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Annotated Example of An Article Review
Annotated Example of An Article Review
Annotated Example of An Article Review
AnnotatedExampleofanArticleReview
Thisisanauthenticexampleofstudentwriting.Thereforeyoushouldnotviewthisasa modelwhileitcontainsmanyattributesofasuccessfularticlereview,itisnotaperfect pieceofwriting.Thecommentsontherighthandsidedrawyourattentiontoboth strengthsandweaknessesinthereview,butarenotcomprehensiveandassuchyou shouldnotassumethatsectionsofthearticlereviewwhichdonothavecommentsare withoutproblems.Pleasenotthatthelanguageinthisarticlereviewisnotwithout grammaticalerrors.
Functionalelements ArticleReview:Introduction
Citation:tellsthe readerwhicharticleyou arereviewingand providesreferencing details Overview:summarises forthereaderthemain pointsandgoalsofthe article(thisisimportant yourmarkerwantsto seethatyouareableto identifythesethings)
Language resources
Overviewofcritical assessment:tellsthe readeraboutyour overallassessmentof
Fabricius(2002),inherarticle OngoingchangeinModern RP:Evidenceforthe disappearingstigmaoft glottalling,focusesonthe replacementofthe/t/atthe endofwords/syllableswith theglottalstop//in ReceivedPronunciation(RP), aprestigioussociolectin Britaintypicallyascribedto theroyalfamilyandtheBBC. Thisfeatureistraditionally associatedwithmorelocalised varietiesofBritishEnglish (e.g.Scots,Cockney).The authoraimstohighlightthe changingnatureofbothRP itselfandalsoattitudes towardswhethertheinclusion ofphoneticvariationssuchas tglottallingcanstillentail acceptableRP. Thisarticleissignificant giventhatstudiesofsociolects
Reportingverb carefullyselected toaddmore specificmeaning (comparefocuses onwith discussesinthis sentence) Verbgroup carefullyselected tosignpostthe students identificationof thegoalsofthe article Semitechnical
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deemedtobeofahigher statusthanothers (predominantlyasaresultof speakershigher socioeconomicprofile)are relatively rare . 1However asaresultofthehighly technicalnatureofitsanalysis andsomewhatabstract implications,thearticlewould perhaps perhaps onlybeof interest torelevantexperts wellversedinsociolinguistic theoryandstatistical processes.
1Yourmarkerwantsto
Functionalelements
Summaryofanaspect: summarisesforthe readeranaspectofthe article(the methodological approach)
ArticleReview:Body
2Afteradetailed background
Language resources
Evaluative vocabulary conveys thereviewers positiveassessment oftherigourand originalityofthe approach Implicitpositive evaluation ofthe credibility/rigourof themethodological approachisconveyed throughmentionof theCambridge Scale/professional phoneticians
reviewofbothRPitselfand thenumerousstudiesofit,the authorturnsherattentionto themainfocusofthestudy:an original quantitativeanalysis ofglottallinginRP.Thedatais takenfrom24interviews conductedamongstuniversity students,allofwhomwere deemedofasimilar,higher socialclass,categorisedthus bytheapplicationofthe CambridgeScale totheir parentsoccupationscoupled withtheireducational background.Aswellassocial class,theinterviewees linguisticprofilewas evaluatedbyprofessional
2Notehowthestudent
hasintegrated summaryand evaluationthroughthe useof(sometimes implicitly)evaluative termsandphrases, suchasdetailedand evaluatedby professional phoneticiansto summarisethisaspect ofthearticle.Good criticalwritingoften doesthis.
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phoneticians whodeemed thoseincludedtobeRP speakers. Usingavariety ofstatistical methodstheauthor demonstrates anumberof interesting findings.A frequencyanalysisshows thattglottallingoccursmore Evaluationofthis readilyinnaturalspeechthan aspect: informalreading,revealing evaluatesthisaspectof thearticle anelementofstyleshiftingin (herethestudent RPdependentonthesituation evaluatesthevalidityand perceivedbythespeaker.A significanceofthe regionalcrosstabulation findings) shows howspeakersfrom LondonandtheSouthEastof Englandaremorepronetot glottalling,3confirming hypothesesonthediffusionof thisfeaturefromitshistorical epicentre(London)madeby UniversityCollegeLondon professorofphoneticsJC Wells andcitedbythearticles author.Additionally,an ANOVA(analysisofvariance) testonparticipantsreactions totwoidenticalbodiesof speech,differinginthelevel andvarietiesoftglottalling containedwithineachone, reveals thatcertainusagesof tglottallingaremore acceptablyRPthanothers. 4Whilethesefindingsare certainlyofinterest,the authorssomewhat somewhat overbearing attentionto detailinoutliningtheminutiae ofherstudywasexacting
Evaluative vocabulary conveys thereviewers positiveevaluationof the validity/credibility/si gnificanceofthe findings(forexample compareshowsto suggestsinthis context)
3Notehowthestudent
hasrelatedthe findingsintheoriginal articletoother findingsinthefield. Thisallowsthemto demonstrate knowledgeofthefield anditsconcernsand usethisknowledgeto supporttheir evaluations.Themore evidenceyouuseto backupyour evaluationsthebetter.
evaluatinganaspectof anarticleyouneedto usetermsof Contrastive evaluationthatare conjunctionusedto bothspecifictothe linkthepositiveand disciplineandits negativeaspectsof concernsand theassessment objective.Theuseof generalandpersonally Modaltermusedto Modalterm loadedtermssuchas reducethestrengthof overbearingattention todetailandpointof distractiondetracts fromthevalidityofthe Page3of3 studentsevaluation.
4Whenyouare
almosttothepointof almost distraction .Forinstance,the inclusionofthemakeand modelnumberofher Dictaphoneusedtorecordand transcribetheinterviews,an unnecessary detail extraneous totheinterestof thereader.Whileanelementof
thoroughnessinthereview, methodologicalconsiderations andexpositionofresultsisof courseessentialinanyresearch, andparticularlyacademic research,itmustnotgosofaras todistract fromtheindividual findingsandtheiroverall implications,aswascertainlythe casehere.
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Functionalelements
Summaryofevaluation: summarisesforthe readerthemainpoints madeintheReviewstage intermsofyour evaluationofeachaspect
ArticleReview:Conclusion
Language resources
Evaluative vocabulary conveys thereviewers positiveassessment oftherigourand significanceofthe studyandnegative assessmentofthe degreeofdetailand lackoffocus
Inconclusion,Fabriciusarticle providesacomprehensive reviewofpastresearchinto RPandpresentsinteresting findingsfromtheauthorsown thorough studyofthe changingnatureofRPand attitudestowardsthischange withregardstothe replacementofthe/t/sound attheendsofwords/syllables withthe//glottalstop. However,theauthorsfailure toexplainfindingsinsimple termsandproviderealworld examplesrendersthis researchinaccessible tolay audienceswhoare neverthelessstakeholdersin thestatusofRP(e.g.media commentators,thoseinthe dramaticarts). Therelevanceofthis Overallassessment: otherwisecomprehensive tellsthereaderwhat youroverallassessment andcontemporary studyis ofthearticleis(here therefore5somewhat somewhat positiveassessmentin termsoftherigourand compromised byits significanceandnegative relativelyrestricted assessmentintermsof accessibility. accessibility)
5Theuseofmodal
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