Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's English lesson with me, Ms. Chu.

I hope you're ready to get started.

Let's go.

Today's learning outcome is I can identify and explain linguistic features of a non-chronological report.

The key words that we will need in this lesson are my turn, your turn.

Non-chronological report.

Language Fronted adverbial.

Good job.

You said those really well.

A non-chronological report is a nonfiction text that informs about a subject or event and that is written out of time order.

Language is a way of communicating using words for expressing ideas, thoughts, and information.

A fronted adverbial is a sentence starter followed by a comma.

The lesson outlined today is split into three parts, subject-specific vocabulary, fronted adverbials of cause, and finally, viewpoint fronted adverbials.

Let's start with subject-specific vocabulary.

Non-chronological reports use subject-specific vocabulary.

It is related to the topic of the report.

It is factual and it is often found in non-fiction texts.

Factual vocabulary about the ancient Greeks includes words like these.

My turn and then your turn.

Parthenon.

Acropolis.

Hoplite.

Well done, you said those brilliantly.

The Parthenon is a famous ancient Greek temple located on the Acropolis, which is a hill in Athens, Greece.

It was built in the fifth century BCE, and considered one of the greatest architectural achievements of classical Greece.

This temple was dedicated to the goddess Athena.

Today, the Parthenon is a symbol of ancient Greece culture and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Acropolis is a historically significant hill located in the city of Athens in Greece.

It played a central role in the development of ancient Athens.

And finally, the hoplite is a heavily armed foot soldier in ancient Greece.

The word hoplite comes from the Greek word hoplon, which means shield.

These soldiers were named after the large, round shields they carried, which were called hoplons.

What is subject-specific vocabulary? Is it A, words that describe a noun, B, words related to a specific topic or subject, or C, a general word used in the English language? Pause the video now and try and work out what you think the answer is.

Okay.

Did you say that subject-specific vocabulary is words related to a specific topic or subject? If you did, well done.

Let's now move on to task A.

I would like you to circle the words that are specific to the topic of ancient Greeks, Hoplite.

Soldier.

Parthenon.

City.

Acropolis.

And hill.

Pause the video and have a go at circling the words that you think are specific to the topic of ancient Greeks.

I'm going to show you which words I circled that are specific to the topic of ancient Greeks.

The first word that I circled was hoplite.

Remember, I said that a hoplite is a heavily armed foot soldier in ancient Greece.

The second word I circled was Acropolis.

The Acropolis is a historically significant hill located in the city of Athens.

And finally, the word that I circled was Parthenon because the Parthenon is the famous ancient Greek temple located on the Acropolis.

I didn't circle soldier because soldier is a universal word that can be used in a range of context.

It's not specific and not limited to the topic of ancient Greeks, and neither is city, nor is hill.

We are now onto the second part of our lesson, fronted adverbials of cause.

A fronted adverbial is a sentence starter followed by a comma.

There are different types of fronted adverbials.

Should we have a look to see what they are? There are fronted adverbials of time, fronted adverbials of place, fronted adverbials of manner, fronted adverbials of cause and viewpoint fronted adverbials.

A fronted adverbial of cause is a sentence starter that tells the reader the cause and effect of something.

A cause is an event or action that brings about another event or action.

It is what leads to something else happening.

An effect is the result that occurs as a result of a cause.

It is what happens because of the cause.

True or false? An effect always follows a cause.

I would like you to pause the video and have a go at thinking about whether this is true or whether this is false.

Okay, get ready to point to the answer.

The answer is in three, two, one.

It is true.

And the reason for this, is it because a cause comes before an effect or is it because a cause and an effect are not linked? That's right, a cause comes before an effect.

Well done.

Here are two fronted adverbials of cause.

My turn and then your turn.

As a result.

Great.

As a consequence.

Fabulous.

We use these two fronted adverbials of cause when we want to link the cause to the effect.

Let's have a look at how a fronted adverbial of cause is used in an example.

In this example, the cause is the ancient Greeks had democracy.

The effect of that is that their citizens were allowed to participate in decision making.

That means they were allowed to take part in making decisions about their country.

Another effect of democracy was that other countries followed their example by having their own kind of democracy in their own countries.

So the cause of that leads to two effects.

We're just gonna focus on the first effect.

Citizens were allowed to participate in decision making.

The ancient Greeks had democracy is the cause.

Let's use the fronted adverbial of cause as a result to link that cause to the effect.

As a result, citizens were allowed to participate in decision making.

Let's look at the cause and effect sentences together.

The ancient Greeks had democracy.

As a result, citizens were allowed to participate in decision making.

So to summarise.

As a result links the first sentence to the second sentence.

The first sentence is the cause and the second sentence is the effect.

True or false? As a result links an effect to a cause.

Pause the video and think about whether this is true or false.

Okay, get ready to point to whether you think this is true or whether this is false.

In three, two, one.

Yes, it's true.

And why is it true? An effect is linked to a cause or an effect has no link to a cause.

Yes, that's right.

An effect is always linked to a cause.

Well done.

Let's now have a look at the second example of the cause and effect.

We said that the ancient Greeks had democracy.

That was the cause.

And we said that there were two effects.

Citizens were allowed to participate in decision making and other countries followed their example by having their own kind of democracy in their countries.

Let's now just focus on the second effect.

The ancient Greeks had democracy was the cause.

We're going to use our fronted adverbial of cause as a consequence to link that to our effect.

As a consequence, other countries followed their example by having their own kind of democracy in their countries.

Let's put those two sentences together.

The ancient Greeks had democracy.

As a consequence, other countries followed their example by having their own kind of democracy in their countries.

To summarise again, as a consequence links the first sentence to the second sentence.

The first sentence is the cause and the second sentence is the effect.

Let's do a quick check for understanding.

Which of these are true for a fronted adverbial of cause? Is it A, it links a cause to its effect? B, it lists two adverbs to describe a noun? Or is it C, it links one sentence to the next sentence? Pause the video and have a think about which of these are true.

Okay, let's have a look at what the answers are.

A, it links a cause to its effect.

And C, it links one sentence to the next sentence.

Well done.

We are now onto task B.

In this task, you will use the fronted adverbial of cause to link the two sentences.

Use a comma after the fronted adverbial.

The cause sentence is this.

The ancient Greeks started using democracy.

I would like you to use as a result as your fronted adverbial of cause to link the cause sentence to the effect sentence.

Regular people could help make decisions and that made the government fairer.

Do you think you could have a go now by pausing the video and writing those two sentences using the fronted adverbial of cause as a result? Yes, of course, you can.

Give it a really good go by pausing the video and then press play to resume when you have finished.

Let's have a look at how I use the fronted adverbial of cause as a result to link the two sentences.

The ancient Greeks started using democracy.

That is my cause sentence.

As a result, regular people could help make decisions and that made the government fairer.

We are now onto the third part of our lesson.

Viewpoint fronted adverbials.

Non-chronological reports are written out of time order.

Each section is about a theme related to the subject.

Viewpoint fronted adverbials help to introduce facts within a section.

They emphasise the writer's opinion.

An opinion is what someone thinks or believes.

For example, I think lemon cake is delicious, but I think that coffee cake is not.

Using viewpoint fronted adverbials gives the writer a tool to share their opinion.

The writer tells the reader their opinion by choosing the viewpoint fronted adverbial carefully.

There are three different viewpoint fronted adverbials to explore in this unit.

My turn and then your turn.

Impressively.

This is used before a fact that makes you think wow.

My turn.

Intriguingly.

Your turn.

This is used before a fact that is curious.

My turn.

Significantly.

Your turn.

And this viewpoint fronted adverbial is used before a fact that is very, very important.

I would like you to match the viewpoint fronted adverbial to its meaning.

Is impressively used before a fact that is curious or a fact that is very important or a fact that makes you think wow? What about intriguingly? Is it used before a fact that is curious, a fact that is very important, or used before a fact that makes you think, wow? And finally, is significantly used before a fact that is curious before a fact that is very important or before a fact that makes you think, wow? Pause the video and have a go at matching them to its meaning.

Okay, let's have a look to see if you matched these correctly.

Impressively is used before a fact that makes you think wow.

Intriguingly is used to introduce a fact that is curious.

And finally, significantly is used to introduce a fact that is very important.

Well done.

Let's now have a look at how these viewpoint fronted adverbials are used in sentences.

Impressively, this is used before a fact that makes you think wow.

Impressively, the philosophers like Plato and Socrates laid the foundation for modern philosophy.

That's very impressive.

Intriguingly.

This is used to introduce a fact that is curious.

Intriguingly, the Greek alphabet, with 24 letters, is used in modern English and other languages.

That is very intriguing.

And finally, significantly.

This is used to introduce the fact that is very important.

Significantly, the ancient Greeks introduced the Olympic games in Olympia featuring sports like running, wrestling, and discus throwing.

Which of these are viewpoint fronted adverbials? A, quickly, B, interestingly, C, significantly, or D, suddenly.

Pause the video and have a think.

Okay.

Did you say that interestingly was a viewpoint fronted adverbial? And significantly.

If you did, well done.

Quickly and suddenly are not viewpoint fronted adverbials.

They are fronted adverbials of manner because they tell us how something is done.

We're gonna have a go at an I do, we do.

I'm going to have a go at saying a sentence using the viewpoint fronted adverbial impressively.

And I'm going to say where the comma comes after the fronted adverbial by making this sound.

(hisses) Impressively, (hisses) the young inventor built a robot from spare parts in the garage.

That's very impressive.

I wonder if you could now have a turn at saying your sentence.

You're going to say a sentence using the viewpoint fronted adverbial intriguingly.

Remember, intriguingly is used to introduce a fact that is curious and then also say the comma by using the sound (hisses) after the fronted adverbial.

Pause the video and say your own sentence using the word intriguingly to start your sentence.

Wow, I really, really liked your sentence using the viewpoint fronted adverbial intriguingly.

Shall we have a look at my example? Intriguingly, (hisses) the mysterious treasure map led us to a cave filled with ancient artefacts.

How very curious.

Here's another example.

Intriguingly, the magical book revealed a world of spells to the wizard.

Also very curious.

We are now onto task C.

I would like you to write a sentence using the viewpoint fronted adverbial significantly.

Remember significantly is used to introduce a fact that is very, very important.

Always remember to use a comma after the fronted adverbial.

Here is a sentence scaffold to help you to write your sentence.

Pause the video and have a go.

Then press play when you're finished.

Let's have a look at two of my examples which will be different to yours.

Significantly, (hisses) the talented artist painted a masterpiece.

And my second example.

Significantly, (hisses) the clever inventor's creation amazed everyone.

To summarise.

In this lesson, a non-chronological report uses subject-specific vocabulary.

Fronted adverbials of cause link and effect to a cause.

Viewpoint fronted adverbs introduce facts within a section and are used to emphasise a writer's opinion.

I really hope you enjoyed learning about the linguistic features of a non-chronological report in this lesson.