Page 20 - Mini-Module 11

Subheadings are particularly important for the report reader. The
document is not so daunting to the reader if they can see it is broken
up into coherent sections. This will also help the attention span to be
maintained. Furthermore, the reader may only be interested in one
issue, and if she cannot find it quickly, she may not bother to read the
document at all.
In the above example, you can then use subheadings to explain each of
the points on the list:
1. Increased Subject Autonomy
There is evidence to suggest that relatively minor decisions are being
referred to the Head of MS. This will affect our teaching effectiveness if
we cannot respond quickly to their needs. HoDs should therefore be able
to do the following without permission:
● More students between levels.
● Select own themes and textbooks.

At this point let’s draw a few of these features together. Look at the
passage in Task Two and see if you can improve its readability by
splitting it up, giving it a better visual shape and drawing out headings.
Try doing the exercise before you look at the possible solution which
follows. You should find that you have made the passage less daunting
than the example given. It should have a better visual appearance and
the subheadings should cover the main topics. If you want to refer
therefore to the issue of overtime, you should be able to find the
appropriate part without having to search through the whole piece of
writing. If you really wanted to improve it of course, you could change
some of the words and alter the way the ideas are expressed. In the
example in Figure 5, we have not changed the words, but tried to
improve the passage through the use of subheadings and shorter
sentences and paragraphs, and where possible, we have tried to list
ideas .

6. Third Person
In report writing, it is common practice to use the third‐person
singular:
not ‘I interviewed the Head of LS’;
but 'The Head of LS was interviewed.’
The reason for this is that it depersonalises your work and makes it
sound more objective. There are some moves to reverse this process
and in the end it is a personal decision, but by and large many still
prefer reports written without the pronouns 'I' and 'we'.
Despite this, there are some persuasive arguments for making reports
more 'human' and showing that they are written by people for people
and usually about people. You have to consider your own style
preference and that of your school. Whichever you choose to use, be
consistent and stick with it throughout the report.

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