Topic outline
Welcome to English For Research Report Writing
Who is this Training for?
- Researchers – The module contains practical activities for writing research papers and manuscripts with tips and guidelines for doing so.
- Research students – research students may find this module helpful to self c0rrect when writing their theses and dissertations.
- Research supervisors – supervisors who help research students can find this module to straighten their supervisees' language
- Language editors – If you edit academic papers then you will find this module helpful in learning how to correct the typical errors that academics make when writing.
However, this will be more effective if these bodies attend the training provided with the help of the module prepared for the purpose and read the resources supplied at the eLearning portal prepared for this purpose.
Here are the resources for the training.
Activity: Lead-in- questions
Work individual and answer the following questions
What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
- What do you understand by the above quote?
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2. What challenges related to your English language do you usually face when writing your research?
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3. The language of which research part is usually challenging to you?
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4. What strategies do you use to deal with the challenges you face in your language of research writing?
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Now share your thoughts in threes
INTRODUCTORY IDEAS IN ACADEMIC WRITING
Research as an academic practice is a common task of Higher Education students and instructors. A number of students and instructors are found to produce quality research. However, most report being challenged by the accuracy of the English Language they are writing with. This is not surprising since English is a foreign language to Ethiopia. Recognizing this challenge, the English Language Enhancement Center (ELIC) has planned to prepare tailored training. As a result, a need assessment was made by instructors from the Department of English Language and Literature involving instructors of the different campuses of the university. The data showed that instructors demanded for training on writing their research outputs with the best possible accuracy in their English. This involves language for writing manuscripts, proposals, theses and dissertations. Thus, this training module will specifically cover writing practices on abstract, background, problem statement, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, design and methodology of the study, results, discussions, conclusion, recommendations with real-life examples from manuscripts, proposals, theses and dissertations. At times you may see us shifting our focus from mere language of writing to writing of research or manuscript because they are difficult to separate.
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
· Identify techniques of writing the different sections of research and manuscripts
· Identify the common mistakes in writing research
· Edit their own manuscripts for publication.
· Avoid risk for plagiarism.
· Appreciate how mistakes can affect their publication processes.
WRITING THE BACKGROUND SECTION
At the end of this lesson: you will
·Identify how to start writing the background section·Identify the strategies for writing the background section· Specify the general idea or topic and align it with the specific variables of the study.Read the following introductory Paragraphs and decide on a good start and a bad start.
Title of the research: Designing English For Specific Purpose course for computer science students
Background Start 1
In the present age, no one can deny the importance of the English language. It is used all over the world as a second and foreign language in a non-native context (Kachru, 1983). The demand for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is increasing not only in those countries where English is used as a mother tongue but also in many other countries where the students have to adopt English as a medium for higher education (Jordon, 1997).
Background Start 2
The demand of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is increasing not only in those countries where English is used as a mother tongue but also in many other countries where the students have to adopt English as a medium for higher education (Jordon, 1997). In the present age, no one can deny the importance of the English language. It is used all over the world as a second and foreign language in a non-native context (Kachru, 1983).
Title of the research: “Assessment of the implementation of continuous assessment: the case of METTU university”
Background Start 3
Assessment is the process of making judgments about a student’s performance on a particular task (Harlan, 1994). According to Bolyard (2003) CA is a strategy used by teachers to support the attainment of goals and skills by learners over a period of time.
(mistake: definition followed by definition)
Background Start 4
According to the New Education and Training Policy, the practical task of implementing the new curriculum at the school level requires CA as part of the curriculum in general and the instructional process in particular (MOE, 1994). There is increasing international interest in CA approaches to assess students’ achievement (Njabili, 1999).
Mistake: Idea flowed from narrow point to general (i.e national case followed by international case the organization should be from general to specific: “international interest in CA approaches followed by the task of MEO in making CA as a part of the curriculum)
WRITING THE RATIONALLE SECTION
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this section, you are going to:
· Understand the use of the word ‘rationale’ and ‘statement of the problem’
· Mention the reasoning or cause and effect words for writing the rationale
· Learn the useful words and phrases for establishing a niche statement.
· Learn useful words and phrases for indicating the research gaps in the methodology section
· Learn useful Phrases/Words Indicating Gaps in the Discussion Sections
To show the gap in the contents covered/not covered
To show the gap in the methodology opted
To show gaps in the discussion and interpretation made
§ e.g., Previous studies neglected/ failed to consider…..
§ e.g., The sampling was limited in several ways. First, …
§ e.g., Though all the studies reviewed seem to claim x, their claim is inaccurate …