Transcript Writing for Publication: OT6026 Occupational Therapy Project 3

Writing Workshop
Physiotherapy Year 2
Íde O’Sullivan and Lawrence Cleary
Regional Writing Centre
Workshop outline
• Getting started: Motivation and time
management
• Key consideration:
– The writing process
– The rhetorical situation
– Academic writing style
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Critical appraisal
Structuring your paper
Scientific style
Strategies to develop writing: Peer review
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Getting Started Writing
and Keeping Going
Anxieties and fears
• What do you worry about or struggle
when faced with a writing task?
• How will you overcome these
anxieties and fears?
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It is not too late
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Take stock of where you are now
Outline your research project
Make plans based on the time that is left
Organise your time accordingly
Get writing
Keep writing
Get a writing buddy
Allow time for revision and to put it all
together
• Let family and friends know
• Be selfish with your time
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Where am I?
• What writing have you done and what
writing do you need to do in order to
complete your paper for PY4034 on
time?
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Keep writing non-stop for 5 minutes.
Write in sentences.
Do not edit or censor your writing.
Private writing -- no one will read it.
Discuss what you have written in pairs.
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Getting started
• Where and when do you write?
• Why are you not writing?
– “I don’t feel ready to write.”
– Writers’ block
• Getting unstuck
– Writing to prompts/freewriting (write
anything)
– Set writing goals
– Write regularly
– Integrate writing into your thinking
– Break it down into a manageable process
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Assessment
• Essay (case-based)
Case...
Give a reasoned account of the short and long
term goals for this person, relating their clinical
features to probable patho-physiological changes.
Discuss the evidence for two different
physiotherapeutic interventions which would be
appropriate as part of the overall physiotherapy
management programme for this patient.
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Key Considerations
Key stages in the process
• Prewriting
• Drafting
• Revision
• Editing and Proofreading
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Prewriting
• Planning
– Evaluating the rhetorical situation, or
context, into which you write
– Choosing and focusing your topic
– Establishing an organising principle
• Gathering information
– Entering the discourse on your topic
– Taking notes as a strategy to avoid
charges of plagiarism
– Evaluating sources
Planning: Assessing
the rhetorical situation
• Occasion
• Topic
• Audience
• Purpose
• Writer
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Drafting
• Try to visualise your report. Work toward
that vision.
• Begin to structure it—establish your section
headings; give them titles. These do not have
to be permanent.
• Examine the logical order of ideas reflected
in those titles.
• Do not get hung up on details; elements of
the draft are subject to change in the
revision stage.
• Start to write the sections that you are
ready to write.
Drafting
• Continue to reassess your rhetorical
situation.
• Does what you have written so far
contribute to the achievement of your
purpose?
• Experiment with organisation and methods
of development.
• Don’t get bogged-down in details; focus on
the big issues: organisation and logical
flow.
Revision
• Is your paper logically organised?
• Does each section contribute to your reader’s
understanding of your topic? Does your paper
service your purpose, aims, and objectives?
• Outline each section. How does each
paragraph contribute to our understanding of
the topic of that section?
• Take a close look at paragraphs: Does each
paragraph have a central idea? Does it have
unity? Is it coherent and well developed?
Editing and proofreading
• Once the report is cogent, it must be
made to be coherent.
• Work methodically, checking one feature
at a time.
• Do not exclude formatting issues.
• Editing and proofreading is more than just
grammar and punctuation; it is also about
voice, rhythm, tone, style and clarity.
Stylistic differences that
mark academic writing
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Complexity
Formality
Objectivity
Accuracy
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Precision
Explicitness
Hedging
Responsibility
(Gillet 2008)
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Persuasion and truth in
academic writing
• Because they are argumentative, academic
writing tends to be persuasive.
• An argument should be persuasive, but
don’t sacrifice truth in favour of
persuasion.
• Academic inquiry is a truth-seeking
pursuit.
• facts are distinguished from opinions.
• relative truths are distinguished from
absolute truths.
• The integrity of the conclusions reached in
an academic essay or report is based on its
honest pursuit of truth.
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Cracking the codes
• Analysing the genre/text and modelling
• Generate a list of the important criteria
which will make your writing more
effective
• Ask yourself the following questions:
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How is the paper structured?
How is the contribution articulated?
What level of context is provided?
What level of detail is used?
How long are the different sections?
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Cracking the codes
• What organisational features/patterns are
in evidence?
• How are arguments and counterarguments
presented and structured?
• What types of evidence are important?
• What stylistic features are prominent?
• Is the text cohesive? How does the author
achieve such cohesion?
• What kind(s) of persuasive devises does
the author employ?
• Voice?
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Critical Appraisal
Reporting the work of others
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Making use of the ideas of other people is one
of the most important aspects of academic
writing because
it shows awareness of other people’s work;
it shows that you can use their ideas and
findings;
it shows you have read and understood the
material you are reading;
it shows where your contribution fits in;
it supports the points you are making.
(Gillet 2008)
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Reporting the work of others
• We report another author’s ideas by using
paraphrase, summary, synthesis and
quotation, and we use introductory phrases
and reporting verbs to communicate our
relationship to the ideas that we are
reporting.
• Compare, for example:
– Brown (1983: 231) claims that a far more
effective approach is ...
– Brown (1983: 231) points out that a far
more effective approach is ...
– A far more effective approach is ... (Brown
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Critical thinking
• McPeck (1981:8 cited in Borg 2008:13) defines critical
thinking as
– “the prosperity and skill to engage in an activity with
reflective scepticism”.
• “Critical thinking:
– is clear, precise, accurate, relevant, logical and
consistent
– integrates a controlled sense of scepticism or disbelief
about claims, assertions and conclusions (i.e. not taking
information and positions at face value
– involves interrogating existing information for
strengths, weaknesses and gaps
– is deliberately and demonstrably free from bias and
prejudice.”
(Paul and Elder 2006 cited in Borg 2008:13)
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Good reasoning
• Key features of good reasoning
• “Reasoning:
– has a purpose
– is shaped by and expressed through concepts and ideas
– is based on data, information and evidence
– involves making inferences and interpretations based on
the data and evidence in order to draw conclusions
– is based on assumptions that are explicit and clear
– is carried out from a particular point of view
– has consequences and implications.”
(Paul and Elder 2006 cited in Borg 2008:13)
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Critical thinking
• How can you bring a critical
orientation to your work?
• What questions should you ask when
reading and writing in order to
develop critical and analytical
thinking skills?
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Structuring your paper
Structure
Preliminaries
Main Text
End Matter
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The main text
• Introduction
• Development
• Conclusion
• How the writing is structured will
depend on the genre, i.e. essay,
literature review, reflection.
• UEfAP: Academic Writing <Genres
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The main text: Essays
• Purpose:
– Present a clear argument
• Structure
– Introduction
– Development of ideas
– Conclusion
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The introduction
• In academic writing, an introduction, or
opening, has four purposes:
To introduce the topic of the essay
To indicate the context of the
conversation through background
information
To give some indication of the overall
plan of the essay
To catch the reader’s attention, usually
by convincing the reader of its
relevance.
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The introduction
• The introduction has two parts:
 General statements.
General statements attract a
reader’s attention and give
background information on the topic.
 A thesis statement
States the main topic.
Sometimes indicates sub-topics.
Will sometimes indicate how the
essay is to be organised.
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In brief….
• The introduction should be funnel shaped
• Begin with broad statements.
• Make these statements more and more
specific as the writer narrows the scope
of the topic and comes to the problem.
• Be sure that the question, hypothesis or
claim is one that can be handled in a
report of the length specified.
• This question, hypothesis or claim is
your thesis statement.
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The conclusion
• How you conclude your paper, like
everything else in writing, largely depends
on your purpose. Generally, though, a
conclusion ends by reminding the reader of
the main points of the argument in support
of your thesis.
• Otherwise, you may end with a reflection,
a call to action, an impact question
(indicating, perhaps, that you see scope
for future research), a quote, or advice.
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Elements of a good
conclusion
A conclusion should:
Remind the reader of the main
points of your argument
Bring ‘closure to the interpretation
of the data’ (Leedy 2001:291)
Be clear
Be logical
Be credible
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Elements of a good conclusion
• A summary of the investigation, the
results and the analysis
• A summary of the conclusions drawn from
the analysis and discussion of the data /
results
• An account of whether the research has
answered the research question
• An assessment of whether the hypothesis
or claim has been proved, disproved, or
partially proved
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Elements of a good conclusion
• A discussionion of the implications of the
findings
• A demonstrable awareness of the
limitations of the outcome
• Suggestions for future developments –
Remember: A summary alone of what you
have done is a weak conclusion
• A final, strong, positive statement
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Flow
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Logical method of development
Effective transition signals
Good signposting
Consistent point of view
Conciseness (careful word choice)
Clarity of expression
Paragraph structure
– Unity
– Coherence
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Paragraph structure
• What is a paragraph?
– Series of sentences
– Coherent (introduction, middle, end)
– Common theme
• Every sentence in a paragraph develops one topic or idea.
• Paragraphs signal the logically organised progression of
ideas.
• The flow of information should be organised around
themes and comments.
• The main idea in one paragraph should flow logically into
the next.
• Shifts in the argument or changes in direction should be
accurately signalled using appropriate adverbials,
conjunctions, and prepositions.
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Paragraph structure
• Just as an essay is guided by a thesis
statement, a paragraph is organised
around its topic sentence.
• A topic sentence informs the reader of
the topic to be discussed.
• A topic sentence contains controlling ideas
which limit the scope of the discussion to
ideas that are manageable in a paragraph.
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Paragraph structure:
Supporting sentences
• The sentences that follow expand upon the
topic, using controlling ideas to limit the
discussion. The main idea is supported by
– Evidence in the form of facts, statistics,
theoretical probabilities, reputable,
educated opinions,
– Illustrations in the form of examples and
extended examples, and
– Argumentation based on the evidence
presented.
– Qualifying statements indicate the
limitations of the support or argument.
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Paragraph structure:
Concluding sentences
• Not every paragraph needs a
concluding sentence.
• Concluding sentences can either
comment on the information in the
text, or
• They can paraphrase the topic
sentence.
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Paragraph structure:
Unity
• Paragraphs should be unified.
• ‘Unity means that only one main idea is
discussed in a paragraph. The main idea
is stated in the topic sentence, and then
each and every supporting sentence
develops that idea’ (Oshima and Hogue
1999:18).
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Paragraph structure:
Coherence
• Coherence means that your paragraph is
easy to read and understand because
– your supporting sentences are in some
kind of logical order
– your ideas are connected by the use of
appropriate transition signals
– your pronoun references clearly point to
the intended antecedent and is
consistent
– you have repeated or substituted key
nouns.
(Oshima and Hogue 2006:22)
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Example:
(Meei-Fang et al. 2007:471)
People with dementia are particularly vulnerable to
malnutrition: they have a decreased ability to understand
directions and to express their needs verbally, are easily
distracted from eating, prone to become agitated, and may
use utensils incorrectly. Inability to feed oneself (eating
dependency) is a major risk factor for malnutrition among
older people living in long-term care settings (Abbasi &
Rudman 1994, Durnbaugh et al. 1996). When people with
dementia can no longer take food voluntarily, assistance is
required although, as the disease progresses, even taking
food with assistance can become difficult and, in some
instances, tube-feeding may be required to supply nutrition.
This form of feeding can, however, cause distress and
anxiety, not only for the person being fed, but also for
caregivers (Akerlund & Norberg 1985, Burgener & Shimer
1993).
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Scientific Writing Style
Stylistic features common to
scientific and technical writing
• Sentences
– Short v. long
– Simple v. complex
• Vocabulary
– Short vs long phrases
– Ordinary vs grandiose
– Familiar vs unfamiliar
– Non-technical vs technical
– Concrete vs abstract
– Normal, comfortable idiomatic expression vs
special, stiff scientific idioms
– Direct incisive phrasing vs roundabout, verbose
phrasing
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Stylistic features common to
scientific and technical writing
• Verb Forms
– Active vs passive
– Personal vs impersonal
– Informal vs formal
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Stylistic features common to
scientific and technical writing
• Mechanics
– Spelling
– Capitalisation
– Punctuation: Careful use vs casual,
random use
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Strategies to Develop
Writing: Peer Review
Dialogue about writing
• Peer-review
• Generative writing
• The “writing sandwich” (Murray 2005:85):
writing, talking, writing
• Writing “buddies” (Murray and Moore
2006:102)
• Writers’ groups
• Engaging in critiques of one another’s work
allows you to become effective critics of
your own work.
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Resources
• Shannon Consortium Regional Writing
Centre, UL http://www.ul.ie/rwc/
• Using English for Academic Purposes
http://www.uefap.com/index.htm
• The Writer’s Garden http://www.
cyberlyber.com/writermain.htm
• The OWL at Purdue
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
• The Writing Center at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill
http://www.unc.edu/depts
/wcweb/handouts/index.html
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Works cited
• Elbow, P. (1998) Writing without Teachers (2nd edition).
New York: Oxford University Press.
• Elbow, P. and Belanoff, P. (2003) Being a Writer: A
Community of Writers Revisited. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• McPeck, J. (1981) Critical Thinking and Education, New
York: St. Martin’s Press.
• Moore, S. and Murphy, M. (2005) How to be a Student: 100
Great Ideas and Practical Hints for Students Everywhere.
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UK: Open University Press.
Murray, R. (2005) Writing for Academic Journals. UK: Open
University Press.
Murray, R. and Moore, S. (2006) The Handbook of Academic
Writing: A Fresh Approach. UK: Open University Press.
Oshima, A. and Hogue, A. (2006) Writing Academic English,
4th edition. New York: Pearson Education.
Paul, R. and Elder, L. (2006) The Miniature Guide to Critical
Thinking: Concepts and Tools, New York: The Foundation for
Critical Thinking.
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