WRITING ENGLISH: MY NORMS• “The purpose of writing is to translate inner feelings

into public words.” (Richard Paul & Linda Elder, 2005, Journal of Development Education, 20/1, pp. 40-41)

George Owell had previously said (1984), “Why I Write”, Penguin.

1. Good writers will ask themselves six questions:a. What am I trying to say?b. What words will express it?c. What word picture will make it clearer?d. Will it [i.e., the word picture] be fresh enough to have an effect?e. Could I have put it [i.e., my topic] more shortly?f. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

2. Good writing should consist of choosing words for the sake of their meaning.

3. That is to say, the words should not be chosen before the writer decides what s/he wants to say.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

Presenter Dr. Neal Waddell

University of Queensland

The Writing Process 1

•We write by combining words:

I + did + not + work + yesterday.

•These combinations merge with others to make sentences:

After all, I did not work yesterday because I was sick.

•Sentences combine to make paragraphs, which combine into documents whether for academic, professional, or personal communication.

•What is called the ‘Writing Process’ begins from the time you first think and read about what to write to when you hand it in. 2

The Writing Process 2

•Studying at university, you learn a lot of new words; you need to know what they mean.

•These words may well be used differently in keeping with the course or subject you are undertaking.

•You need to read widely and understand a variety of publications, academic specialists and other experts.

•But, by its very nature, being something occurring over time, the Writing Process needs consideration and organization.

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Stage 1: Preparation

Here you need to remember: Purpose, Audience, and Form•Purpose means what is the paper is meant to

do? In business writing, this is called the brief. Are you meant to investigate, explain, describe,justify, criticize, (critically) analyse, or plan?•Audience means for whom are you writing?

Communication can never occur without an audience (i.e., a reader or listener).•Form depends on your purpose and audience.

Is it an analytical paper (or essay), a report, or any other form? Then, you’ll work out what structure and language will suit the writing.

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Stage 2: Drafting

•After preparing, you write your first draft and then revise it at least once, but preferably twice, before improving the style.

•At the drafting stage, you prioritize your ideas according to a format and structure. [note, we often need to change that plan, but that’s OK].

•The drafting stage is an exercise in making your paragraphs work for you to carry your story to your audience clearly and precisely.

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Stage 3: ReviewingReviewing is important to writing, but especially for academic writing because this is where the credibility of your findings will be assessed.

Electronic apps may claim to correct writing with spelling and grammar checkers, but these are not satisfactory.

Reviewing consists of three distinct activities:

1. Revising refers to the overall organisation and logic of the document.

2. Editing checks that the paragraphs and textual connections are clear.

3. Proofreading checks the fine detail of how the document looks and how language is used.

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Research 1

•Much of the academic writing that students do at university is based on research.

• Student writing at university draws from one of two types of research or both:

1. Primary research describes the original research such as that gathered by PhD, advanced masters, or honors students.

2. Secondary research describes the type gathered from research published in academic writing from journals, books or other sources.

•Most scholars should use research to support their argument. Some students wrongly begin their writing with an assertion like:

Everybody knows that China is becoming an uncontested superpower. 7

Research 2

However, you can offer something of your own to the argument you are making. For example, you might say something like:

China has no doubt become a super power in the last 15 years (Author, date; Author, date) both economically(Author, date) and strategically (Author, date). Whereas Author (date) claims this dominance is uncontested, Author (date) sees the USA remaining in the contest for supremacy, particularly through its political domination. However, with the sheer weight of economic capital, China will probably supersede America as the world’s superpower at some time (Author, date; Author, date). Guided by this view, this paper thus reviews the world financial situation in light of China’s dominance.

Your secondary research has enabled you to give your own voice.

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Research 3a

What follows are the mistakes that students makes when

choosing suitable ‘sources’ for secondary research:

1. Using general dictionaries, instead of finding professional

definitions: Although regular dictionaries will define

words, they may not pinpoint the technical or professional

specifics used in your university studies.

2. Confusing what ‘journals’ means: The term is used at

university to mean academic journals in that they are

peer-reviewed (also called ‘refereed’) by scholars. These

are considered to be the best source of up-to-date

research. 9

Research 3b

The three uses of the term, journal, are:

1. Trade publications (also called “trade journals”,

e.g., Energy Business Journal): often provide very

recent technical and practical information.

2. Magazines (e.g., Time, The Economist): should

mainly be used for topical information and

comment.

3. Peer-reviewed Journals (e.g., The Academy of

Management Journal; Journal of Economics and

Business) for academic analysis.10

Research 3cThree more student mistakes when selecting sources:

1. Using only your textbook instead of also searching more specific academic books: Although your set textbooks are good to guide and generalize a course, you will write in a much more informed way if you also use other books and journals as just described.

2. Using Internet sources that may not be reliable sources of information because anyone with a computer and a little technical knowledge can set up a website. You need to use research material that is reliable, such as university or government sites, or those of certain scholarly, statistical, or public interest sources.

3. Using newspapers and magazines as reliable sources of information: Those of quality can be used for basic factual data, rather than for sustained analyses of events or ideas.11

What Will You Write 1While it is difficult to estimate either how many papers that you’ll write as a student, or the different forms that writing will take, you may write:

• research papers around some business case or topic;

•a business or marketing plan;

•a report or proposal, or

•a critical analysis of some business system.

Each of these writing types comes with its own format and objectives which are expressed using a particularly type of language.

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What Will You Write 2So, whatever areas involved, you are likely to follow one or any of these objectives:

• To recount or tell what happened.

• To document a sequence of events and evaluate their significance in some way.

• To solve or resolve a problem or crisis by evaluating a series of events that caused them.

• To instruct the reader on how to make or do something.

• To report information about an event or circumstance.

• To explain how and why something occurs.

• To present an argument in favor of a proposition.

• To discuss an topic from a number of different perspectives before reaching a conclusion.

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Writing Academic Essays 1Most communication follows intro‒body‒conclusion.

INTRODUCTIONS state directly what you are going to do:

In this paper, I show that the export performance of a firm depends on its R&D capabilities, technology transfer, and entrepreneurial characteristics.

• This clearly prepares the reader for how the paragraph structure will describe the firm’s R&D capabilities, technology transfer, and entrepreneurial characteristics.

• The opening paragraph usually contains contextual information (i.e., background, situation and conditions).

• By the end of the first paragraph, readers should know your argument, and how you will support it throughout.

• Put readers in context before providing the specifics.14

Writing Academic Essays 2Each paragraph of the BODY must relate to the central argument or thesis that you outlined in your introduction.

• Elaborate each point or claim with logical argument and evidence that you acquired from the pre-writing stage.

• Remember that an academic argument cannot be merely stated; it must be supported with evidence from a reliable source.

• Sometimes, you will be expected to include some differing viewpoints in your essay.

• If you do, signal these with linking words, such ashowever, on the other hand, in contrast …

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Writing Academic Essays 3The CONCLUSION sums up what you have done, how you have done it, what you have found, what effect it will have, and its significance to future research.

• It reflects the purpose stated in your introduction, but in a much richer sense.

• It answers the reader’s questions, Who cares; what do we know, what don’t we know, and so what?

• It reminds the reader of the worth of your research and sums up its contribution.

• It is richer because you will have elaborated your argument points throughout the body of the essay.

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Writing Essays: Examples 1

IntroductionSince the 1980s, Australian employees have increasingly worked for organizations that expect them to work long hours (Bollinger, 2008; Haddin, 2007; Johnson, 2008). Therefore, this paper [investigates/evaluates/analyses] the contemporary expectation in organizations that employees will work long hours. I ask if this expectation is a factor of the organizations, or the employees who work in them. To that end, the broad research into this expectation is assessed, particularly that concerned with the (lack of) clarity with which long working hours are written in formal conditions of employment. Moreover, I argue that the practice of working long days is simply understood by employees as normal to their work.

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Writing Essays: Examples 2

Literature ReviewThe belief that employees in organizations were bound by formal work agreements between managers and unions was first questioned by Hauritz & Siddle (1979).Since then, research into working hours has paid more attention to the influence of work culture on employee behaviour (Clarke, 1998; Watson, Katich, & Ponting, 2000; Lee, 2006).

Much of this research considers working hours as it relates to what managers expect of their staff. More recently though, research has increasingly looked at the impact of work time on managers regarding what their executives expect (Clarke & North, 2009).

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Writing Essays: Summary• The preceding examples suggest a way of beginning

your essay after completing most of your reading.

• The literature review begins the organization of your arguments.

•One of the worst mistakes students make in writing essays is not developing an argument. Students may gather large amounts of relevant information, but then fail to form their own response to the essay question.

• By the time you have completed your essay, you will probably have refined your central argument often.

• You should complete the final draft of the Introductionlast, after you have completed the rest of the essay.

• This also applies to your Summary or Abstract.19

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Corporate Communications:

Effective Techniques

for Business

Bernard McKenna, Glen Thomas,

Neal Waddell & Mary BarryPublisher: Cengage