Tag Archives: academic writing

2009 RinE, Research in English

Research in English II Session #13: January 8th, 2010

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Alice Springs, Northern Territory
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Welcome back, everyone, to the first of our last two classes in 2010.

Important announcement: the makeup class scheduled for Wednesday Jan. 13th has been cancelled. Instead, there will be class as usual on Friday, Jan. 15th.

Here is the lesson plan for today:

  1. I return the remaining #2 reports.
  2. Review of the criteria I use to evaluate your writing
    1. conventions of writing: sentence and paragraph structure, punctuation, etc.
    2. Vocabulary: rich, precise, correctly used.
    3. Grammar: basic and advanced structures, word order
    4. Organization: logically organized, correct use of paragraphs
    5. Originality: have you used your own words? Do you have interesting ideas or approaches?
    6. Academic writing:
      1. formal register:
        1. avoid “I”; your writing should be impersonal and objective;
        2. avoid contractions like “don’t”;
        3. be precise in your use of words
      2. citations (“according to ….”, (Krashen, 2003), etc.
      3. references / bibliography, including websites and the date visited
      4. opposing arguments (both sides of an issue)
      5. logical thinking
  3. What does “discuss” mean?  Discuss – requires an answer that explains an item or concept, and then gives details about it with supportive information, examples, points for and against, and explanations for the facts put forward. It is important to give both sides of an argument and come to a conclusion.
  4. Topics for January, and details of the final exam.
  5. Australia quiz. Who or what are these (answer in 1 or 2 sentences):
    1. Alice Springs
    2. the Great Barrier Reef
    3. Canberra
    4. Stolen generation
    5. White Australia policy
    6. Pavlova
    7. vegemite
    8. Lamingtons
    9. RFDS
    10. Uluru
    11. Broome
    12. Bush tucker
    13. didgeridoo
    14. APEC
    15. What does Australia export apart from beef?
    16. How many foreign students does Australia have?
    17. Where did the new settlers who came to Australia in 2001-2 come from?
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2009 RinE, Research in English

Research in English II Session #12: December 18th, 2009

Alone Across Australia
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Remaining reports: please introduce your report in English (title and subject), then in Japanese.

After introducing your report, please give the hard copy to your instructor AND email me your report. Thank you.

Report #2 presentations by

  1. Ms. Honjo on White Australia Policy
  2. Ms. Furuya on Aborigines
  3. Ms. Kido on Aborigines and Ainu
  4. Ms. Matsunaga on the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS)
  5. Ms. Miyata on the Rabbit Problem

After the reports, we listened to the audio for Unit 7 and answered the worksheet questions (Unit VII, Part 2).

Comments on the reports. I use the following rubric to grade your reports:

  1. Conventions of writing: sentence and paragraph structure, punctuation, etc.
  2. Vocabulary: rich, precise, correctly used.
  3. Grammar: basic and advanced structures, word order
  4. Organization: logically organized, correct use of paragraphs
  5. Originality: have you used your own words? Do you have interesting ideas or approaches?
  6. Academic writing:
    1. formal register
      1. avoid “I”; your writing should be impersonal and objective;
      2. avoid contractions like “don’t”;
      3. be precise in your use of words
    2. citations (“according to ….”, (Krashen, 2003), etc.
    3. references / bibliography, including websites and the date visited
    4. opposing arguments (both sides of an issue)
    5. logical thinking

I grade each item on a scale of A to E, with A being “expert, exceeds expectations”, and E being “far below expectations”. D and E are both failing grades.

Today is the last class of this calendar year.

UPDATE: There will be two make-up classes in January: Jan. 12th (Tuesday 5th period) in the same room (S404) and Wednesday Jan. 13th 1st period (9:00~10:30) in room 205. I understand not everyone can attend the makeup class. If you can, that’s great. If you cannot, it is not a major problem. We will not use the textbook in the make-up classes.

FINAL EXAM: The final exam will be Friday, Jan. 22nd. You will write a short research paper about Australia. I will give you more details on January 8th (Friday).

See you in the New Year. Until then, Merry Christmas!

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2009 RinE, Research in English

Research in English II Session #9: November 27th, 2009

The six steps of the RCS methodology for knowl...
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  1. Comments about the report #1:
    1. Don’t use “I” or “me” or “my” in an academic paper (write your personal opinions in a last paragraph)
    2. Don’t put anything in the footer except the page number
    3. Use “according to…”
    4. Distinguish between fact and opinion (especially your opinion and other writers’ opinions).
  2. Listening – textbook page 36: listening (fill in the blanks + worksheet questions)
  3. Listening – textbook page 37: answer the questions on the worksheet
  4. Homework: report #2
    1. due December 11th
    2. 500-800 words (you can count the words using MSWord’s “wordcount” tool)
    3. on any topic from the list: you can choose a new topic or use the same topic as for report #1 (but then you must have new content, of course)
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