Task 3

ESP
Unit 4 final task
Comparative Analysis of four Abstract in specialized journals
Carrizo Liliana
Consoli, Claudia
Comparing Abstracts from Assorted Perspectives


The American Psychological Association (APA, 2008) determines that an “abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the article; it allows readers to survey the contents of an article quickly (…)” (p.12). According to Swales and Feaks(1994),abstracts usually consist of a single paragraph containing from about four to ten full sentences and it is generally more important to the reader than the writer. This paper consists of a comparative analysis of four abstracts from different research articles concerning the medical and educational fields. This study will imply delving into the various parts and characteristics of this valuable section of a research article.When analysing and comparing the various abstracts, we will make use of the APA conventions to abstract writing.
On the one hand, the two medical articles are written in a structure form which includes bolded headings.Each heading identifies some of the sections of the Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion (IMRAD) formula. Both papers could be classified under the informative type of abstract. As regards linguistics characteristics, both papers make use of the past tense and the present and passive voice. The approach to writing is in both cases a summary.
On the other hand, the two educational papers present numerous differences between each other and the medical papers as well.
The abstract on the use of DVD is a short unstructured paragraph not following the IMRAD formula at all. It only provides the reader with a brief description of what the paper will deal with. It is an informative text which approach to writing is a summary. The writing style though rather simple is capable of engaging the reader into continuing reading. It is mainly written using the present tense and the present perfect tense.
The abstract on the use of video in the classroom is quite different. To begin with , it is longer and more detailed. It contains in paragraph form an attempt to the IMRAD formula. Nevertheless, it lacks the ¨Results¨ and ¨Conclusion¨ .It provides the reader with some definitions to unknown words and a general idea of the way of work. This text starts in the present tense moving between past tense, and passive voice accordingly. The approach to writing is also a summary but it also works as the blueprint of the paper ahead.
All in all, it is noticeable that the medical and educational articles follow contrasting abstract features and parameters. The Medical papers provide a clear understanding of the research articles whereas the educational articles cannot shed light on all the reports’ sections. If writers wish their work to be accepted within their corresponding discourse community, they will have to adhere very strictly to the established principles for each field. Therefore, It could be concluded that the medical research articles abstracts hold the necessary parts and characteristics that are determined by the academic writing community. The papers seem to reflect the qualities of each field: the medical papers, precision of data and a clear format ; the articles on education, creativity and reader friendly characteristics to approach the classroom teacher as well as other researchers.
References
American Psychological Association (2008).Publication Manual (5th ed.). Washington, DC: British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
King,J. (2002) .Using DVD feature films in the EFL classroom . The weekly column, 88 (1). Abstract retrieved fromhttp://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=24130
Kokonis,M (1993) .The video in the classroom: Agatha Christie’s ‘Evil Under the Sun’ and the teaching of narratology through film . Educational Resources Information Center. Abstract retrieved from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=24128
Martinez, C., LAssimes,T., Mines,D.,Dell’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 .British Medical Journal. 2010;340,c249doi:10.1136/bmj.c249 . Abstract retrieved fromhttp://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=24124
Swales, J.M., &Feak, C.B. (1994).Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.

Wijeysundera,D., Beattie,W. Elliot,R.F., Austin,P. Hux,J.Lapaucis,A.(2009) . Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: population based cohort study.British Medical Journal. 2010;340:b5526doi:10.1136/bmj.b5526 . Abstract retrieved fromhttp://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=24126

Becoming Part of a Discourse Community



“Writing Research Reports (RP) in the Educational Field implies understanding the dos and don’ts of the academia.” When dealing with this type of research in any field, writers should be aware of the fact that there are various considerable academic aspects that should be taken into account. If reporters want their work to be accepted within this discourse community, they have to adhere very strictly to the community principles. Therefore, producing texts cannot take place unless the researcher can define her goals in terms of the community's interpretive conventions.

Oliver (1996) points out that a research report is a summary of the goals, research procedure and main findings. Although this paper is not as complete as a research paper, the research report must follow certain academic conventions. These rules are established within this specific academic community.

To begin with, the report should hold vocabulary that suits the Educational Field audience in an academic style and tone. In addition to this, the Research Report should follow a specific order that determines the organization of the writing. For example, the report must contain an introduction, a summary of the methodology, results, discussions and conclusions that lead into the final recommendation. This layout is of utmost importance as all the researchers follow the same format so as to ensure a better organization and understanding of their papers within the community. Besides, the content and the organization of a paper portray the logical thinking in scientific investigation (APA, 2008).

As far as the tenses are concerned, most reports make use of the past tense as the writings are produced after an observation has been accomplished. The consistency of the verb tense helps ensure smooth expression in the writing. The community shares the knowledge that the type of academic paper typically determines which verb tenses are meant to be used in various parts of an academic document.

Last but not least, the researchers share their reports within a discourse community that conform to the basis of the American Psychological Association Journal. There are assorted recommendations that should be followed in order to produce an academic paper. For instance, formatting the paper involves using specific fonts, running heads, margins and spacing.

All things considered, Swales (1990) defined discourse communities as groups that share the same mechanisms of intercommunication among its members. Consequently, the Report must fit the standards of the discourse community to which it is appealing. In this light, it could be claimed that a Research Reporter must necessarily adopt the concepts and expectations determined by this discourse community.



References



APA (2008). Publication Manual (5th ed.). British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data: Washington, DC.

Oliver, P. (1996). Writing essays and reports: A guide for students. Hodder & Stoughton: London, UK.



Swales, J. M. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Task 2

ESP
Research Article Analysis
Integrative Task 2
Carrizo Liliana
Consoli Claudia


A Comparative Analysis of Medical and Educational Research Articles


A Research Article (RA) is a written paper that illustrates an outcome of scientific research with supporting clinical data. Researchers write these articles for the purpose of making specific findings known to the scientific community at large. In fact, rather than appearing in a consumer or industry publication, a research article is found exclusively in a peer-reviewed scientific or medical journal such as the Language Learning and Technology and the British Medical Journal.As with any type of targeted writing, it could be claimed that these journals should follow a protocol in terms of layout (Robert,1994). Considering this, there are three important aspects of a research articles that could be analysed, compared and studied.
In the first place, Swales (1994) specifies that the results section should hold a summary of the figures, data with text and tables. In addition to this, the text ought to be logically ordered, and refer the readers to a table where they can see the information. It is also stated that this section describes the outcomes that are related to the hypothesis of the paper and that this is done by means of past tenses.
On the one hand, the educational article contains two parts within the results section; the first and the second period of action research. These two parts are well developed and they follow the same order. Besides, the result section makes use of the past simple tense. Additionally, not only are there tables which reflect all the data and figure, but also samples of the dialogues which are part of this research. On the other hand, the medical paper holds one result section which deals with different topics of the research and this section is described using the past tense. Furthermore, this medical journal article contains charts which show detailed figures of the study. Considering this, the two papers seem to follow the same characteristics in the results area; however, it is of utmost importance to mention that the American Psychological Association (APA) (2010) states that graphs are good at conveying relationships like comparison and distribution. Consequently, it could be claimed that the medical paper’s graphs might help the readers to acquire a better global understanding of the results.
Secondly, when dealing with the discussions and conclusions, the writers might choose to separate the sections or blend them into one section. The discussion part should evaluate whether the problem has been solved .On the other hand, the conclusion should state what is needed to be done next and the reason why this further study should be carried out.
The article belonging to the educational field includes limitations and the discussion seems to be included in the conclusion. The conclusion contains specific implications and clear need for a further research. The medical paper writer acknowledges the importance of the three sections of the last part of the project: discussion, limitations and conclusion. Although the discussion provides information about the key findings, the conclusion does not appear to possess the necessary information to state the reasons for a further research. Furthermore, the conclusion does not present sound arguments that might persuade the reader that his/her conclusions are utterly important. When dealing with conclusions, the educational article shows arguments that would summarize the study without leaving important details aside. Nevertheless, the medical paper leaves the reader with the sense that there was more to say in the conclusion; it would have been better if the writer had included sound arguments to organize his/her conclusion.

On balance, a writer should be aware of the fact that there are patterns of a research article which are of paramount importance when developing his/her work. Although the educational and the medical journal belong to distinct fields, they seem to follow the same research settings of this genre analysis. In spite of this, after analysing both materials, it might be assumed that the educational paper writer has produced a more suitable argumentative conclusion that may lead the readers into a better understanding of the writer’s goals.
References
Robert S. Day (1994), How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 4th edition, Oryx Press, Phoenix.
Swales, J.M., &Feak, C.B. (1994).Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
Barrs, K.(2012) “Fostering computer-mediated L2 interaction beyond the classroom.” Language Learning & Technology, vol 16,1,pp. 10-25
Retrived April 2013 fromhttp://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=24095
Di Angelantonio, E. Chowdhury, R. Sarwar,N. Aspelund,T. Danesh,J. Gudnason,V. “Chronic kidney disease and risk of major cardiovasculardisease and non-vascular mortality: prospective population based cohort study.” BMJ. Retrieved April 2013 fromhttp://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=24096

American Psychological Association (2010). APA formatting and style guide. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Task 1

Consoli, Claudia
Carrizo, Liliana
ESP Unit 2 final task final draft
Academic Conventions in RA
Introductions and Methods
APRIL 2013


Academic Conventions in Research Articles: A Deep Analysis


Research articles were born with the idea of reporting results of an original research contributing in that way to the body of knowledge of a particular field. Scientific research should be systematic.
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast an article from the educational field and one from the medicine field; concentrating on their introductions and methods sections to show that even though academic styles could be different the general format is consistent in both papers.
For researchers and writers in general the introduction to an article or paper should be utmost importance. Swales and Feak (1994) confirm that the writing of introductions is a time-consuming and vexing process. Introductions are not only the selling point of a research article but they also contain organizational patterns called moves. Swales’s model includes three basic moves in research article introductions writing. The first move is called establishing a territory(introduces the general topic) the second move is called establishing the niche (identifies the more specific areas that require further investigation) and the third move is called occupying the niche (introduces the current research study in the context established previously)


On the one hand, the article from the medical field concentrates on violence and the risk to medical practitioners and general public alike in crowed emergency rooms. The introduction to the paper holds expert, brief and concise language which establishes the importance of the research (this being the first move). Moving seamlessly into showing the need for this research and announces the principal findings (these constituting moves 2 and 3).
On the other hand, the educational paper, presents a short abstract naming the basic purpose of the article but there is no proper introduction. Thus, creating an understanding difficulty for the readers. Following Swales’s Create A Research Space (CARS) model not only organises the text and helps the writer communicate his ideas with ease but also provides the reader with the necessary context to fully understand the paper.


As regards Methods the first article is more than complete. It specifies the place of study and its participants, the duration of such study and the study design, a statistical analysis, ethical issues, and finally the results. Moreover , such results are illustrated in charts and tables. The educational paper starts defining learning disabilities ( the point of the study) and suggest possible ways of dealing with them in the classroom. However, there are no titles or subtitles determining the parts of the article nor participants, materials or procedures are not mentioned.
All in all, the papers selected present numerous differences between them. Stemming from the fact that each of them belongs to a different field and that they are both written with a dissimilar purpose in mind. The medical paper tries to show and analyze violence in the emergency room. It depicts its origins and reports their findings. The educational paper concentrates on defining learning disabilities and providing a list of suggestions for the classroom use. Although the educational paper seems to be less scientific than the medical one, it could be claimed that both papers reach their target audience clearly and convincingly.
References


Eroglu.S, Ozge O, Sağıroğlu E., Denizbasi, A., Akoglu, A. (2013) Analysis of Violence in a Crowded Emergency
Room. British Journal of Medicine & Medical Research 3(4): 1208-1221. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedomain.org/abstract.php?iid=205&id=12&aid=1182#.UWF0k6KkxX5
Root, C.(1994) A Guide to Learning Disabilities for the ESL Classroom Practitioner.Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language.1 (1).Retrieved from: http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/tesl-ej/ej01/a.4.html

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.

This year I and my classmate Claudia Consoli will be working on Research Article Analysis and Proposals. I hope this can be a place where we can do research into specific articles and share ideas and suggestions.

A Critique of: Academic Writing a Handbook for International Students (Bailey, 2006)

An Academic Writing Foundation Course Embracing Practical and Theoretical Training

Bailey (2006) acknowledges the importance of the use of academic writing when international students embark on university course of studies. Not only does the book provide the possibility of learning different styles of writings, but also of using the material with various levels and groups.

Another interesting characteristic is that this book can be used either with a teacher or individually on the grounds that “the structure of the book has been made as simple as possible” (Bailey, 2006, p.7) .

In this traditional book, Bailey (2006) divides his work into four parts which are intrinsically connected with simple and basic characteristics of academic writing. Part one and two help the students to understand the format, layout and important skills of academic writing. Then, part three and four deal with grammatical issues and some limited writing models. Towards the end of the book, there is a small section devoted to writing tests which are connected with some of the aspects of the units.

After working with this book, the students might feel they have acquired useful academic writing tools- in other words; the learners would be able to recognize and use the fundamental elements of academic papers. However, Bailey’s (2006) would have been more appealing if he would have added further writing models such as book reviews, book critiques and annotated bibliography.

            In addition to this, the book encompasses some flaws related to specific aspects of academic writings. For instance, it would have been better if Bailey (2006) had added more detailed information as regards the different types of in text citations and references. Besides, in no case does Bailey (2006) provides data concerned with the various academic styles, for instance, APA(American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association) styles.

In this academic writing book, Bailey (2006) explores the most significant features of academic writing consequently, it could be claimed that this book is suitable for elementary levels. Nevertheless, Bailey (2006) fails to delve into various useful and important academic topics which are of paramount importance for advanced and proficiency levels.

References

Bailey, S. (2006). Academic Writing: A handbook for International Students (2nd ed.).Retrieved October 2012 , from Taylor & Francis e-library:http://npu.edu.ua/!e-book/book/djvu/A/iif_kgpm_t27.pdf. 

Mobile Learning Constraints considering Ballance (2012) Comments: An Annotated Bibliography

Stockwell, G. (2012). Working with constraints in mobile learning: a response to Ballance.

Language Learning and Technology, 16 (3), 24-31. Retrieved October 2012, from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/october2012/stockwell.pdf

Argued that Ballance (2012) remarks fail “ to consider the ways in which learners engaged in the activities and their views towards mobile learning in general” (p.24). Summarised and replied to Ballance claims and misconceptions as regards vocabulary activities and obsolete finding related to smart phones. Explained teachers should adapt to technological changes without disregarding pedagogical approaches and students’ needs.

References

Stockwell, G. (2012). Working with constraints in mobile learning: a response to Ballance. Language Learning and Technology, 16 (3), 24-31. Retrieved October 2012, from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/october2012/stockwell.pdf

Ballance, O.J. (2012). Mobile language learning: more than just “the platform”. Language Learning and Technology, 16(3),21-23. Retrieved October 2012, from

 http://llt.msu.edu/issues/october2012/ballance.pdf