英语学术论文及留学文书写作.ppt

1、English Writing,For English Majors,Final Scoring:,* Regular Attendance: 10% * Class Participation: 30% (Including Group Discussion and Assignments) * Final Presentation: 60%,What is writing?,Writing is one of the four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. In some way, it is simi

2、lar with speaking for they both belong to productive skills. Thats to say writing also involves producing language rather than receiving it. In our everyday life, we need to write mainly in order to communicate a message.,What do we write?,Now think about your daily writing and make a list of things

3、 that come to your mind. When you finish, share your ideas with your partner.,letters (E-mails); journals; shopping list; a postcard; a birthday card; job application letter; message; posters; address; answering a questionnaire; filling in a form; layouts; composition; play scripts; advertisements;

4、summary; bank report; social study reports; story; poem; instruction;diary; notes; memos;,Do you see anything in common within all these written text types?,For the common features of all written text types, two words can be rather conclusive: 1) Something: or better to say a message. Every written

5、text is to communicate a particular message; 2) Somebody: People write in order to communicate a message to somebody;,What will this course deal with?,Chapter 1 Application Letters,个人陈述 Admissions Essay; Personal Statement ; Statement of Purpose 个人简历 Rsum 研究计划 Research Proposal; Study Plan 推荐信 Recom

6、mendation letter,1.1 What is admissions essay?,Graduate admissions essay is meant for college students, written to college graduate admissions committee about who you are, what has influenced your career path so far, what your professional interests are and where you plan to go from there.,1.2 The p

7、urpose of admissions essay,Your admissions essay reveals a great deal about your ability: to write to determine the purpose of the essay to stick to the task at hand to “sell” yourself and explain why youre a good match to the program,Hello, here I am!,1.3 Two main types of graduate admissions essay

8、 questions,* General question: relatively open topics, leaving the applicant free to address a wide range of matters about himself. e.g. Whats the most important thing the admissions committee should know you about? * Specific question: assigned topics, requiring specific information of the applican

9、t in the intended area of study within a graduate program. e.g. What are two or three of the academic accomplishments, which have well prepared you for the concerned graduate study?,Sample Essay Questions,Looking at sample questions is a good way to get a feeling for the types of questions that grad

10、uate schools ask in their applications. Writing answers to some of the questions is one way to improve your essay writing. Here are some essay questions similar to those used by actual schools.,General Questions for Masters and Doctoral Programs,Please tell us your reasons for applying for graduate

11、study, your particular area(s) of specialization within your field of study, your professional career plans, and any additional information that you want the admission committee to know. Your answer should not be longer than two pages. Please tell us your reasons for pursuing graduate study and the

12、strengths and weaknesses of your preparation for graduate study in your proposed field. Limit your answer to one page. Please submit a statement of your academic and future career plans as they relate to the field which you wish to study. Your statement may not exceed 1000 words.,Specific Questions

13、for Masters and Doctoral Programs,“What are the value and importance of community service in our society and tell us what it means to you.” “What educational and personal experiences have led you to want to investigate these topics, problems, or areas in our university?” “How would you describe your

14、self as a human being? What quality do you like best in yourself and what do you like least?” “Identify your specific interest in communication and talk about why you are interested in our program.”,Questions for Business Schools (between 500-1000 words),Why do you want an MBA? What do you expect to

15、 gain from this degree? What are your career objectives for the next five years? fifteen years? Describe an ethical dilemma you once had to face and how handled it.What has been your single, most important achievement to date?What are your main interests outside your job or school? Why do you enjoy

16、them?Other than business management, what are some other jobs or careers that you have considered?What do you consider your strongest personality traits? What traits would you most like to change?Describe a significant managerial or other work experience that you have had.,1.4 Past, present, future,

17、 how to stay focused?,Personal background: just personal reasons for your interest in the related area; Professional background: state your ideal career and list the reasons for take it as well as some preparatory work you have already done, specify your future plans; Educational background: importa

18、nt classes or specific project which has enhanced your interest and stimulated your desire for graduate study; Related researches: specify well-known partners, the title of project, your responsibility; Outstanding achievements: relevant ones;,1.5 How to write graduate admissions essays?,A process o

19、f self-exploration 1) Work out the controlling idea or the theme of your essay; 2) Try to analyze and reflect upon your experiences, the evidence of your achievement, the events shaping your attitude, focus, and most of all, your intellectual vitality; 3) Sit down and craft the beginning, the body a

20、nd the conclusion of your essay;,The modeling structure of a typical two-page graduate admissions essay,An introductory paragraph that presents your essays controlling theme 34 body paragraphs that develop your theme through examples and detailed experiences and build upon each other A conclusion th

21、at widens the lens and wraps up your essay without summarizing or repeating what has already been written,1.6 What Graduate Schools Look for in Application Essays?,They expect clearly and logically written essays that reveal thought and creativity, maturity and focus. They expect essays that bring t

22、ogether the separate parts of an application (e.g. transcript, test scores, work experiences, extracurricular experiences, interests, etc.) and prove an applicant is qualified and motivated for graduate study.,Cover Letter,When mailing out your rsum to a prospective university, you always want to in

23、clude an original cover letter. The cover letter is used to transmit your rsum (or other documents, such as transcripts). More importantly, it gives you the opportunity to introduce yourself to a school, express your interest in a field, offer the admissions officer insight into your personality thr

24、ough your writing style, and impress them with your communication skills.,A checklist of the cover letter,Explain why you are writing to the school and indicate a professional attitude, the amount of preparation you have done and additional efforts you have made. Whenever possible, the letter should

25、 be addressed /tailored to a specific person, with the full name and title. Make sure the name of the person addressed is spelled correctly. This person could be the dean of the department or the specific professor you plan to study after. This shows you are familiar with the school and that you hav

26、e carefully researched this specific area.,Analyze your specified knowledge and skills, and then make every effort to match your skills with those emphasized by the specialty you are applying for. Make every effort to explore the background of the prospective school, its specified area and contribut

27、ion to its development; if possible, some detailed information about your target supervisor to permit you to match your accomplishments with the goals and objectives of the organization. In closing, express a desire to arrange a time for an interview (mostly telephone interviews with oversea schools

28、) and state that you will telephone to request a time for an appointment.,Rsum,Your rsum is one of the most important part of your application for further study. A rsum is a summary of your education, work experience and accomplishments. Your rsum is important. Admissions officers often use rsums to

29、 decide whether to accept you among thousands of applicants and whether you are qualified to be join in them. Therefore, you should highlight your best attributes.,Tips on writing a rsum,Arrive quickly at the important points. Be clear and concise. Keep vertical lists and use action verbs. Decide wh

30、at information to count in. Make your rsum easy on the eyes. Double check your grammar and spelling.,A suggested format of rsum,Heading Your name Your address Your contact phone number (s) /Your email address Summary (A brief concise statement describing you, your strongest skills, experience and yo

31、ur strengths Professional Experience (Start with your present / latest employment, internship, research experience, part-time job, social practice; Education Honors and awards (List any awards or distinctions you received, such as Excellent Leader Award, Honor Student, and notify the time and place

32、of them. Skills and Training,Chapter 2 the Research Paper,Broader definition: a careful, systematic and patient study or an investigation in some field of knowledge, undertaken to discover or establish facts or principles. Narrower definition: a typewritten paper in which students present their view

33、s and research findings on a chosen topic.,Why research paper?,Familiarize with the conventions of scholarly writing; Familiarize with the library through the “learning by doing” method; Reflect a students study in college, possibly realizes a sublimation or innovation upon what he/she has learned f

34、rom textbooks; Learn to think critically and organizing lengthy material, and assemble the information uncovered into an original and creative paper by doing research on a certain topic.,Features of a research paper,Formal: standard language interviewing learners about their personal experience of u

35、sing multi-media classroom; setting up an English language teaching experiment and interpreting the results.,2. Secondary research,involves gathering together and analyzing the research findings from previous studies. It is sometimes called “library” research. This research is usually limited to boo

36、ks and articles that are readily available in the library. Most graduation these for BA graduates are secondary or library research paper. Students are expected to develop their abilities through planning and writing their graduation theses to learn: how to investigate, review, collect and analyze d

37、ata, evaluate ideas and views of other researchers, present their particular thoughts, analysis and conclusions persuasively.,Component Parts Of a Research Paper,The title page Acknowledgements Abstract Table of contents The paper proper Bibliography,Features of Effective Research Paper,indicates ca

38、reful, comprehensive reading and understanding of the topic establishes, in its introduction, a thesis to be developed in the course of the paper is clearly organized employs the principles of good composition includes direct quotations, paraphrases, or prcis that support the thesis includes documen

39、tation in the form of parenthetical notes, endnotes, or footnotes includes a list of works cited exhibits careful, thorough documentation of sources of ideas follows a carefully prescribed format is always typed and printed on a letter-quality printer,Step 1. choosing a topic Step 2. Reviewing relat

40、ed literature and evaluating materials Step 3. developing a thesis statement Step 4. analyzing the information, organizing ideas, and working out an outline Step 5. writing the first draft Step 6. revising the draft and finalizing the paper,Steps of writing a research paper,The selection of a topic

41、is the first important step in preparing a research paper. An inappropriate decision about a research topic may lead to failure of the whole project, or at least a waste of time and energy. From general to specific Selecting a general topic; Reading and thinking; Narrowing down the scope of your top

42、ic to a specific aspect; Formulating the final topic.,STEP 1 Selecting a Topic,At this initial stage, you should first choose a topic that you are interested in and know something about. It would be much better if you already have some ideas about the topic and you feel that you can develop these id

43、eas into a research-paper. Now think of a general topic in which you are interested and on which you think you may possibly write a paper. Now talk with your partner about the feasibility of your topic:,Step 1.1 Selecting a general topic,A good library (with electronic catalogue) usually contains ex

44、cellent sources for finding a topic. While reading, you should ask yourself whether the topic in your mind has already been explored quite thoroughly, and whether you can develop it further by offering something new. If the answer is negative, you should drop that topic. Task: What sources may you t

45、urn to for ideas? 1234,Step 1.2 Reading and thinking,Sources You May Turn to for Ideas,1) Encyclopedias Advantage: excellent, authoritative, suggestive; Disadvantage: broad, fundamental, basic; 2) Periodicals More current information, opinions and up-to-date reports More specific and detailed, bette

46、r facilitates relevant research A brief glance at the title and the key words will often appeal to the students interests. 3) Internet Resources Helpful both for finding a topic and searching for specific information. 4) Books: best sources to discover a topic for research.,* Keep it simple; you don

47、t need an enormous topic to work with. * Make it specific. Its much easier to do research on a narrowly selected topic than a massive idea. Help yourself by sharpening it down. * Consider the target audience: who, whats, why; * Make sure your idea will work. Do a little preliminary research in the l

48、ibrary to make sure theres enough available material on your topic.,Step 1. 3 Narrowing down the scope of your topic to a specific aspect,Lets say you are interested in 1)Chinese poetry. Obviously, this topic is too big to be dealt with in your paper. You should narrow down the scope of that topic t

49、o something more specific. After you have read some books, you may find that 2) Chinese poetry in the Tang Dynasty, especially 3) the poetry by Li Bai, is worth exploring. So your final research topic may be something like 4)“Nature in Li Bais Poems.” Task: Now try to narrow down the general topic y

50、ou thought of at the first step to something more specific and write it down just below the general topic : The general topic: The more specific topic:,The following points may be used as a set of criteria for your final topic: It should be a topic that is meaningful and serious: A research paper sh

51、ould make people think and learn. 2) It should be a topic which you are able to handle: You will not be able to write anything significant on subjects in which you do not have the necessary training. For example, you are an English major and if you intend to write your BA paper on nuclear physics or

52、 chemistry, very probably the paper you produce may not be of high quality. It may be a big failure!,Step 1.4 Formulating the final topic,3) It should be a topic for which sufficient materials are available. If you can find only one or two books or articles related to your subject and if you draw co

53、nclusions only from them, it is highly probable your conclusions will not be well-grounded. 4) It should be a topic that can be treated objectively, a topic that does not involve personal likes or dislikes. Suppose you are thinking of writing a paper on our economic reform and one or more of your fa

54、mily members or relatives or friends have had very unsuccessful experiences in the reform. If you are to write your paper on the economic reform and draw your conclusion on the basis of the experiences of your family members, relatives and friends, you can hardly write a paper of any significance.,5

55、) It should be a topic that is not too topical. Topical topics refer to the ongoing hot issues in the world. For instance, it would be very difficult for a student to write a conclusive paper on the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. If the topic you have chosen can meet the above criteria, you c

56、an move forward to the next step. Otherwise you have to work further on the topic till you think it does meet the criteria.,Sample Now look at the following example which shows how to restrict the scope and work out a suitable topic for a research paper:,Task for Group discussion: Make a careful stu

57、dy of the following 3 topics, try to narrow down their scope and make them specific topics on which you can possibly write a paper. 1. General: Food Culture Restricted: More restricted: The topic chosen: 2. General: ELT Methodology Restricted: More restricted: The topic chosen: 3. General: Shakespea

58、res Plays Restricted: More restricted: The topic chosen:,Writing about literary works,Analysis of theme: Does the theme reinforce or oppose popular notions of life? Does it furnish a new insight or refresh or deepen an old one? Analysis of plot or structure: Does the plot have unity? Are all of the

59、episodes relevant to the total meaning or effect of the story? Does each incident grow logically out of the preceding incident and lead naturally to the next?,Analysis of character and characterization: What are the minor characters like? How do they interact with the major character? Are they merely furthering the plot or are they helping to characterize the main character? Is any minor character used as a parallel to the main character? Analysis of setting: What is the general