Academic Reading and Writing

M.Sc. Lourdes Aguas

maguas302@puce.edu.ec

Classroom rules
Punctuality: Once the door is closed, students will
not be allowed in the classroom
Attendance : It is the students responsibility to be
up-to-date/informed.
Watch out: absences towards the end of the semester

Respect:
To be present in mind and body
No cell-phones, laptops and tablets
Bibliographic references
Power point presentations (once a Unit is finished)
Essays: 1) Time to write; 2) Quality not quatity

Classroom rules
The importance of reading and class participation
- workshop
Academic dishonesty
Students work submission = paper + digital
Grade + observations on paper
Deadlines cannot be changed

Students representative
Photocopies and materialBook and a folder with
photocopies (some of the photocopies are used
for different exercise)

Required bibliography
Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue (2006): Writing
Academic English. Pearson, Longman. Fourth
Edition.
Chapters: 1 9

When the time comes it is mandatory to

bring the book to class

Other bibliography
Ruth Spack (2000): Guidelines. A cross-cultural
reading/writing text. Cambridge University
Press. Second edition.
Ilona Leki (2000): Academic Writing. Exploring
Processes
and
Strategies.
Cambridge
University Press. Second edition.
Kathy Cox and David Hill (2011): English for
Academic Purposes. Pearson, Longman.
Second Edition.

Academic reading and writing

Academic = From Ancient Greek (Akadmia)
The place where Plato taught.
The school for advanced education.
A society of learned persons organized to advance
art, science, or literature.

Your contribution to a larger conversation

Academic reading and writing

1. Analyze and evaluate academic texts with
comprehension and critical attention.
2. Express information and ideas in academic
writing clearly, relevantly and logically.

I am not a good writer

It is so hard
It is so frustrating

Its about working on it (time and attention)

Pleasure in the craft

Introducing ourselves
Mention 1 example of a good piece of writing
author(s) of: an article, a book, an essay, etc
What interests me about a piece of writing?

Unit 1: Academic reading

Reading/Writing strategies
Spack (2000): Guidelines. A cross-cultural reading/writing text

Sydney Harris What true education should

do
American Journalist, Lecturer, Scholar and member
of the Panel of American Heritage Dictionary.
(1917-1986)
His articles were sold to a number of newspapers
for simultaneous publication (US and Canada)
Aphorism use
A short saying expressing a general truth

E.g. Easier said than done

Sydney Harris (1964) What true education

should do
Before reading, write for several of minutes
about the following topic:

What does true education mean to me?

Share what you think with your classmates

Academic Reading
Speed-reading techniques.
SCANNING

SKIMMING

It is a reading method
where you look over a text
and search for certain and
specific information.
You do not try to read every
word.
You look (scan) for words
you need.

It is a method of rapidly
moving the eyes over text
with the purpose of getting
only the main ideas and a
general overview of the
content.
Pre-reading: general pic.
Reviewing
Reading quickly

Steps in skimming an article

Read the title (shortest possible summary of the
content)
Read the introduction or lead-in paragraph.
Read the first and last paragraph completely.
If there are subheadings, read each one, looking
for relationships among them.
Read the first sentence of each remaining
paragraph.
a. The main idea of most paragraphs appears in the first
sentence.
b. If the author's pattern is to begin with a question or
anecdote, you may find the last sentence more valuable.

Steps in skimming an article

Dip into the text looking for:
a. Clue words
b. Proper nouns
c. Unusual words, especially if capitalized
d. Enumerations
e. Qualifying adjectives (best, worst, most, etc.)
f. Typographical cues--italics, boldface,
underlining, asterisks, etc.

Speed-reading exercise
J. Harris (1994): What true education should do
Time: 2:15 to read the entire text
Scanning: 30 sec
Why is Socrates mentioned in the article?
Skimming: 1 :30 min
What is the article about?
What does the author stress the most?

Guidelines for a first reading

Use fast reading techniques: read only enough
of the material to give you the ideas or
information you want or need.
1. Scanning: something specific to look for. E.g. a
particular quotation in a book, or specific facts and
numbers
2. Skimming: get thegist of an article. E.g. sample a
book in the library before deciding to take it out.
You alternate read and glance, and your goal is to
obtain an impression of the whole.

Reading critically
Reading not only to increase your knowledge
but also to develop your own perspective
toward the subject discussed in the text.
The challenges of reading critically include
identifying the authors key points, raising
questions about what you have read, and
determining your own point of view.

Subsequent readings
You may achieve a fuller understanding of a
reading simply by reading ir more than once.
You may be able to generate meaning by
making notations as you reread.
Defining unfamiliar words:
Underline them
Try to determine whether the word has a positive
or negative connotation
Consider how the word fits into the whole reading
Look for the definition in a dictionary

Rereading
Who is Socrates?
Classical Greek philosopher
Known by the writings of his students (E.g. Plato basis of
academia)
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
Who is William Ernst Hocking?
American philosopher (Harvard University)
An individual should develop the powers that are in him.
Who is Edith Hamilton?
German-American educator
It has always seemed strange to me that in our endless
discussions about education so little stress is laid on the
pleasure of becoming an educated person, the enormous
interest it adds to life ()

Defining unfamiliar words

For instance:
Kindle: in the context?
To start a fire

Futile: positive or negative connotation?

unable to produce any result

Dunce: positive or negative connotation?

a dull-witted or ignorant person.

Sift:
examine closely, as by separating and looking at each
part carefully

Recommended online dictionaries

www.oxforddictionaries.com
http://www.wordreference.com/
http://www.etymonline.com/
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/

Annotating
1. Express any emotion you feel in response to
what you have just read (E.g. pleasure, surprise,
anger, confusion)
2. Recall personal associations
3. Make connections with something else you have
read, heard or seen
4. Create headings to identify each section (E.g.
Summary/Reaction)
5. Mark a certain significant passage
6. Write definitions of unfamiliar words
7. Ask questions

Create headings to identify each sections (E.g.

Summary/Reaction)

Making double-entry notes to reveal a double

perspective on the reading:
1. Summary
2. Reaction/Opinion (Agree/Desagree)

Obj: Separate what you perceive the author is

saying (summary) from what you think (opinion)

Double-entry notes

Another example:

Source: University of Hartford, Department of Rhetoric, Language and Culture

(2014): How Can I Retain Information From My Sources? - Using Double-Entry Notes
Available Online: http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/rlc/usingdoublenotes.html

Double-entry notes encourage you

to do more than just copy down
information. Instead, they
encourage you to consider the
significance of the facts and ideas
immediately
Ballenger, 2011

 Your reaction can be written roughly, but it

should answer some of the following questions:
How does this info help you understand your topic
better?
How does this particular idea relate to the author's
main point?
Why do you agree or disagree with the author's
perspective?
How does this information complicate your
viewpoint?
What connections can you make to previous
research?
What directions for further research does this
information suggest?

Activity
Work your own double-entry notes
Read the annotated version of the essay (p.6
p. 7) and compare the students impression of
the essay with your own.
Discuss your responses with the class

Double entry-notes

Clustering ideas from the reading

Creating a visual pattern in order to show
significant relationships among the ideas and
details in a reading section.

J. Harris (1994): What true education should do

One example

Journal Entries

One example

Use a pseudonym: Peer - review

Peer Assessment exercise

Peer feedback is crucial to our work as writers: it helps
the writer improve his or her draft and grow as a writer,
but it also helps you, as a responder, improve your draft
and advance more generally as a writer.
Respond to one draft
Learning Objectives:

Question, analyze, evaluate the text;

Argue and support a position.
Quote.
Include an effective title.
Revise deeply and edit carefully.
Ask at least one question to the reader at the end of your
writing.
Length: 600 800 words.

Peer Assessment exercise

1. Respond to the writers Note to Readers: My Queries
2. What is the main idea that your classmate is trying to
communicate? Is that description sufficient to convey the
important features of the topic to readers who may not be
familiar with it?
3. Are there so many unconventional features in the writing
(spelling, sentence structure, vocabulary, and so on) that you
found them interfering with your reading? If so, identify these
features by underlining them so the writer can focus on it for
his or her revision.
Use the following abbreviations:
P for Punctuation mistakes
T for Typing mistakes
G for Grammar mistakes
O - Other types of mistakes.
4. What did you like best about this essay?

Kaplan R. (1966): Cultural Thought

Patterns in Intercultural Education

Pop quiz
True / False
1. Kaplan states that if you master the
mechanics of a language (grammar;
vocabulary; sentence structure) you can write
effective essays.
2. Kaplan believes that rhetoric is universal.
3. Kaplan states that each language and each
culture has a paragraph order unique to itself.

Robert D. Kaplan
American applied linguist
Started research in 1960s
Contrastive rhetoric: the study of how a
person's first language and culture influence
his or her writing in a second language.

Disorient : confusion/perplexity. To cause to lose ones

way. Literally "to turn from the east. The safest point
.

Ej: the baluba (central african tribes) confuses traffic

lights with totems

Language teaching
Mechanics:
Prescription
(instructions; rules)

?
Cultural variety
Logic

Description (definitions)

Sentence level: grammar,

vocabulary, sentence
structure

Diversity of languages
leads to a radical
relativism

Suma qamaa
Aymara world view
"El Suma qamaa es el equilibrio material y
espiritual del individuo (saber vivir) y la relacin
armoniosa del mismo con todas las formas de
existencia (convivir)"

Spirit of the people

 Basis of rhetoric = LOGIC

LOGIC is evolved out of culture (not universal)
Rhetoric is not universal
It varies from culture to culture
It varies from time to time within a given culture

For example

English language
Evolved from the Anglo-European cultural
pattern.
Platonic-Aristotelian sequence of thought
SYSTEM

Building blocks of research

Ontology

Whats out there to know? How does it exist?

Epistemology

What & how can we know about it?

Methodology
Methods

Sources

How do we acquire valid knowledge?

Which procedures can we use to acquire it?

Which data can we collect?

* Grix, J., 2004 The Foundations of Research p. 66

52

Any attempt to eliminate our

human perspective from our picture
of the world must lead to absurdity

 Writing an adequate essay in my native

language Writing an adequate essay in a
second language.

Instructors comments:
Topic out of focus
Lack of organization
Lack of cohesion

The foreign student

employs a rhetoric
and a sequence of
thought which violate
the expectations of
the native reader

Writing in English
Sequence of ideas dominantly linear in its
development
A paragraph usually begins with a topic
sentence,
each supported by examples and illustrations

Writing in English
Inductive reasoning: Paragraph begins with
evidence or reasons leading to the statement of
the writer's claim at the end of the paragraph.
The topic sentence is not explicit at the
beginning of the paragraph.
I have been learning English for almost seven years. I have
tried hard, and spent many hours on it, but I make little
progress. I think this is because we have few opportunities to
practice the new words in conversation. If we practised the
new words for longer, then I would improve. Therefore,
learning English is difficult.

Writing in English
Deductive reasoning: Usually the topic sentence
is stated at the beginning of the paragraph
Chinese people find learning English difficult for
several reasons, the most important of which is that
they rarely practice the new words that they have
learned. Personally, I have been learning English
for almost seven years but I do not improve because
there are not enough opportunities to use the new
language in conversation. Clearly I would have
learned much faster if I had been able to have
conversation practice with English people.

Writing in English
Digression: Temporary departure from the main
subject in speech or writing. Parenthesis. Intentional
change of subject.
English is one of the most spoken and written languages in
the whole world. Due to a variety of factors (including the
British Empire in the 19th century and US influence in the
20th century), English is probably the primary global
language of business and the internet, as well as being
widely used all around the world in the media, science,
education and diplomacy fields. The 'English' language isn't
really English at all. It is a Germanic language brought to
Britain by Northern European settlers in the 5th century AD.

Digression Significant contributions

Kaplans Field Research

600 foreign students in the U.S.
4 basic language groups compared with
English:
Semitic
Oriental
Romance
Russian

Arabic (300); Amharic (22); Hebrew (7);

Tigrinya (7); Aramaic (half a million)

Romance languages
(690 speakers)

150 speakers

Semitic Languages
Paragraph: Complex
constructions.

series

of

parallel

Parallelism = Figure of balance identified by a similarity in the

syntactical structure of a set of words in successive phrases,
clauses, sentences (Repetition)

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well

or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any
burden, meet any hardship, support any friend,
oppose any foe to assure the survival and the
success of liberty."
John F. Kennedy (Inaugural Address)

In English, maturity of style is gauged by degree of

subordination rather than coordination
Coordinating conjunctions (CC) allow us to connect
independent clauses of the same level of importance
in a single sentence and avoid paragraphs composed
of many short, repetitive simple sentences.
7 CC allow us to create distinct relationships between
clauses:

And
But
Yet
Or

- Nor
- So
- For

In English, maturity of style is gauged by degree of

subordination rather than coordination
Subordinate clause: depends upon another clause, the
independent clause, to complete its meaning. For this reason, the
subordinate clause is sometimes called a "dependent" clause.
Subordinate conjunction (SC) :
After
- Once
- Since
Although
- Whenever
- Because
Before
- So that
- Etc
Each SC establishes a specific relationship between the clauses.
It creates movement and style in a piece of writing by directing
the reader's attention ahead in anticipation of the main clause.
E.g. Once Simone finishes the final exam, she will join us at the
graduation party

Semitic Languages
Grammatical complexity caused by the
attempt to achieve an intricate parallelism.
English lacks the necessary flexibility.
Too many coordinating conjunctions
Very little subordination

Oriental languages
Approach by indirection
Paragraph development: Turning and turning
in a widening spiral
The circles turn around the subject from a
variett of tangential views, but the subject is
never looked at directly.
Things are developed in terms of what they
are not, rather than in terms of what they are.
English reader: unnecessarily indirect.

Romance Languages
Freedom to digress
To introduce extraneous material.

Digression is common in philosophy

Russian Language
Sentence structure completely different
Few sentences: Some very short and others
extremely long
Parallel constructions
Subordinate structures
(many irrelevant to the central idea)
Parenthetical amplifications

Each language and each culture has a paragraph order

unique to itself.
Part of the learning of a particular language is the mastering
of its logical system.

To grasp the idea and structure in units

larger than the sentence

Contrastive
grammar

Contrastive
Rhetoric

Kaplans contrastive rhetoric

A sentence rarely exists outside a context.
Obj: to bring the student to a comprehension
of the whole context
Understanding the logic on which the context is
based

Mastering the syntax Mastering writing

 Paragraph: artificial thought unit employed in

written language to suggest a cohesion which
commonly may not exist in oral language.
Paragraphing and punctuation: written
language.
English paragraphs: Patterns/Structures
Each sentence contributes to the central thought

Patterns of paragraphs in other languages are

not so well established

Is this true?

Simpson J. (2000).Topical Structure

Analysis of Academic Paragraphs in
English and Spanish. Journal of Second
Language Writing
http://web.ntpu.edu.tw/~ckliu/paper/pa
per3.pdf

Language and world view

One's native language affects how that individual
perceives the world.

Kaplan: every individual considers written works in his or

her own language to be direct and uninterrupted in
[their] flow of information.''

 Study about coherence: based on topical structure

analysis (TSA) that looks for patterns in repeated
key words and phrases.
English:
long history of teaching people how to write
direct style
logical relationships between one idea and the
subsequent idea
high-quality essays - focused on fewer topics
Preference for:
1. A more reduced sentence style
2. A more informationally oriented style.

English vs. Spanish

Spanish writers TOEFL- significantly longer
sentences

Elaborate style: use of long sentences + with

many additive clauses + flowery, poetic
language.

Pieces of writing
Mexican students (9th grade)
Run-on sentences: a sentence in which two or
more independent clauses (i.e., complete
sentences) are joined without appropriate
punctuation or conjunction.

E.g.
My car is out of gas we cannot reach town before
dark.
One paragraph consisted of only one sentence

 Montao-Harmon (1991):

We can suggest the possibility that the

Spanish-speaking adolescents and
university students are not very well
educated in composition skills.

Redaccin Composition
Redaccin:
Correct use of verb
forms
Spelling
Accentuation
Vocabulary building
Writing practice based
on literary models
Lack of pattern for
paragraph organization.

Composition:
Etymology = Lat.
Comporre to put
together, to connect.
Units of thought larger
than a sentence
Paragraph
Essay
Dissertation

For example
A paragraph is defined as a group of
sentences forming a complete unit of thought
and marked on a page of text by spacing or
indentation. (Lackstrom et al. 1973).

Academic writing in English and Spanish

A Comparative Study
Acabemic journals (written by experts in the
field)
Count the number of:
Words
Sentences
Words per sentence
Clauses
Clauses per sentence

 The English paragraphs in this study are longer

(more words) with more sentences, but the
sentences are shorter than in the Spanish data
(which show shorter paragraphs with fewer
sentences).

The data from this analysis show

that Spanish-speaking professional
writers have a similar preference for
the elaborate style.

 In linguistics, the topic, or theme, of a

sentence is what is being talked about, and
the comment (rheme) is what is being said
about the topic.
A valued characteristic of composition in
English, is to develop ideas by introducing
them as the rheme of a sentence and later
taking them up as the theme.
= coherence + sophistication

Conclusions
The English authors tend to have more repetition of
key words and phrases in what a native reader may
interpret as a direct line.
The Spanish texts seem to have a number of different
topical subjects within one paragraph, without much
repetition of key words (Low quality writing)
English demands more internal coherence. Texts,
relationships between ideas are made explicit by
repetition.
For native speakers of English, the knowledge of the
freedom of Spanish with regards to topical structure
can be used to help students understand the flexibility
and creativity of Spanish.

Writing Academic English

Oshima Alice and Ann Hogue (2006)
Chapter 1: Paragraph Structure:
The three parts of a paragraph:
The topic sentence
Supporting sentences
The concluding sentence
Practice

Warm-Up
One partner closes his/her eyes.
The other partner chooses an object.
Describe the object to the other person
WITHOUT mentioning the name of the object.
The person with eyes closed can only say, I
need more details! until they can guess what
the object is.

What is a paragraph?
A paragraph is a group of related sentences
that discuss ONE main idea.
It should be long enough to develop the main idea
clearly.

In academic writing:
Paragraph = to answer a test question
E.g. Define management by objective

The first word of a paragraph is indented

Paragraph Structure
Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important
characteristics. First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that
is resistant to corrosion. Therefore, it is suitable for jewerly,
coins, and ornamental purposes. For example, a Macedonian
coin remains untarnished today as the day it was made 25
centuries ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its
usefulness to industry and science. For many years, it has
been used in hundreds of industrial applications, such as
photography and dentistry. The most recent use of gold is in
astronauts suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated heat shields
for protection when they go outside spaceships in space. In
conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also
for its utility.

Writing technique questions:

What is the topic of the paragraph?
What two main points does the writer make
about the topic?
What examples does the writer use to support
each point?

Three parts of a paragraph

1. Topic sentence
2. Supporting sentences
3. Concluding sentence

Three parts of a paragraph

1. Topic sentence: states the main idea of a
paragraph.
It names the topic of the paragraph
It limits the topic to one specific area (controlling
idea)
Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics
TOPIC

CONTROLLING IDEA
1.- Beauty and 2.- Utility

Writing Exercises Chapter 1

Practice 1 Practice 3
p. 6 p. 11

Three parts of a paragraph

2.- Supporting sentences: develop
(explain/prove) the topic sentence. E.g.
First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is
resistant to corrosion.
For example, a Macedonian coin remains
untarnished today as the day it was made 25
centuries ago.
Another important characteristic of gold is its
usefulness to industry and science.
The most recent use of gold is in astronauts suits.

Three parts of a paragraph

3.- Concluding sentence: signals the end of the
paragraph and leaves the reader with
important points to remember.
They are customary for stand alone paragraphs.
Paragraphs that are parts of a longer piece of
writing usually do not need concluding sentences.
E.g.
In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its
beauty but also for its utility.

Can the following sentences serve as

a topic sentence?
The Arabic origin of many English words is not
always obvious.
I went to the Grand Canyon this winter and to
Mexico in the spring of 1994
I am going to discuss Latin American
Constitutions.
Education is important in lowering crime
rates.

Topic sentences
NO

YES

Thomas Jefferson was born in

1743.

Thomas Jefferson, born in 1743,

made important contributions to
American culture.

I love my sister.

I love my sister for her creativity

and her kindness.

George Lucas is a filmmaker.

George Lucas is an influential

filmmaker who has changed
cinema in a few important ways.

Ecuadors soccer team played in

the world cup.

Yasun is a National Park.

Topic Sentences
Position:
The topic sentence is usually the 1st sentence
in a paragraph.
Readers who are used to English way of
writing want to know what they will read
about as soon as they begin reading.
Characteristics:
Not too general
Not too specific

Edit your journal-entry

Incorporate the appropriate feedback from your
peers.
Improve your weaknesses
Enhance your strengths
Beaware of the length

Work with paragraph writing techniques. Make

sure that you have:
A valid topic sentence for each paragraph that you
wrote.
Supporting ideas (examples, descriptions, etc)
Concluding sentence (s)

First grade
Edited Journal-Entry = 60% of the grade
The final grade will include your first draft, your peer
assessment and your final journal entry.
Study the rubric very carefully before turning your
work.
Deadline (Monday 9am and Tuesday 3pm)
Attach your first draft as well as the peer-assessment
feedback report.

Quiz. E.g. = 40% of the grade

Reading techniques; Pre-writing techiques; Main ideas
about Kaplans article + paragraph writing techniques.

Writing Exercises Chapter 1

Practice 1 Practice 7
p. 6 p. 17