Conceptions of teaching and learning held by University Science Professors

Methods Section

Participants

          The questionnaire was administered to one-hundred university science professors from the National University from Mar del Plata who agreed to take part voluntarily in the project research.  The parameter used for the election of the participants was made following a probabilistic sample method (Sampieri, Collado & Fernandez, 2006) Thus, twenty participants from science careers corresponding to different faculties were chosen for this research study.  As regards faculties, participants from humanities, health, engineering and formal science faculties were asked to take part and they were selected according to their experience working in high education settings. 

Materials

            Participants were administered a multiple choice questionnaire posing twelve dilemmas which dealt with issues related to different conceptions of teaching and learning.  Participants had to respond to dilemmas choosing from three possible options which were related to different teaching and learning theories.  Questionnaire options described different points of view and solutions to dilemmas following different conceptions related to behaviorist and constructivist theories about learning and teaching.  Dilemmas presented in the questionnaire included issues such as what learning is, how learning takes place, what assessment is, how it is carried out in everyday practice.  As regards the analysis of the results, qualitative and quantitative methods were used to report the results.

Procedure

            Participants were sent e-mails communications where they were asked to participate in the research study.  Once they agreed to take part in it, they were sent the questionnaires and had a week to respond them through electronic medium (e-mail questionnaires).  Questionnaires were analyzed through the use qualitative and quantitative method to describe the different views held by university science professors. The qualitative method was used to analyze the points of view as regards learning theories implicit in the responses chosen by the participants.  In turn, quantitative methods were used to analyze the level of occurrence of the different views in terms of percentages. Both methods provided a wide picture of the stance held by the participants in this research study. 

 

References

 

   Hernández Sampieri, R., Fernández Collado, C. y Baptista Lucio, P (2006).

   Capitulo 8: Selección de la muestra. Metodología de la Investigación. Mexico: Ed.Mc-Graw Hill. 

     

A Comparative Analysis of Abstracts in Research Articles in the Fields of Medicine and Education

Introduction   

Being part of a discourse community entails knowing how to cope with academic writing requirements as regards genres and styles used in academic papers such as Research Articles (RAs).  Abstracts are important parts of RAs, which according to the American Psychological Association (APA) (2008) may be defined as “(…) brief, comprehensive summaries of the contents of an article” (p.12).  Furthermore, Abstracts should offer concise information of the sections included in RAs that would enable readers to have an accurate preview and decide whether to access or not the entire text. Thus, Abstracts are brief descriptions which should encapsulate the problems or issues to be addressed, the hypotheses being examined, the methods and approaches, the key findings, and the conclusions or discussions which emerge from research studies in different scientific fields.

The present study attempts to compare and analyze four abstracts included in RAs in the fields of medicine and education, taking into consideration their structure, distinctive characteristics and format following APA conventions and Swales and Feak’s (1994) guidelines.  Abstracts analyzed in the present paper describe and summarize a case study on the use of venlafaxine (Martinez et al., 2010), a retrospective cohort analysis of patients 80 years of age or older with hypertension (Beckett et al., 2008), a conference paper report about teaching narratology through films (Kokonis, 1993) and a research project on the use of video in English Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms (Rammal, 2006).

 

Type and Structure 

Swales and Feak (1994) state that Abstracts may be informative or indicative which specifies the kind of research that has been done. Beckett et al. (2008) and Martinez et al. (2010) have included informative abstracts in their RAs which contain significant and accurate descriptions of the different sections such as Methods, Results and Conclusions.  Both abstracts fulfill Swales and Feak’s (1994) informative Abstracts requirements which should be heavy on data and fully descriptive of what has been studied and concluded.  RAs specially aimed at specialists in the field of medicine should provide relevant and detailed information as regards findings so that readers can spot valuable information and access the whole RA if decided.

As regards Rammal’s (2006) and Kokonis’ (1993) abstracts, they are indicative since the former provides a brief and general summary of what can be found in the RA, and the latter is a conference paper which suggests possible application of video in the classroom, thus it does not include specific results (Swales & Feak, 1994).  The use of indicative type in the Abstracts from the educational field analyzed in this study may be related to the fact that educational research projects and conference papers aim at encouraging educators to put new techniques, projects and teaching materials into practice, not at showing conclusive and strong results partly due to the nature of educational findings.

Regarding structure, Abstracts can be structured or unstructured (Swales & Feak, 1994).  Both Abstracts from the field of medicine are divided into short sections signaled by subtitles written in bold, clearly describing the objectives and main parts of the RAs.  In Beckett et al. (2008) there is also an opening sentence about previous studies of antihypertensive therapy. Methods are also described, Martinez et al. (2010) presents more detailed information about the participants and the kind of study developed.  In both articles results are explained specifically, including ciphers and percentages.  Conclusions are stated in both cases with a simple and concise sentence according to the results obtained.  The fact that they possess individualized headings may be related to the possibility of providing the reader with a quick preview of the sections and summaries in order to access the required information.

Conversely, Abstracts from the educational field are unstructured since they consist of one long paragraph without division of sections.  Whereas Rammal’s (2006) abstract provides brief, general information and somewhat insufficient to provide the reader an accurate picture of the sections included, Kokonis’ (1993) conference abstract is concise, longer and presents a detailed description of the objectives of the study as well as the advantages of the use of videos in the classroom.  Thus it may give the reader a broad picture of what is studied and suggested by Kokonis (1993).  In contrast with medicine RAs’ Abstracts, educational RAs’ Abstracts do not mention the results obtained possibly due to the fact that educational research studies cannot reach conclusive and applicable results to every situation as it is the case of medicine.

 Linguistic features

 Abstracts analyzed in this paper follow Swales (1990), Swales and Feak (1994) requirements as regards linguistic features since authors make use of full sentences to describe aspects of the different studies, as well as different linguistic specifications in terms of the use of impersonal passive and tenses. There is absence of negatives and use of jargon; abbreviations are not included except for Beckett et al.’s (2008) paper where the results section mentions some statistics so as to have a better understanding of percentages and ciphers.  The use of impersonal passive is present in Beckett et al. (2008): “it has been suggested that antihypertensive therapy may reduce the risk of stroke (...)” (p.1).  However, it should be stated that Becket et al. (2008) use the pronoun “we” when describing the method followed, possibly because researchers need to assert their responsibility on the study.

Regarding tenses, the predominant tense usage is present, although there are some variations due to the development of the abstracts.  In the case of Martinez et al. (2010), the objectives are stated in present tense and the description of the methods, results and conclusion are written in past tense, to put emphasis on what researchers did and what the results obtained were. Similarly, in Beckett et al. (2008) present and past tenses are mostly used, with a statement of an opening sentence using present perfect tense.  Although in Rammal (2006) the future tense is used to show emphasis on a distinctive feature such as identity and culture, both Abstracts from the educational field have a predominance of present tenses.

 APA Conventions

Abstracts’ length is an important issue to consider according to APA (2008) conventions which points out that they should not be longer than two-hundred words in order to fulfill their function as a summary.  In the medicine field, Beckett et al. (2008) produced an Abstract of more than three-hundred words, unlike Martinez et al. (2010) who produced it in almost three-hundred words. In both cases, Abstracts surpassed APA (2008) conventions as regards number of words.  Length and complexity of research studies in the field of medicine may result in longer RAs and therefore more elaborated, structured and longer Abstracts.

Unlike Abstracts in medicine RAs, the educational RAs analyzed contain two-hundred words or less. Kokonis’s (1993) Abstract summarizes his conference paper following APA conventions, whereas Rammal’s (2006) Abstract does not even reach the standard number of words dictated by APA (2008).

Conclusion 

After having analyzed Abstracts in the medicine as well as in the educational field, it should be stated that Rammal’s (2006) Abstract would not fulfill Swales and Feak (1994) requirements and APA (2008) conventions as mentioned above since it does not have the basic requisites of providing a clear and concise summary of the entire text; it only provides general information and therefore is not coherent with the structure of the whole RA.  Beckett et al. (2008), Martinez et al. (2010) and Kokonis (1993) would meet APA (2008) requirements of readability, coherence, and accuracy since they may effectively reach readers’ expectations as regards clarity and smoothness. It may be stated that the present study not only provides valuable insights into Abstracts’ structure, type, format and linguistic features but it also sheds light on the relevance of developing concise and effective Abstracts.   

References

American Psychological Association. (2008). Publication Manual (5th ed.). Washington, DC: British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

 

Beckett, N.S., Peters, R., Fletcher, A. E., Staessen, J.A., Liv, L., Dumitrascu, D., ... Bulpitt, C.J. (2008). Treatment of hypertension in patients 80 years of age or older [Abstract]. The New England Journal of Medicine, 358 (18), 1887 - 1898. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org

Kokonis, M. (1993). The video in the classroom: Agatha Christie’s “Evil under the sun” and the teaching of narratology through film [Abstract]. Proceedings from: The Symposium of the International Visual Literacy Association. Delphi, Greece.

 

Martinez, C., Assimes T. L., Mines, D., Dell’ Aniello S., & Suissa, S. (2010). Use of venlafaxine compared with other antidepressants and the risk of sudden cardiac death or near death: a nested case-control study [Abstract]. British Medical Journal, 340. DOI: 10.136/bmj.c249 

Rammal, S.M. (2006). Video in EFL classrooms [Abstract]. Retrieved from: http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/video-in-efl-classrooms.html 

Swales, J.M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. (Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.

A Comparative Analysis of Two Research Articles in Medicine and English Language Teaching: Results, Discussions and Conclusions

 Introduction

In order to communicate scientific findings, professionals from academic fields should engage in writing Research Articles (RAs). In particular, the fields of Medicine and English Language Teaching (ELT) have evolved throughout the years to convert themselves in respected discourse communities.When writing Research Articles, there are certain structures and rules to follow in order to convey the necessary information.  Apart from Introductions, Literature reviews and Methods sections, it is important to know how to develop the Results, Discussions and Conclusions sections.   This paper aims at comparing, contrasting and analyzing two RAs according to established conventions.  The first article discussed is an action research which explores the use of Computer – Mediated Communication (CMC) beyond the classroom in language teaching (Barrs, 2012).  The second article is a prospective study which delves into the relation between chronic kidney disease and risk of major cardiovascular disease (Di Angelantonio et al. 2010).  

Results Section

 As Swales and Feak (1994) point out, the Results section describes main findings of a research by summarizing data or using texts, figures or tables, describing the outcomes related to the questions or hypotheses of the paper. Barrs (2012) as well as De Angeloantonio et al. (2010) present data gathered throughout research following general specific text structure in chronological order. This feature would enable the reader to have a comprehensive view of the topic being discussed.

 Barrs (2012) provides a detailed description of the different stages included in the study. Results section is divided into two periods; the first period comprises a mini project carried out to find out if students would participate in a computer mediated communication program. There is a short introduction in which the issue is posed as well as a research question. The method for collecting data is explained, as well as the activities students were supposed to do. Then, Barrs (2012) presents the results in text, tables and examples of students’ postings so as to illustrate how students performed during the experience of blogging. As regards tables, the author follows academic standards of formatting. Table headings are italicized, capitalized and situated flush right. Finally, in this period there is a short analysis according to students’ responses, having a negative outcome: “disappointingly, the majority of interactions involved a simple one or two sentence initiation (...)” (p.16).

 The second period delineates the main project where students interacted through a Moodle platform, including a research hypothesis based on the findings from the initial part of the investigation. Intervening action is described, and the objective is to get better results compared to the first attempt: “in order to get students more interested in posting and replying on the forum it was deemed necessary (. . .) to have students generate the discussion topics” (p.17). Results are shown in tables which provide detailed data related to number of postings, replies and type of postings. Such tables include relevant information and allow the reader to have a quick glance at collected data. Moreover, Barrs (2012) includes students’ exchanges to exemplify interactions in the platform. As it has been shown, Barrs (2012) develops the results section reporting detailed quantitative and qualitative data presented in tables and transcriptions of students’ interactions. Furthermore Barrs (2012) closely follows APA style as regards tables formatting.

 While Barrs (2012) states results in two distinct phases, Di Angelatonio et al. (2010) analyze results in three sections described as baseline associations, hazard ratios with disease outcomes and chronic kidney disease and coronary heart disease risk prediction. Specific and detailed information on main findings is displayed through the use of tables and figures. A scatter plot figure is included to account for the value of a specific event related to two variables: coronary heart disease in relation to patients with and without chronic kidney disease. As regards tables, formatting and reference in the text are appropriate and follow standard rules and conventions. Tables in the Medicine RA tend to be more detailed and specific and may be introduced to display data that cannot be easily accessed if written in a paragraph.

 Discussion Section

 Through discussion sections, researchers interpret collected data and draw attention to the hypothesis so as to relate them to the findings of research studies, showing the researcher’s attitude to illuminate relations between data and convince readers about the importance of his/her conclusions. Problem – solution texts structures as well as evaluative language are salient characteristics of this section. Whereas Barrs (2012) includes limitations section separated from conclusions and reflections, Di Angeloantonio et al. (2010) place limitations and strengths within the discussion section, which is not a distinctive characteristic.  

 Limitation section in Barrs’ (2012) action research addresses issues and problems encountered in the development of the project. Not only does the author present weaknesses and areas which need further investigations but he also encourages other teachers to take the challenge to implement similar projects in their contexts. Furthermore, Barrs (2012) draws attention to the fact that the study cannot provide valid generalizations to other contexts and participants. Similarly, Di Angeloantonio et al. (2010) put emphasis on the fact that the findings cannot be applied to a larger population: “(...) the findings may not apply to other races” (p. 6). In contrast to Barrs (2012), at the beginning of this section the strenght of the reserach is described, according to the results obtained.

 Regarding discussion section, Di Angeloantonio et al. (2010) restate the research hypothesis supporting the association between high risk of coronary heart disease with chronic kidney disease. Then, this section also indicates the necessity of “further studies in other populations (...)” (p.5), in order to get more information to compare. In Barrs’ (2012) study, there is not an explicit discussion section, since the data obtained is clearly analysed in the Conclusion and Reflections section.

 Conclusion Section

The Conclusion section in RA makes reference to hypotheses presented in the introduction and whether they were solved or not, and also exposes the need for more investigation if necessary, highlighting its importance. As regards linguistics features, they are particularly relevant and distinctive through the use of evaluative terms, and modals expressing possibility and advice.

 Barrs (2012) considers the action research project was useful and beneficial to increase students’ engagement in interactions in L2 outside the classroom, showing the students’ “(...) desire to stay in contact with classmates and to practice their English skills (...)” (p.22). The author makes use of modals and conditionals when reflecting upon the advantages of this type of project: “(...) the CMC platform would need to be not only student –negotiated (...) but well-planned and supported (...) if it were to encourage high levels of participation/interaction.” (p.22). Barrs (2012) concludes stating the possibility to carry out further investigation to collect data as regards the development of L2 through the implementation of CMC programs. The author encourages the reader to follow investigations related to the topic of inquiry, by stating its benefits and positive outcomes. Similarly, Di Angeloantonio et al. (2010) conclude the RA posing the need for further studies concerning connections between chronic kidney disease and non-vascular mortality from other causes than cancer.

 Conclusion

Based on the analysis and comparison of two RA in the field of education and medicine, it is important to point out that though both articles differ slightly in sections described above, they share common features and patterns. Each of them backup their findings by clear descriptions of the results sections, and attempt to show the importance of each study by including convincing statements in the discussion and conclusion sections. By comparing both articles, a clear picture of research papers sections is provided in order to be applied in future research studies

References

Barrs, K. (2012). Fostering computer – mediated L2 interaction beyond the classroom. Language Learning and Technology, volume 16 (Number 1), pp. 10-25. Retrieved from: http://llt.msu.edu/issues/february2012/actionresearch.pdf  

Di Angelantonio, E., Chowdhury, R., Sarwar, N., Aspelund, T., Danesh, J., Gudnason, V. (2010). Chronic kidney disease and risk of major cardiovascular disease and non-vascular mortality: prospective population based cohort study. British Medical Journal, 341:c4986. DOI:10.1136/bmj.c4986

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.

A Comparative Analysis of Two Research Articles: Introductions, Literature Reviews and Methods

Academic writing is an area which offers a wide variety of genres and discourses.  As members immersed in this community of writing, it is essential to analyze research studies developed by proficient members of various academic discourse communities.  This paper is based on a comparative analysis which combines the examination and the scrutiny of research findings that belong to different scientific fields.  In order to illustrate introduction and method sections in Research Articles (RA), this paper will examine two research papers in the field of medicine and education, carrying out a deep analysis of their introductions, literature reviews and methods.  The first article belongs to the field of medicine and is based on the effects of revaccination with BCG in early childhood on mortality in Guinea-Bissau (Roth et al., 2010), the second article describes a study on the use of blogs in a specific academic setting in China (Sun & Chang, 2012).  Although both articles follow academic standards as regards structure of academic research papers, they present different formats and styles when presenting the information.  The parameters they exhibit are discussed, compared and contrasted in the present paper.

The C.A.R.S. Model: Moves in Introductions

The first element that characterizes a research article is its introduction.  In order to write an introduction, the writer has a fundamental purpose in mind: to call readers’ attention.  A common organizational pattern that facilitates reading as well as comprehension is the model proposed by Swales and Feak (1994) called the Create a Research Space Model (C.A.R.S.) (Swales & Feak, 1994, as cited in Hengl and Gould, 2002).  It is comprised of three moves, which contains semantic and syntactic patterns: establishing a territory, establishing a niche, and occupying the niche.        

Move 1a: establishing the territory

As it has been mentioned, the first move in introductions establishes the territory of the research and may be divided into two parts: the first one, which is optional, accounts for the relevance of the research and the second part reviews outstanding previous studies.  Roth et al. (2010) state the importance of their investigation demonstrating that no other studies have dealt with the problem of the effects of revaccination with BCG in early childhood on mortality in Guinea-Bissau: “Routine infant vaccines currently used in low income countries were not tested in randomized trials for their impact on overall child survival before their introduction” (p.1).

Whereas Roth et al. (2010) develop Move 1a, Sun and Chang (2012) establish the research territory defining blogs through a contrastive definition: “ Blogs differ from discussion boards, or Wikis in that blogs are controlled and owned by the bloggers (…)” (p.43). Moreover, they expand the definition by stating general characteristics and benefits of using blogs: "Characterized by their strong personal editorship, hyper linking potential, archival features, access to content, blogs invite users to share, create and interact in a virtual space to generate knowledge." (p.43).

          Move 1b: literature reviews

According to C.A.R.S. Model (Swales & Feak, 1994), Move 1b is the section which presents current knowledge on the subject matter of the research.  Roth et al. (2010) explore the literature relevant to their study chronologically, departing from pioneering studies on vaccination in low income countries to recent ones carried out in the same context.  From the linguistic point of view, Roth et al. (2010) follow standard procedures applying the present perfect tense to describe areas of inquiries:  “Numerous studies of measles vaccine have reported significant reductions (…)” (p.1, Roth et al., 2010), and present tenses to refer to current and accepted knowledge in the field of medicine: “This is best documented for standard measles vaccine.”(p1). Past simple tense is also used to describe the methods and findings from relevant studies related to the area of interest: “In Sun’s study examining speaking practice on blogs, EFL students went through a series of stages (…)” (p.44).

Unlike Roth et al. (2010), Sun and Chang (2012) develop Move 1b making reference to consulted literature on blogs in a general – specific manner.  Sun and Chang (2012) proceed smoothly from a general definition of blogs, stating their distinct characteristics and benefits, to a more specific definition in pedagogical settings.  The authors provide a detailed revision of studies made in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT), providing advantages of including blogs in the foreign language classroom.  Similarly to Roth et al. (2010), Sun and Chang (2012) use the present perfect tense to refer to areas of inquiries: “Several studies have highlighted the advantages of integrating blogs in foreign language classrooms to develop writing skills, and present tenses to describe current knowledge.” (p.43).

       Move 2: establishing the niche

Establishing the gap is the main objective of Move 2, it is the link between Move 1 and 3.  As Swales and Feak (1994) point out, readers should have an overall idea of what is coming in Move 3.  The researcher raises questions as regards previous studies, stating the significance of his research, trying to fill the gap found in the literature review. To accomplish this aim of demonstrating that there is some kind of left-aside issue, Move 2 is introduced with a negative opening.  Accordingly, Roth et al. (2010) present Move 2 explaining that “randomized studies of BCG in low income countries have not been carried out” (p.1), and connect Move 2 and Move 3 establishing the gap. Similarly, Sun and Chang (2012) start Move 2 with a negative opening, describing that there is no major research done on the field of blogging in academic writing, especially in EFL: “little, if any, empirical research has been done to examine how interactions in blogs help EFL graduate students develop academic writing knowledge and writer identities.”(p.44).  As it has been seen, clear evidence is presented as regards smooth transitions between move 1 and 2 made by researchers when writing papers to communicate their findings.      

Move 3: occupying the niche

The last move in introductions states the purposes of the RA, describing the general nature and structure of the paper and / or presenting main findings. Move 3 may comprise two types of phrases: purposive or descriptive statements. While the former establishes the purposes of the study, the latter attempts to describe the general structure of the paper.  Roth et al. (2010) make use of descriptive statements in order to present the steps followed in their research study; evidence of this can be traced by the use of sequence connectors as firstly and secondly.  Furthermore, a clear and concise description of the study is given, stating its design and characteristics, as well as its main objective. Likewise, Sun and Chang (2012) make use of a descriptive statement, referring to the phases they followed to carry out their research, as well as establish their view towards the topic of study: “the current study expands the conceptual scope of blogs and views blogs as a social medium for knowledge and identity construction (…).” (p.44)

Methods Section

Methods comprise techniques that describe the processes, the individuals involved and the tools for collecting information. On the one hand, Sun and Chang (2012) follow a case study research method in order to analyze inductively seven graduate students.  The authors develop the method section by describing the participants, the procedures followed and the techniques used to collect data.  On the other hand, Roth et al. (2010) develop an experimental design and provide more detailed explanations on the setting, the study design and the data collection procedures and the participants.  Although each work has a different outcome, the main characteristics of the methods and procedures that have been followed to arrive to results are clearly depicted and explained, providing a solid framework that improves understanding of the articles.

Conclusion

To bring the paper to a close, main aspects considered in this analysis are summarized.  The relevant components and features of two distinct research papers have been identified and discussed: introduction, literary review and method section.  Main concepts and papers’ structure have been compared and contrasted in detail. Although these articles pertain to differing scientific fields, they follow RAs’ structure and include linguistic features used in academic research papers, and have successfully reached the aim of communicating new perspectives in the Medicine and ELT contexts.  Lastly, the interpretation of the articles has provided with major insights into the requirements and procedures for writing academic papers effectively.

References

Hengl, T. and Gould, M. (2002). Rules of thumb for writing research articles. Retrieved in April 2012 from: http://www.itc.nl/library/Papers/hengl_rules.pdf

Sun, C. and Chang, J. (2012). Blogging to Learn: Becoming EFL Academic Writers through Collaborative Dialogues. Language Learning and Technology, volume 16 (Number 1), pp. 43-61. Retrieved in April 2012, from: http:/llt.msu.edu/issues/february2012/sunchang.pdf

 

Roth, A., Stabell Benn, C., Ravn H., Rodrigues A., Lisse I.M., Yazdanbakhsh M., Whittle H., Aaby P. (2010). Effect of Revaccination with BCG in Early Childhood on Mortality: Randomised Trial in Guinea-Bissau. British Medical Journal

Academic writing conventions

Academic writing conventions according to the American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing: A paper analysis

Academic papers should fulfill certain requirements as regards “formal elements such us proficiency in language use, style, register and genre” (Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.9). In order to reach academic standards, the different text formats should follow specific and detailed conventions dictated by distinct referencing systems. Those systems enable authors to avoid plagiarism (the use of sources without acknowledging them) and “allow the reader to consult the original source” (Nielsen, 2007, p.5). American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), and Chicago Manual Style are some of the referencing system manuals which authors may follow, depending on the field of study they belong to. The present analysis seeks to examine Myles’ (2002) research paper on second language writing, adopting for that purpose the APA style of referencing.
According to Purdue Owl (2010), authors can use quotations, paraphrases or summaries to cite sources. Furthermore, different types of citing “add credibility to academic papers, (. . .) give examples of several points of view on a subject, [and] distance the author from the original [work] by quoting it to cue readers that the words are not [his] own” (Purdue Owl, 2010). Myles’ (2002) employs direct quotations, paraphrased in text-citations, and block quotations to soundly support her research.
Myles’ (2002) most frequent type of quotation is paraphrasing, adding at the end of every indirect quotation the author’s name and the year of publication between parenthesis following APA conventions: “Perhaps it is best viewed as a continuum of activities that range from the more mechanical or formal aspects of writing down on the one end, to the more complex act of composing on the other end” (Omaggio Hadley, 1993). When Myles (2002) includes a quotation by two authors, she adds the ampersand signal between their names: “(. . .) (Kutz, Groden & Zamel, 1993, p.30)”, as suggested by APA. The frequent use of paraphrase format of quotations may
reveal the writer’s fruitful attempt to support her position in the topic discussed in her paper.
In addition to the inclusion of indirect quotations, Myles (2002) presents evidence for her research directly transcribing the authors’ words. The reader may contact Myles’ (2002) sources through the exact words without mediators, between Myles and the reader; thus, keeping the meaning of the whole phrase without altering it and correctly applying APA rules: "writing ability is more closely linked to fluency in and familiarity with the conventions of expository discourse" (Kogen 1986, p. 25). Another type of referencing that Myles (2002) employs in three parts of her work is block quotations. Purdue Owl (2010) refers to block quotations as direct statements which are longer than forty words, they should stand in a free block, omitting quotation marks, placing page numbers at the end, and indenting five spaces from the established margins. Although Myles (2002), does not indent the block quotation, she follows APA guidelines as regards the first three requirements mentioned above, for instance: “As Yau (1991) points out:
[A]lthough we should not cripple our students' interest in writing through undue stress or grammatical correctness, the influence of second language factors on writing performance is something we have to reckon with and not pretend that concentrating on the process would automatically resolve the difficulty caused by these factors. (p. 268)”
As shown above in the previous example, Myles (2002) asserts in including block quotations sparingly in her research, just to illustrate the source’s idea, and at the end of her paper to present a satisfactory conclusion.
Applying APA guidelines for omissions, Myles (2002) inserts them in certain direct quotation where she considers that the original source material is not relevant to her investigation: “students' strategic knowledge and the ability of students to transform information . . . to meet rhetorically constrained purposes" (Grabe & Kaplan, 1996, p. 116).” It must be noted that the use of ellipsis without parenthesis shows that a paragraph was taken out of the quotation. As regards insertions, which are marked by square brackets, they are mostly placed at the beginning of block quotation to indicate the change of a low case letter to an upper case one: “McLaughlin, transfer errors can occur because:
[L]earners lack the necessary information in the second language or the attentional capacity to activate the appropriate second-language routine. But such an account says little about why certain linguistic forms transfer and others do not. (1988, p. 50)”

Reporting verbs and introductory phrases are essential elements which are regulated by APA. The varied use of reporting verbs attempt to reflect the different positions an author may hold, Myles (2002), uses a wide range of verbs: argue, state, support, differentiate, criticize, observe, focus, analyze, propose, stress, advocate, point out, conclude and mention. Introductory phrases are correctly structured in Myles’ (2002) paper:
“Schumann (1998) argues that…”,
“Silva (1993) observes that..”
“The Flower and Hayes (1980, 1981) model focuses on…” (as cited in Myles,2002,p.3)
Finally, in the reference section, Myles (2002) does not follow APA conventions accurately, for instance, the title is placed on the left margin and it should be written in the middle. Furthermore, in Myles’ reference list, the internet journal resource is not correctly structured, as can be illustrated in the following example:
“Plata, M. (1995). Success of Hispanic college students on a writing examination. Journal of Educational Issue of Language Minority Students [on-line serial], 15. Available: http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/miscpubs/jeilms/vol15/success.htm”
(as cited in Myles,2002, p.20)
As observed in the reference above, the phrase in square brackets, the word available, and the underlined linked internet resource do not correspond to APA convention style of referencing.
In the present analysis, Myles’ (2002) use of direct and indirect quotations, block quotations, omissions, reporting verbs and structure of the reference section have been explored. The details and examples generated, based on Myles’ (2002)

research paper on second language writing, show that her study follows APA requirements quite closely. Furthermore, it should be noted that the author possesses a remarkable handling of direct scientific sources, she is able to make connections between current theoretical perspectives on the topic she proposes and her academic view.


References

Myles, J. (2002). Second language writing and research: the writing process and error analysis in student texts. TESL-EJ, 6 (2). Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information/tesl-ej/ej22/a1.html
Nielsen, L. (2007). Setting out references. How to reference using the American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing 5th edition. Auckland: Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland. Retrieved September 24, 2010, from Philson Library: http://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/subjects/med/pdfs/apa-guide.pdf
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010a). Unit 2: Personal narratives in teaching. Retrieved September, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7214
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010b). Unit 3: Academic writing. Retrieved September, 2010, from http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7392
Purdue OWL. (2010a). In – text citations: the basics. Retrieved September, 2010, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/
Purdue OWL. (2010b). Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Retrieved September, 2010, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/

From peripheral participation to professionalism

Peripheral participation and professionalism are relevant issues to consider in order to become active members in a certain discourse community. According to Lave and Wenger (1991), new participants’ position in a discourse community “[is] not central but [is] on the margins of the activity”(as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.14). Lave and Wenger (1991) also argue that as long as a member takes part in the development of knowledge, members hold a legitimate peripheral position. Thus, involvement in knowledge development as well as in academic issues would enable students and professionals to become legitimate members in a given discourse community.
As regards professionalism, Banfi (1997, cited in Pintos &Crimi, 2010) describes the necessary requirements to be considered a professional in a certain field. Professionals should “provide a social service, […] [professionals] should have had a long period of specialized training and be autonomous and involved in decision-making issues”(Banfi,1997,as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.28). Moreover, Wallace (1991) adds that professionals should “perform (…) socially useful tasks in a demonstrably competent manner” (as cited in Pintos & Crimi, p.28).
From the concepts defined above, it should be said that peripheral participation and professionalism are indicative and necessary requirements for a membership in a discourse community. Those concepts are related and connected since they refer to the achievement of professional goals, professionals should aim at becoming legitimate participants through the development of new knowledge. In the case of teachers, they should seek to “play a central role in the development of research” (Banfi, 1997, as cited in Pintos & Crimi, p.29)
After this brief overview of the concepts of peripheral participation and professionalism provided in this paper, it should be stated that peripheral participation in a teaching discourse community means learning about the genres and conventions of academic writing. It can be concluded that becoming a professional means complying with the requirements of a professional reflective teacher who can work autonomously seeking for new developments in his / her specific filed.


References

Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 1: Building up a community of teachers and prospective teachers. Retrieved August 2010, from
http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7214

New CAECE dictionary of academic terms

Academic writing

In order to introduce the New CAECE dictionary of academic terms, it is relevant to define what academic writing is. Academic writing may be defined as a skill that requires specific formal elements regarding style, register, and genre and also includes the use of provoking views, discussions and responses on the part of the reader and writer. According to Pintos and Crimi (2010), academic writing “challenges students’ cognitive capacities” (p.9), therefore, learners should be able to construct knowledge through the exploration of new insights through writing in academic contexts.
For instance, Silva (1990) states that “academic writing should aim at helping to socialize the students into the academic context” (as cited in Pintos & Crimi, p.11). As a consequence, students should become familiar with the format of academic texts, such as, book reports, outlines, summaries or journals among others.
Furthermore, academic writing has specific characteristics stated by Mac Donald (1994, as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010), which delimit its context and requirements, they are:
- Academic register
- Formal style
- Proficiency in language
- Ability to integrate information from other sources
- Ability to integrate types of academic genres
Morra de la Peña (1995) argues that teachers should make students aware of the different characteristics, and types of expository texts to diminish failure and the negative consequences of lack of knowledge and practice in writing academic texts (as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010)


Given the definition and main characteristics of academic writing, it can be concluded that writing academically is a skill which requires the use of a specific formal style, register and genres. Thus, in order to become part of the academic community, it is of prime importance for learners to be able to build their knowledge based on the implementation of specific academic writing conventions.


References

Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 3: Academic writing. Retrieved September 2010, from
http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7392


Advanced literacy and professional development

To understand the role of advanced literacy in professional development, the following section of the New CAECE dictionary of academic terms aims to provide an understanding of what advanced literacy is in academic contexts. The term advanced literacy can be defined as the acquired ability to read and write in academic settings. As a consequence, advanced literacy is a useful tool that may help students and professionals to develop formal skills necessary to interact academically. As posed by Schleppegrell and Colombi (2002), advanced literacy is the process of creating and exploring meaning, thus, critical thinking skills play a major role in the development of advanced literacy (as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010).

The term advanced literacy has come to be applied in academic contexts where the formal instruction of English is provided. For instance, the term advanced literacy may be found in Schleppegrell and Colombi (2002), who state that teachers should “enable [students] to contribute to the evolution of knowledge by …. challenging current practices and developing new ways of using language in advanced literacy contexts”(as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.35).

With reference to the current use of the term, it is used in academic settings to address to the requirements that students and professionals have to fulfill in order to be able to have access to contexts where academic writings are constructed. Formal requirements as well as internal thinking processes are concepts that are closely attached to the term advanced literacy. As argued by Pintos and Crimi (2010), “in order to develop advanced literacy, students should go beyond the basics; they should construct arguments and critique theories.”(p.35)


This brief overview of the term advanced literacy, shows that in order to take part in academic settings, participants should be able to acquire knowledge of formal requirements, and be able to interpret, construct and reconstruct meaning. Schleppegrell and Colombi (2002, as cited in Pintos & Crimi 2010), maintain that participants need to go beyond their current level of expertise to have “…..access, power and opportunity in today’s world”, particularly in academic contexts.


References

Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 1: Building up a community of teachers and prospective teachers. Retrieved August 2010, from
http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=7214