Entry 13: Abstract

 

What is an abstract?

   An abstract is an independent text that comprises the most important concepts of the paper, the purpose of the research, the state of the art, what is missing, and the result of the investigation.

    Each sentence in an abstract fulfils a specific purpose. These are called "moves".

- the overall purpose of the study and the research problem (s) investigated,

- the basic design of the study,

- major fondings found as a result of the nalysis,

- a brief summary of the conclusions.

 

The following Padlet timeline contains more information about "abstracts". I hope you find it useful.

    Personally, writing an abstract is more complex than one can imagine. It is about summarizing in a single paragraph - approximately 300 words - a complete text with pretentious rules with the intention of catching the readers' attention about what the text is about. After the research is done, I have to think carefully about the relevant concept related to the content of the text. In addition to avoiding paraphrasing, giving arguments, examples or any type of information that is reiterative, it is important to use clear and easy-to-understand words in order to capture the interest of readers. In my opinion, this information is very useful because it prevents readers from reading the full text in case of not being what they are looking for.

Entry 12: Articles

What is an article?

An article

• is a piece of writing usually intended for publication in a newspaper, magazine or journal

• is written for a wide audience, so it is essential to attract and retain the readers’ attention

• may include amusing stories, reported speech and descriptions

• can be formal or informal, depending on the target audience

• should be written in an interesting or entertaining manner

• should give opinions and thoughts, as well as facts

• is in a less formal style than a report

An article can

• describe an experience, event, person or place

• present an opinion or balanced argument

• compare and contrast

• provide information

• offer suggestions

• offer advice

A realistic article should consist of:

1. an eye-catching title which attracts the readers’ attention and suggests the theme of the article. (Think about why you read a magazine or newspaper article recently - what made you read it?) Articles can also have subheadings before each paragraph.

2. an introduction which clearly defines the topic to be covered and keeps the reader’s attention.

3. the main body of two to five paragraphs in which the topic is further developed in detail.

4. the conclusion - summarising the topic or a final opinion, recommendation or comment.

REMEMBER

Before you begin writing it is important to consider:

• where is the article going to appear - in a newspaper or magazine?

• who are the intended readers - a specific group such as students or teenagers, or adults in general?

• what is the aim of the article - to advise, suggest, inform, compare and contrast, describe, etc.?

These three points are the deciding factors in the layout of your article, its style, language and level of formality.

Determine the information you are going to use and organize your ideas carefully into paragraphs. Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence.

The article could be formal, semi-formal or informal, depending on your intended audience.

Use vocabulary and descriptive language appropriate for the article. Linking words and expressions, and a variety of vocabulary will only improve your work and make it more interesting.

DO NOT use over-personal or over-emotional language or simplistic vocabulary.

DO NOT talk about yourself. You are writing for the general public, not a close circle of friends. Your opinions are only interesting to other people if you can make them amusing, justify them or explain them.

WRITING TITLES

A title is absolutely necessary when writing an article, and should be a concise summary of the information which is going to follow in the article. In other words, the main topic of the article should be stated in the title.

Stimulating the reader’s interest is also essential - if the title looks uninteresting, why would anyone read it? There are various ways to achieve this. For example, if you are writing a description of a place, using adjectives can enhance the attractiveness of the place, before the reader begins reading the article, e.g. “The Tranquillity and Peace of an Island that Time Forgot”. If the task involves proposing a solution to a problem or your opinion, and so on, you can address your audience directly, e.g. “What You Need to Do to Be Successful”, or use a question such as “Is Learning English Really Necessary Today?” for the title. In more formal articles, it is more common to just summarise the topic in a short statement, e.g. “Laughter Can Improve Our Health”. The title should not be too long and should mirror the style of the article - formal or informal.

Click HERE to have access to the complete text related to Articles.

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Entry 11: HEDGING AND BOOSTING

    In this opportunity, I pesent you two strategies that are used in an academic writing. These strategies are called HEDGING and BOOSTING. What do they mean? Are they important in academic writing?

  I invite you to watch the following videos where you can understand better these two concepts.

Video 1: The importance of hedging

Examples of hedging:

 

1) CATEGORICAL CLAIM:

    "The issues highlighted in this study are applicable to all participants institutions."

    HEDGED CLAIM:

    "The issues highlighted in this study may be applicable to many participants institutions."

2) CATEGORICAL CLAIM:

    " Government support will assure the spread of new knowledge and the skills necessary to use the internet to thousands of people in rural areas."

    

    HEDGED CLAIM:

    "Government support may help the spread of new knowledge and the skilld necessary to use the internet to thousands of people in rural areas."

3)     CATEGORICAL CLAIM:

     "The study proves the link between smoking and lung disease."

     

    HEDGED CLAIM:

    "The study indicates/ suggest a (possible) link between smoking and lung disease."

4)    CATEGORICAL CLAIM:

   "The number of unemployed people will continue to raise as the poor economic situation persists."

 

  HEDGED CLAIM:

    "The number of unemployed people will probably continue to raise as the poor economic situation persists."

   

5)   CATEGORICAL CLAIM:

   " This (and subsequent) studies led to the conclusion that the GTP itself must be the elusive base, and therefore to the proposal of the GTP-as-base mechanism (Schweins et al 1994, 1995)"

  HEDGED CLAIM:

  "This (and subsequent) studies led to the conclusion that the GTP itself may be the elusive base, and therefore to the proposal of the GTP-as-base mechanism (Schweins et al 1994, 1995)"

Strategies to hedge in academic writing:

• The use of lexical verbs:  tend to, suggest, indicate, appear, seem.
• The use of adverbs of frequency: usually, normally, generaly, often, sometimes.
• The use of adverbs & adjectives of certainty: possible, possibly, probable, probably, likely, maybe, perhaps, generally speaking.
• The use of modal verbs: may might, could,

Video 2: Hedging and Boosting

Example of boosting:

1)  "Employees will always respond positively in such circumstances."

2) "Certainly, this has had an impact on learning outcomes."

3) "These figures prove that there has been strong growth as a result of policy change."

Strategies to boost in academic writing:

• The use of adverbs of frequency: always, never.
• The use of adverbs & adjective of certainty: certain, certainly, obvious, obviously, definite, definitely, conclusive, conclusively, evident, evidently.
• The use of modal verbs: will, should.
• The use of lexical verbs: show, prove, evidence.

DEFINITION OF HEDGING CLICK HERE

DEFINITION OF BOOSTING CLICK HERE

Metacognitive analysis:

    Hedging and Boosting show writers judge and interpretation of their expresions. They are strategies employed by authors to express their stance, modifying not only the force of speech acts but also the interpretative character of meaning.

    When we write, we often indicate how confident we are about the claims we make. If we are doubtful that something is true or we simply have a different point of view, we may use words such as "perhaps" or "possibly" among other. But if we are confident and sure about something or we are agree with other authors point of view, we may use words such as "clearly" or "obviously" among other. So Hedging and Boosting affect the tone of our writing  and good writers use them effectively. That is why it is important to take into account these two procedures in academic writing.

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Entry 9 -PART 2: Writing Project- Refugees

    An essay is considered as a short piece of writing by a student on a particular subject or topic. It takes time, dedication, effort and knowledge on the subject to be addressed.

     The following presentation is made with an application called Padlet where you can see two videos related to how to write a good essay along with a brief summary.

      I hope you find it useful. 

Now I would like to share an extra video related to topic, any source is helpful to understand better on how to write a good essay.

Entry 9 - Part 1: Writing Project- REFUGEES

 

We Refugees by Benjamin Zephaniah

The poem "We Refugees" written by Benjamin Zephaniah tells about people who had to flee or move from their countries due to different circumstances. It expresses issues such as discrimination, loss of culture, racism and the sense of freedom of expression and critical thinking. So I wonder to myself, why is there fear or discrimination if all the people in the world are intertwined for one reason or another?. In order to understand the subject, the sixth stanza says  "I come from a beautiful place where the valley is flooded every year and every year the hurricane tells us that we must keep moving forward", Benjamin discriminates one of the causes of being a refugee, it is clear that the reason by which people decide to leave their land vary according to the different situations that prevent them from progressing, or even more complicated, preserving their own lifes. Furthermore, in the fourth stanza, the author reflects on refugees and comes to the conclusion that everyone is a refugee at some point in life. Taking into account the history of each individual and their descendants, we all tend to be part of experiencing discrimination, abandonment of our culture, mixed feeling among others. Finally, the poem leads us to rethink that no one in the world is exempt from being a refugee, we all come from them, it is in history and that is why we all experience a change. After all, human history was built at one point by refugees.

Refugees by Brian Bilston

Brian Bilston poem "Refugees" offers a negative point of view towards people who have to flee or leave their countries of origin. In this case, he differentiates refugees from non-refugees by subtly persuading and emphasizing very unfavorable particularities. To begin with, the poem is nothing more than one stanza written in the third person of plural that seems to represent a sector of society that is indifferent to these circumstances. For example, at the beginning of the stanza ir reads "They don't need our help So don't tell me that these haggard faces could belong to you or me...". It could be said that society establishes a barrier between refugees highlighting inequality when it reads "...it is not okay to say that these people are just like us...". Of course I dare to say that these events are part or reality because the unknown or new tends to be rejected for the simple fact of generating fear and uncertainty. However, in most cases these events occur due to ignorance, lack of information or prejudice. To finish, I consider that the poem criticizes the society where it shows a fissure, on the one hand the refugees and on the other the people who do not agree to help them and believe, in some way, they are a superior race.

     This poem is a palindrome which means that it can be read both from top to bottom and from bottom to top. "Refugees" has two different perspectives, on the one hand it is pessimistic and on the other it is optimistic. In this opportunity, the reading of the poem will be analyzed from bottom up which has a totally opposite message to the previous analysis because they can be interpreted as addressing issues such as equality, empathy and solidarity. It could be said that the stanza is a criticism of people with lack of empathy but it also reinforces or affirms the ideal for those who are agree to help refugees. At the beginning of the stanza, it could be said that the author calls for non-discrimination when it reads "The world can be looked at another way Do not be so stupid to think that A place should only belong to those who are born there..." alluding to his intention to promote equality by questioning why people cannot live in a safe place even if it is not their place of origin. Of course empathy is essential and it is interesting the way it is carried out to reach the reader's perception, it makes us reflect and imagine on how terrible must be to be in a critical situation and it also refutes the prejudices that society imposes. Added to this, solidarity is another issue that allows us to rethink that no one is exempt from living a situation like this  and it concludes with "...These haggard faces could belong to you or me So do not tell me They have no need of our help.". Finally, I consider this poem represents society as a whole, with all the good and bad that goes with it. But above all, it makes us see that pride in the last expected moment can betray us.

Metacognitive analysis:

  After reading both "We Refugees" and "Refugees" poems, I have come to question over and over again why people are so apathetic to what is happening around them.

    It is true that there is a well-defined crack in society, but I also dare to say that slowly but continuously, these situations are being reversed as more and more people become aware of gravity while reflecting on gravity. itself.

  However, both Benjamin and Brian in their poems question the actions of society, since we all belong to the human race for what makes us equal. But I am also not unwise and I recognize that the media confuse and persuade individuals according to the political interests of each nation. That is why it is very important to be informed and achieve critical and autonomous thinking so as not to fall into media manipulation that only benefits a few.

   Refugees on an issue that concerns all human beings, land should not be worth more than a life and people should reconsider and show solidarity with those who need it most.

Entry 8: The Study of Language

    The book "The Study of Language, fifth edition" is a work  thinked  to knowing all about language from its origin to the key elements of language. It  implies differents social status and cultural beliefs among other, to understand meaning language and communication purpose.

 In this entry, you will have the opportunity to know a little about this edition in which you can see some chapters in the following Power Point presentations. 

CHAPTER 1: The Origins of Language  & CHAPTER 2: Animals and human language

The study of language fifth edition, chapter 1 and 2 de Erica Gisela Delgado

CHAPTER 11: Discourse Analysis

This chapter explains what discourse is. It is what gives language meaning in texts and conversations and it provides us all their characteristics such as cohesion and coherence among other. The first one gives us connection between paragraph within text and the second makes sense of what we perceive.

Chapter 11: Discourse analysis de Erica Gisela Delgado

CHAPTER 17: Language history and change

This chapter helps us to find out and understand all changes English Language has gone through. It involves the investigation of the features of older languages and the ways they developed into modern languages.

Chapter 17: Language history and change de Erica Gisela Delgado

CHAPTER 18: Regional variation in language

This chapter is related to different variations that language has, but it is most notorious in the way it is spoken.

CHAPTER 18: Regional variation in language de Erica Gisela Delgado

CHAPTER 19: Social variation in language

This chapter is related to language in social context. But it is especially focused on the variation in language use in terms of education and economic status. As a result languages varies according to upper and lower social status.Taking into account this aspect, Yule mentions the term "prestige" as a habitual element in which language can be used formal or informal in a particular situation.

CHAPTER 19: Language and Social Variation. de Erica Gisela Delgad

Source: George Yule, 2014. "The Study of Language,Fifth Edition". Cambridge University, New York. MPG Printgroups Ltd., Cambridge.

   The book "The Study of Language Fifth Edition" is an improved version of how language evolves through history. It explains the way it develops, it varies according to social status, and the different interpretation or meaning to the situation or context that is presented.

  It is very interesting to know the development of language because it mains purpose is to have access to communication before a previous necessity. To achieve this motive, humans need to use others sources such as physical features, for instance, teeth, lips, mouth, laryx and pharyx. In comparison to animals, humans can reflect on their action.

   Therefore, this characteristic can be observed in the ability to develop a language with a defined intention and  also with different explications according to intonation, register - among others - in a specific place or context. It is important to mention that a person who obtained a good education has better fluency and a greater amount of vocabulary than a person who did not obtain it. This advantage or disadvantage, depending on the place people are positioned, evidences two different social status, low and high, that divide the society inevitably.

     In addition, this volume provides us explanations and examples of how language changes depending on the social or educational level. But above all, it is interesting to find out how language varies in meaning or interpretation just because of context. 

     To conclude, this work helps us to understand the way language is constantly changing due to people needs. It varies between register, jargon, grammatical features -among others- and jointly they lead us the interpretation and the meaning in accordance with circumstances.   

Entry 7: Writing & Academic Writing

 WRITING

     Writing is not an ability that people acquire easily and naturally, it is a task that must be taught. Thence, learning or teaching how to write correctly is not just a thing of grammar or vocabulary but also a process that implies three stages. In addition to that, it is important to ask ourself what we want to convey to our audience or what could be interesting. So, the answer to these questions is to find a topic. Once we find a topic, we can assume all sub-skills to create, support, teach or learn a good piece of writing to have success in our productions.  

Academic Writing

  What is academic writing?

  Academic writing is clear, concise, focussed, structured and backed on by evidence. Its purpose is to aid the reader's understanding. It has a formal tone and style, but it is not complex and does not require the use of long sentences and complicated vocabulary. However, there are some general characteristics of academic writing that are relevant across all disciplines.

  Now I will share a brief summary related to both writing and Academic Writing key concepts.

Metacognitive analysis:

 Carrying out an effective academic writing means implementing writing strategies and providing support that argues or evidences what you want to communicate. So before I start writing about a specific topic, I must ask to myself what does an academic writing imply?

  To beging with, it is important to have knowledge about the writing processes. First, I must find a topic to develop and based on that, I must think about the background knowledge and what resources will support it. Second, I must think about the audience and the communicative purpose. And third, once I have finished writing, it is advisable to review and reread the work during and after to verify if what I wrote has coherence, cohesion, good grammatical use, order and unity.

    In addition to what is properly said, it is important to mention that during the writing process, evidence plays a very predominat role as it supports, reinforces, argues and enriches my writing. This documentation can be ideas collected from other authors or interviews. For this reason, it is essential to use hedging or boosting.

     Finally, the general structure of an acdemic writing implies an introduction - where I present the general and main idea along with the thesis statement; a body -where each paragraph has a specific topic along with its argument giving details and explaining the general and main topic; and finally, a coclusion - where in addition to giving a critical opinion with a clear posiion,I msut provide a summary of the thesis.

      To conclude, writing academically implies an introduction, body and conclusion on a main topic which is given different arguments that demonstrate what you want to communicate using strategies such as hedging, boosting, background knowledge and correct grammatical use. In my personal experience, I must confess that putting all this knowledge into practice is very overwhelming and difficult  to implement.