Technical and Scientific Writing Course

Analysis of A Simple Method to Grow Thermal

SiO2 Interlayer for High-Performance SPC
Poly-Si TFTs Using Al2O3 Gate Dielectric

by
Andri Haryono, 9200 18328
Susaf Noor Azhar, 9200 18231
Jing Shi, 9200 18315
Submitted to:
Dr. Roger Nunn

20 March 2015

Table of contents:
1.

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2

2.

Stage 1: Analysis Holistic Generic Structure (Headings) ....................................................... 2

3.

Stage 2: Referencing ................................................................................................................ 3

4.

Stage3: Transitivity and Representations ................................................................................ 4

5.

Stage 4: Modality..................................................................................................................... 5

Tables:
Table 1. Generic & Non-Generic Headings of Applied Chemistry and EE paper ......................... 2
Table 2. Summary table of reference types used in the EE paper .................................................. 3
Table 3. Transitivity and Representations EE paper ....................................................................... 4
Table 4. illustrates the transitivity of The Applied Chemistry paper (CHE): ................................. 4
Table 5. Modality comparison ........................................................................................................ 5
Table 6. List of modality words ...................................................................................................... 6

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1. Introduction
This report includes the analysis of an Electrical Engineering (EE) paper in terms of the four
maxims of language (quality, quantity, relation and manner) and the four stages of writing, which
are referencing, headings, transitivity and representation and modality uses. Also, the report
represents a comparison of the organization, content and language of the EE paper and Applied
Chemistry paper to synthesize the comments and draw the conclusion.
The first stage of analysis is to find the quantitative representation of the paper. The number of
words and the generic and non-generic headings of the paper are presented in comparison with the
applied chemisty papers analysis. The referencing stage introduces the integral and nonintegral references used in the literature where the integral is embedded grammatically in the
sentences while the non-integral has no role in the context. The modality analysis is intended to
indicate the degree of confidence expressed in both papers with a view to determine whether
reasonable claims are made by the authors about the significance of their findings.

2. Stage 1: Analysis Holistic Generic Structure (Headings)

A Simple Method to Grow Thermal SiO2 Interlayer for High-Performance SPC Poly-Si TFTs Using
Al2O3 Gate Dielectric
By Meng Zhang, Wei Zhou, Rongsheng Chen, Man Wong

In this 1,703-word, 3-page document, the paper includes an abstract and introduction, a
experiment section, a results and discussion section, conclusion section and a list of 18
references. Figure one allows us to compare the balance between sections in terms of quantity.
Table 1. Generic & Non-Generic Headings of Applied Chemistry and EE paper

Applied Chemistry (5 pages)

Abstract (329 words)

High-Performance SPC (3 pages)

Abstract (98 words)

Introduction (368 words)

Materials and methods (628 words)
Instrumentation/sample handling
Spectral analysis
Validation of the technique
Results and discussion (835 words)
Depth profiling
Deposition trends
Impact of our findings (508 words)
Conclusions(131 words)
References (11)

Introduction (307 words)

Experiment (442 words)

Report

Results and Discussion (778 words)

Conclusions ( 78 words)
References (18)

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Obviously, there is no sub-title in this document.

The Literature Review heading cannot be found as this part is included in the Introduction
section.
Moreover, it can be noticed that the next two sections, including experiment section and results
and discussion give a total amount of 1220 words which can be balance to the Introduction
section with 98 words because it is enough to explain the basic concept associated with the
assumptions and theories mentioned in the Introduction section.
Furthermore the results and discussion section is the main body of this paper, which is summed
with 778 words. The conclusion section gives the total amount of 78 words, which is balance to
the Introduction section.

3. Stage 2: Referencing
This stage aims to study usages of different kinds of references and their weight in every section.
Therefore, our team tracked the discussed types of references along the paper of interest then
summarized them in Table 2 as below:
Table 2. Summary table of reference types used in the EE paper
References
Type

Abstract

Intro

Experiment

Result and
Discussion

Conclusions

Total

Integral (I)

0
0

7
23

2
0

10
12

0
0

19
45

Nonintegral (N)

From Table 2, one can notice clearly that most references are non-integral due to specific writing.
This means that most of the quotations are done indirectly without reporting verbs. In this stage,
we also found that most references are mentioned in introduction is about polycrystalline
fabrication method for thin film transistor with the total of 10 references with 8 repeated reference.
The experiment sections only mention single reference. The next section with abundant references
is the result and discussion section that includes the total of 12 references with 5 repeated
references.
It is worth mentioning that the EE paper used many references, as it is mandatory to introduce
thetopic and illustrate the concept from different views. This can be seen in the introduction
sections where the authors enriched their content with different references. At the same times, the
authors did not support their results or conclusion with references.
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4. Stage3: Transitivity and Representations

The following table shows the uses of active voice, passive voice, verbs to be and first person in
the EE paper:
Table 3. Transitivity and Representations EE paper

Section

Active voice

Passive voice

Verbs to be

First Person

Abstract

Introduction

12
7
25
3
51

10
28
38
5
84

1
3
3
0
7

Experiment
Results and Discussion
Conclusions
Total

0
0
0
0

Based on the table above, the greatest proportional use of passive voice is in the Results and
Discussion section. The first person was predictably not used because the author tried to hide that
and point towards the findings or facts presented in the text.
On the other hand, the use of active voice is quite frequent in the EE paper and it used mostly in
the Results and Discussion as well section where some facts and results are presented. The EE
paper contained some clauses of verb to be. The competence in transitivity use is to be aware of
the appropriate choices available to represent the facts or the content of the paper.
Table 4. illustrates the transitivity of The Applied Chemistry paper (CHE):

Section

Verbs to be

Active verbs

Passive verbs

First person

1.0 Abstract

2.0 Introduction

3.0 Materials Required

3.1
Instrumentation/Sample
handling
3.2 Spectral Analysis

12

3.3 Validation of the

technique
Total

11

23

4.0 Results

4.1 Depth Profiling

22

4.2 Depostion Trends

10

24

4.3 Impact of our

findings
Total

13

26

30

72

17

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5.0 Conclusions

6.0 Acknowledgements

TOTAL

57

105

52

The passive voice is mostly used in the first part of CHE paper, which shows that there is no need
to use active verbs or first person and verbs to be. While in the second part of this paper the usage
of active verbs is high due to expressing the finding and facts related to the topic of interest. The
verb to be is used more in compare with the first part to express the content of these sections. For
the third part, the passive voice is used less, because it is a summary of what they have achieved.
In comparison, the EE paper relied more on passive voice while the CHE paper used active voice
to express the content of the text. This was due to different writing styles, for EE we are following
the IEEE formatting that previously encourages the usage of passive voice rather than other voices
or representations. The usage of verb to be in both papers is similar. As indicated in both tables,
the usage of the first person in the CHE paper is limited but is strategically used while it is not
present in the EE paper.

5. Stage 4: Modality
The table below shows the use of modality in the EE paper. The authors expressed high level of
certainty by rarely use the modality (merely 6 modalities were used in total). The lack of modality
uses in the EE paper implies that the authors have the relatively high level of certainty in their
findings of the research, which seems to be a rare case in such experimental work. It shows that
the authors are confident with the significance of their findings.
Table 5. Modality comparison

Section

Modality uses

Abstract
Introduction
Experiment (442 words)

0
0
Would

Results and Discussion(778

words)

May, Maybe, Almost, Would,

Could

Conclusions (78 words)

Total

0
6

Comparing the use of modalities with the Applied Chemistry paper, the table below shows the use
of modalities distribution in the Applied Chemistry paper. It can be seen that most parts of the
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paper have modality use in them. In the EE paper they are lacking in some parts, especially in the
abstract and conclusion.
Table 6. List of modality words

Abstract

Could provide, Could indicate,

Introduction

Could provide, tend to

Materials and methods

Instrumentation/sample
handling
Spectral analysis

Could provide

Validation of the
technique

Could be affected, Could lead to

Results and discussion

Depth profiling

Could be attributed, Could be largely responsible for this, The data seem
to suggest, This indicates, Appear favorable, Possibly, Seems to be
prevalent, Clearly show, Tend to be, Obviously, Could possibly be
mimicked, could be simulated, could be gained

Deposition trends

Indicates, Tend to vary, Tends to corroborate the view, are somewhat

consistent, The results imply, Support the view that, Could be favorable,
Could be affected by

Impact of our findings

Purport, Clearly, Is possibly prone, Suggests, Is not clear, Which would

partially account for, Suggest, Purports, Could be linked, Could be useful,
It is also possible that, Tend to be

Conclusions

It appears, It is not clear at this stage whether, Indicating that , Could be

treated, Could be a suitable,

The use of the following adverbs, obviously and clearly in the Applied Chemistry paper express
a high level of confidence with the support of references in the paper.

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