Academic Writing in English

AcademicWritinginEnglish•Typesandfeatures•Mainsectionsofacademictexts•AbstractwritingskillsTypesoftext•Aresearcharticlewrittenforpublicationinanacademicjournal•AnMScdissertation•AnessaywrittenforauniversitycourseFeaturesofacademictexts•answeraspecificquestion,orquestions,usingasetofwell-structured,logicalarguments(oftenbasedonresearchcarriedoutbythewriterorotherresearchers)•containreferencestopreviousresearch,whicharedocumentedattheendofthetextintheformofabibliography•writteninanimpersonal,objectivestyle•characterizedbycertainlanguagefeaturessuchastheavoidanceofpersonalandcontractedforms,ahighlexicaldensity,frequentnominalizations(noungroups)andtheuseofthepassivevoice.Mainsectionsofacademictexts•Introduction•Methods•Results•DiscussionIntroductionSectionTheIntroductionSectionshouldconvincereadersoftherelevanceofthestudy.Itidentifiesaproblemintherealworldandnarrowsdownthescopeoftheresearchintoaspecificresearchquestionthatthestudyattemptstoanswer.MethodsSectionTheMethodsSectiontraditionallyoutlineshowthisresearchwasconducted.ResultsSectionTheResultsSectiondescribestheoutcomeoftheresearchand,togetherwiththeMethodsSection,comprisesthemainbodyoftheresearch.DiscussionSectionTheDiscussionSectionbroadensthefocusagain,relatesthestudybacktotheoutsideworldandpresentstheimpactandwiderimplicationsoftheresearch.AbstractFunction:providesasummaryofthearticleorreport.Types:InformativeorDescriptiveInformativeabstracts•focusonprovidingtheresultsoftheresearchanddescribingtheconclusionsthatcanbedrawnfromtheseresultsDescriptiveabstracts•aimtoprovidethereaderwithbriefsummaries(1-2sentences)ofeachofthefoursectionsoftheresearchreport(i.e.,Introduction,Methods,Results,Discussion)•Hypertextisaneffectivewayoforganizingandpresentingdataortextforinformationretrieval.Computer-basedhypermediatoolshavebeensuccessfullyemployedfortrainingpurposes.However,themanufacturingindustrystillcontinuestorelyheavilyonpaperversionsoftechnicalmanualsfortroubleshooting,maintenance,andcalibrationtasks.Thisthesiscomparestheeffectivenessofacomputer-basedhypermediatoolagainstapaperversionofthesamemanualtoassistoperatorsinalocalmanufacturingindustrytoperformcomplexmaintenanceandcalibrationtasks[AIMS].Theresultsofthestudyindicatethatl)theperformanceofthesubjectsweresuperiorwhileusingthehypertextbasedmanual[RESULTS];2)thehypertextsystemcanbeusedfortrainingeventhosesubjectswithminimalcomputerknowledge[RESULTS];and3)hypertextsystemscanbeconsideredaneffectivetrainingdeliverysystem[CONCLUSIONS].•Variousstudiesininspectionhavedemonstratedtheusefulnessoffeedforwardandfeedbackinimprovingperformance.However,thesestudieshavelookedatthesearchanddecisionmakingcomponentsseparately.Hence,itisdifficulttodrawgeneralizedconclusionsontheeffectsoffeedforwardandfeedbackforinspectiontasksthathavebothsearchanddecisionmakingcomponents.Inresponsetothisneed,thisstudyevaluatestheindividualandcollectiveeffectoffeedforwardandfeedbackonaninspectiontaskthathasboththesearchanddecision-makingcomponents[AIMS].Forthispurpose,thestudyusedacomputersimulatedinspectiontaskgeneratedbytheVisInsprogram.Twenty-foursubjects,randomlyassignedtovariousconditions,performedaninspectiontaskwhereinthefeedforwardandthefeedbackconditionsweremanipulatedbetweensubjects.Subsequently,thesearchanddecision-makingperformanceswereanalyzedandinterpreted[PROCEDURES].AbstractstructureThelinguistKenHyland(2000)hasidentifiedfivemovestodescribethestructureofresearchabstracts.Althoughallfivemovesrarelyoccurinasingleabstract,thecombinationofmovesandtheirorderingdependsontheexactfieldofstudyandtypeofresearch.MOVE1Introduction•Establishescontextofthepaperandmotivatestheresearch.MOVE2Purpose•Indicatespurpose,thesisorhypothesis,andoutlinestheintentionbehindthepaper.MOVE3Methods•Providesinformationondesign,procedures,assumptions,approach,data,etc.MOVE4Product•Statesmainfindingsorresults,theargument,orwhatwasaccomplished.MOVE5Conclusion•Interpretsorextendsresultsbeyondthescopeofthepaper,drawsinferences,pointstoimplications,orwiderapplications.INTRODUCTION•Byincludingabriefintroductionintheirabstract,youcanprovidereaderswithenoughbackgroundinformationandcontexttoenablethemtofollowyourdescriptionofyourresearch.Typesofcontent•Arguingfortopicprominence•Makingtopicgeneralizations•Definingterms,objects,orprocesses•Identifyingagapincurrentknowledge1.Arguingfortopicprominence•Thistypeofintroductoryinformationissimilartocentralityclaimsinresearcharticleintroductions.Writerscanchoosetointroducetheirtopicbyemphasizingtherelevance,significance,orimportanceoftheirtopicareatotheiraudienceandtherealworld.•Coverageisaveryimportantissueinwirelesssensornetworks.Currentliteraturedefinesapointtobecoveredifitiswithinthesensingradiusofatleastonesensor.Inthispaper,wearguethatthisisaconservativedefinitionofcoverage.…2.Makingtopicgeneralizations•Anotherpossiblestrategyforbeginninganabstractistooutlinewhatiscurrentlyknownoriscommon/standardpracticewithinthefieldofstudy.Thisinformationcanalsoincludedefinitionsofterms,objects,orprocesses.•IEEE802.11MACbasedMobil