Precise information in a few words

It is almost certain that a majority of editors read the first lines of a piece of writing in order to decide whether it will be worthy to publish it or not. As a consequence, the introduction of any kind of written work should be appealing enough to call readers’ attention. In the case of academic writings, research articles (RA), for instance, the writers’ tool to attract audience’s attention lies in the abstract. Pintos and Crimi (2010) point out that “abstracts tend to be reading guidelines for users to choose between one RA or another” (p. 12).

In the view of some experts, abstracts are clear, concise and neat summaries that contain the main points dealt with by the researchers. Because of their function, i.e. to transmit as much information as possible in a brief way, abstracts are written after the whole paper has been finished. Depending on the aim of the abstracts, they are classified by Swales (1990) and Swales and Feak (1994) into informative and indicative. The former furnishes the main findings and the latter refers to the kind of research that has been done.

As regards abstracts layout, they can be classified into unstructured and structured ones. In the first category, the abstract is organized in one unbroken paragraph of no more than 150 words. Whereas in the second category, the abstract contains bolded or italicized headings that identify the main sections in the research report. Despite of the fact that the organizational format is different, both of them follow the Introduction-Method-Result-And-Discussion (IMRAD) formula. This means that the information should be developed in the same order they appear in the paper.

Most research articles found in medical journals contain structured abstracts. The three ones belonging to The British Medical Journal (Martinez and et. al, 2010; Wijeysundera and et.al, 2010; Jorgensen and et.al, 2010) are organized under bolded headings. All of them tend to contain precise information in few full sentences. The headings which predominate in the three abstracts are: Objective; Design; Setting; Participants; Results and Conclusions. Unlike the abstracts mentioned above, the abstract of the article found in The New England Journal of Medicine (Beckett and et.al, 2010) includes fewer headings. There are only four: Background; Methods; Results and Conclusions.

However, the four abstracts taken for the analysis and comparison can be placed in the informative category established by Swales (1990) and Swales and Feak (1994). All of them are heavy on data; look to the past and describe what the researchers did. As far as linguistic features are concerned, the four abstracts of the medicine research articles respond to what the authors describe as linguistic specifications. Full sentences and past tense are used. The use of negatives is found in the Conclusions where writers refute the hypothesis they have tested through the methods applied. In these types of research articles, the use of jargon is inevitable. Names of drugs and illnesses are frequently used throughout the abstracts. With the exception of Becket’s and et.al (2010) abstract, the other three contain one or two impersonal passive constructions.

Regarding tense usage, the experts suggest to write conclusions in present. In the samples analyzed, just in two of them present tense is used. The other two are written in past. Nevertheless, the four abstracts have opening sentences written in present and present perfect to show that the studies are of utmost importance. All of them also have simple past sentences to describe methods and results. In terms of approach to writing, there are two different viewpoints. On the one hand, Hubbuch (1996) suggests that writers should summarize in one sentence each part of a research report in order to produce one, tight paragraph. On the other hand, Swales and Feak (1994) claim that there are two approaches to writing: the result-driven approach and the RP (Research Paper) summary approach.

The four abstracts contain few sentences under headings of each part of the research paper and for that reason they can be characterized as being written with a RP summary approach. As Swales and Feak (1994) assert, it offers "one - or two - sentence sypnoses of each of the four sections" (pp.210-211, as cited in Pintos and Crimi, 2010, p.14). Nevertheless, their focuses on the research findings make them suitable for the result-driven approach category as well.
In the experts' words, it "concentrates on the research findings and what might be concluded from them" (pp.210-211, as cited in Pintos and Crimi, 2010, p. 14).

All in all, clearness, precision and a good organization of the information contribute to make abstracts a useful instrument to attract readers. Depending on the objective, this type of research article summary may be informative or indicative. Structured or unstructured formats will present the information as a whole paragraph or main sentences under headings that coincide with each section of the paper report and they will also show the approach to writing. A result-driven approach will emphasize the results display or a research paper summary approach that will present the main points of the work done. The abstracts of the medicine research articles analyzed are informative, structured and follow both approaches to writing.

References

Beckett, N. S. & et. al (2010). Treatment of hypertension in patients 80 years of age or older. The New England Journal of Medicine. 358-18. Retrieved on April 2, 2010 from http http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0801369

Jørgensen, K. J.; Zahl, P. & Gøtzsche, P. C. (2010). Breast cancer mortality in organized mammography screening in Denmark: comparative study. The British Medical Journal. 340; c1241. Retrieved on May, 2010 from http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/mar23_1/c1241

Martinez, C.; LAssimes, T.; Mines, D.; Dell’Aniello, S. & Suissa, S. (2010). Use of venlafaxine compared with other antidepressants and the risk of sudden cardiac death or near death: a nested case-control study. The British Medical Journal. 340; c249. Retrieved on May, 2010 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2817047/

Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 4: Research articles: Abstracts. Handout for Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés. Buenos Aires: Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010 fromhttp://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4693

Swales, J.M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. (Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

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. N.; Beattie, W. S.; Elliot, R.F.; Austin, P.C.; Hux, J.E. & Laupacis, A. (2010). Non-invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: population based cohort study. The British Medical Journal. 340; b5526. Retrieved on May, 2010 from http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/340/jan28_3/b5526

Sharing results

After a scientist or an education professional does some research on a specific topic, the results obtained or the answers they get are expected to be shared with the community. Not only the presentation of the results per se is important but also the analysis they pose. Analyzing, comparing, inferring and concluding are tasks the researchers need to perform in order to produce useful knowledge.

Research Articles (RA) are the written means by which researchers make their work public. A special layout and format have been designed on purpose. The information will be transmitted following certain organization so that readers can appreciate the work done and understand the content involved. Experts agree that the last steps carried out in a research are reported in different sections within a RA.

Pintos and Crimi (2010), express that “[d]epending on the kind of research, the results section may be isolated from the discussed section or it may be integrated together” (p. 18). In the Results section readers see the main findings of the research. It is not only presented by means of numbers and specific data but by a narrative text. Tables and figures to illustrate the explanation are also included. The interpretation of these results is dealt with in the Discussion section.

The Result and Discussion sections need to present the information clearly and properly organized in paragraphs. Depending on the writers' purposes, the paragraphs will have a special structure. For instance, if the writters' intention is to present the results of the research as an analysis, they could organize the texts as a problem-solution or cause-effect. On the contrary, if they are interested in providing the readers with strong believes in favour or against specific issues, they would tend to produce persuasive-argumentative or fact vs. opinion texts.

Elbeck’s and Mandernach’s (2009) research article belongs to the education field. In this report, for example, the three final sections are found whereas in Sidransky’s et.al (2009) article, which belongs to the medicine field, only two of them are present, Results and Discussion. However, both of them include tables to present specific data in the Result section. Only the medicine RA includes figures and charts.

According to the analysis carried out, the tables included in the education RA follow the standard established by APA (American Psychological Association). It is a special committee that designs, regulates and updates the layout and format to write research articles within the social sciences. In Elbeck’s and Mandernach’s (2009) article, there are six tables though they are not presented on separate page to save space for publishing, they are properly numbered. Their titles are italicized and presented with each word capitalized with exception to conjunctions and prepositions. No vertical lines are used in the tables and general and specific notes are added to explain abbreviations, symbols and units of measures.

Sidransky’s et.al (2009) article, on the other hand, contains one table that is cited in the body of the document as many times as the researchers need call attention to its main points. Unlike the education RA, this medicine report contains three figures which are used mainly for comparison. Bars and circles graphs are used whose data are briefly described. As Swales and Feak (1994) recommends, the researchers of both articles have selected representative data; they have used tables to deal with specific data that let them compare the main points found.

Taking into account the paragraph formats, the education research report presents the Conclusion section in persuasive-argumentative texts. A majority of researches carried out in the education field tend to analyze particular cases, i.e. the results might not be useful to do generalizations. They might be valuable to support or be the bases of further studies. The medicine research article, on the other hand, draws upon the cause-effect format to discuss the results.

Pintos and Crimi (2010) claim, “[…] results, discussions and conclusions sections should show the researcher’s ability to summarize, show a problem and its solution, evaluate the solution, present sound arguments and convince the readers that his/her conclusions and recommendations are of utmost importance” (pp. 20-21). Comparing both articles, one from the education field and the other from the medicine field, let us to be certain that the final sections of both research reports summarize the work done, produce new knowledge and share their conclusions, which result useful, with the community they address to.










References

Elbeck, M., & Mandernach, B.T. (2009). Journals for computing-mediated learning: Publications of value for the online educator. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning. 10(3), 1-20. Availabe at http://www.scribd.com/doc/21179839/Journals-Computer-Mediated-Learning
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3: the research article: results, discussions and conclusions. Handout for Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés. Buenos Aires: Universidad CAECE. Retrieved May 2, 2010 from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource
Sidransky, E. et al (2009). Multicenter analysis of glucocerebrosidase mutations in Parkinson's disease. The New England Journal of Medicine, 361:1651-1661; 17. Retrieved June 11, 2010 from http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/361/17/1651
Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.

Following rules to produce academic writings

Academic writing not only does it involve managing an excellent proficiency in language but also displaying a high level of knowledge of the researched topic. These qualities combined in a well organized format of the article will help the audience to read it smoothly and to become more interested. To present information about a research carried out in any field, to show its purpose, methods and findings, the writer must respect some rules or follow some guidelines. These specifications have been agreed by special committees formed to unify criteria and to establish dos and don’ts in writing academically. For instance, as Pintos (2009) describes, “MLA (Modern Language Association) …used in Literature and composition fields; CBE (Council of Biology Editors)…for the sciences; Chicago Manual of Style…for History and Humanities…” (pp.14-15)

As far as Psychology and other Social Science fields are concerned, the manual specially designed to establish standards for writing is The American Psychological Association (APA). It is continuously updated to offer format and style orientations to write research papers; cite sources; make in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes and how to list the reference page. Pintos and Crimi (2010) following Sampieri, Collado and Lucio (1998), point out that research papers are produced after a process which involves different stages. Some of them are performed before the process of writing itself, the delimitation of the topic to be dealt with; a literature review; the definition of the type of research to be done (exploratory, descriptive, correlational or explanatory) to name a few. Each phase is then described in the final report.

In spite of the fact that the different sections of a research paper are the same for any field, articles written in the education field and others belonging to the medicine one can have some similarities as well as some differences. To visualize them, the internal structure of a paper from the former field will be analyzed and compared with the one of the latter. Loucky’s (2007) article that belongs to the education field follows APA style. American Psychological Association (2009) suggests following a scientific method to write research paper to make it easier to read it. It also provides a list of the sections to be included. They are: title page, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references, appendixes and tables or figures (if they are necessary). The first sections of the example in the present paper are analyzed. They contain information organized and presented under the Introductions, Literature Review and Methods headings whereas the report from the medicine field, Espié et al. (2009), contains no Introduction section but Background and Methods. To have a clear panorama of what sort of information is included in each section, a deeper analyses will follow.

The Introduction section is of utmost importance in order to catch reader’s interest and attention for the article. It must be organized following a pattern called Create A Research Space Model (C.A.R.S.), Swales and Feak (1994) refer to this model as a principle by which writers must organize this paper section moving from the general topic to the particular situation. Besides, there are three moves that can be observed at reading this section: creating a research space, where writers should show the importance of the research and have to review previous research; establishing a niche, they have to indicate the gap in previous research; and, occupying the niche, they have state the purposes of the study and an announce the principal findings, meanwhile an indication of the structure the research report will have, can be optional.

In Loucky’s (2007) Introduction section, it can be seen that he omits the second move (establishing a niche) and in a single sentence he shows the importance of research and immediately he refers to his study. On the other hand, in Espié et al.’s (2009) article, the C.A.R.S. model can also be distinguished when reading the introductory paragraphs. However, introduction and literature review are treated together under the heading Background. The authors present the topic paraphrasing authors and then refer to the study itself in particular.Whereas the medicine article presents the literature review merged with the introduction, the education article, presents this section (Literature Review) in isolation. It might be due to what The Writing Center of the University of New Carolina (n.d.) asserts,

A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period. In a research paper, you use the literature as a foundation and as support for a new insight that you contribute. (Literature Reviews, What this handout is about? para. 2)

As regards the Methods section, in both of the examples analyzed, the principles of process paragraphs have been followed. Although the subsections (Participants, Materials and Procedure) are not titled as such in all the papers, they are properly dealt with and refer to. Loucky’s (2007) Methods section includes Participants and Procedure as a subtitle. On the contrary, Espié et al.’s (2009) section refers to them in different paragraphs but they are not headed as subtitles. In both articles, tables showing statistical information that has been described are also available.

All in all, it would seem this educative research paper as well as the medical research paper can vary somehow taking into account headings for different sections. But all of them contain organized paragraphs in each section that move from the general topic to the specific one. In addition, they follow the same order to present the information gathered after a professional research. In both cases, respecting the style standards and format guidelines have contributed to facilitate a smooth reading.


















References

Espié, E., Gaboulaud, V., Baubet, T., Casas, G., Mouchenik, Y., Yun, O., et al. (2009). Trauma-related psychological disorders among Palestinian children and adults in Gaza and West Bank, 2005-2008. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 3:21 doi:10.1186/1752-4458-3-21. Retrieved April 27, 2010, from http://www.ijmhs.com/content/3/1/21

Loucky, J. P. (2007). Improving online reading and vocabulary development. KASELE Bulletin, Nº 35, pp. 181-188

Pintos, V. (2009). Unit 2: Personal narratives in teaching. Handout for Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés. Buenos Aires: Universidad CAECE. Retrieved in July, 2009, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource

Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 2: The research article: Introduction, Literature Review and Method sections. Handout for Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés. Buenos Aires: Universidad CAECE. Retrieved on April, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4691

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

The Writing Center, (n.d.). Literature Reviews, What this handout is about. University of New Carolina. Retrieved on July 12th, 2010, from http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html

Innovative assessments

The research made by Birgin and Baki (2007), The use of Portfolio to Assess Student’s Performance is included in the Turkish Science Education Journal, vol, 4, issue, 2 , September 2007. The authors’ purpose is to introduce portfolio assessment method commonly used in educational contexts recently. They claim that learning approaches have changed and as a result they have affected assessment procedures. As a consequence, an alternative method is needed. Portfolio is then seen as “systematic and purposeful collection of the evidence which reflect the success, performance, and efforts of the students in one or more areas over a period of time” (Birgin & Baki, 2007, p. 78). Throughout the paper, Birgin and Baki (2007) show the different applications and different types of portfolios depending on the purpose and contents. They also explain the advantages of using portfolio assessment methods over the standarized testing as well as they describe the problems and disadvantages of using this alternative assessment method. In order to use portfolio as an assessment tool effectively, teachers need “to determine the purpose, plan its items ... and explain their assessement criteria clearly” (Birgin & Barki, 2007, p. 86).



















Reference
Birgin, O. & Baki, A. (2007). The use of portfolio to assess student’s performance. Turkish Science Education Journal, 4(2), 75-87.

Acknowledging sources properly

Academic writing implies not only the prodution of a piece of writing but also intensively researching on others’ published work in order to support hypothesis, explain theories or justify certain ideas. This research demands on the part of the academic writer to cite properly the documents or sources consulted to avoid plagiarism. In-text citacions and the reference list are the two means used to acknowledge sources.
Topics developed by the academic writer, the audience addresed to and the field in which the paper is included will be subject to a specified manual that provides guidelines and rules on how to recognize the sources. For instance, the manual APA (American Psychological Association) used for Psychology and other Social Sciences is the framework within which the following paper has been analysed.
In Ogan-Bekiroglu and Gunay's (2008) paper, Portfolio assessment, it can be seen the format of APA style for citing references. They follow the rules established to cite articles from magazines and books but they do not place the reference list on a new page separated from the text of the paper though. The label References is not centered and no double space is provided. The reference list entries are alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work and all lines after the first line of each entry are indented one-half inch from the left margin.
Following documentation styles is an important aspect to consider when acknowledging sources. There are special rules and formats depending on the discipline. Different manuals have been specially designed to guide the writers on how to acknowledge sources. These guidelines provide uniformity and tidiness. Therefore, they must be carefully dealt with so as not to mix styles or omit any detail.










References

Ogan-Bekiroglu, F. & Gunay, A. (2008). Physics students’perceptions on their journey through portfolio assessment.

Experiential Learning E-Portfolios:Promoting Connections between Academic and Workplace Learning Utilizing Information and Communications Technologies

Brown, J. (2009). Experiential Learning E-Portfolios: Promoting Connections between Academic and Workplace Learning Utilizing Information and Communication Technologies. Miami: Barry University, School of Adult and Continuing Education.

Brown's (2009) paper examines the effectiveness of developing e-portfolios in two case studies to promote connections between academic and workplace learning. In Maloney’s (2007) words “the e-portfolio allows learners to trace the development of their thinking and learning over time and to show their competencies to the university and employers” (as cited in Brown, 2009, p. 2). The author briefly refers to learning approaches through the time till she reaches the one that supports her research. According to Brown (2009), the developmental constructivist work of Kegan (1994) and Mezinow’s (1996) transforamtive theory on learning allow learners to reflect upon their learning process, to change their behaviour, to construct and (re)discover meaning in such a way their complex cognitive ways increase. Relevant sections in the paper emphasized the idea of validating work environments as venues for higher level knowledge acquisition. These sections are: Workplace Learning; E-portfolios and learning; and The Transformation of Experience to Learning. After analysing the results obtained, Brown (2009) concludes that workplace can serve as another way of learning and e-portfolios can prove to be a connection between academic and professional competencies.
















Reference
Brown, J. (2009). Experiential learning e-portfolios: promoting connections between academic and workplace learning utilizing information and communication technologies. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference Workplace Learning Special Interest Group paper session, April 16th, 2009.

Digital Portfolios: training in documenting school learning for the professional world

Purpose: To provide a general overview of why and how to implement digital portfolios as an educational tool with students from Camino Nuevo High School (CNHS).

Thesis: Through creating and maintaining digital portfolios, CNHS students synthesize and present their academic work at the same time they show their competence to master technological resources.

Audience: high school teachers, students at higher level education

1. The digital portfolios (DPs) process at CNHS.
A. Training in basic web design for professional world.
B. Developing skills for self-presentation.

2. DPs in CNHS as an educational tool and a unifying aspect of school culture.
A. Building and maintaining a website by all students.
1. Reflecting upon growth through academic work.
B. Presenting DPs at the end of tenth grade as a graduation requirement.

3. Portfolios’ contents.
A. Sections corresponding to each school year.
1. Assignments demostrating skills and concepts developed.
2. Reflections about the content and skills.
3. Quality of students’ effort and product.

4. Much classroom work posted on DPs for grading.
A. Students’ access to classmates’ DPs.
1. Peer assessments as regular classroom practice.

5. Steps to implement DPs.
A. In-house teacher training for basic web design.
B. Hard-working staff to develop approaches and standards for DPs.
C. Digital Portfolio Handbook on the DP website page.
1. Technical guidance.
2. Rubrics.
3. Guidelines for presentations at the end of tenth grade.

6. “Positive impact [of using DPs] on student achievement across the curriculum” (Cramer, 2009, p. 4)
A. Parents’ and members’ of the community access to students’ work.
B. Students’ chances to share work with possible employers or internship providers.

Reference
Cramer, M. (2009). Digital portfolios: documenting student growth. Horace Summer 2009, 25(1), 1-4. Data file. Retrieved December, 19th 2009 from http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/cespr/view/ces_res/620

A healthy life in your hands and feet

Nowadays more and more people are interested in taking alternative medical treatments or complementing the traditional ones with some up-to-date techniques based on ancestral practices. Oribe (2007), in his work Reflexología: La salud a tus pies presents a careful description about the treatment and self-therapy. Particularly important are the theory and the classification he includes in the first and last parts of the book specifically. The simple language used added to precise illustrations and a series of exercises clearly described, make of this book an interesting resource to take into account when we decide to take care of our health. The techniques that have been scientifically proved offer to anyone a different, cheap and enjoyable self-treatment. Oribe (2007) admits “...[T]raditional medicine, sometimes and more often, nowadays, utilises alternative therapies as a complement for its own treatments” (p.29).












Reference
Oribe, C. A. (2007). Reflexología: La salud a tus pies. Cdad.de Buenos Aires, Arg: Ediciones LEA S.A.

The Critical Incident Technique

Flanagan, J. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin,
51-4. Retrieved December, 10th 2009,
from http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/special/cit-article.pdf

In his work, Flanagan (1954) describes the development of a method called Critical Incident Technique (CIT) as well as he explains its main principles and its present conditions. There are also some cases studied and some samples forms for different uses. “The critical inicident technique consists of a set of procedures for collecting direct observations of human behaviour...” (Flanagan 1954, The critical incident technique para. 2 ). By means of this method practical problems can be dealt with in different fields. However, as the author concludes “critical incidents represent only raw data and do not automatically provide solutions to problems” (Flanagan, 1954, Summary and Conclusions, para. 3). As regards organization, it can be said that the work includes two parts. The first one deals with how and when the technique started. Sections belonging to this part are: “Background and early developments”, “Developmental studies at the American Institute for Research” and “Studies carried out at the University of Pittsburgh”. The second part is about the description of the technique in itself. Sections referring to it are: 1.The procedure in its present form. 1.1. General aims 1.2. Plans and specifications 1.3. Collecting the data 1.4. Analysing the data 1.5. Interpreting and reporting 2. Uses of the Critical Incident Technique 3. Summary and conclusions.

Analysing the use of some academic writing strategies

Academic writing can be considered as a bridge that connects professional growth to a discourse community. According to Grabe and Kaplan (1996), academic writing is a type of writing that involves composing for knowledge transforming. Examples of these compositions can be: journals, notes, reports or proposals. In order to transform knowledge or as Pintos (2009) states,

“... [I]n order to construct knowledge, we should be aware of some specific characteristics which delimit the area of writing academically. Many well-known researchers and theorists have listed them (Campbell, 1990; Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998; Hunter & Morgan, 2001; Jordan, 1997; Reid, 1993). These characteristics ... are regulated by a general academic register, a formal style, a proficiency in language use, the ability to integrate information from other sources...” (p.7)

Analysing Myles’s (2002) work, Second Language Writing and Research: The Writing Process and Error Analysis in Student Texts, we can observe she makes use of a variety of academic strategies to support her research and analysis. A great deal of in-text citations are used in Models of First Language (1L) and Second Language (2L) Writing section, para. 3 as well as she makes two omissions when quoting two different authors’ points of view as regards skilled and less-skilled writers. They can be seen in the paragraph quoted below,

The Flower and Hayes (1980, 1981) model focuses on what writers do when they compose. It examines the rhetorical problem in order to determine the potential difficulties a writer could experience during the composing process. The "problem-solving activity" is divided into two major components: the rhetorical situation (audience, topic, assignment), and the writer's own goals (involving the reader, the writer's persona, the construction of meaning, and the production of the formal text). By comparing skilled and less-skilled writers, the emphasis here is placed on "students' strategic knowledge and the ability of students to transform information . . . to meet rhetorically constrained purposes" (Grabe & Kaplan, 1996, p. 116). However, the social dimension is important too. Indeed, writing "should not be viewed solely as an individually-oriented, inner-directed cognitive process, but as much as an acquired response to the discourse conventions . . . within particular communities" (Swales, 1990, p. 4).

Myles (2002) also inserts an upper-case letter at the beginning of two block quotations. The following are the examples

[L]earners lack the necessary information in the second language or the attentional capacity to activate the appropriate second-language routine. But such an account says little about why certain linguistic forms transfer and others do not. (McLaughlin, 1988, p. 50 as cited in Cognitive Factors, para. 7)

[A]lthough we should not cripple our students' interest in writing through undue stress or grammatical correctness, the influence of second language factors on writing performance is something we have to reckon with and not pretend that concentrating on the process would automatically resolve the difficulty caused by these factors. (Yan, 1991, p. 268 as cited in Summary and Conclusion, para.2)

Various kinds of quotations are also used, direct and block ones can be mentioned as the examples above. Myles (2002) also paraphrases other authors’ words, for example in the first paragraph of her work

The ability to write well is not a naturally acquired skill; it is usually learned or culturally transmitted as a set of practices in formal instructional settings or other environments. Writing skills must be practiced and learned through experience. Writing also involves composing, which implies the ability either to tell or retell pieces of information in the form of narratives or description, or to transform information into new texts, as in expository or argumentative writing. Perhaps it is best viewed as a continuum of activities that range from the more mechanical or formal aspects of "writing down" on the one end, to the more complex act of composing on the other end (Omaggio Hadley, 1993).

The author also introduces phrases by means of appropriate reporting verbs, such as:
Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987) also propose a model that suggests...
According to Ellis (1985), it is through analyzing learner errors that...
Taking the concept of "knowledge transformation" further, Wells (2000) argues that...
In addition to the use of written models, Cumming (1995) also points out the benefits of...

The reporting verbs are not overused nor repeated so as not to make it difficult the smoothness of the reading act.

All in all, the examples above can show how an academic piece of writing should be looked like as regards the use of appropriate citing sources. As Pintos (2009) defines, composing is “the ability to combine sentences into larger cohesive and coherent pieces of writing...” (p.7). It is important to take into account that when producing a piece of academic writing, we are not only using different statregies but we are also getting involved in a discourse community.


















Reference
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 from http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESl-EJ/ej22/a1.html, April 1, 2008
Pintos, V. (2008). Unit 3: Academic Writing. Handout for Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés. Buenos Aires: Universidad CAECE. Retrieved August 2009, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=2730

The Critical Incident Technique: when human behaviours determine psychological categories

During 1940s a psychologist, John Flanagan from the American Institute for Research and the University of Pittsburgh and several collaborators designed and used a special way of collecting data. They have called it The Critical Incident Technique (CIT) which consists of a set of procedures for registering direct observations of human behaviour. Thus, the information collected makes it useful to solve specially practical problems and developing broad psychological principles. As Flanagan (1954) describes, an incident is any human activity that can be observed in such a way one is able to make inferences and predict about the person performing the act. It is so called critical because it occurs in a situation where the purpose of the act is very clear to the observer and its consequences leave little doubts as regards its effects.

The Critical Incident Technique was firstly used to analyse specific reasons for failure in learning to fly reported for pilot candidates eliminted during training in the US Army Air Forces in 1941. Later, its use extended to manufacturer companies where foremen observed and registered activities performed by the production operators. So, later they could formulate requirements to be achieved to recruit personnel. The American psychologist suggests that objectivity should be one of the main features to guarantee the information -gathered by the application of this technique, be relevant enough for potential uses. By objectivity Flanagan (1954) means to get the same report by a number of independent observers who, in order to provide specific and detailed descriptions, will have to limit their observation to the general aim.

As Flanagan (1954) explained, determination of the general aim of the activity -one of the five steps in the CIT (Critical Incident Technique), should be a brief statement made by an authority in the field. Once the fundamental orientation has been marked, the development of plans and specifications should be traced. They will be precise instructions given to the observers. These instructions as well as the group to be studied need to be as specific as possible. These aspects will facilitate greatly the third step in the procedure since the data collection phase will be simplified.

There are four procedures to collect data. The first one is interview, a specilist in a field explains to the observers precisely what data are desired. The specialist is told what the purpose of the interview is, why he/she has been selected and must be told that his/her identity will not be revealed. Questions must be as precise and clear as possible so as not to lead to misinterpretations. Other ways to collect data are: group interviews, questionnaries and record forms. The first two ones differ in the number of interviewees, questionnaries are performed when the group becomes large.

Analysis of the data is the fourth step involved in the CIT. Its purpose is to summarize and describe the information in an efficient manner so that it can be used for various practical purposes. The last step is interpretation and reporting. The author suggests that reporting facts about behaviour is better than the collection of interpretations, ratings and opinions based on general impressions. He also adds that reporting should be limited to those behaviours which make an important contribution to the activity.

This technique can be applied to measure typical performance. An individual’s performance can be objectively evaluated and recorded if an observational check list includes all of the important behaviours for the activity. It can also be useful to measure proficiency. Training field, some way, the first application of the technique, can be greatly benefited. Indeed, from the very beginning, many of the applications in this field were carried out for the military in special situations and for specific types of maintenance mechanics. Similarly, to select and classify applicants or employees, CIT is appropriate. They are given a short time to study the job then a wide variety of selection procedures are administered to gather some data later.

As far as operating procedures are concerned, the Cirtical Incident Technique can be valuable to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of operations where detailed factual data on successes and failures are analyzed systematically. Even equipment design may be improved if this technique is used. Since the collection of large numbers of critical incidents representative of operating experience provides a sound basis for modifying existing equipment and designing new models. To go further in exploring different fields for the application of Flanagan’s (1954) technique, motivation and leadership can also be studied. Its main goal here is to gather factual data regarding specific actions involving decisions and choices. Counseling and psychotherapy are other examples of the vast use of this interesting and worthy procedure.

As Flanagan (1954) states “the critical incident technique, rather than collecting opinions, hunches, and estimates, obtains a record of specific behaviours from those in the best positions to make the necessary observations and evaluations” (p. 31). Taking into account the author’s words mentioned above, this technique can be also applied to the educational field. It can be a useful tool for teachers to reflect upon their work. It would help them to analyse different situations encountered and learn from them so as to correct some mistakes or just to think over certain decisions probably wrongly made.

To conclude, the Critical Incident Technique as an interesting pshycological tool to determine activity requirements with objectivity has made important contributions to different fields. Its applications and results provide the basis for making inferences in terms of aptitudes and training, characteristics that are necessary to find in human behaviours in order to take advantage of their proficiency in solving practical problems.












































Reference

Flanagan, J. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin,
51-4. Retrieved January 2008, from http://www.apa.org/psycinfo/special/cit-article.pdf

Teachers'professional development and its effect on their students' academic level

Howley and Howley (2005) point out that it is commonly thought by those who decide on new policies that professional development involves improvement in the quality of teaching in the classrooms which consequently would end in students’ higher academic results. Unfortunately, these linkages have proved to be rarely true by “very limited empirical evidence” (Howley & Howley, 2005, p. 1). The authors describe different cases where teachers show their concern to better their work. They expose several examples or alternatives for professional developments carried out by teachers from different schools.

Howley and Howley (2005), support their ideas with clear examples of approaches used to set standards and assess teachers' performance,

Grounded in management approaches such as Total Quality Management, some improvement strategies involve educators in the establishement of standards and benchmarks followed by an ongoing process of assessment and clasrroom-level reform. The Malcolm Baldrige program is perhaps the best-known approach of this type...(Howley & Howley, 2005, para. 8)

In the paragraph quoted above the reader can see that there are some theories that back up teachers’ practices for professional development.

Throughout the whole article the authors develop the topic extensively, making good use of writing strategies to help the readers understand the content. The use of linking words or cohesive markers are one example. When referring to the studies done to know teachers’ performance after having participated in professional development, connectors such as: in addition or furthermore are used to add information. The linking word: however is used in the following paragraph to show the opposite view of what they have mentioned previously. To show opposition in another paragraph, they use phrases such as: even though, though, despite.

Linking words like: first, second are used to show not a chronology of events but the order of explanations for two organizational dynamics existing in rural places, “professional isolation and culturally instilled reluctance to criticize professional behaviors” (Howley, A. and Howley, C. B., 2005, p. 4). To explain causes and consequences in their arguments, the authors make use of cohesive markers such as: because, because of, as a result.

Howley and Howley, (2005) comment not only on the presuppositions and real evidences existing about the relation and connection between teachers’ professional development and students’ achievement in the urban schools. But also they notice the difficulties teachers in rural areas find to enrich their jobs. They account for some basis rural teachers encounter in their attempts to improve the level of their students’ academic results.

In conclusion, the idea sustained by policymakers concerning better professional development that results in higher students' academic level has been proved not to be so by evidences gathered by Howley and Howley (2005). Their writing strategies used to develop the topic are varied and appropriate for the audience they address. This work not only deals with an interesting issue of the teaching profession but also serves as an excellent reading resource to improve academic writing.
















Reference
Howley, A., & Howley, C. B. (2005). High-quality teaching: Providing for
rural teachers' professional development. The Rural Educator. Retrieved
October 2007, from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4126/is_200501/ai_n13591361
Pintos, V. (2008). Unit 1: Building up a community of teachers and prospective researchers. Buenos Aires: Universidad CAECE. Retrieved August 2009 from, http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=2730

Integrating reading and writing skills in every day classroom activities

Different authors agreed with the idea that reading and writing skills are closely related. Each one of them can be seen as the source of the other. Pintos (2009) claims that “appropriate input for acquisition of writing skills is achieved through reading because reading can provide primary models to start writing” (p.32).

According to Stotsky (1983), better readers are highly likely to produce more syntactically mature writing than those readers who can be considered poorer (as cited in Eisterhold,1990, p. 88) Consequently, Second Language teachers should take into account that an effective system in the academic discourse community is built by the integration of the reading skill into the writing one. Bloor (1985) proposes four approaches to make it possible,

1. Psychological approach, in which students practise the process involved in reading.
2. Linguistic approach, where students’s attention is drawn to the words and sentences of a given text.
3. Content-oriented approach, whose aim is to give students a specific purpose of reading. They can be presented several types of texts in order to produce different pieces of writing.
4. Pedagogically-oriented approach, where students are motivated to reading self-access materials which they can use at their own pace. (Bloor, 1985; as cited in Jordan, 1997).

Examples of every day classroom activities that can fit into the approaches mentioned above can be for instance: match the words with their meaning; look for the opposites of adjectives in a text; read the following paragraph then match the words in italics with their explanations or synonyms below, if teachers’ aim is to develop practising the process involved in reading. However, if the focus is on students’ attention on words and sentences of a certain text, they should be asked to solve activities such as: match the beginnings of the sentences in column A with their endings in column B; put the words in the right order to make sentences; complete the key words in certain definitions.

On the other hand, if the objective is to expect students to read a specific text with further purpose to be accomplished, they should be given tasks as the ones that follow: read the X Hotel brochure and write an e-mail to book a single room for 3 nights, ask if you can pay with credit card. Read the extract from the newspaper about this famous teenager pop singer. Write 5 questions you would like to ask them if you were an interviewer. Look at this advertisement, which adjectives would you add to make it more persuasive?

To promote or stimulate extensive reading, students could be given different options to choose to work on their own and share with their classmates and teachers. Some assignments that could fulfil this purpose could be, for instance: students can browse on the Internet visiting certain web pages, reading articles about specific topics and make a brief comment or report about them. They can also be given some short stories so that they choose one to read and then write the plot or prepare a strips of comics with the most important scenes of the story.

In conclusion, as Ferris and Hedgcock (1998) state, if we engage our students to develop their reading skill through the performance of varied activities, they will definetely improve their writing skill. Thus the relationship between reading and writing will greatly contribute to build an effective academic discourse community.









References
Eisterhold, J. C. (1990). “Reading-writing connections: Toward a description
for second language learners.” In Kroll, B. (Ed) (1990). Second language
writing: Research insights for the classroom. (pp. 88-102). New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press.
Ferris, D. and Hedgcock, J. S. (1998). Teaching ESL composition: Purpose,
process, and practice. London, UK: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for academic purposes: A guide and resource
book for teachers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Pintos, V. (2008). Unit 1: Building up a community of teachers and prospective researchers. Universidad CAECE. Retrieved August 2009, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=2730