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Academic Guidance > Example Essays > Cause and Effect Essays ✓

Writing Practice
Answers to the following writing tasks can be found in the example essay
and in the attached answer sheet. After completing these tasks, consider
downloading the grammar and vocabulary worksheets.

1. Match the functions in the boxes below to the following example essay
sentences; you may need to read the whole essay to help you:

outline thesis statement supporting details

background information thesis restatement introductory sentence
summary of main ideas topic sentence future considerations

a) Another reason for the introduction of preliminary years may be due to

cultural reasons.13

b) Generally created to prepare students for the rigours of academia, the

preliminary year now means that many non-native students of English are
required to spend a minimum of four years to complete an otherwise three
-year undergraduate degree.2

c) The second motivation is likely regarding student understanding of

cultural differences, and this would certainly appear to be evident in the
fact that non-native students today have much more appropriate
expectations of their tutors.27

d) As is explained in the following essay, these three factors have likely

resulted in numerous effects, which have been both positive and negative
for undergraduate students.5

e) Whether or not UK and US universities in particular will consider

lowering their fees to alleviate these problems remains to be seen. 30

f) Johnson’s (2009) study, in which 117,000 students completed an online

survey, also found that students reported complications with
understanding cultural differences, especially between Western and
Eastern institutions.14

g) This essay has determined that three primary motivations are likely
candidates for the recent popularity in introducing preliminary-year
programmes.25

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h) The concept of the preliminary year was created as recently as the
1990s and has since become an increasingly popular addition to the
traditional bachelor’s degree structure (Smith, 2017).1

i) Although there might be many reasons for the creation of preliminary

programmes, this paper argues that such courses have been primarily
adopted for three reasons.3

2. Rewrite the six incorrectly formatted Harvard-style references below:

a) A. B., Benton (2016). ‘The parent-student dynamic’, Academic Explained, 34),

pp. 13 to 34.

b) Davidson, David. 2001 “Academic information” London: University Publications.

c) Jack Johnson (2009) ‘Linguistic Demands in Non-Native Students’, 3(2),

University Global, pages: 545 to 555.

d) It’s an academic’s world. Jones, R. E. Shanghai: Chinese Print Ltd. (2014).

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e) (2004) Lee, L., Lee. E. New York: University regulations in practice. New Print.

f) W., Smith., (2017) An investigation of academic structures, Academic Practices,

(3)14, p. 17-36.

3. Paraphrase the following five sentences (award one point for

maintaining the meaning and one for a successful paraphrase):

a) In a study of 113 universities in the USA, Smith and Wesson (2000) found that dropout
rates for non-native speakers of English at English-medium universities were as high as 24%.7

b) In the same study, Johnson (2009) reported a decrease in dropout rates of 57% after the
introduction of the preliminary year.11

c) While this may be another positive effect of the introduction of preliminary-year programmes,
some studies have indicated negative outcomes as well.18

d) One particular motivation for introducing such courses that’s often overlooked in the literature
may be purely financial.19

e) Following significant increases in tuition fees in countries such as the UK, a growth of up to
£60,000,000 in annual profit is not uncommon for the larger British universities (Jones, 2014). 21

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Using the same topic as in our fictional example cause and effect essay,
now conduct real research to answer the essay question. First create a
block-structure plan, then write your five-paragraph essay:

Cause and Effect Essay Question:

More and more English-medium universities are introducing preliminary-year

programmes for non-native speakers of English. What are the causes of this, and
what effects has the introduction of a preliminary year had on students?

introduction

Cause 1:

Effects:

Cause 2:

Effects:

Cause 3:

Effects:

conclusion

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©

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©

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 Writing Answer Sheet

1. Match the functions in the boxes below to the following example essay
sentences; you may need to read the whole essay to help you:

A) topic sentence b) background c) summary of

information main ideas

d) outline e) future f) supporting

considerations details

g) thesis h) introductory i) thesis

restatement sentence statement

2. Rewrite the six incorrectly formatted Harvard-style references below:

a) Benton, A. B. (2016) ‘The parent-student dynamic’, Academic Explained, 3(4),

pp. 13-34.

b) Davidson, D. (2001) Academic information. London: University Publications.

c) Johnson, J. (2009) ‘Linguistic demands in non-native students’, University

Global, 3(2), pp. 545-555.

d) Jones, R. E. (2014) It’s an academic’s world. Shanghai: Chinese Print Ltd.

e) Lee, L. and Lee. E. (2004) University regulations in practice. New York: New
Print.

f) Smith, W. (2017) ‘An investigation of academic structures’, Academic Practices,

14(3), pp. 17-36.

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 Writing Answer Sheet

3. Paraphrase the following five sentences (award one point for

maintaining the meaning and one for a successful paraphrase):
(answers may vary)

a) Smith and Wesson (2000) studied 113 American universities and determined that non-native
dropout rates at English-speaking universities were as high as 24%.

b) Johnson (2009) also demonstrated in the same study that dropout rates decreased by as much as
57% once the preliminary year had been introduced.

c) Although this could be evidence of the positive effects of introducing preliminary-year

programmes, there are additional studies which have highlighted some of the negative effects.

d) Often overlooked by researchers is that financial reasons may be a primary motivation for the
introduction of preliminary-year programmes.

e) A growth of around £60 million in yearly profit has become possible for the largest British
universities because of this country’s significant tuition-fee increases (Jones, 2014).

For answers to the final writing task, consider using our Ask an Expert
service to receive feedback on your cause and effect essay.

Notes:

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