ESCUELA :

1. ACADEMIC WRITING ESCUELA: INGLÉS Lcda. Nidia Arellano PONENTE: I BIMESTRE BIMESTRE: ABRIL – AGOSTO 2007 CICLO: UNIDAD VIDEOCONFERENCIAS

2. Academic WritingFirst Bimester • General objective • To write paragraphs and to understand how to write essays • Specific Objective • To learn all the steps that you need to know in order to write good paragraphs and, to write Process, Cause/effect, Comparison/contrast essays.

3. Chapter 1The process of Academic Writing What is academic writing? • Academic writing is the kind of writing that you are required to do at university. • In academic writing, your audience is primarily your professors or instructors. • Academic writing is a “process” not a “product”

4. What is Academic Writing? Why do you Write? • To compare or contrast two topics • To argue for a solution to a problem • To summarize information • To report on a laboratory experiment or research

5. What is Academic Writing? • How do you Write? Every student is expected to write clearly and to use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. In academic writing you can use two formats: paragraph and the essay.

6. What is Academic Writing? • The style in academic writing It is also important. Students are expected to write in a somewhat formal style. This means that their language should be clear and direct and that they should not use slang.

7. What is Academic Writing? • To whom do you Write? The purpose of writing is communication, all writers need to be aware of their audience. The question here is: Who is the audience for students? However, the purpose of writing is still the same: to communicate a message.

8. Prewriting • Brainstorming techniques You must think about a certain topic and generate many ideas as possible. • Journal Writing • Listing • Frewriting • Clustering

9. Pre-writingstrategies The purpose of this step is to think about a certain topic and generate as many ideas as possible. Don't worry about spelling, grammar, or writing in complete sentences.

10. Pre-writingstrategies There are four techniques which help you to generate ideas, they are: • Journal Writing The advantage of this technique is that you are writing only for yourself. You can write down your thoughts and explore ideas without worrying what other people will think. • Listing In this technique, you think about your topic and quickly make a list of whatever words or phrases come into your mind.

11. Pre-writingstrategies • Frewriting The most important aspect of frewriting is not to allow yourself to stop. Just let your ideas and imagination flow. • Clustering In this technique, in the center of your paper, write your topic and draw a “ballon” around it.

12. Planning Why create an outline? • Aids in the process of writing • Helps you organize your ideas • Presents your material in a logical form • Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing • Constructs an ordered overview of your writing • Defines boundaries and groups How do I create an outline? • Determine the purpose of your paper. • Determine the audience you are writing for. • Develop the thesis of your paper.

13. The College Application Process I. Choose Desired Colleges • Visit and evaluate college campuses • Visit and evaluate college websites • look for interesting classes • note important statistics • student/faculty ratio • retention rate

14. II. Prepare Application • Write Personal Statement • Choose interesting topic • Describe an influential person in your life • i. favorite high school teacher • ii. grandparent • Include important personal details • volunteer work • participation in varsity sports • III. Compile resume • List relevant coursework • List work experience • List volunteer experience • tutor at foreign language summer camp • counselor for suicide prevention hotline

15. WritingYoumustremember that no piece of writing is neverperfect at the first time • Revising You may start revising as soon as you finish writing. Read what you have written, and ask yourself these questions: “Have I said what I wanted to say?” and “Have I made myself clear to the reader?” These are questions about the content of your writing.

16. Revising • you also need to ask yourself about the organization of your paragraph. The basic questions to ask are: “Does this paragraph have a topic sentence”, “What is my topic?”, “What is my controlling idea? What are my supporting sentences?” “Do I need more supporting sentences?”, and “Do I have a concluding sentence?”.

17. Editing Suggestions for Editing (Proofreading) your Paper • Read your Paper Aloud Any time your text is awkward or confusing, or any time you have to pause or reread your text, revise this section. • Examine your Paragraphs Examine the overall construction of your paragraphs, looking specifically at length, supporting sentence(s), and topic sentence. Individual paragraphs that are significantly lacking length or sufficient supporting information as well as those missing a topic sentence may be a sign of a premature or under-developed thought.

18. Editing • When you edit, you check to make sure the spelling, capitalization, punctuation, vocabulary, and grammar are correct. Editing is somewhat mechanical because you are basically following rules. The rules of spelling, for example, are clear; a word is either right or wrong. In grammar and punctuation as well, we can usually say that something is wrong and something else is right.

19. FindingCommonErrors • Proofreading can be much easier when you know what you are looking for. Spelling • Do NOT rely on your computer's spellcheck—it will not get everything! • Examine each word in the paper individually by reading carefully. Moving a pencil under each line of text helps you to see each word. • If necessary, check a dictionary to see that each word is spelled correctly. • Be especially careful of words that are typical spelling nightmares, like "ei/ie" words and homonyms like your/you're, to/too/two, and there/their/they're.

20. FindingCommonErrors • Left-out and doubled words Reading the paper aloud (and slowly) can help you make sure you haven't missed or repeated any words. • Fragment Sentences Make sure each sentence has a subject. In the following sentence, the subject is "students": The students looked at the OWL website. • Make sure each sentence has a complete verb. In the following sentence, "were" is required to make a complete verb; "trying" alone would be incomplete: They were trying to improve their writing skills. • See that each sentence has an independent clause; remember that a dependent clause cannot stand on its own. The following sentence is a dependent clause that would qualify as a fragment sentence: Which is why the students read all of the handouts carefully.

21. FindingCommonErrors Run-on Sentences • Review each sentence to see whether it contains more than one independent clause. If there is more than one independent clause, check to make sure the clauses are separated by the appropriate punctuation. • Sometimes, it is just as effective to simply break the sentence into separate sentences instead of including punctuation to separate the clauses. • Example run-on: I have to write a research paper for my class about extreme sports all I know about the subject is that I'm interested in it. • Edited version: I have to write a research paper for my class about extreme sports, and all I know about the subject is that I'm interested in it. • Another option: I have to write a research paper for my class about extreme sports. All I know about the subject is that I'm interested in it.

22. FindingCommonErrors Comma Splices • Look at the sentences that have commas. • Check to see if the sentence contains two main clauses. • If there are two main clauses, they should be connected with a comma and a conjunction like and, but, for, or, so, yet. • Another option is to take out the comma and insert a semicolon instead. • Example: I would like to write my paper about basketball, it's a topic I can talk about at length. • Edited version: I would like to write my paper about basketball, because it's a topic I can talk about at length. • Edited version, using a semicolon: I would like to write my paper about basketball; it's a topic I can talk about at length.

23. FindingCommonErrors Subject/Verb Agreement • Find the subject of each sentence. • Find the verb that goes with the subject. • The subject and verb should match in number, meaning that if the subject is plural, the verb should be as well and vice versa. • Example: Students at the university level usually is very busy. • Edited version: Students at the university level usually are very busy.

24. FindingCommonErrors Mixed construction • Read through your sentences carefully to make sure that they do not start with one sentence structure and shift to another. A sentence that does this is called a mixed construction. • Example: Since I have a lot of work to do is why I can't go out tonight. • Edited version: Since I have a lot of work to do, I can't go out tonight.

25. FindingCommonErrors Parallelism • Look through your paper for series of items and make sure these items are in parallel form. • Example: Being a good friend involves good listening skills, to be considerate, and that you know how to have fun. • Edited version: Being a good friend involves knowing how to listen, be considerate, and have fun.

26. FindingCommonErrors Pronoun Reference/Agreement • Skim your paper, stopping at each pronoun. • Search for the noun that the pronoun replaces. • If you can't find any noun, insert one beforehand or change the pronoun to a noun. • If you can find a noun, be sure it agrees in number and person with your pronoun.

27. FindingCommonErrors Apostrophes • Skim your paper, stopping only at those words which end in "s." If the "s" is used to indicate possession, there should be an apostrophe, as in Mary's book. • Look over the contractions, like you're for you are, it's for it is, etc. Each of these should include an apostrophe. • Remember that apostrophes are not used to make words plural. When making a word plural, only an "s" is added, not an apostrophe and an "s."

28. Paragraph structure • The topic sentence • Supporting sentences • The Concluding sentence

29. Whatis a paragraph? • A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. • The Basic Rule: Keep One Idea to One Paragraph • The basic rule of thumb with paragraphing is to keep one idea to one paragraph. If you begin to transition into a new idea, it belongs in a new paragraph.

30. A topicsentence A topic sentence is a sentence that indicates in a general way what idea or thesis the paragraph is going to deal with. In an easy way to make sure your reader understands the topic of the paragraph is to put your topic sentence near the beginning of the paragraph. (This is a good general rule for less experienced writers, although it is not the only way to do it).

31. Supportingsentences • The topic (which is introduced by the topic sentence) should be discussed fully and adequately. Again, this varies from paragraph to paragraph, depending on the author's purpose, but writers should beware of paragraphs that only have two or three sentences. It's a pretty good bet that the paragraph is not fully developed if it is that short.

32. Theconcludingsentence • Conclusions are shorter sections of academic texts which usually serve two functions. The first is to summarise and bring together the main areas covered in the writing, which might be called "looking back"; and the second is to give a final comment or judgement on this. The final comment may also include making suggestions for improvement and speculating on future directions.

33. Unity and coherence • Unity • Coherence Repetition of key nouns key Noun Substitutes of Synomys Transition signals Coordinating conjunctions Subordinating conjunction Pronouns

34. Unity • The entire paragraph should concern itself with a single focus. If it begins with a one focus or major point of discussion, it should not end with another or wander within different ideas.

35. Coherence • Coherence is the trait that makes the paragraph easily understandable to a reader. • You can help create coherence in your paragraphs by creating logical bridges and verbal bridges.

36. Coherence Logical bridges • The same idea of a topic is carried over from sentence to sentence • Successive sentences can be constructed in parallel form Verbal bridges • Key words can be repeated in several sentences • Synonymous words can be repeated in several sentences • Pronouns can refer to nouns in previous sentences • Transition words can be used to link ideas from different sentences

37. Transitions • Transitions are usually one or several sentences that "transition" from one idea to the next. Transitions can be used at the end of most paragraphs to help the paragraphs flow one into the next.

38. SupportingDetails • Facts • Quotations • Statistics

39. FACTS, QUOTATIONS, AND STATISTICS Some methods to make sure your paragraph is well-developed: • Use examples and illustrations • Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others) • Examine testimony (what other people say such as quotes and paraphrases) • Use an anecdote or story • Define terms in the paragraph • Compare and contrast • Evaluate causes and reasons • Examine effects and consequences • Analyze the topic • Describe the topic

40. Plagiarism • Plagiarism is using the work of others without acknowledging your source of information or inspiration.

41. Plagiarism How to Avoid Plagiarising • Always note down exactly the source of information when you are making notes. The title, author, page number, publisher and date, and place of publication should be clearly written at the top of your page of notes.

42. Plagiarism • If you are to claim that a piece of work is your own, then you must acknowledge the source of any ideas that are not your own. You must also show the source of any direct quotations – these are words for word quotations placed within parenthesis ( ). You must also acknowledge the source of indirect quotations – that is material that you are quoting but which has been changed into your own words, paraphrased, or summarized.

43. Plagiarism • You must be careful to record the sources of all information when you take notes. If your work is not adequately referenced, you may be accused of plagiarism and have your work disqualified.

44. FromParagraphtoEssay Parts of an essay • The introductory paragraph Funnel introduction of general to specific Dramatic, interesting of funny story Surprising statistics of Facts Historical background

45. FromParagraphtoEssay • Paragraphs can be easily expanded to essay length. Similar to a paragraph, an essay is also composed of three sections. They are: introductory paragraph, supporting paragraphs, or a body; and a concluding paragraph.

46. FromParagraphtoEssay • The topic sentence of the paragraph becomes the thesis statement of the essay which comes at the end of the introductory paragraph. The supporting sentences of the original paragraph expand into three separate body paragraphs in the essay. Finally, the concluding sentence is made into a concluding paragraph.

47. Introductoryparagraph • Your first paragraph should introduce the main point of your paper.  Your goal for the introductory paragraph is to clearly and concisely let the reader know what your paper is all about, and exactly what it is you are trying to communicate.

48. Funnel Introduction or general to specific • It begins with a general statement of the larger topic, and then each sentence narrows it down until you get to the specific thesis statement. Ex: It’s difficult to grow up in this society. A teenager can get into all kinds of trouble with school, smoking, drugs, and dating. One of the worst kinds of trouble that a teenager can get into is getting involved with a gang. Gang members commit crimes and get hurt or killed all too often. Why do teenagers get involved in gangs? I think that gangs are a direct result of the breakdown of the traditional family.

49. Dramatic, interesting or funny story • It’s a brief story that illustrates your topic. Ex: My younger brother was a good student until our parents got divorced. Then, while my parents’ lives became a war zone over property and emotions, my brother withdrew into himself and felt abandoned and unloved. He needed to feel that he was a part of something. That’s when he got involved with a gang at his high school. The gang he joined became his family and was more important to him that anything. My parents didn’t notice my brother got badly hurt in a gang fight. I am convinced that gangs are a direct result of the breakdown of the traditional family.

50. Surprising statistics of Facts • To write this kind of introduction, you need to be aware of commonly known information. You can expand your knowledge of facts and statistics by carefully reading newspapers and journals. Ex: It is estimated that there are nearly 5,000 gangs in the United States with a total of almost 250,000 members. In fact, in inner cities, where gangs are most common, 7 percent of all teenagers are gang members. Why are all these young adults choosing to be gang members? In my opinion, gangs are a direct result of the breakdown of the traditional family.