ACADEMIC DISCOURSEB. Mitsikopoulou

Preparing for the Academic Discourse

Final Exam

Parts of the final exam

Task 1: Outlining and Summarizing

Task 2: Converting a popular (media) to academic text

Task 3: Interpretation of Data

TASK 1

Sample Tasks

TASK 1 (30 points) (suggested time: 40 minutes)

 The following text has been adapted from an article published in ‘Computers and Composition’ journal (2007, issue: 3, volume 24) entitled ESL students’ experiences of online peer feedback, by Martin Guardado.

 Read the text carefully in order to identify the main points it presents. Then

I.produce a formal outline of the differences between traditional and e-peer feedback,

II.on the basis of your outline, prepare a summary (of about 150 words) by paraphrasing adequately,

III.using the information provided above, write a full reference for the article.

TASK 1 (30 points) (suggested time: 40 minutes)

The following newspaper article appeared in The Telegraph, reporting on scientific (medical) research findings. Read it carefully and on the basis of the information offered below, reconstruct the (academic) journal extract and (suggest) a title in no more than 200 words: focus on strictly scientific information and include in-text references (by using sources mentioned in the newspaper article). Make sure you paraphrase any information borrowed from the original.

Preparing for

Task 1

What to pay attention

You may be asked to prepare a global or a selective summary

1. Global summary (summarize the whole text)

2. Selective summary (summarize part of a text) Please note that you must first read the text and then, on the

basis of the given instructions, decide what you are asked to do

Read the given text two to three times before you start preparing your outline

Pay attention the format of your outline: it reveals the logic of the text

FORMAL OUTLINEdegrees of generality

I. (first level of generality)

A. (second level of generality)

1. (third level of generality)

2. (third level of generality)

B. (second level of generality)

1. (third level of generality)

II. (first level of generality)

A. (second level of generality)

1. (third level of generality)

B. (second level of generality)

FORMAL OUTLINEformat & indentation

I. Topic sentence or main idea A. Major point

(provides information about topic)1. Subpoint (describes major point)

a. Supporting details

(for subpoint)

FORMAL OUTLINEan example

I. Extrasensory perception

A. definition: means of perceiving without use of sense organs

1. three kinds

a. telepathy: sending messages

b.clairvoyance: forecasting the future c. psychokinesis: perceiving events

2. current status

a. no current research to support

b. impossible for some psychologists

c. door open to future

What not to do Frequent mistakes

Do not reproduce the original with numbers before it Do not write full sentences (phrase outline) Do not write a list of bullets or dashes (-) Do not write an outline of one thing and a summary of

another Do not write the summary and then the outline

General remarks to remember

When paraphrasing, make sure that you keep the same meaning as that of the source

Spend time preparing your outline, it will help you write a good summary

Make sure you do not include details in your summary

TASK 2

Sample Tasks

TASK 2 (30 points) (suggested time: 40 minutes)

 The following newspaper article appeared in The Guardian reporting on recent scientific findings. Read it carefully and adopt the identity of one of the researchers mentioned in the newspaper article to write an extract of the original research article published in the Journal of Scientific Evolution,suggest an academic journal article title for your research article.

 SELECT only strictly scientific information. Make sure you PARAPHRASE any information borrowed from the original. (word limit: 150 words)

How we refer to researchers Media text Peter Styles, the president of the Geological Society John Mc Closkey of the Univeristy of Ulster in Coleraine Nick Ambraseys, a seismologist at Imperial College London Prof McCloskey’s group

Academic text Styles (2003) Mc Closkey (2004) Ambraseys (2002)

The following is therefore not recommended:“According to Jones (2009, p. 20): “Quotation”.

Use academic vocabulary (1)

Informal expressions: ‘a lot of’.

Academic: ‘a substantial number of’ ‘a great deal of information’.

Academic: ‘an increased amount/plethora of information’

‘massive information’. Academic: ‘extensive information’

‘whether they are good enough at what they do’ Academic: ‘whether their skills are adequate for the

job’

Use academic vocabulary (2)

Problematic use of formal expressions: ‘…it is noticed a significant point in the

literature…’ ‘However, there has not been given so much

attention…’ ‘As Bowden (1993) puts is, the majority of

people…’ The expression ‘puts it’ is most often followed by a

quotation and not a paraphrase. ‘Research’ is mostly used in the singular.

Use academic vocabulary (3)

Attention should be paid to the use of appropriate phrases: ‘Infants’ does not mean the same thing as ‘children’. ‘A great amount of parents’ (number) ‘Isolated children’ is not the same as ‘children from

isolated areas’. ‘Reported directly’ does not mean the same thing as

‘reported immediately’.

TASK 3

Sample Tasks

TASK 1 (30 points) (suggested time: 40 minutes)

TASK 1 (30 points) (suggested time: 40 minutes)

The tables below are taken from a study by Alan Hirvela (2001) which examines the possibility of incorporating reading material into academic writing courses. The 38 non-native advanced learners of English who took part in this study ranked a variety of English texts in terms of how difficult or enjoyable to read they were. Table 1 provides information on ranking texts in terms of difficulty and Table 2 information on ranking the same texts in terms of enjoyment. The numbers shown in each column represent the number of learners who selected the ranking presented in the particular column. Study the tables and write a text describing some of the findings they present and explaining the findings you have selected to describe by taking into account (some of) the possible explanations offered below (word limit: 200 words).

Bar chart (or histogram)

This is a type of chart, which

contains labeled

horizontal or vertical bars showing a piece of

information and an axis. The

numbers along the side of bar

graph compose the axis.

Pie chart

A pie chart is a type of a

circle graph which shows

how this whole

quantity is broken into

parts.

Line graph

A line graph is a way of

representing two pieces of information,

which is usually

related and vary with respect to each other.

Table