Entry # 13 Articles and abstracts
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Match the topics below with the titles on the next page.
1. A healthy diet. D
2. School Exams. C
3. Eating out inexpensively. K
4. The Internet. B
5. A famous person. I
6. Genetic Engineering. J
7. Drug-taking. F
8. An outdoor activity. E
9. How to attract a man. G
10. A successful career. A
Read the following first paragraphs and think of an appropriate title for each
one
1. TITLE:
Dodge that Christmas fever!
It’s that time of year again! Lots of expense, your patience tried to its utmost limits thanks to
being in such close proximity to your family, over-eating and over-drinking - perhaps overindulging generally - receiving presents you don’t really want and seeing relatives you don’t
really want to see. They get wheeled out every year for a free meal and a sherry and drive
you mad with their complaints. How to avoid all this? Do something different - go on
holiday and let someone else take the strain.
2. TITLE:
The oldest skin disease needs to be spotted on time.
The oldest known disease to man, and the first to be identified, is on the increase. It is now
prevalent in twenty-four countries, and still doctors are unsure what causes leprosy. There is a
general consensus that it could be contracted through the respiratory system, but as yet there
is no solid evidence. On the other hand, it could be spread by touch. Leprosy is curable if
detected in the early stages, but what are the symptoms?
3. TITLE:
A good old habit that should be back.
The joy of writing a long, newsy letter to a friend, a short thank-you note or even a letter of
complaint, seems to have disappeared nowadays. People just pick up the phone, fax or send
an e-mail instead of composing something in their own handwriting, which is much more
appreciated by the person receiving it. It shows thought, care and consideration but people,
or their way of life, are changing.
4. TITLE:
Going for a full change is the only way to success in weight loss.
Dieting seems to have become a way of life for many people, particularly women. It is said
that at any one time three out of four people are on a diet, convinced that this is the magic
formula, and that they will finally look like that model on the television they so envy. What
they do not seem to realise is that they might well lose weight but will inevitably put it all
back on - often more weight than they lost in the first place. The whole exercise is futile, and
people never seem to realise that to lose weight permanently, one needs to change one’s
entire eating lifestyle.
5. TITLE:
Keys for choosing the right language learning method for you.
Learning another language is not an easy process - different word order, irregular verbs, those
tricky prepositions and difficult to pronounce, strange looking vocabulary. There are also
many methods on offer to accomplish this feat - so many in fact, that it can become confusing
and hard to decide which is the best way for you. Courses on cassette, evening classes,
private lessons, a language school, move to the country of the target language (an extreme
method, perhaps), a correspondence course or a pen friend - the list is endless and it is like a
jungle trying to decide what to try.
In the following paragraphs, only the supporting ideas are given. The paragraphs are
followed by three possible topic sentences. Circle the letter of the sentence that would
best introduce the paragraph. When you have checked your answers, write a title for each of the paragraphs.
1. The R2D2 IS HERE TO STAY!
Today, it is a science fact that technology has advanced to the point where anything is
possible. Used as a means of increasing productivity, many factories are switching to
automation - R2D2 does not require holidays, a bigger office, sick pay, a pension, and, most
importantly, he does not go on strike.
a. Star Wars is alive and well and living in our factories.
b. At one time, robots were only found in science fiction books and films.
c. Robots, once a fantasy and every housewife’s dream, have become a part of our lives.
2. EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT HOMES ARE THE MODERN CAVEMEN'S CHOICE
Although initially building a subterranean home is more expensive than a conventional home,
in the long run it can save the owner a great deal of money in heating and air-conditioning
costs. These homes require much less energy, as the temperature of soil is relatively stable and
concrete walls store the sun’s heat, but keep the place warm at night.
a. Underground homes are not a new idea.
b. Underground homes are increasing in popularity.
c. Underground homes can be cost effective and energy efficient.
3. THE TINIEST WORLDS THAT WE DON'T EVEN IMAGINE
Two million microscopic bugs live in our beds, making a meal of our bed linen and anything
else they find on the sheets. Our wardrobes support a breed of moth that not only eats
through our clothes, but disguises itself by weaving a ‘coat’ from whatever it is eating at the
time. This system breaks down when it moves from one garment to another, but is still
extremely successful. Our eyelashes support a whole ecosystem, and these three are just the
tip of the iceberg!
a. If you think you are clean, think again.
b. Most of the time we only worry about the insects we can see.
c. Wherever we sit, stand, sleep or walk, we are engulfed by invisible to the naked eye mites.
4. HOW IS IT THAT WE ENDED UP SLAVES TO THE TYRANNY OF WATCHES.
We set so much store by it, and rush around to be in different places at the precise time we
are meant to be there. Deprive people of a watch or clock, and most of them have no
conception of what the time really is. It is man made and man imposed. People used to go to
bed when the sun set, and rise when the sun came up. In antiquity, man had no timepieces
but worked with the seasons - the flooding of the Nile meant irrigation of the crops and
therefore the populace could be fed. The rural Egyptian did not care if this happened at eight
o’clock in the morning or four in the afternoon; of paramount importance was the season.
a. Have you ever wondered about time?
b. Is time two or three-dimensional?
c. Whether it is a Rolex or a Timex, is it really significant?
5. I WOULD LOVE NOT TO NEED YOU, DOCTOR
We all want pearly white, even, straight teeth, but all eat the wrong foods and drink liquids
full of sugar. How many people do you know who have actually wanted to become dentists?
Yet they are everywhere and we all at some point in our lives need them, however long we
put off that visit. It is usually when the pain becomes so bad that we finally venture into their
surgery, quivering at the knees and shaking like a jelly. Have you ever noticed too, how that
pain miraculously disappears once you are there?
a. How many people are suffering from mercury or lead poisoning from all those fillings?
b. They are a necessary evil but nine out of ten people are frightened to death of them.
c. Don’t you just dread the sound of that drill?
Academic Articles are part of the genres that teachers can write if they want to do research, if they want to study from "authentic material". We are going to analyse them, so get ready for an interesting description of ARTICLES. Not only do FORMAL (academic) ARTICLES share these features, but also they are headed by ABSTRACTS. So, let's delve into this "new genre". An abstract is an independent text that comprises the most important concepts of the paper, the purpose of the research, the state of the art, what is missing, and the results of the investigation.
When writing an abstract:
ALL kind of "supporting material":
- Long background information,
- parahrased sentences, too many adverbs or adjectives,
- quotes, references from other sources, overgeneralizations e.g. "studies have indicate that..."
- figures, statistics, tables, etc.
There are four types of abstracts:
- Critical Abstract.
- Descriptive Abstract.
- Informative Abstract.
- Highlight Abstract.
Each sentence in an abstract fulfils a specific purpose. These are called "moves":
- the overall purpose of the study and the research problem(s) investigated,
- the basic design of the study,
- major findings found as a result of the analysis
- a brief summary of the conclusions.
Information retrieved from the lesson on Abstracts.
What is an abstract?
An abstract is a concise summary of a
research paper or entire thesis.
It is an original work, not an excerpted passage. An
abstract must be fully self-contained and make sense by
itself, without further reference to outside sources or to
the actual paper. It highlights key content areas, your
research purpose, the relevance or importance of your
work, and the main outcomes.
It is a well-developed single paragraph of approximately
250 words in length, which is indented and single
spaced.
The function of the abstract is to outline briefly
all parts of the paper.
Although it is placed at the beginning of your paper,
immediately following the title page, the abstract should
be the last thing that you write, once you are sure of the
conclusions you will reach.
Why write an abstract?
Abstracts are important for both selection and indexing
purposes.
Selection: Abstracts allow readers who may be
interested in the paper to quickly decide whether it is
relevant to their purposes and whether they need to
read the whole paper.
Indexing: Most academic journal databases accessed
through the library enable you to search abstracts. This
allows for quick retrieval by users. Abstracts must
incorporate the key terms that a potential researcher
would use to search.
When is it necessary to write
abstracts?
Abstracts are usually required for:
> submission of articles to journals
> application for research grants
> completion and submission of theses
> submission of proposals for conference papers
What to include in an abstract
The format of your abstract will depend on the discipline
in which you are working. However, all abstracts
generally cover the following five sections:
1. Reason for writing:
What is the importance of the research? Why would a
reader be interested in the larger work?
2. Problem:
What problem does this work attempt to solve? What is
the scope of the project? What is the main argument,
thesis or claim?
3. Methodology:
An abstract of a scientific work may include specific
models or approaches used in the larger study. Other
abstracts may describe the types of evidence used in
the research.
4. Results:
An abstract of a scientific work may include specific data
that indicates the results of the project. Other abstracts
may discuss the findings in a more general way.
5. Implications:
How does this work add to the body of knowledge on
the topic? Are there any practical or theoretical
applications from your findings or implications for future
research?
The importance given to the different components can
vary between disciplines. You should look at abstracts of
research that are similar to your own work as models.
Edit carefully. As your abstract is an important way to promote your
work it is worth taking time to write it well. You will
likely have to revise several drafts to produce a precise,
concise outline of your paper which is clear, complete,
includes key search terms and fits within the word limit.
Types of abstracts
Abstracts can be informative and descriptive.
Descriptive abstracts describe the work being
abstracted. They are more like an outline of the work
and are usually very short - 100 words or less.
The majority of abstracts written at the University of
Melbourne are informative. Informative abstracts act
as substitutes for the actual papers as all the key
arguments and conclusions are presented; specifically,
the context and importance of the research, reasons for
methods, principal results and conclusions.
Information retrieved from "Writing an abstract" at University of Melbourne (last visited on October 28th, 2020)
Reflections around the use of 2.0 tools
In the age of 2.0 revolution, not only do we use the Web to search for information of any kind, but we also manipulate the contents in it interacting with the corpus of information, and what's more, we can create personalized arrays to organize the information that we have selected, and arrange it in our own creative manner making use of certain apps. This possibility is being explored at its utmost during the current year by both teachers and students, as social isolation measures have forced us to redefine the way in which we interrelate. Particularly in the field of education we find that, having temporarily lost the classic resources that the classroom offers, such as the board, the folders and the eye-to-eye powerful and irreplaceable bond, other tools of non negligible value have risen: blogs, social networks and an exuberant variety of apps, to name a few. They are available to make our academic life possible, and even richer. Padlet is an online virtual board that allows students-teachers collaborative work, providing a secure location for reflection and the exchange of links, audiofiles, videos, pictures and more. I enjoyed using the tool to produce a timeline with the core information on what an abstract is. Personally, I consider that we have experienced a fecund training on 2.0 apps along this course, and that we will certainly profit by employing them, as the scenario in education is not likely to go back to what it was before this year.
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