June 6, 2011

Synonyms as tools in IELTS writing (Cohesion, Part 3 of 4)

One cohesive device that you could use for your writing tasks is that of synonyms.

Synonyms are words that have the same or nearly the same meaning as other words.


To see how this technique works, we'd like to invite you to read excerpts of Hamish Fletcher's article at the NZ Herald entitled "Don't upset 'digital natives' bosses told." He writes:
"Employers cracking down on Facebook at work are 'cutting off the air supply' to the digital generation, says an Auckland academic.

While many bosses are locking out their workers from social networking sites, the University of Auckland's Michael Myers believed this is not the best way to deal with 'digital natives'."

Upon closer examination, you will notice that there were 3 instances where the technique was used:

1) Note how the word "employers" was expressed at the second paragraph.
"Employers cracking down on Facebook at work are 'cutting off the air supply' to the digital generation, says an Auckland academic.

While many bosses are locking out their workers from social networking sites, the University of Auckland's Michael Myers believed this is not the best way to deal with 'digital natives'."

2) Notice also how the actions of the employers were written.
"Employers cracking down on Facebook at work are 'cutting off the air supply' to the digital generation, says an Auckland academic.

While many bosses are locking out their workers from social networking sites, the University of Auckland's Michael Myers believed this is not the best way to deal with 'digital natives'."

3) Finally, observe how the workers or employees were described.
"Employers cracking down on Facebook at work are 'cutting off the air supply' to the digital generation, says an Auckland academic.

While many bosses are locking out their workers from social networking sites, the University of Auckland's Michael Myers believed this is not the best way to deal with 'digital natives'."

To summarize, apart from showing your skill in lexical resource by avoiding to write repetitive words, an advantage that you could have by using synonyms is that you could enable the reader of your writing task to easily determine how the sentences in your paragraphs are connected.

We hope you liked our tips for today.

Next, we will be sharing our tips with regard to cohesion through transition words and phrases. Cheers!


Attribution to Hamish Fletcher and his article at the NZ Herald entitled "Don't upset 'digital natives' bosses told."


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