Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ACADEMIC WRITING
Table of Contents
Introduction Writing Structure
Macro levelStructure Middle levelParagraphs
unity development cohesion
Micro levelSentences
academicstyle sentencestructures usingsources(intextreferencing)
POSTGRADUATE RESOURCES
ACADEMIC WRITING
Introduction
Postgraduate writing should demonstrate:
aclearunderstandingofsubjectmatter anabilitytoanalyseandevaluateinformationforrelevance,accuracyandauthority alogical,flowingstructure writingandTHINKINGareintegrallyconnected.Youcantwritewellifyoudonthaveenough ideasandinformationaboutwhatyouwanttosay. muchofthewritingprocessisREWRITING.Youwillneedtodraftandreviseyourworkseveral timesuntilyouachieveanappropriatestructureandlevelofclarity. Becomefamiliarwiththediscoursesofyourdiscipline Differentareasofstudyhavedifferentdiscourses(typesofwritingstructuresandlanguageuse). Forexample,engineerswriteverydifferentlyfromsocialscientists.Youneedto: lookforandpayattentiontothetypesofwritinginyourfield buildyourvocabularyanduseofthespecificterminologyofyourdiscipline. Beresponsibletoyourreader(audience) Youarenotwritingonlyforyourlecturer.Youraudienceisaneducatedreaderwhodoesnotknow yourspecifictopicarea.Youneedtoguidethemclearlyanddirectlythroughthepointsthatyouare making.Thisisdonethrough: havingaclearstructure makingexplicitlinksbetweentheideasyoupresent
Be aware that:
Writing Structure
Youmayberequiredtowriteinseveralgenres:thesis,essay,report,casestudyoracombinationofthese.All academicwritingtaskshavesomethingincommonthreelevelsofstructure. 1. macrostructure(typeoftext,anditsmajorsubdivisions) 2. middlelevelparagraphdevelopment 3. microlevelsentencestructureandstylechoices
1.
MACRO-LEVEL
2. MIDDLE-LEVEL paragraphs
- unity - cohesion - adequate development (enough information)
3.
MICRO-LEVEL
sentence structure academic style
In some macro-structures (such as a scientific thesis) the main sections are fairly set; in others (such as many styles of report) some sections are set but much of the organisation is open. You create your own structure with headings and subheadings. In a traditional essay you map out connected sets of paragraphs. Link to essay writing and writing reports
Look at the three sample structures in the table remember these are only possibilities. Report(orthesis)structure
Summary ListofFigures ListofAbbreviations
Thesisscientificstructure Introduction
Essay(traditional)structure)
Brieflocationoftopic Areastobecovered Thesisstatement: Englishwillnotbecomethedominantworld language
Body
Pointbypointdevelopmentofargument
widespreaduseofEnglishinofficial
organisations/science/technology
rapidspreadofEnglishincultural
domain BUT
Englishspeakersvastlyoutnumbered
byspeakersofotherlanguages
Abstract Acknowledgements Listoffigures Glossary 1.0Introduction 1.1Aim 1.2Participants 1.3Researchquestions 2.0Literaturereview 2.1 2.2etc 3.0Methodology 4.0Results 5.0Discussion 6.0Conclusion 7.0Recommendations 8.0References 2.2WATERCONSERVATION 2.2.1Rainwatercollection 2.2.2Irrigationsystems ofNEScountry
BacklashagainstAmericanculture Possiblenewtechnologytoariseout
Conclusion
Summaryofarguments Returntothesis
Organisationwithinthebroadstructure
Example
Herearetwopossibleplansforthebodyofanessayonthefollowingtopic.
Topic:Globalisationisathreattothesovereigntyofstates.Discuss,usingoneortwocountriesasexamples. (Assumeyouhavealreadydefinedthetermglobalisationintheintroduction).
Structural Plan 1
CountryA i.globalisationthreat1 ii.globalisationthreat2 iii.globalisationthreat3 CountryB i.globalisationthreat1 ii.globalisationthreat2 iii.globalisationthreat3 iv.globalisationthreat4 c)similaritiesbetweencountriesA&B d)differencesbetweencountriesA&B e)underwhatconditionsisglobalisationathreat tothesovereigntyofnations
Structural Plan 2
a)Howglobalisationthreatenscountries: i.Threat1:whatisit? exampleusingcountryA&/orB ii.Threat#2:whatisit? exampleusingcountryA&/orB iii.Threat#3:whatisit? exampleusingcountryA&/orB b)Isglobalisationathreattothesovereigntyofstates overall?Whatsignificantdifferencescanbefound betweencountriesA&B? Canwegivereasonsforthesedifferences?
Unity
Aparagraphshouldcontainonemainideaorclaim,expressedinatopicsentence,oftenthefirstsentence.The paragraphshouldhavealogicalstructuresothatallthesentencesareconnectedandflowfromthecentraltheme. Therearemanytypesofparagraphstructure.Thisisproblemsolution.
Expansion of point
Theemphasisofthecriminaljusticesystemhasuntil recentlybeenonthebattlebetweentheoffender/ defendantandthestate/prosecutorandnottheactual harmexperiencedbythevictim.InFactvictimshavehad minimalparticipationinthecriminaljusticeprocess;theirrole beingprimarilytoprovideinformationtothestateprosecutor withnoinvolvementinprosecutionandsentencing.McShane andWilliams(1992,p.260)contendthatvictimneglectis notsimplyaresultofindifference,itisalogicalextension ofalegalsystemwhichdefinescrimeasanoffence againstthestate.Theyarguethatthisneglectcanbe remediedbytrainingofpersonnelwithinthecriminal justicesystemandthroughvictimsupportservices.
Development
Aparagraphhastohaveenoughinformationinittojustifybeingaparagraph!Itshouldconsistofamainpointthat isthenfurtherelaboratedon.Somepossibledevelopmentmodelsinclude: expansionthepointisfurtherdefinedorbrokendownandanalysedorreframedforclarification. illustrationexamplesorscenariosaregiven evidenceresearchbasedorsometimesexperiencebasedsupportforthepoint applicationhowthiscanthenoperateinpractice
The research on anxiety suggests that like self-esteem, anxiety can be experienced at various levels (Oxford 1999). At the deepest or global level, trait anxiety is a more permanent predisposition to be anxious. Some people are predictably and generally anxious about many things. At a more momentary, or situational level, state anxiety is experienced in relation to some particular event or act. As we learned in the case of self-esteem, then, it is important in a classroom for a teacher to try to determine whether a students anxiety stems from a more global trait or whether it comes from a particular situation at the moment.
Comment
Source: Brown, H.D (2000) Principles of teaching and learning. 4th Ed. NY:Addison Wesley Longman
Inthefollowingparagraphthesentencesareallaboutmummificationbuttheyjumpallovertheplace.Thereisno overallparagraphplanandtheyjumpallovertheplace. The ancient Egyptians were masters of preserving dead peoples bodies by making mummies of them. Mummies several thousand years old have been discovered nearly intact. The skin, hair, teeth, finger- and toenails, and facial features of the mummies were evident. It is possible to diagnose the diseases they suffered in life such as smallpox, arthritis, and nutritional deficiencies. The process was remarkably effective. Sometimes apparent were the fatal afflictions of the dead people: a middle-aged king died from a blow on the head, and polio killed a child king. Mummification consisted of removing the internal organs, applying natural preservatives inside and out, and then wrapping the body in layers of bandages. Hereisthesameparagraphrevisedwithaplan(fromgeneraltospecific)andclearerlinkstohelpthereader The ancient Egyptians were masters of preserving dead peoples bodies by making mummies of them. The process of mummification consisted of removing the internal organs, applying natural preservatives inside and out, and then wrapping the body in layers of bandages. It was a remarkably effective practice. Indeed, mummies several thousand years old have been discovered nearly intact. Their skin, hair, teeth, fingers and toenails, and facial features of the mummies are still evident. Their diseases in life, such as smallpox, arthritis, and nutritional deficiencies, are still diagnosable. Even their fatal afflictions are still apparent: a middle-aged king died from a blow on the head: a child king died from polio. Topic sentence is bold Words in italics nouns repeated and then pronouns Boxed words: links between sentences Underlined words: Parallel grammatical form for parallel content
Adapted from: Fowler, Aaron & Anderson (2001) The little brown handbook, New York: Addison Wesley (pp. 81-2)
The subject repeated in a full but slightly altered form is in a box Still another possible imperfection in this billing method arises from each user Problem 3 (imperfection) receiving data from the network as the organization monitors it for The subject repeated but management reasons, as illustrated in Fig. 6.5. with a general word method is in a box However,
Source:Leinwand,A.,&Fang,K.(1996).NetworkManagement:apracticalperspective,Reading,Mass.:AddisonWesley(p.102)
Workshop Activity 3Rewriting for greater cohesion 3. Micro-level sources, sentences and academic style
Everysentenceinyourwritingshouldbeincludedforaspecificreasonandshouldconnectwiththesentencesaround itandtheoveralltopic.Eachsentenceshouldmakelogicalandgrammaticalsenseandbeexpressedinan appropriatelyacademicstyle.Someaspectsofacademicstyleyouneedtobeawareofinclude:
Degrees of certainty
Thereisrarelyabsoluteproofofaneventoradirectcausalrelationshipbetweenphenomena.Therearemoreoften correlationsandlinks.Thismeansthattentativelanguage(suchastendsto,indicatesthat,suggeststhat,themajorityof)is oftenappropriate.Forexample:
Thistendstooccurwheneverthereisadownturnincommodityprices.
Howeverwhenyouknowsomethingalwayshappensandyoucanbeconfidentitwillhappenthesamewayinthe futureyoushouldnotbetentative.
Thisoccurswheneverthereisadownturnincommodityprices. Third person voice (unless the personal aspect is an important part of the work)
Thethirdpersonvoice(it,they,he,she,theauthors,rsearchers)distancestheselffromtheworkandappearsmore Alison Brown, SLC 7
However, the passive voice (particularly in conjunction with nominalization) can contribute to writing sounding very formal and losing clarity. Passive Agreementastotheneedforrevisionsinthetermsofthetreatywasreachedbythetwosides. Active(andpartpassive) Thetwosidesagreedthatthetermsofthetreatyshouldberevised. 8
Direct questions
Ingeneralyourwritingshouldrestrictdirectquestionsto: yourspecificresearchquestions(thesis,exegesis,aresearchpaper,project,report,reflectivejournal) anemphasisoftherelationshipbetweenaspectsofyourwriting
Conciseness
Trytousethemoststraightforwardtermandreduceunnecessarywords.Herearesomecommonwordyphrases thatcanbereducedintomoreconciseforms. Wordy (or redundant) in recent years with a high degree of certainty at this moment in time in close proximity (to) advance planning co-operate together few in number crisis situation a great deal of in order to make adjustments is reflective of is capable of Concise recently certain currently, now (not nowadays) close (to) planning (all planning is in advance) co-operate (means together) few crisis (this is a situation) much/many to adjust reflects can
Look at the student paraphrased versions of Hardens idea, with evaluative comments. Originalmaterial: nurses can be viewed as an oppressed group, a view supported by the fact that nurses lack autonomy, accountability and control over their own profession. Yet nursing is by far the largest occupational group within the sphere of healthcare, so why is it so powerless? For me the history of the domination of nursing is inextricably linked to that of the domination and oppression of women. Harden, J 1996, Enlightenment, empowerment and emancipation: the case for critical pedagogy in nurse education
Student version 1:
Nursingisbyfarthelargestoccupationgroupinhealthcare.Yet,nursescanbeseenasanoppressedgroup.Thisview issupportedbythefactthatnurseslackcontrolovertheirownprofession.Theydonothaveautonomyor accountability.Thehistoryofthedominationandoppressionofwomenisthelinktoexplainingthedominationof nursing. The student has copied most of the original. There is no indication of where the students voice ends and the cited writers voice begins. There is no author or date (no reference). Therefore the text is plagiarised.
Student version 2:
Althoughnursesformthelargestoccupationalgroupinthehealthcareprofession,theycanbeseenasanoppressed group.Harden(1996)statesthatthedominationofnursesisinextricablylinkedtothehistoricaloppressionand dominationofwomeninsociety.Fornurses,sheclaimsthisoppressionisillustratedbytheextremelylimited professionalindependencetheyhaveasseenbytheirlackofaccountabilityandcontrolovertheirprofession. It is still not clear which ideas come from the reference and which from the student. Although the source has been acknowledged, many sections have been taken directly from the original, and should have been acknowledged as quotes. Moving a few words around or using a few synonyms does not make it your writing or your ideas. Therefore, this is also a plagiarized version.
Student version 3:
Despite nurses forming the largest group in the healthcare professions, Harden (1996) claims they can be categorised as an oppressed group (p.33). She explains the domination of nurses as a reflection of the historical oppression and domination of women in society. For Harden (1996), this subservient role of nurses is illustrated by their lack of autonomy, accountability and control over their own profession (p.33). Here the student has made much better use of the original. Some words have been paraphrased. Words taken directly from the original are clearly marked as quotes (note that they are only in italics in this example to show what has been quoted). Also, the source is clearly documented.
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References
Brown,H.D2000,Principlesofteachingandlearning,4thEd.AddisonWesleyLongman,NewYork Dyson,F.1979,DisturbingtheUniverse,Harper&Row,NewYork. Fowler,H.RandAaron,J.E.2001,Thelittlebrownhandbook,Longman,NewYork Gee,J.P1992,Thesocialmind:language,ideologyandsocialpractice,BerginandGarvey,NewYork Harden,J.1996,Enlightenment,empowermentandemancipation:thecaseforcriticalpedagogyinnurseeducation, in NurseEducatorToday,Vol.16,pp.3237 Leinwand,A.andFang,K1993,Networkmanagement:apracticalperspective,AddisonWesley,Reading,MASS,p.102 OLeary,M.andMeas.N.2001,Learningfortransformation:astudyoftherelationshipbetweenculture,values,experience anddevelopmentpracticeinCambodiaKromAkphiwatPhum,Battambang,Cambodia
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