Writing an Academic Paper in English: Intermediate Level (English for Academic Research)

✍ Scribed by Adrian Wallwork

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 199
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book is for university students, with at least a mid-intermediate level of English.

It can be used as part of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course, either alone or with the companion volume Giving an Academic Presentation in English.

The chapters are independent so that EAP teachers and students can choose those sections that best fit their needs. This means that a course can range from a minimum of 20 hours, up to 60 hours or more.

There is an introductory chapter that includes what role academics play in today’s world, where success is not just measured in terms of paper output but also involvement in interdisciplinary projects and supporting society at large.

Each chapter covers a particular section of a paper (Abstract, Introduction, Methods etc) and begins with a discussion exercise on what the exact purpose of each section is. This purpose is also highlighted by comparisons with non-academic situations where similar skills are required. There are many examples and templates – none of which are lengthy or complex - but which are designed to highlight key points.

Students learn what style to adopt (we vs impersonal), the correct tenses to use in each section, typical mistakes, and useful phrases.

The course is highly practical and is also designed to be fun to use.

Other books in the series:

Giving an Academic Presentation in English

Essential English Grammar and Communication Strategies

Adrian Wallwork is the author of more than 40 ELT and EAP textbooks. He has trained several thousand PhD students and researchers from around 50 countries to write research papers and give presentations. He is also the co-founder of e4ac.com, an editing agency for non-native English-speaking researchers.

✦ Table of Contents

Introduction
who for
english level
type and coverage
structure of book
pronouns
Contents
Chapter 1: Getting started
1.1 What skills do I need to be an academic?
1.2 What writing skills do I need to learn before writing my first paper?
1.3 What do I need to think about before I start planning my paper?
1.4 What questions do I need to think about before I write my first paper or do my first presentation of my research?
1.5 How important are the journal’s Instructions for Authors?
1.6 What is the best order to write the sections of my paper?
1.7 How important is it to analyse other papers in my field? What will I learn?
1.8 Do’s and Don’ts of preparation
1.9 Exercises
Chapter 2: Introduction and Review of the Literature
2.1 What is an Introduction?
2.2 What is the purpose of my Introduction?
2.3 What should be my aims when reviewing the literature?
2.4 What structure should I use when reviewing the literature?
2.5 Model 1 – general sciences: Introduction starting with definition, state of the art, problem to resolve
2.6 What tenses are typically used in an Introduction and in the Review of the Literature?
2.7 Should I use a personal or impersonal style?
Chapter 3: Introduction: Part 2
3.1 Model 2: Introduction starting with how the state of the art justifies the aim of your research
3.2 Model 3: Introduction with chronology of previous papers. Author’s own paper introduced at the end.
3.4 Typical mistakes made in Introductions
3.5 Why are reducing the length of an article and avoiding redundancy so important?
3.6 Do’s and Don’ts of writing the Introduction
3.7 Useful phrases
3.8 Exercises
Chapter 4: Methods
4.1 What is a Methods section?
4.2 Model 1: Medical, technical
4.3 Methods Model 2: Engineering, chemistry, physics
4.4 Methods Model 3: Social / Political sciences
4.5 Style and tenses typically used in the Methods section
4.6 Do’s and Don’ts
4.7 Useful phrases
4.8 Exercises
Chapter 5: Results
5.1 What is the purpose of a Results section?
5.2 Results Model 1: Medical, technical
5.3 Results: Model 2
5.4 Writing about figures and tables
5.5 Tenses typically used in the Results
5.6 Do’s and Don’ts of writing the Results
5.7 Useful phrases
5.8 Exercises
Chapter 6: Discussion Part 1
6.1 What is a Discussion?
6.2 How should I interpret my figures, tables and results?
6.3 What strategies can I use to highlight my main findings and their importance?
6.4 How should I compare the performance of a test, device etc in my study with the performance of similar test, device etc in another researcher’s study?
6.5 How can I make it clear when I am discussing my results and not the results of another author?
6.6 Why is it important to admit the limitations of my study?
6.7 How can I justify my limitations?
6.8 How should I write about my limitations?
Chapter 7: Discussion Part 2
7.1 Discussion Model: Part 1
7.2 Discussion Model: Part 2
7.3 A revision of all tenses plus those typically used in the Discussion
7.4 Typical mistakes made in the Discussion
7.5 Do’s and Don’ts of writing the Discussion
7.6 Useful phrases
7.7 Exercises
Chapter 8: Conclusions
8.1 What is the purpose of a Conclusions section?
8.2 What tenses are typically used in the Conclusions?
8.3 How should I structure my Conclusions?
8.4 Do’s and Don’ts of writing the Conclusions
8.5 Useful phrases
8.6 Exercises
Chapter 9: Abstracts Part 1
9.1 What is an Abstract?
9.2 What information does an Abstract contain?
9.3 What is the difference between an Abstract and an Introduction?
9.4 What is a Structured Abstract?
9.5 My journal requires a single paragraph Abstract. How should I structure it?
9.6 Should I use a personal style (e.g. we found) or an impersonal style (e.g. it was found)?
9.7 What tenses are typically used in an abstract?
Chapter 10: Abstracts Part 2 and Titles
10.1 Typical mistakes made in Abstracts
10.2 Improving / Editing your Abstract
10.3 Why improving / editing your Abstract is so important
10.4 Writing a Title
10.5 Typical problems with Titles
10.6 Do’s and Don’ts of writing the Abstract
10.7 Useful phrases
10.8 Exercises
Chapter 11: How to write and structure a paper: a very brief summary
11.1 Writing and communication skills
11.2 Title
11.3 Abstract
11.4 Introduction
11.5 Review of the Literature
11.6 Methods
11.7 Results
11.8 Discussion
11.9 Conclusions
11.10 Acknowledgements
11.11 Formatting your paper for offline and online reading and editing
11.12 Further reading and exercise books
Teacher’s Notes
1 General overview
Symbols Used in this Book
3 Rationale – student focused
4 Types of students and English level
5 Structure
6 How to approach and teach each chapter –A) undergraduates; B) PhD and postdocs
7 Which sections are useful for undergraduates? Which ones might be suitable for ILETS and similar examinations?
8 How long should it take to teach each chapter?
9 Vocabulary and useful phrases; useful websites
10 Encouraging students to review each other’s work
11 A note on the example / model texts
12 How this book differs from other EAP books on writing skills
Other Books in this Series
14 Feedback and suggestions
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Index of Useful Phrases
Full Table of Contents
Index by Section