Using an appropriate writing style Different academic subjects will demand different styles of writing from you. Some might require you to use the third person ('Smith argues that …', or 'He said …') and to achieve a certain amount of distance from the arguments you are writing about. Other subjects expect the first person ('I placed the seeds in full daylight ...'), for example, in the reports that you might write for a science or technology subject. Using reflective writing in professional subject areas Some assignments (for example, some within Health and Social Care) require students to use their professional judgement to make an informed subjective comment. Self-reflection On many modules you may find that a part of your assignment is devoted to self-reflection and your own view of how you've developed during your studies (a little like a learning-progress diary). Using objective writing There are a number of ways to achieve this. First person or third person? Hedging language Hedging language means cautious language.
Being professional academic – does it have to mean being boring? This post is by Ellen Speath, a PhD student researching music listening in the treatment of anxiety, and a technology trainer. You can hear more from Ellen on her blog. In this post Ellen wonders whether ‘professional’ has to mean being serious. A few weeks ago, I received feedback from my most recent conference presentation. The conference had been a relatively informal one for students at the university, although a few staff members attended too. The emphasis was on getting experience of presenting in an academic setting, and as such all attendees were asked to complete feedback forms for each presenter. The presentation seemed to go well. In keeping with this, my feedback was mostly complimentary, with people praising my research, the structure of my presentation, and my energy and engagement with the audience. You may be wondering what the point of this post is, and here it is: Some of the feedback forms which were most complimentary about my delivery ALSO contained a warning:
BATEFL - Bachelor of Arts Teaching English as a Foreign Language This is a model answer which I wrote a couple of days back for my tuition student. The question is from October / November 2009 ESL Extended paper (Exercise 6). I’ve done some analysis of the answer to give you a short guide on writing an effective letter to a pen-friend. First of all, let’s go through the question and quickly analyse the GAP and LIST. Genre: Informal letter (descriptive narrative) Audience: Pen-friend Purpose: To describe the experience of visiting a new sports and leisure center. Language: Informal and descriptive. Information: The three bullet points of the question Style and Tone: This is equal to register, which has to be informal or friendly for this letter. What makes this letter good? The introduction: is short and simple and ‘yesterday’ indicates that the writer is writing about a very recent event. Did you notice any other thing good about this answer or would like to critique? Download the model answer and analysis: ESL Letter - November 2009 Analysis (775 downloads)
‘signposting’ your journal articles and chapters Many early journal writers are asked to put more signposting into their articles. Indeed, journal editors often list lack of signposting as a reason for requesting revisions. So what is signposting and why is it needed? Signposting is the construction of a ‘road map’ to the contents and argument of an article, chapter or thesis. The use of signposting is one of the rhetorical strategies that make the English tradition of academic argument recognisable from other kinds of writing. When approaching the writing of an article/chapter it is helpful to think of there being two narratives that need to be constructed – the substantive argument of the article/chapter, and the meta-commentary about the way that the argument is to be presented. Writing signposts is analogous to what happens in formal debates when the opening speaker says something like: ‘Our team is going to argue that.. I am sure that, like me, you will find many published articles that are short on signposting. Example One:
Let's Write a Newspaper Story! Motivation and Prior Knowledge: Think, Pair, Share Exercise: Ask the class, "Who wants to be a writer? Why?" Have the class think quietly about this question for a minute. Ask students to pair up with a partner or in groups and share their thoughts. Ask the class, "What are some of the different types of professional writing in the world?" Types of Writing: Novels Short stories Non-fiction Plays Movies Poetry Newspapers Magazines Television Radio Advertising Public relations On the board write the title: What is it like to be a writer? 1) Good and 2) Not so good Ask the class, "What are some good and not so good things about being a writer?" Good Travel Meet interesting people Learn new things Get to create Many readers Can influence people Not so good Deadlines Editors change things People may not like what you write Think, Pair, Share Exercise: Ask the class, "What does it take to be a writer?" Being a Writer Good knowledge of English. Additional Exercises:
Taylor & Francis Author Services - Writing your article Are you new to academic writing, or do you provide support for those who are? We hope you will find our tips and information about how to get published useful. ... Why not start here, and then browse our Preparation pages which will tell you all you need to know about choosing a journal and writing your article. How to write a research paper Skip to navigation Tips on how to get published from people in the know – our journal editors Allan Luke, Pedagogies: An International Journal Audio file 4: What do you look for when considering articles and submissions? Abstracts Your abstract is what readers will use when they are deciding whether to read your article. In approximately 100-200 words, you will need to summarize your findings and what the implications of those findings are. The abstract must be accurate as a reflection of what is in your article. Read some more guidance on writing informative abstracts Acknowledgments Anonymous peer review Article titles Audience Authors and affiliations
I Love Free SoftwareSpellChecker: Online Grammar Checker By Saurabh Chauhan on October 11, 2012 | Sponsored Links SpellChecker, is an online grammar checker to check grammar online in the paragraphs provided by you. We all know that multiline boxes suggest spelling correction by default. Then why to use such application? On the web you will find many online tools for checking mistakes, but most of them demand a fee beforehand. This online applications is particularly helpful in detecting the glitches due to informal way of writing. Using SpellChecker Online Grammar Checker: On visiting homepage, you will find a text area as shown in the screenshot below: Sponsored Links As a user you will have to copy-paste content in it and click on ‘Spell Check’ button placed beneath.Next, a pop-up window will emerge on the screen. There you will find the detected mistakes (highlighted in red) in your content by SpellChecker. SpellChecker is a nice option to check grammar online, but is not a perfect solution. The Final Verdict: Link to This Page:
ePeer eEvaluation? I decided to take Peer Evaluation into the eLearning sphere. I experimented with my year 7 classes, as they have iPads. The students were registered into a class on edmodo.com. Earlier, I prepared this peer evaluation google form (picture of it below ) based on a template that I adapted from The DramaNotebook. I then posted the link to the peer evaluation form on the class' Edmodo page. The students were each anonymously assigned a peer to evaluate. An advantage of Google Forms is that you can hide certain columns, so I hid the columns that show the student names and projected the feedback they are giving each other, so it was all immediate and in real-time.
Descriptive-essay-transitions-exercise The Weekend Market (descriptive essay transitions) This is a transitions and linking words exercise for a descriptive essay. Well placed transitions help make essays easier to read. and understand. Click on the link or the image below to download the PDF file. <span><a target="_self" href="/AcademicWritng.html">Essay writing home</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/transitionalconnectingandlinkingwords.html">Transitions home</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/Descriptive-essay-transitions-exercise.html">Descriptive transitions</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/Cause-efffect-essay-transitions-worksheet.html">Cause effect transitions</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/Comparison-contrast-sentence-writing-exercise.html">Comparison transitions</a><br /><a target="_self" href="/Narrative-essay-transitions.html">Narrative transitions</a></span>
Discourse Markers In your writing, you will want to spend some time ensuring that your work has a sense of variety. In order to do this, you might think of the following : Use conjunctions as well as/instead of sentence connectors. A conjunction is a word like and, but, etc, which is used to join two ideas together into a complex sentence. Use conjunctions at least some of the time. It can also be helpful to omit discourse markers if they do not serve any useful purpose. Try joining two clauses together by making one subordinate to the other. Remember, it can be tedious to read a piece of writing which has too many discourse markers. An Introduction to Letter Writing Because the activities below were developed for students in the U.K., it uses some language specific to their school system. For example, KS1 refers to Key State 1, corresponding to children ages 5 to 7; KS2 corresponds to children ages 7 to 9. QCA stands for Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which is the regulatory body for public school examinations. PSHE refers to personal, social and health education, a topic in the national curriculum. Introduction Letter writing is an essential skill. Within the KS2 National Literacy Strategy, letter writing is a required element. Handwriting too is an essential element. To be legibleHave a consistent size and spacing of lettersShow flow and movementShow a confident personal styleThus letter writing exercises can fulfil two elements of the curriculum Back to Top What's so special about receiving a handwritten letter? Quite apart from curriculum requirements, being asked to write letters is a task that will appeal to children. Structure: