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Read an abstract which describes the author’s writing his first learned article and define his feelings about it.
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Федеральное агентство по рыболовству
Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное
Учреждение высшего профессионального образования
«Астраханский государственный технический университет»
Разработка и предоставление образовательных услуг в области среднего, высшего и дополнительного профессионального образования,
послевузовского образования; воспитательная и научно-исследовательская работа сертифицированы DQS и ГОСТ Р по ISO 9001:2008
Кафедра «ИЯГЕНО»
Т. В. Дроздова
«HOW TO WRITE SCIENTIFIC TEXTS»
Методические указания
Для аспирантов
(дисциплина «Иностранный язык»)
Астрахань – 2013
Автор: профессор кафедры ИЯГЕНО,
д.филол.н. Дроздова Т.В.
Рецензент: доцент, к.филол. н. Бочарникова Е.А.
Методические указания рассмотрены и утверждены
на заседании кафедры «ИЯГЕНО»
Протокол № 10/1 от 02.09. 2013г.
Пояснительная записка
Данные методические указания предназначены для аспирантов и имеют целью дать общее представление о жанрах письменного научного текста и их лингвостилистических характеристиках, правилах написания и основных требованиях к оформлению научного текста на английском языке. Все указанные сведения содержатся в материалах методических указаний, которые также включают сведения о клишированных языковых единицах и выражениях, используемых при написании научного труда, упражнения на закрепление языкового материала и творческие задания на написание научных текстов разного жанра.
Пособие может быть использовано как в качестве основного учебного материала на практических занятиях, так и для самостоятельной работы аспирантов.
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Unit I
1. Read the text given below and answer the questions:
a) what are the purposes of writing scientific texts?
b) which types (genres) of the scientific text are described?
c) what are the main characteristics of the scientific text?
WRITING SCIENTIFIC TEXTS
All scientists and engineers should accept that writing is part of their work. In scientific writing the main purpose is to explain: to analyze and interpret the information obtained in research in order to make valid conclusions and to persuade the academic community that the author’s point of view on the investigated problem is correct because it is supported by the facts. The facts the authors collect, the evidence they find should be convincing or powerful. In scientific papers scientists often present new theories. New discoveries must be made known to others, as well.
Besides, scientific texts provide a means of communication between scientists from different parts of the world, various research institutions, scientific schools. Scientific texts or academic writing, i.e. the literature of science, is a kind of the record of the history of science, observations and opinions, search for truth. The educational purposes and popularization of science should also be kept in mind.
So, scientific works include learned articles (or papers), books (monographs, textbooks, popular science works), reviews of authors’ own works or those of their colleagues (summaries, synopses, annotations, précis, résumés, abstracts). As a rule, researchers write progress reports, final reports on investigation, or some special documentation, including letters, electronic mails, memoranda, etc.
There are certain requirements to the scientific text which are to be met in order to make the main idea of the work clear for the assumed reader. Thus, the main characteristics of the scientific text include explanation, clarity, completeness, impartiality, order in terms of logic unity (coherence) or structural or syntactic unity (cohesion), accuracy, objectivity, combined with informativity, simplicity, persuasiveness.
2. Learn more about writing scientific texts and say which of the given instructions you follow while writing your scientific work.
To write a good scientific paper, it is necessary to follow a set of instructions. Some of them are very useful and are given below.
You should first analyse who your readers are, what they already know, what more they require in the way of information, explanation and examples. The treatment of the problem should be comprehensive.
In many ways a research paper is an effort to answer a question or series of questions. From this the researcher forms a main idea (that is, a thesis) on which to base the writing of the paper. So a research paper is a form of writing based upon a thesis supported by facts, figures, statistics, and other writers’ carefully documented ideas. It is possible to illustrate the main ideas, statistics or calculation results with tables, graphs, charts, diagrams.
To write a research paper one must:
1. Rely on more than one’s own personal opinions and experiences. Show an awareness of all sides of a question. Do not omit evidence that is against your hypothesis, nor undervalue the findings of other scientists when these seem to contradict your own. It is important to make clear which ideas belong to other writers or which of their works are quoted.
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2. Choose a topic and explore it: narrow down the topic, formulate a research focus, gather data, write a thesis statement. All assumptions, explanation or generalization, should be based on sufficient evidence, and should be in accordance with all that is known on the subject.
3. Make an argument: select the suppoting details, facts, and statistics; prepare a working outline. Every line of argument should be followed through to a logical conclusion. Make clear any assumptions underlying your arguments, for if these are incorrect, your conclusions may also be incorrect. Indicate how, when and where your data were obtained, and specify the limitations of your work, the sources of error and probable errors in the data, and the range of validity of the conclusions.
4. Bring a conclusion: bring together the main ideas of the paper; repeat the thesis on the paper. Try not to be biased by preconceived ideas, and take care not to overestimate the importance of your work.
The clear thinking while recognizing a problem, formulating hypotheses, planning an investigation and its execution should be reflected in the clarity of your writing and in your illustrations. Every statement should be complete. Your writing should be free from errors of omission but you should show an awareness of the limitations of your knowledge.
Read an abstract which describes the author’s writing his first learned article and define his feelings about it.
My first piece of work did all that I wanted of it. I wrote it up in three weeks, and after a long and stately process of submission to referees it appeared months later in the “Proceedings of the Royal Society”. The title stood out on the glossy paper, I didn’t want to read any further. “The Structure of the Crystals of the Quartz”, by A.R.Miles, Physics Laboratory, King’s College, London. I remember, too, the fondness with which I handled the green-covered off-prints and inscriptions I wrote on them as I gave them to my friends.
4. Speak on writing your first paper. Include the following information:
- the assumed readers of your paper;
- the period of collecting data and writing the paper;
- the principles you observed while writing it;
- if you submitted the paper to referees;
- where the paper was published and under which title;
- your feelings when you saw it published.
Unit II
1. Read the text to learn more ideas about preparing to writing a scientific text. Answer the questions:
a) why is it necessary to plan the future written work?
b) which points should be considered while planning your composition?
c) how does the draft of the work help the writer?
PLAN BEFORE YOU WRITE
Every composition you are going to write should be carefully planned: think about the purpose of your work, consider the time available to complete the writing, make sure you know all the sources of necessary information and reference literature, define the scope of the written work and the ideas of primary importance. Think about a good title and anticipate the questions of your readers.
As you have considered the above-mentioned points, collected information and assembled the ideas, you can start writing the draft of the composition. The draft can help you understand which ideas received too little attention and improve the composition. It will also help to organize your thoughts and formulate the arguments.
It is advisable to use the main points or issues you are going to consider as working headings, or to make notes of the parts of your writing. They may look like the following:
- the purpose of the composition;
- the subject and its introduction;
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- information included in each paragraph;
- explanation of obtained information or results;
- drawing conclusion.
The draft can show if the order of the paragraphs is appropriate and help rearrange them if necessary so that they lead smoothly to the conclusion. Depending on the length of the work the order of information may follow increasing or decreasing importance.
The writer must capture the interest of the reader from the first sentences of the text. There should be one paragraph for each aspect of the subject and all sentences should provide information relevant to the topic. Each sentence should be related to the preceding one(s) and to the next. Try to avoid ambiguities and superfluous introductory phrases (for example: Secondly it must be said that … Next it must be noted that …). Paragraphs should not be too long or too short.
Revise your draft carefully, make all the necessary additions or editing and read the final text aloud to ensure that it sounds well. Sometimes several revisions are needed to provide sufficient explanation to all the ideas and to improve the quality of the composition. Check the spelling and figures. When the paper has been revised, put it on one side for a while and read again in one or two days. If everything satisfies you and no further improvements are required, send a copy to your referee or publisher.
2. Learn more about the structure of the scientific text and say which parts should always be found in a scientific work.
Scientific texts of different length may differ to some degree in their parts: a monograph, for example, contains the front cover, the title page, the table of contents, appendices, index which a leaned article does not. But in general, while writing a scientific work, a researcher follows a certain scheme or rules of dividing the composition into several obligatory parts or sections. These help the writer to disclose the purpose of the work, the way of thinking, to present results in detail and give a supported explanation and argumentation. These sections may have or have not headlines, depending on the type of the text and the requirements of the publisher. Each section should contain the answer to a certain question.
The sections and the questions are the following:
Introduction. This section contains the answer to the question “ why? ” In this section the writer names the problem highlighted in the text, explains how he/she became aware of it and why it is of interest to assumed readers.
Materials and methods. Here the writer explains how the information related to the problem was obtained.
Results. The answer to the question “ What did the researcher(s) find? ” is given in this part of the text.
Discussion is the main section of any scientific work. The author discloses in this section what is made of the results and how these findings are related to the previous work(s).
Conclusions contains the answer to the question “ What does the author conclude?”.
References is a list of literature mentioned int the text. A reader is informed how he/she can obtain a copy of each of the sources cited in the text.
Summary (or abstract, résumé, précis) is intended to reveal in a few short sentences what the main points of the scientific text are.
Some texts include additional information as follows:
Acknowledgements. In this section the writer mentions sources of ideas, information, illustrations or finance (people or institutions).
List of abbreviations contains abbreviations and full names of substances, phenomena, institutions, etc. mentioned in the text. It makes reading and understanding the composition easier.
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3. Analyse the following underlined expressions to be used in writing scientific texts. Translate the sentences.
Introduction.
This paper presents a new approach to the study of human brain.
The general aim of the work is to establish the proper procedure for data collection and processing.
The present investigation considers what factors influence language acquisition.
In this article the main functions of the government are examined.
The article is devoted to the properties of new substances.
The book examines the development of the bond between children and their parents.
In the paper I examine the nature of this phenomenon.
Materials and methods
In our study we have applied an innovative approach to the problem.
We used statistical methods in our study.
The researchers relied on some well-established methods of investigation.
A new method has been worked out to investigate the phenomenon.
Our analysis of tiger’s behaviour is based on observation.
We consulted the municipal archives in an attempt to find the necessary documentation.
Results
Our study shows that such behaviour is typical under this circumstances.
The investigations reveals some unknown properties of this substance.
The obtained data lend support to the hypothesis of global warming.
It has been shown that these changes resulted from human impact on the environment.
The figures show a trend towards healthier eating habits.
Discussion
These findings need careful explanation.
These results of our investigation require a careful study.
The most logical explanation for this phenomenon is the following.
Our observations reveal significant changes in the behaviour of the animal the causes of which should be discussed.
We are faced with the problem of environment deterioration, which means that urgent measures should be taken to prevent the extinction of rare species.
We shall now briefly explain t he effects of stress.
Conclusions
Our interpretationmakes explicit the influence of climate change on animal behaviour.
Now it should be clearthat the evidence in support of the hypothesis has been found.
Our conclusion holds for any case of changes in supply and demand.
Such knowledge permits predictions about the animal behaviour.
Thus, the relationship between the two phenomena has been firmly established.
4. Guess to which sections of the scientific text the following expressions belong, and complete the sentences using ideas related to your dissertation.
This approach helps to investigate …..
We can explain the process if we assume that ….
One of the main objectives of the paper is …..
The obtained data indicate that ….
Our interpretation makes explicit that ….
The present investigation focuses on ….
The most logical explanation for ….
Observation was adopted as ….
The conducted investigation highlights ….
….. was discovered as a result of our study.
…. is convincingly demonstrated.
5. Write a short article based on your research (2 pages). Use the following hints and the above-given verbal expressions:
1. Think about the purpose of your paper and make notes of the main ideas you are going to focus on.
2. Prepare a topic outline and think about sources of information, figures or illustrations you might need.
3.Write the draft of the paper using the topic outline as a quide. Keep to the point in each section or paragraph of the draft. Leave enough space on the sheet of paper to correct and improve the draft.
4. Read the draft and check if any essential ideas or information are missing. If this is the case, write the second draft. Make sure the writing satisfies you and matches the needs of estimated readers: all main points are emphasised, the meaning of each sentence is clear and correct.
5. Revise the second draft. Check vocabulary and spelling. Put it on one side for a while. Read it aloud to yourself or your group-mates, colleagues, friends. If this is the best draft from your point of view, you can send it to the publisher. Don’t forget to write a summary.
Unit III
1. Read the text and answer the questions:
a) what types of “secondary” scientific texts are described?
b) what is the general purpose of all “secondary” scientific texts?
c) in which way do types of “secondary” scientific texts differ?
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