Transcript Forensic Linguistics

YOUR NEEDS?
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Reading a lot – jumping around from topic to topic
Supervisor advice: read and summarise!
Analysing what I have done (research; creative project)
Pointers on how to synthesise the many different sources of
information
Writing everyday is a challenge
Need techniques for reading scholarly articles
What to put in, what to leave out, choosing which angle?
No end to the reading, so many different directions, am
interested in them all – don’t want to miss out!
How to achieve meaningful (and perhaps more efficient)
reading
Structuring how one idea flows on to the next idea
Panicking, feeling overwhelmed
Research
Reading/Writing
UTS Library
Research Week
2013
3pm- 5pm February 5, 2013
GRADUATE RESEARCH SCHOOL: Sessions
1. Reading and Writing for your Research: Getting started
2. Abstracts & Introductions: Getting the 'Moves'
3. The Literature Review: Mapping & Organising your Research
Reading
4. The Literature Review: Conceptualising your Research Reading
5. Thesis/Dissertation Organisation across Disciplines
6. The Doctorate in Creative Arts: The Exegesis
7. Writing Groups and Peer-Editing Circles (Develop your writing!)
8. Making Formal Spoken Presentations on your Research (Session 1)
9. Making Formal Spoken Presentations on your Research (Session 2)
“WHAT IS ACADEMIC DISCOURSE?”
•Different traditions, conventions and ways of thinking have
developed in different areas of knowledge over the years.
•Academic discourse differs from discipline to discipline.
•You will key into those conventions as you read, read, read,
and then read some more, and then start to write, write, and
write using them.
•There are some common patterns that you need to understand,
and key into, especially at the early stages of your research
reading.
INTRODUCTION: QUESTIONS TO
CONSIDER
• What kinds of reading and writing do we have to do
in academic contexts?
• Why do we write them?
(what general purposes are we trying to carry out
when we write in academic contexts?)
ACADEMIC READING/WRITING
TYPES & PURPOSES
(GENERIC TYPES)
• Narrative
• Expository
• Persuasive
• Procedural/Instructional
• Descriptive
• Analytic/Critical
FOCUSSING ON YOUR OWN
PURPOSE?
Your own purpose is reflected in the research question
you are asking, or your project, which is to do with:
• the problematising
• the question being asked
• the set of research articles
• the creative work being produced
YOU HAVE TO READ WIDELY AND DEEPLY
A QUICK EXERCISE
• Handout: Categorise the list of words into
groups – give each group a name.
• Draw a diagram to represent the conceptual
structuring of this topic (What is the overall topic?)
• You have 10 minutes maximum.
• Finished? Have a quick chat (3 mins) about
what you have done in pairs. Justify your
drawing.
RESEARCH READING
As preparation for this workshop you were asked to make a
list of 20 or more key terms (descriptors) that are relevant to
your research question or area.
• These are important for building up your reading list for
your Literature Review
• These are important for your area of research reading
• These are important for ways that you choose to organise
your reading
USE CONCEPT ORGANISERS
• Visual representation to help you understand categories
of information and how they relate to each other in
your area of research reading
• What are some different types of concept organisers?
 mind map (shows relationships to central idea)
 tree or branch diagram (shows categories &
hierarchies)
 flow chart (shows progression in a process)
 table or matrix (shows placement of items along
two axes)
TYPES OF CONCEPT ORGANISERS
Branch diagram
Mind map
TOPIC
IDEA
USING CATEGORIES & HIERARCHIES
FOR RESEARCH READING
TOPIC
Topic A
Sub-sub
topic Aaa
Subtopic
Aa
Subtopic
Ab
Sub-sub
topic Aab
Sub-sub
topic Aac
Topic B
Subtopic
Ac
Subtopic
Ba
Subtopic
Bb
AN APPLIED APPLICATION EXERCISE:
ADD to your list of 20 or more key terms (descriptors) that are
relevant to your research question or area.
Make an hierarchical diagram which represents a conceptual map
of the categories, sub-categories, and sub-sub categories in your
research area.
If you think of new words as you go along, add them in too or, if
there are concepts you do not want to use, then don’t (don’t be
restricted by your list).
Then show, discuss & compare them in pairs
Now you are collecting readings,
how can you READ them?
Get a SYSTEM
HOW? The Process
Reading with a purpose
What can you do to read with a purpose for
your
• RESEARCH FOCUS
• CREATIVE PROJECT exegesis
• INVESTIGATIVE QUESTION?
READING STRATEGIES FOR RESEARCH
(THE BASICS)
Focus on your purpose before, during and after
reading.
Evaluate your sources before and while you read
o Read at the MICRO-level
o Read at the MACRO-level
READING STRATEGIES
Read with different skills for different purposes:
o
Previewing (look at the title, keywords, flip through)
o
Skimming (for an overview)
o
Scanning (to locate specific information or ideas)
o
Close reading (to extract certain detail)
o
Reading analytically (text structure, categories, hierarchies)
o
Reading critically (connecting new information to what you
already know)
Reading analytically to organise what you read
LOGICALLY:
• Using the reading (text) structure
• Making judgements about the significance
• Looking for categories, hierarchies,
arguments and organising them around your
research area or investigative question or
exegesis.
[READING] ACADEMIC WRITING
it’s not just sentences
•Note the headers and sub-headings, and note bold and
slightly larger fonts, or italics.
•These are visual cues to information-structure and
important information, and can help the reader to flip back if
needed.
•Diagrams/images: are not just inserted; use them to gain a
macro-view, and as a guide to specifics.
HOW? THE BASIC EXTRACTION SKILLS
Summarising and paraphrasing
Two of the main ways for you to extract information.
•When reading you have a purpose in mind – which is?
•You use the skill of focussing on the relevant issues
•You leave out unrelated information.
These two skills are very different, and require a different
set of sub-skills.
The Basics: to summarise means that you
• condense the relevant information or ideas - end up with a
summary shorter than the original text, but retrievable.
• organise the information: use the original text, or develop
your own format.
• use your own words
• cite and give the reference.
The Basics: to paraphrase means that you
• report on the information so that the full meaning is
reproduced.
• produce a piece of writing of the same length as
(maybe longer than) the original reading
• use your own words
• cite and give the reference
Special points to note about this process:
•Specialist terms or theoretical categories or vocabulary are
almost impossible to write in your own words.
•Some specialist terms or theoretical categories are in the
common ‘canon’ or general knowledge.
•It may be difficult to find your own words to express the
ideas or information written by others (especially if your
native language is not English) - but read carefully and try to
understand the original text.
THE USEFULNESS OF ABSTRACTS:
When you write (or speak) you move meanings around for a purpose.
Academic writing also follows a clear sequence of moves or stages.
Here they are:
1.
Area under investigation / Significance of the area
2.
Problem addressed
3.
Aims / Methodology used
4.
Results or Outcomes
5.
Implications of outcomes
Organise your notes-taking around these ideas?
AN EXAMPLE: a research funding proposal abstract
Mining multiple information sources can provide rich
knowledge which is difficult to discover by mining single
data sources. (reason for doing the work - significance)
Comparing and collaborating multi-source data for mining
are critical. (problem or need addressed) This project
aims to systematically investigate the theoretical
foundations and practical solutions for mining multiple
information sources (methodology suggested?), with the
objective of delivering a unified multi-source collaborative
and comparative mining framework (results). The expected
outcomes are: (1) establishing the theoretical foundations
for this emerging data mining research area, (2) benefiting
key application areas, such as bioinformatics, business
intelligence, and security informatics, and (3) helping
maintain Australia's leading role in data mining research.
(implications of outcomes)
THE INTRODUCTION
A pattern of general to specific information:
• background/context
• description of the entity/system/organisational phenomenon
• definitions/explanations of key terms
• indication of significance of the field or area of
study/examination
• issues/problems/needs in the field
• specific focus of the paper, related to the above (in major or
lengthy work, this also includes the staging of the content)
It is designed to ORIENTATE the readers and give them a
‘roadmap’ of the research article (or your dissertation).
READING STRATEGIES
Read with different skills for different purposes:
o Previewing (look at the title, keywords, flip through)
o Skimming (for an overview)
o Scanning (to locate specific information or ideas)
o Close reading (to extract certain detail)
o Reading analytically (text structure, categories, hierarchies)
o Reading critically (connecting new information to what you
already know)
Let’s take a different angle ….
Some questions …
1. What is analysis?
2. What does it mean to analyse a text and
collected information?
1. How can we then be ‘critical’ of a text and
collected information?
WHAT IS ANALYSIS?
• Understanding how the whole is made up of parts
• Deciding on what the essential elements are
• Understanding how the parts are related
• Understanding which parts are missing
ANALYTICAL READING/WRITING
• You need to read analytically while you are
reading descriptively for your Lit Review.
• You need to make connections between the
descriptions, and ask more developed critical or
analytical questions of your reading.
• What gives you the right to be critical of others’
work?
Reading CRITICALLY means
to make judgments:
•The truth, merit, relevance, effectiveness, breadth,
contribution of something to a particular field [or your area of
investigation].
•Comes from an understanding of its informational structure.
•Information is connected to what you already know or have
read previously.
•Then you’ll be able to reflect on the validity and significance
of information and ideas.
How do you do get to that ‘critical’ stage?
•You need to keep on READING.
•You need to BUILD UP YOUR BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE
•You need to keep on READING
•You need to develop a SYSTEM with your READING
DO
YOU
HAVE
A
SYSTEM?
Here are some different types of ways to organise
your
reading:
1.
2.
3.
General
A
generalised
Annotated
focus
questions
three-stage
method
bibliography
4. Use Notecards, EndNote for organising notes
SYSTEM 1: Descriptive Questions for
Reading/Writing for Research
To read and then write at a level expected for research
work, you need to develop & use descriptive modes of
ENQUIRY skills as you read.
The key to this is to pay close attention to details …..
How?
by asking descriptively focussed questions.
DESCRIPTIVE READING/WRITING
To work at this descriptive stage, you need to question
your academic reading as you interact with it.
Generally-speaking, you need to ask:
What?
Where?
Who?
When?
How?
Why?
APPLIED: DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONS
For example, in reading a research article, these could be:
•Who wrote the article and what are the author’s qualifications?
•When was it written?
•Who is the article for?
•Why was the study carried out?
•What is the author’s main point, or thesis?
•How has the author collected the data?
•What results were found?
•What relevant sources does the author use?
•What limits did the author place on the study?
•What aspects of this study are relevant to your research question/area?
DESCRIPTIVE READING/WRITING
These initial questions are simply descriptive or even superficial,
aimed at identificational and informational aspects of the
research, theory, paper, project etc. being read and written
about.
This is the essential first stage of your Lit Review reading (for
example), and it can lead to many, many excellent descriptive
summaries ….
but while you are building 300+ of these what should you be
doing?
SYSTEM 2: The ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
What is it?
• It is a systematic review and record of all significant
literature that you have sourced and read.
• It is designed to remind you of the relevance, accuracy, and
quality of the sources you have read and cited.
• Supervisors can set this as a task to be sure that sustained
and informational/evaluative reading is carried out in a
timely manner.
SYSTEM 3: Using Notecards/EndNote
A researcher’s experience:
“I did notecards for my thesis. I kept them all in a black box,
organized by chapter and then by section.
It seemed to work well.
I also take notes on everything I read (for my studies) in one of
my notebooks.
Things get copied down a couple (or a few) times, but by the time
I sit down to write, I know my research really well.”
Source: http://www.librarything.com/topic/14008
A researcher’s EndNote experience:
“I used to use notecards, but ran into problems when I needed the
same notecard for different projects simultaneously. So I started
using Endnote--it's basically just a big database, but it really
helps to organize all of your notes.
You can use Endnote to essentially create notecards, but then you
can add keywords and you can search through them, so it makes it
much easier to work on multiple projects.
Endnote also automatically generates footnotes and
bibliographies for your papers--I find that this saves me a whole
day of work on a 20-page paper.”
Source: http://www.librarything.com/topic/14008
NOTECARDS?
PERHAPS YOUR OWN READING PATH HELPS?
What do your read first?
Where do you start?
What parts of a reading text or article can you use?
Here are some suggested headings:
• Key words
• Abstract
• Author/institution
• Publication/citation details/date
• References to note/follow up
• Key theories/methods/findings
• What is relevant to my research question/research area?
APPLICATION TASKS
Using your 2 research articles :
1. Using previewing, skimming and scanning, construct two
diagrams which represent the basic information structure of
the articles. (see next slide)
2. Compare the two diagrams and note where the two articles have
some kind of informational overlap (where they treat the same
topic, but perhaps from different angles).
AND/OR
1. Using any of the ideas from this workshop which suit you, read
the articles using what we have covered (questions, annotations,
notecards etc.).
BOTH:
why
If you finish, discuss what you have done, how, and
with someone else.
USING CATEGORIES & HIERARCHIES
FOR RESEARCH READING
TOPIC
Topic A
Sub-sub
topic Aaa
Subtopic
Aa
Subtopic
Ab
Sub-sub
topic Aab
Sub-sub
topic Aac
Topic B
Subtopic
Ac
Subtopic
Ba
Subtopic
Bb
FINAL DISCUSSION
General questions and answers
PARAGRAPHS IN ACADEMIC DISCOURSE
Topic Sentences
• A topic sentence is a brief sentence that identifies the main point
that will be addressed in the paragraph.
• It is usually the first sentence of a paragraph.
• In a well-written piece of writing, if you read the topic sentences
you can often gain a good understanding of the content of the
writing which follows.
• Especially good when reading a textbook for background.
SYSTEM 2: The ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
What does it do?
It briefly describes and/or appraises the sources.
For describing: annotations usually
• summarise the subject of the source
• outline the author’s argument, methodology and
conclusions.
For appraising: annotations may focus on
•
the author’s argument (persuasive? didactic?)
•
the reliability of the evidence,
•
its relationship to other critics
•
its contribution to the field of research
SYSTEM 2: The ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Suggested strategies
I. INITIAL READING
A. Author
Author's credentials; institutional affiliation; educational background, past
writings, or experience? Degree of cross citation?
B. Date of Publication
Too old?
C. Edition or Revision
A first edition or revised and updated to reflect changes in knowledge.
D. Publisher
Scholarly: university or commercial?
Refereed; conference proceedings?
E. Title of Journal
Scholarly or a popular journal?
Adapted from: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm
II. CONTENT ANALYSIS
A. Intended Audience
Students, academics, researchers?
B. Objective Reasoning
Information valid and well-researched?
Ideas and arguments in line with other works you have read on the same topic?
Author objective and impartial?
C. Coverage
Updates other sources, substantiates other readings, adds new information?
Extensively or marginally cover your topic?
Material primary or secondary in nature?
D. Writing Style
Organized logically? Main points clearly presented? Text easy to read, or turgid?
Author's argument: repetitive?
E. Evaluative Reviews
Look for these in libraries and on-line.
SYSTEM 3: The three pass method
The first pass
A quick scan to for a global view of the paper. The following
steps are used:
1.Carefully read the title, abstract, and introduction
2.Read the section and sub-section headings, but ignore
everything else
3.Read the conclusions
4.Glance over the references, mentally ticking off the ones
you’ve already read
Adapted from Keshav, S. ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review 83 Volume 37, Number 3, July 2007, p.83-4
SYSTEM 3: The three pass method
At the end of the first pass, you should have information on:
1.Category: What type of paper is this? A measurement paper? An
analysis of an existing system? A description of a research prototype?
2.Context: Which other papers is it related to? Which theoretical bases
were used to analyze the problem?
1.Correctness: Do the assumptions appear to be valid?
2.Contributions: What are the paper’s main contributions?
3.Clarity: Is the paper well written?
You may choose not to read further. The first pass is adequate for papers
that aren’t in your research area, but may someday prove relevant.
SYSTEM 3: The three pass method
The second pass
Greater reading care is used here, but ignores details such as proofs.
It helps to jot down the key points, or to make comments in the margins,
as you read.
1. Look carefully at the figures, diagrams and other illustrations in the
paper.
2. Pay special attention to graphs. Are the axes properly labeled etc. ?
Common mistakes will separate rushed, shoddy work from the truly
excellent.
3. Remember to mark relevant unread references for further reading
(this is a good way to learn more about the background of the paper).
Adapted from Keshav, S. ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review 83 Volume 37, Number 3, July 2007, p.83-4
SYSTEM 3: The three pass method
The second pass
After this pass, you should be able to grasp the content of the paper.
You should be able to summarize the main thrust of the paper, with
supporting evidence, to someone else.
This level of detail is appropriate for a paper in which you are interested,
but does not lie in your research specialty.
You can now choose to:
(a) set the paper aside for later digestion
(b) return to the paper later, perhaps after reading background material,
(c) persevere and go on to the third pass.
Adapted from Keshav, S. ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review 83 Volume 37, Number 3, July 2007, p.83-4
SYSTEM 3: The three pass method
The third pass
This pass requires great attention to detail. You should:
1. identify and challenge every assumption in every statement.
2. try to think about how you yourself would present a particular
idea (this comparison of the actual with your own idea lends
a sharp insight into the proof and presentation techniques).
3. jot down ideas for future work.
4. be able to reconstruct the entire structure of the paper from
memory
5. identify its strong and weak points.
6. be able to pinpoint implicit assumptions, missing citations to
relevant work, and potential issues with experimental or
analytical techniques