Nina Nellemann Rasmussen (ninaras@hum.ku.dk)

Centre for Internationalisation and Parallel Language Use (CIP) www.cip.ku.dk

Date: 29/8 2019Place: 23.0.50

Academic Cultureand

Writing

Welcome to Denmark, Copenhagen and KU!Yay!

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Outline1. Danish academic culture2. Academic writing

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Danish academic culture Multicultural classrooms are common at many universities

around the world.

When students immerse themselves in a foreign academic culture, they often experience differences that can be quite pronounced.

The differences will seem more extreme if you come from a markedly different academic culture.

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Academic

- minute discussion

How would you characterise your own academic culture in terms of, for example, interaction with teachers, level of formality and independence, assessment, and attendance?

Do you expect the Danish academic culture to be (very) similar or (very) different?

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1. Little hierarchy and non-authoritarian relations:

• informal address among teachers and students;• students and teachers consider each other equals;• students expected to engage in ‘dialogue of equals’

with teachers and supervisors.

http://www.intluniversity.dk/the-internationalisation-of-higher-education/

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Student-teacher relations

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The difference in teaching and learning styles, compared to my experience in Spain, already

became apparent in my first group work experience at UCPH. Our group was sitting

together when the teacher walked in from the street with her bag casually strewn over her

shoulder and started to engage us in a dialogue about how to solve the task at hand. This kind of teacher-mediated group work, a cornerstone in

my programme, is the main ingredient in a pedagogy that I highly value because it stimulates my process of looking for answers with peers. To me, this is made possible by a ‘flat’ system, where teachers approach students as equals and seem

to want to construct knowledge with them. Emma, Spain

(http://cip.ku.dk/english/reflections/)

2. Autonomy, independence and critical thinking:

• students are responsible for planning their studies and managing their time;

• emphasis on critical and independent thinking students encouraged to express their opinion on the themes discussed during the courses;

• students are expected to be able to analyse and discuss material, both in class, in group work and in the final examination (oral exams!).

http://www.intluniversity.dk/the-internationalisation-of-higher-education/

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Expectations of student behaviour (in learning activities, at the exam, etc.)

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I find it really stimulating here because the atmosphere is, even though I have a lot to study, it is like relaxing. And I see maybe in Italy it is not the same

because you just go to lessons and you listen and here instead you are very

erm, teachers want you to talk, want you to give your opinion and in Italy if you, when you do the exam you have

to be careful what you say.Lucilla, Italy

(Larsen, 2013, p. 117)

…that the Danish word for Danish pastry is Vienna bread (wienerbrød)?

The concept was brought to Denmark by Austrian bakers.

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Did you know…

Teaching formats

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(Ulriksen, 2014)

Projects• High degree of student

control of both content and process

• Supervision and dialogue• Autonomy• Frequent group work

Discussion-based teaching• Teacher controls content

and pace• Student interaction

necessary

Group work• Teacher defines content• Students control process• Collaboration, sharing,

negotiation, adjusting

Lectures• Teacher controls content

and pace• Students mainly passive

On the (sometimes reticent) local students

You might have to work a bit harder than expected to establish good socio-academic relationships with local students.

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Danes are hard to get close to. They seem very content to stick to their friends from high school (and occasionally university), so

making friends with Danes is hard. I have heard this from

nearly every foreigner.

Larsen (2013)

Sanne: Do you communicate a lot with the Danish students?

Andrea: Mmm yeah sometimes yeah. They are all very nice, but even if you try…. I did this PowerPoint presentation with a girl and it’s just the work and that’s it. She is really reallylovely and the others as well if you have a discussion in class …but after the work is done erm yeah…

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Some useful advice• participate actively in projects and discussions;• join as many activities and clubs as possible;• make an effort to meet and socialize with the rather

reticent Danes;• embrace the uniqueness and idiosyncrasies of Danish

(academic) culture;• learn to drink buckets of coffee and eat mountains of

cake;• lose any inhibitions about speaking freely and openly

to teachers;• learn some Danish (rødgrød med fløde):

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And get yourself a…

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But remember to signal!

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Egeskov Castle (1554)

Academic Writing1) Academic language and style

1) Cohesion/coherence2) Sentence length and structure3) Vocabulary4) The most common errors

2) Structure

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Academic language and style

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List what you think are the three biggestlanguage problems when writing a paper

in English?

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A survey of 100 PhD students produced the following categories:

vocabulary in general – 20%phrasal verbs – 20%false friends – 15% prepositions and adverbs – 10%conditionals – 10%sentence length – 6%past perfect, past perfect continuous, future perfect – 5%word order – 4%ambiguity – 0%

(Wallwork, 2016, p. 12)

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Aspects that native-speaking referees and professional editors most frequently complain about:

sentence length (6%)word order (4%)ambiguity (0%)

Most common causes of journal papers being rejected:

problems with syntaxclaritygeneral readability

(Wallwork, 2016, pp. 12-13)

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So how do you achieve clarity and readability?

1) Make sure your writing ‘hangs together’ (cohesion/coherence)2) Avoid redundancy (conciseness)3) Keep sentences short and simple (25 words)4) Use a verb rather than a noun5) Choose Latinate words6) Eliminate distracting errors

(Wallwork)

Cohesion

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It is important that your text flows or ‘coheres’.

One way of securing flow is by following a progression from old or given information to new information.

Placing relevant old information in early position establishes a content connection backward and provides a forward content link that establishes the context.

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Compare the two versions of the following text. Which seemsclearer? Why?

a) Because the naming power of words was distrusted by Locke, herepeated himself often. Seventeenth-century theories of language, especially Wilkins’s scheme for a universal language involving the creation of countless symbols for countless meanings, had centered on this naming power. A new era in the study of language that focused on the ambiguous relationship betweensense and reference begins with Locke’s distrust.

b) Locke often repeated himself because he distrusted the namingpower of words. This naming power had been central to seventeenth-century theories of language, especially Wilkins’sscheme for a universal language involving the creation of countless symbols for countless meanings. Locke’s distrust beginsa new era in the study of language, one that focused on the ambiguous relationship between sense and reference.

(Booth, Colomb & Williams, 2008, p. 260)

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Apply the ‘first six or seven words’ test:

a) Because the naming power of words was distrusted by Locke, herepeated himself often. Seventeenth-century theories of language, especially Wilkins’s scheme for a universal language involving the creation of countless symbols for countless meanings, had centered on this naming power. A new era in the study of language that focused on the ambiguous relationship betweensense and reference begins with Locke’s distrust.

b) Locke often repeated himself because he distrusted the namingpower of words. This naming power had been central to seventeenth-century theories of language, especially Wilkins’sscheme for a universal language involving the creation of countless symbols for countless meanings. Locke’s distrust beginsa new era in the study of language, one that focused on the ambiguous relationship between sense and reference.

(Booth, Colomb & Williams, 2008, p. 260)

Sentences begin with information a reader

could not predict.

Sentences begin with familiar or

repeated/old information.

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Another way of ensuring flow is by inserting connective wordsand phrases:

Signalling words and expressions: http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm

HoweverOn the one hand

Therefore

Thus

Moreover

On the other handAs a result

Furthermore

For example

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But use them sparingly:

[In any case] I agree that it is nice to create some variety. [However] Apart from if and and, which are frequently found within a short distance of each other, most other conjunctions do not need to be used in close proximity with each other. [For example] If you find a paragraph in which in addition appears at the beginning of three sentences, then the solution is not to replace in addition with furthermore and moreover. [Rather] The solution is to reorganize the paragraph so that in addition is only needed once. [In fact] English often just leaves conjunctions out. We can make our own connections, thank you.

(Wallwork, 2016, p.47)

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Notice the natural links (logical development of ideas, repetition of keywords or synonyms) in the following Introduction:

The use and effects of cohesive devices in student writing has been of interest for some time (xxxx), but their impact on essay quality is unclear. For instance, the presence of local cohesive devices (i.e., devices related to sentence level cohesion such as connectives or word overlap between sentences) in writing produced by adult first language (L1) writers is often associated with judgments of lower writing quality (xxxx). In contrast to L1 writing studies, a number of studies examining adult second language (L2) writing report positive correlations between the presence of local cohesive devices and writing quality (xxxx). There are several unexplored explanations for these differential findings.

One such explanation rests on differences in links between writing quality and the production of local cohesive devices, global cohesive devices (i.e., devices related to cohesion between larger chunks of texts such as word overlap between paragraphs in a text), and text cohesive devices (i.e., devices related to cohesion across an entire text such as the ratio of pronouns to nouns [givenness] and word repetition [lexical diversity] in the text). Recent computational studies have reported differences between local and global cohesive devices and their relation to writing quality for L1 writers, with local cohesion negatively related to writing quality and global cohesion positively related to writing quality (xxxx). No studies, to our knowledge, however, have explicitly examined differences between local, global, and text cohesive devices in L2 writing. Understanding differences between these types of cohesive devices in L2 writing may help to better explain L2 writing proficiency and differing expectations for L2 writers on the part of expert raters.

Beyond examining the relations between cohesive devices and writing quality, there has also been an interest in investigating the longitudinal development of cohesive devices for both L1 learners (xxxx) and L2 learners (xxxx). However, more research concerning the development of cohesive devices has been conducted for L1 writers than L2 writers resulting in a paucity of available information about cohesion development in L2 learners. To our knowledge, studies examining the development of local, global, and text cohesive devices in L2 learners are infrequent, and none of these links the development of these cohesive devices with judgments of writing quality.

This study addresses these gaps by examining…

(Crossley, S. A. et al., 2016, pp. 1-2)

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The development and use of cohesive devices in L2 writing and their relations to the judgments of essay quality

The use and effects of cohesive devices in student writing has been of interest for some time (McCutchen & Perfetti, 1982; Witte & Faigley, 1981), but their impact on essay quality is unclear. For instance, the presence of local cohesive devices (i.e., devices related to sentence level cohesion such as connectives or word overlap between sentences) in writing produced by adult first language (L1) writers is often associated with judgments of lower writing quality (Crossley & McNamara, 2010, 2011; Evola, Mamer, & Lentz, 1980; McCulley, 1985). In contrast to L1 writing studies, a number of studies examining adult second language (L2) writing report positive correlations between the presence of local cohesive devices and writing quality (Jafarpur, 1991; Yang & Sun, 2012). There are several unexplored explanations for these differential findings.

One such explanation rests on differences in links between writing quality and the production of local cohesive devices, global cohesive devices (i.e., devices related to cohesion between larger chunks of texts such as word overlap between paragraphs in a text), and text cohesive devices (i.e., devices related to cohesion across an entire text such as the ratio of pronouns to nouns [givenness] and word repetition [lexical diversity] in the text). Recent computational studies have reported differences between local and global cohesive devices and their relation to writing quality for L1 writers, with local cohesion negatively related to writing quality and global cohesion positively related to writing quality (Crossley & McNamara, 2011; Crossley, Roscoe, McNamara, & Graesser, 2011). No studies, to our knowledge, however, have explicitly examined differences between local, global, and text cohesive devices in L2 writing. Understanding differences between these types of cohesive devices in L2 writing may help to better explain L2 writing proficiency and differing expectations for L2 writers on the part of expert raters.

Beyond examining the relations between cohesive devices and writing quality, there has also been an interest in investigating the longitudinal development of cohesive devices for both L1 learners (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987; Berninger, Fuller, &Whitaker, 1996; Hayes & Flower, 1980; Myhill, 2008) and L2 learners (Crossley, Salsbury, & McNamara, 2010a; Crossley, Salsbury, McNamara, & Jarvis, 2010; Yang & Sun, 2012). However, more research concerning the development of cohesive devices has been conducted for L1 writers than L2 writers resulting in a paucity of available information about cohesion development in L2 learners. To our knowledge, studies examining the development of local, global, and text cohesive devices in L2 learners are infrequent, and none of these links the development of these cohesive devices with judgments of writing quality.

This study addresses these gaps by examining…

(Crossley, S. A. et al., 2016, pp. 1-2)

Referencing

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You need to place your new work in an existing research

context;show how it builds on previous knowledge

and differs from other contributions.

(Feak & Swales, 2009, p. 7; Gillett et al. , 2009, p. 40)

Remember to always cite

your sources!

Referencing

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1) Quote2) Summarize3) Paraphrase

(Ridley, D., 2012, p.131)

Combined attributions

Avoidplagiarism!

Plagiarism

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You run the risk of committing plagiarism if you do any of the following:

• You quote, paraphrase or summarise a source without citing it.

• You use ideas or methods from a source withoutciting it.

• You use the exact words of a source and cite it but fail to put quotation marks around the words.

• You paraphrase a source and cite it, but you stick tooclosely to the original text.

(Booth, Colomb & Williams, 2008, p. 192)

Referencing

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Citations are used to recognise and acknowledge the intellectual property rights of authors.

But they are also tools of persuasion and can be usedto give statements greater authority (= academicweight).

And do not forget that citations function as readingguides, pointing the reader to the relevant works.

(Feak & Swales, 2009, p. 7; Gillett et al. , 2009, p. 40)

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29 million

Avoid redundancy (omit needless words)

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Make it easy for the reader by using the minimum number of words:

Our research [activity] initially focused [attention] on [the processof] designing the architecture.

The [task of] analysis is not [a] straightforward [operation], and thereis a [serious] danger that [the presence of] errors in the text…

This should be avoided since it [is] generally [the case that it will] fails.

X showed a better performance than Y X performed better than Ythe tendency among researchers to focus on researchers tend tohas the intention of becoming intends toowing to the fact that becausefor the purpose of toin view of the fact that since

(Wallwork, 2016, p. 79)

Keep sentences short and simple

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(Wallwork, 2016, p. 57)

The average length of a sentence in English has become shorter and

shorter over the centuries. In Shakespeare’s time, it was about 45 words; 150 years ago, it was about

29 words; and today’s experts recommend between 15 and 18

words.

The following sentence is from an Abstract. Is it easy to read?

The aim of our study was firstly to assess changes in the level of tolerance of natives of one country towards immigrants over the course of a 50-year period in order to be able to advise governmental agencies on how to develop strategies based on those countries that have been more successful in reducing racism as already investigated in previous studies, but not in such a systematic way, and secondly to establish correlations with data from the USA, which until now have been reported only sporadically. (86 words)

We assessed changes in the level of tolerance of natives of one country towards immigrants over the course of a 50-year period. The main aim was to be able to advise governmental agencies on how to develop strategies based on those countries that have been more successful in reducing racism. This aspect has already been investigated in previous studies, but not in a systematic way. The second aim was to establish correlations with data from the USA, which until now have been reported only sporadically. (22, 28, 15, 20)(Wallwork, 2016, p. 58)

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Keep your subjects short and subject and verb close to each other:

We assessed…The main aim was…This aspect has already been investigated…The second aim was…

Excerpt from a published article! Hello verb, where art thou?

This national snapshot of Canadian public libraries’ micro-blogging organizing decisions, their management policies and practices and their insights into the benefits and challenges of this micro-blogging practice within the larger public library program in combination with the preliminary follower analysis of a random sample of followers in one large Canadian public library together lay a firm foundation for this future work. (61 words! 53-word subject!)

(Cavanagh, M. F., 2016, p. 248)

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Keep subject and verb close to each other:

A vast amount of research on different techniques using fly ash generated from municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) as the source of extraction and the benefits and potentials of using these techniques (27 words!) have already been conducted.

A vast amount of research has examined different techniques...

Tip: Light before heavy

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And avoid unnecessarily long modifier phrases (highlighted in red):

Because most existing studies have examined only a single stage of the supply chain, for example, productivity at the farm, or efficiency of agriculturalmarkets, in isolation from the rest of the supplychain (34 words!), policymakers have been unableto assess how problems identified at a single stage of the supply chain compare and interact with problems in the rest of the supply chain.

(Pinker, S., 2014, p. 109)

Tip: Light before heavy

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Which of the following sentences do you find easier to read:

S1) In Figure 8, the transport stream-function averaged over the whole simulation period is shown for EXP1 and EXP2.

S2) Figure 8 shows the transport stream-function for EXP1 and EXP2 averaged over the whole simulation period.

(Wallwork, 2016, p. 75)

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Now let’s look at how the two sentences are structured:

S1) In Figure 8 // the transport stream-function //averaged over the whole simulation period // is shown for EXP1 and EXP2. (4 parts)

S2) Figure 8 shows the transport stream-function for EXP1 and EXP2 // averaged over the whole simulation period. (2 parts)

S2 is normal English word order: there are only twoparts.

(Wallwork, 2016, p. 75)

Use a verb rather than a noun

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This improves readability and conciseness. Example:

a) This was used in the calculation of the values.

b) This was used to calculate the values.

a) This allows the transfer of the money to be performed.

b) This allows us to transfer the money/This allows the money to be transferred.

a) A comparison was made between the USA and the Russian Federation.

b) The USA was compared to the Russian Federation.

a) The Russian Federation showed a much better performance than the USA.

b) The Russian Federation performed much better than the USA.

(Wallwork, 2016, p. 135)

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Avoid using weak (Germanic) multi-word verbs if there is a stronger and more precise one-word (French/Latin) synonym:

build up

blow up

get better/worse

do away with

put out

put up with

put off

put together

go up

go down

accumulateexplode/detonate/enlargeimprove/deteriorateabolish/eliminate/obviateextinguishtoleratedeter/postpone/procrastinateassemble/compose/synthesiseincrease/augmentdecrease/decline/diminish

Choose Latinate words

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Exercise! Replace the informal multi-word verbs with more formal equivalents:

a) Regretfully, the board must turn down a number of applicants every year.

Regretfully, the board must reject a number of…

b) Researchers have come up with a number of models to describe the effect of certain cola drinks on dental enamel erosion.

Researchers have created/developed/devised/proposed a number of models…

c) AIDS researchers have run into a variety of unexpected problems in their efforts to develop an effective medicine.

AIDS researchers have encountered/faced a variety of unexpected problems in their efforts…

d) Rice and aquatic products make up a major part of the diet of the people in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

Rice and aquatic products constitute a major part of the diet of the people in…

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e) Researchers put this trend down to globalisation, privatisation, accountability, and demographic changes in the graduate student population.

Researchers attribute this trend to globalisation, privatisation, accountability, and….

f) The tenant was thrown out after failing to pay his rent on time.The tenant was evicted after failing to pay his rent on time.

g) Raising taxes has been shown to reduce revenue to the government and makethe job situation worse.

Raising taxes has been shown to reduce revenue to the government and exacerbate the job situation.

h) Problems with the new data management software showed up soon after it waslaunched.

Problems with the new data management software appeared/emerged/materialised/surfaced soon after it was launched.

i) Exercise, work habits and daily movement patterns are also looked at to find out if something is contributing to a particular problem.

Exercise, work habits and daily movement patterns are alsoexamined/analysed/considered to determine/establish if something is…

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Collocations are pairs or groups of words that are often used together and sound natural to native speakers:

Exacerbate the condition/effect/problem/situation

Capture attention/complexity/essence/nuance

Derive comfort/enjoyment/pleasure/satisfactionfrom

Have/hold/do/pursue/earn/finish/gain a degree

Affirm the importance of

Reject the idea of

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Pay attention to collocations and common phrases when reading/listening to English, and try to use them in your writing:

http://www.just-the-word.com/http://www.freecollocation.com/

Examples of some of the phraseological ‘nuts and bolts’ of academic writing:

The Academic Phrasebank: http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/

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Frederiksberg Have (Gardens)

Eliminate distracting errors: punctuation

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Correct punctuation is important!

Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog.

Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking, her family, and her dog.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/6/

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1) Never comma before ‘that’ in English!

2) Use comma after introductory words/phrases:

In academia, these rates are likely to be much higher.

3) Use comma after dependent clauses:

Although studies tell us that digital reading differs from reading traditional print, we know substantially less aboutdigital reading behaviour.

They’ve only given me a plastic spoon. I obviously can’t be trusted with a knife and fork, and when I’ve finished eating the uniformed officer demands I give him back the spoon, as though it’s precious, so I hand it through the hatch to him.

(Freund et al., 2016, p. 79)

,

Four basic punctuation rules30/08/2019 54

4) Avoid comma splices and run-on sentences:

CS: An encyclopedia is a valuable source of information, it contains summaries of every area of knowledge.

RO: An encyclopedia is a valuable source of information it contains summaries of every area of knowledge.

a) An encyclopedia is a valuable source of information; it containssummaries of every area of knowledge.b) An encyclopedia is a valuable source of information. It containssummaries of every area of knowledge.c) An encyclopedia is a valuable source of information as it contains summaries of every area of knowledge.

Other common errors

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Subject-verb agreement:

If the public’s willingness to pay for green electricity is genuine, the government needs to accelerate the transition as the benefitsin the mind of the public far outweighs the costs. To assess the nonmarket goods, which has a clear economic value in a site where these have not yet been assessed, the benefit transfer canbe used.

Spelling:

effect vs affecttheir vs therethen vs thanprinciple vs principalloose vs lose

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Apostrophe:

(the) students’ vs a/the student’s(the) informants’ vs an/the informant’s(the) participants’ vs a/the participant’s

Examples from students’ papers:

a) …meaning that the individuals’ preferences are consistent over time.

b) However, other studies show consumers preferences for renewable energy.

Singularor plural?

Apostrophemissing

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Structure: Introduction

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Moves in research paper introductions:

Move 1: Establishing a research territorya) by showing that the general research area is important, central,

interesting, problematic, or relevant in some way;b) by introducing and reviewing items of previous research in the area.

Move 2: Establishing a nicheby indicating a gap in the previous research or by extending previousknowledge in some way.

Move 3: Occupying the nichea) by outlining purposes or stating the nature of the present research;b) by listing research questions or hypotheses (PISF*);c) by announcing principal findings (PISF);d) by stating the value of the present research (PISF);e) by indicating the structure of the RP (PISF).

*PISF = probable in some fields

(Swales & Feak, 2012, p. 331)

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The development and use of cohesive devices in L2 writing and their relations to the judgments of essay quality

The use and effects of cohesive devices in student writing has been of interest for some time (McCutchen & Perfetti, 1982; Witte & Faigley, 1981), but their impact on essay quality is unclear. For instance, the presence of local cohesive devices (i.e., devices related to sentence level cohesion such as connectives or word overlap between sentences) in writing produced by adult first language (L1) writers is often associated with judgments of lower writing quality (Crossley & McNamara, 2010, 2011; Evola, Mamer, & Lentz, 1980; McCulley, 1985). In contrast to L1 writing studies, a number of studies examining adult second language (L2) writing report positive correlations between the presence of local cohesive devices and writing quality (Jafarpur, 1991; Yang & Sun, 2012). There are several unexplored explanations for these differential findings.

One such explanation rests on differences in links between writing quality and the production of local cohesive devices, global cohesive devices (i.e., devices related to cohesion between larger chunks of texts such as word overlap between paragraphs in a text), and text cohesive devices (i.e., devices related to cohesion across an entire text such as the ratio of pronouns to nouns [givenness] and word repetition [lexical diversity] in the text). Recent computational studies have reported differences between local and global cohesive devices and their relation to writing quality for L1 writers, with local cohesion negatively related to writing quality and global cohesion positively related to writing quality (Crossley & McNamara, 2011; Crossley, Roscoe, McNamara, & Graesser, 2011). No studies, to our knowledge, however, have explicitly examined differences between local, global, and text cohesive devices in L2 writing. Understanding differences between these types of cohesive devices in L2 writing may help to better explain L2 writing proficiency and differing expectations for L2 writers on the part of expert raters.

Beyond examining the relations between cohesive devices and writing quality, there has also been an interest in investigating the longitudinal development of cohesive devices for both L1 learners (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987; Berninger, Fuller, &Whitaker, 1996; Hayes & Flower, 1980; Myhill, 2008) and L2 learners (Crossley, Salsbury, & McNamara, 2010a; Crossley, Salsbury, McNamara, & Jarvis, 2010; Yang & Sun, 2012). However, more research concerning the development of cohesive devices has been conducted for L1 writers than L2 writers resulting in a paucity of available information about cohesion development in L2 learners. To our knowledge, studies examining the development of local, global, and text cohesive devices in L2 learners are infrequent, and none of these links the development of these cohesive devices with judgments of writing quality.

This study addresses these gaps by examining the development of local, global, and text cohesive devices in L2 learners in conjunction with examining the relations such developments have on human judgments of writing quality (both judgments of overall writing proficiency and more fine-grained judgments of text coherence). Such an approach affords the opportunity to examine not only growth in the use of cohesive devices by L2 learners, but also links between such growth and expert judgments of essay quality. To do so, we use computational indices of local, global, and text cohesive devices to examine how the production of cohesive devices change over time in L2 writers (i.e., longitudinal growth) and how the use of cohesivedevices are related to human ratings of L2 writing. The use of computational tools affords us the opportunity to investigate large corpora of texts for a greater number of cohesion indices, something that was not possible in past research.

(Crossley, S. A. et al., 2016, pp. 1-2)

Move 1: Showingimportance of research area

+ placing it in a research context.

Move 2: Indicatinggap in research.

Move 3: Outlining value + purpose of research.

ConclusionBuild your conclusion around the elements of your

introduction, in reverse order.

Restate your claim early in your conclusion, more fullythan in your introduction.

Point out a new significance, insight or application.

Call for more research.

(Booth, Colomb & Williams, 2011)

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Example:

Although there had always been protests of various sorts against discrimination of blacks, two major breakthroughs paved the way for what was to be called the Civil Rights Movement. One was the integration of the armed forces by order of PresidentTruman in 1948. African Americans had fought valiantly in World War II, but always in segregated units, a fact which they vehementlyprotested against. The other breakthrough was the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 that ”separate but equal” schools for blacks (especially in the South) were inherently unequal. All American schools were ordered to be integrated, and a process wasinitiated that is still underway.

Donald S. MacQueen, American Social Studies (1991)

Paragraph structure

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Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

(Björk & Räisänen, 2003, p. 166)

Topic sentence…two major breakthroughs…

Supporting sentenceOne was the integration…

Supporting sentenceAfrican Americans had fought valiantly…

Supporting sentenceThe other breakthrough…

Supporting sentenceAll American schoolswere ordered…

Editing checklist

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1. Remember that writing is a process: focus more on content and structure first and then attend to language later.

2. When you are ready to edit/proofread your paper (or somebodyelse’s), pay special attention to:

a) Structure (overall + sections & paragraphs)b) Cohesion (does the text flow?)c) Style (clear, concise and precise)d) Sentence length (are sentences relatively short and simple?)e) Vocabulary (formality and precision)f) Punctuation (never comma before ”that”!)g) Subject-verb agreementh) Spelling (e.g. “-ise” vs “-ize”)

Tools and links

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Free dictionary: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Online dictionary: http://www.dictionary.com

Collocations: http://www.just-the-word.com/

The Academic Phrasebank: http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/

Academic Writing in English: http://sana.aalto.fi/awe/index.html

Using English for Academic Purposes: http://www.uefap.com/

Purdue Online Writing Lab: Punctuation: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/6/

Guidelines on structure: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/iatl/reinvention/contributors/toptips/structure/

References

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Bair, M. A. & Mader, C.E. (2013). Academic writing at the graduate level: Improving the curriculum through faculty collaboration. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 10 (1), 1-13, http://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol10/iss1/4

Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.G. & Willams, J.M. (2008). The craft of research (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Caplan, N. A. (2012). Grammar choices for graduate and professional writers. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.

Cavanagh, M. F. (2016). Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 48 (3), 247-259.

Crossley, S. A., Kyle, K. & McNamara, D. S. (2016). The development and use of cohesive devices in L2 writing and their relations to judgments of essay quality. Journal of Second Language Writing, 32, 1-16.

Larsen, S. (2013). Re-contextualising academic writing in English. Case studies of international students in Denmark. PhD thesis, University of Copenhagen.

Pinker, S. (2014). The sense of style. UK: Penguin Random House.

Ridley, D. (2012). The literature review (2nd ed.). USA: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Swales, J.M. & Feak, C.B. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students (3rd ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Michigan Series in English for Academic and Professional Purposes.

Ulriksen, L. (2014). God undervisning på de videregående uddannelser. Denmark: Frydenlund.

Wallwork, A. (2016). English for academic research: A guide for teachers. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Wallwork, A. (2016). English for writing research papers (2nd ed.). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.