2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

ENGLISH
HOME LANGUAGE

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

BROADCAST SESSIONS

GRADE 11 Welcome Grade 11’s to Telematics

GRADE 12

Session Date Time Topic

1 08/02/2023 15h00-16h00 Writing skills

2 25/10/2023 16h00-17h00 Editing Skills

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2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

INTRODUCTION

“Why do we write?”
1. The primary reason for writing is to communicate with others, or to create an
action/ response from the reader.
2. Writing is the primary basis upon which your proficiency in the language,
and intellect ,will be judged.
3. Writing is an essential job skill
4. People decide they hate writing because they're trying too hard ... Write as
yourself.
5. It all comes down to fear and lack of confidence. The fear of using the wrong
word or getting the grammar wrong.
6. Good writing uses just the right words to say just the right things.
SECTION A: ESSAY
50 marks
This is a CREATIVE piece of writing NOT an ACADEMIC piece!
Titles can guide you to genre you must use.
Genre refers to the TYPE of essay you will be writing.
TYPES OF ESSAYS:
1. NARRATIVE: A narrative essay tells a story or gives an account of events.
2. DESCRIPTIVE: Describes something like an incident, feeling place or
person in detail
3. ARGUMENTATIVE: Attempting to influence and sway the opinion of your
reader.
4. DISCURSIVE/ EXPOSITORY: A written debate where both sides of an
argument are presented.
5. REFLECTIVE: Writing that reflects reality, the sharing of thoughts, ideas
and feelings.
6. PICTURE STIMIULUS: Visual stimuli such as pictures may spark an idea.
[THERE NEEDS TO BE A CLEAR LINK BETWEEN THE PICTURE AND
THE CONTENT OF THE ESSAY.]

THE WRITING PROCESS:

MIND MAP-
DRAFT-
EDIT-
NEAT

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2023 WORKBOOK | Grade ?? ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

EXAM AND WRITING TIPS

1. You have to have paragraphs! No solid writing!

2. You have to do planning BUT there is no time for a rough draft.
3. Do a detailed mind map or list or flow chart.
4. Do not waste time. Do not use a ruler to draw perfect blocks for your mind
map. Use your time on the actual writing.
5. Edit on your neat work in the same colour ink in which you wrote.
6. Time management is important. Allocated time is supplied on the
instructions page as well as the total number of words allowed. (Do not go
over the number of words)
7. Write about what you know.
8. If you are uncertain about the meaning of word select another topic.
9. If you select a quote, write about the whole quote i.e. make sure you
understand what it means. A 4-line quote might have one message or more.
10. Do not simply repeat the title or quote you have selected.
11. Visuals – there must be a clear link but do not describe what you see in the
picture. You can tell a story and the link to the visual can be at the end of the
essay.
12. Do not retell a film you have seen or a book you have read.
13. The marker does not need to know about your drunken parties, sexual
exploits or any other vulgarity. YOU WILL BE MARKED DOWN ON
CONTENT which will affect your Language mark. Content may only be one
column lower than language. Content can be marked right down to
Inadequate in this case.
14. If your religion is important to you and topical you may write about it but do
not simply quote from the scriptures and/or preach.
15. Number according to the numbering on the question paper.
16. Be careful of using words you are not sure of – it could impress or flop.
17. Register
1. formal = no contractions / slang
2. informal = slang only in direct speech

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2023 WORKBOOK | Grade ?? ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

SOME EXAMPLES OF TOPICS

• NARRATIVE: “The last of the letters.”

• DESCRIPTIVE: “While waiting in the dentist’s reception rooms…”
• ARGUMENTATIVE: “Social media is killing friendships” Do you agree?
• DISCURSIVE: What are your thoughts about on-line learning?
• EXPOSITORY: “Drinking and driving kills more people than the flu”
• REFLECTIVE: “A sports coach can have the greatest impact on your life. I
know mine did!”

ESSAY RUBRIC

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2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

TRANSACTIONAL WRITING: HOW TO WRITE A FORMAL EMAIL

1. Begin with a greeting/salutation

Always open your email with a greeting, such as “Dear Lillian”, etc. If your
relationship with the recipient is formal, use their title and surname – “Dear Ms
Price”. If the relationship is more casual, you can simply say “Hi Kelly”. If you
don’t know the name of the person you are writing to, use “Dear Sir/Madam”.
2. State your purpose
Make your purpose clear early on in the email, and then move into the main text
of your email. Remember, people want to read emails quickly, so keep your
sentences short and clear. You’ll also need to pay careful attention to grammar,
spelling and punctuation.
4. Add closing remarks
Before you end your email, include a closing remark, such as “If you have any
questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to let me know” or “I look forward to
hearing from you”.
5. End with an appropriate closing
The last step is to include an appropriate signing off with your name. “Kind
regards”, “Sincerely”, and “Thank you” are all professional. Avoid closings such
as “Best wishes” or “Cheers” unless you are good friends with the reader.
NB! Before you hit SEND, review and spell check your email, and make sure it’s
going to the correct person.
FORMAT ASPECTS TO REMEMBER
• Recipient
The email address of the person you are writing to.
Subject line
The subject line should be clear, short, and to the point. Make sure that the
recipient can tell at a glance what the email is about. It does NOT need to be a
complete sentence.

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 2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

Greeting
Always open your email with a greeting, such as “Dear Thembi”, etc. If your
relationship with the recipient is formal, like with a teacher, use their title and
surname – “Dear Ms. Price”. If the relationship is more casual, you can simply say “Hi
Grant”. If you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to, use “Dear
Sir/Madam”. Don’t use a comma after the name!
Introduction
Begin with an opener such as “I trust you are well” or “I hope your day/week is going
well”. Use logic as to which one is most appropriate.
If you are replying to an enquiry, you may need to begin with a line of thanks.
If someone has replied to one of your emails, be sure to say, “Thank you for your
prompt reply” or “Thanks for getting back to me”. Thanking the reader puts him/her at
ease, and it will make you appear more polite. If you are emailing first, you don’t
need to thank the other person.
Body
Make your purpose for writing the email clear. Write the most important information
first and include specific details. Remember, people want to read emails quickly, so
keep your sentences short and clear. You’ll also need to pay careful attention to
grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Conclusion
Before you end your email, include a closing remark, such as “If you have any
questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to let me know” or “I look forward to hearing
from you”.
Closing greeting
The last step is to include an appropriate signing off. “Kind regards”, “Sincerely”, and
“Thank you” are all polite. Avoid closings such as “Best wishes” or “Cheers” unless
you are good friends with the reader.
Name
If you are emailing a teacher, include your surname and class (s/he will teach several
classes and many learners). Don’t use commas or full stops here either.

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2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

TRANSACTIONAL WRITING RUBRIC

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2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

LANGUAGE: General English tips

1. Answer in full sentences

“The tall brown fox jumped excitedly when he saw some food” is an example of a
full sentence not “he jumped when he saw food “or “ she is sick” or “ sick” .
Unless you are directed to quote one word or are told to explicitly write down one
word such as “write down one word that sums up the boy’s feelings when he
saw the monster”
2. Be specific
Don’t answer the questions with “Because” and don’t say something like
“because he was sick”. The teacher will ask who is sick?
3. Give as much detail as possible.
For example: Don’t just say the people were poor. Say “The majority of the
American population were poor because they were experiencing a financial
crisis because the stock market had crashed.”
4. One of the best ways to study is to teach another person.
So try to explain a concept (like what is a figure of speech?) without looking at
your notes. If you can’t then you probably don’t know your work well enough and
then go study again.
5. Look at the mark allocations
Mark allocations act as a guide to tell you how much or how little to write. If the
question is out of 3 marks, then you should aim to write 3-4 facts.
6. Work through past papers.
You know the saying, practice makes perfect.
7. When reading questions…
Highlight/ circle/ underline the most important words or instructional words in the
question. For example:
“Suggest two reasons why Bloemfontein has omitted the famous son from its list
of local attractions.”

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2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

LANGUAGE: EDITING

When dealing with editing / language / grammar sections

• Know the difference between PARTS of speech and FIGURES of speech.
They are not the same.
• Parts of speech= Noun/ Verbs/ Adverbs/ Adjectives and other
• Figures of speech= Metaphor/ Pun/ Irony/ Bathos and other
• Know all your figures of speech, how to identify them and explain them.
• Spelling is important!!
• Editing tests the technical elements of language study i.e. language
conventions, structure and grammar.
• DRILL DRILL DRILL!
• Attempt the exercise on the next page:

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2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

DRILL DRILL DRILL!!

How hard is it to last 72 hours in the wild without food, water or shelter?
We were about to find out …
1. Night is falling, and we're lost. Somewhere in the canyon lands of southern Utah
(USA), I'm truging across a seemingly endless sagebush plain, and the twilight gloom
is thick.
2. My group of 14 hikers have been on the trail for five hours, and our delight at the
majesty of red rock landscape has long since given way to grumbling about hunger
and sore feet. As the first stars start to twinkle, the question arises, 'Okay, now what?'

3. We stop. 'Here's the scenario,' says our lead guide. 'You've been driven out to the
canyon for a day's hike, got lost and now you can't find your car. Decide what to do.'
4. Hmm. We have no water, no torches, no food, no shelter, no way to make a fire,
and few extra clothes. And now it's pitch dark. Reluctantly, we realise that the only
thing to do is lie down where we're standing and try to sleep. The ground is hard and
the night is cold.
5. I shut my eyes, then open them. It's getting colder. My stomach twists in hunger.
From out the blackness comes a voice of reason in the wilderness. It says, 'This
sucks!'
SOURCE: Popular Mechanics

5.1 What part of speech is 'canyon' as used in line 1? (1)

5.2 Why is 'Utah' written with a capital letter? (1)
5.3 Correct the spelling error in the first paragraph (1)
5.4 Correct the error of concord in paragraph 2. (1)
5.5 Provide a homophone for 'sore' . (1)
5.6 Which of the following devices best describes the word 'Okay'?
B Euphemism
C Jargon
D Slang (1)
5.7 Rewrite the lead guide's words: 'Here's the scenario‘ in indirect speech. (1)
Begin with: The lead guide said that there was the scenario.
5.8 'The ground is hard and the night is cold‘. Replace the conjunction 'and' with a
suitable punctuation mark, other than a full stop. (1)
5.9 Explain the expression 'This sucks!' (1)
5.10 Why is Popular Mechanics written in italics? (1).
[10]

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2023 WORKBOOK | Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE

MEMO

5.1 What part of speech is 'canyon' as used in line 1? (1)

Adjective
5.2 Why is 'Utah' written with a capital letter? (1)
Proper noun/name of a state in USA
5.3 Correct the spelling error in the first paragraph (1)
Trudging
5.4 Correct the error of concord in paragraph 2. (1)
... has ... (replaces 'have')
5.5 Provide a homophone for 'sore' . (1)
Soar/saw
5.6 Which of the following devices best describes the word 'Okay'? (1)
A Colloquialism
5.7 Rewrite the lead guide's words: 'Here's the scenario‘ in indirect speech. (1)
The lead guide said that there was the scenario.
5.8 'The ground is hard and the night is cold‘. Replace the conjunction 'and' with
a suitable punctuation mark, other than a full stop. (1)
Semi-colon/dash
5.9 Explain the expression 'This sucks!' (1)
This is unacceptable!
5.10 Why is Popular Mechanics written in italics? (1).
The name of a magazine

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