Title: Improving Argentinian Secondary School Students’ Performance in English Language Writing
Andrea Marina Valek
María Fernanda Walter
Universidad CAECE
Abstract
Although new methodologies have been applied in English language learning and teaching, most students’ writing performances in Argentina may still be restricted to product- oriented approaches. This study reports on the prospective implementation of the process- oriented approach in writing classes in two secondary schools of Cordoba province, Argentina, as it might improve students’ written productions. There exists secondary schools´ teachers in Córdoba province who may continue adopting product-oriented approaches in their writing classes and focusing on students’ final pieces of work rather than on their learning processes. However, adapting the process-oriented approach for the teaching and learning of English language writing could be an effective technique as it would enable students to share, discuss, reflect and learn writing skills in a more cooperative and collaborative environment.
Keywords: Writing, Argentinian secondary schools, process oriented approach, learning, teaching.
Title: Improving Argentinian Secondary School Students’ Performance in English Language Writing
Introduction
A large number of various views of writing show that there has not yet been any consensus of what writing is although its importance has been recognized in its own right. Traditionally, writing was considered as transcribed speech. It was often assumed that the acquisition of spoken proficiency had to take precedence over the learning of written language, and that students would be able to write once they ‘mastered’ spoken language and orthographic conventions. According to Grabe and Kaplan (1996) and Matsuda (1997), writing is “far from decontextualized because every writing task is situated in a rhetorical context, involving complex interrelationships among various elements of writing: the writer, the reader, the text and reality”. (p.5)
According to Canale and Swain(1990), the ability of writing can be considered as “ a manifestation of, as well as the process of manifesting, sociolinguistic, strategic and grammatical competences mediated by the use of orthographic systems” (as cited in Silva & Matsuda, 2002, pp. 252). It is important to mention that, for scholars, writing might be a language skill difficult to acquire since it is not readily picked up by exposure but it occurs over a period of time and is sometimes carried out in extended periods of thinking and creativity (Tribble, as cited in Reid, 2001, p. 33).
In general terms, what teachers should try to do is to make students be aware that any piece of writing is an attempt to communicate something; that the writer has to have a goal or purpose in mind and has to establish and maintain contact with the reader; organize his/her material and that is done through the use of certain logical and grammatical devices developed and acquired in different stages of the teaching and learning process.
For this reason, adapting the product-oriented approach into a process-oriented one could be a more suitable strategy in English language writing. Many studies have tried to prove and analyze the effectiveness of applying a process approach. Theoretically, this approach calls for providing and maintaining a positive, encouraging and collaborative workshop environment in all the English language classes.
Literature Review
Traditional approaches to teaching writing
In the recent history of second language writing, a number of different approaches to the practice of writing skills have vied for the attention of second language writing professionals. Among these approaches, controlled composition and the paragraph pattern approaches are the most prominent and widely used in a series of new English textbooks for Argentinian secondary school students. Classroom writing practice has its own purpose and structure, and is not simply a reflection of the outside world. In this sense, writing activities can be considered not only from the instrumental perspective of what is useful for external purposes, but also in terms of their educational function and the reality of the classroom itself.
Controlled composition.
In the controlled composition classroom, the primary focus is on formal accuracy. The role of the teacher is to provide accurate and carefully selected language samples that students can repeat and memorize. Within this tradition, students can write a lot without being afraid of making many errors, and the teacher can deal with these pieces of writing more easily. (Grabe and Kaplan, 1996, p. 102)
Overall, controlled composition sees writing as a secondary activity; as a means of practicing structures and vocabulary learned in the classroom. Therefore, the context for writing is the classroom and the audience is the teacher. This approach focuses on form and accuracy rather than the fluency of the language, and writing is simply a means of assessing students’ ability to manipulate the structures practiced in the classroom. Audience and purpose are not taken into consideration.
The paragraph pattern approach.
Increasing awareness of second language writers’ need to produce extended written texts led to the realization that there was more to writing than constructing grammatical sentences. The result of this realization was what Raimes (1983) has called the paragraph pattern approach, which emphasizes the importance of organization at the above-sentence level (as cited in Silva & Matsuda, 2002, p. 259).
Classroom procedures associated with this tradition have tended to focus students’ attention primarily on form. Students are asked to read and analyze a model text and then write another piece of writing that has the same organization with the original one. Besides, some common writing activities, within this tradition, require students to group provided relevant facts, rearrange them in the logical order to form an outline, and then write a complete text based on that outline. Students may also be asked to complete a paragraph or a story by adding an ending or a beginning or a middle section and so on (Grabe and Kaplan, 1996, p. 115). These kind of patterned drilling makes language (and writing) be used in de-contextualised meanings thus carrying little communicative function among teachers and students.
To sum up, these traditional approaches to the teaching of writing focus on both accuracy and the finished product. Besides, imitating models inhibits writers rather than liberating them. There is little or no opportunity for the students to express their own ideas. It is inevitable that little attention is paid to the ideas and meaning of students’ pieces of writing. What is more, over-emphasis on accuracy and form can lead to serious writing block sterile and unimaginative pieces of work (Halsted, 1975, p. 102).
Dissatisfaction with controlled composition and the paragraph pattern approach paved the way for the process approach, an expressive approach which became prominent in English-speaking composition classrooms during the 1980s. The understanding of what constitutes the writing process instructional model has evolved since the 1970’s, when it emerged as a pedagogical approach. As Zamel (1982) states, “this approach entered the classroom as the process movement: a concentration on personal writing, student creativity, and fluency” (as cited in Reid, 2001, p. 38).
In general, those studies that view the process model as encompassing more teacher direction in the process show positive effects on the quality of students’ writing, on their view of themselves as writers, and on their understanding of the writing process. Thus teachers are designing curriculums based on the balance of institutional, programme and student needs rather than around dogmatic theories or approaches. Placed in the classroom context, this process approach calls for providing and maintaining a positive, encouraging and collaborative workshop environment, and for providing ample time and minimal interference so as to allow students to work through their composing processes. The objective is to help students develop viable strategies for getting started, drafting, revising and editing.
From a process perspective, then, writing is a complex, recursive and creative process that is very similar in its general outlines for first and second language writers; learning to write requires the development of an efficient and effective composing process. “The writer is engaged in the discovery and expression of meaning; the reader, on interpreting that intended meaning. The product (that is, the written text) is a secondary concern, whose form is a function of its content and purpose” (Silva & Matsuda, 2002, pp. 261). Therefore, writing instruction seems to involve practice in composing strategies; whereas learning to write seems to entail obtaining and using these strategies to manage the creation of a text and monitor its development.
Working process-oriented writing framework.
Writing, like reading, is in many ways an individual, solitary activity: The writing triangle of communicating, composing and crafting is usually carried out for an absent readership (Reid, 2001, p. 32). However, it should be remembered that our students are language learners rather than writers, and it would not be particularly helpful to have them spend all their time writing alone. Although process research points to a need to give learner-writers space and time to operate their own preferred individual strategies, the classroom can be structured in such a way as to provide positive intervention and support in the development of writing skills.
Placed in the Argentinian secondary school context, one of the disadvantages of getting students to concentrate on the process of writing is that it takes time: time to brainstorm ideas or collect them in some other way; time to draft a piece of writing and then, with the teacher’s help perhaps, review it and edit it in various ways before changing the focus, generating more ideas, redrafting, re-editing and so on. This process could not be done in two or three periods of forty minutes in which English lessons take place every week. However, the various stages could be adapted so that process writing is handled appropriately and it stretches across the whole.
From the above reasons, a working process-oriented writing model which is used as a framework for the lesson plans in this study is proposed. The classroom can provide the following stages adapted from Seow (2002)’s process model:
1. stage 1: pre-writing: helping students to generate ideas and building
awareness of discourse organization;
2. stage 2: drafting: letting students write freely;
3. stage 3: peer evaluation: enabling students to appreciate the criteria for
an effective text;
4. stage 4: revising: helping students to develop crafting skills.
Research Aim
This study aims to find out whether adopting the process-oriented approach into the English teaching and learning of writing in the most advanced courses at two Argentinian high schools has more positive effects than adopting the product-oriented approach in said environment. One of them is a state-run secondary school, the other is a private Roman Catholic high school. Both are located in the province of Córdoba, Argentina; the former is in a large town in the south and the latter in the capital city. When investigating the effectiveness of the process-oriented approach in writing classes at said secondary schools, the improvement of the students’ English language writing performance shall be taken into due consideration.
Methodology
In this study, the implementation of the process-oriented approach will be monitored and the students’ writing performance will be measured. The main purpose of the writing activities adopting the process-oriented approach is to offer upper-secondary students of two different secondary schools, a cooperative learning environment in order to improve their quality of English writing by sharing their written products and learning from their peers, not only from the teacher.
During the 16-week semester, two writing groups will be equally instructed by the researchers. However, the main difference between the two conditions is that adapting the product-oriented approach will be applied in one group whereas adopting the process-oriented approach will be implemented in the other. In both conditions, the researchers will grade the students’ written products
Instruments
The test types selected for this study are popular kinds of writing test similar to those which students are instructed, and those which are often used in the secondary school classroom context (Appendixes a and b). Therefore, the students are supposed to be familiar with the test format.
For the purpose of this study, one type of rating scales will be used: analytic scales. As McNamara (1996) states, the scale that is used in assessing performance tasks such as writing tests, represents, implicitly or explicitly, the theoretical basic upon which the test is founded; that is, it embodies the test (or scale) developer’s notion of what skills or abilities are being measured by the test. For this reason the development of a scale (or set of scales) and the descriptors for each scale level are of critical importance for the validity of the assessment (as cited in Weigle, 2002, pp.109).
Analytic scoring has some advantages. On the one hand, it is particularly useful for second language learners who are more likely to show a marked or uneven profile across different aspects of writing. On the other hand, analytic scoring can be more reliable than holistic scoring since a scoring scheme in which multiple scores are given to each script tends to improve reliability (Hamp-Lyons, as cited in Weigle, 2002, p. 120)
In analytic scoring, scripts are rated on several aspects of writing or criteria rather than given a single score. Depending on the purpose of the assessment, scripts might be rated on such features as content, organization, cohesion, register, vocabulary, grammar, or mechanics. Analytic scoring schemes thus provide more detailed information about a test taker’s performance in different aspects of writing. For this reason it is usually preferred over holistic schemes by many writing specialists. (Weigle, 2002, p. 121)
One of the best known and most widely used analytic scales in ESL was created by Jacobs, H. L., Zingraf, S. A., Wormuth, D. R., Hartfiel, V. F., & Hughey, J. B. (1981, cited in Weigle, 2002, p. 116) (Appendix C). In such scale, scripts are rated on five aspects of writing: content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics. The five aspects are differentially weighted to emphasize first content (30 points) and next language use (25 points), with organization and vocabulary weighted equally (20 points) and mechanics receiving very little emphasis (5 points).
From the above discussion, it is relevant to add that Jacobs et al. ‘s scoring profile (as cited in Weigle, 2002, p. 115) shall be implented in this study as a marking scale and a framework for the graders’ evaluation.
Participants
The participants in this study are 57 students at two distinct secondary schools. One of them is a state school located in a small town and subsidized by the provincial government. The other one is a private school which is partly subsidized by the provincial government and belongs to the Catholic Church. Unlike the former, the latter is located in the provincial capital city.
All of these participants are in the sixth year. As they belong to two different schools, they are permanently arranged in two separate classes. One of the researchers will teach 30 students at one of the schools and the other one will manage 27 students at the other . The writing classes will be met every two weeks for 40 minutes. And eight sessions will make up one semester.
Both researchers will be responsible for implementing the project and collecting as well as analyzing data. Other two writing teachers in the English Department will get involved in the project to help both researchers grade and evaluate the tests.
Limitations
Though the main aim of this research is to show that the secondary students at two Argentinian schools could improve their performance in English language writing through the implementation of the process approach, some kind of trouble may arise and hinder the aims of this study. One of the main drawbacks is that in the context of the highest courses in Argentinian high schools the exposure to English is limited to only three periods each week. Thus students receive little practice in writing in English, in fact, only one period of 40 minutes a week. When they do write, they find themselves confused with word choice, grammatical use, organization and generation of ideas. Besides, they tend to translate ideas from mother tongue into English, express ideas in long sentences as well as they are not aware of different kinds of writing.
The pressures of the formative tests and summative examinations that lead English teachers to focus on grammar rules, linguistic accuracy and students’ final pieces of work instead of functional language skills is another potential setback that may limit the outcome of the research. Thus teaching English writing in Argentinian secondary schools is a challenging job for many English teachers because it requires the application of appropriate writing instructions and the accurate decision making with respect to time use. The reality of teaching English writing at the two distinct secondary schools involved has revealed that most students have problems in writing.
Conclusions
It seems the majority of writing activities in the Argentinian secondary school syllabuses are designed on the basis of the product-oriented approach, in which students are encouraged to mimic a model text, which is usually presented and analyzed at an early stage. This process may discourage students’ creativity because they cannot use their own experiences to express themselves. Due to the fact that there are too many students in a class, and most classes are mixed ability, revision may become a burden to teachers as marking and correcting is time-consuming. What is more, teachers may feel they cannot manage it when they have only 40 minutes allocated for each writing lesson. Therefore, what English writing teachers in upper secondary schools could do is to improve the quality of students’ pieces of writing, to give them a more cooperative learning environment, and to encourage them to share their written products with their peers’. Among the pedagogical methods which could help deal with the above mentioned problems, adapting the process-oriented approach could be an effective strategy.
All in all, there exists many advantages which deserve being exploited when it comes to the implementation of the process approach for English language teaching and learning. In the pre-writing stage, students have the possibility of sharing and discussing their ideas in groups in such a way that students become aware of the features of different genres of writing in English. Then, during drafting, the most important feature is meaning so students can get helpful tools to better express their own ideas. What is more, at the revising stage, they would also learn from their errors rather than be told about theirs. Therefore, the effectiveness of the process approach may prove to be one of the major tools in the English language classroom to promote communicative competence in second language writing.
Evidently, writing continues to serve as a vehicle for second language practice. However; this function is integrated into a broader and more diversified perspective. Teachers need to make students aware that writing is a complex, recursive and creative process that is very similar to the one developed by first language writers. All in all, learning to write requires the development of an efficient and effective composing process since the writer is engaged in the discovery as well as the expression of meaning.
References
Grabe, W., & Kaplan, R. (1996). Theory and Practice of Writing. London: Addison Wesley Longman.
Halsted, I. (1975). Putting error in its place. Journal of Basic Writing 1,
1, 72-86.
McDonough, J., & Shaw, C. (1996). Materials and Methods in ELT. A teacher’s guide.
Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.
Matsuda, P.K. (1997). Contrastive rhetoric in context: A dynamic model of L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 6 (1),45-60.
Reid, J. (2001). Writing. The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages. (R. Carter & D. Nunan, Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Seow, A. (2002). The Writing Process and Process Writing . (J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya, Eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Silva, T., & Matsuda, P. K. (2002). An introduction to applied linguistics (N. Schmitt, Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Weigle, S. C. (2002). Assessing Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Appendix A
TEST on Writing
Time allotted: 40 minutes
Student’s name: ……………………………………….
Class: ……………………….
School: ………………………
Date: …………………………
Marks In words Teacher’s signature Teacher’s signature
These days, many people begin to catch fish in the lake behind your house. What makes you worried most is that they use electricity to catch fish. A lot of small fish died and floated on the water surface. Other animals such as frogs, toads, and even birds also died from electric shock waves. You think that local authorities should prohibit and fine heavily anyone catching fish in this way.
Now, write a letter of 100-150 words to the head of the local authorities to complain about the way of catching fish in the lake behind your house. Follow the format provided:
Situation states the reason for writing
Complication mentions the problem
Resolution makes a suggestion
Action talks about future action
Politeness ends the letter politely
jueves, 22 de diciembre de 2011
Research Papers in Education: Mediums of Discussion and Reflection
Research Papers in Education: Mediums of Discussion and Reflection
According to Copley, Greenberg, Handley and Oaks (1996), “a research paper is more than the sum of your sources, more than a collection of different pieces of information about a topic” (para.1). What is more, they consider that in order to write a research paper a person not only needs to make use of analytical skills but also of your argumentative ones. Besides, these authors think that a finished research paper should present the researcher´s own thinking supported by others´ information and ideas.
It is supposed that when writing academically, a researcher should make use of the already mentioned skills. This is because, by analysing a research paper critically, its author could break down a topic or specific issue and consider it in detail thus interpreting and discovering the essential features of it. In the same way, by employing argumentative skills, the researcher will be able to use its information and support its points of view. Moreover, the Purdue OWL experts (2010) state that “The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided” (para.1).
As in any other area, research papers in education should also be recognized as mediums of discussion and reflection. Every year, educational researchers try to produce and reproduce new knowledge and theories as well as to solve problems when writing research papers. In this way, they are involved in a constant and dynamic process which enables them to share, discuss and reflect on critical issues concerned with the area of inquiry. What is more, they can help educators find sensible and concrete solutions to important issues.
To sum up, research papers might be considered as single pieces of art in which its author may be able to show his/her understanding of a certain topic but, at the same time he can utilize his/ her critical thinking and writing skills in an appropriate way. Research Papers in Education is not only a vital source of pertinent information for educational researchers, but also required reading for educational policy-makers and planners. Therefore, these kinds of papers can be utilized in education for other colleagues anytime they need in order to investigate and find sensible answers to gaps concerned with the teaching and learning process.
References
Copley, C., Greenberg, L., Handley, E., & Oaks, S. (1996). Developing a research question. Retrieved September 1, 2009, from Empire State College: State University of New York Web site:
http://www.esc.edu/esconline/across_esc/writerscomplex.nsf/0/f87fd7182f0ff21c852569c2005a47b7
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (2010). General Format. Retrieved May, 2011, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
According to Copley, Greenberg, Handley and Oaks (1996), “a research paper is more than the sum of your sources, more than a collection of different pieces of information about a topic” (para.1). What is more, they consider that in order to write a research paper a person not only needs to make use of analytical skills but also of your argumentative ones. Besides, these authors think that a finished research paper should present the researcher´s own thinking supported by others´ information and ideas.
It is supposed that when writing academically, a researcher should make use of the already mentioned skills. This is because, by analysing a research paper critically, its author could break down a topic or specific issue and consider it in detail thus interpreting and discovering the essential features of it. In the same way, by employing argumentative skills, the researcher will be able to use its information and support its points of view. Moreover, the Purdue OWL experts (2010) state that “The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided” (para.1).
As in any other area, research papers in education should also be recognized as mediums of discussion and reflection. Every year, educational researchers try to produce and reproduce new knowledge and theories as well as to solve problems when writing research papers. In this way, they are involved in a constant and dynamic process which enables them to share, discuss and reflect on critical issues concerned with the area of inquiry. What is more, they can help educators find sensible and concrete solutions to important issues.
To sum up, research papers might be considered as single pieces of art in which its author may be able to show his/her understanding of a certain topic but, at the same time he can utilize his/ her critical thinking and writing skills in an appropriate way. Research Papers in Education is not only a vital source of pertinent information for educational researchers, but also required reading for educational policy-makers and planners. Therefore, these kinds of papers can be utilized in education for other colleagues anytime they need in order to investigate and find sensible answers to gaps concerned with the teaching and learning process.
References
Copley, C., Greenberg, L., Handley, E., & Oaks, S. (1996). Developing a research question. Retrieved September 1, 2009, from Empire State College: State University of New York Web site:
http://www.esc.edu/esconline/across_esc/writerscomplex.nsf/0/f87fd7182f0ff21c852569c2005a47b7
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (2010). General Format. Retrieved May, 2011, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
A descriptive analysis of research article abstracts
A descriptive analysis of research article abstracts
Hubbuch (1996) defines abstracts as “brief summaries of the major points made by an author in a book or article” (p.126). In fact, abstracts allow readers to delve into a summary of the whole research article (RA) as well as to be able to have a clear perspective of the main topics being discussed. It is expected that they follow broadly accepted academic guidelines. Moreover, abstracts may be classified in terms of their structure and content and, analyzed with respect to their linguistic features and approach to writing.
Abstracts from the field of medicine will be compared, analyzed and contrasted with others which belong to the educational field in order to find differences and similarities as regards their structure, linguistic features, the use of tenses and any other relevant conventions. As it was already stated, the examined texts deal with diverse topics related to the fields of medicine and education, namely non-invasive cardiac stress testing (Wijeysundera, Beattie, Elliot, Austin, Hux, & Laupacis, 2009), the treatment of hypertension in elderly patients (Beckett, Peters, Fletcher, Staessen, Liu, Dumitrascu, Stoyanovsky, Antikainen, Nikitin, Anderson, Belhani, Forette, Rajkumar, Thijs, Banya, & Bulpitt, 2008), the video in the classroom (Kokonis, 1993) and the use of DVD in the EFL classroom (King, 2002).
When taking into consideration the classification of research paper abstracts that Swales and Feak (1998) present, Wijeysundera et al. (2009) have provided their research paper with an informative kind of abstract. By means of detailed information it attempts to describe the most relevant aspects of the corresponding study such as the objectives, the design, the participants as well as the results. In effect, it is the results section the most detailed one since it contains specific numerical data indicating ratios, indexes as well as differences: “Testing was associated with improved one year survival hazard ratio (HR) o.92, 95% CI o.86 to 0.99; P=0.03) (....)”(Wijeysundera et al., p. 1). On the other hand, concerning structure, it seems to bear most of the characteristics of the structured kind of abstracts.
An aspect that shows the above mentioned research paper could be considered a structured one is the fact that it is rather unbalanced with a long results section which seems to stand out from the rest of the abstract. This feature corresponds with one of the most important characteristics of structured abstracts that Graf (2008) describes: “The structured abstract contains more detail about methods and results, so it is possible to make a tentative critique of the quality and value of the study” (p. 3). What is more, another feature for which it is possible to consider that said abstract falls into the structured classification is the fact that each heading is bolded and makes reference to the most relevant parts of the researh paper. However, when taking into consideration the characteristics of structured abstracts that Swales and Feak (1994) provide, it does not follow the Introduction-Methods-Results And-Discussion formula (IMRAD) closely.
As in most informative abstracts, Wijeysundera et al. (2009) seem to succintly refer to the results of their study through the use of the past simple tense both active and passive: “ Of the 271082 patients in the entire cohort, 23991 (8.9%) underwent stress testing (....)” ( p. 1). Regarding the linguistic specifications formulated by Swales and Feak (1990), there is one with which the authors do no comply; that is, the use of full sentences. In fact, in the majority of the sections of their paper abstract, Wijeysundera et al. (2008) employ long complex sentences and prefer to use full sentences both in the results and conclusion sections. “Non-invasive cardiac stress testing performed within six months before surgery” (Wijeysundera et al., p. 1) is an example of such kind of phrases.
Regarding the conclusion, the researchers employ the simple present tense coinciding with a tendency in tense usage that Swales and Feak (1994) cites when referring to the characteristics of abstracts in research papers: “Preoperative non-invasive cardiac stress testing is associated with improved one year survival and length of hospital stay (....)” (Wijeysundera et al., p. 1). Besides, these results seem to be current and ongoing by having been presented in said verb tense (Swales and Feak, 2009, p. 5).
As in the paper written by Wijeysundera et al. (2009), in the informative abstract included by Beckett et al. (2008) there might be a lack of balance among its different moves: background, methods, results and conclusion. The authors employ longer grammar structures and specific statistical data in the results section which appears as the longest part as well as it includes the most specific details. That is why, it is in that part of the abstract in which acronyms referring to ratios, percentages and measurements were included: “active treatment was associated with a 30% reduction in the rate of fatal or nonfatal stroke (95% confidence interval [CI] 1 to 51, P=0.06 (....)” (Beckett et al., p. 1887).
Unlike Wijeysundera et al. (2009), Beckett et al. (2008) include a more detailed account of the methodology applied in their abstract. In fact, in the methods section, they provide a summary of both the participants’ characteristics and the different stages in which the study was performed: “The angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor perindopril (2 or 4 mg), or matching placebo, was added if necessary to achieve the target blood pressure of 150/80 mm Hg.” (Beckett et al., p.1887). Besides, these researchers also fulfill the IMRAD formula in the layout of their research paper abstract. Both papers follow the results-driven approach (Swales & Feak, 1994) with outstanding long results sections.
In their research article, Beckett et al. (2008) formulate an abstract that can be considered to bear most of the linguistic characteristics that Swales and Feak (1994) describe. It is formed by full sentences with an absence of negative statements as well as there seems to be a predominance of the past tense: “The active treatment group (1933 patients) and the placebo group (1912 patients) were well matched (....)” (Beckett et al., p 1887). At the same time the very short conclusion section is written in the simple present tense: “The results provide evidence that antihypertensive treatment with indapamide (sustained release), with or without preindopril, in persons 80 years of age or older is beneficial. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00122811). (Beckett et al., p. 1887). Thus Wijeysundera et al. (2009) as well as Beckett et al. (2008) seem to succeed in writing effective abstracts that bear the main features that Driscoll (2011) state: well-developed paragraphs, precise chronology, and logical connections between materials along with the use of the introduction-body-conclusion structure.
Considering the type of abstract written by Kokonis (1993), it can be classified as an indicative one. This is because in this abstract, a generalized summary of the article is provided. Besides, the specific or more detailed results are not included in this part of the RA. What is more, through this abstract, the author tries to describe in general terms what the researchers intended to do when carrying out their study. This part of a RA might also be classified as an unstructured abstract. In other words, the already mentioned feature accounts for the fact that this abstract consists of one long, unbroken paragraph very similar to the way in which informative abstracts are presented.
Some of the linguistics specifications mentioned by Swales and Feak (1994) are also shown in this part of the paper. It is characterized by the utilization of full and long sentences. Kokonis (1993) describes the research using the simple present form. Examples of such use can be found in sentences like “this paper suggests ways in which video can be used (…)” or “narratologists posit three terms for the textual analysis of narratives (…)” (p.1). The author also uses the present passive voice: “Selected excerpts from the film text are provided to illustrate theoretical concepts” (p. 1). There is an absence in the utilization of negatives as well as an avoidance of abbreviations and jargon in the whole abstract.
Similarly to the abstract written by Kokonis (1993), the one developed by King (2002) might be considered an indicative abstract. The author starts this part of the RA providing a general summary of the topic of research taking into account past events that support the investigation. King (2002) does not refer to any specific results. In the last part of the abstract, the steps followed by the researcher to carry out her investigation are explained in a few words: “This paper starts off by discussing film-viewing approaches (…)” and then she continues “[and] then assessing the use of captioned and non-captions films with different level learners”. In the same way as the abstract developed by Kokonis (1993), it shows the main feature of an unstructured abstract. In other words, it was written in an only one unbroken paragraph.
As for linguistics specifications, this abstract is characterized by the use of full sentences. There is also an absence in the use of negative as well as the use of impersonal passive. The avoidance of jargon and abbreviations is another feature of this part of the RA. Considering verb tenses, the present tense is mostly used in the whole abstract: “With these special features, DVD films provide more pedagogical options (…) “, “This paper starts off by discussing film-viewing approaches”. The opening sentences are written in the present tense. For instance, a present perfect form is used when King (2002) starts writing her abstract “DVD has vastly replaced traditional VHS as the movie medium of the millennium.”
To sum up, after reading and working with the aforementioned research papers, some important characteristics in relation to the objectives, linguistics features as well as classification of abstracts have been taken into account. By making a profound description, this paper could also reflect on the essence of these abstracts, thus offering a deep and comparative analysis between different fields of study and research.
References
Beckett, N., Peters, R., Fletcher, A., Staessen, J., Liu, L., Dumitrascu, D., Stoyanovsky, V., Antikainen; R., Nikitin, Y., Anderson, C., Belhani, A., Forette, F., Rajkumar, C., Thijs, L., Banya, W. & Bulpitt, C. (2008). Treatment of hypertension in patients 80 years older of age or older [Abstract]. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358(18), 1887-1898. Retrieved June 2011, from
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/18/1887
Driscoll, D. (2011). Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (2011). Writing Report Abstracts. Retrieved June 2011 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/656
Graf, J. (2008). Center for Teaching and Learning English Writing Lab. Handbook of Biomedical Research Writing. Retrieved June, 2011 from
http://www.hanyangowl.org/media/biomedical/handbookbiomedicalwriting.pdf
Hubbuch, S. M. (1996). Writing research papers across the curriculum. (4th ed.). Harcourt Brace: Fort Worth, TX.
King, J. (2002). Using DVD Feature Films in the EFL Classroom [Abstract]. The Weekly Column, 2002(88). Retrieved June, 2011 from http://www.eltnewsletter.com
Kokonis, M. (1993). The Video in the Classroom: Agatha Christie’s “Evil Under the Sun” ant the Teaching of Narratology through Film [Abstract]. Retrieved from ERIC Education Resources Information Center. (ED393427).
Swales, J. M. & Feak, C. (2008). Journal Article Abstracts. University of Michigan. Ann Arbor. Michigan. USA. Retrieved June, 2011 from http://turkey.usembassy.gov/uploads/images/WX6duzqT06rI9geYcx3UrA/FeakAbstracts_and_the_Writing_of_Abstracts_March_2.pdf
Wijeysundera, D.N., Beattie, W. S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P. C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2009). Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study [Abstract]. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b55.
Hubbuch (1996) defines abstracts as “brief summaries of the major points made by an author in a book or article” (p.126). In fact, abstracts allow readers to delve into a summary of the whole research article (RA) as well as to be able to have a clear perspective of the main topics being discussed. It is expected that they follow broadly accepted academic guidelines. Moreover, abstracts may be classified in terms of their structure and content and, analyzed with respect to their linguistic features and approach to writing.
Abstracts from the field of medicine will be compared, analyzed and contrasted with others which belong to the educational field in order to find differences and similarities as regards their structure, linguistic features, the use of tenses and any other relevant conventions. As it was already stated, the examined texts deal with diverse topics related to the fields of medicine and education, namely non-invasive cardiac stress testing (Wijeysundera, Beattie, Elliot, Austin, Hux, & Laupacis, 2009), the treatment of hypertension in elderly patients (Beckett, Peters, Fletcher, Staessen, Liu, Dumitrascu, Stoyanovsky, Antikainen, Nikitin, Anderson, Belhani, Forette, Rajkumar, Thijs, Banya, & Bulpitt, 2008), the video in the classroom (Kokonis, 1993) and the use of DVD in the EFL classroom (King, 2002).
When taking into consideration the classification of research paper abstracts that Swales and Feak (1998) present, Wijeysundera et al. (2009) have provided their research paper with an informative kind of abstract. By means of detailed information it attempts to describe the most relevant aspects of the corresponding study such as the objectives, the design, the participants as well as the results. In effect, it is the results section the most detailed one since it contains specific numerical data indicating ratios, indexes as well as differences: “Testing was associated with improved one year survival hazard ratio (HR) o.92, 95% CI o.86 to 0.99; P=0.03) (....)”(Wijeysundera et al., p. 1). On the other hand, concerning structure, it seems to bear most of the characteristics of the structured kind of abstracts.
An aspect that shows the above mentioned research paper could be considered a structured one is the fact that it is rather unbalanced with a long results section which seems to stand out from the rest of the abstract. This feature corresponds with one of the most important characteristics of structured abstracts that Graf (2008) describes: “The structured abstract contains more detail about methods and results, so it is possible to make a tentative critique of the quality and value of the study” (p. 3). What is more, another feature for which it is possible to consider that said abstract falls into the structured classification is the fact that each heading is bolded and makes reference to the most relevant parts of the researh paper. However, when taking into consideration the characteristics of structured abstracts that Swales and Feak (1994) provide, it does not follow the Introduction-Methods-Results And-Discussion formula (IMRAD) closely.
As in most informative abstracts, Wijeysundera et al. (2009) seem to succintly refer to the results of their study through the use of the past simple tense both active and passive: “ Of the 271082 patients in the entire cohort, 23991 (8.9%) underwent stress testing (....)” ( p. 1). Regarding the linguistic specifications formulated by Swales and Feak (1990), there is one with which the authors do no comply; that is, the use of full sentences. In fact, in the majority of the sections of their paper abstract, Wijeysundera et al. (2008) employ long complex sentences and prefer to use full sentences both in the results and conclusion sections. “Non-invasive cardiac stress testing performed within six months before surgery” (Wijeysundera et al., p. 1) is an example of such kind of phrases.
Regarding the conclusion, the researchers employ the simple present tense coinciding with a tendency in tense usage that Swales and Feak (1994) cites when referring to the characteristics of abstracts in research papers: “Preoperative non-invasive cardiac stress testing is associated with improved one year survival and length of hospital stay (....)” (Wijeysundera et al., p. 1). Besides, these results seem to be current and ongoing by having been presented in said verb tense (Swales and Feak, 2009, p. 5).
As in the paper written by Wijeysundera et al. (2009), in the informative abstract included by Beckett et al. (2008) there might be a lack of balance among its different moves: background, methods, results and conclusion. The authors employ longer grammar structures and specific statistical data in the results section which appears as the longest part as well as it includes the most specific details. That is why, it is in that part of the abstract in which acronyms referring to ratios, percentages and measurements were included: “active treatment was associated with a 30% reduction in the rate of fatal or nonfatal stroke (95% confidence interval [CI] 1 to 51, P=0.06 (....)” (Beckett et al., p. 1887).
Unlike Wijeysundera et al. (2009), Beckett et al. (2008) include a more detailed account of the methodology applied in their abstract. In fact, in the methods section, they provide a summary of both the participants’ characteristics and the different stages in which the study was performed: “The angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor perindopril (2 or 4 mg), or matching placebo, was added if necessary to achieve the target blood pressure of 150/80 mm Hg.” (Beckett et al., p.1887). Besides, these researchers also fulfill the IMRAD formula in the layout of their research paper abstract. Both papers follow the results-driven approach (Swales & Feak, 1994) with outstanding long results sections.
In their research article, Beckett et al. (2008) formulate an abstract that can be considered to bear most of the linguistic characteristics that Swales and Feak (1994) describe. It is formed by full sentences with an absence of negative statements as well as there seems to be a predominance of the past tense: “The active treatment group (1933 patients) and the placebo group (1912 patients) were well matched (....)” (Beckett et al., p 1887). At the same time the very short conclusion section is written in the simple present tense: “The results provide evidence that antihypertensive treatment with indapamide (sustained release), with or without preindopril, in persons 80 years of age or older is beneficial. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00122811). (Beckett et al., p. 1887). Thus Wijeysundera et al. (2009) as well as Beckett et al. (2008) seem to succeed in writing effective abstracts that bear the main features that Driscoll (2011) state: well-developed paragraphs, precise chronology, and logical connections between materials along with the use of the introduction-body-conclusion structure.
Considering the type of abstract written by Kokonis (1993), it can be classified as an indicative one. This is because in this abstract, a generalized summary of the article is provided. Besides, the specific or more detailed results are not included in this part of the RA. What is more, through this abstract, the author tries to describe in general terms what the researchers intended to do when carrying out their study. This part of a RA might also be classified as an unstructured abstract. In other words, the already mentioned feature accounts for the fact that this abstract consists of one long, unbroken paragraph very similar to the way in which informative abstracts are presented.
Some of the linguistics specifications mentioned by Swales and Feak (1994) are also shown in this part of the paper. It is characterized by the utilization of full and long sentences. Kokonis (1993) describes the research using the simple present form. Examples of such use can be found in sentences like “this paper suggests ways in which video can be used (…)” or “narratologists posit three terms for the textual analysis of narratives (…)” (p.1). The author also uses the present passive voice: “Selected excerpts from the film text are provided to illustrate theoretical concepts” (p. 1). There is an absence in the utilization of negatives as well as an avoidance of abbreviations and jargon in the whole abstract.
Similarly to the abstract written by Kokonis (1993), the one developed by King (2002) might be considered an indicative abstract. The author starts this part of the RA providing a general summary of the topic of research taking into account past events that support the investigation. King (2002) does not refer to any specific results. In the last part of the abstract, the steps followed by the researcher to carry out her investigation are explained in a few words: “This paper starts off by discussing film-viewing approaches (…)” and then she continues “[and] then assessing the use of captioned and non-captions films with different level learners”. In the same way as the abstract developed by Kokonis (1993), it shows the main feature of an unstructured abstract. In other words, it was written in an only one unbroken paragraph.
As for linguistics specifications, this abstract is characterized by the use of full sentences. There is also an absence in the use of negative as well as the use of impersonal passive. The avoidance of jargon and abbreviations is another feature of this part of the RA. Considering verb tenses, the present tense is mostly used in the whole abstract: “With these special features, DVD films provide more pedagogical options (…) “, “This paper starts off by discussing film-viewing approaches”. The opening sentences are written in the present tense. For instance, a present perfect form is used when King (2002) starts writing her abstract “DVD has vastly replaced traditional VHS as the movie medium of the millennium.”
To sum up, after reading and working with the aforementioned research papers, some important characteristics in relation to the objectives, linguistics features as well as classification of abstracts have been taken into account. By making a profound description, this paper could also reflect on the essence of these abstracts, thus offering a deep and comparative analysis between different fields of study and research.
References
Beckett, N., Peters, R., Fletcher, A., Staessen, J., Liu, L., Dumitrascu, D., Stoyanovsky, V., Antikainen; R., Nikitin, Y., Anderson, C., Belhani, A., Forette, F., Rajkumar, C., Thijs, L., Banya, W. & Bulpitt, C. (2008). Treatment of hypertension in patients 80 years older of age or older [Abstract]. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358(18), 1887-1898. Retrieved June 2011, from
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/18/1887
Driscoll, D. (2011). Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (2011). Writing Report Abstracts. Retrieved June 2011 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/656
Graf, J. (2008). Center for Teaching and Learning English Writing Lab. Handbook of Biomedical Research Writing. Retrieved June, 2011 from
http://www.hanyangowl.org/media/biomedical/handbookbiomedicalwriting.pdf
Hubbuch, S. M. (1996). Writing research papers across the curriculum. (4th ed.). Harcourt Brace: Fort Worth, TX.
King, J. (2002). Using DVD Feature Films in the EFL Classroom [Abstract]. The Weekly Column, 2002(88). Retrieved June, 2011 from http://www.eltnewsletter.com
Kokonis, M. (1993). The Video in the Classroom: Agatha Christie’s “Evil Under the Sun” ant the Teaching of Narratology through Film [Abstract]. Retrieved from ERIC Education Resources Information Center. (ED393427).
Swales, J. M. & Feak, C. (2008). Journal Article Abstracts. University of Michigan. Ann Arbor. Michigan. USA. Retrieved June, 2011 from http://turkey.usembassy.gov/uploads/images/WX6duzqT06rI9geYcx3UrA/FeakAbstracts_and_the_Writing_of_Abstracts_March_2.pdf
Wijeysundera, D.N., Beattie, W. S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P. C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2009). Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study [Abstract]. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b55.
Comparing common structures of research papers
Analyzing and comparing common structures of two research papers
In the following paper, the articles written by Kelders, Van Gemert-Pijnen, Werkman, Nijland, Seydel (2011) and Gorski (2008) will be analyzed, explored and contrasted according to their results, discussions as well as the conclusions sections. They shall be also compared in terms of their underlying structure, linguistic characteristics as well as American Psychological Association (APA, 2010) standards for the formatting of research papers.
In their research paper, Kelders et al. (2011) separate the results section from the discussion one. Both of them are highly descriptive. In fact, the result section presents the findings of the research and includes three sub-sections. Kelders et al (2011) also make use of several tables to present specific data and make comparisons between data aspects. There are also specific mathematical expressions which were included in the descriptive analyses of baseline variables: “Mean scores were respectively 2.2(SD 0.6) versus 2.1 (SD 0.6); (F1, 267=4.109, P=.044)”; (Kelders et al., p. 40). As to the use of verb tenses, Kelders et al. (2011) have occasionally used the passive form. In fact, in the Effectiveness section they state: “In addition, ITT analyses were performed on all outcome variables” (Kelders et al., p. 42). Besides, they include the passive form with the modal verb could in order to refer to the differences between pre-test and post test scores. They remark that “these differences could not be attributed to the intervention according to the ITT analyses” (Kelders et al., p. 42).
Taking into account the APA standards for the formatting of tables, the ones included by Kelders et al. (2011) in the results section of their paper meet some of these guidelines. All of them are numbered; they include horizontal lines to separate information and all their elements are double spaced. However, these tables do not begin on separate pages. Furthermore, their headings and titles are identical. Although titles express the contents of the tables, they are not presented with each word either italicized or capitalized. Headings are not positioned flush right, either. Nevertheless, there are two important APA (2010) requirements that Kelders et al. (2011) took into consideration when designing the tables of their paper. All of them describe the results of pertinent quantitive data as well as present a large proportion of information in a small amount of space so that the reader can easily understand and compare the data stated in tabular form.
In the paper written by Gorski (2008) the Results section is introduced under the name findings in a separate section. The author opted to write the results first and then, discuss them in a separate section. In the findings or results one, the data is summarized in a text. What is more, Gorski (2008) includes the most important aspects and data of his research in four paragraphs. After that, the researcher describes in a section called A New Typology of approaches to Multicultural Teacher Education in which the emergence of five approaches is clearly explained and analyzed in different subsections and in a table.
In the section where the results are described, Gorki (2008) includes a table to describe some general information about the new approaches to MTE. Besides, it is double-spaced and it has a brief and concise title which introduces the reader to the new information. Each column has a specific column heading. The titles of these columns are Approach, Contextualizing frameworks, Objectives and Course organization. Regarding the use of abbreviations, the one which is mostly used is e.g. -exempli gratia- to exemplify something that has already been explained. Parenthesis seem to be used to make a comment from the rest of the idea and there is also an expression in italics showing emphasis in what it is described, “With an emphasis on deconstructing an acting against oppression” (Gorski, 2008, p. 313). It is also important to mention that the table was reproduced by Gorski (2008) but giving credit to its copyright holder, in this case, Jenks et.al (2001) (Gorski, p. 312).
With respect to the use of verb forms, the predominant tense in the results section seem to be the past. In fact, Gorski (2008) describes the outcomes that are related to the main questions or hypothesis of the paper by making use of different past forms. For instance, when Gorski (2008) states the results, he utilizes the past passive voice: “A majority of the syllabi -58%- were dominated by elements of “critical multiculturalism” (p. 312). The presence of percentages is also common in this section, “(…) the fact, for example, that 71 % of the syllabi describe “multicultural education” courses that appear inconsistent (…)” (Gorski, 2008, p.312).
Another important part of a research paper is the discussion section. It is in this section of their paper that Kelders et al. (2011) include the main findings with reference to the initial questions that gave rise to the research study. The sentence which opens this section shows this connection; “The results showed that the HWA was not used as often as intended” (Kelders et al., p. 43). There are also some references to the reviewed literature as Kelders et al. (2011) compare results with those obtained in the previous studies: “This finding might seem contributive but it concurs with recent findings on the motivation to use e-consultation” (Kelders et al., p. 44).
Regarding verb forms, Kelders et al. (2011) use a variety of verb tenses. In fact, although the predominant verb tense is the simple past, simple present, present perfect as well as past perfect are also used. What is more, there is ample use of modals such as might, should, can, could and would in order to emphasize possibility and advice. “We should try to take into account the specific barriers and opportunities of e-health interventions (....)” (Kelders et al., p. 46) is an example of the way in which the authors employ these kinds of modal verbs.
In this aforementioned section, Gorski (2008) evaluates and analyzes the problem in question. What is more, the researcher compares the outcomes with those he has found in other proven literature, for example when he states “Overall, this study suggests, like the literature preceding it, that most multicultural education courses are not designed to prepare teachers to do the full work of multicultural education” ( Gorski, 2008, p. 317). As regards verb forms, there seem to be a variety of verb tenses used in this RA. However, the most common verb tenses found were in the simple present and the simple past. An example in the simple present can be “it requires us to help teachers understand that respecting diversity means little if this respect does not inform practice” (Gorski, 2008, p. 316). Taking into account the already mentioned use of the past simple the following example can be mentioned “As I reported earlier, many of the syllabi that reflected the Teaching as Resistance and Counter-Hegemonic Practice approach contained elements of other approaches” (Gorski,2008, p. 316).
Gorski (2008) also makes a frequent use of the modal might to express uncertainty. For instance, this can be reflected in the sentence “only twelve syllabi (26.7 %) seemed designed to prepare teachers to be what might be called authentic multicultural educators (Gorski, 2008, p. 316). The use of the past passive voice is also utilized in this section: “Most of the courses were not designed to prepare teachers to identify or eliminate educational inequities” (Gorski, P., p. 316).
The Conclusion section is another important part of this RA. It is under the name of conclusion and moving forward. In this part of the article, Gorski (2008) shows the problem but giving his conclusions and recommendations about the issue of his research. An example of a conclusion drawn by the author is “This study uncovered several points related to MTE which are ripe for scholarly attention: (....)” (Gorski, 2008, p. 317).
The modal verb must in the passive voice is employed to express a kind of recommendation from the researcher “The typology itself must be strengthened and defined through additional inquiry (…)” (p. 317). It is also important to mention that the researcher wants to end his paper with two open questions: “What exactly, do these courses intend to teach teachers to do and be? And what are the implications of this for educational equity and social justice-the roots of multicultural education?” (Gorski, 2008, p.317). In such a way, he opens a new discussion and invites readers to reflect on further causes and possible solutions to the issue previously mentioned.
To sum up, the fact of comparing and analyzing the results, discussions and conclusions sections of both articles has lead to do a deep reflection on each of them. It is also important to mention that although one paper is related to the field of medicine and the other is concerned with an educational issue, in both of them the most essential aspects and sections of research studies have been shown and taken into consideration.
References
American Psychological Association (2010). APA formatting and style guide. Retrieved May 2011 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Gorski, P. (2008). What we´re teaching teachers: An Analysis on Multicultural Teacher Education Coursework Syllabi. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 309-318. Retrieved April 2011 from http://www.elsevier.com/locate/tate.
Kelders, S., Van Gemert-Pijnen, J. , Werkman, A., Nijland, N., & Seydel, E. (2011). Effectiveness of a Web-based Intervention Aimed at Healthy Dietary and Physical Activity Behavior: A Randomized Controlled Trial About Users and Usage. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13, 32. Retrieved April 2011 from http://www.jmir.org/2011/2/e32/.
In the following paper, the articles written by Kelders, Van Gemert-Pijnen, Werkman, Nijland, Seydel (2011) and Gorski (2008) will be analyzed, explored and contrasted according to their results, discussions as well as the conclusions sections. They shall be also compared in terms of their underlying structure, linguistic characteristics as well as American Psychological Association (APA, 2010) standards for the formatting of research papers.
In their research paper, Kelders et al. (2011) separate the results section from the discussion one. Both of them are highly descriptive. In fact, the result section presents the findings of the research and includes three sub-sections. Kelders et al (2011) also make use of several tables to present specific data and make comparisons between data aspects. There are also specific mathematical expressions which were included in the descriptive analyses of baseline variables: “Mean scores were respectively 2.2(SD 0.6) versus 2.1 (SD 0.6); (F1, 267=4.109, P=.044)”; (Kelders et al., p. 40). As to the use of verb tenses, Kelders et al. (2011) have occasionally used the passive form. In fact, in the Effectiveness section they state: “In addition, ITT analyses were performed on all outcome variables” (Kelders et al., p. 42). Besides, they include the passive form with the modal verb could in order to refer to the differences between pre-test and post test scores. They remark that “these differences could not be attributed to the intervention according to the ITT analyses” (Kelders et al., p. 42).
Taking into account the APA standards for the formatting of tables, the ones included by Kelders et al. (2011) in the results section of their paper meet some of these guidelines. All of them are numbered; they include horizontal lines to separate information and all their elements are double spaced. However, these tables do not begin on separate pages. Furthermore, their headings and titles are identical. Although titles express the contents of the tables, they are not presented with each word either italicized or capitalized. Headings are not positioned flush right, either. Nevertheless, there are two important APA (2010) requirements that Kelders et al. (2011) took into consideration when designing the tables of their paper. All of them describe the results of pertinent quantitive data as well as present a large proportion of information in a small amount of space so that the reader can easily understand and compare the data stated in tabular form.
In the paper written by Gorski (2008) the Results section is introduced under the name findings in a separate section. The author opted to write the results first and then, discuss them in a separate section. In the findings or results one, the data is summarized in a text. What is more, Gorski (2008) includes the most important aspects and data of his research in four paragraphs. After that, the researcher describes in a section called A New Typology of approaches to Multicultural Teacher Education in which the emergence of five approaches is clearly explained and analyzed in different subsections and in a table.
In the section where the results are described, Gorki (2008) includes a table to describe some general information about the new approaches to MTE. Besides, it is double-spaced and it has a brief and concise title which introduces the reader to the new information. Each column has a specific column heading. The titles of these columns are Approach, Contextualizing frameworks, Objectives and Course organization. Regarding the use of abbreviations, the one which is mostly used is e.g. -exempli gratia- to exemplify something that has already been explained. Parenthesis seem to be used to make a comment from the rest of the idea and there is also an expression in italics showing emphasis in what it is described, “With an emphasis on deconstructing an acting against oppression” (Gorski, 2008, p. 313). It is also important to mention that the table was reproduced by Gorski (2008) but giving credit to its copyright holder, in this case, Jenks et.al (2001) (Gorski, p. 312).
With respect to the use of verb forms, the predominant tense in the results section seem to be the past. In fact, Gorski (2008) describes the outcomes that are related to the main questions or hypothesis of the paper by making use of different past forms. For instance, when Gorski (2008) states the results, he utilizes the past passive voice: “A majority of the syllabi -58%- were dominated by elements of “critical multiculturalism” (p. 312). The presence of percentages is also common in this section, “(…) the fact, for example, that 71 % of the syllabi describe “multicultural education” courses that appear inconsistent (…)” (Gorski, 2008, p.312).
Another important part of a research paper is the discussion section. It is in this section of their paper that Kelders et al. (2011) include the main findings with reference to the initial questions that gave rise to the research study. The sentence which opens this section shows this connection; “The results showed that the HWA was not used as often as intended” (Kelders et al., p. 43). There are also some references to the reviewed literature as Kelders et al. (2011) compare results with those obtained in the previous studies: “This finding might seem contributive but it concurs with recent findings on the motivation to use e-consultation” (Kelders et al., p. 44).
Regarding verb forms, Kelders et al. (2011) use a variety of verb tenses. In fact, although the predominant verb tense is the simple past, simple present, present perfect as well as past perfect are also used. What is more, there is ample use of modals such as might, should, can, could and would in order to emphasize possibility and advice. “We should try to take into account the specific barriers and opportunities of e-health interventions (....)” (Kelders et al., p. 46) is an example of the way in which the authors employ these kinds of modal verbs.
In this aforementioned section, Gorski (2008) evaluates and analyzes the problem in question. What is more, the researcher compares the outcomes with those he has found in other proven literature, for example when he states “Overall, this study suggests, like the literature preceding it, that most multicultural education courses are not designed to prepare teachers to do the full work of multicultural education” ( Gorski, 2008, p. 317). As regards verb forms, there seem to be a variety of verb tenses used in this RA. However, the most common verb tenses found were in the simple present and the simple past. An example in the simple present can be “it requires us to help teachers understand that respecting diversity means little if this respect does not inform practice” (Gorski, 2008, p. 316). Taking into account the already mentioned use of the past simple the following example can be mentioned “As I reported earlier, many of the syllabi that reflected the Teaching as Resistance and Counter-Hegemonic Practice approach contained elements of other approaches” (Gorski,2008, p. 316).
Gorski (2008) also makes a frequent use of the modal might to express uncertainty. For instance, this can be reflected in the sentence “only twelve syllabi (26.7 %) seemed designed to prepare teachers to be what might be called authentic multicultural educators (Gorski, 2008, p. 316). The use of the past passive voice is also utilized in this section: “Most of the courses were not designed to prepare teachers to identify or eliminate educational inequities” (Gorski, P., p. 316).
The Conclusion section is another important part of this RA. It is under the name of conclusion and moving forward. In this part of the article, Gorski (2008) shows the problem but giving his conclusions and recommendations about the issue of his research. An example of a conclusion drawn by the author is “This study uncovered several points related to MTE which are ripe for scholarly attention: (....)” (Gorski, 2008, p. 317).
The modal verb must in the passive voice is employed to express a kind of recommendation from the researcher “The typology itself must be strengthened and defined through additional inquiry (…)” (p. 317). It is also important to mention that the researcher wants to end his paper with two open questions: “What exactly, do these courses intend to teach teachers to do and be? And what are the implications of this for educational equity and social justice-the roots of multicultural education?” (Gorski, 2008, p.317). In such a way, he opens a new discussion and invites readers to reflect on further causes and possible solutions to the issue previously mentioned.
To sum up, the fact of comparing and analyzing the results, discussions and conclusions sections of both articles has lead to do a deep reflection on each of them. It is also important to mention that although one paper is related to the field of medicine and the other is concerned with an educational issue, in both of them the most essential aspects and sections of research studies have been shown and taken into consideration.
References
American Psychological Association (2010). APA formatting and style guide. Retrieved May 2011 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Gorski, P. (2008). What we´re teaching teachers: An Analysis on Multicultural Teacher Education Coursework Syllabi. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 309-318. Retrieved April 2011 from http://www.elsevier.com/locate/tate.
Kelders, S., Van Gemert-Pijnen, J. , Werkman, A., Nijland, N., & Seydel, E. (2011). Effectiveness of a Web-based Intervention Aimed at Healthy Dietary and Physical Activity Behavior: A Randomized Controlled Trial About Users and Usage. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13, 32. Retrieved April 2011 from http://www.jmir.org/2011/2/e32/.
A deep analysis of two research papers
A deep analysis of two research papers
In this research paper, the articles written by Gorski P. (2008) and Kelders, S., Van Gemert-Pijnen, J. , Werkman, A., Nijland, N., Seydel, E. (2011) will be analyzed and compared in terms of organizational patterns of their introductions, literature reviews and methods sections.
Taking into account the Create a Research Space Model (C.A.R.S.) (1994), designed by Swales and Feak (1994) in the paper written by Gorski (2008), the usual organizational patterns of RPs are manifest in both its Introduction and its Methods section. These patterns are present in moves or cycles which go from the general topic of discussion to the particular situation under analysis. An example of move one is shown when Gorski (2008) tries to establish a research territory showing the importance of said study and referring to some previous research: “A broad range of scholars have conducted an equally broad range of scholarship on multicultural teacher education (MTE) (....)” (p. 309). Then a negative opening like the word unfortunately is used to establish the niche, that is, the problem or gap which led to this research : the discrepancies in the multicultural classrooms and educational practices in the United States, “Unfortunately, there exists very little empirical research examining how these discrepancies play out in practice” (p. 309). In move three, Gorski (2008) tries to outline the main purpose of his study by means of both negative and positive ideas such as: “This is not a study of individual instructor practice or philosophy (....). It is a study of the philosophies that underlie the official curriculum of (MTE) ” (309).
Considering the use of verb patterns in the Introduction section, Gorski (2008) predominately employs the first person singular in the active voice. In fact, he uses it especially to refer to the purpose of his study as well as the details of the context: “I share here the results of this analysis. I present as well an unexpected outcome of this study (....)” (p. 309). The present perfect active is used to show that the study is of utmost importance, creating and establishing space of research and analysis, “A broad range of scholars have conducted an equally broad range of scholarship on multicultural teacher education” (p.309). There is scarce use of the passive form and Gorki (2008) utilizes it in the present simple as when he states: “ Most of the published scholarship on MTE can be grouped into one of four categories (....)” (p. 309).The simple past is also used to refer to previous studies related to the same problem, “Some professors or instructors consciously used depoliticized language in course descriptions (…)”(p. 309).
On the other hand, in the paper written by Kelders et al. (2011) the authors introduce the main topics of research in a quite straightforward manner. At the very beginning they start referring to the prevalence of overweight as a problem in our society: “The increasing prevalence of overweight is a problem in modern society” (p. 33). They also make reference to previous research by establishing a territory for their study: “Research has already shown the potential of web based applications for the achievement of weight loss and weight management.” (p. 32). Nevertheless, they make a further move towards establishing the need for their research, by using a contrastive coherence device: “However, most studies are focused on applications aimed at treatment or secondary prevention” (p.33). Then they make a third move and state the main purpose of this study by announcing the existence of many questions to be answered: “Many questions remain about the users and the effectiveness of web-based applications for the prevention of health problems by stimulating healthy behaviors” (p. 33). Besides, at the end of the introduction, Kelders et al. (2011) directly state their research questions: “What characteristics of participants are related to the use of the HWA intervention? What effects does the HWA intervention have on the primary and secondary outcome measures?” (p. 33).
Kelders et al. (2011) establish the state of affairs that led them to carry out this study by means of descriptive statements. That is why, in the introduction, the predominant verb tense is the simple present as it is evident when they express “it is important to know who the users of these interventions are.” Nevertheless, when referring to the study itself, they use the simple past mainly in the first person plural to describe, for instance, the framework, theories, social and economic factors considered to be of key importance: “We incorporated the WHO framework and behavior theories in a study of use of the Healthy Weight Assistant (HWA), a Web-based lifestyle intervention” (p. 33). As it was mentioned before, Kelders et al. (2011) establish the main purposes of their study by means of two important research questions.
Considering the Methods section, in the article written by Gorski (2008) the word method was typed on the left margin whilst most researchers state that it should be centered at the start of the section. In this research paper Gorski (2008) divides the Method section in two parts: one called Data Collection and another one called Data Analysis. In both sections said processes are explained in detail. Besides, they are mostly written in the first person singular of the simple past active voice. In fact, the opening sentence for the former is “I collected these syllabi through a sort of snowball sampling”(p. 311). The first statement in the latter is “I limited my analysis to course descriptions, goals, objectives and other contextual or descriptive text (....)” (p. 311). Contrary to the rules for the use of verb patterns that characterize this kind of papers, the passive form in this section is scarce. An example of that verb form can be found in the sentence “once the syllabi were grouped using this typology, I began a deeper examination (....) ” (p.4). It is important to mention that Gorski (2008) even makes use of a continuous verb tense in order to give some kind of support to the description of the procedures carried out during the first steps of the study: “In other words, I was not looking for the linguistic patterns but for patterns of thought and meaning.” (p. 312).
With respect to the methods section and unlike Gorski’s (2008) RP, the article written by Kelders et al.(2011) is divided in eight parts. In fact, Kelders et al. (2011) include the Recruitment Design, the Randomization, the Waiting List, the Research Instruments, the Electronic Surveys, the Participants and the Analyses. Considering what Pintos and Crimi (2011) state with respect to the methods section in a research paper, this study shows a very detailed description of the tools used and the participants involved when collecting data. In fact, the said section even includes a flow chart of the study and a clear picture of the web site on which the study was based. Besides, there is also mention of both a questionnaire and its translation shown in Appendices 1 and 2. As to verb tenses, the authors make ample use of the present and past passive voice, as for example in the section Intervention, they state: “Users are encouraged to reflect on their difficult moments (i.e., moments at which it is tempting to engage in unhealthy behavior)” (p. 36). However, there are other verb forms used as well. Both the simple present and the simple past active voice are used especially when defining and describing both instruments and procedures. In fact, “the Healthy Weight Assistant (HWA) is a Web-based lifestyle intervention developed by the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (....)” (p. 36) is an example of the use of the simple present form.
To sum up, after reading and working with the already mentioned articles, many important features like their introductions, literature reviews and method sections make them be considered clear examples of RPs regardless of the area they belong to. Analyzing RPs and taking into account these aspects can make laymen as well as enthusiastic readers have a better and concise perspective of the similitudes as well as the differences in the essence of these kinds of papers.
References
Gorski, P. C. (2008). What we´re teaching teachers: An Analysis on Multicultural Teacher Education Coursework Syllabi. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 309-318. Retrieved April 2011 from http://www.elsevier.com/locate/tate.
Kelders, S., Van Gemert-Pijnen, J. , Werkman, A., Nijland, N., Seydel, E. (2011). Effectiveness of a Web-based Intervention Aimed at Healthy Dietary and Physical Activity Behavior: A Randomized Controlled Trial About Users and Usage. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13, 32. Retrieved April 2011 from http://www.jmir.org/2011/2/e32/.
In this research paper, the articles written by Gorski P. (2008) and Kelders, S., Van Gemert-Pijnen, J. , Werkman, A., Nijland, N., Seydel, E. (2011) will be analyzed and compared in terms of organizational patterns of their introductions, literature reviews and methods sections.
Taking into account the Create a Research Space Model (C.A.R.S.) (1994), designed by Swales and Feak (1994) in the paper written by Gorski (2008), the usual organizational patterns of RPs are manifest in both its Introduction and its Methods section. These patterns are present in moves or cycles which go from the general topic of discussion to the particular situation under analysis. An example of move one is shown when Gorski (2008) tries to establish a research territory showing the importance of said study and referring to some previous research: “A broad range of scholars have conducted an equally broad range of scholarship on multicultural teacher education (MTE) (....)” (p. 309). Then a negative opening like the word unfortunately is used to establish the niche, that is, the problem or gap which led to this research : the discrepancies in the multicultural classrooms and educational practices in the United States, “Unfortunately, there exists very little empirical research examining how these discrepancies play out in practice” (p. 309). In move three, Gorski (2008) tries to outline the main purpose of his study by means of both negative and positive ideas such as: “This is not a study of individual instructor practice or philosophy (....). It is a study of the philosophies that underlie the official curriculum of (MTE) ” (309).
Considering the use of verb patterns in the Introduction section, Gorski (2008) predominately employs the first person singular in the active voice. In fact, he uses it especially to refer to the purpose of his study as well as the details of the context: “I share here the results of this analysis. I present as well an unexpected outcome of this study (....)” (p. 309). The present perfect active is used to show that the study is of utmost importance, creating and establishing space of research and analysis, “A broad range of scholars have conducted an equally broad range of scholarship on multicultural teacher education” (p.309). There is scarce use of the passive form and Gorki (2008) utilizes it in the present simple as when he states: “ Most of the published scholarship on MTE can be grouped into one of four categories (....)” (p. 309).The simple past is also used to refer to previous studies related to the same problem, “Some professors or instructors consciously used depoliticized language in course descriptions (…)”(p. 309).
On the other hand, in the paper written by Kelders et al. (2011) the authors introduce the main topics of research in a quite straightforward manner. At the very beginning they start referring to the prevalence of overweight as a problem in our society: “The increasing prevalence of overweight is a problem in modern society” (p. 33). They also make reference to previous research by establishing a territory for their study: “Research has already shown the potential of web based applications for the achievement of weight loss and weight management.” (p. 32). Nevertheless, they make a further move towards establishing the need for their research, by using a contrastive coherence device: “However, most studies are focused on applications aimed at treatment or secondary prevention” (p.33). Then they make a third move and state the main purpose of this study by announcing the existence of many questions to be answered: “Many questions remain about the users and the effectiveness of web-based applications for the prevention of health problems by stimulating healthy behaviors” (p. 33). Besides, at the end of the introduction, Kelders et al. (2011) directly state their research questions: “What characteristics of participants are related to the use of the HWA intervention? What effects does the HWA intervention have on the primary and secondary outcome measures?” (p. 33).
Kelders et al. (2011) establish the state of affairs that led them to carry out this study by means of descriptive statements. That is why, in the introduction, the predominant verb tense is the simple present as it is evident when they express “it is important to know who the users of these interventions are.” Nevertheless, when referring to the study itself, they use the simple past mainly in the first person plural to describe, for instance, the framework, theories, social and economic factors considered to be of key importance: “We incorporated the WHO framework and behavior theories in a study of use of the Healthy Weight Assistant (HWA), a Web-based lifestyle intervention” (p. 33). As it was mentioned before, Kelders et al. (2011) establish the main purposes of their study by means of two important research questions.
Considering the Methods section, in the article written by Gorski (2008) the word method was typed on the left margin whilst most researchers state that it should be centered at the start of the section. In this research paper Gorski (2008) divides the Method section in two parts: one called Data Collection and another one called Data Analysis. In both sections said processes are explained in detail. Besides, they are mostly written in the first person singular of the simple past active voice. In fact, the opening sentence for the former is “I collected these syllabi through a sort of snowball sampling”(p. 311). The first statement in the latter is “I limited my analysis to course descriptions, goals, objectives and other contextual or descriptive text (....)” (p. 311). Contrary to the rules for the use of verb patterns that characterize this kind of papers, the passive form in this section is scarce. An example of that verb form can be found in the sentence “once the syllabi were grouped using this typology, I began a deeper examination (....) ” (p.4). It is important to mention that Gorski (2008) even makes use of a continuous verb tense in order to give some kind of support to the description of the procedures carried out during the first steps of the study: “In other words, I was not looking for the linguistic patterns but for patterns of thought and meaning.” (p. 312).
With respect to the methods section and unlike Gorski’s (2008) RP, the article written by Kelders et al.(2011) is divided in eight parts. In fact, Kelders et al. (2011) include the Recruitment Design, the Randomization, the Waiting List, the Research Instruments, the Electronic Surveys, the Participants and the Analyses. Considering what Pintos and Crimi (2011) state with respect to the methods section in a research paper, this study shows a very detailed description of the tools used and the participants involved when collecting data. In fact, the said section even includes a flow chart of the study and a clear picture of the web site on which the study was based. Besides, there is also mention of both a questionnaire and its translation shown in Appendices 1 and 2. As to verb tenses, the authors make ample use of the present and past passive voice, as for example in the section Intervention, they state: “Users are encouraged to reflect on their difficult moments (i.e., moments at which it is tempting to engage in unhealthy behavior)” (p. 36). However, there are other verb forms used as well. Both the simple present and the simple past active voice are used especially when defining and describing both instruments and procedures. In fact, “the Healthy Weight Assistant (HWA) is a Web-based lifestyle intervention developed by the Netherlands Nutrition Centre (....)” (p. 36) is an example of the use of the simple present form.
To sum up, after reading and working with the already mentioned articles, many important features like their introductions, literature reviews and method sections make them be considered clear examples of RPs regardless of the area they belong to. Analyzing RPs and taking into account these aspects can make laymen as well as enthusiastic readers have a better and concise perspective of the similitudes as well as the differences in the essence of these kinds of papers.
References
Gorski, P. C. (2008). What we´re teaching teachers: An Analysis on Multicultural Teacher Education Coursework Syllabi. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25, 309-318. Retrieved April 2011 from http://www.elsevier.com/locate/tate.
Kelders, S., Van Gemert-Pijnen, J. , Werkman, A., Nijland, N., Seydel, E. (2011). Effectiveness of a Web-based Intervention Aimed at Healthy Dietary and Physical Activity Behavior: A Randomized Controlled Trial About Users and Usage. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13, 32. Retrieved April 2011 from http://www.jmir.org/2011/2/e32/.
martes, 28 de junio de 2011
domingo, 15 de mayo de 2011
Welcome 2011 academic year
Welcome back again...
A new academic year has started and this time with a class called English for Specific Purposes (ESP).
It will be a pleasure to share this new experience with all of you. Hope you can "discover" and "reflect" new things through this work.
A new academic year has started and this time with a class called English for Specific Purposes (ESP).
It will be a pleasure to share this new experience with all of you. Hope you can "discover" and "reflect" new things through this work.
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