Academic Writing: a Presentation/ Workshop for Ethiopian Colleagues

Rosalind Pritchard Professor of Education University of Ulster

Aims of the session

To help unblock students tensions and fears about writing ( fluency). To give guided experience in generative writing within a structure relevant to doctoral proposals. To sensitise students to issues of accuracy and style ( correctness).

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Structure of the session

1. Presentation of the idea of freewriting/ generative writing 2. A simple working structure for a research proposal 3. Generative writing within the proposed structure to be undertaken by students 4. Demonstration of different ways of constructing prose in different speech communities (comparative rhetoric) 5. Presentation of selected grammar points in English + exercises to improve style and punctuation
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Conscious-raising about writing

What kinds of texts do you write at present? Who do you write for? How often do you write? What is the longest text that you have ever written? I am afraid of writing (1= Not at all; 5 = Very afraid. Writing has to be perfect (1=Disagree; 5= Strongly agree.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Part I: Freewriting and Generative Writing

Good writing does not come spontaneously or just happen. Research shows that generating text comes before the technical aspects of writing Producing bad or rambling writing can become part of the process of producing good writing Murray, 2002).
(Torrance et al, 1993).
( R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Free writing
Writing for a short period (e.g. 5-10 minutes) Without stopping In sentences Private writing: no external reader Topic: what you want to write about. No structure needed (Murray, 2002:81)
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Generative writing
Writing for a short period (e.g. 5-10 minutes) Without stopping In sentences Stick to a topic Let someone else read it
(Murray, 2002:92)

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Principles of generative and free writing

Use writing to develop thought. Write regularly and revise the same text again and again ( iterative) in sentences. Do not stop to correct, edit, score out or look back. Write quite fast. Move from producing finished writing to using writing to start up.
(Murray, 2002: 81; 98).
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Advantages of generative writing

It can create experience of personal success. It can bring your personal connection with your study to the surface. Emotions and feelings are accepted; confidence can increase. It can unblock your inhibitions.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

However,
The final text will have to be formally correct, and this will depend upon knowledge of grammar and punctuation rules; but evaluation can come after you have created something! Many universities will require students to do English examinations such as IELTS or TOEFL for entry to study.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

A structure for a Ph.D proposal 1

1. Topic/ title 2. Personal motivation to undertake the study 3. Statement of purpose; thesis statement; big idea 4. Research questions General Specific (see Punch, 2000: 67)
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

A structure for a proposal 2

5. The literature 6. Conceptual framework, theoretical approach, hypotheses 7. Design of the study: design strategy framework;
sample; analysis; possibly administration of the study; ethical considerations

8. Significance of the study 9. Limitations and delimitations 10. References

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Research Proposal with Prompts 1

1. Topic/ draft title The subject that I want to research is as follows: (2 minutes) 2. Personal motivation to undertake the study. The reasons why I am personally interested in this topic are (5 minutes) 3. Purpose; thesis statement. My big idea is What I really want to discover is (3 minutes) 4. Research questions: My research questions are (5 minutes) (Think back to Professor Vincents lecture on Monday)
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

TALK TO SOMEONE NOW (10 mins)

Now turn to someone near you (it could be one or two people), and look at each others texts. Give your opinions to each other. Can you suggest improvements? Is there anything you specially like about what your classmates have written? Little writers groups (voluntary) can be a great way of supporting each other either before or after you register for a Ph.D.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Research Proposal with Prompts 2

5. The literature
Some other people who have written about my area are Scholar A states that Scholar B thinks that The big issue to which I think I can contribute is (5 minutes) Creswell (1994:31) gives a useful example of a visual map of the literature review.

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Simplified Diagrammatic Presentation of Literature Review

Education for the Deaf

Models of Good Practice (Sweden)

Theories of Inclusive Education

Cultural Organisation of Deaf Communities

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Research Proposal with Prompts 3 6. Conceptual framework The theory (the theories) that are most relevant to my work are
(Try to apply some of Professor Venters ideas and suggestions) (5 minutes)

7. Design: My research approach will probably involve (Recall

Professor McLeods lecture (10 minutes)

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Research Proposal with Prompts 4

8. Significance of the study My research project fills a gap in and would be of interest to + people or + organisations. (2 minutes) 9. Limitations and delimitations. 10. References and appendices if any.

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

EXCHANGE IDEAS (10-15 MINUTES)

AGAIN TALK TO SOMEONE (A COUPLE OF PEOPLE BESIDE YOU OR IN FRONT OF YOU). READ EACH OTHERS TEXTS AND COMMENT. FIND AT LEAST ONE POSITIVE THING TO SAY ABOUT YOUR NEIGHBOURS TEXT.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

PART II: Approaches to Style

In the West the writer and the speaker is the person charged with the major responsibility for communicating understanding, whereas in Japan it is the reader or the hearer. In Japan, referring to people as he or she is considered rude, and this leads to pragmatic violations such as continued use of the term Mr Smith. The Japanese have more tolerance of repetition than the Anglophones.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Logic is not absolute

Logic is a culturally relative phenomenon, not absolute. A famous philosopher said: if Aristotle had been Mexican, his logic would have been different. Logic evolves out of a culture Students who can write good essays in their native language cannot necessarily do so in a second language.
(Kaplan, 1966).
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Paragraphs may be differently organised in different cultures 1

English

English is linear, moves forward in a straight line, and does not want any superfluous material.

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Semitic parallel construction.

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Oriental Indirection

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Romance languages: digression

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

English academic prose style

Each language and each culture has a paragraph and essay structure unique to itself. Paragraph structures exist that may be different in your languages to those desirable in academic English. Part of learning a language is the mastering of its particular logical system (Kaplan, 1966:14)
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Paragraph
A paragraph usually begins with a topic statement, and then gives a series of illustrations and examples. There is one main idea in each paragraph and the elements need to be linked by linguistic bridges. Sometimes the sequence is reversed, and the topic statement (the main idea in the paragraph) comes last, after the component points (illustrations and examples).
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Topic (+ restatement or topic 2)+ reason + example + information

1. Even simple words like dinner or hello were not recognised. 2. Consequently, the keepers have been trained to talk French to the baboons. 3. The zoo realised that the animals were used to hearing commands in French. 4. An English zoo has been given a gift of 19 baboons by a zoo in Paris. 5. But when the English zoo keepers tried speaking to the animals, there was no response (Bailey, 2006:45).
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Style: principle of end weight

IT IS USUAL FOR A LONG STRUCTURE TO COME AT THE END.

The rate at which the American people are using up the worlds supply of irreplaceable fossil fuels and their refusal to admit that the supply is limited is the real problem. Clumsy!
The real problem is the rate at which the American people are using up the worlds supply of irreplaceable fossil fuels and their refusal to admit that the supply is limited. Improved! ( Examples drawn from Greenbaum, 1991: chapter 9)
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Correct these sentences to give END WEIGHT

The discovery of a baby mammal in Siberia has provided biochemists, anthropologists, immunologists, zoologists and paleontologists with ample material. Einsteins theories have made many important technological developments which we now take for granted possible.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Match the words classes and phrase structures in both parts of a sentence
They discontinued the production of the paint because the results of the field tests were unsatisfactory and a lack of interested customers. (Clause and noun phrase). FAULTY! They discontinued the production of the paint because the results of the field tests were unsatisfactory and THERE WERE TOO FEW interested customers. BETTER!
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Correct these sentences to make both parts the same structurally

You will find long queues in the bookstore and to pay your tuition. (Prepositional phrase + infinitive clause). You will find long queues when you buy books or pay your tuition. (verb + verb) (in the bookstore and at the cashier noun + noun)
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

More sentences needing equivalent structures

We realised that we had to make a decision, either marry or we go our separate ways. We realised that we had to make a decision, either marry or go our separate ways. (either to marry or to go our separate ways).

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Equivalent structures
I prefer the novels of Hemingway to Faulkner. I prefer the novels of Hemingway to THOSE of Faulkner.

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Repeated Sounds: AVOID

PUTTING WORDS NEAR EACH OTHER IF THEY SOUND THE SAME OR ALMOST THE SAME BUT HAVE DIFFERENT MEANINGS

The subject of my paper is the agreement between subject and verb in English. At this point I should point out that I left of my own free will. The television show showed how coal was mined in the United States.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Concord (agreement)
Get a university map because they really help. A manager should consider several factors when determining how they will deal with inefficient employees. When one partner in a marriage says they will not compromise, the marriage is in danger. Every day you are bombarded with advertisements. It is up to us to decide what is worth buying.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Tense consistency
1. A day later you start thinking about the essay and then you realized that you had been neglecting it. 2. For the most part they well understood the problems, once being undergraduates themselves. 3. Although I worked until midnight, I cant finish all my assignments.

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Some dos and donts

DO: Decide on US or UK spelling Use the computer grammar and spelling; revise your text repeatedly Write in the appropriate register. Use words accurately. Find out what they mean using a dictionary. Expand your vocabulary over the course of your life.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

DO NOT
DO NOT use slang, swear words or text message English Avoid over-use of I; try using the third person. Plagiarise other peoples work.

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Remember
What is written without pain is usually read without pleasure. Think of your reader and lead him into the secret garden of your academic world . Avoid sexist or racist language! Skill in writing comes about by DOING IT! It is a craft. SO DO IT. Do your best to become self-reliant.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

Writing systems as gifts of God

Some W.African scripts are regarded as inspired by or revealed in a dream by a spirit or deity Secrecy characterises attitudes towards some African indigenous scripts. Literacy is associated with power. Writing is attributed to gods and heroes (Thoth, Islam)

R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

The New You

Construct a new self-profile: you as a regular writer. Make time for your writing every day and visualise yourself writing. Be selfish: let nothing stand between you and a writing goal. Use writing activities to maintain and recapture -- focus. Think about how good it will feel to finish.
(Murray, 2002:212)
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010

References
Bailey, S. Academic Writing: a Handbook for International Students. Abingdon: Routledge, 2006. Bonnett, A. How to Argue: A Students Guide Harlow: Prentice Hall, 2001. Bryson, B. Dictionary of Troublesome Words. London: Penguin Books, 1984. Carey, G.V. Mind The Stop: A Brief Guide to Punctuation. London: Penguin, 1939; reprinted 1976. . Creswell, J.W. Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. London: Sage, 1994. Davidson, G.W. Good Spelling. Edinburgh: Chambers, 1986. Greenbaum, S. An Introduction to English Grammar. Harlow: Longman, 1991. Kaplan, R.B. Cultural Thought Patterns in Inter-Cultural Education. Language Learning, 16: 1-20, 1966. Murray, R. How to Write a Thesis. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2002. Punch, K.F. Developing Effective Research Proposals. London: Sage, 2000. Torrance, M. Training in Thesis Writing: an Evaluation of Three Conceptual Orientations. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 63: 170-184, 1993. Truss, L. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: the Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. London: Profile Books, 2003.
R.Pritchard@ulster.ac.uk Addis Ababa, February 2010