INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SCIENTIFIC WRITING (2020-2021, Semester 2)

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT Dr. Vu Hoa Ngan

HOMEWORK 3: ANALYZING ABSTRACTS & EDITTING AN INTRODUCTION SECTION

Instructions:

Part 1: Look at the Abstract of the given paper and analyze the section according to the 5 basic
components the framework. Underline the related words/phrases.
1.1. Background 3.1 Results 5.1 Limitations
1.2. Aim 3.2 Achievement/contribution 5.2 Future work
1.3. Problem 3.3 Implications
1.4. What the paper does
2 Methodology/ Materials 4 Applications

Abstract 1
(1)School closure is a potential intervention during an influenza pandemic and has been investigated in many
modelling studies. (2)To systematically review the effects of school closure on influenza outbreaks as predicted
by simulation studies. (3)We searched Medline and Embase for relevant modelling studies published by the
end of October 2012, and handsearched key journals. (4)We summarised the predicted effects of school closure
on the peak and cumulative attack rates and the duration of the epidemic. (5)We investigated how these
predictions depended on the basic reproduction number, the timing and duration of closure and the assumed
effects of school closures on contact patterns. (6)School closures were usually predicted to be most effective if
they caused large reductions in contact, if transmissibility was low (e.g. a basic reproduction number ,2), and if
attack rates were higher in children than in adults. (7)The cumulative attack rate was expected to change less
than the peak, but quantitative predictions varied (e.g. reductions in the peak were frequently 20–60% but
some studies predicted .90% reductions or even increases under certain assumptions). (8)This partly reflected
differences in model assumptions, such as those regarding population contact patterns. (9)Simulation studies
suggest that school closure can be a useful control measure during an influenza pandemic, particularly for
reducing peak demand on health services. (10)However, it is difficult to accurately quantify the likely benefits.
(11)Further studies of the effects of reactive school closures on contact patterns are needed to improve the
accuracy of model predictions.

1 4 7 10
2 5 8 11
3 6 9

Abstract 2
(1)The crops of wheat, maize, and rice make up almost two-thirds of the world’s dietary needs. (2)Additionally,
soybeans account for three-quarters of global livestock feed. (3)Considering over half of the world’s exported
supply of these commodities is exported via maritime means, the free flow of marine traffic becomes
paramount. (4)Current optimization models found in a number of studies involving food commodities lack the
ability to capture the inherent variance in maritime transport. (5)To capture this variance, a discrete-event
simulation was built to understand how disruptions in this system impact those who rely on its unhindered
functionality. (6)Monthly export data are used, and the maritime chokepoints of the Panama Canal, the Suez
Canal, and the Strait of Gibraltar are modeled for disruption. (7)Results indicate significant food shortages for
all importers studied. (8)Marine traffic through the Strait of Malacca was also significantly impacted when any
of the three chokepoints studied were closed.

1 4 7
2 5 8
3 6

Abstract 3

(1)We study the production planning problem for a multi-product closed loop system, in which the
manufacturer has two channels for supplying products: producing brand-new products and remanufacturing
1
returns into as-new ones. (2)In the remanufacturing process, used products are bought back and
remanufactured into as-new products which are sold together with the brand-new ones. (3)The demands for
all the products are uncertain, and their returns are uncertain and price-sensitive. (4)The problem is to
maximize the manufacturer’s expected profit by jointly determining the production quantities of brand-new
products, the quantities of remanufactured products and the acquisition prices of the used products, subject to
a capacity constraint. (5)A mathematical model is presented to formulate the problem and a Lagrangian
relaxation based approach is developed to solve the problem. (6)Numerical examples are presented to
illustrate the model and test the solution approach. (7)Computational results show that the proposed approach
is highly promising for solving the problems. (8)The sensitivity analysis is also conducted to generate
managerial insights.

1 4 7
2 5 8
3 6

Abstract 4
(1)The purpose of this research is to deduce and analyze the ethnocentric inclinations of the Ethiopian
consumers for products and services by determining the applicability of Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies
Scale (CETSCALE). (2)This study thoroughly reviews the existing literature on ethnocentrisms. (3)The
CETSCALE (Consumer Ethnocentric Tendencies Scale) developed by Shimp and Sharma was adopted to
measure the magnitude of ethnocentrism in both the product and service markets. (4)500 questionnaires were
distributed and only 446 questionnaires were found to be useable for the analysis. (5)Before using the
CETSCALE as a measure of ethnocentricity, the reliability of the scale was assessed. (6)The information
obtained from the sample was analyzed by using SPSS 16.0 statistical package. (7)The result shows that
CETSCALE is a reliable instrument to measure the ethnocentric tendencies of Ethiopian consumers. (8)The
magnitude of ethnocentrism for the sample population indicated that Ethiopians exhibit moderate
ethnocentrism. (9)The analyses of the demographic variables show that women are more ethnocentric than
men. (10)However, no significant relationship was found between ethnocentrism, age, income, and educational
levels. (11)Further, consumers did not exhibit different levels of ethnocentrism for the product and service
markets in Ethiopia. (12)This research study serves as a basis for Ethiopian marketers to understand the
ethnocentric levels of their consumers while purchasing both products and services which are constructive to
them to develop, design and modify their marketing offers. (13)The study is the first to investigate the
ethnocentric levels of consumers for products and services in Ethiopia and also in East Africa. (14)Thus, it
makes a significant contribution to the literature.

1 5 9 13
2 6 10 14
3 7 11
4 8 12

Part 2: Analyze the following student writings according to the Introduction framework on p. 24. What
is/are missing component(s) of Introduction Section?

1.1. Establish the importance of your field
1.2. Provide background facts/information (possibly
from research)
1.3. Define the terminology in the title/ key words
1.4. Present the problem area/ current research focus
2. Previous and/or current research and
contributions
3.1. Locate a gap in the research
3.2. Describe the problem you will address
3.3. Present a prediction to be tested
4. Describe the present paper

Student writing 1:
Higher education courses often require students to conduct a lot of presentations and studies. Most of us,
the Vietnamese postgraduate students, have to study and work simultaneously, so they have a limitation of
time for both activities. In order to handle a great amount of workload in studies, students have to employ
effective strategies and ways of learning. Collaborative learning can be a solution to make higher education less
burdensome. It is a twenty-first-century educational approach that provides learners with many benefits in
terms of social supports, psychology, academic achievements, and assessment (Laal & Ghodshi, 2012). That
2
students simply form a group, but work separately for their own goals cannot consider as collaborative
learning. Research is showing that a collaborative learning practice has to contain five key elements that are
positive interdependence, promotive interaction, individual accountability, social skills, and group processing.
Students can enhance those five factors with the help of the social networking site Facebook. Facebook has
many technical support items and social applications to facilitate learning (Al-rahmi, Othman, & Musa, 2014).
We can use the social networking site Facebook and its features can support some aspects of collaborative
learning, thus facilitating its implementation.
Although students in higher education know the efficacy of collaborative learning, they cannot exploit
the potential of that type of learning due to some factors regarding the lack of time, interaction, and social skills.
(Scager, Boonstra, Peeters, Vulperhorst, & Wiegant, 2016). First, some students do not have enough time to
gather and work together. Most postgraduate students in Vietnam have to handle work and studies at the same
time. Therefore, students' time for work may influence their time for study. Moreover, each member has
different working hours, so arranging a common time for a group discussion is sometimes difficult. Second,
students' lack of time can also lead to the lack of interaction among group members. When students do not
have enough time for discussion, they may have to do the task on their own without fair task assignment and
support from their group members. Consequently, good students tended to dominate the group while weaker
ones may feel left out and isolated. Third, the lack of social skills such as communication and conflict solving
skills also are preventing students from learning collaboratively. Students without social skills may not know
how to listen to other people's opinions and to exchange information effectively, which may lead to conflicts
among group members.
This study conducted in higher education setting with the aims of: examining the difficulties that
postgraduate students have in collaborative learning; exploring the features of Facebook that can help enhance
collaborative learning in higher education; examining the effects of Facebook on collaborative work; suggesting
effective strategies to use Facebook for collaborative learning to postgraduate students.

Sen Sentence Componen Description

# t number
1 Higher education courses often require students to conduct
a lot of presentations and studies.
2 Most of us, the Vietnamese postgraduate students, have to
study and work simultaneously, so they have a limitation of
time for both activities.
3 In order to handle a great amount of workload in studies,
students have to employ effective strategies and ways of
learning.
4 Collaborative learning can be a solution to make higher
education less burdensome.
5 It is a twenty-first-century educational approach that
provides learners with many benefits in terms of social
supports, psychology, academic achievements, and
assessment (Laal & Ghodshi, 2012).
6 That students simply form a group, but work separately for
their own goals cannot consider as collaborative learning.
7 Research is showing that a collaborative learning practice
has to contain five key elements that are positive
interdependence, promotive interaction, individual
accountability, social skills, and group processing.
8 Students can enhance those five factors with the help of the
social networking site Facebook.
9 Facebook has many technical support items and social
applications to facilitate learning (Al-rahmi, Othman, &
Musa, 2014).
10 We can use the social networking site Facebook and its
features can support some aspects of collaborative learning,
thus facilitating its implementation.
11 Although students in higher education know the efficacy of
collaborative learning, they cannot exploit the potential of
3
 Sen Sentence Componen Description
# t number
that type of learning due to some factors regarding the lack
of time, interaction, and social skills (Scager, Boonstra,
Peeters, Vulperhorst, & Wiegant, 2016).
12 First, some students do not have enough time to gather and
work together.
13 Most postgraduate students in Vietnam have to handle
work and studies at the same time.
14 Therefore, students' time for work may influence their time
for study.
15 Moreover, each member has different working hours, so
arranging a common time for a group discussion is
sometimes difficult.
16 Second, students' lack of time can also lead to the lack of
interaction among group members.
17 When students do not have enough time for discussion,
they may have to do the task on their own without fair task
assignment and support from their group members.
18 Consequently, good students tended to dominate the group
while weaker ones may feel left out and isolated.
19 Third, the lack of social skills such as communication and
conflict solving skills also are preventing students from
learning collaboratively.
20 Students without social skills may not know how to listen to
other people's opinions and to exchange information
effectively, which may lead to conflicts among group
members.
21 This study conducted in higher education setting with the
aims of: examining the difficulties that postgraduate
students have in collaborative learning; exploring the
features of Facebook that can help enhance collaborative
learning in higher education; examining the effects of
Facebook on collaborative work; suggesting effective
strategies to use Facebook for collaborative learning to
postgraduate students.

The missing components of the Introduction Section:

Student writing 2:

Schneider-Electric SE is a French multinational corporation that specializes in energy

management, automation solutions, spanning hardware, software, and services. Native of France, the company
is headquartered in Rueil-Malmaison and is also based at the World Trade Center of Grenoble with offices
throughout the world. It is a Fortune Global 500 company, publicly traded on the Euronext Exchange, and is a
component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.[2] In FY2016, the company posted revenues of about €25
billion.

Schneider Electric is the parent company of Square D, Pelco, APC and others. As of 2016, the company

has 20,000 patents either active or in application worldwide; the company has 144,000 employees in
approximately 100 countries.
Therefore, in order to maintain relationships with customers, to improve competitiveness, the company have to
build up prestige with customer and quality of products. However, after considering the revenue in recent
years, it was found that the company's revenue tended to decrease over the years. The IOTD (In-time order
transfer delivery) of company in five recent months tended to increase but still low. We always have problems

4
with high BOL (back order line). The company always find ways to overcome the BOL to reduce costs for the
company.

The IOTD (In-time order transfer delivery) of company in five recent months tended to increase but still
low. We always have problems with high BOL (Back order line). Therefore, the company always find ways to
overcome the BOL to reduce costs for the company.

When I make analysis for high BOL, the main cause of this was low productivity (35.2%) and lead time
(20.9%). Therefore, the company's goal is to use lean manufacturing process improvement tools to increase
delivery rates on time by increasing productivity (reducing cycle time to meet Takt Time) and reducing time
Production Time (Lead Time Reduction).

Sen Sentence Component Description

# number
1 Schneider-Electric SE is a French multinational
corporation that specializes in energy
management, automation solutions, spanning hardware,
software, and services.
2 Native of France, the company is headquartered in Rueil-
Malmaison and is also based at the World Trade Center of
Grenoble with offices throughout the world.
3 It is a Fortune Global 500 company, publicly traded on the
Euronext Exchange, and is a component of the Euro Stoxx
50 stock market index.[2] In FY2016, the company posted
revenues of about €25 billion.
4 Schneider Electric is the parent company of Square
D, Pelco, APC and others.
5 As of 2016, the company has 20,000 patents either active or
in application worldwide; the company has 144,000
employees in approximately 100 countries.
6 Therefore, in order to maintain relationships with
customers, to improve competitiveness, the company have
to build up prestige with customer and quality of products.
7 However, after considering the revenue in recent years, it
was found that the company's revenue tended to decrease
over the years.
8 The IOTD (In-time order transfer delivery) of company in
five recent months tended to increase but still low.
9 We always have problems with high BOL (back order line).
10 The company always find ways to overcome the BOL to
reduce costs for the company.
11 The IOTD (In-time order transfer delivery) of company in
five recent months tended to increase but still low.
12 We always have problems with high BOL (Back order line).

13 Therefore, the company always find ways to overcome the

BOL to reduce costs for the company.
14 When I make analysis for high BOL, the main cause of this
was low productivity (35.2%) and lead time (20.9%).
15 Therefore, the company's goal is to use lean manufacturing
process improvement tools to increase delivery rates on
time by increasing productivity (reducing cycle time to
meet Takt Time) and reducing time Production Time (Lead
Time Reduction).

The missing components of the Introduction Section: