Writing English Research Papers

1. Writing English Research Papers Chapter 4 Writing the Abstract

2. A. Structure of an Abstract • Definition and Purpose • Abstract provides a bird’s eye view of the subject matter, the purpose of the study , the way the research is carried out, some information findings, the implications, and a conclusion.

3. Questions on the Abstract • What is the subject matter the research paper is dealing with? • What background information is provided by the author? • What is the purpose of the present study?

4. How is the research to be done? • What are some of the important findings? • What are some of the implication of the study?

5. Elements of structure in an Abstract • 1.Topic Specification • 2. Background Information • 3. Purpose Statement • 4. Methodology • 5. Results/Findings • 6. Implications/Conclusion

6. B. The language of an abstract Question1: How much information do we put in an abstract? Question2: What types of sentences do we use for conveying the information?

7. Information content of an abstract 1. An abstract is a short piece of writing. 2. The information in an abstract is condensed because of the summarizing nature of the abstract . 3. An abstract does not give detailed information about the content of each section of a research paper.

8. Grammatical consequence of condensing the information in an abstract • 1. An abstract has many content words. (noun. Verb. adj. adv. ) • 2.We have in each case pre- and post- modifications which make the Nominal Groups more compact and hence more lexically dense. • This means that we are putting a lot of information in the Nominal Groups of the sentences of an abstract.

9. 3. What about the verbs used in an abstract? • 常用词：have…focus on; have received; shows; have been… ignore; undertakes; describe • 常省略具体的主语，用抽象主语。 studies…show；article…undertakes； • article describes；analysis shows； • article discusses

10. Conclusion • We have seen that the abstract has a number of structural element; also information is condensed in Nominal Groups with special types of verbs. The secret of a successful abstract is in giving the most information in the least number of words in a coherent structure.

11. Sample: • (1)Critical discourse analysis批评性话语分析is an important way of interpreting rather than just describing the linguistic structure of texts. (2) It aims to reveal the relationship between language and ideology.(3) One of the great events that happened in the year 2001 is the U.S.A. was attacked on September 11th.

12. (4) Right after the attack, President George Bush delivered a speech to the nation. (5) The New York Times reported his address on Sep,12th. (6) This paper tries to analyze Bush’s remarks from a critical perspective, focusing on revealing the hidden ideology of the American government.

13. Writing the introduction • The function of the introduction • 1.Create interest in readers by introducing in more detail some general background information.

14. 2. focus on an issue, a problem, or a question relevant to the study. • 3. review previous research • 4. discuss deficiencies in previous research on the topic.

15. 5. propose a “new / different” way of investigating the same topic or same aspect of it.

16. The way of reviewing previous research • 1. Direct or indirect quotations • 2. Paraphrasing other people’s words • 3. Summarizing longer passages

17. The purpose • 1. To engage the reader • 2. To explain clearly what the paper is about • Note • A lengthy one is not desirable • Example of Introduction P.38

18. The ways of beginning an introduction • 1.Starting with an anecdote; • 2. Providing background information; • 3. Defining a key term; • 4. Challenging an assumption or an authority;

19. 5. Using a summary; • 6. Asking questions; • 7. Combining two or more of the above mentioned strategies.

20. Exercises • Writing down your introduction of your paper in your exercise book on 300-500 words

21. Do not pull all your eggs in one basket. • Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep. • -----C. Sandburg • 生活就像洋葱头:你只能一层一层地把它剥开,有时你还得流泪.

22. Writing the Body • Notes • It usually takes up to 80% of the whole paper. • There may be several parts in the body, but only one major idea should be advanced at a time. Each paragraph should have only one main idea, which is well supported by theories, data and examples and followed by the next logical transitional point.

23. The methods of writing the body • 1. Developing by comparison and contrast • Comparison : It helps the audience understand a new concept by likening it to one that the audience already know. • Contrast: It is often used to differentiate between two closely related or similar ideas.

24. Two different ways of presenting similarities or dissimilarities • Block Presentation • Alternating presentation

25. Block Presentation • Topic sentence • Thing one • Aspect (1) • Aspect (2) • Thing two • Aspect (1) • Aspect (2)

26. Alternating Presentation • Topic sentence • Aspect (1) • Thing one • Thing two • Aspect (2) • Thing one • Thing two

27. Words and phrases used in making comparison and contrast • To comparison • similar to ;similarly; like, alike; likewise; • correspond to; correspondingly; • resemble; resemblance; almost the same as; • at the same rate as; as; just as …to; • in like manner; in the same way; to have…in common; common characteristics; to be parallel in

28. To contrast • differ from; different from; however; still; nevertheless; otherwise; even so; less /more/faster…than; although; • unlike; while; whereas; in contrast to; • in opposition to ; on the contrary; on the other hand; on the opposite side.

29. Sample • The Differences Between City Life and Country Life • ⑴ Life in a big city has become more and more difficult for people to cope with. ⑵In a big city, stress is caused by daily having to contend（抗争） with crowds of people and restricted space. ⑶Travel in rush hours can be a real headache. ⑷Pollution of various kinds is the result of industrialization.

30. ⑸Cars spew（放出） toxic（有毒的） fumes into the atmosphere. ⑹ Noise bellows （咆哮）out from every side. ⑺All these factors add to the pressure of daily existence in a big town. ⑻In contrast, life in a country village is much more attractive. ⑼Here the pace of life is gentle. ⑽There is time to reflect on the beauty of the world.

31. ⑾In a village, life is closer to nature. ⑿The changing seasons can be clearly observed. ⒀There is ample（足够的，丰富的） space for everyone, and fresh air to breath.

32. Exercises • Review sample above by using the block way of presentation.

33. 相关题目链接 • 1. Television and cinema • 2. Spring and autumn • 3.Classical music and Pop music

34. Developing by illustration • Useful words and phrases used for Giving specific details. • for example; for instance; for one thing; to illustrate; in other words; as follows; • let me illustrate; let me cite as proof;

35. as an illustration; in one instance; • in this instance; as an example; • take sth. for example; consider sth for example; according to statistics; according to statistical evidence; sth shows; sth illustrates; such as

36. Developing by classification • Words and phrases used for classification: • kinds; types; classes; parts; categories; aspects; factors; sources; regions; times; attributes; characteristics; qualities;

37. fall into…categories; can be divided into…kinds/types/classes; main kinds of; kinds of; basic kinds; minor; primary; secondary; classify; classifications; divide; divisions

38. Exercises • A. Add items to the following lists. • Cities can be classified according to the following criteria: • 1.size • 2.living space for its residents • 3…. • 4…. • 5….

39. 1.size • 2.living space for its residents • 3.population • 4.location • 5.housing condition • 6.education level of the citizens • 7.economic development • 8.history

40. B. Dividing the following words into group, giving a name to each category. • pagoda; business ;palace; negotiation; cave ;temple; production ;assistant; lake; driver; mountain; conductor; interview; forest; museum ; beach; soldier; manager; • monument; management;

41. Group 1 activity: business; management; negotiation; interview; production • Group 2 landscape: forest; lake; mountain; beach; cave • Group 3 occupation: soldier; driver; conductor; assistant; manager • Group 4 building: temple; pagoda; palace; monument; museum

42. Sample • Different people enjoy doing different things. This is certainly reflected in this beach scene. Some like to sit in the shade, watching the splashing waves in the blue sea and listening to the rhythmic sounds. They think that is the most enjoyable thing to do on a beach.

43. Others prefer basking in the sun, not content to leave without an impressive suntan. But primarily the beach is for children. They rush around up and down the sandy beach, in and out of the water.

44. In a quiet corner a few children sit with buckets and spades, building sand-castles. Yet other smaller children step tentatively into the water to try out padding, making sure that Dad is not too far away.

45. Writing a short article of classification on the following topic • My Friends: • (introvert; extrovert) • The Books I Like

46. Developing by cause and effect • 1.三种表达方式

47. 2.Words and phrases used for discussing cause and effect. • so ; thus; hence; since; due to; • the reason for; for this reason; the cause of; • It follows that; consequently; the consequence of; therefore;

48. have an effect on; because of; now that; as a result; the result of; result in; the effect of ; as owing to; thanks to; out of; the reason why…are as follows;

49. Ourdestinyoffersnotthecupofdespair,butthechalice（高脚酒杯）ofOurdestinyoffersnotthecupofdespair,butthechalice（高脚酒杯）of • opportunity.Soletusseizeit,not • infear,butingladness. • --R.M.Nixon命运给予我们的不是失望之酒，而是机会之杯。因此，让我们毫无畏惧，满心愉悦地把握命运。--尼克松

50. Livingwithoutanaimislike • sailingwithoutacompass. • --JohnRuskin· 生活没有目标，犹如航海没有罗盘。 • --罗斯金