Language of Graphs and Charts for ESL Learners

Language of Graphs and Charts for ESL Learners The language of graphs and charts refer to the words and phrases used when describing results depicted within these formats. This language is especially useful when making presentations  because charts and graphs measure various statistics and are helpful when presenting large amounts of information that need to be understood quickly, including facts and figures, statistical information, profit and loss, polling information, etc. The Vocabulary of Graphs and Charts There are a number of different types of graphs and charts including: Line Charts and GraphsBar Charts and GraphsPie ChartsExploded Pie Charts Line charts and bar charts have a vertical axis and a horizontal axis. Each axis is labeled to indicate what type of information it contains. Typical information included on vertical and horizontal axis include: age - how oldweight - how heavyheight - how talldate - which day, month, year, etc.time - how much time is requiredlength - how longwidth - how widedegrees - how hot or coldpercentage - a portion of 100%number - numberduration - the length of time required There are a number of specific words and phrases used to describe and discuss graphs and charts. This vocabulary is especially important when presenting to groups of people. Much of the language of graphs and charts relates to movement. In other words, the language of graphs and charts often speaks of small or large movement or differences between various data points. Refer to this language of graphs and charts to help improve your ability to speak about graphs and charts. The following list the verb and noun used to speak about positive and negative movements, as well as predictions. Example sentences are found after each section. Positive to climb - a climbto ascend - an ascentto rise - a riseto improve - an improvementto recover - a recoverto increase - an increase Sales have climbed over the past two quarters.Weve experienced a rise in consumer demand.Consumer confidence recovered in the second quarter.There has been an increase of 23% since June.Have you seen any improvement in customer satisfaction? Negative to fall - a fallto decline - a declineto plunge - a plungeto decrease - a decreaseto worsen - a slipto deteriorate - a dip Research and development spending has fallen by 30% since January.Unfortunately, weve seen a decline over the past three months.As you can see, sales have plunged in the northwest region.Government spending has decreased by 10% over the past two years.Theres been a slip in profits this past quarter.Comedy book sales have deteriorated for three quarters. Predicting Future Movement to project - a projectionto forecast - a forecastto predict - a prediction We project improved sales in the coming months.As you can see from the chart, we forecast increased research and development spending next year.We predict improving sales through June. This list provides adjectives and adverbs used to describe how quickly, slowly, extremely, etc. something moves. Each adjective/adverb pair includes a definition and an example sentence. slight - slightly insignificant Theres been a slight decline in sales.Sales have declined slightly over the past two months. sharp - sharply quick, large movement Investment rose sharply during the first quarter.We made a sharp increase in investment. abrupt - abruptly sudden change Sales dropped abruptly in March.There was an abrupt drop in sales in March. rapid - rapidly quick, very fast We expanded rapidly throughout Canada.The company made a rapid expansion throughout Canada. sudden - suddenly without warning Unfortunately, consumer interest suddenly decreased.There was a sudden decrease in consumer interest in January. dramatic - dramatically extreme, very big Weve dramatically improved customer satisfaction over the past six months.As you can see from the chart, the dramatic growth has come after we invested in a new product line. calm - calmly evenly, without much change The markets have reacted calmly to recent developments.As you can see from the graph, consumers have been calm over the past few months. flat without change Profit has been flat over the past two years. steady - steadily no change There has been a steady improvement over the past three months.Sales have improved steadily since March.