- Use simple sentences (subject, verb, object)
- Use correct grammar
- Use verbs in the active voice rather than the passive voice. Example: use “Mohammed mailed the letter” rather than “the letter was mailed”
- Use positive language and avoid the negation (e.g. expressions like can’t, won’t, unable to)
- Address the person, not a group
- Approach the student in a direct and personal way (e.g. use the pronoun “you” instead of talking about “the student” or “he or she”)
- Avoid the use of pronouns because the reader has to infer to what subject they refer
- Use simple and commonly used verb tenses such as present, simple past, and simple future
- Avoid inversions between the verbs and subject (e.g. “Into the room sauntered a king penguin”)