Study Skills for Academic Writing

129 Pages·1998·26.08 MB·English

by  J. Trzeciak

STUDY SKILLS FOR
ACADEMIC WRITING
STUDENT'S BOOK
Other titles in the English for Academic Study series:
WHITE, R. and MCGOVERN, D.
Writing
MCGOVERN, D., MATTHEWS, M. and MACKAY, S.
Reading
The English for Academic Purposes series:
ST JOHN YATES, C.
Agriculture
VAUGHAN JAMES, C.
Business Studies
WALKER, T.
Computer Studies
ST JOHN YATES, C.
Earth Sciences
ST JOHN YATES, C.
Economics
JOHNSON, D. and JOHNSON, C. M.
General Engineering
JAMES, D. V.
Medicine
STUDY SKILLS FOR
ACADEMIC WRITING
Student's Book
John Trzeciak
and S. E. Mackay
Published 1998 by
Prentice Hall Europe
Campus 400, Maylands Avenue,
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire, HP2 7EZ
A division of Simon & Schuster International Group
First published 1994 by Prentice Hall International
© International Book Distributors Ltd, 1994
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission
of this publication may be made without written permission
or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing
Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1P 9HE.
Typeset in 11/12 Garamond
by Fakenham Photosetting Limited
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Redwood Books, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Trzeciak, John.
Study skills for academic writing. Student's book / John Trzeciak
and S.E. MacKay.
p. cm. — (English for academic study)
ISBN 0-13-017856-X
1. English language - Textbooks for foreign speakers. 2. English
language - Rhetoric - Problems, exercises, etc. 3. Study, Method of -
Problems, exercises, etc. 4. Report writing - Problems, exercises,
etc. I. Mackay, Susan E. II. Title. III. Series.
PE1128.T73 1994
808'.042 - dc20 94-19763
CIP
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0-13-017856-X
5 01 00 99 98
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Unit 1: Surveying material 3
• Surveying a book or an article
Unit 2: Note-taking and summarising skills 19
• Suggestions for note-taking
• Different types of summarising
• Avoiding plagiarism
Unit 3: Writing skills 56
• Incorporating source material
• Dividing a text into paragraphs
• Writing introductions and conclusions
• Synthesising from different sources
Unit 4: Towards extended writing 97
• Including tables and figures
• Layout of written work
• Stages of extended writing
• Writing a bibliography
Unit 5: Writing the extended essay 111
• Choosing a topic, collecting data
• Revising and proof-reading
• Abbreviations
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to the memory of Don McGovern (1949-1993), writer and
poet, whose imagination, care and profundity in wide-ranging concerns of language
and the performing arts won him respect wherever he worked.
His work on the Reading and Writing volumes in this series was completed shortly
before his untimely death.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks are due to the many teachers who have made valuable comments on their
use of this material on the Pre-sessional English Language course run by the Centre
for Applied Language Studies at Reading University; especially to Irwin Buchanan,
Rosemary Dorey, David Field, Kate Gaze, Irene Guy, John Lake, Deborah Sayer
and John Slaght.
Thanks are also due to the following for helpful comments on different parts of
the material: George Blue of Southampton University who reviewed an early
version of the first unit; Sue Price of Reading University Library who provided
invaluable help with Unit 4 during various stages of its development; and the
following staff at CATS: Mark Rignall, particularly for his help with organisation of
the material and for coming up with three texts that were difficult to find for Unit
3, Don McGovern, who offered suggestions on several revised tasks, Pat Bennett,
who helped with copyright correspondence and typed early drafts of many of the
tasks, Clare Furneaux, Pauline Robinson, Alan Tonkyn and Cyril Weir.
The authors and publishers wish to acknowledge the following use of material:
Blackwell Publishers for the pages from The EL T Curriculum by Ronald V. White;
the quotation from J. Short 'Cities as if only capital matters' in The Humane City,
and the extracts from 'Politics and the State' by Andrew Mason in Political Studies
and An Introduction to Sociolinguistics by Ronald Wardhaugh.
TESOL Quartely for 'What unskilled ESL students do as they write: a classroom
study of composing' by Ann Raimes.
Scott Mainwaring and Comparative Politics for 'Politicians, parties and electoral
systems: Brazil in comparative perspective'.
P. C. Robinson for the prelim page of Living English.
Quarto Publishing pic, published in the UK by Tiger Books International pic, for
The Encyclopedia of Practical Photography by M. Freeman.
The Times Higher Educational Supplement for 'Salaries rise in line with fees'
(15.3.91); 'Politics of music take centre stage' (12.4.91); and 'Japan paves way for
big foreign influx' (15.3.91); John Greenlees for the last-mentioned of these
articles.
Finance and Development tor the extracts from 'Bicycles, rickshaws, and carts in
Asian cities'; 'Managing the world's forests' by Narendra Sharma and Raymond
vi
Rowe; 'Industrial policies of industrial countries' by Clemens Boonekamp;
'Management of cultural property in bank projects' by Robert Goodland; 'The
changing economics of steel' by Robert R. Miller; and 'Government expenditure
and growth' by Jack Diamond.
The American Political Science Association and Roger Masters for 'Evolutionary
biology and political theory'.
Longman Group UK Limited for the extract 'Vitamins' from Animal Nutrition by
P. McDonald et al.
Oxford University Press for the extracts from Language Two by Heidi Dulay,
Marina Burt and Stephen Krashen and Fundamental Concepts of Language Teaching
by H. H. Stern.
National Geographic Magazine for the extract from 'Exploring a sunken realm in
Australia' by H. Hauser.
IOP Publishing and Philip Bligh for the extracts from 'The implications of
reductionist physics for human culpability'.
ELT Journal for the extracts from 'Theorizing from the classroom' by E. Ramani,
first published in ELT Journal All'1, January 1987; and 'Teacher intention and
learner interpretation' by B. Kumaravadivelu, first published in ELT Journal45/2,
April 1991, © Oxford University Press 1987 and 1991.
Lnternational Affairs for the extract from 'International migration and regional
stability' by Jonas Widgren, which first appeared in vol. 66, no. 4, 1990, and is
reproduced with permission.
Catena for the extracts from 'Hydrologic and sediment responses to simulated
rainfall on desert hillslopes in Southern Arizona' by A. D. Abrahams, A. J. Parsons
and Shiu-hung Luk; and 'Determining the causes of pleistocene stream aggradation
in the central coastal areas of Western Australia' by K. H. Wyrwoll.
The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science for the conclusion of 'Scientific
realism and postmodern philosophy' by Nancy Murphy; and the extracts from
'Why scientists gather evidence' by Patrick Maher.
The Journal of the World Trade for the introduction from 'Intellectual Property,
injury and international trade' by Robert M. Feinberg; and the extracts from 'An
assessment of the environmental and economic implications of toxic-waste disposal
in Sub-Saharan Africa' by Bernard I. Logan.
Town Planning Review for the introduction from 'Planning for Strathclyde's
regeneration' by Moira Munro and Peter Symon.
The Computer Journal for the conclusion from 'Integrative deductive database
system implementation: a scientific study' by D. A. Bell, J. Shao, and M. E. C.
Hull.
The Institution of Environmental Health Officers for 'Noise, stress and human
behaviour' by Dylan M. Jones in Environmental Health, August 1990.
World Animal Review (no longer publishing) for 'Genetic improvement of livestock,
using nucleus breeding units' by C. Smith.
The Observer for 'The gulf between Professor Boffin and Joe Public' by Susan
Young (2.2.92).
The New Scientist for 'Surveying the extent of public ignorance' by Lynda Birke
(18.8.90).
vii
The University of Reading Bulletin for the table in Unit 4.
The Central Statistical Office for the figures in Unit 4.
Special thanks are due to The Independent and The Guardian in allowing the use of
articles.
The Independent for 'Not just a cosmetic idea' by M. Smith (23.1.89); 'Out of the
oceans and on to faster bicycles' by John Emsley (22.4.91); 'The greatest threat on
earth' by L. Timberlake (12.9.88); 'Why it is absolutely necessary to go on naming
names' by J. E. Milner (1.8.88); 'A burning passion for knowledge' by Beverly
Halstead (9.11.87).
The Guardian for 'Fire stones support catastrophe theory' by David Keys
(November 1988); and 'The billion dollar question marks' by Damien Lewis
(8.6.90).
In spite of their best efforts, the writers and publishers have been unable to trace
the authors of the following extracts:
'Fire stones support catastrophe theory' by David Keys; and 'The persistent
stereotype: children's images of scientists' by Janice Emens McAdam, Physics
Education, 25, 1990.
They will be pleased to discuss rights if the authors contact them.
viii
INTROD UCTION
AIMS
The overall aim of this book is to ensure that you feel confident in coping with the
extended written work which may be assigned to you by your subject tutors during
your course of study in a college or university where English is the medium of
instruction.
You will be aware that different countries have different academic traditions. It
may be that the tradition you have worked in before is very similar to the one you
would encounter in an English-speaking environment; however, it may be that
there are certain differences in specific areas and expectations. In order for you to
do well in your future course of study, it is important for you to be aware of what is
expected of you and to be fully acquainted with certain conventions in the
academic traditions in most of the English-speaking world.
This book will concentrate on the following areas:
• surveying a book or article
• extraction and synthesis of relevant information
• summarising and/or integrating information and ideas (without plagiarism)
• producing a coherent, well-organised piece of written work
• the correct layout of work (title and contents pages, bibliography, etc.)
• developing the ability to work on your own
• developing a critical attitude towards your work
• developing evaluative reading skills.
The book has five units. The aims of each unit are set out btiefly on the first page
of the unit. The first section (Guide) gives information and advice that you will
require in the Tasks that form the second section of the unit. Some short tasks are
occasionally included in the Guide section.
Combining the knowledge and skills from your previous academic experience
with the work you do in this book will enable you to utilise effectively the facilities
available to you when writing an informed piece of work. It is hoped that by the
time you have completed the Guide and Task sections in the first four units of the
book, you will have a sufficient grasp of all the skills needed to write a long
academic essay in English, which is the major task in the final unit.
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