[C+] Describing Bar Graphs

LET'S LEARN! 📚

INTRODUCE THE GRAPH

Your first step should be to present the graph to your audience. This means covering high-level information like:

I. Its title

II. The topic

III. Data source

IV. Time frame

Here are some examples of how to do this:

This graph shows the relationship between X and Y.
This diagram is a visual representation of the process for…
This chart uses data from the Z Database.
The data in this graph is from 2020.

INTRODUCE THE GRAPH

Here are some helpful phrases for identifying these variables:

The vertical axis shows…
The horizontal axis represents…
The shaded area describes…
The red bar displays…

LET'S READ! 📖

DESCRIBING BAR GRAPHS

▪️ Bar graph transforms the data into separate bars or columns. Generally, these visuals have categories on the x-axis and numbers on the y-axis. This allows you to compare statistical data between different groups over time.

▪️ Bar graphs also show which category is the largest or the smallest. Each group is independent so that the changes in one does not influence others. The bars or columns can either be drawn vertically, or horizontally, as it doesn't make any difference.

▪️ To describe the graph, follow the trend from left to right. Then explain if it goes down, up or stays the same. The words you use to describe bar charts are similar to the ones used for the line charts.

The bar graph below shows the number of men and women studying engineering at Australian universities. Summarize the information in the chart by selecting and reporting the main features. Make comparisons where relevant.

23-BE-Describing Bar Graphs

The bar graph illustrates the number of men and women studying engineering at Australian universities between the years 1992 and 2012 at 10-year intervals.

We can see that the number of male students fell slightly from 14,000 in 1992 and 12,000 in 2002, and then remained level through the following decade. The number of female students is relatively low, starting at 2,000 in 1992. However, while the number of men decreased, the number of women increased. Female students grew steadily by 2,000 each decade. This led to a rise in total number of engineering students from 16,000 to 18,000 in this period.

Men continue to make up the majority of students. However, the proportion of female students increased sharply in this period. In 1992 there was one woman for every seven men, but by 2012, this difference has narrowed to one woman for every two men.

Overall, we can see a clear upward trend in the number of female engineering students in Australian universities, while the number of male students seem to have leveled off.

QUESTION

1. Describe the ratio of female to male engineering students from 1992 to 2012.

LET'S PRACTICE! 📝

👂🏻 Listening Exercise

Direction: Listen to the audio and answer the question that follows.

What activities does the bar chart focus on for tourist in Greece?
Which nationality of tourists spent the most time reading books, and how long did they spend?
Which group of tourists spent the most time at the beach, and for how many hours?

🗣 Speaking Exercise

Direction: Look at the bar graph below and explain the data presented using the words and phrases that you learned.

23-BE-DESCRIBING BAR GRAPH