Formal Summaries I

This lesson focuses on formal summaries which often appear in examination papers, but which are used in our everyday lives as well. You may want to show learners examples of “executive summaries” which often appear at the start of financial reports or academic papers. You could then discuss how these summaries provide the reader with the essence of the full study and help the reader to decide if he or she should read the whole text. This will illustrate that being able to compile a formal summary is a skill that is used beyond the English classroom.