Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
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• To print out course module/lecture notes and bring to every class
• To do all required/necessary pre- and post-class readings and tasks
• To actively contribute to class discussions in an appropriate academic manner
• To ask informed and focused questions in class to clarify understandings
• To avoid plagiarism or any unethical or dishonest behaviour in relation to classwork,
assignments and examinations, and accept any penalties which follow from such
behaviour
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result. For work handed up late, 3% will be deducted for each day
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Warming Up
You may be confident in using English in everyday situations, but the kind of English you need for
university study can be rather different. You may have also written several essays that you think are
using the correct style of writing, only to be told “it’s not academic enough”. So, what exactly is
academic English?
Work in small groups (3-4 people), brainstorm ideas around the phrase of “academic English”, and
then share your group’s ideas. Use the following questions to guide you in the brainstorming session
(not longer than 5 minutes):
The advent of Web 2.0 technologies has promoted the creation of many social media
tools and they are used for various purposes. In general, the term “social media” refers to tools
that allow users to create, share information, ideas and diverse forms of media in virtual
networks (Downes, 2005). They largely cover content sharing communities (e.g., YouTube and
Wikipedia) and social networking websites (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) that anyone can
participate and contribute (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). On a personal basis, these tools are
used with the main goal of communicating and sharing personal content such as photos or
videos with friends or family members. In terms of education, Heiberger and Harper (2008)
stated that the supporters of connectivism principles, which is based on the Social Learning
Theory (Bandura, 1963) have explained how social media can play a significant role in
promoting meaningful and effective learning experiences.
References
Bandura, A. (1963). Social learning and personality development. Mason, OH: Holt, Rinehart,
and Winston.
Downes, S. (2005). E-learning 2.0: The rise of social-media inspired learning. Retrieved from
http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=29-1.
Kaplan, M. A., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Uses of the world, unite! The challenges and
opportunities of social media. Bussiness Horizon, 53(1).
Heiberger, G., & Harper, R. (2008). Have you Facebooked Astin lately? Using technology to
increase student involvement. In R. Junco & D. M. Timm (Eds.). Using emerging
technologies to enhance student engagement. New directions for student services (pp.
19–35). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
The underlined parts in the short text are all citations. How many types of citations are used? Can you
identify the differences?
As shown in the example, all citations used in the text are listed in the form of reference list with the
heading “References” (In other words, you list what you used only). Can you identify the different
types of sources used? (e.g. books, chapter in a book, web page, and journal article). What are the
characteristics of each?
Pay attention to the naming style too. For example, for the author, Stephan Downes, only Downes
(his surname) is used in citation. However, in the reference list, the initial “S” for Stephan is included
as in “Downes, S.”
You might be overwhelmed with the amount of reference materials available online and offline (e.g., at
the library). When searching for relevant references, scan the title and table of contents to decide
whether you need to read further. Usually the headings in the table of contents can give you a glimpse
of the whole content.
A. Title
The title gives us an idea of the contents and the audience.
Task 1: Predict the likely audience for each of these books (The first one has been done):
B. Table of Content
The Table of Contents (TOC) lists the chapters and the content of a book, or the articles in a journal.
Task 2: Examine the following Table of Content and answer the following questions.
C. Subject Index
The Subject Index (towards the end of a book/publication) allows you to do a quick search of topics
dealt with in a book. Searching through the keywords and see their corresponding pages would be a
good help especially when the book is thick. If you see only 1 page for a subject/keyword, you would
probably not able to find enough information.
Task 3: Look at the following subject index. If you need some information on farm animals, which
page do you turn to? What about information on different races?
D. Online Tools
With the development of the World Wide Web, it is even easier to search relevant sources using
specific keywords. Here are some useful search engines and databases for you to explore.
A. Books
Students often refer to books (it comes with ISBN – International Standard Book Number) because
they contain the basics on a particular topic. Even if the books deal with a difficult subject matter, they
usually provide some background information for readers. Books explain the subject matter rather
comprehensively.
Books are usually one-off publication, unlike periodicals (e.g., magazines, journals). However,
sometimes authors of books wish to update some information in the book and they produce a second
edition and so on. All the chapters in a book are written by the author(s).
If it is an edited book (or a compilation of chapters), author(s) for each chapter is given and usually
the whole book comes with an editor. So when you do the citation, you have to cite the author of the
chapter instead of the editor.
When you get a book, sometimes you cannot depend only on the cover page to get the information
required. You would need to refer to the imprint page (the page inside) that provides more details
about the publication.
Imprint page
You Try! Write the APA reference for the book by filling in the blanks with relevant information
from the book cover and imprint page above. Note the use of Surname/Lastname in referencing.
E.g. David Beckham, Beckham is the surname, and
David is the first name.
Task 4: Write the APA reference for the following books. Identify the necessary information
needed for the reference first (i.e. author, year of publication, title of the book, place of
publication and publisher) before arranging them.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Copyright ©
➢ The copyright usually belongs to either the publisher or the
author(s).
Preface/Introduction The author’s/authors’ aims and coverage of the book
Foreword Introductory comments about the book, usually by someone other than
the author(s)
Table of contents List of contents
Acknowledgements Example: I am grateful to Martin Hewings, Diane Belcher and Malcolm
Coulthard who have contributed in important ways to my
understanding of plagiarism in academic writing.
Back cover The blurb (short description of book contents), background of authors, a
list of books by the same author(s), price, publisher, barcode and ISBN
Index An alphabetical list of the topics covered and the page numbers these
topics can be found in the book
Glossary An alphabetical list of specialist terms used in the book and the meanings
of these terms
References/ An alphabetical list of the sources used by the author(s)
Bibliography
Illustration credits Sources of photographs/diagrams used in the book
Appendices Supplementary material which the author(s) want to include in the book
B. Journals
Journals contain articles on more specialised subject matter and are commonly read for the latest
development in scholarly research. One volume of a journal may contain five to 10 articles written
by different researchers. The articles are read by other researchers who are doing similar research.
A journal is a regular publication which may be published once a year or several times a year (in the
form of Volumes). A volume can be a set for a period of several months such as January to June, and
if there are a lot of articles within this period, some publishers will split them into Issues or also known
as Number.
What’s the difference between Volume and Issue/Number?
As an example, from January to June (Volume 1) there can be several issues (e.g. Issue 1 for January
to March, and Issue 2 for April to June). Thus, when you do the referencing for the journal, you have
to pay attention to this information (e.g. an article can be published in Volume 1, Number 1)
Researchers send their articles to the journal and these are sent for review or evaluation by experts
in the field. The article may be rejected or accepted. The researchers are usually asked to make some
revisions before the article is finally published in the journal.
Journal articles can be published either in printed (compiled like a book) or electronic form
(downloadable documents). With the increasing cost of printing, more and more journals are
published electronically. To get a list of established journals you may refer to:
• Thomson-Reuters Master Journal List for Science
http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=J
• Thomson-Reuters Master Journal List for Social Science
http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jlresults.cgi?PC=K
Look at the following example of electronic journal article and take note of its referencing.
Li, W. L. (2000). Free vibrations of beams with general boundary conditions. Journal of Sound and
Vibration, 237(4), 709-725.
You Try! Write the APA reference for the following journal article by filling in the blanks with
relevant information from the journal web page:
Task 5: Write the APA reference for the following journal article.
Note: Not all journal has issues/number, and not all journal name has the word “Journal”
C. Edited Books
Edited books are different from books in the topic coverage and the process of publication. Edited
books contain chapters that may deal with rather different topics which are linked to a theme. The
chapters in edited books are written by different author(s).
The name of the editor(s) appears on the front cover of the book and is indicated by (Ed.) in the APA
style of referencing. However, the names of the authors appear in the Table of Contents and the first
page of the respective chapters.
Sample: Author’s name Editor’s name (with Ed. = Editor)
Title of book chapter
Fishman, J. A. (1977). Language and ethnicity. In H. Giles (Ed.), Language ethnicity and
intergroup relations (pp. 15-58). London, UK: Academic Press.
Title of book on cover page or imprint page (in italics) the pages for the chapter
Task 6: If you would like to cite Ajoy Opal’s ideas on Computer Aided Design in the
following edited book, write the APA reference based on the information provided
below.
High dependency on unreliable websites such as Wikipedia, blogs, social media postings should be
avoided. Many scholars are against these sources as references.
In general, if you downloaded documents from online web sites but could not obtain necessary
information required to fit it as a journal article or a book, then you should use the referencing style
for web documents as shown in the following example:
(Author’s Name) (Year) (Title of the document/page – italicise) (Retrieved from web link)
Adams, M. (2016). Types of online marketing techniques. Retrieved from http://www.marketing-
portal.com/files/types_techniques.pdf
*If there’s no author, the web document is considered as unreliable, please don’t use it.
Newspapers and opinionated magazines should be used with great care. Make sure you are clear
whether ideas presented are proven facts and not just opinions, feelings and conjectures.
opinion
feeling
conjectures
IMPORTANT: In academic writing, focus on facts and evidence-supported opinions rather than
sweeping statements that you found in any resources especially online. Always ensure the information
is reliable before using it.
Review of Unit 1A
Quiz 1: The following are some differences between a book and a journal. Which are “crucial
differences” = C? Or Not = N?
1. Books are thicker than journals. (C/N)
2. Chapters in a book are longer than journal articles in word count. (C/N)
3. Books have Appendix, Reference, Author Index and Subject Index but journals do not have
these information. (C/N)
4. In a book, all the chapters are written by the same author(s) but the journal articles are written
by different authors. (C/N)
5. Books are identified by their titles but to find an article in a journal, we need to know the
name of the journal, title of the article, volume, issue number, and page numbers. (C/N)
6. We can find out the age of the book by referring to the year of the publication but for a journal,
we need to find the volume number. (C/N)
Quiz 2: The following are some comparisons between a book and an edited book. Identify which are
“True” = T and “False” = F.
1. A book is not edited for format and language but edited books undergo the proofreading
process. (T/F)
2. The most important piece of information that is needed to identify a book is the title of the
book but for an edited book, it is the title of the chapter. (T/F)
3. In the APA referencing style, it is not necessary to put down the page numbers of the chapter
referred to but it is necessary to do so for an edited book. (T/F)
Quiz 3: The following are some comparisons between a journal and an edited book. Identify which
are ‘crucial differences’ = C or Not = N.
1. Edited books may not be reviewed but journal articles are reviewed. (C/N)
2. There is no word limit for chapters of edited book but journal articles have to keep within
certain word counts. (C/N)
3. The name of the editor(s) of an edited book appears on the book cover but the editors’ names
may not appear on the journal cover. (C/N)
4. In the APA referencing style, it is necessary to include the publisher and place of publication
for a chapter in an edited book but this information is not required for a journal article. (C/N)
5. The editor(s) of an edited book usually solicits people to write the chapters for the book but
the editor(s) of journals usually receive articles submitted by researchers and send them for
review of the quality. (C/N)
Quiz 4: The following are some statements about reference sources. Identify which are “True” = T
and “False” = F.
1. As students in university, it is okay to use blogs as references. (T/F)
2. Newspapers and magazines are easy sources to get good facts. (T/F)
3. Most academics and scholars prefer evidence cited from books and journals. (T/F)
The next unit is about Citation, Referencing & Citation Focus. You MUST set aside more time to complete it
before coming to the next class. The unit is very important for this whole course as it will be assessed in your
assignments
Warming Up
In the previous unit, you have been introduced to some basic citation and referencing style (according
to APA Referencing Style 6th Edition). Can you recall the information required when referencing books
and journal articles? Why is it important to cite the sources used in your academic essays or
assignments?
Plagiarism generally refers to the adoption or reproduction of original creations of another author
without giving credits or acknowledgements to the original author (Simmons, 1999). But does that
mean you have to provide citations for every statement? No. If you are using general knowledge or
facts (e.g. Malaysia is located in Asia), or providing your own idea, then no citation is required.
Naming Convention
As a general rule, the APA publication style (6th Edition) requires only the surname/lastname (a
hereditary name common to all members of a family, which is carried through generations) to be
mentioned in full in both citations and referencing. For example, if the author’s full name is Joanne
Kathleen Rowling, then Rowling is used for citation while Rowling, J. K. is used in the reference.
Task 1: See some examples in the table below and fill in the blanks for the rest.
Asian Names
In some Asian naming conventions, the “lastname” does not necessarily be the “surname” or family
name. Although according to APA publication manual, it is acceptable to just use the lastname, some
Asian authors prefer their names to be cited differently. See the following table for specific examples:
Ethnicity Full Name Citation (In-text) Referencing
Malay & Prof Dr Asmah Binti Omar Asmah Omar Asmah Omar
Muslim
Names Dato’ Wira Mohd Ali Bin Rustam Mohd Ali Rustam Mohd Ali Rustam
Dayangku Intan Binti Aziz Dayangku Intan Aziz Dayangku Intan Aziz
Important: If you are confused, try to search the author’s name online to confirm his/her full name.
Or follow the rule of using the lastname as stated in APA Style. It is acceptable.
Citation Focus
When you cite the work of other authors, you may choose to focus either on the author or the
information provided by the author itself.
The first type of citation focus is when the author’s name is given more emphasis. This type of citation
is called author prominent (also known as author-focus). Use author-focus citation when author’s
authority/popularity is needed to add “strength” to your arguments or you are covering quite a lot of
information from the same author (e.g. in a paragraph)
The second type is called information prominent (also known as info-focus) because the information
is given primary importance. The author’s name(s) and date of publication are parenthetically
attached at the end of the sentence. Use info-focus citations when there is a need to highlight an
information more than the author or when you are focusing on the facts given.
Examples:
Author-Focus Citation (Citation is mentioned first)
Duncan and Simon (2001) stated that civil engineers work closely with surveyors to fit and serve
fixed projects within their given site.
Note: Author-focus citations usually begin with “According to…” but you are strongly encouraged to
use other reporting verbs like “As mentioned by…, As stated by…., As claimed by…, XYZ stipulated
that…, XYZ argued that, XYZ explained that..”
Cognitive psychology is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems
(Neisser & Jonassen, 1967).
Note: when info-focus citation is used, the word “and” is changed to the ampersand symbol (&).
Faculty of Language & Communication Studies, UNIMAS 16
PBI 1092 Academic English 2 (2017 – Updated Version)
In general there are two ways in citing sources: to quote directly (direct lifting with citation) or to
paraphrase (rewrite in your own words with citation). This unit will cover the part on direct quotations
while the following unit (Unit 1C) will focus more on paraphrase. However, the basic citation styles
for both ways are included in this unit.
a. Short Quotations
Quotations fewer than 40 words are incorporated into the paragraph. Let’s examine Example A and
Example B on the use of short quotations.
Example A
Marketers know that “toddlers and preschool children have considerable purchase influence and
can successfully negotiate purchases through what marketers term the nag factor or pester power”
(McNeal, 1999, p. 75).
Example B
McNeal (1999) reported that marketers know that “toddlers and preschool children have
considerable purchase influence and can successfully negotiate purchases through what marketers
term the nag factor or pester power” (p. 75).
Reference
McNeal, J. (1999). The kids market: Myth and realities. Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market Publishing.
What is unique in the short quotation used in Example A and Example B above?
• Double quotation marks are used.
• The page number must be indicated. Use p. for single page while use pp. if the quotation is
found on two pages (for example: pp. 1-2). Leave a space after p. Or pp.
• The full-stop is at the end of the sentence after the citation (in Example A) or page number (as
shown in Example B).
Example A
In the history of higher education research, one of the more intriguing ways of dealing with context
has been phenomenography, which by treating the data as a single transcript consciously attempts
to strip out context from the analysis. As Ashwin (2009) explains,
This research focuses on examining the qualitatively different ways of experiencing these
phenomena within a group. Thus it does not examine individuals’ conception of these
phenomena but rather examines the number of qualitatively different ways in which a
particular phenomenon is experienced within a group. (p. 32)
Reference
Ashwin, P. (2009). Analyzing teaching-learning interactions in higher education. London, UK:
Continuum.
Example B
In forming multiple national identities, it is thought that transmigrants will also be better equipped
to withstand sometimes overwhelming social, economic and political pressures encountered in
their daily lives. Engaging in transnational practices may result in
an institutional expression of multiple belonging, where the country of origin becomes a source
of identity, the country of residence a source of rights, and the emerging transnational space,
a space of political action combining the two or more countries. (Kastoryano, 2000, p. 311)
Reference
Kastoryano, R. (2000). Settlement, transnational communities and citizenship. International Social
Science Journal, 52(165), 307-312.
What is unique in the long quotation used in Example A and Example B above?
• No quotation marks are used.
• Begin the quotation on a new line from the text as indented block paragraph (½ inch from
margin).
• The full-stop is at the end of the sentence before the citation.
• Maintain the paragraph spacing used thorough your text, e.g. if double spacing is used for your
essay, then the quoted text is also double-spaced, the same applies to 1.5 spacing or single
spacing (in some cases such as writing a journal article)
Examples:
Johnson and Smith (2009) found... OR
……… (Johnson & Smith, 2009).
Examples:
1st use: Jones, Chavez, Jackson, and Chen (2010) claimed that...
2nd use: Jones et al. (2010) further described...
You can also use it as (Jones et al., 2010). Note the comma after al.
There is no “dot” for et
More than 5 authors If a document has more than 5 authors, directly provide the surname of
(6 and above) the first author with "et al." without listing other authors’ names.
Examples:
Thomas et al. (2007) likened abnormal psychology to... OR
... caused the distractions (Thomas et al., 2007).
...in the recent book (Encyclopedia of psychology, 1991, p. 62) ... [for a book title]
...in this article ("Individual differences", 1993, p. 12) ... [for webpage title or article]
Italicise the title of a book and use double quotation marks around the title of webpage or journal
article when no authors are indicated.
Note: You are not encouraged to use resources without author as it is considered as unreliable. If no
year of publication is given, then it should be noted as (n.d.).
Examples:
The Ministry of Higher Education (2015) stated in its recent report that the lack of English
proficiency among fresh graduates is one of the key factors that lead to their inability to secure
a job within 1 year after graduation.
Where you have a document produced by an organisation and the organisation is commonly
referred to by an abbreviation/acronym you should do the following:
In the citation, write out the name of the organisation in full the first time and give the abbreviation
in square brackets, for example:
...clearly stated policy (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO],
2005).
A survey of recent articles published on AIDS shows a growing interest in developing reliable
research methods to test high-risk groups, such as drug abusers and prostitutes (Broadhead &
Heckathorn, 1994; Carlson et al., 1994; Steiner, Lemke, & Roffman, 1994).
Note:
• List the works by different authors in alphabetical order but do not change the order of names for a
particular article. E.g., Do NOT change Steiner, Lemke and Roffman (1994) to Lemke, Roffman and
Steiner (1994). However, if you are citing multiple works from the same author but published in
different years in the same parentheses, you can do so by using comma as shown below:
The previous findings in the study by Johnson (2012, 2015) revealed that…
…..apparently caused students to sleep more in class (Lee, 2009, 2012).
Faculty of Language & Communication Studies, UNIMAS 20
PBI 1092 Academic English 2 (2017 – Updated Version)
Example A
A study by Tunon and Brydges (2007) found that the quality of the two sets of citations were
comparable. The subjective rubric developed by Tunon and Brydges helped establish this. The
study went on to show a difference between academic programs. Their results indicated clearly
that some academic programs were better in highlighting the need to acknowledge others’
works while some failed miserably (Tunon & Brydges, 2007).
Example B
Contextual knowledge is another dimension of teacher knowledge (Richards, 2010). According
to Richards (2010), this dimension is significant as it concerns teachers’ understanding of how
language teaching is influenced by the context in which the learning activity occurs. Richards
believes that teachers therefore, have to be aware of the societal, communal, and institutional
forces that can have a bearing over their classroom teaching practices. As language teachers
teach in a variety of contexts, Richards argues that they need to acquire the relevant contextual
knowledge to be effective teachers in the classroom. Teachers need to socialise into the culture
of the context to understand the norms, values, and practices (Richards, 2010).
Note: As shown in Example A and Example B, when the author(s) are mentioned as part of the
sentence, the year is not included. This can only be used if you are still describing the information
originating from the same source within a paragraph.
If you still need to cite it especially focusing on a cited author(s) from 1 main source, then follow this
citation style:
For example, if Adam's work is cited in Nicholson’s, then you use cite it as:
Note: there is no year given to “Adam’s citation” since you are picking it up from Nicholson’s published
work although it may be stated as “Adam (1999)” in Nicholson’s work. In your reference list, you only
need to list Nicholson’s full reference details. We normally use this when the statement is
specifically mentioned by the author (e.g. a quote by Adam within the book by Nicholson). If you see
multiple citations for a statement or paragraph, you are supposed to cite Nicholson directly since that
is the resource that you are reading.
Let’s Practice
Task 3: The passage below contains NINE (9) errors in citation (labelled 1 to 9 in the text).
Choose the correct answer from the options provided below.
Internet use during childhood is meaningfully organized in terms of common online activities such
as playing games, communicating, and visiting websites. 1Marie Johnson (2005) explained that
child development refers to the processes by which children becoming increasingly capable of
complex social, emotional and cognitive behaviours. Findings from several studies 2(Simon, 2003;
Jason & Adams, 2004; Yamamoto, 2008) indicated that children who used the Internet more had
higher scores on standardized tests of reading achievement than the children who used the
Internet less. Alternatively, a recent survey that correlated behavioural and psychological aspects
of children’s life with the number of hours spent online, found that “those who used the Internet
the most had the weakest interpersonal connections” 3 (Sanders, Diego, & Kaplan, 2008).
About one-third of the time that children are online, they report playing games 4 (Livingston &
Bober 2002 as cited in Rider, 2004). DeBell, Henry, and Chapman (2006) concluded that Internet
use promotes cognitive development in children, specifically in the area of visual intelligence
where certain computer activities particularly games may enhance the ability to monitor several
visual stimuli at once. Apart from playing games, children are using communication tools such as
email, chat, and instant message frequently when they are online 5(DeBell, Henry, & Chapman,
2006).
In addition, a qualitative analysis of adolescent second language learning using real-time text-
based practice revealed that adolescents, who communicated online, used more complex
sentences beyond expected grammar levels 6(Jason, 1994; 1995). Based on interviews with girls
and analysis of chat room archives, 7Michael, Wong, Kim, Langston, Ang and Hunt (2001)
concluded that female adolescent’s use of popular electronic communication is resulting in
linguistic innovation within new, virtual social networks.
Several studies have concluded that context (i.e., home, school, and community characteristics)
mediates the developmental impact of Internet use during childhood. For example, 8Cho and
Cheon (a2005, b2005) surveyed families and found that parents’ perceived control reduced
children’s exposure to negative Internet content. Following detailed interviews and repeated
observations, 9Burnett & Andy (2005) concluded that creative problem solving was evident in
home-based, but not necessarily school-based, use of the Internet. Hence, the paths of influence
between Internet use and child development appear complex and mediated by ecological forces.
(adapted from Johnson, 2008)
1. A. Johnson (2005)
B. Johnson, M. (2005)
C. Marie (2005)
D. Marie, J. (2005)
5. A. (DeBell, 2006)
B. (DeBell et al. 2006)
C. (DeBell et. al, 2006)
D. (DeBell et al., 2006)
Another important aspect of referencing in APA Style is that all references must be formatted
according to its type (e.g. books, journal articles, chapters in a book, magazine, web documents,
etc).
In this section, we shall focus on the key types of resources commonly referred to in academic
writing.
A. Books
Books by List by their last names and initials. Use & and NOT "and." There is a comma
2 authors before &.
Books by List by last names and initials (up until 7 if there are 7); commas separate
3 to 7 authors author names, while the last author name is preceded again by &.
Cohen, J., Simon, M., & Kall, K. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation
analysis for the behavioural sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Guerin, M., Labor, K., Morgan, B., Reesman, L., & Willingham, P. (2005).
Introduction to chemical engineering. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Books by List by lastnames and initials; commas separate author names. After the
More than 7 sixth author's name, use an ellipses (…) in place of the author names. Then
provide the final author name without &. There should be no more than
seven names.
Rodgers, F. H., Choi, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harland, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Thomas,
S. T., . . . Rubin, L. H. (2009). Web site usability for the blind and low-
vision user. Mason, OH: Thomson South Western.
Books without When no author is present, the title of the book replaces the author’s place.
any author The title should be written in full and italicised.
Multiple works Napier, A. (1993a). Fatal storm. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
published in the
Napier, A. (1993b). Survival at sea. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
same year by the
same author Order alphabetically by title in the reference list (e.g. F in Fatal comes first
before S in Survival).
Multiple works Order chronologically in the reference list (the older comes first).
by the same
author but Brown, P. (1982). Corals in the Capricorn group. Rockhampton, Australia:
published in Central Queensland University.
different years
Brown, P. (1988). The effects of anchor on corals. Rockhampton, Australia:
Central Queensland University.
Books with For books with editor stated, include (Ed.). before the year. If multiple
Editor(s) editors, use (Eds.). Note: E is capitalised.
Books with State the edition clearly in abbreviation (NOT italicised like the title). For
Edition stated example, third edition should be 3rd ed. Note that the full stop comes after
the edition.
Take note of the list of names of editors for the edited book. The initial
comes before the last name. E.g., C. Carter. For authors, the initial comes
after the last name, as usual. e.g. Blaxter, M.
Title of the edited book is italicised, not the book chapter because if the
edited book can be found, then the chapter can be easily located. The page
number of the chapter is provided after the title with p. (single page) or pp.
(multiple pages).
Let’s Practice
Task 4: Identify the errors in the references for books shown below. Rewrite them by using the
correct style. Refer to the table if you need help. (You may underline to indicate parts to be
written in italics)
(a) Adams, Kevin. (2010). The Science of Learning in the 21st Century. Thomson Inc.: Mason, OH.
(b) W. R Leonard. & M. H. Crawford (Ed.). (2002). Human biology of pastoral populations. New York
NY. Cambridge University Press.
(c) O'Neil, J. M. and Egan, J. (2002), Men's and women's gender role journeys (pp. 107-123). B. R.
Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle. Oxford, UK: Springer.
(d) National Fire Protection Association. (2009). Fundamentals of fire fighting skills (Second Edition).
Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
B. Journal Articles
Important: The journal name and its volume are italicised BUT not the title of the article. The first
letter of every word in the Journal Name should be capitalised. The pages of the article are indicated
without using pp. or p.
As for the journal issue number, not all journals provide it, in such case, provide the volume only.
(Note: the listing of Harlow, H. F., Moller, G., & Scruton, R. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing
multiple authors is psychology journal articles. Journal of Comparative and Physiological
the same as books) Psychology, 55, 893-896.
Note: Not all journal name has the word “Journal”. You should always cross
check by searching the journal name online. Remember, not all journals
provide issue number, so use the volume only.
Journal - Article in For article that are available both in print and online, use the print
print and online referencing.
version
Potter, H. (2000). Marketing principles. International Economics, 29, 535-
555.
Journal - Internet- The format is the same print variant but the link to the article must be
Only Article provided after “Retrieved from”. Just provide the link not the website
name.
Sopensky, E. (2002). Ice rink becomes hot business. Austin Business Journal,
3(4). Retrieved from http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/small
b1.html
Journal article – no Use the full title of the article to replace the author. Do not italicise the title
Author of the article as the Journal Name and its volume has been italicised.
Let’s Practice
Task 5: Identify the errors in the references for journal articles shown below. Rewrite them by
using the correct style. Refer to the table if you need help. (You may underline to indicate parts to
be written in italics)
(a) Adams, Fearon, J. D., & Laitin, D. D. (2003). Power Balance of Ethnicity in Civil Wars. International
politics review, 97(4), pp. 256-276.
(b) Xu, C., & Ding, Y. (2014). An exploratory study of pauses in computer-assisted EFL writing.
Language Learning & Technology, 18(3), 71-90. Retrieved from MSU Web Portal
http://llt.msu.edu/issues/october2014/xuding.pdf
Web documents Royal Institute of British Architects. (n.d.). Shaping the future: Careers in
with no published architecture. Retrieved from http://www.careersinarchitectur
date e.net/articles/124.html
Web documents 40 amazing hacks to save you money. (2015, August 29). Retrieved from
with no author. http://www.msn.com/en-my/money/news/40-amazing-hacks-to-save-
Use the title as the you-money/ss-BBmf821
author
Note: Title of the webpages when used as author is NOT italicized in the
reference. When citing in your essay, select up to 2-5 words of the title (if too
long) within double quotation marks e.g. “40 Amazing hacks” (2015), or (“40
amazing hacks”, 2015) to be used as citations.
Besides books, journals and web documents, you might be using some of these periodicals in
your academic writing too.
Note: For magazines that are published MONTHLY, the date of publication
consists only of year and month. Italicise the name of the magazine and
volume, not the title of the article.
For magazines that are published WEEKLY, the exact date of publication is
provided.
Magazine – Online Similar to Printed magazine format, but with an additional “Retrieved
from” info. Provide the link to the magazine article.
Bernstein, M. (2002, May 1). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart,
149. Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving
Newspaper –
Printed Scultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to strengthen state energy
policies. The Daily Mirror, pp. 1A-2A.
Note: pp. is used for multiple pages and p. is used for single page. Italicise
the name of the Newspaper, not the article.
Newspaper – The format is exactly similar to magazine, just change to Newspaper name.
Online
Parker-Pope, T. (2008, May 6). Psychiatry handbook linked to drug industry.
The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/p/213
If the paper is taken from online source, Include the URL/web address
after the location.
Note: Italicise the title of the thesis. Doctoral stands for PhD.
Encyclopaedias Printed format is quite similar to book, but the title of the page you refer to
is placed first. In this case, “Singapore”, and the pages are provided.
Ho, R. (1993). Singapore. In The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (Vol. 26, pp.
501-508). Chicago, IL: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.
Dictionary Sadie, S. (Ed.). (1980). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians (6th
ed., Vols. 1-20). London, UK: Macmillan.
Report from a American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Practice guidelines for the
private treatment of patients with eating disorders (2nd ed.). Washington, DC:
organisation APA.
Example:
Figure 1. Short-term memory test involving pictures. Reprinted from Short-
term Memory Loss (p. 73), by K. M. Pike, 2008, New York, NY: Mackerlin Press.
Copyright 2008 by the Association for Memory Research. Reprinted with
permission.
Example:
Figure 1. An example of the cobra yoga position. Reprinted from List of Yoga
Postures, by D. K. Dawson, 2009, Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/List_of_yoga_postures. Copyright 2007 by Pearson. Reprinted with
permission.
Useful Online Resource - For referencing styles of other types of materials, you can refer to this
link: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/11/
Let’s Practice
Task 6: Each of the reference below contains ONE (1) error. Circle the option with the
error.
1. Rawlings, Carla. (2000). Imagining the impossible. Austin, TX: Blackwell Publishing.
A. (2000).
B. Austin, TX:
C. Rawlings, Carla.
D. Imagining the impossible.
2. Marvis, K. J., & Davis, M. (2008). Understanding the causes of posterior cortical anthropy. Journal
of Neurology, 13(4), 222-239.
A. 13(4),
B. 222-239.
C. Journal of Neurology,
D. Understanding the causes of posterior cortical anthropy.
3. Abdullah, S. (1997). Effect of buffer layer and external stress on magnetic properties
of films. In Miller, H. L., Rice, C., & Pascal, D. (Eds.), Recent research in applied
physics (pp. 167-280). Washington, DC: Springer.
A. (Eds.),
B. (pp. 167-280).
C. Washington, DC: Springer.
D. In Miller, H. L., Rice, C., & Pascal, D. (Eds.),
4. Letchumanan, H. (2012, December 20). No Child Left Behind: Words or Action? The Star
Online. Retrieved from http://thestar.com.my/page/2
A. The Star Online.
B. (2012, December 20).
C. Retrieved from http://thestar.com.my/page/2
D. No Child Left Behind: Words or Action?
5. Johnson, E. M., Ramanair, J., & Brine, A. (2010). Learning How To Use Technology In
The Classroom. Mason, OH: Blackwell Publishers.
A. Johnson, E. M., Ramanair, J., & Brine, A.
B. Learning How To Use Technology In The Classroom.
C. Mason, OH
D. Blackwell Publishers.
6. Kevin, P. (20 May, 2015). The amazing run of Leicester City Football Club. The New Sunday Times,
pp. B1-B5.
A. Kevin, P
B. (20 May, 2015)
C. The amazing run of Leicester City Football Club
D. pp. B1-B5.
Warming Up
In the previous unit, we have looked at some important aspects of citation and referencing. The
purpose of giving citation and referencing is largely to avoid plagiarism, or the act of using someone
else's ideas, words or graphics as your own without acknowledging the original source. Besides doing
so, you are required to paraphrase statements or ideas that you would like to include in your academic
essays. But before that, let’s see if you are able to detect what is considered as plagiarised
work/statements.
Task 1: Place a tick in the P box for plagiarised or NP for not plagiarised.
11. A student makes sufficient changes from the original source and cites the
source.
Faculty of Language & Communication Studies, UNIMAS 34
PBI 1092 Academic English 2 (2017 – Updated Version)
What is paraphrasing?
Paraphrasing is rewriting of text in your own words but keeping its original meaning. The origin of the
idea needs to be acknowledged by providing proper citations.
Generally, an academic essay should contain more paraphrases than direct quotations. In the
sciences, it is also more common to paraphrase and report general findings rather than directly quote
from the research articles. In the arts, sometimes the ideas are expressed in a particular way and it is
important to mention them in exactly the same way.
3. Paraphrase is not yet a commentary. So you should not introduce new meanings when you
paraphrase. Making the ideas general is often OK (e.g., when the original says “orange contains
vitamin C”, the paraphrase, fruits contain vitamin C, is still correct). However, making the ideas
specific is unacceptable e.g., when the study found that “university students have problems
with academic writing”, it cannot be paraphrased as students in public universities cannot write
assignments because the study may not have been conducted in a public university.
4. When writing your academic essay, you should have an idea of the points you wish to point
across in the whole essay and in each paragraph. Put in citations to support what you have in
mind. To do this, sometimes direct quotations do not fit in. This is where paraphrases need to
be written to fit in. But do not change the meaning.
Important Note: As a general rule, you should try to fully understand a statement or an idea first
before paraphrasing it. Without a clear understanding, it would be difficult for you to produce an
accurate paraphrase. Also, even if you have completely changed the wordings used in the original
statement, you still have to provide citation because the specific idea is not originally yours.
Based on the original text above, here’s an unacceptable paraphrase which is also considered as
plagiarism:
Hurricane forecasting made rapid progress in the 60’s and 70’s due to fast computers and
new atmospheric techniques, but there is now a lull in the progress. The Warning Center
tries for a 24-hour warning period, including 12 hours of daylight. That close to the storm’s
arrival, the Warning Center can usually predict landfall within 100 miles either way. If lead
times are longer, there will be a much larger error, which will be counterproductive.
Explanation:
Many phrases are stolen from the original (look at the underlined words and those in bold). Leaving
out or changing a word here and there (e.g., “much larger landfall error” has become “much larger
error”) is not acceptable. Also, the plagiarized version duplicates the sentence structure of the original,
which is not permitted. Even though the author (MacLeish) is supplied, the paraphrase is unacceptable.
Here’s an acceptable paraphrase:
During the past thirty years, powerful computers and new techniques that allow modeling of the
atmosphere have significantly increased the accuracy of hurricane forecasting, though there have
been no improvements in forecasting during the past few years. However, now it is possible to
predict where a hurricane will hit land with an error of not more than 100 miles if a warning of
24 hours is allowed. If more than 24 hours is required, the error will be greater. Repeated
forecasting errors will cause the public to ignore the warnings (MacLeish, 1980).
Reference
MacLeish, W.H. (1980). Our Barrier Islands. Smithsonian Institution Archives. p.58.
Explanation:
This version uses different language and sentence structure from that of the original. Note: Even
when your paraphrase is acceptable, you must show the source of the ideas. Putting ideas into your
own words does not make those ideas your own. They are still the property of their originator, who
must be given credit.
Explanation:
This paraphrase has two key problems: it doesn’t cite the original source, and it copies too much
of the original wording and sentence structure.
Explanation:
This is a good paraphrase as the meaning is retained although the structure and words have
been changed. Also, citation is given to acknowledge the original source.
A. Synonym Replacement
• At its simplest level, paraphrasing involves replacing original wording with synonyms (words
of the same meaning).
• Consider this original sentence from Claudia Kalb's "Newsweek" article, Painkiller Crackdown:
Original quote
"While the DEA says OxyContin is a valuable drug, it is concerned that many doctors who are
prescribing the medications don't know enough about it and are not conveying the dangers to
patients…" (Kalb, 2005, p. 27)
Note: If a student rewrote the sentence as follows, there is some paraphrase but much of
the original would remain, resulting in partial plagiarism. So if possible, the structure of the
sentence should be changed too.
When choosing synonyms, do be careful on using the words with same meaning. Unsuitable
replacement of words can distort the content of the original text.
Original text
“It can be difficult to choose a suitable place to study English.”
Inappropriate replacement
“It is often a challenge to pick up a relevant school to learn English.”
Note: “Pick up” does not mean “choose” and “relevant” is the synonym for “suitable”
but its meaning does not come close to “suitable” at all in this sentence.
Better replacement
“It is sometimes hard to select an appropriate place to learn English.”
Note: This is a better replacement as all words have the same meaning.
In short, paraphrase isn’t just about replacing the words. It is more of retaining the meaning using
different set of suitable words.
Let’s Practice
Task 2: The following are some direct quotations by the well-known anthropologist,
Margaret Mead, in a lecture delivered in 1969. Replace underlined word(s) with a synonym
from the list.
1. “The young people who are rebelling all around the world will never know a world in which war
does not mean annihilation.”
2. “The young believe that contraception is possible and necessary and that our capacity to feed
the world will not last.”
3. “They realise that if the pollution of air and land and water is allowed to go on, this planet will
become uninhabitable.”
Original quote
"Last week the spotlight on OxyContin intensified as the Drug Enforcement Administration
announced a national strategy to combat the painkiller's illegitimate use. . . " (Kalb, 2005,
p. 28)
Note: If a student restructured the sentence, changing parts of speech, some paraphrasing
would occur but it lacks originality and results in partial plagiarism.
Let’s Practice
Task 3: Paraphrase the original text below by changing the parts of speech. The suggested
replacement is underlined.
“In this study, the researcher will not deal with the vowels and consonants in great detail and
only the place and the manner of articulation will be emphasised” (Wong, 2000, p. 30).
Step 1:
In Wong’s (2000) study,
Step 2:
C. Reduction of Clauses
• For example, the clause, "while the DEA says OxyContin is a valuable drug" could become a
more succinct phrase, "claiming Oxycontin's value." If a student combines this approach with
synonym replacement, more effective paraphrasing occurs.
Original quote
"While the DEA says OxyContin is a valuable drug, it is concerned that many doctors who are
prescribing the medications don't know enough about it and are not conveying the dangers
to patients. . . . " (Kalb, 2005, p. 27)
Let’s Practice
Task 4: Fill in the blanks by paraphrasing clauses beginning with which and when.
“The mist nets were set up during the day when the bats were asleep to ensure that they were
unaware of the traps” (Crawford, 2010, p. 12).
Step 1 :
Setting up the mist nets in broad daylight ensured _____________________________
____________________________________________________ (Crawford, 2010).
Step 2 :
“To develop trainee teachers’ awareness of their minute-to-minute decisions, one strategy
is to ask them to write reflective journals, which serve as a prompt for them to evaluate
their own teaching” (Yang, 2011, p. 4).
Step 1 :
Serving _____________________________________________, _________________
___________________________________________ (Yang, 2011).
Step 2 :
D. Change of Structure
• Changing the sentence structure adds to the value of the paraphrase, reflecting the writer's
interpretation of the author's thoughts.
Example for active to passive voice. Take note of how passive voice is used.
Original quote
“Students, predominantly mature, with widely diverse skills and experience, studied on an
Intel sponsored programme in information technology” (Heinze & Procter, 2004, p. 89).
Original quote
“Translation has played a central role in human interaction for thousands of years. But
there are limits to what can be done in this way. The more a community is linguistically
mixed, the less it can rely on individuals (translators) to ensure communication between the
different groups” (Crystal, 2003, p. 11).
Let’s Practice
Task 5: Paraphrase the following ideas by changing the sentence structure.
1. The clinical researchers developed the instrument by taking into consideration views and
needs of the people who had the disease” (Templeton & Hazel, 2005, p. 78).
Step 1 :
Step 2 :
2. “The upgrading of the teaching profession is clearly one area that needs real change. This is
mainly because the key to the ultimate success of the education and training of the future
workforce depends on effective teachers” (Thomas, 2009, p. 135).
Step 1 :
Step 2 :
E. Summarising
• Summarising is also a paraphrasing technique which helps to retain the meaning of
statements while focusing on the important points or main idea.
• It is important to eliminate examples or wordy elaborations when summarising.
• Consider the following quote:
“Culture shock’ is the state of being confused when in contact with a different and
unfamiliar civilisation. Typically, a person going to study in another country for the first time
may miss family and friends and consequently, feel homesick. The person may have
sleeping difficulties and in extreme cases may become depressed and ill” (Andrews & Jill,
2004, p. 55).
Let’s Practice
Task 6: Summarise the given information by focusing on the main idea.
1. Ayurveda dates back an estimated 5,000-10,000 years. It is widely considered to be the oldest
form of health care in the world. Scholars believe that knowledge of Ayurveda spread from India
and influenced the ancient Chinese system of medicine and even the system of medicine practiced
by Hippocrates in Greece.
Step 1 :
Step 2 :
Further Practice
Paraphrase the following quotations. You may do it on your own and let your instructor check. Also,
you can post your answers in the e-learning page for Academic English 2 for checking.
1. “Teachers, due to their lack of familiarity with postgraduate level academic work, have the
potential to express mixed messages when they are interviewed” (Jones, Ahmad, Lim, & Rodgers,
2006, p. 14).
2. “Language learners with some computer skills can build their own corpus based on their own
needs” (Okamoto, 2012, p. 4).
3. “An experienced IELTS assessor was asked to rate the expressiveness of each essay on a scale of
1 to 10” (Sadoughvanini, 2012, p. 27).
4. “While the interviews took a long time to describe, the researchers decided to go ahead with it
because it was important for them to study how certain ideas were expressed” (Roach, 2012, p.
101).
When you are paraphrasing, it is always good to use suitable reporting verbs for the citations rather
than using “According to” extensively. If possible, always choose the best verb. For example, if you are
taking statistics from AuthorA, then use the verb “reported” as in AuthorA (2010) reported that….
Instread of “According to AuthorA,…”
Note: that the reporting verb can either be in present tense or past tense. Although the publication is
in the past, it is acceptable to use present tense because the facts/information presented in that
publication remain “true” until now. However, if you are reporting historical facts, then it is better to
use past tense.
Below is a list of some words that can be used to introduce an author's ideas, grouped by
approximate meaning:
States: Identifies:
• articulates • characterises
• comments • recognises
• mentions • defines
• maintains • embodies
• notes • differentiates
• points out • distinguishes
• says • highlights
• suggests • specifies
• indicates
• refers Argues:
• acknowledges • challenges
• asserts • compares
• claims • contradicts
• reports • contrasts
• concludes • debates
• summarises • defends
• refutes
Demonstrates: • holds
• shows • justifies
• conveys
• portrays Relates:
• supports • connects
• substantiates • links
• corroborates • associates
• verifies • correlates
• confirms
Investigates: Predicts:
• researches • hypothesises
• experiments • theorises
• conducts • conceptualises
• administers • understands
• observes analyses
• examines
• evaluates
• scrutinises
• criticises
Warming Up
Read the following text and see if you are struggling to comprehend it:
If you have problems understanding the text, then you are most likely having very limited vocabulary.
Reading depends a lot on words that you know. If there are many words that you have never
encounter before, you will struggle to understand the whole text.
So what can be done to solve this? What are your strategies in coping with “difficult” words?
Most reading experts agree that some of the most effective reading skills which are essential in
academic reading are using what you already know about the topic to make meaning of new words or
information, skimming and scanning for specific information or details, extracting main ideas, making
inferences based on what are stated and applying ideas with the text to what you already know. These
are the strategies to help you read articles EFFECTIVELY for the tasks in THIS course as well as OTHER
academic ventures you set out to do. Practise it often.
A KWHL chart is one of the pre-reading strategies often used to help you read strategically. You will
list all that you already know about the reading topic in the column under K, what you want to know
from the text about the topic under W, and how you will accomplish your goals while reading the text
under H. In the process of reading the text, you try to apply those strategies to look for the information
that you want to learn. After answering the comprehension questions, you can then review your KWHL
chart to see what you have actually learned (L) and which strategies (listed in the H column) were most
effective.
For example, you are reading a topic about “Aids”. There are certain things you already know about this
topic such as it is a dangerous disease. However, you are not sure if it is of any danger to you. Before you
read the article you just want to quickly get to know more about the topic. Your pre-reading strategy will
include asking a friend, scan the text for the specific information about the risks of Aids, skim for main
ideas, etc.
Know Want How Learnt
A disease Am I at risk? Ask someone
dangerous Scan text
Skim text
After that, you can start reading the text as quickly as you can. You will learn some new things. Put the
things you have just learnt in the last column “Learnt”. You can also include which of your strategies in
the ‘How’ column is effective to confirm these new ideas you have learnt.
Know Want How Learnt
A disease Am I at risk? Ask someone Aids is dangerous to all
dangerous Scan text Caused by a virus called HIV
Skim text Passed from one person to another
through blood-to-blood and sexual
contact, contaminated hypodermic
needles.
Scanning for details is useful
Task 2: Read the following passage and provide the most appropriate answers for the while-
reading questions in the column at the right side of the text.
While-reading
Qestions
Myths About Reading
1 If we are to help students develop reading skills in a foreign language, it is Why is
important to understand what is involved in the reading process itself. If we understanding
have a clear idea of how 'good readers' read, either in their own or a foreign the process of
language, this will enable us to decide whether particular reading techniques reading
are likely to help learners or not. important?
2 In considering the reading process, it is important to distinguish between two What is silent
quite separate activities: reading for meaning (or 'silent reading') and reading reading?
aloud. Reading for meaning is the activity we normally engage in when we read
books, newspapers, road signs, etc.; it is what you are doing as you read this
text. It involves looking at sentences and understanding the message they
convey, in other words making sense of a written text. It does not normally
involve saying the words we read, not even silently inside our heads; there are
important reasons for this, which are outlined below.
3 Reading aloud is a completely different activity; its purpose is not just to What do we
understand a text but to convey the information to someone else. It is not an actually do when
activity we engage in very often outside the classroom; common examples are we read aloud?
reading out parts of a newspaper article to a friend, or reading a notice to
other people who cannot see it. Obviously, reading aloud involves looking at a
text, understanding it and also saying it. Because our attention is divided
between reading and speaking, it is a much more difficult activity than reading
silently; we often stumble and make mistakes when reading aloud in our own
language, and reading aloud in a foreign language is even more difficult.
4 When we read for meaning, we do not need to read every letter of every word, Do we need to
nor even every word in each sentence. This is because, provided the text see every word
makes sense, we can guess much of what it says as we read it. To see how this to understand?
happens at the level of individual words, try reading this sentence:
Even though more than half the letters were missing, you could probably read
the sentence without difficulty, and even guess the last word without the help
of any letters. You may also have noticed that as soon as you guessed the
second word, it helped you to guess the whole of the first part of the sentence.
This example is an isolated sentence; if you are reading connected sentences
in a text, each sentence helps you to guess what the next one will be, and so
on through the whole text. Reading is an active process. When we read, we do
not merely sit there as passive 'receivers' of the text; we also draw on our own What do we do
knowledge of the world and of language to help us guess what the text will say as active
next. It is only if we are reading a series of words that makes no sense at all, readers?
such as:
that we have to slow down and read every single word, as we can no longer
make guesses.
5 Normally when we read our eyes take in whole phrases at a time; they do not (Use a piece of
move from word to word in a straight line, but flick backwards and forwards paper to cover
over the text. You can easily test this for yourself. Try covering a text with a the text here)
piece of paper and reading it literally word by word, moving the paper along
from each word to the next. You will probably find that you soon lose track of
the meaning, and you need to keep looking back to take in whole sentences.
This highlights another important aspect of reading: it is not just that we do What happen
not need to read word by word, but rather that it is almost impossible to read to our eyes in
and understand a text in this way. Attempting to read one word at a time slows the reading
down reading so much that we lose the sense of what we are reading. process?
There are of course differences between reading in our own language, where
comprehension does not usually pose a problem, and reading a foreign
language, and the differences are even greater if the foreign language uses a
different writing system. But the characteristics of 'good reading' are the same What about
in any language, and in developing reading skills we need to be sure we are good reading in
other
not hindering our students but helping them to become good readers, efficient
languages?
at extracting meaning from written texts.
Most modern day reading experts support that reading is not a passive but an active process in which
we construct meaning based on our prior knowledge and experience. While-reading questions such
as the above help you as a reader to remain focus on the text. You can also use the pre-reading
questions to guide you as you read the text. This is what is meant by reading as a socially interactive
process where we collaborate with the text to interpret what the write is trying to convey to us as
readers.
Discussion:
Look again at the Pre-reading questions in task 1. Are your answers still the same?
Task 3: Provide the most appropriate answers to the four questions about the text below.
Practice skimming and scanning the text for the best answer.
1. Based on the information provided in paragraph 1, why is understanding the process of reading
important?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. According to the passage, is reading aloud necessary for reading a text? Why? Why not?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. Briefly explain TWO (2) differences of reading aloud and silent reading.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Writers often tell you more than they say directly. They give you hints or clues that help you "read
between the lines". Using these clues to give you a deeper understanding of your reading is called
inferring. When you infer, you go beyond the surface details to see other meanings that the details
suggest or imply (not stated). Don’t forget to refer to your prior knowledge!
Try to infer the possible message of the following cartoons. Discuss the messages with your
peers and explain why your message is acceptable.
Possible message:
______________________________
______________________________
Task 4: Making Inferences: Read the short excerpts taken from several academic articles and
answer the questions given.
Excerpt 1
During the recession of the mid-1980s, there was an increase in graduate unemployment in Malaysia.
With the recovery of the economy towards the end of the 1980s, graduate unemployment was slightly
reduced thanks to government’s effort to create more jobs. However, graduate unemployment that
existed during the 1998 currency crisis still persists until today as many companies were forced to
merge and lay off workers. It has been reported that the number of unemployed graduates had
increased from 45,000 in 2000 to 85,000 in 2005 (Sim, 2006).
What is the main cause of the increasing rate of graduate unemployment in Malaysia?
A. Limited job opportunities due to economic instability.
B. Currency crisis in 1998 reduced salary of many jobs.
C. Lack of efforts by the government to improve the economy.
D. The impact of the global economic recession in the mid-1980s.
Excerpt 2
Students are required to take English exam as a compulsory requirement for entrance to public
university. MUET (Malaysian University English Test) result for new entry student for the 2007/8 intake
at one public university which can be considered as a typical sample for other public universities
indicated that most students scored below the satisfactory level in English competency. From the
population of 2916 new students’ intake at this public university, about 72.7% has a score of Bands 1,
2 and 3. This is because all they need is to get the MUET certificate regardless of their Bands (Mohini,
2008).
Why did many students still score below the satisfactory level though MUET is a compulsory
entrance requirement?
A. Students lack initiatives to improve their English.
B. English is often taken for granted since it is accepted as unimportant.
C. Majority of the programmes at university does not have a minimum Band requirement.
D. A high MUET band is not a necessity for university entrance.
Excerpt 3
It is all too apparent in this study that many students, often very good students, suffer needlessly when
doing group assignments. While some academics might claim that it is good to let students face
problems arising from group work, it is pointless having them to face problems that they will not see
in the workplace. Simply making students do assignments together is not preparing them for team
work in industry. It is not simulating “real life in industry”. It causes stress to many students and gives
them grades they do not deserve, especially when the better ones are penalized for the lack of efforts
by others (Ford & Maurice, 2011).
Practice makes perfect and in reading there is this cycle called the virtuous cycle. The more you read
the more you understand. The more you understand, the more you read. And it goes on.
Task 5: You are going to read a text by Amy Novotney. Write your pre-reading questions in
the blanks provided below and your while-reading questions in the column at the right side
of the text.
According to psychology faculty and other experts, here are the top five habits
that hold graduate students back:
1. Highlighting. Dog-earing pages and highlighting journal article passages are
popular but worthless exercises when it comes to helping you remember
information later on, Willingham says. That's because they don't require
students to engage with the material. Instead, he suggests students find a
more active strategy that forces them to think about the meaning of what
they're reading. This might be something as simple as taking notes on
important points, outlining how journal articles fit together or spending a
moment after reading a paragraph to reflect on how it fits into a piece's
bigger picture. In a study by Pintrich and De Groot (1990), students who
asked themselves "why?" at the end of each sentence while reading a factual
passage about a university were significantly more likely to remember
important points than students who were simply told to read the passage
and remember it.
2. Cramming for exams. When you pull an all-nighter, your memories of the
concepts you’re studying becomes associated with a particular time and
environment, making them harder to retrieve, says Willingham. That's bad
news for crammers, as most tests aren't handed out at 2 a.m. There are
several reasons why distributing your studying throughout the semester is
more long-lasting. One is that your brain doesn't make that association
because the knowledge is cued and retrieved at many different points over
time. Willingham's claims are backed up by Webb and Sheeran’s (2006) meta-
analysis of 317 experiments examining the spacing of student study periods.
The authors found that when participants studied at two different points in
time, they recalled a greater percentage of the material than when the same
amount of study time was nearly uninterrupted.
3. Unhealthy eating. With both time and money in short supply, graduate
students often skip lunch when rushing to class or hit the vending machine
for a late-night snack. Yet the high-fat, empty-calorie foods they often choose
don't provide the energy needed to work effectively, and can also take a toll
on the brain. A study by Manos (1999) linked memory loss to a diet high in
saturated fat and cholesterol. And a 2008 meta-analysis of 160 studies
examining food's effect on the brain showed that omega-3 fatty acids, which
are found in salmon, walnuts and kiwi fruit, improve learning and memory
(Hillman & Erickson, 1999).
4. Multitasking. Many students pride themselves on their ability to attend to
several tasks at once, but multitasking undermines efficiency, according to a
study by Miller (2006). It takes extra time to shift mental gears every time
you switch tasks—that means when you sit down to work, close your e-mail
program so it doesn't distract you. “If you ask any graduate student what they
do first when they sit down to study, 99 percent say they check their e-mail,
and then the next thing you know, an hour has gone by,” Miller says. When
you're studying, you may even need to disable your Internet connection and
turn off your cell phone, she says.
5. Assuming you remember what you've read. According to a Pickering and
Ferreira’s (2006) meta-analysis of 30 years of research, we aren't very good
at assessing how well we understand something. You may feel well-versed in
the social psychology theories you learned in class after reading over your
notes several times, but familiarity doesn't mean you'll be able to recall the
material for a test, Willingham says. To gauge whether you've studied
enough, explain the material to someone else or create a test for yourself, he
says.
"Quizzing one another is the No. 1 thing I recommend to students,"
Willingham says. "It's a much more realistic assessment of what you know
because it forces you to get inside the professor's head and think about what
they are likely to ask about the material."
Post-Reading Questions
Task 6: Still based on the previous text by Amy Novotney, answer these questions. For
Questions 1-5, choose a word/phrase that is closest in meaning to the underlined word as
used in the text.
For Questions 6-10, choose the most appropriate answers based on your reading.
7. Which sentence contains the main idea for the paragraph on highlighting?
A. Dog-earing pages and highlighting journal article passages are popular but worthless
exercises when it comes to helping you remember information later on, Willingham says
B. That's because they don't require students to engage with the material.
C. Instead, he suggests students find a more active strategy that forces them to think about
the meaning of what they're reading
D. This might be something as simple as taking notes on important points, outlining how
journal articles fit together or spending a moment after reading a paragraph to reflect
on how it fits into a piece's bigger picture.
8. According to the paragraph 3, why are crammers unable to remember what they studied the
night before?
A. Memory is better at night but tests are usually not conducted at night.
B. People usually lose their concentration if they study in one long sitting.
C. What is studied is stored in the memory as a single episode and is not easily recalled.
D. The amount of time spent studying in one night is less than that for a whole semester.
9. Why do students end up with unhealthy eating habits that affect their memory and learning?
A. Food stalls are not open at night.
B. They are busy and short of money.
C. High-fat, empty-calorie food is tasty.
D. They have lectures during lunch hour.
IMPORTANT Note: In the final exam, the reading comprehension section will only include multiple-
choice question as shown in this Task. Please refer to the course e-learning page (on Morpheus) for
more reading comprehension practise.
You are strongly advised to read more academic text in order to master more words.
IMPORTANT: This unit covers two oral presentation assessments in this course.
Warming Up
Speaking Effectively… To One or One-Thousand - Not many people think that they are good
public speakers, yet it is a highly necessary skill in many of today's workplace.
Answer the questions below as best as you can. Then share with the partner next to you. Instructor
will then lead the whole-class discussion.
1. What frightens you the most in life?
2. Have you ever spoken in front of many people? If yes, how many times?
3. Do you think that speaking to one person is very different from speaking to a group of
audience.
4. What are some of the important things that we must know in order to speak well?
5. What are some of the personal qualities that you have which can make public speaking
difficult for you?
6. What are some of the personal qualities that you have which can make public speaking very
easy for you?
7. What should we do before we speak in front of an audience?
8. What should we do after we have spoken in front of an audience?
Task 1: While listening to Julian’s talk, pay attention to the following questions:
1. What are the 7 deadly “sins” of speaking that one should avoid?
3. What are the elements of our voice that can improve our presentation?
4. Most importantly, look at how Julian presents his talk. What can you take note of from his style
of presentation?
Let’s try to practise what Julian has shared. Let’s start with his warm-up “exercise”! ☺
3 Mannerisms Speaker makes eye Eye contact may focus Very little eye
contact with everyone on only one member of contact is made
and has no nervous the audience or a select with the audience.
habits. Speaker has few members. Mildly It may sound like
excellent posture. distracting nervous the speaker is
habits are present but reading the
do not override the presentation.
content. Nervous
habits that distract
the audience are
present.
7 Visual aids Visual aids are well done Visuals are adequate but Very little or poor
and are used to do not inspire use of visual
make presentation more engagement with the materials.
interesting and material. No hand-outs
meaningful. provided.
8 Length Appropriate length. Time is appropriately Presentation lacks
Clear summary is used, but may run conclusion and/or
provided. Audience is slightly over or under time is not
involved in synthesizing allotted time and/or appropriately used.
the information. information is not tied
together or conclusion is
inadequate.
Task 3: Based on the eight qualities mentioned above, reflect on your own strengths and
weaknesses as an oral speaker?
One of the most important actions in making an oral presentation happens even before the actual
public speaking is carried out. Many speakers were unsuccessful because they failed to make the
necessary preparations before the delivering the speech. During the Second World War, Winston
Churchill, the famous Prime Minister of Great Britain, was claimed to have said, "He who fails to plan
is planning to fail.” If you do not plan your speech ahead, you may find yourself struggling for what to
say in front of your audience. Worst of all, you might experience a panic attack! In oral presentations,
there are many considerations to be made before facing the audience.
2. Form a group of five or six people so that you have a small audience to
listen to your 2-minute speech. Each member of your group will have a
chance to do this oral presentation (rotate every 2 minutes)
3. Remember, you only have two minutes for the speech. Appoint a time keeper to keep watch and
make sure the speech must be stopped exactly after the two minutes time limit is up. If you are
ready, you can begin.
To help you prepare for the oral presentation assessment (Assessment 1a and Assessment 2a),
please refer to the marking scheme uploaded on the e-learning page. Make sure you fulfil all
criteria.
Warming Up
Obviously, you have heard of the word “report” before. So, what do you understand by the term
“report”? What are the types of report that you know?
In this course, the term ‘Information Report’ is used here to refer specifically only to texts which
present factual information on a topic, as proposed by Derewianka (1991). It is sometimes known as
classification.
An Information Report serves to classify and describe the phenomena of our world – it describes the
way things are. It talks about a class of things –living things (like plants, animals) or non-living things
(like satellites, social systems). In this case, only facts about the class of things are reported, not your
opinions.
Characteristics of
Frogs
Energy
Renewable Non-renewable
Task 1: Form groups of THREE. Brainstorm other suitable topics to be written as information
report? Draw a diagram to outline one of the topics to indicate its scopes/sub-classes.
Information Report first classifies the thing and then describes its characteristics. It organises the
information in terms of classes and subclasses, whole and parts, and/or in terms of attributes. Here is
an example of a Type 1 information report on the topic of ‘Learning Styles’ This report classifies
‘Learning Styles’ into three categories followed by their descriptions.
Start with a topic sentence that Auditory learning is the second type of
Descriptions for
mentions the type. We usually learning style. Unlike visual learners
type 2:
do the comparison of the classes who remember by visual images,
after the first class has been auditory learners remember things by
described. verbalising lessons to themselves and
reading aloud. They prefer to hear the
lesson rather than to read the notes.
Auditory learners prefer to hear what is
being said in order to understand and
may have difficulty with instructions
that are written. Hence, they learn best
by listening to information (Mills, 2002).
Descriptions for Start with a topic sentence that The third type of learning style is tactile
type 3: mentions the type. learning. Unlike, visual and auditory
learners, tactile learners need to be
active and take frequent breaks. They
usually remember what was done, but
have difficulty recalling what was said or
seen and speak with their hands and
with gestures (Pashler, McDaniel,
Rohrer, & Bjork, 2009). Tactile learners
enjoy field trips and tasks that involve
manipulating materials. They find
activities such as cooking, construction,
engineering and art helpful in perceiving
and learning effectively. In addition,
they communicate by touching and
appreciate physically expressed
encouragement, such as a pat on the
back (Pashler et al., 2009).
Conclusion If you include a conclusion, you In conclusion, there are three major
(optional) can: types of learning style and they are
differentiated by the dominant organ
- You don’t have • Summarise information
presented but do not used during the learning process. That is
to provide
include any new why different people learn different
conclusion
information. ways.
• Paraphrase the
Classification Statement.
References
(Provided on a new page after the essay. List all the references used in the essay)
Dunn, R. S., & Dunn, K. J. (1978). Teaching students through their individual learning styles: A
practical approach. Reston, VA: Reston Publishing.
Gagne, R. M. (1962). The acquisition of knowledge. Psychological Review, 69(4), 355-365.
Mills, D. W. (2002). Applying what we know: Student learning styles. Retrieved from
www.csrnet.org/csrnet/articles/student-learning-styles.html
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2009). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence.
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105-119.
(Note: You must follow APA referencing style. Refer to Unit 1b)
Appendix 1 (The figure must appear on a new page after the References)
Learning
styles
Note: This is how figure number and captions are written in APA style.
1. Figures are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the
text.
2. The caption is placed below the figure.
3. Italicise Figure 1 but do not use italics for the caption.
4. Use a full stop after the number; not a colon, or a semi-colon, or a dash.
5. You must refer to the figure in your text. For example, “Figure 1 shows …”, “… as shown
by Figure 1” or “(see Figure 1)”.
Here is an example of a Type 2 information report on the topic of ‘Mars’ This report provides a
description of ‘Mars’ based on its characteristics rather than it sub-classes.
Components Function Example
Title Announces the field (topic). Description of Mars
Introduction
General statement Begin with a general statement There are many planets in our Solar
about the topic and capture the system. Mars is the fourth planet from the
interest of the reader. This Sun and is named after the Roman god of
locates the topic in the universe war. In the night sky it appears as a
of things. periodically striking reddish object. Mars
receives half as much sunlight as the Earth
and has two small moons named Phobos
The classification statement tells and Deimos. In general, planet Mars has
the purpose of the text by stating three major characteristics which are the
Statement of each class of the characteristic of physical, structural, and climate (refer to
characteristics the thing described. Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
Body consisting of State the characteristics of the The first major characteristic of Mars is
paragraphs on each one class followed by the areas the physical aspect. This aspect includes
characteristic of under it. the shape, size, and colour of the planet.
Mars Mars is approximately spherical in shape
while the shape of its orbit is oval. In
Start with a topic sentence that terms of size, the diameter of Mars is
Descriptions for mentions the characteristic. approximately 6,787 km. The size is half
characteristic 1: the diameter of Earth and its mass is 6.42
We usually do comparison after
the first characteristic and its x 1023 kg. Mars’ mean density is measured
areas have been described. at 3.94 g/cm3, while its volume is
measured at163,115,609,799 km3.
Descriptions for Start with a topic sentence that The second major characteristic of Mars
characteristic 2: mentions the characteristic. concerns its structural aspects. Unlike the
physical characteristics described earlier,
Mars’ structural characteristic is further
subdivided into the composition, gravity
and hydrology. In terms of its
composition, the crust of Mars which is 30
miles thick consists of volcanic basalt rock
and the soil contains sodium, potassium,
chloride magnesium (Christensen et al.,
2001). Beneath this crust is the mantle
which is 900-1200 miles thick. It is made
up of primarily silicon, oxygen, iron and
magnesium and has the consistency of
soft rock paste. At the centre of Mars is a
solid core with a thickness of about 1800-
2400 miles consisting of iron, nickel and
sulphur.
Balta, J. B., & McSween, H. Y. (2013). Water and the composition of Martian magmas. Geology,
41(10), 1115-1118.
Christensen, P. R., Bandfield, J. L., Hamilton, V. E., Ruff, S. W., Keiffer, H. H., Titus, T. N., …Greenfield,
M. (2001). Mars global surveyor thermal emission spectrometer experiment: Investigation
description and surface science results. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106(1), 823-871.
Eydelman, A. (Ed.). (2001). Temperature on the surface of Mars: The physics factbook. Retrieved
from http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/AlbertEydelman.shtml
Yung, Y. L., & DeMore, W. B. (1999). Photochemistry of planetary atmospheres. New York, NY:
Oxford University Press.
Zuber, M. T., Smith, D. E., Lemoine, F. G., & Neumann, G. A. (1994). The shape and internal structure
of the moon from the Clementine Mission. Science, 266(5192), 1839-1843.
Appendix 1 (This figure must appear on a new page after the References)
Task 2: Now that you have seen two types of information report, in your group, decide the
topic that you will be using for your Assessment 1. Please confirm with your instructor
before proceeding. You need to make sure you have enough information to produce a 3-
page essay for the topic. Prepare a draft to be discussed in class
These language features are needed to effectively classify and describe a class of things:
Linking verbs
These are verbs which show states of being and of having (are, is, have, belong, etc…). These are
needed because they help locate the phenomenon being described within a class [Example 1] or
describe parts and characteristics of the phenomenon [Examples 2 and 3]. Linking verbs should not be
confused with passive (e.g. have gone) or continuous verb forms (e.g. are going)
Example 1:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are terrestrial planets.
(linking the thing/phenomenon to its larger group – classification)
Example 2:
An example of a superior planet is Mars.
(linking the thing/phenomenon to its sub-classes)
Example 3:
The surface of terrestrial planets is solid and rocky.
(linking the thing/phenomenon to its characteristics: size, colour, shape, etc.)
Task 3: Identify the linking verbs in the sample text (Types of Learning Styles)
Action verbs
These are verbs which describe behaviour, actions and happenings.
e.g., The asteroid belt forms the boundary between the inner and the outer solar system. The
presence of iron minerals in the Martian soil affects its physical appearance.
Task 4: Identify the action verbs in the sample text (Types of Learning Styles)
Task 5: Identify the timeless present tense in the sample text (Types of Learning Styles)
Defining Classifying
are called … belong to …
… classified into … classes
Example: Oxygen is a … categorised … categories
type/ kind/ form/ … grouped … groups
example of a gas. … divided … divisions
… arranged …
Definitions are usually … put into …
found in the … placed in…
Introduction. … distinguished into …
… differentiated into …
Scientists classify … classes
… consists of …
… comprises …
… contains …
Sub-classified
Sub-categorised
Sub-grouped
Sub-divided
Besides However,
In addition to On the other hand,
Furthermore Although
Moreover Even though
Other than that But
Apart from that On the contrary
Not only that In contrast
Instead of
Rather than
Whereas
Introduction:
……………………………………………………………………………………..…..…………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………..…..…………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………..…..…………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………..…..…………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………..…..…………………………………………………………
………………………………………………..………………………………………………..………….…………
Any time a sentence or significant phrase is taken from a source, quotations marks must be used
and the source must be cited.
………………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………
If a sentence is taken from a source and only a few words are changed, it is still plagiarism. When a
sentence is quoted, quotation marks must be placed and the source must be cited. However,
quotations should only be done if it is particularly useful in the point being made in the writing. In
many cases, paraphrasing and then citing the original sources is a better option.
3. Style Plagiarism
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
When a source article is copied sentence-by-sentence or paragraph-by-paragraph, it is plagiarism,
even though none of the sentences are exactly like those in the source article or even in the same
order. What is being copied in this case is the author's reasoning style.
4. Metaphor Plagiarism
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Metaphors are used either to make an idea clearer or give the reader an analogy that touches the
senses or emotions better than a plain description of the object or process. Metaphors, then, are
an important part of an author's creative style. If the writer is unable to come up with his/her own
metaphor to illustrate an important idea, then the metaphor in the source article can be used, but
the source must be cited.
5. Idea Plagiarism
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
If the author of the source article expresses a creative idea or suggests a solution to a problem, the
idea or solution must be clearly attributed to the author. Students seem to have a hard time
distinguishing author's ideas and/or solutions from public domain information. Public domain
information is any idea or solution about which people in the field accept as general knowledge.
Faculty of Language & Communication Studies, UNIMAS 75
PBI 1092 Academic English 2 (2017 – Updated Version)
For example, what a black hole is and how it is defined is general knowledge. You do not need to
reference a general description of the black hole. The escape velocity of earth is also general
knowledge and needs no reference. The distance to the centre of the Galaxy is also general
knowledge. However, a new idea about how to look for black holes or a new solution to a physics
problem needs to be attributed to the authors. If the write is unsure about what is accepted as
public domain in a particular field, further research is required.
Adapted from Barnbaum, C. (n.d.). Plagiarism: A student's guide to recognizing It and avoiding It. Retrieved from
http://www.valdosta.edu/~cbarnbau/personal/ teaching_MISC/plagiarism.htm
Task 7: Write a paragraph comparing two types of plagiarism described above. You may
expand upon the ideas in the text. Remember to use language of comparison such as similar
to, compared to, unlike and so on.
Task 8: Tenses - The following text describes types of flowers. It should be written in the
present tense. Identify the errors and correct them.
Most flowers that were planted in the spring were annuals. Annuals were plants that live only one
summer. They sprouted from seeds that were planted in the spring. In the summer, their flowers
will grow and will make seeds. In the fall, the plants died. To plant these flowers again in spring,
new seeds will be needed.
Some flowers did not have to be planted every year and they were called perennials. Perennials will
be planted only once and they will bloom every year. Some examples of perennials that grew from
underground buds were lilies, tulips, crocuses and irises. Other perennials grew from seeds or
seedlings. For example, delphiniums and chrysanthemums. Many perennials will need protection
during winter.
Task 9: The following text contains some informal language, which should not be present in
an Information Report. Identify and correct them accordingly.
Orders of Insects
Through my reading, it is said that the great variety of insect life can be seen in the species’ diverse
forms and striking differences in habits. Yet all insects were classified together until quite recently
in a single order – the Orthoptera. Frankly speaking, the name is taken from the Greek orthos:
‘straight” and ptera: “wings”. Some zoologists continue to group all insects in the single order
Orthoptera. The tendency nowadays, however is to divide this up into six separate orders:
Ortoptera, Grylloblattodea, Blattaria, Phasmida, Mantodea and Dermaptera. It feels like the name
‘orthopateroid’ is used to refer to all insects in these six orders. The largest of the orthopteroid
groups retains the old order name ‘Orthoptera’. There’re over 28, 000 species in this order and
they are widely distributed throughout the world. This order is divided into two suborders – the
Acridodea and the Tettigoniodea. The suborder Acridodea is made up of two families; the
Locustidea and the Tettugidae. The familiar grasshoppers found in fields and along the roads are
made up of the pygmy locusts, which are small insects that prefer rather damp places. In my
opinion, the suborder Tettigoniodea forms a large group with some 8,500 known species, making
up five generally recognized families.
Task 10: Based on the draft for your group’s information report, look through the language
used and try to identify errors in it. Note down the problems that you have in writing your
information report. This would allow your instructor to help you:
Bring the related reading articles, draft of diagram, introduction paragraph, and at least two body
paragraphs to class for feedback from your instructor (in the second week for this unit).
This assignment is divided into two parts. Read the requirements carefully.
2. Typing specification:
• 3 pages of essay excluding References and Appendix
• Font 12, Times New Roman
• 1.5 spacing within and between paragraphs
• 1-inch margin on the right, bottom and top of the pages and 1.5 inches margin on the left.
• Cover page with your names, matriculation numbers, registered group number, the title of
your essay, your instructor’s name, and the submission date. (refer to the sample provided
on the course e-learning page)
3. Submit a print copy of your essay to your instructor in class and upload the soft copy (in
Microsoft Word format) of your essay online via Morpheus Turnitin. Refer to your course
instructor for deadline and further details. Marks will be deducted for late submission. For work
handed in late, 3% will be deducted for each day.
IMPORTANT: Please refer to the e-learning page for Academic English 2 for the full marking scheme
as well as further details about this assignment.
Warming Up
In the previous unit, you are exposed to a type of academic writing known as “Information Report”.
Can you recall the purpose and key characteristics of an information report? Why do you produce
information report?
In this unit, you will be examining another type of report known as “Explanation Report”.
An Explanation Report serves to give an account of how something works or the reasons for some
phenomenon. While an Information Report talks about the way things are and asks questions like
“what is it?”, an Explanation report, on the other hand, asks questions such as “how does it work? or
“why is it so?”. Explanations are therefore part of the characteristics of scientific texts.
An Explanation Report is usually written based on a diagram (flow chart) that illustrates a process in
sequence or order. Thus, the sequence of the process is marked with arrows in the diagram.
The skill of writing good explanations is very useful when you are writing the method chapter of the
final year project report. As the data collection and analysis procedures have been done, past tense
is used. However, for review of articles explaining the current state of knowledge in a particular field,
the present tense is used. In this unit, you will be taught to use the present tense to explain general
universal phenomenon.
In short, explanation report is useful when you are required to write about processes or a flow of
developments. However, it is not similar to procedural writing (as found in instructional manual or
recipes).
Task 1: Form groups of THREE. Brainstorm other suitable topics to be written as Explanation
report (Process based)? Draw a diagram to outline one of the topics to indicate its flow or
connections.
Introduction You may begin by stating Products and services need to be made
containing the the topic and capture the known to potential customers. One main
statement of interest of the reader. strategy is through the use of
phenomenon (topic) advertisements. Advertising involves any
paid form of non-personal communication
about an organisation, a product, a service,
or an idea by an identified sponsor. An
effective advertisement is aimed at achieving
the organisation’s communication goals
(Brown, 2011). As elaborated by Harvey
(1993), there are five important steps in
developing an advertisement namely
A statement that briefly identifying the target audience, establishing
indicates the the message, determining the budget,
steps/processes/stages designing the advertisement and lastly,
involved. evaluating the advertisement (refer to Figure
1 in Appendix 1).
The world today needs gasoline for power. The United States alone consumes approximately 21
million barrels of petroleum products each day. Half of this amount is in the form of gasoline
(Churchill, 2000). Gasoline is a volatile, flammable liquid obtained from the refinement of petroleum,
or crude oil. It was originally discarded as a by-product of kerosene production, but its ability to
vaporise at low temperatures made it a useful fuel for many machines. Gasoline is produced through
several processes. They are identifying oil rich area, test drilling, establishing contact with reservoir
rock, extracting of crude oil and separating gasoline from petroleum.
Firstly, the location of the oil rich areas is identified. Often, geologists are hired with the task of
finding the right conditions for the existence of reservoir rocks (Gibbs, 1994). There are many
methods and tools that are currently used to determine these locations. Some of them are gravity
meters, electronic noses, and seismology. Even with modern technology, the success rate of finding
new oil fields is only 10% (Freudenrich, 2001).
Having found the location, the area is then test drilled. Once the site is selected, aspects such as
environmental impact of drilling, legal jurisdictions, and area boundary are taken into consideration
(Langreth, 1995). Subsequently, the land is cleared and levelled. The workers prepare the reserve
pits (large holes in the ground) in which the rock cuttings and mud associated with the drilling are
disposed of. With the land prepared, multiple holes are dug in order to accommodate the main hole
Faculty of Language & Communication Studies, UNIMAS 83
PBI 1092 Academic English 2 (2017 – Updated Version)
and the oil rig. A rectangular pit, referred to as a “cellar”, is dug around the main hole (Gibbs, 1994;
Langreth, 1995). This excavated area provides work space around the main hole for the workers and
their equipment. Using a small drilling truck, the main hole is started at this point. With these steps
finished, the rig equipment is set up around the main hole.
The third step in producing gasoline is to establish contact with the reservoir rock. This is done
through drilling the main hole to a sufficient depth (Freudenrich, 2001). The main hole is drilled
using rotary drillers attached to the rig as water is added. The water and soil create a thick mud which
prevents the oil from gushing out of the Earth due to internal pressures. After a preset depth is
reached (which may range anywhere from hundreds to thousands of feet), cement casing-pipe
sections are placed into the hole to prevent the hole from collapsing on itself. This process is repeated
until the final depth is reached (Freudenrich, 2001).
The fourth step in producing gasoline is the extraction of the crude oil from the reservoir. Before
extraction begins, controlled oil flow into the well is insured. This is done by first perforating the
bottom of the cement casing with a perforating gun, a device that is equipped with small explosive
charges (Gibbs, 1994). Next, a small diameter pipe is lowered into the oil well, followed by a device
called a packer, which encases the pipe. Under operating conditions, the packer expands and
provides a seal around the outside of the tubing. This forces the oil (once the flow has been started)
to exit the well through the provided conduit only. These preparations are completed by a connection
known as the Christmas tree (a device that allows control over the output flow rate of the oil) to the
top of the tubing. Finally, the flow of oil into the well from the reservoir rock is started (Gibbs, 1994).
For limestone reservoir rock, acid is pumped through the well out of the perforations, while for
sandstone reservoir rock, a special fluid that contains sand, walnut shells, and aluminium pellets, is
used. In both cases, the material pumped in liberates the oil from its resting place and initiates the
flow of oil into the well. A pump at the opening of the well which creates suction, forces the oil to
rise through the pipe. The extracted petroleum is transported to oil refineries.
In the final step, oil refineries then separate gasoline out of the petroleum. Petroleum, the source of
gasoline, is comprised of hydrocarbons of hundreds of different lengths (Smith, 1954). Refineries
take advantage of the fact that the different hydrocarbon chains have different boiling points, and
thus can be separated based on their respective lengths. Through fractional distillation, gasoline is
taken out of petroleum. As stated by Speight (2002), though newer techniques are available,
fractional distillation is the oldest and most widely used method of hydrocarbon separation. The
gasoline is then delivered to gas stations where the consumer may buy at the set price.
References
Churchill, J. J. (2000). Total oil consumption in North America. Retrieved from http://maps.
unomaha.edu/oilconsumption.html
Freudenrich, C. (2001). How oil refining works. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.
com/environmental/energy/oil-refining.htm
Gibbs, L. M. (1994).The changing nature of gasoline. Automotive Engineering, 3(1), 99-102.
Langreth, R. (1995). Less smog, more build up? Popular Science, 246(4), 36.
Smith, P. V., Jr. (1954). Studies on origin of petroleum: Occurrence of hydrocarbons in
recent sediments. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 38(3), 377-404.
Speight, J. G. (2002). Handbook of petroleum product analysis. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &
Sons, Inc.
Task 2: Now that you have seen some samples of Explanation Report, in your group, decide
the topic that you will be using for your Assessment 2. Please confirm with your instructor
before proceeding. You need to make sure you have enough information to produce a 3-
page essay for the topic. Prepare a draft to be discussed in class.
Generalised participants
Generalised participants refer to the general class of things (e.g. wind, cars, computers) or subject
rather than the specific ones (e.g. typhoons, Toyota Camry, Apple MacPro).
Task 4: Identify the timeless present tense used in the sample text.
Passives
Passives are used in Explanation when the emphasis is on the process/step rather than the subject or
the person who is doing the action. It takes the form of “to be + verb + ed or en (+ by)”
e.g. The phone is used as a communication tool. (Active: People use the phone)
The rat was eaten (by the cat). (Active: The cat ate the rat)
Action verbs
These are verbs which describe behaviour, actions and happenings.
e.g. Singular - The rain washes away the dirt on the roads. Plural – The cars travel at high speeds.
Task 7a: Identify the conjunctions and sequential terms used in the sample text.
To show cause-and-effect:
• consequently • for that reason • as a result • results in • so
• thus • therefore • hence • due to • because
Circumstances/adverbs
Adverbs are used in Explanation when the circumstance of the action is necessary to be explained.
They are used to describe verbs.
e.g. The water flows slowly into the tank. (slowly is used to describe the speed of the water “flow”)
Task 9: Identify the factual and precise language used in the sample text.
Stage 2 : Tadpole
• After hatching – tadpole feeds on remaining yolk
• Tadpole has poorly developed gills, a mouth and tail
• Sticks to floating weeds
• 7-10 after– tadpole begin to swim around and feed on algae
• After about 4 weeks – skin grows over gill
Stage 3 : Tadpole with legs
• After 6-9 weeks – legs starts to appear
• hind limbs appear first, then forelimbs emerge,
• head becomes more distinct and body elongates
• internal gills replaced by lungs
Stage 4 : Froglet
• By 12 weeks – tail disappears, mouth widens
• Looks more like a frog but smaller in size
• Leaves water
Stage 5 : Mature frog
• By 16 weeks – fully developed frog
• Eats insects and worms
• Mostly live on land, occasionally swims
• Eventually finds mate
• Cycle begins again
Bring the related reading articles, draft of diagram, introduction paragraph, and at least two body
paragraphs to class for feedback from your instructor (in the second week for this unit).
This assignment is divided into two parts. Read the requirements carefully.
2. Typing specification:
• 3 pages of essay excluding References and Appendix
• Font 12, Times New Roman
• 1.5 spacing within and between paragraphs
• 1-inch margin on the right, bottom and top of the pages and 1.5 inches margin on the left.
• Cover page with your names, matriculation numbers, registered group number, the title of
your essay, your instructor’s name, and the submission date. (refer to the sample provided
on the course e-learning page)
3. Submit a print copy of your essay to your instructor in class and upload the soft copy (in
Microsoft Word format) of your essay online via Morpheus Turnitin. Refer to your course
instructor for deadline and further details. Marks will be deducted for late submission. For work
handed in late, 3% will be deducted for each day.
IMPORTANT: Please refer to the e-learning page for Academic English 2 for the full marking scheme
as well as further details about this assignment.
Warming Up
*Do note that although the topic can seem one-sided, you still have to present two sides of the issue.
Body
Argument For 1 The first advantage of human cloning is that it provides a solution to infertility. Cloning
has a great potential of serving as an option for producing children. It could enable
Topic sentence childless couples to have their own children. Thus, cloning provides hope for couples
who long to have children. This may also avoid the unnecessary hassle of trying to adopt
children which can be a long and a tedious process.
In addition, human cloning contributes greatly to genetic studies. Researchers would
Argument For 2 have the chance to understand the composition of genes and the effects of genetic
Topic sentence constituents on human traits in a better manner. This may enable medical practitioners
to combat a wide range of genetically related diseases and save many lives. Therefore,
it cannot be denied that cloning might be a good thing to protect humans from harm.
However, one disadvantage of human cloning is that it puts human rights at stake. It
Argument Against 1 remains unclear as to whether cloning is able to fit into our ethical and moral principles.
The cloning of human may leave the world with just another man-made ‘product’.
Topic sentence
Besides, it could devalue human kind and human beings might end up being a product
as people with better traits would be sought after as materials for cloning whereas those
with poor traits would be put aside and forgotten. It is undeniable that cloning is
discriminatory in practice.
Furthermore, human cloning is debatable as it challenges religious beliefs. It has been
Argument Against 2 argued that cloning is equal to emulating God. Many religious groups have stated that
Topic sentence religions prohibit human from trying to imitate the act of God by recreating themselves.
The act of creating life from cloning may be seen as a challenge to God’s authority.
Hence, it would be a very controversial issue should human cloning be allowed and
people are permitted to make multiple copies of human beings.
To conclude, it is clear that human cloning can solve problems related to genetics but it
is also ethically and religiously wrong. Thus, researchers should weigh the pros and cons
of such act before promoting its use to the world. Further research should be done and
Conclusion the outcomes should be made public so that they can be better informed about the
(Summary) consequences of cloning.
(Recommendation
should be more
specific – not too
general)
As can be seen in the sample given, a discussion generally begins with some background information
about the issue. This is followed by the statement of issue. There may also be a preview of what is to
follow.
It then presents the arguments FOR the statement and the arguments AGAINST the statement. This
distinguishes the Discussion from the Argument which is one sided.
The discussion usually ends with a considered opinion and/or a recommendation.
1. Generalised participants – sometimes human (e.g. children, Europeans) but often abstract (e.g.,
issues, ideas, or opinions) (e.g. advertisements, education)
2. Variety of verb types – action (e.g. eats, provides, imitates), linking (e.g. is, are, has, have), saying
(e.g. reports, argues) and mental (e.g. thinks, believes). Mainly timeless present tense when
presenting position and arguments for and against, but might change according to the stage of the
text. For example, if historical background to the issue is being given, the tense will obviously change
to the past (eats > ate); if predictions are being made, the tense might change to the future (eats, will
eat).
3. Some use of passive voice to help structure the text, but mostly active voice is used. Passive voice
is used to remove the actors where necessary (The cat ate the rat > The rat was eaten).
4. Abstraction (verbs expressed as nouns - nominalisation) Actions are often changed into “things”
(nominalised) to make the argument sound more objective and to help structure the text. Once the
actions disappear from the text, then so do those who perform them. No longer is there an identifiable
real person. For example,
Action Thing
• I am worried a concern
• The bomb might explode a possible detonation
• Everyone will die people dying
5. Possibility of technical terms relating to the issue. For example, “worried” has become “concern”,
“explode” has become “detonation” and “die” has become “dying”. These technical terms neutralise
(less personal) the text.
7. Can employ emotive and persuasive language to convince readers. Usually adjectives (giving more
vivid details about things) are used. For example,
8. Modals (e.g. might, would not, may, could) – modals are commonly used when “cautious language”
is necessary. When a claim is made without being supported by a solid evidence or fact, modals should
be used. For example,
Global warming might be the reason behind the death of the whales.
Lack of reading may contribute poorer cognitive ability.
Task 1: Look through the sample text on human cloning. Identify the language features as
shown above. You circle or underline the related parts.
Task 2: Read the text on “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Television” and complete
the given tasks.
• (Identify the general background information) in the introduction paragraph.
• Circle the statement of issue.
• Underline the statement of preview.
• Write the topic sentence with appropriate connectors for the body paragraphs.
• Write an appropriate recommendation at the end.
Our generation has been raised in a technological advanced world where various gadgets have
been invented. Television, one of the inventions which has brought about paradigm shift in today’s
world, has a profound impact on everybody's life. It has revolutionised entertainment, education,
advertising and a host of other industries. Nowadays, television has occupied every house,
sometimes in multiple numbers. However, the issue that is often debated is whether television is
beneficial or harmful. On one end, television is favoured because it supplies information and
provides entertainment but some television contents are inappropriate and watching too much
television may lead to health problems.
Example:
There is growing evidence that the long term consumption of the typical high-sugar, high-
calorie Malaysian diet may lead to a variety of health problems.
Read the body paragraphs on the topic “Online Banking: Boon or bane?”
1. Rewrite parts of sentences to include modal verbs to present differing degrees of certainty.
2. Add connectors to show similarities and differences in ideas as well as causal relationships.
directly talk to the banker and obtain first-hand input on the services and products offered by the
specific bank. Studies in Asian countries showed that customers still prefer face-to-face interaction
due to their perception of greater reliability when talking to a banker in person. The lack of
interpersonal contact in online banking transactions makes it an unattractive option to some
customers.
(Adapted from Sanibel, 2011)
Preview
Conclusion/
Assessment of issue
Recommendation
Task 5: Select another issue and write a discussion essay following the correct format. The
list of issues is available at the beginning of this unit.