Introductions and methods

in medical and educational reports

Members of academic contexts may be expected to understand and produce different types of texts to support beliefs, look for information and share knowledge. That may be why professionals read and write research papers. However, research papers as any other types of texts, have got their own content structure. That means they are composed by different parts through which researchers try convey a coherent meaning. The purpose of this paper is to compare the introduction and method in two research papers based on the educational and medical fields. Some considerations on format, purpose and tenses will be regarded.

 Both papers seem to fit academic layout requirements as the heading Introduction is placed on the left margin, and written in bold type, which gives a visually tidy characteristic to the piece of writing (Purdue Owl, 2005). In addition, there are different sub-sections in the medical research report and in the educational research paper which help researchers to organize different topics. (Aryadoust, 2004, Kraut, 2010)

The following section, Method, does not have a written headline so it is recognized in both papers when delving into them. The elements corresponding to this part of the papers have been treated differently. In the educational sample(Aryadoust,2004) under the participants section, the components are students, instructors, instruments, subscales and reliability of the instruments all of which are italicized and underlined. On the other hand, Kraut (2010) has headed this section of his medical research paper as procedures and participants and then measures written in bold type. Apparently, fewer participants are involved in the medical investigation.      

 Regarding grammar features, “introductions and methods make a quite static use of tenses to convey a clear meaning to the reader” (Swales 1990, as cited in Pintos Crimi 2010, p.14). In the particular cases that are being analyzed, the researchers use present perfect to show the importance of the study “…sub-skills of L2 essay writing has been extensively researched” (Aryadoust, 2004, p.2). Simple past is used to show what other researchers did: “Micken, Slater and Gibson contended that system; lexicon and task objectives affect L2 text writing” (p. 3).

Another instance of use of tenses is the simple present to refer to what has been found”…but the models postulated are not entirely homogeneous” (Aryaoust, 2004, p.3) or to say what the present study seeks to do:”In this light, the present study seeks to explore the convergence and separateness of the sub-skills in writing assessment” (p2).

In the same fashion, the present perfect tense is used in the medical paper to show the importance of the topic as in “the rapid expansion of the Internet has increased the amount of health information available to the general public” (Kraut, 2010, p.2) and simple past to show what other researchers did in previous findings:”43% reported using Internet health sources” (Kraut, 2010 p2). The simple past and past passive voice are used in the Method section to refer to the procedures developed and the use of tools and materials: “In 2000 we conducted a national sample survey of US households using digital dialing and a panel design” (Kraut, 2010, p.3).

As it has been stated by Swales (1990, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010), introductions aim at attracting the readers´ attention. Following the Create a Space Research Model, introductions contain moves that are characterized by a number of semantic and syntactic features.  Move 1 creates a space by showing that the research is important and reviewing previous ones. For instance, Aryadoust (2004, p.3) notices that “measurable sub-skills of L2 writing have been extensively researched”. In Move 2, the researcher establishes a gap by saying that the modes of writing assessment are not homogeneous and that proposing and evaluating writing models are not well researched.

In this work the review is also thoroughly developed between Move 2 and 3 during the following twelve paragraphs. Move 3 is at the end of the first paragraph where the purpose of the study is mentioned” to investigate on measurable writing sub-skills” and “explore the convergence of sub skills of a writing construct model, including grammar and lexis, cohesion and coherence” (Aryadoust,  2004, p. 3).

On its way, the medical paper introduction contains similar characteristics. In Move 1 the research establishes a territory when it says that “the rapid expansion of the internet has greatly increased the amount of health information available to the general public”, (Kraut, 2010, p.3) Move 2 indicates a gap in the investigation of the topic when it is claimed that “although prior research has shown the use of Internet to communicate is associated with the decline of depression, little reliable information exists” (p.3). Finally in Move 3 the purpose “to determine whether searching the Internet for health purposes is beneficial or harmful for physical and psychological well being” is mentioned and steps of the research are outlined (p.3).That is how the reader can get a quick first impression of the researcher’s work.

 Both papers include a detailed background of participants, to give credibility to the work. Kraut (2004, p.4) highlights that “participants agreed to participate, they received a letter consent form and honorarium “. In the same way, instruments and measure are listed to describe procedures such as surveys, one item general health question and confirmatory factor analysis. Finally the educational report follows the same way of developing the method; it refers to participants such as Iranian students and also materials as different types of prompts for proposing and evaluating writing sub-skills.

After having analyzed the first two parts of a medicine and an education research, both seem to have achieved the necessary requirements. In other words, both of them use discourse patterns, format standards, grammar elements that may contribute to start the report of what has been done by the researcher. The mentioned features that appear as being part of the medicine and education report may be evaluated as an effective way for guiding the reader to get new information to grow professionally in a specific field.       

References

Aryadoust, V.  (2004). Investigating Writing Sub-skills in Testing English as a Foreign

    Language: A Structural Equation Modeling Study. The Electronic Journal for

    English as a Second Language, 13 (52), 52-59.

Kraut, R.  (2010). Effects of the Internet Use on Health and Depression: A Longitudinal

 Study the Journal of Medical Internet Research. (1) E6 Retrieved June 2010 from

 www.jmir.org

Pintos, V. &Crimi, Y. (2010) Unit2: The Research article: Introduction, Literature

  Review and Method Sections. Universidad CAECE Buenos Aires Argentina Retrieved

  May 21, 2010 http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view-phpid=4582.



Results and conclusions:

a comparative analysis between

a medicine and an education paper

The idea of sharing knowledge between professionals of any field may be actualized by means of research papers. Those who want to grow in their academic fields may have access to published findings which will be a source for getting information. On their side, to develop thoroughly their investigations, researchers focus attention on the results, discussions and conclusion sections of their papers.

According to Swales, (1998, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) results are descriptive in nature as writers tend to compare results and explain them. This author also suggests that it would be unrealistic to present all the collected data, so a selection is made and findings are summarized through text, tables and figures. In the same line, communication simplicity may be required to better understand outcomes which are supported with examples, statistics and quantitative data.

Discussions can be written in isolation or with the conclusions (Swales and Feak, 1994, cited in Pintos, Crimi 2010).Researchers evaluate whether the stated hypothesis matches the outcome of findings, which is re stated by means of calling back the purpose of the research. In this way, the hypothesis is supported or refused, as later on in the conclusion, suggestions or actions to be taken may appear. The purpose of this paper is to compare how results, discussions and conclusions are developed in an education paper (Aryadoust, 2004) and a medicine paper (Kraut, 2010). To do so, academic style format requirements, aims and grammar features will be analyzed in each section. 

Broadly speaking, Swales and Feak (2004, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) have signaled that results are types of texts which should be logically ordered in the same way as described in method section and referring the readers to a table or figure where they can see data, which will constitute a way of presenting a large proportion of information in a small space.  Nevertheless, tables are not used to present the information that has been already introduced in text format but to call attention to main points so that the reader can understand and compare easily the data. This is the case of the education paper where the author presents about half of the findings in text type, using simple past to describe them without delving into interpretations as in “large reliability indexes indicated that the raters had implemented the rating criteria homogenously and constantly” and when he reports “indexes close to zero suggested that the observed performance of the raters could be attributable to chance or intervening variables” (Aryadoust, 2004, p.2).

In addition, this paper appears to meet format academic style requirements (Purdue Owl, 2007) as tables stand on different pages, are numbered, and have an individual title which is brief and clearly explanatory of the topic as in “Fit indices of the Models Postulated in the Study”(Aryadoust , 2004, p.2). As for their format, tables are written in heading caps, flush right positioned and italics. Within tables, columns report comparable variables down all rows and have a descriptive heading. In Table 4 there are three columns for different raters and each one show indexes that correspond to variables in different rows. This pattern is followed in the three tables which seem to give consistency and readability to the presentation, as general notes below the charts help the reader understand the main outcomes.

Another means of presenting results are figures, which require the reader to estimate values because they convey an overall pattern of results (Pintos & Crimi, 2010) .There are different type of figures that may supplement the information included in the body of the paper: bar graphs, scatter plots, line graphs and pie graphs. They are supposed to foster communication and readability, otherwise the readers may draw their attention from the data and the writer’s credibility may be questioned.

 For the sake of guiding the reader, figures may have to include a legend or caption below that should explain abbreviations and terminology consistent with those used in the text and other figures (Purdue Owl, 2006).This is the case of the education paper where the researcher clarifies through the caption below figures that there is a moderate correlation between the latent traits which means that when they are separable they are parts of the same measurement model.

Regarding grammar features, a variety of tenses and hedging may be also a way of presenting accurately research outcomes. In the analyzed papers both researchers seem to compare and support evidence but they do it in a moderate tone. Thus, past passive voice is used to describe steps in the research, simple present to relate findings to the literature review or show data presented in tables or figures, simple past to describe outcomes and hedging  as modals can or may, as long as the verb assume , suppose, prove or denote.

Results sections have descriptive paragraph patters, so one of the main issues a writer should care about is not sounding very strong and change tenses to express facts that can be applied in general, to action research already finished or put the necessary emphasis on the object of study (Hamps-Lyons and Heasley, 1987, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010).

Concluding his report, Aryadoust (2004) states in the discussion section the purpose of his research that was to investigate the validity of a writing model. Findings are interpreted by saying that Model 1and 2 failed to show good features of differences in terms of their traits. In addition, outcomes are analyzed by comparing them with what has been outlined in the literature review. The researcher also proposes the two factors model of writing and recommends that the merged criterion of their research should be further analyzed.

On the other hand, the medicine research paper (Kraut, 2010) seems to present some different characteristics. The results sections show findings through five tables that may be zoomed out by clicking on them to be read. Very probably, the tables do not appear written in the text because of space reasons as heavy data is included. Below each of them, short, concise and explanatory paragraphs outline the outcomes of tables.

A feature to be highlighted is the absence of notes to clarify abbreviations or explain average measurements, what makes the understanding of these tables quite difficult. However when delving into tables, readers can find outcomes developed in columns and rows. This way of presenting results seem to provide a complete scope on the researched topic as the reader can see the relation of variables. The same pattern is used in all the tables which give consistency to the presentation, considering that they are the only means to present collected data as there are no figures.

As it has been suggested, findings are summarized not only through tables and figures but through text. Six well balanced paragraphs appear to develop logically cause and effect organized paragraphs. They meet academic style requirements (Purdue Owl, 2007). In the case of the education paper (Aryadoust, 2004) the heading Results is placed flush left in bold type and containing headed subtopics that guide readers to follow the research performed. The research procedure will be described step by step, referring to the five different trials, conducted to see the effect of the uses of Internet on people’s well being and depression.

 As regards grammar features, Kraut (2010) uses simple present to refer the reader to tables or match data to other findings and simple past to show the way variables combine as when he suggests “these analysis are summarized in table 1”, “these demographic results echo results of national polls” and “younger participants reported more use of the Internet to meet people and participate in online groups” (2010, p.4).

The author has included the discussion on a different section. At the beginning he reminds the audience about the purpose of the study “to determine whether people’s use of the Internet to obtain health sources would have consequences for their psychological and physical health” (p.8).In subsequent paragraphs, the researcher points out what combination of variables they examined to support their assumptions. The use of modal may can be considered as a feature not to sound definite on outcomes as in “it may be that one source in the increase of depression is the misinformation people get from factually incorrect websites” (p.8).

In spite of that, data analysis is held using simple past but without hedging as they are facts that both writer and reader will definitely agree with, as in “results from the current study showed that communicating with others was associated with decline of depression when the communication was with friends” (p.8).

The conclusion section consists of a single sounding paragraph. Summing up his piece of writing, the researcher goes back to the purpose of the paragraph, noticing also the gap found in the field which was mentioned in the introduction: ”the study examined the consequences of using the Internet in a way that other studies have not” (p.10). In addition, in this part of papers, readers could be expecting to find out whether hypotheses could be supported or refuted.

Thus, Kraut (2010) suggests that using the internet to obtain health sources increases depression; the language choice of the verb suggests is a hedging strategy that provides a provisional tone, as limitations in the work are also noted:”since we do not control the use of the Internet chosen by respondents” and” we cannot determine whether these effects were due to characteristics of the individuals” (p.10). In the last sentence a recommendation is made for other researchers to determine what leads people to seek out health resource online.

All in all, both papers make use of linguistic strategies to develop ideas by means of an academic style and

showing acknowledged information on the topics. The reader is guided to see, analyze and draw conclusions

about the topic investigated throughout the research process, which culminates with an attempt to support or

refute the original hypothesis. In both papers the writers, by means of displaying findings through texts, tables

and figures and discussing on their causes and consequences, may help readers have access to specialized

material which may foster their professional development

Reference

Aryadoust, V. (2004) Investigating Writing Sub-skills in Testing English as a Foreign  

   Language: A Structural Equation Modeling Study TESL-EJ Teaching English as a Second or   

   Foreign Language National Institute of Education, Singapore www.tesl-e 2010

   Org/word press/issues/volume13/ej52/ej52a9/

Bassierire, K., Pressman, S., Kiesler, S. & Kraut, R. Effects of Internet Use on Health and

   Depression: A Longitudinal Study. J Med Internet Res 2010:12(1):e6

   http:/www.jmr.org/2010/1/e6 doi: 10.2186/jmr.1146

Purdue OWL. (2006).Quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing Retrieved August 2010 from

  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01

Pintos, V. & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit3:  The Research: Results Discussions and Conclusions.  

  Universidad CAECE. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Retrieved May 21, 2010  

  http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view-phpid=4582.

Analysis of abstracts taken from

four different medical research papers

When writing for academic purposes and audiences, researchers may be required to cope with great amounts of reading and writing to transform and share knowledge. Strikingly, abstracts are the first part that readers encounter but they are the last part that researchers write. Once a paper is finished, an abstract of the entire paper is prepared as a formal summary of the paper.

Broadly speaking, the term abstract refers to the short text that is based on a longer text. The main purpose is to transmit information in a clear, concise, and objective way (Pintos & Crimi 2010). According to Swales and Feak (2004, cited by Pintos & Crimi 2010) abstracts are more important to readers than to the writer as they are summaries of the main points made by the author with the aim of attracting the readers´ attention to go on reading.

 A similar concept is stated by APA style manual (2005, cited in Purdue Owl, 2007) when it is said that an abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the article which allows the reader to survey the contents. However, abstracts need to present enough information and be readable, so it seems necessary to be concerned not only with the content but also with linguistic specifications, order in the presentation of ideas and economy of expression (Purdue Owl, 2010).

As Feak (1993) suggests, this piece of writing consists of an introduction, a study design, an objective, the materials and method stages, the results and finally the conclusion, in the same way that papers consist of. On their way, Hubbuch , Swales and Feak (2000 , 2004, cited in Pintos , Crimi 2010) have agreed to write one sentence for each part of the research paper as it is supposed to compress the maximum information in a minimum space. The purpose of this work is to explore four abstracts from medical research papers to compare characteristics in them, and to see whether the aims of this type of text have been achieved.

In the abstract from the article by Martinez et al. (2009), an academic style requirement that can be identified is accuracy.  Concise and specific information is given by the researcher through the use of scientific prose. This can be seen when it is pointed out that the participants are users of venlafaxine, fluoxitin, citalopin or dosulepin. This specific information presented with no other details could be easily understood by professional in the medicine field.

Another element to be analysed is the use of abbreviations and digitals that may contribute to the accuracy and specificity as when the writer comments that the United Kingdom General Practice Research Database has been consulted or when in the results session it is reported that “568 cases of sudden cardiac death associated with venlafaxine use was 0.66 relative to fluoxetine use” (Martinez et al., 2009, para Abstract).

In addition, one of the features of a good abstract is its possibility to allow the reader to survey the contents of the research paper quickly (Crimi & Pintos, 2010). Martinez et al. (2009) include one sentence for each one of all the sessions with the exception of the results which is developed in three sentences as more data is necessary. Data and to the point description of what the researcher did through the use of passive voice and past tense is accomplished. In the results the researchers pointed out that 207 384 participants were followed up and they used conditional logistic regression to calculate the ratio of sudden cardiac death.  

The abstract from the article by Wijeysundera et al. (2008) shares the same characteristics. In the same fashion as the entire article, different parts are briefly outlined with the aim of presenting the purpose of the investigation, describing participants’ background, showing results and drawing conclusions. It might be added that present tense is used when the researchers conclude that results provide evidence that preoperative non- invasive cardiac stress testing is associated with improved one year survival. The use of this tense provides the researchers’ argument with a sound effect on the reader.

Furthermore, specific and accurate terminology is observed to support the findings. For instance the researcher talks about 271 082 patient in the entire cohort that underwent stress testing and that an analysis of subgroups testing was associated with harm in low risk patients (RCRI 0 points HR 1.35, 95%). Here the acronym is explained as Revised Cardiac risk Index.

The abstract based on the article by Jorgensen et al.(2009) about breast cancer mortality in mammography screening in Denmark appears to fulfil the purpose of expressing the major ideas of the argument suggested by the researcher and it also tends to be a reader’s guideline for users to choose between one paper or another. Thus, the reader may have a clear idea of what the researcher have done, their purpose, the necessary participants, materials and steps performed. It is reported by the authors that they wanted to determine whether the reduction in breast cancer mortality was due to the introduction of mammography screening.

The last piece of writing, taken from the research paper by Beckert et al. (2008) is developed as a single short text, fitting academic style requirements about its format as regards the centred capitalized headline and the inclusion on a separate page, features that coincide with the previous three abstracts explored. The authors have summarized the main ideas of the paper through three sections: background, where they briefly outline the aim of the work, and their hypothesis that antihypertensive therapy may reduce the risk of stroke. An aspect to be highlighted is the use of hedging, for instance in the verb suggest, the modal may and the adverb possibly to moderate the claim of the research.

 Furthermore, the Methods section is developed in two sentences by means of using concise information as when it was mentioned that“3845 patients from Europe, China Australia and Tunisia who were 80 years of age or older and had a systolic blood pressure o 160mm Hg or more who received either the diuretic indapamide or matching placebo” were the participants and elements of the research (Beckert et al, 2008, p.1887). The characteristic of this brief outline is the use of scientific prose without irrelevant details which could distract the reader’s attention.

The conclusion is connected with the previous section as the result shows evidence that antihypertensive treatment in persons 80 years or older is beneficial. The facts outlined seem to be logically connected to describe the steps of the research so the reader will be guided to take the decision whether to continue reading the entire paper or searching another one that meets the purpose of getting information

All ideas exposed and exemplified, this comparative analysis attempts to show the similarities in the characteristics, linguistic element and academic style requirements met by the four abstracts taken from medical research papers. They appear to be effective in the sense they achieve the aim of providing concise and specific information so that professionals that are in search of content in their specialized field can do so by means of a single approach to them.

Reference

Beckert, Peters,R.,Fletcher,A.,Straessen,I.,Liu,L.,Dumitrascu,D.,Stoyanavsky,V.(2008) Treatment of Hypertension in Patients 80 years of Age or Older  The New England Journal of Medicine (2008) 358:1887-98

Jorgensen, K., Zal, P., Goetzche, P. (2008).Breast cancer mortality in organized mammography screening in Denmark: comparative study. BMJ 2010; 340: 249 doi: 10.1136

Martinez, C., Assimes, T., Mines, D., Aniello, S., Suissa, S. (2009). Use of venlafaxine compared with other antidepressants and the risk of sudden cardiac death or near death: a nested case control study. BMJ 2010; 340:249 doi: 10.1136

Pintos, V., Crimi, Y. Research Papers: Abstracts. Universidad CAECE retrieved from wwww.campusuniversidad.com.ar

Wyseisundera,D.,Beatti,E.,Elliot,F.,Austin,P.,Hux,J.,Laupacis,A.Non invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: population based cohort BMJ 2010;340:249 doi:10.1136

Strategies for acknowledging sources in academic contexts

Participating in an academic discourse community of teachers and researchers implies “constructing

knowledge through building texts and stimulating discussion” (Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.6).To this respect, not only content is important but also how to communicate it. As Grabe and Kaplan (1996, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) have stated, academic writing involves composing for knowledge transforming.

In the present paper, an article about the characteristics of academic writing will be analyzed (Myles, 2002). The purpose of this work is to exemplify and analyze how knowledge may be generated to share it with others. Thus, academic writing skills such as different strategies for acknowledging sources, use of reporting verbs and introductory phrases that make the writing flow smoothly will be considered.

 Myles (2002) seems to have loaded her article with a wide variety of in-text citations, which may be mainly due to its length. The author uses a range of techniques to quote and acknowledge the sources she has consulted. For instance, she quotes Bereiter and Scardamalia’s (1987) exact words when they point out that when writing “there is a two way interaction between developing knowledge and developing text” (Bereiter &Scardamalia, 1987, as cited in Myles, 2002, para.2). She “borrows” these researchers’ exact words because they seem to support clearly her idea about the definition of academic writing.

Another instance of a direct quotation  might be Swales ’s (1990) idea that “writing should not be viewed solely as an individual oriented inner directed process but as much as and acquired response to discourse convention…within particular communities”(Models of L1 and L2 Writing, 2002 para.3). It is worth to mention the use of omissions which may be taken as a device for avoiding quoting everything pointed out by another writer because of space reasons or because not all the words, sentences or parts of paragraph are necessary. In this case the omission appears not to alter the meaning of the concept expressed and be grammatically correct when integrated to the text (Purdue Owl, 2007).

In addition, when Myles (2002) mentions the cognitive factors that influence on academic writing, she cites

Mc Laughlin’s (1988) idea of error transfer, by means of a block quotation, which according to American

Psychology Association (APA) style manual, (cited in Purdue Owl, 2007) it consists of more than forty

words which outstand separated from the text. The whole paragraph has been considered useful to define

transfer of errors: “[l]earners lack the necessary information in the second language or the attention capacity

to activate the appropriate second language routine. But such an account says little about why certain

linguistic forms transfer and others do not” (1988, as cited in Myles, 2002, p.50).

In the quotation mentioned above, there is an example of insertion. The capital l between square brackets

appears to indicate that the sentence does not start in the same fashion as the original source. In the block

quotation of Yau’s words (1991 cited in Myles, 2002) when the influence of second language factors on

writing performance are pointed out, a capital letter is also inserted unlike the original to write a new

paragraph.

All in-text citations, regardless the technique used by the author, summary or paraphrase, seem to meet

academic style requirements. Sources are acknowledged through the authors’ surnames and year of

publication as well as the page number when a direct quotation is used (Purdue Owl, 2007).Being a member

of a discourse community implies avoiding plagiarism, which may be defined as the illegal use of copyright

material. Therefore, Myles (2002) acknowledges accurately every single idea or concept that has been

searched or created by other authors.

Furthermore, Myles (2002) also uses a variety of introductory phrases such as “According to the

researchers” (Models of L1 and L2 Writing, 2002, para.5) when she refers to Flower and Hayes’ (1980)

models of writing to characterize second language writing. Another example may be “the Flower and

Hayes’s (1980, 1981) model” where the finding appears as the focus which is emphasized. However, the

author has most of the time paraphrased or summarized other sources which support her own arguments,

followed by parenthetical citations. This may be due to giving more relevance in the text to the main idea

pointed out than to the source.

According to Pintos and Crimi (2010), it is also important to “replace common words for others, more

enhancing words…[Thus] effective writers search for interesting, precise words” (p. 17). In the context of

academic writing a wide variety of synonyms of reporting verbs should be used to make the reading more

appealing. That is the case of the Myles’s (2002) article where reporting verbs such as show, stress, point

out, suggests, mentions, conclude, observe, note, criticize, examine are used. All of them seem to indicate a

 different action by the cited authors.    

As Mac Donald (2004, cited in Pintos and Crimi, 2010) observes, the knowledge generation function that

academic writing performs may be regulated by an academic register, the proficiency in language use and the

ability to integrate information from different sources. The analysis presented in this paper attempts to show

that language tools such as reporting verbs, introductory phrases, insertions, omissions and different types of

citations may be considered as the main strategies for acknowledging sources in academic contexts.

  

References

Myles, J. (2002). Second language writing and research: The writing process and error

   analysis in student texts. TESEL-EJ 6, (2) 2002 Queen’s University Retrieved October

   2010, from http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESl-EJ/ej22/a1.html

Pintos, V.  & Crimi, Y.  (2010)  Unit 2 Personal narratives in teaching Retrieved September

   2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7214

Pintos, V.  & Crimi, Y.  (20 10)  Unit 3: Academic writing Retrieved October 2010, from

   http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7214

Purdue OWL. (2006).Quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing Retrieved August 2010 from

    http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01

Personal Narratives: Journal entry and critical incident

as strategies to reflect upon practices

Reflection upon actions may be considered as one of the most important means of learning from experience.  Regarding teaching, Tejada (2000, cited in Fernández, Elórtegui and Medina Pérez, 2003) argues about the necessity of developing reflection skills as well as accurate knowledge about the topic to be taught. But for what reason, in what way and where could this basic human action be put into practice?  Different researchers agree that by reflecting, teachers may take appropriate decisions based on watching and analyzing what happens in the classroom. Those decisions may range from discipline problems to learning strategies or interpersonal relations. 

 Therefore, future teachers are being encouraged to develop concepts about their specific disciplines and also skills, attitudes and values (Fernandez, Elórtegui & Medina Perez, 2003). It is worth to mention that not only teachers are expected to transmit information but also to guide students to discover meaning autonomously. In the classroom, a whole person with certain abilities that eventually will be used outside is being educated.

 Fernandez et al. (2003) propose critical incidents as structured instruments for presenting future teachers with real class situations which will be discussed in detail. In addition, possible causes and solutions to problems will be considered. Furthermore, Rahilly and Saroyan state (1997 cited in Pintos and Crimi, 2010) that the critical incident technique designed by Flanagan shows people meaningful experiences and may be used also as a means to get information  about the classroom and think about it. This contextualized technique seems to help teachers to identify problems, make a descriptive analysis of this conflict and come out with possible causes. Therefore, a solution may be worked out (Fernández, Elórtegui and Medina Pérez, 2003).

All in all, the Critical Incident Technique appears as a powerful strategy to integrate theory and practice, through a reflective analysis of classroom events. This work will depend on the specific area, the approach to view the problem and the teachers’ characteristics as group.

References

Fernández González, J., Elórtegui Escartín, N. & Medina Pérez, M. (2003). Los incidentes

     críticos en la formación y perfeccionamiento del profesorado de secundaria de ciencias de

     la naturaleza. Revista universitaria de Formación de Profesorado, 17- 001. Zaragoza,

     España: Universidad de Zaragoza. Retrieved August 2010, from

     http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=274 17107

Pintos, V. & Crimi, Y. Personal Narratives in Teaching retrieved September 2010 from

     http: //caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mode/resource/view.php.? id = 7214 

Critical incident: Getting to know each other in the language class

About five years ago, I was teaching a group of students of 8th year at Secondary School in the city where I live. Before starting classes, teachers usually attend meetings at the Foreign Languages Department. They are useful opportunities to get outstanding characteristics of the group as regards discipline and contents developed in the previous course, as all the teachers share experiences and opinions. Having this information in hand, we are expected to make a diagnosis of the group during one month so as to build our work plan for the year.

Unluckily, the information I got in that meeting was not very encouraging to me. I was going to teach to a group of students who failed the subject in a high percentage and fifty per cent of them were re-attending the course. In addition, they had had discipline problems such as fighting, breaking windows during the class or leaving the classroom without permission. 

My first class proved in a way what I had been informed about. To start, with they told me that they never worked, that they did not understand English and they did not want me to speak English in class. As a kind of non verbal welcome, one of them threw a piece of chalk to the board. However, I had to find out what they knew, what they had done in the previous course and their interests about the subject to plan my work for the year; and I had one month to get it done. So I tried to turn fear into courage and started to work.

During the following lessons, I greeted them and used simple classroom instructions in English and encouraged them to do so. I shared with them my personal information, showing photos of my family, friends, holidays, my favorite music, books, presents and simple issues such the food I like or the hobbies I practice. I also told them about my favorite music band and provided them with a song to work with. They were instructed to choose the activities they wanted to do: just listen to it, draw something, circle words they could recognize, complete the blanks, etc.

 Provided I was supposed to use English the whole class, I did it as much as possible, although many of them were reluctant to understand it. Whenever I considered it was necessary, I used Spanish and I told them to feel free to do so. It was me who did most of the talk during that time, but many of them listened to me or looked at my photos without saying dirty words or hitting each other. I also asked them about their personal information, praising them whenever they could use English.

 After six lessons I had to test my students, so I decided to use the same strategies that I had been applying in previous opportunities. For instance, they had to circle the information they knew about their teacher and after a model write a paragraph about themselves. They also had to say what they did not know from a list of topics and it was optional to circle the activities and topics they would like to work with along the year.

Finally, I could see that the group could really use English as they started saying good morning, Miss and sit down, please! They knew about me, what meant they had listened to me and many of them had decided to say what they would like to do. Undoubtedly their knowledge and skills about the foreign language was not exactly what was expected from them at this course. But I could see that my new students had achieved two important aims: use the language and see that their teacher was not so different to them. Above all, what was really delightful was that they had done it through English.

    

Discourse community: Basic principles to define it

Broadly speaking a discourse community can be described “as knowledge community, social mechanism that hold people together and generates values, aims and language practices” (Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.13).In this line of thought, Swales (1990, as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.14) describes a discourse community as having certain characteristics such as “common goals, participatory mechanisms, community specific genres, information exchange, specialized terminology and a high general level of expertise”.

Showing evidence on this issue, Wenzlaff and Wieseman (2004) provide an example of a masters’ degree program in curriculum and pedagogy. Regarding information exchange, this program worked as a partnership between an urban and a rural institution. Although at the beginning members of these communities had different goals as they wanted to improve their skills as teachers, their salary schedule or institutional reputation, then, they developed the common goal of modifying their practices.

Provided the content of the course was to connect theory and practice, members should manage a high level of terminology and expertise “to perform an advanced practicum based on psychology and pedagogy issues” (Wenzlaff and Wieseman, 2004, para.10). Their participatory mechanisms were portfolios assessed by teachers, workshops and discussions.

It is worth to mention Hoffman-Kipp, Artiles and Lopez Torres (2003) who analyze teacher learning based on praxis and reflection .They view reflection as an element that may make teachers belong to a discourse community. The common goal would be to make a critical reflection on the socio historical and institutional contexts in which students are educated, as well as on pedagogical and curricular concerns. To reach this aim, teachers use personal narratives, statistics and arguments, journals or virtual systems of communication which constitute specific genres.

 Concerning participatory mechanisms, teachers share reflections with their colleagues in goal oriented activities, for example team teaching and collaborative planning. As stated previously, a discourse community may be expected to manage specific terminology. This is the case of teachers’ reflection on theories of learning, pedagogical models  as well as personal experiences .Therefore, “the movement between action and reflection builds cycles of critical praxis” as Hoffman-Kipp et al. (2003, para.4) have stated.

A third example that illustrates the characteristics of a discourse community is community college, which according to what Kelly- Kleese (2001) describes in her article,  it may be seen as an educational institution that holds several of the elements stated by Swales. Firstly, members have developed a common discourse that refers to shared knowledge, common purposes, similar values and attitudes and a flow of discourse that has a particular structure and style.

In addition, community colleges manage a specific language that gets meaning within its context s well as within the larger higher education community. In the same fashion, community college and university have got different purposes. When participatory mechanisms are referred to, the author claims that community college forms part of secondary discourse community, as its members perform the role of readers, while members of universities are the ones that create knowledge by searching and writing.

 According to Kutz (2004, cited in Kelly-Kleese, The Community College as a Discourse Community, para.6) communicative competence may be defined as “individuals or groups with greater skill in manipulating language to exercise the power over another discourse community” and scholarship “a commitment to inquiry to provide quality education”. Both concepts may not appear as community college characteristics. However, Kelly-Kleese (2004) contends that when being encouraged to do so, members of community college may discover, integrate, share and apply knowledge. In fact, a “scholarship of teaching” turns out as a redefined issue.  

 On the basis of what has been analyzed above, the three authors appear to show evidence of Swales´ criteria to define a discourse community. In other words, they provide elements in their articles that refer to characteristics of a discourse community as such. Teachers’ reflection, community college and its scholarship seem to share common goals, manage specific vocabulary with a high degree of expertise through different participatory mechanisms, using certain genres to develop as a discourse community.

References

Hoffman-Kipp, P., Articles, A. J., & Lopez Torres, L. (2003) Beyond Reflection: Teacher Learning

     as Praxis Theory into Practice Retrieved September 2010, from

     http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NQM/is_3_42/ai_108442653

 Kelly-Kleese, C. (2001). Editor’s Choice: An Open Memo to Community College Faculty and

     Administrators. Community College Review Retrieved September 2010, from

     http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_29/ai_77481463

Kelly-Kleese, C. (2004). UCLA Community College Review: Community College Scholarship and

     Discourse. Community College Review Retrieved September 2010, from

     http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HCZ/is_1_32/ai_n6361541

Pintos, V. & Crimi, Y Building up a Community of Teachers and Prospective Researchers Retrieved

    September 2010 from http//caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mode/resource/view.php.? id = 6856 

Wenzlaff, T. L., & Wieseman, K. C (2004) Teachers Need Teachers To Grow. Teacher Education

     Quarterly Retrieved September 2010, from

     http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_200404/ai_n9349405

Introductory Letter

Dear tutors and mates:
                                 this is the blog I have opened to share with all of you ideas, updated and interesting information that can be useful for us to improve our writing skills. I consider this space as a good opprotuny to achieve our aims sucessfully, working together as members of a community that wants to grow professionally.I hope that all of us can find EAP writing an enriching experience.

                                               Mariana Estallo