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POSTGRADUATE RESOURCES

ACADEMIC WRITING
Table of Contents
Introduction Writing Structure
Macro levelStructure Middle levelParagraphs
unity development cohesion

Micro levelSentences
academicstyle sentencestructures usingsources(intextreferencing)

TipsHow to develop as a writer

Alison Brown, SLC

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:

To develop your writing you need to:

Writing Structure
Youmayberequiredtowriteinseveralgenres:thesis,essay,report,casestudyoracombinationofthese.All academicwritingtaskshavesomethingincommonthreelevelsofstructure. 1. macrostructure(typeoftext,anditsmajorsubdivisions) 2. middlelevelparagraphdevelopment 3. microlevelsentencestructureandstylechoices

1.

MACRO-LEVEL

Type of text Structure of text


e.g. chapters, sections, sub-sections

2. MIDDLE-LEVEL paragraphs
- unity - cohesion - adequate development (enough information)

3.

MICRO-LEVEL
sentence structure academic style

Alison Brown, SLC

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

Alison Brown, SLC

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

1.0INTRODUCTION 1.1THEEXISTINGSITE 1.2PROJECTOUTLINE

Body
Pointbypointdevelopmentofargument

widespreaduseofEnglishinofficial
organisations/science/technology

rapidspreadofEnglishincultural
domain BUT

2.0SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENTSTRATEGIES 2.1ENERGYCONSERVATION 2.1.1Passivesolardesign 2.1.2Insulation 2.1.3Vegetation 2.1.4Solarpower

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

3.0DEMOLITONANDCONSTRUCTION 3.1RECYCLINGMATERIALSetc. 4.0CONCLUSION 5.0RECOMMENDATIONS 6.0REFERENCES 6.0APPENDICES

Organisationwithinthebroadstructure

Youwillneedtobrainstormandmapoutthetopics,argumentsandexamplesyouneedtocoverwithinthebroaderstructure.Thisisamessy,creativephaseasyoumove betweenyourtopicarea,yourreadingsandyourearlyplan.ButitisacrucialTHINKINGphase.Onceyouhaveanideaofstructurethewritingcanfallintoplace. Somecommonpatternsoforganisationinclude: chronologicaldevelopmentbytimeorder Thiscanbeusefulfordescribingscientificprocessesorthedevelopmentofaconcept. logicaldivisionofidease.g.bigpicturetodetail,supportingandopposingarguments orderofimportance

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?

Middle Level Structure paragraphs


Withinthesectionsandsubsectionsofyourwritingtask,paragraphsformthenextlayerofstructure. Aparagraphhasthreeimportantfeatures: unity development cohesion

Unity
Aparagraphshouldcontainonemainideaorclaim,expressedinatopicsentence,oftenthefirstsentence.The paragraphshouldhavealogicalstructuresothatallthesentencesareconnectedandflowfromthecentraltheme. Therearemanytypesofparagraphstructure.Thisisproblemsolution.

Alison Brown, SLC

Topic sentence (expressing the problem)

Expansion of point

Evidence/ support Solution

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

Theremayalsobeasentencewhichcommentsonthematerialorrelatestheexpandedpointbacktomaintopic of that section of the writing.

Learner anxiety in the classroom

Topic sentence-main idea Expansion of point(italic)

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

Alison Brown, SLC

Workshop Activity 2different paragraph structures Cohesion within paragraphs


Textcohesionisthewaythewritingholdstogether,tomakesense.Eachsentenceshouldrelatetotheothersentences intheparagraph.Anumberofcohesivedevicesassistincreatingtextcohesion. keywords(orsynonyms)repeated pronouns(it,she,they)referringtoapersonorthingalreadymentioned referencewords(that,this)whichlinkrelatedideas,e.g.onesuchexperiment;inthisway;these generalclasswords(thesecharacteristics,thisprocess) conjunctionsandsentenceconnectors(but,however,furthermore,yet) signpoststoemphasisetherelationshipsexpressed(ontheotherhand;incontrast;inaddition; moreover;first,second..) parallelstructures(usingarepeatedgrammaticalform)

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)

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Cohesion across paragraphs


Thereshouldalsobecohesivelinksbetweentheparagraphs.Thesealertthereadertotherelationshipsbetweenthe pointsyoupresent.Thefollowingseriesofparagraphsusesabasicliststructure(awritingequivalentof1,2,3) Thisstructureisveryusefulforgroupingsectionsoftextthatdevelopasetofpoints.Theseparagraphsmaythen besetoffagainstothersectionsoftext(asincomparison). Billing bytes received does have some flaws. First, many network protocols send acknowledgments from the destination to the source, resulting in users who offer services to the network receiving bytes of data from the network that they did not request. Fortunately, acknowledgment packets are usually quite small. These bytes could be ignored, however, by network devices that can compute the total number of acknowledgments seen. Also, the organization that computes the bills can recognize the users who offer services to the network and possibly offer then a discount on their bills. Another problem with billing based on bytes received is that unsolicited network data, such as electronic mail, adds to the user's bill. This flaw can perhaps be overlooked because many users send and receive mail on the same order of magnitude. This might not be the case, however, when a user is on the mailing list and receives many mail messages. In this situation, the user is on the mailing list for a reason and their bill should reflect the receipt of this data as a result of this network service. Topic sentences in bold Problem 1 (flaws) Text markers and reference words are in italics. These words orient the reader through the text, clarifying the topic focus at each stage Problem 2(problem)

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

objectivethanthefirstpersonI,weorsecondpersonyou. Thirdperson. Vocabularychoiceevidentlyplaysaroleindeterminingwhichtopicsaretakenupbyspeakers. Firstperson Ifoundthatthevocabularychoiceplayedaroleindeterminingwhichtopicsspeakerstakeup. However,insometypesofwriting(suchasreflectivejournalwritingandcreativeartsexegeses)thefirstpersonis usedtoreflectthepersonal,subjective,processbased,exploratorynatureofthestudyorproject.Youmayneedto negotiatethisaspectwithyourlecturers.

Contractions (shortened forms)


Usethefullformsofwords,e.g.donotinsteadofdont;cannotinsteadofcant;itisinsteadofits.Forexample: Unemploymentfigureswillnotimproveuntiltheeconomyisstronger. Contractionsareacceptableifyouarequotingfromtranscripts,personaljournalsordiariesoraspartofahighly personalthesisstyle.

Nominalisation (noun forms)


Academicwritingusuallyhasmorenounstructuresthanverbstructures.Thesenounformsareusefulincondensing textandwhenthefocusisonconditionsorresultsratherthanactions.However,toomuchnominalisationcanmake thewritingverydenseanddifficulttoread. Forexample:

Heavily nominalised (noun forms underlined)


Thecompanysoriginalconclusionthattheestablishmentofincreasedflexibilityinattendancehourshas resultedinadecreaseinabsenteeism,wasendorsedinthemostrecentanalysis.

Rewritten for greater clarity (verb forms underlined)


Inarecentanalysisthecompanyconfirmeditsearlierconclusionthatgreaterflexibilityinattendancehoursfor workersreducesabsenteerates.

Passive and active voice


The passive voice emphasises the action over the person doing the action (the actor). It is a very useful technique when the actor is not important to the event. For example. Active MyclassmatesandImeasuredtherefractiveindexoftheliquid. Passive Therefractiveindexoftheliquidwasmeasured.

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

Alison Brown, SLC

Direct questions
Ingeneralyourwritingshouldrestrictdirectquestionsto: yourspecificresearchquestions(thesis,exegesis,aresearchpaper,project,report,reflectivejournal) anemphasisoftherelationshipbetweenaspectsofyourwriting

Example: Natural resource management


Sohowcanthedesireforenvironmentalprotectionandtheequally,ifnotmore,potentdesireforeconomic developmentberesolved?Thisiswheretheoriststendtocontradictoneanother..Smith(2003)recommends that..whileJones(2004)believesthatwithout.anyresolutionisunlikely. Thisquestioniscalledarhetoricalquestion.Itisusedtoengagethereaderinakindofconversation.Itisaquestion thathasstrongreflexivepowers,sinceitisthepersonwhoasksthequestionwhothenattemptstoanswer.

Formal forms of quantity with positive verbs


No Little Few Much Many Theanalysisyieldednonewresults(moreformal) Theanalysisdidnotyieldanynewresults Therecentbudgetallocatedlittlefundingtotheprogram(moreformal) Therecentbudgetdidnotallocatemuchfundingtotheprogram Thereseemtobefewviablesolutionstothisproblem(moreformal) Theredonotseemtobemanyviablesolutionstothisproblem Note:fewmeanshardlyany;afewmeansthreeorfour Muchresearchhasbeenconductedintoglobalwarming (these are more formal than "a lot of")

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

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In text referencing (using sources)


Youwillneedtosupportthepointsyoumakewithevidenceandexamplesfromotherresearch.Itisimportanttodo thisthoughtfullyandcarefullysoyoudonotplagiarise.

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.

Alison Brown, SLC

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How to develop as a writer


Read for structure and clarity.
Improvingyourreadingstrategiesandyourjudgementofwritingqualitywillhaveanimpactonyourwritingskills. Notehowotherwriters: presenttheirmainposition definekeyterms structureheadingsandsubheadings organiseparagraphs usevisualsupportmaterials(charts,tables,illustrations) linkideas(cohesivedevices) citeothersourcesasevidenceorsupportfordiscussionandanalysis

Get started and write regularly


Dontputoffwritingyouneedtoleaveplentyoftimeforthinkingandrevision. Trytowritesomethingeveryday:notes,personalreflections,mindmaps. Letyourideasflowfreelyatthestartandthenimposeastructureuponthem

Write with awareness


Beclear:writingisalinkbetweenyourownunderstandingandyourabilitytomakeothersunderstand whatyoumean. Useasimple,structuredapproachifyouarenotconfidenttotestoutnewgroundwithinthediscipline. Ifandwhenyoubreakwithtradition,makesurethatyoucanjustifythisdecision.

Alison Brown, SLC

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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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