Transcript Document

English for Academic Study
Dr. Shakir Al-Busaltan
English for Academic Study
• Course in general
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SOME GENERAL POINTS
WRITING SENTENCES
WRITING PARAGRAPHS
CHRONOLOGICAL ESSAY: Writing a biography
DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY: Describing an art work
DISCUSSION ESSAY: Arguing for and against
CRITICAL ESSAY: Writing a review
• Introduce the course participants
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
SOME GENERAL POINTS
When writing in English, it is very important to re-read your work to check for:
1. grammar mistakes
2. Spelling
3. punctuation
Some hints when proofreading:
• If you have time, leave the first draft for a day before reading it again.
• Remember that the longer a sentence, the more likely it is to contain errors: Keep
sentences short.
• Use a computer spell-check, but be careful as it may not detect all the errors as
some words may be spelled correctly but are in the wrong context (fist instead of
first, for example).
• Read carefully for common mistakes Arabs make when writing in English.
• Check also for mistakes you know you make personally.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
1. Capitalization
- The pronoun “I”
- Proper nouns: specific people, places, organizations
- Titles: Queen Elizabeth; the Queen of England; President Bush
- Directions in names: the North Pole, the North of England
- Days of the week, months of the year, holidays: Monday, February, Christmas
- Names of countries, nationalities and languages: England, English, the English
- The first word in a direct quote: He said, “Go home”.
- The major words in titles, but not articles or short prepositions. The Catcher in
the Rye
- Periods and events: the Victorian Era, the Great Depression
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
1. Capitalization
EXERCISE 1
Rewrite the text adding capital letters where necessary.
westminster palace, rebuilt from the year 1840 on the site of important medieval
remains, is a fine example of neo-gothic architecture. the site – which also
comprises the small medieval church of saint margaret, built in perpendicular
gothic style, and westminster abbey, where all the sovereigns since the 11th
century have been crowned – is of great historic and symbolic significance.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
1. Capitalization
EXERCISE 1
Rewrite the text adding capital letters where necessary.
Westminster Palace, rebuilt from the year 1840 on the site of important medieval
remains, is a fine example of neo-Gothic architecture. The site – which also
comprises the small medieval Churchof Saint Margaret, built in Perpendicular
Gothic style, and Westminster Abbey, where all the sovereigns since the 11th
century have been crowned – is of great historic and symbolic significance.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
2. Punctuation
just a few points.
Full stop (.): English sentences tend to be shorter than Arabic sentences. Check
your sentence length and separate into two shorter sentences with a full stop.
Exclamation mark (!): It is better not to use exclamation marks in formal written
English.
Question mark (?): This is only used in direct questions. What is the time? She
asked what the time
was.
Colon (:): In English the colon is used
- to introduce lists. He bought many objects: pens, pencils and books.
- to explain a point made in the earlier part of the sentence. Queen Elizabeth I: A
rare monarch.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
2. Punctuation
just a few points.
Semicolon(;): The semicolon is generally used to link two sentences which are
grammatically independent but related in meaning. Riding was a sport she enjoyed;
she felt that she could never give it up.
Comma: A comma is often used before “and” and “or”, and usually before “but”,
when these words are used to link sentences together. Finish that job now, and
come inside. It is also inserted before “and” when it introduces the last item of a list.
I bought a book, a ruler, and some pens.
Commas are also used in relative clauses:
Defining: The line which concludes the poem is longer than the others.
Non-defining: The third verse, which concludes the poem, is longer than the others.
Connecting: I read the poem, which made me feel sad.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
2. Punctuation
just a few points.
Dash (-): The dash is a fairly informal stop. It can be used to replace parentheses
or commas.
Apostrophe (‘): The apostrophe indicates the possessive of nouns (Saxon genitive),
Mary’s book, and the omission of letters in contractions, can’t, won’t. Remember
that contracted forms are not
generally used in formal English.
Hyphen (-): The hyphen is used to form compound words, dining-room. But there
are no fixed rules for its use. Check your dictionary if you are in doubt. It is also
used to form compound adjectives.
Note the difference in these two forms: the eighteenth century; an eighteenth-
century building.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
2. Punctuation
EXERCISE 2
Re-write the sentences punctuating them correctly.
1. Several countries signed the Treaty Britain France Italy and Spain
Several countries participated in signing the Treaty: Britain, France, Italy and
Spain.
2. English is full of idiomatic expressions Some are so old their origins are lost
others have recent easily identifiable roots
English is full of idiomatic expressions. Some are so old their origins are lost;
others have recent
easily identifiable roots.
3. Although mention of the churchs existence was mentioned by the historian in
the 1450s its location is still unknown
Although mention of the church’s existence was mentioned by the historian in the
1450s, its location is still unknown.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
3. Grammar
Revise the grammar points and make sure you know where you tend to make mistakes.
• Articles (use and non-use) (a, an, and the)
• Time and tense (past vs present perfect; present perfect continuous; future time and
tenses)
• Word order (S + V + O; adding adjectives and adverbs; final prepositions; indirect questions)
• Subject-verb agreement A singular subject (she, Bill, car) takes a singular verb
• Dummy subjects (it and there as subjects)
• Modal verbs
can, could, must , be
• Conditionals (subjective forms, present and past conditional forms)
• Active and Passive Forms
Active [Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action] (the professor teaches the
students)
Passive [Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]
The student are taught by the professor
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
3. Grammar
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Reported speech (say or tell, other reporting verbs)
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Nouns (singular/plural; countable/uncountable)
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Relative clauses and pronouns (whom/whose and that/which)
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Verb forms (infinitive or gerund)
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
3. Grammar
EXERCISE 3
Correct the mistakes in the following sentences.
1. You can go out now. It does not snow any more.
You can go out now. It is not snowing any more.
2. I was cutting my finger while I cooked.
I cut my finger while I was cooking.
3. She not had much to do at all yesterday.
She did not have much to do at all yesterday.
4. How many plays has Goldoni written?
How many plays did Goldoni write?
5. Italian is an European language.
Italian is a European language.
6. We studied the Latin at school.
We studied Latin at school.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
3. Grammar
EXERCISE 3
Correct the mistakes in the following sentences.
7. If I knew you were coming, I would have come to get you at the station.
If I had known you were coming, I would have come to get you at the station.
8. He is doing many researches on the subject.
He is doing much research on the subject.
9. The building should be saved because is an outstanding example of industrial architecture.
The building should be saved because it is an outstanding example of industrial architecture.
10. The professor will let me to study this topic.
The professor will let me study this topic.
11. The French President, accompanied by his new wife, are going to Egypt.
The French President, accompanied by his new wife, is going to Egypt.
12. Look at the ground. It has rained all night.
Look at the ground. It has been raining all night.
13. What is the world going to be like in 50 years’ time?
What will the world be like in 50 years’ time?
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
4. False friends
Many words to be found in the English language seem familiar to students, but in fact the
meaning is often different. Make a list of the false friends you find and learn to use them
correctly.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
5. Plagiarism
Plagiarism (using another person’s work and pretending it is your own) is a very serious offence
in the British and American university systems and can lead to failure of a course or expulsion
from university. It is therefore very important to know how to incorporate other writers’ work into
your own writing correctly.
There are three different ways of doing this:
1. Quoting: Direct quotations must be identical to the original. They should be acknowledged
with the correct reference conventions and listed at the end of your writing. (See the
Appendix for
information on how to cite references in the Bibliography.)
2. Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing involves using your own words to report someone else’s writing,
attributing it nevertheless to the original source. Paraphrases are usually shorter than the
original passage.
3. Summarizing: Summaries are much shorter versions of an original text, and generally
include only the main points expressed in your own words. The original source must always
be acknowledged.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
5. Plagiarism
Quoting
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Quotations can be added to your text in different ways. A short quotation can be integrated
into a sentence whereas longer quotations can stand alone.
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There are different styles for citing sources. The most common one used in the humanities is
the Modern Language Association (MLA) style, which will be followed here.
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Double quotation marks (“”) should be used at the beginning and end of the quotation. Single
quotation marks (‘‘) should be used only when something is being quoted within your quoted
passage.
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The punctuation of the original should be followed. MLA style requires that a final comma or
full stop should come inside the quotation marks, even when you are quoting a single word.
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If you abbreviate the quotation by omitting words, put three dots (…) in place of the missing
words.
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Always place the name of the author, the date of the publication and the page number(s) after
the quotation. This is called “parenthetical citation”. If you are quoting more than one author,
separate the names with a semi-colon.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
5. Plagiarism
Examples:
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As James states: “The term ‘utilitarianism’ is often misunderstood” (2000:53).
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“That view (…) is incorrect,” observes Lagrange in his article (2005: 23-4).
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“This is a genre,” claims Clark, “that seems to have been invented in France” (1999:10).
• Some scholars have argued against this idea as it is considered “invalid”(Healy 2001; Smith
1998).
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
5. Plagiarism
Longer quotations (more than three lines) are set off from the text:
They are generally indented on left and right margins, single spaced,
and should not
be enclosed in quotation marks. End the sentence
in your text that comes immediately before the quotation with a
colon. Be careful to retain the punctuation of the material you are
quoting.
Some useful reporting verbs:
add, answer, argue, claim, complain, deny, explain, observe, remark, reply, say, state,
suggest.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
5. Plagiarism
Paraphrasing and summarising
Here are some tips on how to write paraphrases or summaries:
1. Quickly skim through the text to get an overall idea of its content.
2. Re-read it more carefully, identifying the main points, until you understand its full meaning.
3. Make brief notes of the main points, using your own words.
4. Write out any important phrases or sentences that you might want to quote. Be careful to copy
them precisely and indicate omitted text with three dots.
5. Always cite the name of the author, date of publication and page number in brackets after the
paraphrase or summary.
6. Put the original away and write your summary or paraphrase.
7. Check the text with the original.
8. Edit the text for mistakes.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
5. Plagiarism
REMEMBER: Changing around a few words and phrases, or changing the order of the original
sentence is not sufficient to avoid plagiarism. You must record the information in the original
passage accurately, using your own words, indicate direct quotations using quotation marks, and
provide the source of your information.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
5. Plagiarism
Look at these examples and identify why they are either correct or plagiarised:
The original passage:
Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in
the final
[research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore,
you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing
Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46- 47.
A legitimate paraphrase:
In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the
problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).
An acceptable summary:
Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of
quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).
A plagiarized version:
Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the
final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted
material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
5. Plagiarism
EXERCISE
Paraphrase then summarise the following passage
Earlier this year the former chief inspector of English schools, Mike Tomlinson, described Britons
as "barbarians" when it came to learning foreign languages. Research published this week, which
suggested fewer than one in 10 British workers could speak a foreign language, even to a basic
level, appeared to show the accusation was well-founded. Recruitment firm Office Angels’ poll of
1,500 workers found less than 5% could count to 20 in a second language - even though a
majority of the respondents said they would like to live abroad. Some 80% said they thought they
could get by at work because "everyone speaks English". A European Commission survey in 2001
found 65.9% of UK respondents only spoke their native tongue - by far the highest proportion
among the EU countries polled.
(Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/3930963.stm Published:
2004/07/29 08:43:13 GMT)
English for Academic Study-----------Lecture 1 (SOME GENERAL POINTS)
5. Plagiarism
Paraphrase
The Britons have been called “barbarians” by Mike Tomlinson, former chief inspector of English
schools and the results of research undertaken on the British and their ability to speak foreign
languages seem to confirm this. Only one in ten were able to do so, and a recruitment office
found that the percentage went down when workers were asked to count up to twenty. The
majority of workers believe that English is an international language and thus it is not necessary
to learn another language. In 2001 a European Commission survey revealed that among EU
countries, Britons had the highest percentage speaking only their mother tongue.
Summary
The results of research and surveys carried out on Britons speaking a foreign language seem to
suggest that very few people are able to do so. Indeed, Britain has the lowest proportion of people
speaking a foreign language among the countries in the European Union.