academic language /5
Demonstration of critical thinking /5
Graph reading
In academic English exams and IELTS you will need to be able to read and
describe a graph
Remember the article in Part one?
When you answered Johns questions you were reading the graph and you
found information.
It is the same when you describe a graph but there are no questions!
It can be difficult to know where to begin.
But all you need to do is state the obvious.
Look at this break down of a line graph.
Check your email
John has sent you a graph with the results of the class
survey from part two.
Write a 250 word essay that describes the graph
Use the structure you have just learned as a guide
Email your essay to John when you finish
Make a graph in Microsoft word
You can read a graph but can you make a graph?
Open the survey you did in part one
Use the data you collected to make a bar graph
Dont know how?

Think about how many series and categories you will need before you start
When you finish graphing the survey of part one, send it to John and graph the 2 nd survey
5

4.5

3.5

3
Series 1
2.5
Series 2
2 Series 3
1.5

0.5

0
Category 1
Make your own survey
What is something you would like to know about your
classmates?
Come up with a survey question and send it to John for
ethics approval.
If the question is inappropriate it will be rejected and
John will choose a question for you.
Part four
Today you will conduct your survey, organise your data
and make a graph. Then you will write an essay
responding to another classmates graph.

Evaluation
You will be evaluated on:
Completion of the work /5
Demonstration of effort in the work /5
Appropriate use of academic language /5
Accuracy of graph /5
Conduct your survey
Check your email, did you get ethics approval for you
survey?

Time to start your survey and answer your classmates

surveys
Finished your Survey?
Group together your data
Make a graph remember to detail it accurately
When your graph is finished send it to John
John will send you one of your classmates graphs
Got your graph?
You can guess what comes next!
Write an essay 250 words describing your classmates
graph
When you finish send your essay to your classmate for
editing
Got your essay back? Send it to John!
Part Five
In this lesson you will write an essay comparing two graphs. When you have finished
this you will make two fake graphs (the sillier the better) and send them to John.
Someone will write an essay comparing your graphs, and you will write an essay
comparing someone else's graphs.
Evaluation
You will be evaluated on:
Completion of the work /5
Demonstration of effort in the work /5
Use of academic language /5
Demonstration of critical thinking /5
Extra points: if youre graphs and essay make John laugh /5
Comparing two graphs
You describe two graphs the same way you describe one graph but
When comparing two graphs you need to consider how the two graphs relate to each other
Could there be a relationship between the graphs?
For example:

Farts per month Beans eaten per

200 month (kgs)
150 15
10 Beans
100
Farts per 5 eaten
50 per
month 0
month
Feburary
March
January

April
0
(kgs)
Feburary
Janurary

March
April
Follow these links to some IELTS websites

IELTS Exam.net
British council
IELTS Buddy

Find a writing task part 1(these have two graphs)

Write an essay comparing the two graphs and send it to John
Copy and past the link to website you got it from on to your word
document

You can use these outside of class for practise!

 Make some graphs
Make two graphs think of how they might relate to each other.You will need to think of what the
common data will be.Years? Countries? It could be anything!
Eg:

Sexy grandmas (per Amount of knitting

capita) completed per month
30 (Square Metres)
25 6
20 Amount of
15 4
Sexy knitting
10 2
5 grandmas completed
0
0 (per capita) per month
(Square
Metres)

In these graphs the common data are countries!

Finished your graphs
Send them to John!
He will send you someone elses graphs.
Write an essay comparing these graphs
Conclusion
Academic writing isnt easy. Most native speakers have trouble with it as well.
It is important to think critically about your own work and to continue
working to make your essays better though:
Extensive reading
Writing practise
Vocabulary building
More reading
Do not neglect improving your other skills as well. What do you find the most
difficult? Tackle it head on dont run away from it!
Ps. Read. Everyday. Read.
Teachers notes
This website does not utilise the internet as much as
most webquests.
I chose to use the genre of the powerpoint to my
advantage rather than send students to websites
unprepared
This is designed to be a highly scaffolded webquest, ideal
for intermediate-upper intermediate students that are
unfamiliar with academic writing.