English for Academic and Professional Purposes

LESSON 3 :
ENHANCING ONE’S RESEARCH SKILLS

What is Research?

- is the systematic investigation and study of materials, sources, etc. in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

-It is an endeavor to discover new or collate old facts by the scientific study of a subject or by a course of critical investigation
[Oxford Concise Dictionary].

- is what we do when we have a question or a problem we want to resolve

SUMMARIZING and PARAPHRASING

-In reading articles needed for research, a student has to consider the text in its different forms through three lenses:

- what does it say,

- how does it say,

- what does it mean to me?

Summarizing
- is an important skill for learning. It is condensing the source material in just few lines.
Paraphrasing
- is using your own words to express someone else's ideas while still preserving the main ideas of the original source. This is a
restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words.

TECHNIQUES IN SUMMARIZING

1. Selection

-It is essential to select major idea, key words and phrases, special terms and interpretations presented in the original
resource.

2. Rejection

- lt is a process of removing unnecessary data. As cited earlier, try to reject repetitions, examples, illustrations, anecdotes,
redundant, expressions, tables and statistical data.

3. Substitution

- It is a mode of combining several sentences into one sentence. It is recommended to use sentence substitutions, short
sentences to replace lengthy sentences. Use of one-word substitutions is an added advantage in the summary writing process.

Example of Paraphrasing

Nickerson (1999) suggests that effective communication depends on a generally accurate knowledge of what the audience knows. If
a speaker assumes too much knowledge about the subject, the audience will either misunderstand or be bewildered; however,
assuming too little knowledge among those in the audience may cause them to feel patronized (p.737).

Nickerson (1999) argues that clear communication hinges upon what an audience does and does not know. It is crucial to assume
the audience has neither too much nor too little knowledge of the subject, or the communication may be inhibited by either
confusion or offense (p. 737).

What is OUTLINING ?

-Outlining helps you identify the significant details you need to include and to eliminate the irrelevant ones. Establishing the scope
and limitations of your paper will be the backbone of your research outline.
English For Academic And Professional Purposes

LESSON 4
THE PRINCIPLES IN WRITING A REACTION,
REVIEW, OR CRITIQUE PAPER

What is reaction, a review paper, or a critique paper?

 it assesses, and judges both the merits as well as the weaknesses of a piece, may it be an article, a movie or a book. Writing
a reaction paper requires the writer’s analysis.

To do the critique effectively, Harry Show, as cited by Jimenez (2000) in her book, suggested the following mechanics for review:

1. Know the scope and the purpose of the book; that is, the material covered and stressed.

2. Know the writer’s style of writing, his stylistic excellence and faults. Is he persuasive, convincing or dull?

3. Know the theme of the piece of work. Is it social, moral psychological novel, story, or movie?

Identifying Facts and Opinions

Fact - can be proven to be either true or false. It can be proven for accuracy through observation or concrete references. It is never
affected by the author’s personality, background or training. Most of factual statements make use of statistics, numbers, dates,
measurements and the like.

Opinion - expresses what the author believes or thinks. It cannot be verified for accuracy because an author uses personal
responses which cannot be proven true or false.

 an opinion is not always true and cannot be proven. It is generally affected by the writer’s personality, background and
training.

Opinion - It frequently uses comparisons using words such as :

 More

 Better

 most, and least.

 Verbs and adverbs like seems, appears, looks, apparently, practically, probably, potentially,