Inside Track to Successful Academic Writing

361 Pages·2009·2.35 MB·English

by  Andy Gillett

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GET THE INSIDE TRACK TO INSIDE TRACK
S
SUCCESSFUL ACADEMIC WRITING I
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Become a better academic writer and communicate your research & ideas fl uently
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and successfully whatever your discipline, prior knowledge or level.
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Successful Academic Writing will guide you through the whole process of academic
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writing, developing your ability to communicate your ideas and research fl uently
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and successfully. From understanding the task and planning your essay or
assignment, right through to using feedback and editing to improve your writing K
skills, it will ensure that you understand how to get the most out of the process of
writing. With the in-depth understanding of the practice of academic writing that
this book delivers, you will be better prepared to deal with – and succeed in – the
full range of writing tasks that will be expected of you over the course of your
academic studies and on into your chosen career.
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Get the inside track to:
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▼ Understanding the brief C
▼ Addressing your audience C
▼ Assessment criteria E
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▼ Best practice in reading and note-taking
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▼ Awareness of different types of academic writing F
▼ The editing and proofreading process U
▼ Interpreting and using feedback L

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Visit www.smartstudyskills.com to access a wealth of useful information, C
tips, templates and interactive activities to support your studies. A
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About the Authors
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Between them, Andy Gillett, Angela Hammond, Mary Martala M
have many years of experience in writing and teaching
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academic writing to students ranging from those with little C
formal education, through prospective undergraduates to
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PhD students, across a wide range of subject areas.
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ANDY GILLETT, ANGELA HAMMOND
& MARY MARTALA
www.pearson-books.com
An imprint of
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SUCCESSFUL
ACADEMIC WRITING
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We work with leading authors to develop the strongest
educational materials in academic writing, bringing
cutting-edge thinking and best learning practice to a
global market.
Under a range of well-known imprints, including Longman,
we craft high quality print and electronic publications
which help readers to understand and apply their content,
whether studying or at work.
To find out more about the complete range of our
publishing, please visit us on the World Wide Web at
www.pearsoned.co.uk
A01_GILL1710_01_SE_PRELIMS.QXP:A01_GILL1710_01_SE_PR 15/5/09 15:24 Page iii
INSIDE TRACK
SUCCESSFUL
ACADEMIC WRITING
Andy Gillett, Angela Hammond
and Mary Martala
University of Hertfordshire
A01_GILL1710_01_SE_PRELIMS.QXP:A01_GILL1710_01_SE_PR 15/5/09 15:24 Page iv
PearsonEducationLimited
EdinburghGate
Harlow
EssexCM202JE
England
andAssociatedCompaniesthroughouttheworld
VisitusontheWorldWideWebat:
www.pearsoned.co.uk
Firstpublished2009
©AndyGillett,AngelaHammondandMaryMartala2009
TherightsofAndyGillett,AngelaHammondandMaryMartalatobeidentified
asauthorsofthisworkhavebeenassertedbytheminaccordancewiththeCopyright,
DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval
system,ortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,
recordingorotherwise,withouteitherthepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisherora
licencepermittingrestrictedcopyingintheUnitedKingdomissuedbytheCopyright
LicensingAgencyLtd,SaffronHouse,6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS.
Alltrademarksusedhereinarethepropertyoftheirrespectiveowners.Theuseofany
trademarkinthistextdoesnotvestintheauthororpublisheranytrademarkownership
rightsinsuchtrademarks,nordoestheuseofsuchtrademarksimplyanyaffiliationwith
orendorsementofthisbookbysuchowners.
ISBN:978-0-273-72171-0
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Gillet,Andy.
Writingacademicessays/AndyGillet,AngelaHammondandMary
Martala-Lockett.
p.cm.–(Insidetrack)
ISBN978-0-273-72171-0(pbk.)
1.Englishlanguage–Rhetoric–Studyandteaching(Higher)2.Academic
writing.I.Hammond,Angela.II .Martala-Lockett,Mary.III.Title.
PE1408.G55842009
808'.0420711–dc22
2009008664
Page1
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
13 12 11 10 09
Typesetin9/12.5ptHelveticaNeueby3
PrintedinGreatBritainbyHenryLingLtd.,attheDorsetPress,Dorchester,Dorset
Thepublisher’spolicyistousepapermanufacturedfromsustainableforests.
iv
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BRIEF CONTENTS
About the authors xiv
Acknowledgements xiv
Introduction xix
1 Understanding the task 1
2 Overcoming the blank page 13
3 Planning your work 29
4 Carrying out the research 39
5 Reading and note-taking 59
6 Features of academic writing 87
7 Writing descriptively 113
8 Writing critically 135
9 Personal and reflective writing 163
10 Working with other people’s ideas and voices 179
11 Finding your own voice 201
12 Genre and discipline-specific writing 217
13 Presenting your work 239
14 Working with feedback 255
15 Editing your work 271

A last word 283
Feedback on activities 285
Index 329
v
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GET THE
INSIDE TRACK
TO ACADEMIC
SUCCESS

Written by a team of highly experienced
authors, this series will equip students with
effective and practical ways
to improve their academic skills across
all subject areas.

O N LY
£12.99*
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CONTENTS
About the authors xiv
Acknowledgements xiv
Introduction xix
1 UNDERSTANDING THE TASK 1
Introduction 2
Academicwriting 2
Disciplinesandtheirdifferences 4
Genresofwriting 5
Learningoutcomesandassessmentcriteria 6
Learningoutcomes 6
Assessmentcriteria 6
Theassignmenttitle 7
Basicstructures 7
Essay 8
Report 9
Othertypesofacademicwriting 9
Critique/review 10
Researchproposal 10
Labreport 10
Reflectiveaccount 10
Project 11
Casestudy 11
Summary 11
References 11

2 OVERCOMING THE BLANK PAGE 13
Introduction 14
Understandingtheassignmenttitle 14
Drawingattentiontothekeywords 14
Turningthetitleintoaseriesofquestions 15
Instructionwords 18
Approachingyourlecturer 21
Startingtowrite 22
Tacklingtheblankpage 22
Examinationquestions 27
Summary 28
References 28
vii
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Contents
3 PLANNING YOUR WORK 29
Introduction 30
Thelandscapeofanassignment 30
Practicalities 31
Assessmentcriteria 31
Whattoinclude 32
Yourexistingknowledgeofthesubject 32
Research 33
Usingyourexistingnotes 33
Makingnewnotes 34
Usingoutsidesources 34
Carryingourprimaryresearch 34
Resources 34
Timemanagement 35
Summary 37
4 CARRYING OUT THE RESEARCH 39
Introduction 40
Sixquestionstoask 40
Whydoyouneedtodoanyresearch? 40
Whatresearchdoyouneedtodo? 40
Sources 41
Howshouldyoudotheresearch? 44
Understandinganassignment 44
Developingyourtopic 45
Keywordsearches 46
Whenshouldyoudotheresearch? 48
Whereshouldyoudotheresearch? 48
Whoshouldyouresearch? 49
Navigatethesources 49
Evaluatethesources 57

Summary 58
References 58
Furtherreading 58
5 READING AND NOTE-TAKING 59
Introduction 60
Purposefulreading 61
Efficientreading 61
Interactivereading 62
Criticalreading 62
Effectivereadingstrategies 63
Usingthetitle 63
Usingyourknowledgeoftextstructuretounderstandatext 64
viii
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Contents
Scanningtolocatespecificallyrequiredinformation 67
Skimmingtogetanoverallimpression 69
Readingandnote-taking 74
Takingnotes 74
Howtotakenotes 74
Summary 85
References 85
6 FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 87
Introduction 88
Academicstyle 88
Formalvocabulary 89
Multi-wordverbs 90
Useofthepassivevoice 91
Cautiouslanguage 94
Objectiveversussubjectivelanguage 94
Emotivelanguage 96
Useofquestions 96
Contractedforms 96
Criticalwriting 97
Referencing 99
Developingparagraphs 99
Topicsentences 100
Supportingsentences 101
Creatingtopicsentences 101
Developingsupportingsentences 103
Concludingsentences 104
Connectingideaswithinsentencesandsentenceswithin
paragraphs(signalling) 104
Connectingparagraphs 107
Writingplans 110
Writingdrafts 111
Writingdraftsforlecturers 111
Summary 112
References 112
7 WRITING DESCRIPTIVELY 113
Introduction 114
Defining 115
Describingthings 117
Describingprocesses 120
Instructions 122
Sequence 123
Includingchartsanddiagrams 124
ix