Report writing: How to… Part I

МИНИСТЕРСТВО НАУКИ И ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ  

РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ 

Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное 

учреждение высшего образования 

«ЮЖНЫЙ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ» 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Я. А. Гудкова, С. Ю. Резникова 

 

Report writing: How to… 

Part I 

 

Учебное пособие 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ростов-на-Дону – Таганрог  

Издательство Южного федерального университета 

2021 

 

УДК 811.111`271(075.8) 
ББК 81.432.1-8 я73 
        Г93 

Выпускается по решению кафедры английского языка естественных факультетов 
ИФЖиМК Южного федерального университета  
(протокол № 10 от 20 апреля 2021 г.) 

Рецензенты: 

доцент кафедры иностранных языков и речевых коммуникаций РАНХиГС, 

кандидат филологических наук Н. В. Зайцева; 

доцент кафедры английского языка естественных факультетов ИФЖиМКК 

ЮФУ, кандидат педагогических наук  О. Х. Мирошникова 

Гудкова, Я. А. 
Г93 
Report writing: How to… [Электронный ресурс] : учебное пособие / 
Я. А. Гудкова, С. Ю. Резникова ; Южный федеральный университет. – 
Ростов-на-Дону 
; 
Таганрог 
: 
Издательство 
Южного 
федерального 
университета, 2021. – Электрон. текстовые дан. (1 файл:      Мб). – 
1 электрон. опт. диск (CD-R). – Системные требования: процессор с тактовой 
частотой 1,5 ГГц и выше, 1 Гб оперативной памяти, Windows 7 SP1, 
Windows 8, 8.1, Windows 10 (32- и 64-разрядные версии), Acrobat Reader DC, 
привод DVD-ROM. – Загл. с экрана. 
ISBN 978-5-9275-3863-8  
Part I – 123 с. 
ISBN 978-5-9275-3864-5 (Part I) 

Электронное учебное пособие предназначено для студентов 3–4 курсов бакалавриата 
инженерных и естественно-научных направлений подготовки. Данное учебное пособие разрабо-
тано на модульной основе и содержит теоретические и практические материалы по составлению 
отчетов делового и профессионального характера. Обучающимся следует внимательно изучить 
теоретический материал, содержащий обязательные требования к составлению документации 
подобного характера, лексико-грамматические единицы, речевые клише, характерные для 
английской научной и технической литературы, выполнить практические задания и ответить на 
контрольные вопросы для самопроверки освоенного материала.  
Публикуется в авторской редакции. 

УДК 811.111`271(075.8) 
ББК 81.432.1-8 я73 
ISBN 978-5-9275-3864-5 (Part I) 
ISBN 978-5-9275-3863-8  

© Южный федеральный университет, 2021 
© Гудкова Я.А., Резникова С.Ю., 2021 
© Оформление. Макет. Издательство 
    Южного федерального университета, 2021

3,10

ОГЛАВЛЕНИЕ 

МЕТОДИЧЕСКАЯ ЗАПИСКА ................................................................................. 5 
1. WHAT IS A REPORT? ............................................................................................ 7 

Lead-in ....................................................................................................................... 7 
Input ........................................................................................................................... 9 
Output ....................................................................................................................... 14 

2. TYPES OF REPORTS ........................................................................................... 15 

Lead-in ..................................................................................................................... 15 
Input ......................................................................................................................... 16 
Output ....................................................................................................................... 26 

3. REPORT STRUCTURE ........................................................................................ 27 

Lead-in ..................................................................................................................... 27 
Input ......................................................................................................................... 28 
Output ....................................................................................................................... 37 

4. PLAGIARISM ......................................................................................................... 38 

Lead-in ..................................................................................................................... 38 
Input ......................................................................................................................... 39 
Output ....................................................................................................................... 44 

5. CITATION ............................................................................................................... 45 

Lead-in ..................................................................................................................... 45 
Input ......................................................................................................................... 46 
Output ....................................................................................................................... 53 

6. TYPES OF VISUALS ............................................................................................. 54 

Lead-in ..................................................................................................................... 54 
Input ......................................................................................................................... 55 
Output ....................................................................................................................... 65 

GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................. 66 
EXTRA GRAMMAR FILES ..................................................................................... 71 

1. Sentence structure ................................................................................................ 71 
2. Word classes ......................................................................................................... 73 
3. Comparisons ......................................................................................................... 78 
4. Determiners .......................................................................................................... 82 
5. Citation ................................................................................................................. 83 
6. Describing trends (word order) ............................................................................ 86 

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 89 

Appendix 1. Definitions and explanations ............................................................... 89 
Appendix 2. Classifications ..................................................................................... 92 
Appendix 3. Describing trends................................................................................. 94 
Appendix 4. Letter of Transmittal ........................................................................... 96 

ANSWER KEYS ......................................................................................................... 97 

1. What is a report? .................................................................................................. 97 
2. Types of reports.................................................................................................. 100 
3. Report structure .................................................................................................. 103 
4. Plagiarism ........................................................................................................... 108 
5. Citation ............................................................................................................... 111 
6. Types of visuals.................................................................................................. 113 

REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 118 
 
 

МЕТОДИЧЕСКАЯ ЗАПИСКА 

Учебное пособие предназначено для студентов 3–4 курсов бакалавриата 
инженерных и естественно-научных направлений подготовки. Целью 
учебного пособия является развитие навыков письма на основе изучения 
теоретического материала, содержащего обязательные требования к 
составлению отчетов делового и профессионального характера, лексико-
грамматических единиц, речевых клише, характерных для английской 
научной и технической литературы и выполнения практических заданий.  
Учебное пособие состоит из 6 модулей, разделов «Extra grammar files», 
«Appendices» и «Glossary». Содержание модулей отражает основной 
материал, освоение которого необходимо для успешного прохождения 
программ «Иностранный язык (английский) для деловой коммуникации», 
«Иностранный язык (английский) для профессиональной коммуникации» и 
«Академический курс иностранного языка». 
Данное пособие включает следующие модули: 
 Module 1 “What is a Report?”
 Module 2 “Types of Reports”
 Module 3 “Report Structure”
 Module 4 "Plagiarism"
 Module 5 “Citation”
 Module 6 "Types of Visuals"
Каждый модуль учебного пособия состоит из разделов:
• Lead-in – способствует снятию лексических трудностей, развитию
ассоциативных связей между словами, а также логической догадки и 
операций анализа, повышению интереса и мотивации студентов к 
изучаемому материалу. 
• Input – включает тексты и задания на понимание целей, структуры и
содержания отчетов. В этот раздел также входят задания, которые 
акцентируют внимание на определенных грамматических аспектах, 
ключевых словах и словосочетаниях из изученного в разделе текста, 
задания на расширение словарного запаса студентов, демонстрируют 
речевые клише, характерные для письменной речи (используемые для 
сообщения информации делового и профессионального характера). 
• Output – включает письменные задания поискового и исследовательского 
характера, в рамках которых закрепляются полученные навыки 

письма и создается естественная ситуация для их переноса в деловую и 
профессиональную среду обучающегося. 

Раздел «Extra grammar files» представляет собой расширенный 

грамматический справочник, который содержит дополнительный материал 
по изучаемым грамматическим темам. Раздел «Appendices» включает 
дополнительные лексические единицы и клише характерные для 
составления отчетов технического и научного характера. Раздел «Glossary» 
разъясняет используемые слова и термины, а также указывает подход к их 
произношению. 

Учебное 
пособие 
разработано 
с 
использованием 
аутентичных 

материалов, размещенных в открытом доступе сети Интернет. 

Модули пособия являются независимыми разделами, что предполагает 

индивидуальную траекторию использования материалов. Данное учебное 
пособие можно рекомендовать как для аудиторной, так и для 
самостоятельной работы, поскольку к наиболее трудным заданиям 
предлагаются ответы в разделе «Answer key». 
 
 

1. WHAT IS A REPORT? 

Lead-in 

█ Task 1 

Before we start looking at report writing in detail, take a moment to reflect on your 

previous experiences. If you have little or no experience with this type of writing, see 
what you can learn from other people. 

 

 

 

Adapted from [30] 

Jommel Tabuton: I have no experience in report writing. But I want to know about it 
and I'm really interested in how to organize and write business reports.

Karen Gerrie: I often write project reports but don't think they are concise, there is often 
a lot of scientific data, charts and interpretation of analysis.

Conrad Brightworth: I’ve never written any reports before because I am a student and 
report writing is included in the programme this semester so I want to be prepared.

Frederik Gualguan: While in university, I have written plenty of business reports as 
part of my assignments. One of them was about a construction company listed on the 
Malaysian stock exchange. I was required to perform financial analysis to study the 
company's financial performance over a five-year period. The business report consists of 
company background, introduction, financial analysis, recommendation and conclusion. As 
a young working professional who has graduated quite recently, I have noticed that 
business reports written at my workplace tend to be more meticulous and well crafted.

Dominik Kaminski: I haven't had any experience in writing a business report as I've 
just started my first career. However, I do have an experience in writing one during high 
school as we were looking for sponsors to fund our marching band team.

Agata Andersson: I have the intention to learn how to write a technical report. 
I haven´t any previous experience in this field.

Who of them... 

 wants to study report writing before the course starts? _________ 
 is interested in learning how to write a report in engineering? _________ 
 is quite experienced enough in writing reports to spot the differences between 

those written for learning purposes and at workplace? _________ 

 is not satisfied with the reports they have written? _________ 
 wants to learn about business report structure? _________ 
 completed report for a social/charity project? _________ 

█ Task 2 

Practice the pronunciation of these words. Are they nouns, verbs or adjectives? 

Check their meaning in a dictionary. 

concise
[kənˊsaɪs]

data
[ˈdeɪtə]

analysis
[əˈnælɪsɪs]

previous
[ˈpriːviəs]

meticulous
[məˈtɪkjələs]

notice
[ˈnəʊtɪs]

crafted
[krɑːftɪd]

chart
[tʃɑːt]

determine
[dɪˈtɜːmɪn]

vary
[ˈveəri]

feature
[ˈfiːtʃə]

█ Task 3  

Discuss the following questions with your fellow students. 

 What is your previous experience of report writing? 
 Have you ever written a business/technical report? 
 What was the report about? Which company or organisation? 
 Where and when did you write the report? 
 How did you organize your report? Which sections did you use? 
 How are reports different at work and university? 

 
 

Input 

█ Task 1 

Read paragraph 1 of the text and fill in the gaps with the words in the box. 

 

A report is a written _____________ of something that one has observed, heard, 

done, or investigated. They are needed for business, scientific and technical subjects, 
and in the workplace. Essentially, it is a short, sharp, _____________ document, 
which is written for a particular _____________ and _____________. It generally sets 
out 
and _____________ 
a 
situation 
or 
problem, 
often 
_____________ 

recommendations for future action. It is a factual paper, and needs to be clear 
and _____________. 
Report 
writing 
comes 
in 
different _____________ 

and _____________, 
depending 
on 
your _____________ 
and 
your 

supervisor’s _____________. Some reports contain _____________ of the common 
report writing components, while others contain _____________. [23] 

█ Task 2  

Read paragraphs A-C and entitle them. 

A ______________________________ 
A report provides clearly organized information and/or data about a situation or 

problem under investigation. The data may come from your experience, your 
reading, your research, experiments or measurements conducted in a laboratory or 
out in the field. Knowing your audience will determine how much information and 
how much context you need to provide, and the choice of technical and non-
technical language in your writing. All your facts and information presented in the 
report not only have to be bias-free, but they also have to be 100% correct. Proof-
reading and fact-checking is always what you do as a thumb rule before submitting 
a report. 

B _______________________________ 
Some of the reasons why reports are widely used are to transmit information 

with a clear purpose and to give recommendations, which is useful for decision 
making. At workplace, they are often used to communicate the results or findings 
of a project. As written assignments in universities they allow first of all, to find 
out what you have learned from your reading, research or experience and to give 
you experience of an important skill that is widely used in the workplace.  

analyses
well-structured
only a few
styles

all
requirements
concise
audience
making

shapes
purpose
topic
account

C _______________________________ 
Reports can be project, research, academic, technical, or business oriented, and 

feature recommendations for specific actions. Requirements for the precise form and 
content of a report will vary between organisation and departments and in study 
between courses, from tutor to tutor, as well as between subjects, so it’s worth finding 
out if there are any specific guidelines before you start. [23] 

█ Task 3  

Match verbs with the nouns to make collocations from tasks 4-5. 

A
B

perform
information

study
measurements

provide
information

conduct
findings

feature
a situation

communicate
recommendation

transmit
a report

submit
company’s performance

set out
analysis

█ Task 4 

Complete the sentences with the collocation from exercise 3. 

a) An important part of the research process is to effectively ___________ 

your ___________ to the scientific community. 

b) Where possible, all physical __________ should be __________ in a private area. 
c) Whatever your circumstances, when you _________  _________, you send. 
d) You'll need to __________  __________ about your app's privacy practices. 
e) The current ___________, based on existing case law, is ___________ below, 

along with practical guidance for businesses looking to rely on force majeure 
clauses. 

f) An English literature course should ___________  ___________ how to 

conduct a good literature review. 

g) In this 2-hour long project-based course, you will ___________ how to study 

the ___________  ___________ on a yearly basis. 

h) The STAAD analysis engine ___________ ___________ and design 

sequentially with a single click. 

i) Prepare and ___________ an experiment ___________ for a standard proposal. 

Follow a 4-step procedure described here. 

█ Task 5 

Work in pairs and discuss questions a-c.  

a) What do you know about sentence structure in English?  
b) Do you know what a subject, verb, and object are in a sentence?  
c) Identify the subject, verb, and object of the sentence below.  

The business report consists of company background, introduction, financial 

analysis, recommendation and conclusion. 

Sentence structure 1
The most common sentence structures in English are simple and compound. Simple sentences in 

English must have a subject (s) – a noun or noun phrase, and tells you what or who the sentence is 
about, and a verb (v) explaining what the subject is or does. Most sentences also include an object
(o) that is a noun or noun phrase affected by the action of the verb, a compliment (c) – a word or 
phrase that gives more information about the subject, and an adverbial (a), which gives information 
about when, how, where something happens.


A report provides clearly organized information.


A report is a short, sharp, concise document.


A report often makes recommendations for future action.

For further information, see Extra Grammar Files
[25]

█ Task 6 

Identify the subject, verb, object and compliment in sentences a-j. 

a) It analyses a situation or problem. 
b) It is a factual paper. 
c) At workplace, they are often used to communicate the results of a project. 
d) A report provides data about a situation or problem under investigation. 
e) Business reports tend to be more meticulous and well crafted. 
f) I have just started my first career. 
g) Reports need to be clear and well-structured. 
h) They are written for a particular purpose and audience. 
i) Report requirements will vary between organizations and departments. 
j) My task was to perform financial analysis to study the company's financial 

performance over a five-year period. 

Sentence structure 2 
Two closely related simple sentences can make a compound sentence. The coordinators for joining 

them together are and, but, or.


I am a student and report writing is included in the programme this semester.


I have no experience in report writing but I want to learn.


Reports can carry objective information from one area of an organization to another or they 
present attempts to solve problems.

For further information, see Extra Grammar Files
[25]

█ Task 7 

Match beginnings of the sentences in A with their endings in B. 

A
B

Reports can travel within the organization
but they may also have headings, footnotes, 
tables, and figures.

If reports are directed to outsiders they might 
include all the normal parts of a letter,

and are written in a style that tends to eliminate 
such elements as personal pronouns.

A business report is based on research that 
typically analyses a situation

but some of them may overlap the classification 
structure.

Formal reports are carefully structured
or be prepared for distribution outside the 
organization.

You can classify reports in different categories in 
various ways

or they could also be the result of scientific and 
technological research.

Technical 
reports 
communicate 
technical 

information

and sometimes makes recommendations.

 

Definitions & Explanations
Technical reports frequently containing specific terminology include definitions and 

explanations. This is particularly the case if the text is intended for non-specialists or is aimed to 
inform experts about new developments in their areas.

For giving definitions and explanations – especially when they are linked, certain typical 

phrases are often used.

A report is a short, sharp and concise document. 

Some definitions give further distinguishing characteristics by means of:

Defining relative clauses introduced by that, which, who, when, whose, where.
A report is a short, sharp and concise document, which is written for a
particular purpose and audience.


A noun or noun phrase, often separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma or a dash.
A report – a short, sharp and concise document, is written for a particular purpose and audience.


One or more prepositional phrases. 
A glossary is an alphabetical list of difficult, technical, or foreign words in a text along with 
explanations of their meanings.

A definition usually consists of three parts: the term to be defined, the category the term belongs 

to, characteristics or features.

Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines and structures.

For further information, see Extra Grammar Files
[24]

refers to
refers to as
means

is taken to be
denotes
by ... we mean

is/can be defined as
are those that
by ... is meant

is another word for
is when