教學(xué)材料《學(xué)術(shù)寫作》-Unit 1 General Introduction to Academic Writing

Unit1GeneralIntroductiontoAcademicWritingAcademicwritingcanbealsocalledasprofessionalpaperwriting.Aprofessionalpaperisaformalprinteddocumentinwhichprofessionalspresenttheirviewsandresearchfindingsonanydeliberatelychosentopic.Itisvariouslyknownas“researchpaper,”“coursepaper,”“thesispaper”or“l(fā)ibrarypaper.”下一頁返回Unit1GeneralIntroductiontoAcademicWritingNomatterwhatkindofpaperitmayactuallybelongto,thetaskoftheauthormay,inmostcases,bethesame:todoresearchonanyparticulartopic,gatherinformationonit,andreportthefindingsofhisresearch.Wemainlydiscussthesispaperwritinginthisbookinordertohelpstudentstowriteathesismeetingacriterionforacertaindegree.上一頁返回1.1ThesisPapersAthesispaperisusuallywrittenandsubmittedinpartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsforthedegreeofabachelor,MAorMS(orPhD)inaspecificdiscipline.Athesispapertakesadefinitestandonanissue.Athesisisapropositionorpointofviewthatthewriterorspeakeriswillingtoargueagainstordefend.Writingathesispaperrequiresthewritertoexercisejudgments,evaluateevidence,andconstructlogicalarguments.下一頁返回1.1ThesisPapersBeforepresentingathesisordissertation,thecandidateforaprogrammustcompleteallthenecessaryexaminations.Ingeneral,athesisisalengthy,formaltreatise,especiallyonewrittenbyacandidateforthedegreeatauniversityoraresearchinstitution.上一頁返回1.2WaysofPreparingProfessionalPapersInordertowriteandgetaresearchpaperacceptedinaninternationaljournal,thewriterhastospendmonthsorevenalongerperiodinpreparingforit.Generallyspeaking,therearefourstepstobetakenforitsfinalsubmission.1.2.1SearchingforGoodIdeasThesispapersaredifferentfromordinarycompositionsinthattheyhavetobehighlyspecificintheirtopicsanddohaveacertainpractical,scientificoraneconomicvalue.下一頁返回1.2WaysofPreparingProfessionalPapersInvestigationsaretobecarriedoutbasedonlaboratoryorsocialpractice,andonlibraryresearch.1.2.2FindingTopicsUsually,asuitabletopiccanbeformulatedandfinallydecidedonbyfollowingthefivegeneralrules:(1)Itshouldbeatopicwithinthereachoftheauthorandcapableofbeingfinishedwithintheassignedorsuggestedtimelimit.上一頁下一頁返回1.2WaysofPreparingProfessionalPapers(2)Itshouldbeatopicofpracticalvalueforthespecialtyorthedevelopmentofeconomyorscienceingeneral.(3)Itshouldbeatopicforwhichsufficientmaterialsanddocumentscanbemadeavailableeitherthroughreadingsorthroughinvestigations.(4)Itshouldbearbeingtestedtheoreticallyandexperimentallyiftheresearchisexperimentationandinvestigationinnatureassciencedemandsthoroughness,accuracyandobjectivity.上一頁下一頁返回1.2WaysofPreparingProfessionalPapers(5)Itshouldbeatopicfreefromtheauthor’spersonalbiasorpreferenceevenifitmaybeatopicofhumanisticnature.1.2.3MovingfromBrainstormingtoDrafting“Brainstorming”hasbecomeoneofthepopulartermsinscientificresearchcircles,whichmayreferto“ameetingofagroupofprofessionalstodevelopsomecleverideas.”“Brainstorming”canalsomeanapainstakingthinkingprocessthatanauthorexperiencesbeforemakingadraftforanarticle.上一頁下一頁返回1.2WaysofPreparingProfessionalPapersAgooddraftisnecessarybecauseitisnecessarytoorganizeallthefactsandideasrelatedtogetherinalogicalandsystematicway,thatis,inamannerthatallthedetailsandrelatedfactsappearinthepaperasawhole.Draftingcanonlybestartedonthebasisofaperfectoutline.However,thedraftingprocesscanhelptoimprovetheoutlinetoo.Inmanycases,agoodthesispapermayhavetobefinishedthroughmorethanonedraft.上一頁下一頁返回1.2WaysofPreparingProfessionalPapers1.2.4?Editing?and?RefiningWhenfollowingtheoutlinepreparedtocompletethewritingofathesispaper,theauthorhastobearinmindthatevenifheisanexceptionallyskillfulauthor,healsohastomakeconsiderablerevisions.Inmostcases,revisionworkwouldcontinueuntilthelastminuteforthesubmissionofthepaper.Itisadvisabletorevisethepaperfromitsgenerallayouttotheminuteomissionsandmistakesinlanguageuse.上一頁返回1.3DifferentSectionsofaThesisIncludedinathesis(dissertation)aremoreorlesssuchsectionsasabstract(includingthetitleandkeywords,bothinChineseandEnglishforChinesecandidates),introduction(methodology,datacollectionandanalysesintroducedinit)and/orliteraturereview,body,conclusions(findingsorfutureworkandsuggestions,etc.presentedinit),referencesandacknowledgments.下一頁返回1.3DifferentSectionsofaThesi