Grad. Dip Nursing: Introduction to Academic Writing

1. Grad. Dip Nursing:Introduction to Academic Writing Íde O’Sullivan and Lawrence Cleary Regional Writing Centre, UL

2. Freewriting • What I like/dislike about writing……… • Keep writing non-stop for 5 minutes. • Write in sentences. • Do not edit or censor your writing. • Private writing -- no one will read it. • Discuss what you have written in pairs. Regional Writing Centre

3. Workshop outline • Differences between academic and non-academic writing styles • Thoughts and feelings about writing in general and this kind of writing in particular • Observing your process and developing healthy, effective writing strategies Regional Writing Centre

4. Academic writing How important is writing? What kind of writing do you do now? What kinds of issues are you likely to encounter? What is different about academic writing? What is involved? Where does academic writing begin? When does life begin? Regional Writing Centre

5. Academic writing Higher order practice in nursing is dependent on appropriate evidence being generated and applied. Critically evaluate this statement in the context of the research endeavour in nursing. • Identify thetopic. • Search for the aspect. • Identify the instruction. • If the topic has a restrictionor expansion, identify it. • Check whether there is a viewpoint. Regional Writing Centre

6. Key stages in the process • Planning • Drafting • Revision • Editing and Proofreading Regional Writing Centre

7. The rhetorical situation Occasion Topic Audience Purpose Writer Regional Writing Centre

8. Organising principles Thesis Questions Hypothesis Regional Writing Centre

9. Organising principles Unity Coherence Cohesion Regional Writing Centre

10. Our boys may be facing real war – and I for one am scared By Kevin MyersIrish Independent, Wednesday October 31 2007 Look, I'm not trying to rock the boat here, but I can't be alone in worrying about the Army's new mission in Chad. I don't worry about the capability of the Army itself, for it is composed of the best people in Ireland: I admire patriotism, and the soldiers of the Army are true patriots who loyally serve their country and their flag. But who will they end up serving in Chad? Because it seems to me that a mightily complex command-chain is involved here. This, after all, is a UN-authorised EU operation, under the command of our own Major General Pat Nash. However, Pat will be based in Paris and the French have been involved in the region for over a century. Regional Writing Centre

11. Example: (Meei-Fang et al. 2007, p.471) People with dementia are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition: they have a decreased ability to understand directions and to express their needs verbally, are easily distracted from eating, prone to become agitated, and may use utensils incorrectly. Inability to feed oneself (eating dependency) is a major risk factor for malnutrition among older people living in long-term care settings (Abbasi & Rudman 1994, Durnbaugh et al. 1996). When people with dementia can no longer take food voluntarily, assistance is required although, as the disease progresses, even taking food with assistance can become difficult and, in some instances, tube-feeding may be required to supply nutrition. This form of feeding can, however, cause distress and anxiety, not only for the person being fed, but also for caregivers (Akerlund & Norberg 1985, Burgener & Shimer 1993). Regional Writing Centre

12. Stylistic differences that markacademic writing Complexity Formality Objectivity • Explicitness • Hedging • Responsibility Regional Writing Centre

13. Persuasion and truth in academic writing • Because they are argumentative, academic writing tends to be persuasive. • An argument should be persuasive, but don’t sacrifice truth in favour of persuasion. • Academic inquiry is a truth-seeking pursuit. • facts are distinguished from opinions. • relative truths are distinguished from absolute truths. • The integrity of the conclusions reached in an academic essay or report is based on its honest pursuit of truth. Regional Writing Centre

14. Essay structure • Organise the essay so that the argument unfolds in a clearly stated, detailed, logical, linear progression and arrangement of ideas. • Introduction: present the thesis, hypothesis, or question that you will try to defend, prove or disprove, or answer. • Sections: to support the thesis • Conclusions Regional Writing Centre

15. The introduction • In academic writing, an introduction, or opening, has four purposes: • To introduce the topic of the essay/report • To indicate the context of the conversation through background information • To give some indication of the overall plan of the essay/report • To catch the reader’s attention, usually by convincing the reader of its relevance. Regional Writing Centre

16. The introduction • The introductory paragraph is funnel-shaped: • It begins with broad statements. • The statements become more and more specific as the writer narrows the scope of the topic, until… • The topic is narrowed to a point that can be handled in an essay/report. Regional Writing Centre

17. Key tasks for academic writers Participating in academic conversations Developing and advancing balanced arguments Exploring your personal writing process Developing strategies that work for you Regional Writing Centre

18. Cracking the codes Analysing the genre/text and modelling Generate a list of The most important features of academic writing Criteria to make your writing-strategies more effective The important conventions in your discipline What is/is not acceptable in your discipline Student handbooks and guides for written submissions Regional Writing Centre 18

19. Getting started • Create time and space for writing • Freewriting • Writing to prompts • “What writing have you done for this assignment, what writing would you like to do……” • “The aim of this assignment…” • Experiment with different types of writing Regional Writing Centre

20. Other types of writing • Keep a learning diary (Moore and Murphy, 2005:61) / writing diary / process journal (Elbow and Belanoff, 2003:19). • When do you feel most/least motivated to write? • What strategies have/have not worked in the past? • Write a little bit every day (Moore and Murphy, 2005:117): “we learn to write through writing” (Hyland, 2002:81). • Keep a notebook with you to record ideas when they come to mind (Moore and Murphy, (2005). Regional Writing Centre

21. Writing time • Dealing with issues of time • Setting goals • “Binge” and “snack” writing (Murray, 2005) • Do I need a big block of time to write productively? • “Short bursts of productive writing” (Murray and Moore, 2006:17) • Outlining (Murray, 2005) Regional Writing Centre

22. Other strategies • The importance of reading • Modelling • Images and diagrams • Mind mapping • Writing dictionaries Regional Writing Centre

23. Dialogue as a social strategy Peer-review Generative writing The “writing sandwich” (Murray, 2005:85): writing, talking, writing Writing “buddies” (Murray and Moore, 2006:102) Engaging in critiques of one another’s work allows you to become effective critics of your own work. Regional Writing Centre Regional Writing Centre 23

24. Strategies that work for you Writing is a personal process Learning diary (Moore and Murphy, 2005:61) Process journal (Elbow and Belanoff, 2003:19) When do you feel most/least motivated to write? What strategies have/have not worked in the past? Regional Writing Centre 24

25. Things to note • Academic writing style • Register • Language • Clarity of expression • Different disciplines have different conventions • What are the important criteria for your subject? Regional Writing Centre

26. Resources Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre, UL http://www.ul.ie/rwc/ Using English for Academic Purposes http://www.uefap.com/index.htm The Writer’s Garden http://www. cyberlyber.com/writermain.htm The OWL at Purdue http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.unc.edu/depts /wcweb/handouts/index.html Regional Writing Centre

27. Reference List Elbow, P. (1998) Writing without Teachers (2nd edition). New York: Oxford University Press. Elbow, P. and Belanoff, P. (2003) Being a Writer: A Community of Writers Revisited. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hyland, K. (2002) Teaching and Researching Writing. London: Pearson Education Ltd. Moore, S. and Murphy, M. (2005) How to be a Student: 100 Great Ideas and Practical Hints for Students Everywhere. UK: Open University Press. Murray, R. (2005) Writing for Academic Journals. UK: Open University Press. Murray, R. and Moore, S. (2006) The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach. Berkshire, UK: Open University Press. Regional Writing Centre

28. Reporting the Work of Others

29. Reporting the work of others Making use of the ideas of other people is one of the most important aspects of academic writing because • it shows awareness of other people’s work; • it shows that you can use their ideas and findings; • it shows you have read and understood the material you are reading; • it shows where your contribution fits in; • it supports the points you are making. (Gillet, 2005) Regional Writing Centre

30. Referencing • It is very important when you do this to make sure you use your own words, unless you are quoting. You must make it clear when the words or ideas that you are using are your own and when they are taken from another writer. • You must not use another person's words or ideas as if they were your own: this is Plagiarism and plagiarism is regarded as a very serious offence (Gillet, 1995: Online). • Language for reporting Regional Writing Centre

31. Direct quotation Example: Swales has recently withdrawn slightly from his original conception of the discourse community, arguing that "the 'true' discourse community may be rarer and more esoteric than I once thought” (1993, p. 695). Regional Writing Centre

32. Direct quotation • Direct quotation of whole sentences or just one or two words (exact words) • Quoted information is enclosed by double-inverted commas (“…”). • The text quoted is sacrosanct. • Do not change spelling (i.e. American to British) or punctuation. • Do not correct spelling and punctuation. • Sic enclosed in square brackets, [sic], is inserted into the quote, after the error, to indicate to the reader that the error was not yours. Regional Writing Centre

33. Paraphrasing ‘Paraphrasing is writing the ideas ofanother person in your own words. You need to change the words and the structure but keep the meaning the same’ (Gillet, 1995: Online). Regional Writing Centre

34. Paraphrasing Example: • Original Text: • Memory is the capacity for storing and retrieving information. • Paraphrase: • Memory is the facility for keeping and recovering data. (Gillet, 1995: Online) Regional Writing Centre

35. Summary ‘A summary is a shortened version of a text. It contains the main points in the text and is written in your own words. It is a mixture of reducing a long text to a short text and selecting relevant information. A good summary shows that you have understood the text’ (Gillet, 1995: Online). Regional Writing Centre

36. Summary Example: • Original text: People whose professional activity lies in the field of politics are not, on the whole, conspicuous for their respect for factual accuracy. • Summary: Politicians often lie. (Gillet, 1995: Online) Regional Writing Centre

37. Synthesis • A synthesis is a combination, usually a shortened version, of several texts made into one. It contains the important points in the text and is written in your own words. • To make a synthesis you need to find suitable sources, and then to select the relevant parts in those sources. You will then use your paraphrase and summary skills to write the information in your own words. The information from all the sources has to fit together into one continuous text. (Gillet, 1995: Online) Regional Writing Centre