NS4016/NS4026 Final Year Project: Academic Writing

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NS4016/NS4026 Final Year ProjectAcademic
Writing

• Íde OSullivan, Lawrence Cleary
• Regional Writing Centre

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Workshop outline

• Motivation and time management
• Key consideration
• The writing process
• The rhetorical situation
• Structuring your FYP
• Reporting the work of others
• Academic writing style
• Strategies to develop writing

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Motivation and Time Management
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It is not too late

• Take stock of where you are now
• Outline your research
• Make plans based on the time that is left
• Organise your time accordingly
• Get writing
• Keep writing
• Allow time for revision and to put it all
  together
• Let family and friends know
• Be selfish with your time

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Where am I?

• What writing have you done for the research
  proposal, and what writing do you need to do in
  order to complete the proposal on time?
• Keep writing non-stop for 5 minutes.
• Write in sentences.
• Do not edit or censor your writing.
• Private writing -- no one will read it.
• Discuss what you have written in pairs.

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Outlining (Murray, 2006)

• Title and draft introduction
• Level 1 outlining
• Main headings
• Level 2 outlining
• Sub-headings
• Level 3 outlining
• Decide on content

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Writing goals
Outline Words/Timeframe
Title Chapter 1 (title) Section 1 (title) Section 2 (title) Section 3 (title) Chapter 2 (title) Section 1 (title) Section 2 (title) Section 3 (title) Chapter 3
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Keep writing

• Where and when do you write?
• Why are you not writing?
• I dont feel ready to write.
• Writers block
• Getting unstuck
• Writing to prompts/freewriting (write anything)
• Set writing goals
• Write regularly
• Integrate writing into your thinking
• Break it down into a manageable process

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Keep writing

• Be patient
• Be creative
• Taking pleasure in writing
• Be proud of your writing
• Get stuck in

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Key Considerations
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Key stages in the process

• Planning
• Drafting
• Revision
• Editing and Proofreading

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The rhetorical situation

• Occasion
• Topic
• Audience
• Purpose
• Writer

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Key tasks for academic writers

• Participating in academic conversations
• Developing and advancing balanced arguments
• Exploring your personal writing process
• Developing strategies that work for you

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Structuring your FYP
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Organising principles

• Thesis
• Research question
• Hypothesis

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Organising principles

• Unity
• Coherence
• Cohesion

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Flow

• Logical method of development
• Effective transition signals
• Good signposting
• Consistent point of view
• Conciseness (careful word choice)
• Clarity of expression
• Paragraph structure
• Unity
• Coherence

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Paragraph structure

• Chapters or sections are divided into paragraphs
  in a meaningful way.
• Like chapter and section headings, paragraphs
  also signal the logically organised progression
  of ideas.
• Just as an essay is guided by a thesis statement,
  a paragraph is organised around its topic
  sentence.
• A topic sentence informs the reader of the topic
  to be discussed. It contains controlling ideas
  which limit the scope of the discussion to ideas
  that are manageable in a paragraph.

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Paragraph structure Supporting sentences

• The sentences that follow expand upon the topic,
  using controlling ideas to limit the discussion.
  The main idea is supported by
• Evidence in the form of facts, statistics,
  theoretical probabilities, reputable, educated
  opinions,
• Illustrations in the form of examples and
  extended examples, and
• Argumentation based on the evidence presented.
• Qualifying statements indicate the limitations of
  the support or argument.

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Paragraph structure Concluding sentences

• Not every paragraph needs a concluding sentence.
• Concluding sentences can either comment on the
  information in the text, or
• They can paraphrase the topic sentence.

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Example (Meei-Fang et al. 2007, p.471)

• People with dementia are particularly vulnerable
  to malnutrition they have a decreased ability to
  understand directions and to express their needs
  verbally, are easily distracted from eating,
  prone to become agitated, and may use utensils
  incorrectly. Inability to feed oneself (eating
  dependency) is a major risk factor for
  malnutrition among older people living in
  long-term care settings (Abbasi Rudman 1994,
  Durnbaugh et al. 1996). When people with dementia
  can no longer take food voluntarily, assistance
  is required although, as the disease progresses,
  even taking food with assistance can become
  difficult and, in some instances, tube-feeding
  may be required to supply nutrition. This form of
  feeding can, however, cause distress and anxiety,
  not only for the person being fed, but also for
  caregivers (Akerlund Norberg 1985, Burgener
  Shimer 1993).

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Paragraph structure Unity

• Paragraphs should be unified.
• Unity means that only one main idea is discussed
  in a paragraph. The main idea is stated in the
  topic sentence, and then each and every
  supporting sentence develops that idea (Oshima
  and Hogue 1999, p.18).

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Paragraph structure Coherence

• Coherence means that your paragraph is easy to
  read and understand because
• your supporting sentences are in some kind of
  logical order
• your ideas are connected by the use of
  appropriate transition signals
• your pronoun references clearly point to the
  intended antecedent and is consistent
• you have repeated or substituted key nouns.
  (Oshima and Hogue 2006, p.22)

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Example (Meei-Fang et al. 2007, p.471)

• People with dementia are particularly vulnerable
  to malnutrition they have a decreased ability to
  understand directions and to express their needs
  verbally, are easily distracted from eating,
  prone to become agitated, and may use utensils
  incorrectly. Inability to feed oneself (eating
  dependency) is a major risk factor for
  malnutrition among older people living in
  long-term care settings (Abbasi Rudman 1994,
  Durnbaugh et al. 1996). When people with dementia
  can no longer take food voluntarily, assistance
  is required although, as the disease progresses,
  even taking food with assistance can become
  difficult and, in some instances, tube-feeding
  may be required to supply nutrition. This form of
  feeding can, however, cause distress and anxiety,
  not only for the person being fed, but also for
  caregivers (Akerlund Norberg 1985, Burgener
  Shimer 1993).

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Paragraph structure Transition signals

• Transition signals do exactly what it says on the
  tin they signal. They can signal relationships
  between sentences, just as they can signal
  relationships between paragraphs.
• Example Finally, there have been numerous women
  altogether outside the profession, who were
  reformers dedicated to creating alternatives
  (Gillet 2008).
• The signal indicates the final point in a series
  of points.

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Paragraph structure Transition signals

• To introduce an additional idea
• To introduce an opposite idea or contrast
• To introduce a choice or alternative
• To introduce an example
• To introduce and explanation
• To list
• To introduce a conclusion/summary
• To introduce a result

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Paragraph structure

• Dos and Donts
• Do not use pronouns to refer to an antecedent in
  the previous paragraph.
• Lengthy paragraphs indicate a lack of structure.
• Short paragraphs indicate a lack of detail or
  evidence to support the argument.
• Do not end a paragraph with a quotation.
• Use a variety of sentence patterns and lengths to
  give your paragraph a lively rhythm.
• Signpost your paragraph organisation.

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Sentence structure

• Vary your rhythm by using a variety of sentence
  types and patterns. Use a combination of
• Simple sentences
• Compound sentences
• Complex sentences
• Compound-Complex sentences
• Do not limit yourself to simple sentences or
  linking sentences using and/but.

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Reporting the work of others
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Reporting the work of others

• Making use of the ideas of other people is one
  of the most important aspects of academic writing
  because
• it shows awareness of other peoples work
• it shows that you can use their ideas and
  findings
• it shows you have read and understood the
  material you are reading
• it shows where your contribution fits in
• it supports the points you are making.
• (Gillet 2005)

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Reporting the work of others

• We report another authors ideas by using
  paraphrase, summary, quotation and synthesis, and
  we use introductory phrases and reporting verbs
  to communicate our relationship to the ideas that
  we are reporting.
• Compare, for example
• Brown (1983, p.231) claims that a far more
  effective approach is ...
• Brown (1983, p.231) points out that a far more
  effective approach is ...
• A far more effective approach is ... (Brown 1983,
  p.231)

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Paraphrasing

• Paraphrasing is writing the ideas of another
  person in your own words. You need to change the
  words and the structure but keep the meaning the
  same (Gillet 2008).

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Paraphrasing

• Example
• Original Text
• Memory is the capacity for storing and retrieving
  information.
• Paraphrase
• Memory is the facility for keeping and recovering
  data.
• (Gillet 2008)

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Summary

• A summary is a shortened version of a text. It
  contains the main points in the text and is
  written in your own words. It is a mixture of
  reducing a long text to a short text and
  selecting relevant information. A good summary
  shows that you have understood the text (Gillet
  2008).

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Summary

• Example
• Original text
• People whose professional activity lies in the
  field of politics are not, on the whole,
  conspicuous for their respect for factual
  accuracy.
• Summary
• Politicians often lie.
• (Gillet 2008)

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Synthesis

• A synthesis is a combination, usually a shortened
  version, of several texts made into one. It
  contains the important points in the text and is
  written in your own words.
• To make a synthesis you need to find suitable
  sources, and then to select the relevant parts in
  those sources. You will then use your paraphrase
  and summary skills to write the information in
  your own words. The information from all the
  sources has to fit together into one continuous
  text.
• (Gillet 2008)

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Direct quotation

• The text quoted is sacrosanct.
• Do not change spelling (i.e. American to British)
  or punctuation.
• Do not correct spelling and punctuation.
• Sic enclosed in square brackets, sic, is
  inserted into the quote, after the error, to
  indicate to the reader that the error was not
  yours.

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Reporting the work of others

• Reporting the work of others
• Integral
• Non-integral
• Language for reporting
• http//www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm
• Short quotations (quotations in text)
• Long quotations (block quotations)
• Omitting words
• Using the abbreviation et al.
• Secondary sources

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Academic Writing Style
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Stylistic differences that markacademic writing

• Complexity
• Formality
• Objectivity
• Accuracy

• Precision
• Explicitness
• Hedging
• Responsibility
• (Gillet, 2008)

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Academic writing style

• Hedge. Distinguish between absolutes and
  probabilities. Absolutes are 100 certain.
  Probabilities are less than 100 certain.
• Be responsible. Provide traceable evidence and
  justifications for any claims you make or any
  opinions you have formed as a result of your
  research.

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Persuasion and truth in academic writing

• Because they are argumentative, academic writing
  tends to be persuasive.
• An argument should be persuasive, but dont
  sacrifice truth in favour of persuasion.
• Academic inquiry is a truth-seeking pursuit.
• facts are distinguished from opinions.
• relative truths are distinguished from absolute
  truths.
• The integrity of the conclusions reached in an
  academic essay or report is based on its honest
  pursuit of truth.

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Strategies to Develop Writing
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Cracking the codes

• Analysing the genre/text and modelling
• Generate a list of
• The most important features of academic writing
• Criteria to make your writing-strategies more
  effective
• The important conventions in your discipline
• What is/is not acceptable in your discipline
• Student handbooks and guides for written
  submissions

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Getting started

• Create time and space for writing
• Freewriting
• Writing to prompts
• What writing have you done for this assignment,
  what writing would you like to do
• The aim of this assignment
• Experiment with different types of writing

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Writing time

• Dealing with issues of time
• Setting goals
• Binge and snack writing (Murray, 2005)
• Do I need a big block of time to write
  productively?
• Short bursts of productive writing (Murray and
  Moore, 200617)
• Outlining (Murray, 2005)

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Dialogue as a social strategy

• Peer-review
• Generative writing
• The writing sandwich (Murray, 200585)
  writing, talking, writing
• Writing buddies (Murray and Moore, 2006102)
• Engaging in critiques of one anothers work
  allows you to become effective critics of your
  own work.

Regional Writing Centre
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Resources

• Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre, UL
  http//www.ul.ie/rwc/
• Using English for Academic Purposes
  http//www.uefap.com/index.htm
• The Writers Garden http//www.
  cyberlyber.com/writermain.htm
• The OWL at Purdue http//owl.english.purdue.edu/
• The Writing Center at the University of North
  Carolina at Chapel Hill http//www.unc.edu/depts
  /wcweb/handouts/index.html