ACADEMIC WRITING for junior researchers AUTUMN 2016
SESSION 1 (selected activities)
Mgr. Robert Helán, Ph.D.
Mgr. Radomíra Bednářová
Masaryk University Language Centre
1. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE
2. FEATURES OF ENGLISH FOR GENERAL ACADEMIC PURPOSES
3. THE CHARACTER OF ACADEMIC WRITING IN ENGLISH
In the session the following areas will be covered:
→ major characteristics of academic English
→ basic principles of academic writing in the context of research settings
→ discussion of students´ academic positions and their perceived needs in writing
E-learning:
[Link]
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I. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Do you prefer writing or typing?
2. What are your biggest problems when writing?
3. What writing skills do you need to be able to write well?
4. How important is it to plan what you write?
5. How is your writing in English? Is writing in your language different from writing in English?
6. What advice would you give to a student who says he/she is no good at writing?
7. What questions would you like to ask a writing expert about writing?
8. E. L. Doctorow said: "Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go." Do you
agree?
THE PROCESS OF WRITING
II. ACADEMIC WRITING – INTRODUCTION:
1. List and discuss the main characteristics of academic writing. Consider the following levels of
writing and give examples:
MICRO LEVEL: eg. correct spelling
MEZZO LEVEL
MACRO LEVEL
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III. THE POWER WRITING PROCESS
Put the following concepts under the appropriate main stages of the POWER writing process:
major points, coherence, readability, audience, minor points,
style, organization, conciseness, supporting data, goal, precision
THE POWER WRITING PROCESS
(Shulman 2005)
PREPARE OUTLINE WRITE EDIT REWRITE
purpose thesis content clarity accuracy
IV. PUBLICATION TYPES
Read the descriptions and identify each publication type.
1. This is a report of some unusual disease manifestation occurring in a single patient – it includes the
symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up: e.g. a report of an unusual lesion of the finger in a
53-year-old man.
2. This is a collection of reports (at least two) involving several patients with an uncommon disease, such
as an increased incidence of leukemia in a single neighborhood.
3. This type of publication is generally short – it relies on the author’s experience and intuition and thus
doesn’t require a major research effort. It allows authors to express their opinions.
4. This is a brief summary of a larger document. It is often used to help readers quickly find out what the
document is about and its purpose.
5. This is a publication that presents a study reporting innovative advances that further knowledge about a
topic of importance to the field of medicine.
6. This publication summarizes the current state of understanding on a topic. It re-presents previously
published material, rather than reporting new facts or analysis. An important part of this genre is the
author’s expert assessment of the literature.
Example from the British Medical Journal:
[Link]
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V. EXERCISES – LANGUAGE FOCUS MICRO LEVEL
1. Complete the following tables.
formal informal formal informal
seem enquire
climb end
help tell
cease obtain
commence preserve
use reject
decrease free
demonstrate mend
depart require
want live
formal informal formal informal
understanding childish
deficiency wrong
opportunity inferior
perspiration inexpensive
house dim
sight insane
amiable laid back
whole responsible
energetic enough
fortunate empty
2.
3. In the following examples, the same message is expressed in six different styles, from an
extremely formal written style, to the very informal spoken one. Match the sentences with
the adequate styles.
a) Jargon, very formal.
b) Written, formal, clear.
c) Written style for the general public (scripted radio or TV news style).
d) Formal spoken style (seminar, talk).
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e) Informal spoken style (discussion).
f) Very informal spoken style (chat).
I. As the value of Sterling increased compared to other currencies, the government was forced to
take tax measures to head off a rapid increase in consumer spending spurred on by cheaper
imports.
II. And you see, Sterling got more and more valuable, so as a result, the government had to go
round putting up taxes, you see, to stop everyone going out and splashing out, spending all their
money on cheap imports.
III. Consequent to the appreciation in the exchange value of Sterling against other currencies,
necessary fiscal measures were introduced by the government in order to reduce the likelihood of
an import-led consumer spending surge.
IV. As Sterling went up in value, the government had to put up taxes to stop consumers splashing
out on too many cheap imports.
V. As Sterling's international value went up, the government had to take tax measures to head off
a consumer spending boom spurred on by cheaper imports.
VI. After the international value of Sterling rose, the government was obliged to take fiscal
measures to reduce the likelihood of a surge in consumer spending led by cheaper imports.
(Adapted from Handout source: course materials by Alena Hradilová+Libor Štěpánek for Academic Writing for Post-graduate students, a
Masaryk University course; [Link]
4.
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(handout source: Academic Vocabulary in Use)
5. Here is a paragraph that should be written in a more academic tone. Read it through
and underline the parts that need to be rewritten and suggest possible improvements.
Given the general knowledge of the health risks of smoking, it’s no wonder that heaps of smokers
have tried at some time in their lives to quit. However, in most cases, their attempts are
unsuccessful. People begin smoking, often when they’re adolescents, for lots of reasons, including
the example of parents and pressure from peers. If others in one’s group of friends are starting to
smoke, it can be hard to resist going along with the crowd. Once people start smoking, they’re
likely to get hooked. The addiction to smoking is partly physiological; smokers become used to
the effects of nicotine and experience painful withdrawal symptoms when they give it up. In
addition, people become psychologically dependent on smoking as a way of reducing anxiety and
coping with particular situations.
Handout source: [Link]/learningandstudycentre/
Improvements:
6. Identify the informal expressions in the following sentences. Rewrite the following
sentences, replacing the informal expressions with a more formal equivalent.
1. With women especially, there is a lot of social pressure to conform to a certain physical shape.
2. Significantly, even at this late date, Lautrec was considered a bit conservative by his peers.
3. It focused on a subject that a lot of the bourgeois and upper-class exhibition-going public
regarded as anti-social and anti-establishment.
4. Later Florey got together with Paul Fildes in an experimental study of the use of curare to
relieve the intractable muscular spasms which occur in fully developed infection with tetanus or
lockjaw.
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5. When a patient is admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit, the clinical team should avoid the
temptation to start specific treatments immediately.
6. Therefore after six months the dieter is behaving according to all twenty-six goals and she has
achieved a big reduction in sugar intake.
7. Modern houses have so many labour-saving things that it is difficult for the person at home to
have adequate exercise by doing chores, cooking, and looking after a family.
8. Simply making the effort to reclaim this wasted stuff for fertilizer would have a positive effect
on greenhouse releases.
9. It is difficult to imagine exactly what is meant by saying that such a classification is
natural as any collection of things could be classified in this way.
10. Unfortunately, since there are so many possible explanations, the correct one is most difficult
to find out.
11. These exercises can easily be incorporated into an exercise routine, with each exercise done
again a number of times.
12. Fleming did well in isolating a streptococcus from the cerebrospinal fluid of the patient.