英语论文讲座4.ppt

1、Chapter 4,Locating a Research Topic and Note Taking,Points of this lecture,Locating a research topic Note taking Avoiding plagiarism,Locating a Research Topic,As English major, you can write your graduation thesis on a topic from any of the following subject areas： English literature; English lingui

2、stics; English language teaching and learning; English to Chinese and Chinese to English translation studies.,After you have decided your subject area First of all, you should go to library or read an introductory book about the subject area to broaden your understanding. When you are broadened abou

3、t the area, you know how you can narrow down.,Suppose you decide to write about “English language teaching and learning ”There are three major sub-areas: teachers /teaching learners/learning language/culture You cannot write them all in your graduation thesis; you need make further decision and choo

4、se one from the three.,If you choose the second one,English learners and learning, and go on reading, you will find that within this sub-area there are further fine classifications, such as learning theories learning styles, learning strategies individual learners differences. You should go on readi

5、ng and narrowing down until you arrive at an easy-to-manage and well focused topic. (You can do the same with other subject area).,选题要控制在适中的范围内，不能过大或过小,选题过大 在有限的篇幅里难以驾驭，不能写深写透，论文自然会显得抽象浅显，聚焦不足，游离主题。例如： “文化迁移与商务英语翻译” “劳伦斯小说中的人性观研究” “中学英语新课标改革措施之我见” 大而无当，盲点百出。即便是博士论文恐怕也难以企及.,选题过小，范围太窄 研究视角自然会受到制约，论点则无

6、法深入开展，井小难储水，最 终只能堆砌材料，乱塞例证，敷衍了事。例如： 选择英国作家狄更斯小说双城记中的“红酒”作为论文选题， 对纽约时报中的新闻主题句进行研究。 由于选题过小过窄，结果越写越觉得难以挖掘下去，最后只好换题重写，白白浪费了时间和精力。,大小适中的选题方法,1.对过大的选题进行“缩水”处理 2.对过小的选题进行“扩容”处理 “缩水”也罢，“扩容”亦好，人们往往都会根据论文的许 可长度，写作的准备时间长短，作者能占有的资料数量和质 量等因素，通过三次过滤的筛选整合而最终敲定论文选题， 以达到“小题大做，小中见大”的选题效果。,论文选题的缩水例示,第一次选题(太宽泛): The Hu

7、man Nature in D. H.Lawrences Novels. 第二次选题(限定范围):Which Novel of D. H. Lawrences Writings? 第三次选题(限定范围):What kind of Human Nature of D. H.Lawrences? 最终选题(聚焦论题): The Good and Evil Value of Human Nature in D.H Lawrences The Rainbow,论文选题的扩容例示,第一次选题(过窄): Dreams in Wuthering Heights 第二次选题(扩展): The Gothic a

8、nd Dreams in Wuthering Heights 第三次选题(扩容): The Structure and Function of Gothic and Dreams in Wuthering Heights 最终选题(补视角):The Structure and Function of Gothic and Dreams in Wuthering Heights: A Psychoanalytic Perspective,4.2 Taking Notes,A note is any fact or idea which might be useful in the prepara

9、tion of your paper. Take notes as you do your library research and do not hesitate to take more notes than are necessary, especially early in your research before you write. This process is pretty long and arduous.,Tools of taking notes Use of note cards: - make the cards uniform in size, which are

10、big enough to provide the necessary information; - write clearly in ink, not in pencil; - put one note on each card to keep one piece of academic information; - write full notes, which would help speed your drafting of the paper.,Ways of taking notes,Evaluation of sources Content of notes Types of n

11、otes Taking note on computers,(1) Evaluation of sources,It is necessary to evaluate the sources before starting reading and taking notes. Students should not always take what is in print as correct. Tips for evaluating sources. Pay attention to the authors name, Pay attention to information Pay atte

12、ntion to the sources. Pay attention to the objectivity of the sources.,Pay attention to the authors name, The title of the book; The publication information ( publisher, publication date ). From these students can sense whether the material is related to their topic, whether the author is an authori

13、ty in the field and whether the information in the book is up-to-date. Generally speaking, if all other things are equal, recent sources are preferable, especially materials concerning science and technology.,Pay attention to information, It leads to the authors attitude. The authors job and religio

14、n may influence his research. In general, a person works at religion or politics is likely to give biased information, whereas a person working at science and technology tends to provide information based on facts.,Pay attention to the sources,Pay attention to the sources. Asking questions: 1. Are t

15、he sources primary or secondary? 2. Does the author write about his own experience and discovery, or retell others experiences and discoveries. Generally speaking; primary sources are more reliable than secondary ones.,Pay attention to the objectivity,You may ask “Are the sources biased or objective

16、?” Generally speaking, a partys paper, religious publications, sensationalistic publications and sometimes the government reports are biased, while scholarly journals and publications by a university press or an independent organization are more objective.,Robert Dees sets the following criteria for

17、 evaluating sources:,1. It was written by a reliable authority whose methods and reasoning appear valid. 2. Not everything you use in your research has to be written by someone with a PhD, but the authors education, experience with the topic, and the reputation should play a major part in your evalu

18、ation and use of a work. 3. It offers facts and ideas that other sources do not. 4. It sets forth facts and ideas that do not contradict known concepts or other works without good evidence.,5. It demonstrates knowledge and consideration of other viewpoints and research in the field. Look for discuss

19、ion of opposition ideas, as well as the application and citation of others works. 6. It is current in terms of both its publication date and its information. Remember that knowledge changes more rapidly in some fields than in others. Ideas in the humanities tend to remain consistent longer than thos

20、e in the science, where constant research and new technology change existing knowledge daily.,(2) Content of Notes,Important thoughts, ideas, quotes, facts or statistics often make up the content of a note. The background information; A summary of general ideas supporting the preliminary thesis stat

21、ement; Explanatory information such as definition, a plot summary and bibliographical date; Direct quotations, examples and facts ; Statistics such as percentages, weighs, amount of money, ratios and dates.,A Sample Note,Definition of learning strategies “Learning strategies are the particular appro

22、aches or techniques that learners employ to try to learn an L2” Ellis, Rod.Second language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxf ord UP,1997:76-77,Heading of the note,documentation,The body of the card with ideas, information or quotations,(3)Types of Notes,There are four major types of notes: (1) direct quotati

23、ons (2) paraphrase notes (3) summary notes (4) combination notes.,(1) Direct Quotation Notes,Direct quotations record materials exactly from the sources. When do we use direct quotation ? Use direct quotations only when other words, phrases, structures fail to express the information better than tho

24、se in the original source. However, direct quotations must be used discriminately because it generally accounts for only 10% to 20% of a paper.,Direct Quotation Notes Sociolinguistics “Sociolinguistics is the field that studies the relation between language and society, between the uses of language

25、and the social structures in which the users of language live.” Spolsky,Bernard.Sociolinguistics.Oxford:Oxford Up,1998:3,(2) Paraphrase notes,Paraphrase means accurately restating the original information in ones own words and phrasing, without any additional comments or elaborations. A paraphrase n

26、otes usually of the same length with the original. Although quotation marks are not used in paraphrase notes, proper documentation is necessary.,Paraphrase notes The Third Wave According to Alvin Toffler, there have been two revolutionary periods of change in history: the agricultural revolution and

27、 the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution determined the course of history for thousands of years; the industrial civilization lasted about a century. We are now on the threshold of a new period of revolutionary change, but this one may last for only a few decades (10). Gibaldi, Joseph.M

28、LA Handbook for Writers of ResearchPapers .New York: MLA:32-33,(3) Summary Notes,Summary notes sum up the major points of the information in the students own words. Some key words of the original may be used, but they must be put in quotation marks. Again a summary note must be properly documented.,

29、Summary Notes Classification of learning Strategies Second language learning strategies consist of two categories. They are language learning strategies and language use strategies. The latter can be further divided into retrieval strategies, rehearsal strategies, cover strategies and communicative

30、strategies. Cohen, Andrew D. Strategies in Learning and Using a Second Language. London:Longman,1998:5-7,(4) Combination Notes,Combination notes combine the above three types of notes. A combination note, as the name implies, is one that combines direct quotation, paraphrase and summary. Its advanta

31、ge lies in the fact that it adopts flexible note-taking methods.,Combination Notes Research on language learning strategies began in the 1960s. Scholars such as Oxford (1990),OMalley Begin a new note on a new page; Write some keywords on each page; Put the notes with the same keywords into a single

32、file.,4.3 Avoiding Plagiarism,Plagiarism Plagiarism is “the use of facts, opinions, and language taken from another writer without acknowledgement” (Ding and Wu 151). In other words, plagiarism is to steal from the writings or ideas of another person. Plagiarism is a grave offence and a serious brea

33、ch of ethics in higher education.,Emphasizing the importance of avoiding plagiarism does not mean that other peoples opinions and ideas cannot be used. On the contrary, it is a good indication of ones extensive research and sincere attitude of study if one quotes properly. a. Forms of plagiarism b.

34、Tips on avoiding plagiarism,Forms of plagiarism,Plagiarism can be deliberate or accidental deliberate Plagiarism happens when one copies the work of others and pretends that it is his or her own without acknowledgement. Accidental plagiarism or unconscious plagiarism happens when one does not intend

35、 to plagiarize, but fails to cite the soured appropriately. Unconscious plagiarism can be paraphrases with no citation or misplaced citations. (2) Plagiarism with no citation (3) Misplaced citations,Tips on avoiding plagiarism,Meriwethers guidelines may be helpful: Always put quotation marks around any direct statement from some