Close-up p 16. Write an essay about the effects of the internet.

 TASK:

Following a class discussion your teacher has asked you to write an essay giving your views on this topic:

The internet has had a huge effect on our lives. Some people say that it has made the world smaller by bringing people together. Do you agree that the internet is making it easier for people to interact with one another? What disadvantages are associated with internet communication? What are the benefits and drawbacks of using English as a lingua franca? Has the internet had an impact on human behaviour?

Write your essay

Useful language:

TITLE

It is usually a statement or a question.

INTRODUCING THE TOPIC
Many people believe /feel that… / It is often claimed that… / We often hear that…
People’s opinions on … differ widely.

DEVELOPING YOUR ARGUMENT
One of the main advantages of … is that …
In the first place, / Firstly, / To begin with, / To start with, / First of all,
Second, / Secondly, / In the second place, / Thirdly, / Finally, /Lastly, / Last but not least, …
In addition to that, / Apart from that, / Besides,
At first sight … but in fact,
Apparently (al parecer), / the fact is that, / As a matter of fact,
For example… For instance… A case in point is… (un caso que lo explica es)
Clearly, / Obviously, / Needless to say, / As everyone knows,

FOLLOWING A LOGICAL ARGUMENT
Therefore, / Consequently, / As a result, / Thus, / Hence, / For this reason,
For one reason or another, / Up to a point,
In general, / As a rule, / On the whole,
In a way, / In a sense, / In some sense, (e.g. In some sense I agree with you, but not entirely)
In particular, / Especially,
Let alone (aún menos) / Not to mention (por no decir).
In other words… (en otras palabras). In any case… (en cualquier caso)
Things being as they are…

INTRODUCING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Both … and / not only … but also …
In addition, / additionally, / in addition to this, / What is more, / Furthermore, /Moreover,/ likewise,
If this were not enough, / To make matters worse,
Above all, / On top of all this,
In these circumstances, /
With regard to, / For that matter, (respecto a ese asunto)
As for… (en lo que se refiere a).
Another advantage/ disadvantage is 
Besides this
Finally,

EXPRESSING AN OPPOSITE POINT OF VIEW
Although, / However, / At the same time,
After all, /
In spite of + noun phrase/ -ing/ the fact that…
Despite + noun phrase/ -ing/ the fact that…
In contrast,


EXPRESSING BALANCE
Some people… while/whereas others …
On the one hand … on the other hand…
While it is true that… / that maybe so, but, surely…
On the positive side... On the negative side

EXPRESSING OPINIONS
In my view, / In my opinion, / It seems to me that… / As I see it, / To my mind,
I think/feel that … / I can honestly say that…
As far as I am concerned, / As far as I know, / For all I know, / To the best of my knowledge,
It is my firm belief that
I would dispute the claim that
It is probably true to say that
It is true to some extent that
It cannot be denied that
It would be wrong to argue that
There can be no doubt that
It is simply not the case that
It is difficult to accept the idea that

Saying what other people think
It is widely believed that
It is generally agreed that
No one would dispute the fact that
Few people would contest (/kənˈtest/oppose) (the fact) that
Few people would dispute (the fact) that
Some people feel that
Others argue that 
There are those who argue that
It has been suggested that
It is often claimed that
Opponents/ Supporters/ Proponents (supporters) of (bullfighting) argue that

Referring to sources
All the evidence/research suggests/shows that
A recent survey proved that
Judging by the comments made by
Interviews with (students) have revealed that

REACHING CONCLUSIONS / SUMMING UP
In conclusion, / To conclude, / To sum up, / On balance,
All in all, / All things considered,
Taking everything into consideration, there are some good arguments for…

On balance: after considering all the information. E.g. On balance, the company has had a successful year.