Look at these passages and underline any 'signposts'. Do they look forwards, backwards or in both directions?

Passage A:

Despite this difficulty, many theories have been proposed to explain these results, but the evidence has proved to be elusive. However, this does not mean that the theories can be discounted. The following chapter will explore the evidence in more detail.

Passage B:

In the last chapter, we examined the link between foreign direct investment and social development. In this chapter, I would like to explore the differences between this form of investment and local investment. The first section will consider the factors that encourage and discourage local investment. These factors will then be analysed in the light of recent developments in China.

Passage C:

Are these theories supported by data? The evidence, unfortunately, is inconclusive. Despite exhaustive studies, no positive identification has ever been made. This has proved to be the most difficult problem of all. However, quite recently, a new method of collecting the data has been proposed. This method relies on sub-sectional analysis, which has not been adopted before. This form of analysis has some interesting features. Firstly, ...

Quoting and referencing

There are two main reasons why we use source material in our writing:

· to support a particular point that we have just made in the body of the essay or dissertation

· to indicate to the reader that we have read and understood the literature that is relevant to the particular topic.

We quote from a particular source when we use the original words from a text without any changes.

Quoting is different from summarising or paraphrasing because we use the writer's actual words. There are a number of rules that we need to be aware of when we are quoting directly.

· It is very important to ensure that the quote is correctly given; providing a mis-quotation in your essay would indicate a serious level of carelessness.

· The quotation must be relevant to the argument that you are making.

· The quotation should support a point that you have just made.

· The quote must be integrated grammatically into your own writing.

· Where the quotation is short (for example, less than one line) you can continue on the same line, enclosing the quotation in single quotation marks, and of course, providing the reference.

· If the quotation is more than one line, start a new line and indent the whole quotation. Do not forget the reference.

· Do not use quotation marks where the passage is indented.

· At times, you will not want to quote the whole passage and where you wish to omit part of it, type three or four dots to indicate that a section has been deliberately omitted because it is unnecessary.

Here are several examples of how to quote in an essay.

Example 1

...and recent research has indicated that '...teachers in both primary and secondary schools are finding it increasingly difficult to teach effectively...' (Kimble 2005 p.46) and the reasons given focus in particular on the amount of administrative work that they are obliged to carry out.

Note the fact that the quote becomes an integral part of the sentence. The quote is surrounded by single inverted commas to help to make it stand out. Because the quote is only part of the original sentence, the writer puts three dots at the start and end of the quotation.

Example 2

Some writers question the current approach to meeting and communicating with members of the opposite sex.

Chatting on the Internet seems to be accepted as normal today, just like chatting to a girl on a street corner fifty years ago; but is it the same? Evidence suggests that they are different in fundamental ways. (Mathews, Jones and Smith 2000)

Note that only longer pieces of text are laid out in this way. The quoted passage is indented. It's important to note that the text does not have inverted commas around it unlike when a short quote is integrated within a sentence.

However, we do not always want to quote directly and so we may wish to comment on others' writing without actually using their words.

Example 3

Many writers are already asking questions about the environment in which we bring up our children (Harold 2000; Yeshim 2001; Timms 2002).

Note that the reference is the year and date only without a page reference in this case because we are referring to a general view put over by these writers and we are not referring to a specific page. Note also that the reference is integrated within the sentence and the only full stop comes after the reference.

With direct quotes, grammatical integration into the text is particularly important. Look at these examples and decide if there is anything wrong with them.

· As Smith has noted 'Foreign direct investment in China have had a significant impact on the whole economy' (1987: 54).

· Smith (1987: 78) defines foreign direct investment as 'Foreign direct investment is the inflow of capital from external sources.'

· Some writers have expressed their concern. Smith (187: 109) expressed his concerning when he claimed that 'and my concern is that excessive levels of inward direct investment can adversely impact on the economy.'

· Kilburn has defined innocence as 'Innocence is the child in all of us.' (Kilburn, 1987: 56)

· As Blair (Blair, 1997: 109) writes that the origins of the Labour Party lie in the history of exploitation.

· Emmit notes (Emmit, 1999: 91) that road safety is not negotiable and 'road safety is not negotiable because people's lives matter more than speed.'

 

References in an academic essay usually consist of the author's last name, the year of publication and the page number. Like this:

In a recent article Jones (1989: 126) stated that...

or:

In a recent article, one writer (Jones 1989: 126) argued that...

or:

Jones claims that the agreement is unworkable (Jones 1989: 126).

or:

Jones has described the proposition as 'unworkable and unacceptable' (1989: 126).

 

Notice the single quotation marks around the original words used. Notice also the position of the full-stop when we have the reference at the very end of the sentence. The reference is enclosed within the boundary of the sentence.

As noted before, where a longer passage is quoted within a paragraph, then this is inset and the author's name is placed at the end of the quotation. Like this:

There is little doubt that this is an unworkable and unacceptable solution to the problem. Further research must be conducted before a solution can be found. (Jones 1989: 126)

As noted before, there are no quotation marks around the excerpt when it is inset in this way.

Another point to remember is that where several authors have written one book or article, and the first named author is a man, you should not refer to he when you mean they. If the authors are John Benson and Mary Jones, it would be incorrect to refer throughout the essay to whatBenson said or what he discovered. It would be more appropriate to talk about what the writershave stated, or what they had noted.

 

Parallelism & consistency

Look at the examples below. Do any changes need to be made in these examples? When you have made any changes you want to make, look at the end of this section and check the answers.

· Simon is one of the most intelligent people that I know with a quick mind and he has a good memory as well.

· Tanzania is one of the most beautiful countries in the world with high mountains and it has large game parks too.

· Writing essays is not easy because it takes time and care and careful thinking.

· She enjoys scuba diving, sailing, wind surfing and she likes tennis sometimes.

· In some universities the facilities are excellent with good libraries and the sports facilities are good.

· The college has an excellent lending library and the reference library is good, so students have all the resources they need.

· Birmingham is the second largest city in the UK and it's got a larger area of public parkland than any other city.

· Their team was second in the relay race but overall they came in at number three in the competition.

 

Here is part of an advertisement placed in a newspaper. Read it, and decide how the details of the post can be changed so that the advertisement is more professional in terms of style and clarity.

WANTED a new Chief Executive!

Our college is looking for a new Chief Executive to lead it through the first ten years of the new century. The college has a wide range of exciting courses and we have 1, 600 students from over 50 different countries.

Details of the post:

· The Chief Executive will advise the College Board on strategy, policy formulation and implementation.

· To consult, advise, persuade and encourage a complex organisation of independent and publicly financed colleges to work as a cohesive market force.

· A high profile academic role relevant to the changing needs of the national and international educational markets.

The right candidate will have...

The style is awkward and unprofessional and this makes the advertisement difficult to read. It would be improved if all three requirements in the advertisement followed the same pattern. For example, with the use of initial verbs:

The Chief Executive will:

· advise the College Board on strategy, policy formulation and implementation.

· consult, advise, persuade and encourage a complex organisation of independent and publicly financed colleges to work as a cohesive market force.

· hold a high profile academic role relevant to the changing needs of the national and international educational markets

 

Laying out your page

Look at these two pages of text. Which do you think looks better?

1.An idiom is an expression whose meaning cannot easily be worked out from the words it contains. For example, the expression:

to let the cat out of the bag has nothing to do with cats and bags in the usual sense of those words.

It is an idiom, meaning 'to reveal a secret'. Idioms have the potential to ause foreign learners some difficulty.

If you say to a native speaker after visiting a place for the first time 'How did you find Stratford? ' you might get the response 'Great! ' or 'I didn't like it.' But if you ask a non-native speaker the same question the response might be blank puzzlement.

'How did I find Stratford? Well, the train took me there.' The confusion occurs because here, find is being used in an idiomatic way.'

2. An idiom is an expression whose meaning cannot easily be worked out from the words it contains.

For example, the expression to let the cat out of the bag has nothing to do with cats and bags in the usual sense of those words. It is an idiom, meaning 'to reveal a secret'. Idioms have the potential to cause foreign learners some difficulty. If you say to a native speaker after visiting a place for the first time 'How did you find Stratford? ' you might get the response 'Great! ' or 'I didn't like it.

But if you ask a non-native speaker the same question, the response might be blank puzzlement. 'How did I find Stratford? Well, the train took me there.' The confusion occurs because here, find is being used in an idiomatic way.

Most people would agree that the second text is presented in a neater and more appropriate way. Remember that academic essays are formal pieces of writing and they should be presented in a formal style.

Here are some recommendations:

· Use A4 paper (or whatever is the standard size in your part of the world).

· Provide a top cover to your essay with the title centred about one-third of the way down and your own name centred about six lines below.

· If you do not provide a front cover, place the title of your essay near the top of the first page and centre it. You may use a bold font or you may underline it, but don't do both. Your name should be above and to the right of the essay title.

· Leave a margin of not less than 3cm at the sides and top and about 5cm at the bottom for the markers comments.

· Leave at least 3 empty lines before you start the first line of your essay.

· Use a font size that is neither too large nor too small; 11point or 12point are normally suitable.

· Arrange your lines so that they have one and a half spacing; some departments will request double spacing.

· Fully justify the page so that you get straight lines of print on both sides.

· Separate each paragraph with an extra empty line.

· Do not accidentally leave extra spaces between any of the words.

· Number your pages using arabic numerals, 1, 2, 3, etc.

· Do not number your points or paragraphs, or give a heading to the paragraphs unless this was specifically requested by the course lecturer.

· Left justify your bibliography; leave an empty line between each of the items in the list.

 

Essay titles

Writing an academic essay can be divided into seven main stages:

· understanding what the title is asking you to do

· reading around the subject and making notes

· brainstorming; collecting ideas

· planning

· writing your first draft

· revising your writing

· completing the final draft, and handing it in!

 

There are a number of verbs that often appear in essay titles; the list of verbs below are particularly common:

· Analyse: investigate, consider in detail

· Compare: look at the similarities and differences

· Contrast: consider the differences between two things or ideas

· Criticise: outline the theory or situation and then state how you approve or disapprove; you can bring in other's views too perhaps to support your argument

· Define: state clearly and logically the meaning of a word or phrase

· Delineate: give a broad outline of an idea or theory without going into great detail

· Describe: give an account of events, or experiments, findings or theories etc.

· Differentiate: distinguish between two events or theories

· Enumerate: list down the main points, features, factors

· Evaluate: outline the theory or main ideas and then state how you approve or disapprove; you can bring in other's views

· Examine: look into a theory, a period of history, experimental results etc. in detail

· Explain: give reasons how or why something happened and provide an interpretation

· Explore: examine a theory or event (or series of events) very thoroughly, providing an explanation

· Illustrate: use examples to justify your argument

· Interpret: describe a series of events and provide an explanation

· Justify: give reasons/evidence in support for your argument

· Outline: cover the main points briefly; do not go into detail

· Relate: show how things are related to each other and in what ways they are similar or different

· Review: give an account that includes the main points but not necessarily all the detail; give differing points of view

· State: present a theory or set of beliefs in a clear way

· Summarise: cover all of the main points but not all of the detail.

· Trace: follow the stages in the development of a theory or of historical events from the past

 

Drafting and Revising

Some students tempt fate by starting to think about the essay that has to be in on Monday, sometime around Friday evening. Apart from the occasional genius amongst us, for most students, this is an open ticket to disaster. There has to be time for thought and there has to be time for planning, and once the writing starts, there has to be time for re-drafting and revising your material.

The process of revision takes three main forms:

· re-reading (many times)

· reflecting (a lot)

· revising (heaps)

The most important point here is that reviewing and revising is not a one-off activity. It is a process that could take place 5, 10 or even 20 times before you hand in your final essay. Every time you look through your essay ask yourself:

· Have I said exactly what I want to say?

· Have I said it clearly?

· Is there any ambiguity?

· Do my paragraphs address one particular point?

· Is there a topic sentence for each paragraph?

· Is it grammatically correct?

· Are there any spelling mistakes?

 

Three Suggestions

1. You will spot difficulties on a printed page of writing that you would not spot on the computer screen, so always print off a draft and check it through before you hand in the final draft.

2. A very effective way to check your writing is also to read it to yourself aloud. This might appear a rather odd suggestion, but in reality you will be able to pinpoint difficulties within your text much more easily by reading it aloud. This is a particularly effective way of checking your grammar as well as the overall flow of your argument.

3. Show your work to a friend and let him/her read it through. Your friend may or may not be doing the same course as you, but even if they are not their reading may pick out some difficulties with your text that you had not noticed.

Make sure you have signalled clearly what you are doing using introductory words and expressions like these:

· Firstly,... Secondly,... Finally,...

· At first,... Later,...

· There are four reasons why...

· Research studies suggest that the impact of global warming will have an impact in three main areas. Firstly, ...

Use verbs that reflect a quiet confidence in what you are saying, while also leaving open the possibility for debate:

· The research suggests...

· The evidence indicates...

· The data reflect...

· The findings support...

Do not overstate your case by using expressions like this:

· It's obvious that...

· It's clear that...

· The evidence proves...

· Anybody can clearly see that...

 

Use a variety of ways to refer to other's writing:

o As Smith (1997) points out...

o Research by Mohammed and Ali indicate that...

o Johns and Gully found that...

o In her study of Marx, Suleiman claims that...

o McChlery notes that in addition to...

o Her study provides an excellent...

o The study conducted by Able and Tomlinson had similar findings and..

o Rashid argues that...

o Jacob identifies two reasons why...

o Chande asserts that...

o According to Berstein...

o Fable and Heshim state that...

o Fairbrother contends that...

o A recent study (Opel 1999) maintains that...

o Kanji's research findings confirm...

o As can be seen from the table...

o The discoveries clearly illustrate...

o His research suggests...

o Their research indicates...

o Their analysis reveals...

o The results of the study support the hypothesis that...

o The findings clearly establish a link between...

Avoid less objective expressions, where your attitude to the writer's ideas can be felt through your use of verb forms that have a subjective element:

o White alleges...

o Lema assumes...

o Juma presumes that...

o Axel claims that...

o Innocent implies that...

 

A final note with regard to your spell checker: use it, but don't trust it! Some writers are just too trusting:

I have a spelling checker

It came with my PC.

It plainly marks four my revue

Mistakes I cannot sea.

I've run this poem threw it,

I'm sure your pleased to no.

Its letter perfect in it's weigh,

My checker tolled me sew.

(Anon)

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