学术英语(教师资料)_Unit5.ppt

1、,Definition,An academic essay, also called a research article, differs from an ordinary essay in that it consists of the review of previous studies on a particular topic and ones own research. In most cases it is a kind of documented report from the writers first-hand acquisition, synthesis and inte

2、rpretation of information, data and findings. A typical academic essay includes five parts, namely, abstract, introduction, body, conclusion and reference.,2 Two types of research paper,Two types of research paper Task 1 Task 2 Task 3 Task 4,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,There are two major kinds o

3、f academic paper: primary research paper and secondary research paper. A primary research paper is the study of a subject through firsthand investigation, involving presenting original ideas and information on your own. In most cases you need to conduct a survey or an experiment to obtain new findin

4、gs. Hence it is sometimes called survey-or-experiment-based research. A secondary research paper, however, involves gathering and analyzing the research findings from other peoples research. To illustrate your argument, you need to borrow and use evidence and findings available on the topic in the l

5、ibrary or on the Internet. Hence it is sometimes called library- or-lnternet-based research.,There are two major kinds of academic paper:,primary research paper: the study of a subject through firsthand investigation, involving presenting original ideas and information on your own - survey-or-experi

6、ment-based research secondary research paper: involving gathering and analyzing the research findings from other peoples research - library-or-Internet-based research,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,2 Two types of research paper,Elements of an introduction How to make the statement of purpose Task 1

7、Task 2 Task 3 Task 4,3 Writing an introduction,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,The introduction section is the start of a research article and its main purpose is to give a clear picture of what the article is about and what the attitude of the author is. An introduction usually includes the followin

8、g elements:,Elements of an introduction:,1) Introduce the topic or problem with which the research essay is concerned. 2) Give a clear definition of the topic and of the related key terms. 3) Provide the relevant background information/context of the topic. 4) Review the previous related studies and

9、 point out their limitation if necessary. 5) State the purpose/objective of the essay. 6) Introduce the theoretical perspectives the essay might use. 7) Justify your choice of the topic or give the reasons for your research. 8) Explain how the essay will be organized (the outline of the essay).,Unit

10、 5Writing an AcademicEssay,3 Writing an introduction,Of course not all research papers must contain all these elements. A primary research essay, for example, differs from a secondary research one in that the literature review of the latter should be general as you will give more details in the body

11、 section where previous findings will be used to support your arguments. However, the introduction section usually goes from the general to the specific. It starts with the information of the topic in the broad context and then narrows down to the information more specifically related to the propose

12、d research. The length of the introduction section varies according to the length of the paper and requirements of different journals (or conferences). Stating the purpose of writing the essay is important. Its function is to make sure the readers know what you are trying to achieve by writing this

13、essay. This includes establishing the topic and explaining what you will do with the topic, for example:,How to make the statement of purpose:,Purpose + Action Verb + Topic,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,3 Writing an introduction,A With the world economic development, the demand for energy has incre

14、ased rapidly, adding greatly to the greenhouse gases and the pollution problems mainly caused by fossil fuels. B According to Wikipedia, renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable. C Since the signing of

15、 the Kyoto Treaty, more efforts have been made to look for alternative energy sources. D Developing renewable energy sources is the solution to these problems. E Developing renewable energy source can not only greatly help cut down the amount of toxins, the by-products of the consumption of energy,

16、but also preserve,most of the natural resources that people use as resources of energy. F The essay will first demonstrate the significance of developing renewable energy sources, and then analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each possible renewable energy source. G The purpose of the essay i

17、s to examine potential renewable energy sources.,The whole introduction:,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,3 Writing an introduction,Paragraph 1: the topic and background a review of the previous study limitation or problems Paragraph 2: reasons and rational for the study Paragraph 3: purpose and struc

18、ture,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,3 Writing an introduction,Paragraph 1: Sentence definition Sentence background Paragraph 2: Sentences topic Sentences review of the past studies Paragraph 3: review of the past studies Paragraph 4: Sentence limitation Sentence purpose,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssa

19、y,3 Writing an introduction,1 Function: Establish the specific topic,2 Function: Introduce the present methodology,3 Function: State the purpose and / or the principal activities,4 Function: Offer a brief structure of the whole paper,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,3 Writing an introduction,1 Functio

20、n: Over the past decade, one of the most important advances in. has been the development of. There is a concern over. . is of particular interest with respect to. . have become increasingly interested in. There is an extensive scientific and industrial interest in. Recently, . has received/attracted

21、 much/particular attention. Recently there has been growing interest in. Recently, investigations of. are increasing. The development of. has led to. The possibility of. has generated wide interest in. . has become a favorite topic for analysis of. . has been a popular topic. . are extremely active

22、areas of research.,2 Function: This paper presents a systematic and unified approach to modeling., based on. . model is derived by properly combining., and applying., theory. In this paper the authors propose a novel method to analyze. We use., to examine. . approach is applied in order to demonstra

23、te. . method is employed. . is measured through. 3 Function: As part of a study, the purpose of which is to aid the exploitation of we have investigated. The purpose/aim/objective of this paper/investigation/study is to. The aim of this paper is to apply., to give detailed information on. Our purpos

24、e is to explore.,In this paper, we address the problem of/report on/give preliminary results for. The main purpose of the study is. The measurement error for., was analyzed. The calculations have been performed on. This study focuses on/examines. 4 Function: This paper is organized as follows: We fi

25、rst describe. We then discuss. We show that. A secondary aim. In addition, we address the possibility that. Finally, we show that. A further reason for. We first consider., and argue that. We then propose. . by listing research questions or hypotheses. . by announcing principle findings. Specially,

26、we test two hypotheses.,Definition Steps to write the body section of the secondary research essay Text 18 Physical Effects of Marijuana Use Organizations Common types of organization Task 2 Task 3,4 Writing the body of a secondary research essay,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,The body section is th

27、e major part of an essay. Its structure varies from essay to essay. The structure of a secondary research essay will be simpler as you do not have to conduct an experiment or survey of your own or carry out an empirical study. What you do is to use recent findings and data available on the Internet

28、to illustrate your ideas. Hence the steps are:,Steps to write the body section of the secondary research essay:,1) Evaluate all source materials you have gathered; 2) Design the structure or organization of you essay according to research questions, such as cause and effect, or comparison and contra

29、st; 3) Arrange the arguments in a logical order according to the chosen structure; 4) Select and organize source materials to illustrate the ideas of the topic sentences respectively.,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,4 Writing the body of the secondary research essay,Although secondary research is to

30、use information and findings available to illustrate your ideas, it does not mean your essay lacks creative ideas. Description and introduction of previous findings are only part of the essay, and your essay entails your point of view based on the description and analysis of previous studies. In ord

31、er to develop a position, you need to think critically about the ideas and findings of the source materials you have gathered, select the most appropriate evidence to support your point of view and, most importantly, add you contribution. For example, offering a new classification (a new approach) o

32、r a new effect (or a new cause, a new advantage) is the contribution you may make to the study of a certain subject. When writing a secondary research essay, you should especially beware of falling into a trap of plagiarism as the quoting and paraphrase are more frequent in such type of essay. Remem

33、ber that a secondary research essay does not mean that you simply piece together the findings of previous studies without your own things.,Organizations,Body structures vary from paper to paper as a secondary research paper generally lacks an empirical study which entails the method and statistic an

34、alysis. The following are some of the common types of organization. A. Effect analysis The structure of effect analysis may be used to analyze the effects of a certain phenomenon such as global warming, nuclear radiation, the use of genetically modified organisms and so on.,Common types of organizat

35、ion:,A. Effect analysis,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,4 Writing the body of the secondary research essay,B. Cause analysis To analyze the causes for a phenomenon such as earthquakes, climate changes, sleep deprivation and breast cancer, you may use the body structure of causal analysis.,Common type

36、s of organization:,B. Cause analysis,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,4 Writing the body of the secondary research essay,C. Pro-and-con analysis The structure may be used to weigh both advantages and disadvantages of a technology such as GM food, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, synthetical bi

37、ology, Web 3.0 and so on.,Common types of organization:,C. Pro-and-con analysis,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,4 Writing the body of the secondary research essay,Common types of organization:,D. Comparison analysis,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,4 Writing the body of the secondary research essay,D.

38、Comparison analysis To compare and contrast two subjects such as computers and human brains, or organic food and traditional food, you may either use the subject-to-subject body structure or the point- to-point body structure.,Common types of organization:,D. Comparison analysis,Unit 5Writing an Aca

39、demicEssay,4 Writing the body of the secondary research essay,A short essay might use a single type of the above organizations. A long essay, however, may combine several types according to the purpose of the essay. Whatever organization is used, a thesis statement-the main idea of your essay, and s

40、everal topic sentences which support the thesis from different angles are essential to ensure the coherence and logic of your essay. The following is the outline of a secondary research essay.,Title: Building a City Underground-from an Ecological Perspective Thesis: There are advantages to building

41、a city underground and having the outermost mile of the earths crust honeycombed with passages and structures, like a gigantic ant hill. Body: Argument (topic sentence) 1 The ecological structure could be stabilized as the surface of the earth would be protected from too frequent and intense human a

42、ctivities. Argument (topic sentence) 2 Weather would no longer be important, since rain, snow, sleet and fog would not trouble the underground world. Argument (topic sentence) 3 There would be no local time, and the alternation of day and night could be avoided. Conclusion: (Refer back to the thesis

43、 statement),1 Function: Describe the causes,2 Function: Analyze the effects,3 Function: Compare and contrast,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,4 Writing the body of the secondary research essay,TASK 3 Read the following sentence patterns and identify their respective functions lndlicated in the box. An

44、alyze the effects Describe the causes Compare and contrast 1 Function: There are probably a variety of causes for this marked growth/change. The explanation for the phenomenon involves many factors. The causes for., are complicated/varied. The change/increase is chiefly attributed/ascribed/owed to.

45、The change mainly stems/arises/results from. One may trace this problem back to. A number of factors could account for the change/phenomenon. A multitude of factors, individual and social (inherited and environmental) influence. These factors, coupled with the change/growth of. lead to.,One of the m

46、ost popular explanations for., is. is partly responsible for the decision. The growth is not the sole reason for. The change does not in itself explain/account for 2 Function: It may give rise/lead to a host of problems. It may have a profound influence. It will exert a number of undesirable effects

47、 on. It may produce/bring about a marked/drastic change in. This will entail/bring some serious consequences. There are a number of negative/undesirable effects on/consequences of. The effect/influence/consequence has not been confined/limited to. The immediate result it produces is. The effect, bot

48、h physical and psychological, on ones health is profound. Negative impacts, including economic and social, cannot be ignored.,3 Function: The biggest advantage is that. It has both advantages and disadvantages. In terms of cost, it outweighs the benefit we gain from. The advantages of B carry more w

49、eight than those of A. The effect of comparison is heightened by another advantage B enjoys. As advantages means nothing when Bs advantages are taken into consideration. When the advantages and disadvantages are carefully compared, the finding is self- evident/most striking. Although A enjoys the en

50、ormous advantage of it cant compete with B in. By contrast/On the contrary, . Despite these advantages, it also has its own disadvantages Like anything else, it also brings problems.,Methods section Questions an experiment or survey should answer Points one should make clear to readers Task 1 Result

51、s section Contents of results section Task 2 Task 3,5 Writing the body of a primary research essay,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,As primary research essay involves empirical studies based on a certain experiment or survey, it should present evidence with data and analysis in a format that can be re

52、plicated by others. Hence the body part will be composed of two sections: Methods and Results. Methods section The methods section, which is a detailed breakdown of the experiment or survey, usually answers these questions:,Questions an experiment or survey should answer:,1) What are your research q

53、uestions? 2) How is your research carried out? 3) How is your data collected? 4) How are your results obtained?,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,5 Writing the body of a primary research essay,Points one should make clear to readers:,1) subjects of the experiment; 2) the materials; 3) the procedure; 4)

54、 the criteria; 5) the survey; 6) statistical analysis.,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,5 Writing the body of a primary research essay,Therefore you must make all the following clear to the readers: 1) subjects of the experiment (How were they chosen?); 2.) the materials (What equipment or tools were

55、used? Where and in what condition was the experiment conducted?); 3) the procedure (How did you design your study and what steps did you follow when the data were collected?); 4) the criteria (What criteria are used for selecting subjects?); 5) the survey (How the questionnaire is designed and admin

56、istered? How are the samples or respondents chosen? And how the interview is conducted-by telephone or door to door?) 6) statistical analysis (How were statistics analyzed?).,The significance is: knowing how the data are collected helps the readers evaluate the validity and reliability of your resul

57、ts and your conclusion. One rule for a properly written method section is that: Enough information must be given so that the experiment could be reproduced by a competent colleague (Day,1988).,Contents of results section:,1) an overview of the experiment or a summary of the findings; 2) detailed pre

58、sentation of the representative data and/or graphic aids and their locating and/or analysis; 3) detailed presentation of the findings.,Unit 5Writing an AcademicEssay,5 Writing the body of a primary research essay,Results section The results section describes the statistical results and the findings

59、of the research, which directly answers your research questions. It deals with the facts rather than the opinions. The opinions such as evaluation and commentary should be saved in the discussion section. The results section is written in a concise and well-organized manner and is often short. It includes: 1) an overview of the experiment or a summary of the