研究生学术英语写作教程Unit-5-Reporting-Results

1、Unit 5 Reporting ResultsObjectives:-Un dersta nd the fun ctio n and the major eleme nts of the results secti on;-Lear n the major steps to deal with the results secti on;-Use the tips for describing graphic information;-Grasp the tips for making comparis on and con trast;-Lear n the skills for choos

2、 ing appropriate graphs and making graphs.Conten ts:-Teachers in troduct ion;-Read ing and discussi on: Types of Lan guage for Thinking and Lexical Collocati onal Errors;-Lan guage focus: graphic descripti on; comparis on and con trast;-Writing practice: using graphs and describing graphs (tables an

3、d charts);-Rewrit ing practice: grasp ing the major moves for outl ining the results sect ion;-Classroom exte nsion: descripti ons of data and graphs whe n report ing results.1. Reading Activity1.1 Pre-read ing TaskDo you know how to report the results of your research? The sta ndard approach to the

4、 results secti on of a research paper is to prese nt the results with the statistical techniques such as tables and charts. This does not mean that you do not need any text to describe data presented in graphs.Think about the following questions before reading the text and then have a discussion wit

5、h your classmates.1. What is the function of the results section?2. What are the major elements included in the results section?3. What are the major steps for you to deal with the results section?4. How do you describe graphic information in the results section?5. How do you compare and contrast th

6、e data presented in graphs?The following is part of the results section of a research paper which investigated how EFL learners ' tsypofelanguage for thinking influence their lexical collocational errors in speech.1.2 Reading PassageResultsTypes of Language for Thinking and Lexical Collocational

7、 Errors1One key issue in this study was whether a learner's type of language for thinkinginfluences lexical collocational production. 2 This issue was explored by examining one retrospective report on the questionnaire, When tape recording, what languagedid you mainly use for inner speech? 3Base

8、d'on'their responses, the 42 participants were classified into four language groups: Chinese, English, Chinese mingled with4English, and other languages. The participants in'accuracy rates were compared, which were obtained by dividing the number of errors by the overall number of lexica

9、l collocations they produced individually, among the language groups.The preliminary analysis discovered that the 42 participants produced a total of 2,491 lexical collocations, and each participant created approximately 29 lexical collocations per minute. Regarding learner errors, 263 incorrect col

10、locations were found among the 2,491 lexical collocations, resulting in an inaccuracy rate of 10.56. To report the effect of language for thinking on the production of lexical collocations in speech, Table 1 records the fact that 5 students stated that their type of language for thinking was for the

11、 most part Chinese. As Table 1 shows, 17 mainly used English for thinking, 20 primarily thought in Chinese mingled with English, and none thought in other languages. The inaccuracy rate of oral lexical collocations in each language group was calculated by dividing the total number of lexical colloca

12、tional errors by the total number of lexical collocations produced. Descriptive statistics demonstrated that those who mainly thought in their native language (Mandarin Chinese) produced the highest inaccuracy rate of lexical collocations (M=15.17), followed by those who primarily thought in English

13、 (M=12.40) and those using a combination (M=8.44).Results of a one-way analysis of varianee (ANOVA) further displayed that the differenee among these three groups reached a significant level, F(2,39)=4.07, pv.05. This result supports the notion that EFL learners type of Ianguage for thinking appreci

14、ably in flue nces their oral produeti on of lexical eolloeati ons.To probe in tergroup differe nces, the Fisher Least Sign ifica nt Differe nee (LSD) posthoc test was adopted, which aims at discer ning whether the comparis on betwee n groups reaches the significanee level. The LSD test showed that t

15、he Chi nese-mi ngled-with- En glish group had a markedly lower in accuracy rate tha n the Chinese or English groups, while the differenee between the Chinese and English groups was not significant. Thinking in both Chinese and English was more beneficial and effective to the EFL lear ners' oral

16、product ion of lexical collocatio ns.Table 1: Types of Lan guage for Thinking and In accuracy Rates of Lexical Collocati onsGroupNM(%)SD(%)FComme ntsChi nese (CH)54.07*CH>CE*En glish (EN)17EN>CE*Chin ese mi ngled withEn glish (CE)20Others0Note : Mean shows the average in accuracy rate of collo

17、cati ons in each group.*Pv.05(Hung-ChunWang & Su-Chin Shih, 2022 )1.3 Readi ng Comprehe nsion1.3.1 Read the first paragraph and identify the information elements you find in each sentence of the text.Senten cesEleme ntsSentence 1Sentence 2Sentence 3Sentence 41.3.2 Some verbs can be used to locat

18、e the results of the research, such as Show and i'hdicate. Read the second and third paragraphs carefully and think of the questi on: Which verbs did the authors use for locati ng the results?ParagraphsVerbs locating the resultsIn the 2nd paragraphIn the 3rd paragraphRead the sec ond and third p

19、aragraphs carefully and thi nk of the questi on: What is the fun cti on of the last sentence in the 2nd and 3rd paragrap Respectively?Senten cesFun cti onLast sentence in the 2nd paragraphLast sentence in the 3rd paragraph2 Language FocusGraphic descripti onThe results section clearly presents the f

20、indings of your study. It is usually prese nted both in graph and text. First, prepare the graphs as soon as all the data are an alyzed and arrange them in the seque nee that best prese nts your results in a logical way. Then, as the results sect ion is text-based secti on, the descripti on of graph

21、s is of great importa nee in paper writi ng. Good descripti ons can help the readers un dersta nd your research better while using a si ngle sen ten cepattern to describe the statistical and graphic information in a research paper will make your readers feel too bored and lose interest in reading on

22、, so we need to pay more attention to the Ianguage use when describing the statistical and graphic information.Here we will introduce some useful words, phrasesor sentence patternswhich can be used in different situations of graphic description.Situati onsExpressi onsWhe n in troduci ngthegraphic in

23、 formatio n and making a gen eral stateme ntThe chart shows the perce ntage ofThe vertical axis shows The horiz on tal axis compares -As can be see n/lt can be see n from the graph-Whe n referri ng to a graphAs can be see n/lt can be see n from Graph 3；As show n in Graph 3,From the graph above, it m

24、ay/ca n be see n/ con cluded / shown/ estimated/ calculated / inferred that -The graph shows/prese nts/provides thThe graph below /The pie chart above shows/ illustratesAccord ing to Table 1,Whe n describ ing a graphThere was a mini mal (slight, slow, gradual, steady) rise.There was a rapid in creas

25、e.There was a (an) marked (large, dramatic, steep, sharp, abrupt) decrease (decli ne, reduct ion, fall, drop).There was a sudde n fluctuati on.There was no cha nge.Whe n describ ing a curve or a trendcon vex/c on cave; top/bottom; a slope/ peak / plateau a gradual/slight in crease; a sharp/steep ris

26、e; the peak a rapid/abrupt fall; a slight dip; no cha nge; slow fall It shows an upward trend.It shows a dow nward trend.Whe n making a con clusi onto sum up; in con clusi on;It appears thatThe two charts clearly showIf you need to highlight significant data in a table/chart, you may use some adject

27、ives such as apparent, clear , interesting , obvious , “evealing and significant to make your viewpoint known and meanwhile attract readersattention.The followi ng sentence patter ns are useful for you whe n you report sig nifica nt results or findin gs.1. It is appare nt from Table 2 that.2. Table

28、5 is quitereveali ng in several ways.3. From Chart 5 we can see that Experiment 2 resulted in thlewest value of .4. What is interesting in this data is that .5. In Figure 10, there is aclear trend of decreas ing .6. As Table shows, there wasa great deal of differe nee betwee n the experime ntal grou

29、p and the con trol group.7. As shown in Table 6.3, chunk frequency also hasignificant correlation with the in dices of oral proficie ncy.8. There was n oobvious differe nee betwee n Method 1 and Method 2.The following table lists results of a questionnaire concerning students'interest and perfor

30、ma nee in class.Question 1: You are very interested in the English writing course. Stro ngly agree agree I don 'k now disagree stro ngly disagreeQuestion 2: You are active in group discussion in the classroom. Stro ngly agree agree I don 'k now disagree stro ngly disagreeTable 1 Data concern

31、ing the stude nt'n terest and participati onItemstro nglyagreeagreeI don' towdisagreestro ngly disagreeNPNPNPNPNP13550%25%2%5%3%22840%2840%3%710%4%Note: N=nu mber; P=perce ntageNow you are required to report results from the in terview. The follow ing sentence patter ns may be used in your r

32、eport.1. Of all the subjects, 70 completed and returned the questionnaire form.2. The majority of resp ondents felt that3. Over a half of those surveyed in dicatedhat 4. A small nu mber of resp ondents 5. A mi nority of participa nts (%) in dicated .6. In resp onse to Questi on 1, most of those surv

33、eyed in dicated that .7. The overall resp onse to this questi on was very positive.8. It is appare nt from the table above that.The following line graph shows an upward trend in growth rate of Ford car product ion duri ng the period from January to December 2022.1% V1.2%3.3%3.1%8%3%2%The growth rate

34、 of Ford car productionreDmecau raJQEevR roDotto reDmerpe tsuQMWA vruj enujxaI - JA hp血 vraurDBT VTSUnaJLook at the line graph carefully first and then do the following exercises.A. Mark the follow ing places in the graph.a) The bottom of the line;b) The peak of the line;c) The fluctuat ing part.B.

35、Describe the growth rate of Ford car product ion in the followi ng mon ths respectively. Try to use the phrasesor sentencepatterns of graphic description you learned in this sect ion.a) In Janu ary:b) From March to April:.c) From May to September:.d) From October to December:.C. What does the overal

36、l li ne graph reveal in the growth rate of Ford car product ionduri ng the period from January to December 2022?.Comparis on and con trastWhe n you are writ ing the reports secti on, you n eed to do much more tha n just give data. What you should always try to do is to convey more in formati on with

37、 the data. Compari ng and con trasti ng is a com mon way to deal with the data. The purpose of comparison is to show similarities while contrast is used to show differences. Through comparison or contrast between two or more things, the reader can un dersta nd them better.Here are some key words com

38、mo nly used to express comparis on or con trast.Words and comparis onexpressi onsshow ingWords and con trastexpressi onsshow inglike,tooalthough,yetsimilar as,similarlywhereas,howeverboth,likewisebut,whileas well as,alsoin stead,un likein the same wayun less,be differe nt fromhave in com monthe reve

39、rse,differ,the same ascon trary to,con verselyeve n though,on the con traryon the other handNote: Comparis on and con trast is ofte n used in graph descriptio n. Here are some points for you to pay special attention to.1) Not all the information has to be compared or contrasted with each other. It i

40、s com mon to in troduce the most sig nifica nt or importa nt in formatio n and compare or contrast it. If necessary, you must make some calculation before comparing or con trast ing the data.2) When comparing or contrasting information in the graphs, it is not necessary to lay equal emphasis on ever

41、y cha nge. Just give stress to those dramatic cha nges or to those that are of special in terest to you, or those that you want your readers to pay more attention to and ignore the less important parts.3) The comparis on/con trast should be supported by con crete and releva nt facts or data.The tabl

42、es below are the results of a research which exam ines the average marks scored by boys and girls of differe nt ages in several school subjects. Write a report for a uni versity lecturer describ ing the in formatio n below.You should write a minimum of 150 words.Boys:Subject/AgeMathScie neeGeography

43、LanguagesSports76370636271106572686074136974706075156773645878Girls:Subject/AgeMathScie neeGeographyLanguagesSports764696262651065736467641364706265621568726475603. Writing Practice3.1 Using graphsGraphs are com monly used in report ing the results of your research. A graph is a diagram, usually a l

44、ine or a curve, which shows how two or more sets of nu mbers and measurements are related. Graphs usually include bar/column charts/graphs, pie charts, li ne graphs and tables.Gen erally speak ing, bar charts are diagrams withrecta ngular barswith lengths proportional to the values that they represe

45、nt. The bars can be plotted vertically or horiz on tally.However, they more clearly show the relati on shipof different parts of the sample to each other. They do not clearly show the parts in relation to the whole. The following bar chart shows the teachers with mastes degree or above in Northweste

46、r n College accordi ng to gen der.Teachers with master degree or above according to genderA pie chart is a circle divided into segme nts. Pie charts can be used to show the sizes of various parts of the results in relation to each other and in relation to the whole sample. They are usually used to s

47、how percentages.The following pie chart shows the perce ntage of livi ng costs per mon th in a family.A line graph is a type of graph displaying information as a series of data points connected by continuous lines. It can show a pattern or trend which usually takes place over a period of time. The f

48、ollowing line graph shows the change of annual in come of an average family in a certa in city in Chi na.The change of annual income of an average80000family6000040000200000 d|Year 1990Year 2000Year 2022A table is a set of facts and figures arran ged in colu mns and rows. A table is a very useful wa

49、y of organizing numerical information. Tables are efficient, enabling the researcher to prese nt a large amount of data in a small space. They can show exact nu merical values and prese nt qua ntitative data. They emphasize the discrete rather than the continuous. Here is a table which shows the per

50、centage of the use of tran sportati on vehicles in Northwester n College.Table Use of tran sportati on vehicles in Northwester n CollegeYearBikesBusesCars199263%36%1%200248%46%6%202231%42%27%Tur n the table above into other graphor your differe nt research purposes.3.2 Describ ing a graphThe descrip

51、tion of graphs is of great importance in paper writing because it can help the readers understand your research better. How do you describe a graph? Here are the major steps for you to follow:Step 1: Introduce the graphic information briefly and indicate the main trend. Normally it includes the plac

52、e, time, content and purpose of the graph.Step 2: Describe the releva nt and most importa nt or sig nifica nt data and make some comparison if necessary.Words and expressions for describing a curve or a trend are very useful in prese nti ng graphic in formati on.Step 3: Summarize the data/tre nds.Th

53、e line graph below shows the sales amount of an on li ne shop from Mon day to Friday. Match the descriptive statements with the graph. Which are the correct stateme nts describ ing the graph?A. The sales amount in creased sharply from Mon day to Tuesday.B. The sales amount reached a peak on Friday.C

54、. There was a fluctuatio n in the sales amount.D. The sales amount dropped drastically from Wed nesday to Thursday.Write a short passage describ ing the sales amount of an on li ne shop from Mon day to Friday with the information presented in the graph above.3.3 Describing a tableThe table below sho

55、ws the results of the in terviews on the teachi ng Ian guage(s) used by English teachers in class. Answer the following questions first and then according to the answers, describe the information in the table. Pay attention to the use of differe nt sentence patter ns whe n report ing the data.Table

56、1 Teachi ng l an guage(s) used by En glish teachers in classChoicesFreque ncyPerce ntAlmost En glish630%Mai nly En glish1365%Mai nly Chi neser 15%Almost Chin ese00%Total20Questio ns:1. What does the table show us?2. How many teaching Ianguages are mentioned in the table?3. What la nguage is used mos

57、t freque ntly by En glish teachers in class?4. Do En glish teachers in class ofte n use Chin ese?5. In summary, what impressi on do you have on the teach ing Ian guage(s) used by En glish teachers in class?3.4 Describ ing chartsThe following is a result from a market survey of personal computers. Report the result from a university student's perspective. First,