Belledi,Fabián & Durán,Diana
Abstract
This proposal will project the prospective implementation of drama in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).The authors will carry out a research study to determine the importance of interactive activities to enhance communicative competence. The study will be conducted in two private institutions with young adult students throughout a school year.
Keywords: TEFL, Drama, Classroom, Games, Video, Learning, Teaching
Introduction
The field of education has witnessed a great paradigm shift towards constructivism and social interactionist views in the teaching and learning process. Behaviorism, together with its own principles and assumptions, was the ruling system from the early 1900’s until the late 1950’s when a completely different approach brought about by psychology emerged and eclipsed the behaviorists learning and teaching approach. The cognitive revolution contributed to a series of highly important moves and changes not only in psychology but also in the field of education.
The learner became the focus of attention and a teacher-centred education shifted to a learner-oriented instruction. Bearing this principle in mind together with Bruner’s and Ausubel’s theories, it may be stated that teaching must be meaningful for the student and should satisfy his/her needs. Authentic learning should make information meaningful to the student. In today’s globalized world, English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers possess a great number of tools at hand to make their students’ learning process more natural and appealing.
Many students desire to learn how to use English in social settings. One benefit of Drama classes is that it uses real (or hypothesized) situations in which students are asked to dramatize or act out. Students can ‘play’ with the language and, with the practice of dramatizing social situations, they learn pragmatic skills, thus becoming more confident in their abilities to carry out a conversation with native speakers (Chauhan, 2004).
The aim of this research work is to shed light on how the implementation of drama in teaching ESL can become an attractive alternative in teaching a foreign language. Drama techniques employed in the communicative method lead the student to unconsciously acquire and learn the language within natural and spontaneous situations created inside the classroom environment.
Literature Review
The Communicative Approach has brought about significant changes in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). The learner is considered as an active participant during the language teaching/learning process. Teachers who support this approach are expected to provide students with a wide range of activities to promote self-learning, group work in life-like situations.
According to Richards (1995, cited in Sam, 1990), the term ‘approach’ could be defined as the theory about how languages are learnt. He also considered the psycholinguistic and cognitive processes during the learning process as well as the conditions that allow for effective learning. Thus, the Communicative Approach (CA) refers to the beliefs and theories which emphasize the acquisition of communicative competence. It should be noted then that ‘Communicative Competence’ does not only involve the knowledge of grammatical rules but also sound awareness of when, where and how to use the language in a speech community in an effective fashion. ‘Communicative activities’ refers to the techniques which teachers employ within the classroom in order to foster their students’ motivation and involve them in authentic situations.
Morrow (1981, cited in Sam, Ibid.) stated that communicative activities should conform to some principles: Students should know what they are doing and its purpose. In communication, it is essential to work in the context as a unit. Communication cannot be split into its various components. The teacher should guide the student in the process of communication. The student will acquire more proficiency only by practicing communicative activities. Students are expected to make mistakes at different stages; however, the teacher should be flexible enough and become critical after having analyzed the kind of mistake and its origin. Hence, Drama can be considered a communicative activity since it fosters communication among learners and provides different opportunities to use the target language in ‘make believe’ situations.
Vernon (n.d.) supports the view that this conversational use of language also promotes fluency. He states that “(…) while learning a play, students are encouraged to listen to, potentially read and then repeat their lines over a period of time. By repeating the words and phrases they become familiar with them and are able to say them with increasing fluency (…)” (p.2). We believe that by encouraging self expression, drama motivates students to use language confidently and creatively.
Holden (1981, cited in Sam, Ibid.) believes that Drama asks classroom participants to imagine themselves within a certain situation and pretend to be another person in an imaginary situation. Holden, thus, states that Drama refers to a world of “let’s pretend”. Some other authors have referred to Drama as a significant tool in TESL. Maley and Duff (1978, cited in Sam, Ibid.) assert that this communicative activity releases imagination and energy. Fernandez and Coil (1986, as cited in Sam, Ibid., p. 3) states that “Drama encourages students to exercise their sensitivity and imagination and thus makes leaning more realistic and meaningful.” Dougill (1978, cited in Sam, Ibid.) claims that Drama encourages students to develop their social, intellectual and linguistic skills.
Even though it is true that a foreign language cannot be taught separated from its culture, teachers should be extremely careful when they decide to include drama activities in their practice. They should consider what type of cultural information should be incorporated. There exist some topics which are common to almost any learner, namely holidays, schooling, etc. However, teachers should be very cautious and decide whether to include ‘thorny’ topics such as religious holidays. Much of the culture an English learner is exposed to generally comes from television series, movies or the internet. This culture that the students learn can be used in Drama activities as well, since they will probably provide a great number of topics for dramatizing.
Many times students do not gain enough confidence to use the foreign language in real situations. Their performance is only limited to writing and producing grammatically correct exercises in isolated contexts in the monotony of a conventional class. Chauhan (2004) asserts that traditional classes hardly ever provide students with the opportunity to use the language in a purposeful manner. Real communication involves much more than accuracy. Communication comprises ideas, emotions, feelings, body language, to mention but a few.
Drama is an attractive tool to introduce in language teaching since it gives the student a context to produce and develop skills. Chauhan (Ibid) states that Drama techniques force students to use their language meaningfully and thus, their linguistic as well as interactional abilities may be enhanced. Richards (2005) emphasizes the use of dialogues to reach this aim. He states that “(…) talk as interaction is perhaps the most difficult skill to reach since interactional talk is very complex and it takes place under the control of unspoken rules(…)” (p.6). We believe that in order to really acquire a language one must be able to recount personal incidents and experiences, make a small talk, and react to what others say.
According to Chauhan (Ibid), telephone conversations give students the possibility of saying what they like and reacting in accordance with unexpected situations which may arise. Students will probably feel involved in the conversation and they will do their utmost to sustain a meaningful telephone conversation. This technique helps students improve their speaking and listening skills.
Chauhan (Ibid) suggests that soliloquies can be used to interpret literary texts and understand fictitious characters. He also states that in this particular activity the student gets into the skin of the character and feels free to think and say what the character might feel at that particular moment.
The proliferation of newer technologies such as video playback devices have allowed teachers to introduce these media as tools in the classroom. Williams and Lutes (n.d.) state that:
A major advantage is that video materials can focus on information that cannot be readily presented in a traditional classroom because of constraints such as size, location, costs, etc. In the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom, this can be something as simple as access to Native speakers’(NS) language in a natural context (p.4) .
Discussion
Hypotheses
1. Do students need to practice a foreign language in real life contexts?
2. Will this strategy ensure a more proficient Second Language (L2) acquisition?
3. Will the students be provided with the necessary tools for future work and study?
Delimitations
This research will be carried out in two courses for young adults in two different private English institutes. The students share similar knowledge background as regards command of the target language. Both courses are intermediate, which means that students have been exposed to the L2 for at least 3 years.
Limitations
Though the main aim of this research is to show that students will enhance their communicative strategies after the inclusion of drama and interactive activities within the classroom environment, some trouble may arise, thus hindering the implementation of the experimental research. One of the major drawbacks is time limitation. In both courses, students attend lessons for 1 ½ hour twice a week and, as communicative activities need some time to be developed, the 1 ½ period may not be enough to round up the activity in one day. If this time constraint has a late arrival surplus, the activity is even more difficult to be carried out.
There are other two potential setbacks that may limit the outcome of the research: Student’s previous learning strategies and the relationship with the teacher. Students need to feel confident and safe in order to expose themselves to peer interaction. The teacher’s attitude towards them and towards errors may enhance or limit their productions. Moreover, they may feel threatened by innovations in methodology, especially those students who come from a serious, rigid, encyclopedic background.
Procedure
Participants
This experimental research will be carried out in two groups of young adults with an age range of 21-24 years old. Both groups belong to two different private English institutes, one in Recoleta and the other in Caballito. The students mentioned above attend English lessons twice a week on a basis of 1 ½ hour each day.
Data collection and analysis
Teachers will record student’s performance with a voice recorder at the beginning of the course (in March), before the winter holidays (in July) and at the end of the course (in November) in the same cassette. At the end of the course, the teacher will listen to the three recordings and will assess the student’s performance in a special sheet (Appendix A), but will not inform the student of its result. The student will be asked to listen to the three recordings as well and will have to provide a self-assessment report. Then, student and teacher will meet and will discuss similarities and differences on their personal assessments. After this discussion, the student will receive the teacher’s assessment report.
Materials
Games such as charades are suitable enough to gauge the students’ interest in this kind of activity. The class can be divided into teams and one member of each time can mime names of films or books, for example. The actor can indicate the number of words in the title and can use common gestures to give his/her team hints (Chauhan, Ibid).
The core of the matter in this experimental research will pivot around interactive activities. Telephone conversations may provide good opportunity to react to the unexpected, as well as role play of different situations provided by the teacher taken from everyday life, i.e : mother and daughter going together to the hairdresser´s, a student meeting his/her teacher at the supermarket, two fathers at the school gate waiting for the school bus to come from the sports field where their sons had rugby practice, etc.
Resourceful teachers may take advantage of video materials to make instruction more appealing to students. Some teachers may uphold that watching a video may be considered a passive activity. However, we hold the belief that teachers can transform it into an active learning strategy by proposing some after-watching activities. Students may watch a muted version of the video, and after the silent viewing, they may be asked to imagine a script and act it out as a rounding-off activity.
Conclusion
All in all, we believe that there exists a great number of advantages which deserve being exploited when it comes to the implementation of drama in the classroom. Drama provides practical experience in communicating, it gives students the opportunity to learn in groups facing the unexpected, to see the world from the other's perspective and it promotes active learning, thus enriching and reinforcing their traditional schooling experiences. In other words, when it comes to teaching English as a second language, drama and learning may result in a winning combination. Therefore, we believe interactive activities in the form of dramatizations may prove one of the major tools in the ESL classroom to promote communicative competence in second language (L2) acquisition.
References
Chauhan, V. (2004). Drama techniques for teaching English. The Internet TESL Journal,
10(10), 1-5. Retrieved June 19, 2010, from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Chauhan-Drama.html
Richards, J. (2005). Developing classroom speaking activities; from theory to practice. Retrieved June 8, 2010, from http://www.professorjackrichards.com/pdfs/developing-classroom-speaking-activities.pdf
Sam, W. (1990). Drama in teaching English as a second language – A communicative approach. The English Teacher, 9, 1-10. Retrieved June 19, 2010, from http://www.melta.org.my/ET/1990/main8.html
Vernon, S. (n.d.) The unmistakable benefits of using drama with children learning English. ESL Resources. Retrieved June 10, 2010, from http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles/eslplays.htm
Williams, R., & Lutes, P. (n.d.). Using video in the ESL classroom. Retrieved June 19, 2010, from http://www.takamatsu-u.ac.jp/library/06_gakunaisyupan/kiyo/no48/001-013_williams.pdf
Appendix A
Assessment sheet
Student’s name: …………………………………………………….
Course: ……………………………………………………………...
Year: ………………………………………………………………..
MARCH
FLUENCY
ACCURACY
CREATIVITY
MISTAKES
JULY
FLUENCY
ACCURACY
CREATIVITY
MISTAKES
NOVEMBER
FLUENCY
ACCURACY
CREATIVITY
MISTAKES
Additional comments :
Teacher´s signature:
Jul 16, 2010
Jul 12, 2010
Medicine and Education : A panoramic view of research .
A research paper (RP) is an extended essay in which the writer builds upon what he/she already knows about a subject and attempts to find out what experts know about it, to analyze a topic breaking it down into its parts and to restructure them in a way that makes sense to him/her. RPs have evolved from the scientific periodicals and treatises from Boyle´s days . However, according to Swales (1990), “[the] description of a typical RP offers (…) a striking vindication of Boyle´s attempt 100 years earlier to establish a rhetoric for experimental description” (pp. 113-114). RPs generally follow certain rules regardless of the field they belong to, but there may be some deviations related to the style of publication they adhere to or to the subject matter.
On the surface, no direct correlation appears to exist between education RPs and medical RPs, given the fact that these two disciplines stand far apart in content from each other. Nonetheless, there exists an area of convergence in the two fields. This paper aims at analyzing two RPs, one in the field of medicine and the other on education, in order to illustrate the similarities in the written presentation that both disciplines share and to shed light on the differences inherent to each one of them. Both papers will be analyzed following the guidelines offered by the tutors of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in Units 2,3 and 4 (Pintos & Crimi, 2010) and the American Psychological Association (APA) manual (2009).
A general skimming of both articles ( Collins and Kelly, 2008) (Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) shows layouts different from the one proposed by the APA manual. Some of the APA rules state that articles should contain a title page, titles should not differ in font and size from the rest of the paper, abstracts should be written on a separate page and there should not be colour headings. None of the papers under analysis present a title page. The paper on education (Collins and Kelly, 2008) has its title in a different font- Century gothic- and size -18- from the rest of the RP. Likewise, in the article on medicine, the title is written in a bigger font than the rest of the text, but the title and headings are written in different colours according to the level of headings they represent.
Regarding the analysis of the Abstract section in both RPs, it may be stated that they ( Collins and Kelly, 2008) (Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) start with an abstract. Abstracts are always the first part in a RP and they can be of two different types: structured or unstructured (Pintos and Crimi, Unit 4, 2010). The abstract in the article on education (Collins and Kelly, 2008) is unstructured. It consists of one long , unbroken paragraph of 100 words. Conversely, the article on medicine (Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) is structured, containing five bolded headings inside the section.
The RPs follow the Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion ( IMRD) model ( Swales, 1990, cited in Pintos and Crimi, Unit 2, 2010). In the education paper (Collins and Kelly, 2008) this pattern can be found after reading it through because the headings do not coincide with the words the acronym IMRD stands for. The sections are headed as follows: Introduction, Project and Methodology, Findings, Two Case Studies, Reflections, and References. Conversely, the paper on medicine is clearly structured along the lines of the IMRD model, being divided in the four sections already mentioned, in coincidence with the acronym.
According to Pintos and Crimi ( Unit 3, Ibid.) ‘Discussions’ and ‘Conclusions’ may be blended into one piece or they may be written separately in two different sections. In the article by Collins and Kelly (2008), the discussion section would be correspond to the section ‘Two Case studies’, and the conclusion section would have its equivalent in the section called ‘Reflections’. On the other hand, in the article by Jennings et al. (2009), the ‘Conclusions’ appear within the ‘Discussion’ but with a level 3 subheading structuring the section internally.
Both papers make use of a graphic arrangement of data such as tables, figures and pictures. Pintos and Crimi ( Unit 3,Ibid.) noted that graphics were used for the description of results of statistics and quantitative information. They may prove beneficial in order to compact a great amount of information within a limited space. The paper in the education field ( Collins and Kelly, 2008) has only pictures which are displayed in the ‘Findings’ section. In the medicine paper ( Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) tables and figures are distributed all along ‘Methods’ and ‘Results’.
Before delving into the analysis of references in the papers, it should be pointed out that the APA manual establishes the requirements for publication in the Social Sciences (SS). Writers in the fields of humanities may or may not adhere to this style of publication. They may choose to use the Modern Language Association (MLA) instead. “Basically, Delaney (2007) states that this system is followed when authors work with manuscripts in various humanities disciplines such as : English Studies, Language and Literature, Foreign Language and Literatures (…)” (Pintos and Crimi, 2010, p. 47). The reference entries in the article on education ( Collins and Kelly, 2008) combine some features of the APA and MLA. They meet APA requirements in the heading ‘References’ and not ‘Works cited’ as in the MLA style, but the indentation on the second line of each entry, the abbreviation ‘pp.’ before page numbers and the absence of interlining among the entries illustrate some of the requirements of the MLA style.
The medical paper follows the Vancouver referencing system , which, according to Monash University (2010, cited in Pintos and Crimi, Unit 3, Ibid.), “ (…) follows rules established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. (…) [It can be assumed] that this system establishes the standards required for the field of medicine” (p. 48). Some outstanding features of this style are the numbered references, the absence of italics in book titles, the square brackets with information in colour font to indicate the type of texts and the colour font for retrieval sites.
All in all, it may be concluded that both papers start with an abstract , they adhere to the IMRD model and they meet the requirements regarding the existence of a References list. However, there exist differences in the way the abstracts are structured as well as in the style of publication in the ‘References’ section. The paper by Collins and Kelly (2008) does not follow the highly technical standard format for the presentation of information that the article in medicine ( Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) does. This may be illustrated in the use of blog and journal entries as italicized block quotations thoughout the whole paper. The papers seem to reflect the qualities of each field : the medical paper, precision; the article on education, flexibility.
References
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication Manual (6th ed.), (2nd prin.). Washington, DC: British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
Collins, F., and Kelly, A. (2008). Exploring the field: Empowering voice and identity. English in Education. 42(3), 283-298. Retrieved June 28,2010, from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/ doi:10.1111/j.1754-8845.2008.00023.x
Jennings,A., Powell,J., Amstrong,N.,Sturt,J., Dale,J. (2009). A virtual clinic for diabetes self-management : Pilot study. Journal of Medical Internet Reasearch. 11(1) 1-8. Retrieved July 2, 2010, from http://www.jmir.org/
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010) . LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 2 . The Research Article: Introductions, Literature Review and Method Sections. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE .
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 3. The Research Article: Results, Discussions, and Conclusions. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE.
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 4. Research Articles: Abstracts. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE.
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
On the surface, no direct correlation appears to exist between education RPs and medical RPs, given the fact that these two disciplines stand far apart in content from each other. Nonetheless, there exists an area of convergence in the two fields. This paper aims at analyzing two RPs, one in the field of medicine and the other on education, in order to illustrate the similarities in the written presentation that both disciplines share and to shed light on the differences inherent to each one of them. Both papers will be analyzed following the guidelines offered by the tutors of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in Units 2,3 and 4 (Pintos & Crimi, 2010) and the American Psychological Association (APA) manual (2009).
A general skimming of both articles ( Collins and Kelly, 2008) (Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) shows layouts different from the one proposed by the APA manual. Some of the APA rules state that articles should contain a title page, titles should not differ in font and size from the rest of the paper, abstracts should be written on a separate page and there should not be colour headings. None of the papers under analysis present a title page. The paper on education (Collins and Kelly, 2008) has its title in a different font- Century gothic- and size -18- from the rest of the RP. Likewise, in the article on medicine, the title is written in a bigger font than the rest of the text, but the title and headings are written in different colours according to the level of headings they represent.
Regarding the analysis of the Abstract section in both RPs, it may be stated that they ( Collins and Kelly, 2008) (Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) start with an abstract. Abstracts are always the first part in a RP and they can be of two different types: structured or unstructured (Pintos and Crimi, Unit 4, 2010). The abstract in the article on education (Collins and Kelly, 2008) is unstructured. It consists of one long , unbroken paragraph of 100 words. Conversely, the article on medicine (Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) is structured, containing five bolded headings inside the section.
The RPs follow the Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion ( IMRD) model ( Swales, 1990, cited in Pintos and Crimi, Unit 2, 2010). In the education paper (Collins and Kelly, 2008) this pattern can be found after reading it through because the headings do not coincide with the words the acronym IMRD stands for. The sections are headed as follows: Introduction, Project and Methodology, Findings, Two Case Studies, Reflections, and References. Conversely, the paper on medicine is clearly structured along the lines of the IMRD model, being divided in the four sections already mentioned, in coincidence with the acronym.
According to Pintos and Crimi ( Unit 3, Ibid.) ‘Discussions’ and ‘Conclusions’ may be blended into one piece or they may be written separately in two different sections. In the article by Collins and Kelly (2008), the discussion section would be correspond to the section ‘Two Case studies’, and the conclusion section would have its equivalent in the section called ‘Reflections’. On the other hand, in the article by Jennings et al. (2009), the ‘Conclusions’ appear within the ‘Discussion’ but with a level 3 subheading structuring the section internally.
Both papers make use of a graphic arrangement of data such as tables, figures and pictures. Pintos and Crimi ( Unit 3,Ibid.) noted that graphics were used for the description of results of statistics and quantitative information. They may prove beneficial in order to compact a great amount of information within a limited space. The paper in the education field ( Collins and Kelly, 2008) has only pictures which are displayed in the ‘Findings’ section. In the medicine paper ( Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) tables and figures are distributed all along ‘Methods’ and ‘Results’.
Before delving into the analysis of references in the papers, it should be pointed out that the APA manual establishes the requirements for publication in the Social Sciences (SS). Writers in the fields of humanities may or may not adhere to this style of publication. They may choose to use the Modern Language Association (MLA) instead. “Basically, Delaney (2007) states that this system is followed when authors work with manuscripts in various humanities disciplines such as : English Studies, Language and Literature, Foreign Language and Literatures (…)” (Pintos and Crimi, 2010, p. 47). The reference entries in the article on education ( Collins and Kelly, 2008) combine some features of the APA and MLA. They meet APA requirements in the heading ‘References’ and not ‘Works cited’ as in the MLA style, but the indentation on the second line of each entry, the abbreviation ‘pp.’ before page numbers and the absence of interlining among the entries illustrate some of the requirements of the MLA style.
The medical paper follows the Vancouver referencing system , which, according to Monash University (2010, cited in Pintos and Crimi, Unit 3, Ibid.), “ (…) follows rules established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. (…) [It can be assumed] that this system establishes the standards required for the field of medicine” (p. 48). Some outstanding features of this style are the numbered references, the absence of italics in book titles, the square brackets with information in colour font to indicate the type of texts and the colour font for retrieval sites.
All in all, it may be concluded that both papers start with an abstract , they adhere to the IMRD model and they meet the requirements regarding the existence of a References list. However, there exist differences in the way the abstracts are structured as well as in the style of publication in the ‘References’ section. The paper by Collins and Kelly (2008) does not follow the highly technical standard format for the presentation of information that the article in medicine ( Jennings, Powell, Amstrong, Sturt and Dale, 2009) does. This may be illustrated in the use of blog and journal entries as italicized block quotations thoughout the whole paper. The papers seem to reflect the qualities of each field : the medical paper, precision; the article on education, flexibility.
References
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication Manual (6th ed.), (2nd prin.). Washington, DC: British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
Collins, F., and Kelly, A. (2008). Exploring the field: Empowering voice and identity. English in Education. 42(3), 283-298. Retrieved June 28,2010, from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/ doi:10.1111/j.1754-8845.2008.00023.x
Jennings,A., Powell,J., Amstrong,N.,Sturt,J., Dale,J. (2009). A virtual clinic for diabetes self-management : Pilot study. Journal of Medical Internet Reasearch. 11(1) 1-8. Retrieved July 2, 2010, from http://www.jmir.org/
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010) . LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 2 . The Research Article: Introductions, Literature Review and Method Sections. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE .
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 3. The Research Article: Results, Discussions, and Conclusions. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE.
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 4. Research Articles: Abstracts. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE.
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Jul 10, 2010
Analysis of different sections in Research Articles.
According to Pintos & Crimi (2010) ‘Discussion’ sections can be written in isolation or together with the conclusions (p. 20). In the case of the article by Wijeysundera et al, the conclusions are not written separately from the discussions. The discussions section form part of the main division in the paper, whereas, the conclusions appear as a sub category within the ‘Discussion’ section.
Further to the listing of the main characteristics of ‘Discussion’ and ‘Conclusion’ sections Pintos & Crimi (2010) state that “writers use the conclusion to tie the paper together. One way to do this is to develop or allude to some point mentioned in the introduction” (p.20). This may hold true in the paper to be analyzed as the three sentences that make up the conclusion are a restatement of issues mentioned in the introduction.
In some articles opening phrases such as “ All in all”, “All things considered” or “In conclusion” can be read , but, “serious academic writing avoids concluding paragraphs that begin with [these phrases] (…)” (Pintos & Crimi , 2010, p.12). Wijeysundera et al. (2010)´s article does not make use of these markers, making the conclusion straight forward and sound. If the length of the whole article is considered , it can be affirmed that the conclusions section is comparatively short. That might be the reason for including it within the discussions section.
Although the authors decided to blend the last two sections into one, the main objective of the conclusions section seems to have been achieved as the three main points in the research are clearly argumented within this last subsection. The conclusion seems to be inkeeping with the qualities of surgery - clear cut and straightforward.
The ‘References’ section does not follow the American Psychological Association (APA) style which is the academic style applied in Psychology and the Social Sciences. Research in the field of medicine follows the conventions of the Vancouver style (V) or the American Medical Association (AMA) style. This can be illustrated in the layout of the references at the end of the article. However, this section quite deviates from the conventions in the title of this page. In both styles, V and AMA, the last page is entitled ‘References’.
In the article by Wijeysundera et al. (2010),the references are not listed on a separate sheet and they appear listed below some complementary data on funding, competing interests, ethical approval and data sharing. The numbering of the references seems to comply with the requirements of V and AMA styles in which “(…) the references are listed by number [a superscript Arabic numeral – my addition], in order of appearance within the text, not alphabetically. Each reference is listed once only, since the same number is used throughout the paper.” (Learning Resources Centre, n.d., p.1) Within each reference authors are not listed alphabetically either.
Reference number 1 reads as follows: Devereaux PJ, Goldman L, Cook DJ, Gilbert K, Leslie K, Guyatt GH. This example illustrates the point mentioned above and also shows that the position of periods and commas after last names and initials differs from the conventions in APA style. Moreover, in AMA and V styles semicolons are placed after the of journals´ publication year. Colons are placed between the volume number and supplement number – issue number or page number/s. i.e : CMAJ 2005;173:627-34.
All in all, it may be noted that the Research Article (RA) by Wijeysundera, Beattie, Elliot, Austin, Hux & Laupacis (2010) complies with the common underlying structures for research writing in the medicine field and is aligned with the scientific protocol of medicine RAs.
References
AMA Citation style: a Concise guide.[online notes] Retrieved May 25th, 2010 from www.amastyle.org
Learning Resource Centre.- references according to the Vancouver style .[online notes] Retrieved May 25th, 2010 from file:///F:/References%20Vancouver%20Style.htm
Pintos, V. & Crimi, Y. (2010) Unit 3- Lengua Especializada II. UNVIERSIDAD CAECE. Retrieved from www.caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar
Wijeysundera,D.N., Beattie, W.S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P.C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2010). Non – invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non –cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9.doi:10.1136/bmj.b5526
Further to the listing of the main characteristics of ‘Discussion’ and ‘Conclusion’ sections Pintos & Crimi (2010) state that “writers use the conclusion to tie the paper together. One way to do this is to develop or allude to some point mentioned in the introduction” (p.20). This may hold true in the paper to be analyzed as the three sentences that make up the conclusion are a restatement of issues mentioned in the introduction.
In some articles opening phrases such as “ All in all”, “All things considered” or “In conclusion” can be read , but, “serious academic writing avoids concluding paragraphs that begin with [these phrases] (…)” (Pintos & Crimi , 2010, p.12). Wijeysundera et al. (2010)´s article does not make use of these markers, making the conclusion straight forward and sound. If the length of the whole article is considered , it can be affirmed that the conclusions section is comparatively short. That might be the reason for including it within the discussions section.
Although the authors decided to blend the last two sections into one, the main objective of the conclusions section seems to have been achieved as the three main points in the research are clearly argumented within this last subsection. The conclusion seems to be inkeeping with the qualities of surgery - clear cut and straightforward.
The ‘References’ section does not follow the American Psychological Association (APA) style which is the academic style applied in Psychology and the Social Sciences. Research in the field of medicine follows the conventions of the Vancouver style (V) or the American Medical Association (AMA) style. This can be illustrated in the layout of the references at the end of the article. However, this section quite deviates from the conventions in the title of this page. In both styles, V and AMA, the last page is entitled ‘References’.
In the article by Wijeysundera et al. (2010),the references are not listed on a separate sheet and they appear listed below some complementary data on funding, competing interests, ethical approval and data sharing. The numbering of the references seems to comply with the requirements of V and AMA styles in which “(…) the references are listed by number [a superscript Arabic numeral – my addition], in order of appearance within the text, not alphabetically. Each reference is listed once only, since the same number is used throughout the paper.” (Learning Resources Centre, n.d., p.1) Within each reference authors are not listed alphabetically either.
Reference number 1 reads as follows: Devereaux PJ, Goldman L, Cook DJ, Gilbert K, Leslie K, Guyatt GH. This example illustrates the point mentioned above and also shows that the position of periods and commas after last names and initials differs from the conventions in APA style. Moreover, in AMA and V styles semicolons are placed after the of journals´ publication year. Colons are placed between the volume number and supplement number – issue number or page number/s. i.e : CMAJ 2005;173:627-34.
All in all, it may be noted that the Research Article (RA) by Wijeysundera, Beattie, Elliot, Austin, Hux & Laupacis (2010) complies with the common underlying structures for research writing in the medicine field and is aligned with the scientific protocol of medicine RAs.
References
AMA Citation style: a Concise guide.[online notes] Retrieved May 25th, 2010 from www.amastyle.org
Learning Resource Centre.- references according to the Vancouver style .[online notes] Retrieved May 25th, 2010 from file:///F:/References%20Vancouver%20Style.htm
Pintos, V. & Crimi, Y. (2010) Unit 3- Lengua Especializada II. UNVIERSIDAD CAECE. Retrieved from www.caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar
Wijeysundera,D.N., Beattie, W.S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P.C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2010). Non – invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non –cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ, 340 (b5526), 1-9.doi:10.1136/bmj.b5526
Jul 8, 2010
The Research Article: Contrastive Analysis of Abstracts. Part III
Summaries are common in all kinds of writing. They highlight the major points in a piece and outline the significant details. In academic writing, papers also begin with a summary which receives the name of abstract. On average, abstracts have a fairly standard form, but, according to their type, they may also show some differences. According to Swales and Feak (1994, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010), there are RP abstracts and conference abstracts. “ For the first type of abstract, there is a text to work from, the one you have already written, whereas for the second type, there may or may not be a text to refer back” (Pintos and Crimi, 2010, p.12). In this paper, abstracts from four different articles in the medicine field, three from The British Medical Journal (BMJ) and one from The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), will be analyzed on a comparison-contrast basis.
The BMJ articles share the same appearance layout as the three of them are written in two text columns . The Abstract (A) section is on the left , its heading written in colour block letters.This section is all written in Arial font , whereas the rest of the sections in the paper are written in Times New Roman. This may be the pattern for BMJ´s requirements regarding abstracts submission. They are informative structured abstracts with bolded subheadings that , on average, identify the main sections in the RA. However, there are some differences regarding the addition of a ‘Main outcome measure’ subheading in two of the articles. This insertion may be due to the relevance of the outcome in the research carried out. This subsection does not contain a sentence but a phrase instead. This characteristic does not seem to be in keeping with one of the linguistic specifications of abstracts provided by Graetz (1985, cited in Swales & Feak,1998, p.212, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) which states that full sentence should be used. All the other subheadings – Objective(O), Design(D), Setting(S), Participants(P), Results(R), Conclusions(C) - are full sentences. However , the O sentence is grammatically different from the rest because it starts with a full infinitive , typical of sentence in these sections.
The three articles follow the results-driven approach (Swales & Feak, 1994, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) with an outstanding longer ‘Results’ subsection. Conversely, some differences among the three articles can be observed. In the article by Jorgensen, Zahl, & Gotzsche (2010) and Wijeysundera, et al. (2010) the description of results takes up five sentences . The information in them is full of numerals and abbreviations. Conversely, the article by Martinez, Assimes, Mines, Dell´Aniello & Suissa (2010) contains a shorter ‘Results’ subsection but the numerals refer to the number of participants in the study. This might be the reason why the ‘Participants’ (P) subsection is longer. The researchers might have felt the need to include P´s infortmation to support the results obtained. A feature that all the other subsections share in the three articles share is that they remain relatively short, made up of one or two sentences.
Regarding voice, it may be stated that passive voice constitutes the pattern with the highest frequency of usage throughout . But, it can also be noted that, in the article by Martinez, Assimes, Mines, Dell´Aniello & Suissa (2010) and in the article by Jorgensen, Zahl, & Gotzsche (2010) there exist some sentences with the pronoun ‘we’ functioning as subject . Passive voice usage has been controversial in the medicine field for long. As Pintos & Crimi (2010) point out “ In medicine, when the agent is not stated, there is no one to take responsibility for the actions that are carried out. This lack of responsibility is one of the reasons [ why ] medical writers are told to avoid the passive. Another reason is that in medicine , physicians tend to overuse the passive , thus making the text seem artificially formal and uninteresting” ( p.39 ).
“(…) Traditionally, the American Psychological Association ( APA) dictated that academic writing had to be carried out in an impersonal form, not using the pronouns “I” or “We”. Nevertheless, one of the major changes in APA format is that, in a co-authored paper you can use ‘I’ or ‘We’ ” (p. 40 ). It might be that researchers alternate in the use of active ‘we’ and passive voice to make their work accessible to a wider audience without losing the formality achieved by passive voice usage.
The BMJ articles meet the requirements proposed by Graetz (1985, cited in Swales, 1990, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) concerning past tense usage. Swales (1990, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) argues that RP abstracts are characterized by the use of past tense. Almost all the sentences, whether active or passive, are written in the past tense because they refer to the research previously carried out. It is the usual tense in these type of abstracts. Conversely, proposal abstracts “should be written in the future form because the reasearch has not been implemented yet”. (Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p. 37 )
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) article , in contrast to the BMJ articles, has a different appearance layout. The word ‘abstract’ is centered and written in black block letters.The subheadings in the section are also written in block letters, but in colour and left aligned. The arrangement text is also a double columned one , but the text is written on the left , in Times New Roman font and the footnotes, written in Arial smaller font, occupy the right column. It also differs from the BMJ articles in the subheadings´ tittles. The NEJM article is subdivided into : Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions. The Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussions (IMRAD) formula may be more clearly distinguished in this article than in the BMJs´.
Full sentences have been used in all the subsections . The Background and Methods sections are made up of two sentences each. The Results section comprises the longest section running along sentences. The shortest one is the Conclusions section which has only one sentence. The Results section outstands as the longest portion, full of numerals which might make it difficult for someone not related to the field to understand the core information. It might not be the case for someone acquainted to the medical field.
The BMJ and NEJM articles alternate in the use of passive and active voices. In the NEJM article, the verb “to be” has a high frequency of usage , especially in the past tense and in the Results section.There is also tense mobility with a sequence of Present (Present Perfect tense) Past and Present (Simple Present tense) times. The present perfect tense has been used in the Background section, the simple past tense in the Methods and Results section and, the simple present tense in the Conclusions section.
All in all, it may be claimed that although the format of abstracts in the medicine field presents variations depending on the journals´ requirements because they may prefer to publish their research according to different patterns, there are similar linguistic features that all of them share regarding the use of full sentences, past tenses, active and passive voices, numbers and abbreviations. Writing an efficient abstract may represent hard work but the effort will find its reward when members of the discourse community are enticed to read one´s publications.
References
Becket, N., Peters, R., Fletcher, A., Staessen,J., Liu,L., Dumitrascu, D., et al. (2008). Treatment of Hypertension in Patients 80 of age or older. The New England Journal of Medicine. 358(18), 1887-1898. Retrieved June 22nd , 2010 from www.caececampus universidad.com
Jorgensen, K., Zahl, P-H., & Gotzsche, P. (2010) Breast Cancer mortality in organised mammography screening in Denmark: comparative study. BMJ 2010 340(1241), 1- 6 . doi:10-1136/bmj.c1241
Martinez, C., Assimes, T., Mines, D., Dell´aniello, S., & Suissa, S. (2010) Use of venlafaxine compared with other antidepressants and the risk of sudden cardiac death or near death: a nested case-control study. BMJ 2010 340(249), 1- 9. doi:10.1136/bmj.c249
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 4. Research Articles: Abstracts. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE.
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
Wijeysundera,D.N., Beattie, W.S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P.C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2010). Non – invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non –cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ 2010, 340(b5526) 1 - 9. doi:10.1136/bmj.b5526
The BMJ articles share the same appearance layout as the three of them are written in two text columns . The Abstract (A) section is on the left , its heading written in colour block letters.This section is all written in Arial font , whereas the rest of the sections in the paper are written in Times New Roman. This may be the pattern for BMJ´s requirements regarding abstracts submission. They are informative structured abstracts with bolded subheadings that , on average, identify the main sections in the RA. However, there are some differences regarding the addition of a ‘Main outcome measure’ subheading in two of the articles. This insertion may be due to the relevance of the outcome in the research carried out. This subsection does not contain a sentence but a phrase instead. This characteristic does not seem to be in keeping with one of the linguistic specifications of abstracts provided by Graetz (1985, cited in Swales & Feak,1998, p.212, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) which states that full sentence should be used. All the other subheadings – Objective(O), Design(D), Setting(S), Participants(P), Results(R), Conclusions(C) - are full sentences. However , the O sentence is grammatically different from the rest because it starts with a full infinitive , typical of sentence in these sections.
The three articles follow the results-driven approach (Swales & Feak, 1994, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) with an outstanding longer ‘Results’ subsection. Conversely, some differences among the three articles can be observed. In the article by Jorgensen, Zahl, & Gotzsche (2010) and Wijeysundera, et al. (2010) the description of results takes up five sentences . The information in them is full of numerals and abbreviations. Conversely, the article by Martinez, Assimes, Mines, Dell´Aniello & Suissa (2010) contains a shorter ‘Results’ subsection but the numerals refer to the number of participants in the study. This might be the reason why the ‘Participants’ (P) subsection is longer. The researchers might have felt the need to include P´s infortmation to support the results obtained. A feature that all the other subsections share in the three articles share is that they remain relatively short, made up of one or two sentences.
Regarding voice, it may be stated that passive voice constitutes the pattern with the highest frequency of usage throughout . But, it can also be noted that, in the article by Martinez, Assimes, Mines, Dell´Aniello & Suissa (2010) and in the article by Jorgensen, Zahl, & Gotzsche (2010) there exist some sentences with the pronoun ‘we’ functioning as subject . Passive voice usage has been controversial in the medicine field for long. As Pintos & Crimi (2010) point out “ In medicine, when the agent is not stated, there is no one to take responsibility for the actions that are carried out. This lack of responsibility is one of the reasons [ why ] medical writers are told to avoid the passive. Another reason is that in medicine , physicians tend to overuse the passive , thus making the text seem artificially formal and uninteresting” ( p.39 ).
“(…) Traditionally, the American Psychological Association ( APA) dictated that academic writing had to be carried out in an impersonal form, not using the pronouns “I” or “We”. Nevertheless, one of the major changes in APA format is that, in a co-authored paper you can use ‘I’ or ‘We’ ” (p. 40 ). It might be that researchers alternate in the use of active ‘we’ and passive voice to make their work accessible to a wider audience without losing the formality achieved by passive voice usage.
The BMJ articles meet the requirements proposed by Graetz (1985, cited in Swales, 1990, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) concerning past tense usage. Swales (1990, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) argues that RP abstracts are characterized by the use of past tense. Almost all the sentences, whether active or passive, are written in the past tense because they refer to the research previously carried out. It is the usual tense in these type of abstracts. Conversely, proposal abstracts “should be written in the future form because the reasearch has not been implemented yet”. (Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p. 37 )
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) article , in contrast to the BMJ articles, has a different appearance layout. The word ‘abstract’ is centered and written in black block letters.The subheadings in the section are also written in block letters, but in colour and left aligned. The arrangement text is also a double columned one , but the text is written on the left , in Times New Roman font and the footnotes, written in Arial smaller font, occupy the right column. It also differs from the BMJ articles in the subheadings´ tittles. The NEJM article is subdivided into : Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions. The Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussions (IMRAD) formula may be more clearly distinguished in this article than in the BMJs´.
Full sentences have been used in all the subsections . The Background and Methods sections are made up of two sentences each. The Results section comprises the longest section running along sentences. The shortest one is the Conclusions section which has only one sentence. The Results section outstands as the longest portion, full of numerals which might make it difficult for someone not related to the field to understand the core information. It might not be the case for someone acquainted to the medical field.
The BMJ and NEJM articles alternate in the use of passive and active voices. In the NEJM article, the verb “to be” has a high frequency of usage , especially in the past tense and in the Results section.There is also tense mobility with a sequence of Present (Present Perfect tense) Past and Present (Simple Present tense) times. The present perfect tense has been used in the Background section, the simple past tense in the Methods and Results section and, the simple present tense in the Conclusions section.
All in all, it may be claimed that although the format of abstracts in the medicine field presents variations depending on the journals´ requirements because they may prefer to publish their research according to different patterns, there are similar linguistic features that all of them share regarding the use of full sentences, past tenses, active and passive voices, numbers and abbreviations. Writing an efficient abstract may represent hard work but the effort will find its reward when members of the discourse community are enticed to read one´s publications.
References
Becket, N., Peters, R., Fletcher, A., Staessen,J., Liu,L., Dumitrascu, D., et al. (2008). Treatment of Hypertension in Patients 80 of age or older. The New England Journal of Medicine. 358(18), 1887-1898. Retrieved June 22nd , 2010 from www.caececampus universidad.com
Jorgensen, K., Zahl, P-H., & Gotzsche, P. (2010) Breast Cancer mortality in organised mammography screening in Denmark: comparative study. BMJ 2010 340(1241), 1- 6 . doi:10-1136/bmj.c1241
Martinez, C., Assimes, T., Mines, D., Dell´aniello, S., & Suissa, S. (2010) Use of venlafaxine compared with other antidepressants and the risk of sudden cardiac death or near death: a nested case-control study. BMJ 2010 340(249), 1- 9. doi:10.1136/bmj.c249
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 4. Research Articles: Abstracts. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE.
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
Wijeysundera,D.N., Beattie, W.S., Elliot, R.F., Austin, P.C., Hux, J.E., & Laupacis, A. (2010). Non – invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non –cardiac surgery: Population based cohort study. BMJ 2010, 340(b5526) 1 - 9. doi:10.1136/bmj.b5526
The Research Article: Contrastive Analysis of Results, Discussions & Conclusions sections. Part II
In the research arena information is supposed to follow an organization aligned to the conventions of the scientific protocol. Research in the field of education, if compared to other sciences, is a relatively recent activity. As I have previously discussed, it has flourished since the last decade with the launch of university courses for teachers. There was no research history in the field of education in our country due to the absence of scientific treatment of the profession. Medical Science, on the contrary, has a solid history of research writing and may be considered the most loyal adherent to scientific protocols due to its long history of evolution from the experimental reports. As is often the case, medicine research papers serve for models of research writing in other fields. “As is well known, certain groups in the social or behavior sciences have tried, with varying degrees of success, to adopt and adapt the hard science paradigm” (Swales, 1990, p.175).
Nwogu (1997) notes that “as with most experimental research reports, the medical research paper is a highly technical form with a standard format for the presentation of information. This format is the division of the paper into "Introduction [(I)], Methods [(M)], Results [(R)] and Discussion[(D)]" - the traditional IMRD sections of the research paper” (p.119). However, Swales (1990) believes that the RD patterns are in an exploratory phase. On the arrangement of section labels he comments that “ [e]ven if a majority of RAs have closing Results and Discussion sections, others coalesce the two, while even others have additional or substituted sections labeled Conclusions, Implications or Applications and so on” (Swales,1990, p.170).
Regarding Discussions sections Belanger (1982, cited in Swales, 1990) proposes certain cycling movements within the subsection that confirm Peng´s (1987 , cited in Swales, 1990) and Hopkins & Dudley- Evans´ (1988, cited in Swales, 1990) 11- Move schemes. Swales (1990), however, glosses the scheme in eight moves: (1) Background information, (2) Statement of results, (3) (Un)expected outcome, (4) Reference to previous research, (5) Explanation, (6) Exemplification, (7) Deduction and Hypothesis , (8) Recommendation (pp. 172-173). This paper aims at analyzing the Results, Discussions and Conclusions sections on a corpus of two Research Articles (RA), one in the medicine field ( Gardiner, Owen, Sugiyama & Vandelanotte , 2009) and the other in the field of education (Loucky , 2007) in order to illustrate the similarities and differences of RAs in both fields.
An analysis of the layout of both papers shows that they are divided into subsections following the IMRD model with some variations. The article by Gardiner, Owen, Sugiyama & Vandelanotte ( 2009) has a R section subdivided into four subsections and a D section which includes some recommendations and a conclusion. On the other hand, the RA on education (Loucky, 2007) has two additional subsections – (1)Results, (2)Discussion & Pedagogical Implications, (3) Conclusions and (4)Research Recommendations. In the education RA the Recommendations section appear after the Conclusion, but, in the medical paper, the recommendations form part of one of the moves in the ‘Discussions’ section.
For Pintos & Crimi (2010) “[d]epending on the kind of research, the results section may be isolated from the discussed section or it may be integrated together. Thus, RA writers may opt to write first the results, (…) or describe the results and discuss them in the same section. You may find different structures with many different purposes.” (p.18). Nwogu (1997) also points out the notion of structure, but he relates it more to the internal organization within each subsection. He observes that “[m]ost research article writers are familiar with the IMRD format, but not all are conscious of the fact that there exists an internal ordering of the information presented in the various sections of the research article” (p.119). It may be stated that Nwogu´s notion of internal structure should be taken into consideration in order to produce clear, coherent and logically organized research reports.
For the Results section writers not only appeal to description of outcomes but they also make use of visual devices that can compact a wide range of information within a limited space. According to Crimi & Pintos (2010) tables and figures are used in papers “(…) to describe the results of statistical analysis or pertinent quantitative data” (p.22) In both papers these devices are introduced in the R sections.
In the article on education (Loucky, 2007) there is one one table which does not totally fulfill the American Psychological Association (APA) conventions. The APA (2007, cited in Crimi & Pintos, 2010, p.23) “ (…) establishes certain basic rules, [some of them are] :(1) all tables should be numbered, (2) each table should have an individual title, (3) all elements of the table should be double spaced, (4) all tables should be referenced at the end of the paper, (4) no vertical lines can be used to separate information and (5) each table should begin on a separate page”. Although the table mentioned above is numbered, the elements on the table are not double spaced or referenced at the end of the paper. The table does not begin on a separate page. Although there are no vertical lines separating information, and this is in keeping with APA conventions, the absence of lines may make the table rather confusing.
In the medical RA there are two tables and one figure. The size of them all is very small, making them unreadable in the present screen format. Below each tables and figure there´s a hyperlink between square brackets – [view the table] - that allows the reader to view the table/figure after clicking on it. A tentative explanation could be that the article might not be originally intended for paper format, as is often the case with articles having hyperlinks. The figure is a 3D column bar with general notes on its right that explains the symbols, abbreviations and references, but, there is no word Note preceding the information.
Regarding internal unity in the Discussions section, the medical article (Gardiner, Owen, Sugiyama & Vandelanotte, 2009) validates the 11-Move model (Peng, 1987, cited in Swales 1990 ) (Hopkins and Dudley- Evans, 1988, cited in Swales, 1990) or 8-Move model (Swales, 1990) (Nwogu, 1987). The section contains eight paragraphs. The first two paragraphs redescribe the main findings. Paragraph 3 reveals the unexpected outcome. Paragraphs 4 and 5 make refer to fig. 1 deals with previous research and provide explanation. Paragraph 6 deals with some recommendations. Paragraph 7 handles the limitations of the study and the last paragraph discusses the conclusion.
The article on education (Loucky, 1987) does not seem to follow Swales´ (1990) or Nwogu´s (1987) model for the Discussions section. It is labeled “Discussion and Pedagogical implications” and it only contains one short paragraph. The conclusion and recommendations are isolated in different subsection headings. These subsections appear to be larger than the conclusion and far more content-comprehensive. As Pintos and Crimi (2010) have stated “The first part of a discussion section serves the function of restating the key findings with reference to the initial question(s) or hypothesis, as well as reminding the reader of the overall aim of the study” (p.20). None of these features can be traced in the section being analyzed. The information provided is vague and all the features proposed by Crimi & Pintos (2010) take place in the Conclusions and Research Recommendations sections.
By and large, it may be assumed that the corpus of the present analysis bears some similarities and differences. Both of them are divided into subsections, although with minor differences in the subdivisions. Both of them contain figures and/or tables in the Results section to display statistical outcomes. However, they differ in the content organization and internal unity. The article by Loucky (1987) does not follow the highly technical standard format for the presentation of information that the medical RA does. As it has been previously pointed out in the introduction, medicine research papers still seem to serve for models of research writing in other fields, but, as Swales (1990) wisely commented “[f]inally, there is an element of irony in a situation wherein social scientists are engaged in a cognitive and rhetorical of method at a time when their mentors in the hard sciences are beginning, rhetorically at least, to downgrade its importance” (p.176).
References
Gardiner, P., Owen, N., Sugiyama, T., & Vandelanotte, C. (2009). Associations of Leisure-Time Internet and Computer Use with Overweight and Obesity, Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors: Cross-Sectional Study. J Med Internet Res, 2009. 11(3): e 28. http://www.jmir.org/2009/3e28/. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1084
Loucky, J. (2007). Improving Online Reading and Vocabulary Development. KASELE Bulletin, 35, 181-188. Retrieved April, 2010 from www.caececampusuniversidad.com.ar
Nwogu, K. (1997). The Medical Research Paper: Structure and Functions. English for Specific Purposes, 16(2), 119-138. Retrieved June, 2010 from www.sciencedirect.com
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 3. The Research Article: Results, Discussions, and Conclusions. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE.
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Pre
Nwogu (1997) notes that “as with most experimental research reports, the medical research paper is a highly technical form with a standard format for the presentation of information. This format is the division of the paper into "Introduction [(I)], Methods [(M)], Results [(R)] and Discussion[(D)]" - the traditional IMRD sections of the research paper” (p.119). However, Swales (1990) believes that the RD patterns are in an exploratory phase. On the arrangement of section labels he comments that “ [e]ven if a majority of RAs have closing Results and Discussion sections, others coalesce the two, while even others have additional or substituted sections labeled Conclusions, Implications or Applications and so on” (Swales,1990, p.170).
Regarding Discussions sections Belanger (1982, cited in Swales, 1990) proposes certain cycling movements within the subsection that confirm Peng´s (1987 , cited in Swales, 1990) and Hopkins & Dudley- Evans´ (1988, cited in Swales, 1990) 11- Move schemes. Swales (1990), however, glosses the scheme in eight moves: (1) Background information, (2) Statement of results, (3) (Un)expected outcome, (4) Reference to previous research, (5) Explanation, (6) Exemplification, (7) Deduction and Hypothesis , (8) Recommendation (pp. 172-173). This paper aims at analyzing the Results, Discussions and Conclusions sections on a corpus of two Research Articles (RA), one in the medicine field ( Gardiner, Owen, Sugiyama & Vandelanotte , 2009) and the other in the field of education (Loucky , 2007) in order to illustrate the similarities and differences of RAs in both fields.
An analysis of the layout of both papers shows that they are divided into subsections following the IMRD model with some variations. The article by Gardiner, Owen, Sugiyama & Vandelanotte ( 2009) has a R section subdivided into four subsections and a D section which includes some recommendations and a conclusion. On the other hand, the RA on education (Loucky, 2007) has two additional subsections – (1)Results, (2)Discussion & Pedagogical Implications, (3) Conclusions and (4)Research Recommendations. In the education RA the Recommendations section appear after the Conclusion, but, in the medical paper, the recommendations form part of one of the moves in the ‘Discussions’ section.
For Pintos & Crimi (2010) “[d]epending on the kind of research, the results section may be isolated from the discussed section or it may be integrated together. Thus, RA writers may opt to write first the results, (…) or describe the results and discuss them in the same section. You may find different structures with many different purposes.” (p.18). Nwogu (1997) also points out the notion of structure, but he relates it more to the internal organization within each subsection. He observes that “[m]ost research article writers are familiar with the IMRD format, but not all are conscious of the fact that there exists an internal ordering of the information presented in the various sections of the research article” (p.119). It may be stated that Nwogu´s notion of internal structure should be taken into consideration in order to produce clear, coherent and logically organized research reports.
For the Results section writers not only appeal to description of outcomes but they also make use of visual devices that can compact a wide range of information within a limited space. According to Crimi & Pintos (2010) tables and figures are used in papers “(…) to describe the results of statistical analysis or pertinent quantitative data” (p.22) In both papers these devices are introduced in the R sections.
In the article on education (Loucky, 2007) there is one one table which does not totally fulfill the American Psychological Association (APA) conventions. The APA (2007, cited in Crimi & Pintos, 2010, p.23) “ (…) establishes certain basic rules, [some of them are] :(1) all tables should be numbered, (2) each table should have an individual title, (3) all elements of the table should be double spaced, (4) all tables should be referenced at the end of the paper, (4) no vertical lines can be used to separate information and (5) each table should begin on a separate page”. Although the table mentioned above is numbered, the elements on the table are not double spaced or referenced at the end of the paper. The table does not begin on a separate page. Although there are no vertical lines separating information, and this is in keeping with APA conventions, the absence of lines may make the table rather confusing.
In the medical RA there are two tables and one figure. The size of them all is very small, making them unreadable in the present screen format. Below each tables and figure there´s a hyperlink between square brackets – [view the table] - that allows the reader to view the table/figure after clicking on it. A tentative explanation could be that the article might not be originally intended for paper format, as is often the case with articles having hyperlinks. The figure is a 3D column bar with general notes on its right that explains the symbols, abbreviations and references, but, there is no word Note preceding the information.
Regarding internal unity in the Discussions section, the medical article (Gardiner, Owen, Sugiyama & Vandelanotte, 2009) validates the 11-Move model (Peng, 1987, cited in Swales 1990 ) (Hopkins and Dudley- Evans, 1988, cited in Swales, 1990) or 8-Move model (Swales, 1990) (Nwogu, 1987). The section contains eight paragraphs. The first two paragraphs redescribe the main findings. Paragraph 3 reveals the unexpected outcome. Paragraphs 4 and 5 make refer to fig. 1 deals with previous research and provide explanation. Paragraph 6 deals with some recommendations. Paragraph 7 handles the limitations of the study and the last paragraph discusses the conclusion.
The article on education (Loucky, 1987) does not seem to follow Swales´ (1990) or Nwogu´s (1987) model for the Discussions section. It is labeled “Discussion and Pedagogical implications” and it only contains one short paragraph. The conclusion and recommendations are isolated in different subsection headings. These subsections appear to be larger than the conclusion and far more content-comprehensive. As Pintos and Crimi (2010) have stated “The first part of a discussion section serves the function of restating the key findings with reference to the initial question(s) or hypothesis, as well as reminding the reader of the overall aim of the study” (p.20). None of these features can be traced in the section being analyzed. The information provided is vague and all the features proposed by Crimi & Pintos (2010) take place in the Conclusions and Research Recommendations sections.
By and large, it may be assumed that the corpus of the present analysis bears some similarities and differences. Both of them are divided into subsections, although with minor differences in the subdivisions. Both of them contain figures and/or tables in the Results section to display statistical outcomes. However, they differ in the content organization and internal unity. The article by Loucky (1987) does not follow the highly technical standard format for the presentation of information that the medical RA does. As it has been previously pointed out in the introduction, medicine research papers still seem to serve for models of research writing in other fields, but, as Swales (1990) wisely commented “[f]inally, there is an element of irony in a situation wherein social scientists are engaged in a cognitive and rhetorical of method at a time when their mentors in the hard sciences are beginning, rhetorically at least, to downgrade its importance” (p.176).
References
Gardiner, P., Owen, N., Sugiyama, T., & Vandelanotte, C. (2009). Associations of Leisure-Time Internet and Computer Use with Overweight and Obesity, Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors: Cross-Sectional Study. J Med Internet Res, 2009. 11(3): e 28. http://www.jmir.org/2009/3e28/. doi: 10.2196/jmir.1084
Loucky, J. (2007). Improving Online Reading and Vocabulary Development. KASELE Bulletin, 35, 181-188. Retrieved April, 2010 from www.caececampusuniversidad.com.ar
Nwogu, K. (1997). The Medical Research Paper: Structure and Functions. English for Specific Purposes, 16(2), 119-138. Retrieved June, 2010 from www.sciencedirect.com
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA INGLESA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 3. The Research Article: Results, Discussions, and Conclusions. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE.
Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Pre
The Research Article : Contrastive Analysis of Introduction and Methods sections . Part I
Research in the field of Education has flourished since the last decade with the launch of university courses for teachers. There was no research history in the field of education in our country due to absence of scientific treatment of the profession and the prevailing local academic culture which used to be mainly oral (Kandel, cited in Banfi, 2009 , discussion section). In the past few years, when universities launched complementary courses for teachers, access to systematic, controlled , empiric and critical (Sampieri, Collado and Lucio, 1998, cited in Pintos and Crimi, 2010) ways of presenting written information was gained , providing alignment with the Social Sciences, thus giving English Language Teaching (ELT) a professional status, “(…) not just in terms of the definition of profession, but as regards the academic discipline” (Banfi, 2009).
This paper aims at analysing the introduction and methods´ section of two Research Articles (RA) in the fields of medicine and education, in order to illustrate the similarities in the written presentation of research that both disciplines share and to highlight some differences inherent to each of them. For the following analysis the two articles were selected : one in the field of medicine (Gardiner, Owen, Sugiyama & Vandelanotte, 2009) and the other in the field of education( Loucky, 2007). Both papers will be analysed following the guidelines offered by the tutors of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in The Research Article: Introduction, Literature Review and Method sections ( Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
Analysis of the Introduction Sections (IS)
Regarding the IS, it can be stated that the two articles evidence different layouts. The medicine article follows neatly and orderly the three moves proposed by Pintos & Crimi (2010). The first two paragraphs take up Move 1 (M1). The negative opening “However” marks the beginning of Move 2 (M2) which runs along three paragraphs. Move 3 (M3), starting in paragraph 6, states the aim of the study which starts with the purposive statement “The aim of this study is (…)”
The Literature Review (LR) is not structured separately from the (IS), but it is included in the first and third paragraphs of M2.
“However, most of the evidence on associations between sedentary behavior and health outcomes, such as weight status and levels of physical activity, is specific to time spent on watching television [5,6,8,10,12], which is the most commonly (…)” (para 1, Introd. Section). “(…) A study by Sugiyama et al. [22] demonstrated that, in women, time spent watching TV (…)” (para 3 , Introd. Section)
In the first paragraph, the past studies are referenced parenthetically, the numbers corresponding to the order of mention of sources in the References List (RL). In the second case the mention of the past study is done by means of an in-text citation. As the article is not written in APA style, the number after the author´s name is not the year of publication ,but , the order of mention in the RL.
Regarding the main grammatical features, it can be mentioned that the tenses used in the different moves run along the lines of those proposed by Crimi and Pintos (2010) in the grammar and Mechanics Section (p. 29).
The Present Perfect Tense is used in paragraph 1, followed by the use of the Present Passive in paragraph 2. M2 (para. 3, 4 & 5) alternate the use of The Present Simple Tense, in active and passive voices and The Present Perfect Tense in active voice. The purposive statement in M3 is written in the Present.
In the education article, the three moves are not clearly distinguished and the article is not structured following the characteristics proposed by Crimi & Pintos (2010) (pp. 28-31). The IS takes up only one paragraph and the LR stands in isolation as a separate section. The IS is all a descriptive statement , giving , first, the participants standpoint , moving afterwards to the explanation of what the study consisted of , and finishing by describing the aim using the strange pattern “ We show the students how to use WordChamp.com for improving their vocabulary learning and comprehension of any online reading (…)” (lines 6-8 , Introd. Section). The reading of the Abstract was necessary to fully comprehend the meaning of the study. There is no negative opening indicating the beginning of M2 and the purposive statement is included in the Abstract, not in the ‘Introduction’.
As for the grammatical features in the introduction section of this article, it is noticed that there is alternation in the use of Present and Past Tenses. The tenses used in the LR include The Present Perfect and The Simple Past. There is a shift to the Present tense at the end of the paragraph when the students´ and teachers´ needs –gaps- are expressed.
Examples of the issue previously explained are: “Grabe (1991) developed some useful guidelines for reading programs” (line 1, LR section). “ As Rosszell (2006) has written, ER+ is proposed as a more effective alternative to ER, and one which enabled learners” (line 5, LR section). “But both teachers and students need clear guidance in how to analyze any scanned or online text into programs (…)” (line 9, LR section)
Analysis of the Methods Sections (MS)
In both articles, the MS is brief and they also share the fact that they include the heading “Participants and Procedures”. In the case of the article on medicine, the information of the participants and the procedures is all together in one paragraph under the subheading “Participants and Procedures”. However, in the article on education there exists some information about the procedures, as a form of introduction , and then , the subheading “Participants and Procedures” is followed by information on the participants and an enlargement of the procedures previously introduced .
As regards the grammatical features of the two articles, a difference in the use of tenses along the MS can be pointed out. The medicine article starts the section in the Present Tense but shifts to the Past Tense, in active and passive voices, to explain the procedures. On the contrary, the article on education, the IORVD article, follows a strange pattern. The introduction starts in the Present Passive and shifts to Past Passive in the last sentences. But, the section under the sub-heading “Participants and Procedures” is not structured in sentences, but in phrases instead for the participants´ information. The rest of the paragraph is a piece of advice to help in the achievement of the aim.
Conclusion
All things considered, it can be assumed that the article on education attempts to meet the requirements of a RA , but when compared and contrasted to an article in the medicine field , it deviates from the scientific protocol , so usual in medicine RAs. However, the introduction of “Metodología de la Investigación” in university courses will help teachers and researchers in education achieve excellence in research writing.
References
Banfi ,C. (2009). Cristina Banfi´s page. Retrieved from http://www.cristinabanfi .com.ar/formacion.html
Gardiner, P., Owen, N., Sugiyama, T. & Vandelanotte, C., (2009) Associations of Leisure-Time Internet and Computer Use With Overweight and Obesity, Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors: Cross-Sectional Study. J Med Internet Res, 2009. 11(3): e 28. http://www.jmir.org/2009/3e28/. DOI: 10.2196/jmir.1084
Kandel, A. Cristina banfi´s page (2009) Retrieved from http://guilders.ning.com /forum/topics/publish-or-perish-in-the-elt?id=3318232%3A Topic%3A101&page=2#comments
Loucky, J., (2007). Improving Online Reading and Vocabulary Development . KASELE Bulletin, (35) (pp 181-188) Retrieved from www.caececampusuniversidad. com.ar
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 2 . The Research Article: Introductions, Literature Review and Method Sections. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE .
This paper aims at analysing the introduction and methods´ section of two Research Articles (RA) in the fields of medicine and education, in order to illustrate the similarities in the written presentation of research that both disciplines share and to highlight some differences inherent to each of them. For the following analysis the two articles were selected : one in the field of medicine (Gardiner, Owen, Sugiyama & Vandelanotte, 2009) and the other in the field of education( Loucky, 2007). Both papers will be analysed following the guidelines offered by the tutors of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in The Research Article: Introduction, Literature Review and Method sections ( Pintos & Crimi, 2010).
Analysis of the Introduction Sections (IS)
Regarding the IS, it can be stated that the two articles evidence different layouts. The medicine article follows neatly and orderly the three moves proposed by Pintos & Crimi (2010). The first two paragraphs take up Move 1 (M1). The negative opening “However” marks the beginning of Move 2 (M2) which runs along three paragraphs. Move 3 (M3), starting in paragraph 6, states the aim of the study which starts with the purposive statement “The aim of this study is (…)”
The Literature Review (LR) is not structured separately from the (IS), but it is included in the first and third paragraphs of M2.
“However, most of the evidence on associations between sedentary behavior and health outcomes, such as weight status and levels of physical activity, is specific to time spent on watching television [5,6,8,10,12], which is the most commonly (…)” (para 1, Introd. Section). “(…) A study by Sugiyama et al. [22] demonstrated that, in women, time spent watching TV (…)” (para 3 , Introd. Section)
In the first paragraph, the past studies are referenced parenthetically, the numbers corresponding to the order of mention of sources in the References List (RL). In the second case the mention of the past study is done by means of an in-text citation. As the article is not written in APA style, the number after the author´s name is not the year of publication ,but , the order of mention in the RL.
Regarding the main grammatical features, it can be mentioned that the tenses used in the different moves run along the lines of those proposed by Crimi and Pintos (2010) in the grammar and Mechanics Section (p. 29).
The Present Perfect Tense is used in paragraph 1, followed by the use of the Present Passive in paragraph 2. M2 (para. 3, 4 & 5) alternate the use of The Present Simple Tense, in active and passive voices and The Present Perfect Tense in active voice. The purposive statement in M3 is written in the Present.
In the education article, the three moves are not clearly distinguished and the article is not structured following the characteristics proposed by Crimi & Pintos (2010) (pp. 28-31). The IS takes up only one paragraph and the LR stands in isolation as a separate section. The IS is all a descriptive statement , giving , first, the participants standpoint , moving afterwards to the explanation of what the study consisted of , and finishing by describing the aim using the strange pattern “ We show the students how to use WordChamp.com for improving their vocabulary learning and comprehension of any online reading (…)” (lines 6-8 , Introd. Section). The reading of the Abstract was necessary to fully comprehend the meaning of the study. There is no negative opening indicating the beginning of M2 and the purposive statement is included in the Abstract, not in the ‘Introduction’.
As for the grammatical features in the introduction section of this article, it is noticed that there is alternation in the use of Present and Past Tenses. The tenses used in the LR include The Present Perfect and The Simple Past. There is a shift to the Present tense at the end of the paragraph when the students´ and teachers´ needs –gaps- are expressed.
Examples of the issue previously explained are: “Grabe (1991) developed some useful guidelines for reading programs” (line 1, LR section). “ As Rosszell (2006) has written, ER+ is proposed as a more effective alternative to ER, and one which enabled learners” (line 5, LR section). “But both teachers and students need clear guidance in how to analyze any scanned or online text into programs (…)” (line 9, LR section)
Analysis of the Methods Sections (MS)
In both articles, the MS is brief and they also share the fact that they include the heading “Participants and Procedures”. In the case of the article on medicine, the information of the participants and the procedures is all together in one paragraph under the subheading “Participants and Procedures”. However, in the article on education there exists some information about the procedures, as a form of introduction , and then , the subheading “Participants and Procedures” is followed by information on the participants and an enlargement of the procedures previously introduced .
As regards the grammatical features of the two articles, a difference in the use of tenses along the MS can be pointed out. The medicine article starts the section in the Present Tense but shifts to the Past Tense, in active and passive voices, to explain the procedures. On the contrary, the article on education, the IORVD article, follows a strange pattern. The introduction starts in the Present Passive and shifts to Past Passive in the last sentences. But, the section under the sub-heading “Participants and Procedures” is not structured in sentences, but in phrases instead for the participants´ information. The rest of the paragraph is a piece of advice to help in the achievement of the aim.
Conclusion
All things considered, it can be assumed that the article on education attempts to meet the requirements of a RA , but when compared and contrasted to an article in the medicine field , it deviates from the scientific protocol , so usual in medicine RAs. However, the introduction of “Metodología de la Investigación” in university courses will help teachers and researchers in education achieve excellence in research writing.
References
Banfi ,C. (2009). Cristina Banfi´s page. Retrieved from http://www.cristinabanfi .com.ar/formacion.html
Gardiner, P., Owen, N., Sugiyama, T. & Vandelanotte, C., (2009) Associations of Leisure-Time Internet and Computer Use With Overweight and Obesity, Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors: Cross-Sectional Study. J Med Internet Res, 2009. 11(3): e 28. http://www.jmir.org/2009/3e28/. DOI: 10.2196/jmir.1084
Kandel, A. Cristina banfi´s page (2009) Retrieved from http://guilders.ning.com /forum/topics/publish-or-perish-in-the-elt?id=3318232%3A Topic%3A101&page=2#comments
Loucky, J., (2007). Improving Online Reading and Vocabulary Development . KASELE Bulletin, (35) (pp 181-188) Retrieved from www.caececampusuniversidad. com.ar
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). LENGUA ESPECIALIZADA II. Unit 2 . The Research Article: Introductions, Literature Review and Method Sections. UNIVERSIDAD CAECE .
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)