Translanguaging for Cognitive Relief in FL Academic Writing

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Alexandra Machura
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Writing Processes ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Text Quality ◽  
Writing Beliefs ◽  
Education Academic ◽  
English Students

In the present study, two groups of German undergraduates taking a course in English Linguistics at a midwestern German university were compared in terms of their attitudes towards translanguaging, their translanguaging behaviour during foreign-language academic writing processes, and the quality of their foreign-language texts. One group was taught with a translanguaging teaching approach, the other group was taught monolingually in English. Students in the translanguaging group became aware of the benefits translanguaging can have during foreign-language academic writing processes. Students’ translanguaging behaviour during foreign-language academic writing is discussed in two case studies. Importantly, more students in the translanguaging than in the English group improved their ability to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information in academic texts, a finding that underscores the didactic importance of translanguaging in tertiary education. Keywords: translanguaging, tertiary education, academic writing, beliefs and attitudes, FL text quality

Dominant-language Use in Foreign-language Academic Writing Processes

Fachsprache ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 114-139
Author(s):  
Ina Alexandra Machura
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Degree Program ◽  
Writing Processes ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
English Students

The present pilot study compares the use of the native language during foreign- language writing processes of two students enrolled in a Translation degree program to that of two students enrolled in an English Language and Literature degree program who had not received training in translation or interpreting. Across a range of sub-processes of source-based academic writing, native language use was found to be more frequent in the Translation students’ than in the English students’ think-aloud protocols. Possible relationships between the participants’ patterns of language use and their academic socialization are discussed, as well as the potential that native language use in foreign-language academic writing processes can have to help students improve their foreign-language texts.

The language of quoting in academic writing

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieke Verheijen
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Lexical Items

Because quotation is a fundamental aspect of academic texts, this corpus study examines the language of quoting in (L2) academic writing. To find out whether there are subtle linguistic differences in the use of quotation by learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) and professional academics who are native speakers of English (NSE), I compare two corpora of scholarly writings: one by upper intermediate and advanced EFL students and one by NSE experts. 1201 Quotes were extracted from the writings and examined for a broad range of lexico-grammatical features relevant to using quotes, including introductions to quotes, lexical items in introducing quotes, ‘special’ quotes, and punctuation surrounding quotes. The findings make clear that EFL students and NSE experts differ significantly on various points in their language of quoting. Making students aware of these differences could make their academic writing more professional, native-like, and sophisticated.

scholarly journals Academic Writing for Publication Purposes and Machine Translation: Is the Symbiosis Possible?

2022 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 87-101
Author(s):  
O. L. Dobrynina
Keyword(s):  
Machine Translation ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
University Staff ◽  
Writing For Publication ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Text Quality ◽  
Simple Rules ◽  
Specific Concept ◽  
Effective Use

The abstracts in Russian and in English are written according to certain rules. For articles written in Russian, an abstract in English is the only means of informing the world scientific community about the authors’ research results. However, the quality of abstracts written in Russian and then translated into English does not always meet the criteria for readability and comply with the accepted academic and publication conventions. This situation might result from the intensive usage of machine translation (MT) systems by authors who do not take into account the guidelines for the input text quality and the limitations inherent in MT systems. The author analyzed the requirements for the input texts and some typical errors in the target ones. The article describes the stages of training masters, postgraduate students and university staff in the effective use of MT systems. The training is based on a bilingual approach, which implies a constant comparison of vocabulary, grammar and style in the native and English languages. The author comes to the conclusion that the effective use of MT systems for writing an abstract in English is possible if the authors have the command of Russian and English at the level sufficient for a concise and unambiguous expression of their thoughts and ideas. Self-censoring is a prerequisite for creating a text that is “understandable” for MT systems. Students must follow simple rules: write sentences of 15-20 words; express one thought per one sentence; use more active verbs; choose nouns that express a specific concept; exclude unnecessary words. At the post-editing stage, learners can use the tools available on the Internet, which allow not only editing the target text, but also will enable learners to acquire independent editing skills.

scholarly journals The invisible supporters

AILA Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 21-46
Author(s):  
Eva-Maria Jakobs ◽  
Claas Digmayer
Keyword(s):  
Written Feedback ◽  
Feedback Process ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Writing Processes ◽  
Text Quality ◽  
The Us ◽  
The University

Abstract This article examines how written feedback is used to support the production of texts for purposes of reuse. The case study refers to an entrepreneur training program at the University of Texas at Austin. In the program, Korean startups are trained in understanding the US market, and developing pitches that convince US investors. They are supported by Quicklook® reports. A Quicklook report delivers snapshots of the market receptivity for the startup’s product. Market analysts write the reports. In the final stage of drafting, program staff members supervise the report author. This study investigates how supervisors use commenting and how the goal of creating a highly reusable text source guides the feedback process. The database was examined quantitatively (frequency of drafting and commenting) and qualitatively (functional comment types). The results offer valuable insights into actual writing processes in business settings and how professionals interact to ensure a reusable product. The findings indicate a broad range of comment functions. Overall, we distinguish two main categories: feedback activities focusing on Quicklook reports as reusable resource, and feedback activities focusing on collaboration and workflow. Each category includes functional comment types. Further research is needed to learn more about professional strategies of reflecting on text quality, the quality of assessments, or the ratio between detected and real deficiencies of a document.

scholarly journals The Story of Writing: From Classical Rhetoric to Rhetoric and Composition

2022 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 75-86
Author(s):  
I. B. Korotkina
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Rhetoric And Composition ◽  
Classical Rhetoric ◽  
10Th Anniversary ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Writing Research ◽  
Research Competences ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
The Impact

Written to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the rubric “Academic Writing and Research Competences” established by the journal’s late editor-in-chief Mikhail Sapunov, the paper focuses on the origins of academic writing and traces its development in terms of rhetoric. The five stages of classical rhetoric are interpreted as five key components of academic writing: research, logic, culture, knowledge, and language. This approach helps visualize academic writing as a wholesome model composed of cognitive and linguistic elements, describe the impact of this model on the rhetorical and publishing conventions of the global academic discourse, and define the problems in knowledge construction as deviations from the model’s unity in various sociocultural contexts. The study concludes that the low quality of an academic text may result from either losing the predominance of the first two stages of rhetoric (invention and arrangement) or of the other three (style, memory, and delivery). The former signifies an ideological pressure on researchers to substitute their own rhetoric with quotes from canonized sources, whereas the latter provokes them to disregard language and style as inferior to research, because of which texts diminish in clarity. In either case, communication lacks in efficiency. The study of academic writing in the historical perspective contributes to better understanding of the latest trends in its development and elicits the problems which impede the quality of Russian scholarly and academic texts.

scholarly journals Elementy wspólnego pisania na zajęciach pisania akademickiego – badanie pilotażowe

Neofilolog ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 41-54
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Marzec-Stawiarska
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Collaborative Writing ◽  
Collaborative Planning ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Advanced Students

The article discusses the issue of collaborative writing during classes of academic writing for advanced students of English as a foreign language. It describes a research project in which the influence of collaborative planning on the quality of written discourse was analysed. The research found that essays based on the plan constructed by students in pairs were better in terms of organisation, linguistic variety, content and accuracy than essays written by these participants individually. Moreover, the questionnaires written by the participants revealed their positive attitude to collaborative essay planning.

Lexical Features of Academic Writing

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliakbar Imani ◽  
Hadina Habil
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Measurement Method ◽  
Complexity Level ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Good Criterion ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Measurement Tools ◽  
Lexical Complexity ◽  
Lexical Density

In measuring the quality of written text, especially academic writing, lexical features are as important as grammatical features and should not be ignored. The highly computable nature of lexicons can make them a good criterion for determining and measuring the quality of text. In this article three lexical features: lexical density, complexity, and formality are reviewed and justified as measurement tools of academic texts. Furthermore, a measurement method is offered to evaluate lexical complexity level of an academic text.

Formation of Foreign Language Hedging Competencies in the Context of Academic Writing

2021 ◽  
pp. 97-102
Author(s):  
Janna M. Blieva
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Scientific Text ◽  
Work Support ◽  
Writing Genres ◽  
Stated Problem

The article is devoted to the problem of teaching academic writing as a concept of academic literacy of students, undergraduates, graduate students in higher education. Violation of the norms of academic writing is a common practice among both foreign language and domestic authors. This results from the fact of poor acquired and often lack of possession of formal stylistic competencies that affect the quality of writing a clear, concise and convincing scientific text. As the title implies, the aim of the article is to present the technology that avoids traditional errors when working on a scientific text. The need to follow the specific tone of the genres of academic writing, dictating the choice of words and phrasing, is especially noted. The technology of teaching hedging is proposed as a system of sequential operations (algorithm) for solving the stated problem. The algorithm for the formation of hedging competencies acquaints students of all levels in higher education with the genres and style of formal writing, teaches them to construct their own knowledge in academic discourse. In addition, the goal was to develop hedging competencies and to use foreign language lexical phenomena in academic writing genres, which may help to warn authors against typical stylistic errors. This work may be of interest both for students of all levels in higher education and for researchers-beginners, since the article discusses the international requirements for the writing of academic scientific documents that may be useful while preparing a foreign publication. The recommendations made as a result of the research may also arouse the interest of teachers of foreign languages, draw attention to the problem of academic writing and integrate them into the course of the profile discipline. This, in its turn, may help to meet the requirements to the quality of specialists training at universities, including scientific work support of students of all levels.

scholarly journals REVIEW AND CITATION STYLE IN RESEARCH ARTICLE INTRODUCTIONS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH-MEDIUM JOURNALS IN MEDICAL SCIENCES

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safnil Arsyad ◽  
Muhammad Zaim ◽  
Dian Susyla
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Negative Evaluation ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Research Article ◽  
International English

Reviewing and citing literature are essential elements determining the quality of academic texts such as research articles (RAs); however, it is not easy to review and cite literature especially when writing in a foreign language such as Indonesians writing in English. The purpose of this study is to investigate the review and citation style in English RA introductions published in medical science journals written by Indonesian and international authors. Forty English RA introductions were analysed on the review and citation style and linguistic features such as tenses and citation type. The results show that there are more similarities than differences in the review and citation style and linguistic features of RA introductions in the two different medical journals. However, Indonesian writers in medical sciences should include negative evaluation when reviewing and citing other’s work in their English RA introductions to be successful if submitted to an international journal.

Institutional Plagiarism Policy (Georgian higher education institutions’ case)

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natela DOGHONADZE ◽  
Ekaterine PIPIA ◽  
Nikoloz PARJANADZE
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Survey Questionnaire ◽  
Existing Problems ◽  
Copyright Violation ◽  
University Policies

The article deals with various aspects of plagiarism: definition (discriminating it from cheating and copyright violation), types (intended / unintended), involved people, causes, prevention, detection and punishment of plagiarism. A survey (questionnaire containing 42 items to be assessed in a 5-point Likert scale and one open- ended item) was conducted in Georgia. The questionnaire developed based on the literature review was uploaded on social media in three variants (to analyze the results separately and compare them): for students, for researchers and for assessors. The obtained results revealed that the opinions of the three groups of respondents differed to a certain degree, but were quite similar, eventually. The survey disclosed the existing problems, such as: lack of academic writing (in the native and especially foreign language) and research skills, lack of training in avoiding plagiarism, insufficiently clear university policies in the area, the emphasis on punishment instead of prevention, etc. Based on the obtained results recommendations for universities are given concerning plagiarism policies. 

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