Unit 1: Legal English for TFG. How to write RAs and essays.

Academic orientation

1. Being an independent learner.

1.1. Students at most universities are expected to be independent learners. Tick the
sentences below which describe characteristics of this type of learner.

Independent learners

1. Make choices about what courses to study within a programme.

2. Set their own short- and long-term learning goals.

3. Know who to ask for help in case of difficulty.

4. Know where to find information they need.

5. Use the library, online information and other resources effectively.

6. Identify areas where they are weak and need to do further work.

7. Can conduct an investigation on a particular topic with limited guidance.

1.2. Choose two of the characteristics of an independent learner that you think you
already and two that you need to develop. How might you develop the weaker
characteristics?

1. Make choices about what courses to study within a programme. Do as much

research as possible on each of the modules (talk to lecturers, current students,
etc.).

2. Set their own short- and long-term learning goals. Carefully consider what you
really want to get out of your university experience.

3. Know who to ask for help in case of difficulty. Be open and aware that you
might find certain aspects of university life difficult, and don’t be afraid to talk to
someone about this.

4. Know where to find information they need. Look at your university library’s
website, where there will often be a lot of information about where you can access
information.

5. Use the library, online information and other resources effectively. Be selective
in what you look at: know exactly what kind of information you are looking for.
 6. Identify areas where they are weak and need to do further work. Look at
feedback from previous reports/pieces of work, and learn from what your tutors
have advised you.

7. Can conduct an investigation on a particular topic with limited guidance.

Develop a clear plan of the steps you need to follow.

1.3. Listen to Max talking about differences in being a student on an

undergraduate and then a postgraduate programme.

1. In which programme was he expected to study more independently?

The postgraduate programme (‘unstructured in the sense that I didn’t have any
courses I didn’t formally have to attend any seminars’...‘it’s really on me to figure out
what I need to be doing with my daily schedule’...‘I don’t have even my
supervisors...overseeing my course of studies day in and day out’).

2. What particular differences between the programmes does he mention?

Max mentions the following differences:

a) The structure of the programmes (undergraduate is ‘much more structured’).

b) Time management (as an undergraduate, you have a ‘specific set schedule with a
certain number of hours per week’).

c) Contact time with teachers (as an undergraduate, there were ‘designated times
when I had to meet with various professors’).

2. Adopting good study strategies.

2.1. An international student, who will shortly go to university in an English-

speaking country, has asked you what study strategies to use in order to achieve
academic success.

1. Manage your time effectively.

2. Work in places and at times which suit you.

3. Talk to other students on your course.

4. Do not be afraid to ask for advice.

5. Try to find some time every day to work on your English.

2.2. a. You are going to read extracts from an article about academic success.
Study this chart from the article, where recommendations are made.

b. In these extracts from the article, the writer reports research on which his
recommendations are based. Read the extracts (1-5) below and match them with
sections of the chart (a-j).

1. Research indicates that after exposure to between ten and twenty minutes of
continuous lecturing, learning falls off rapidly. Luckily, several teaching practices
counter this tendency. First, look for professors who ask rhetorical questions every ten
minutes or so (Weaver and Cotrell, 1986) and who reinforce material by asking for
nonthreatening forms of participation such as a show of hands or volunteer speakers
with examples confirming or countering the material (Hunter, 1983). Seek out
professors who encourage class discussion.

2. Gage and Berliner (1992) argue that models provide “accurate and useful
representations of knowledge that is needed when solving problems in some particular
domain” (p.314). Specifically, they found that students who study models and
conceptual maps before a lecture may recall as much as 57 percent more of the
conceptual information than students who do not study and discuss such maps and
models. Employ visual models.

3. Available learning time depends on the calendar established by the university for
each semester and the time allotted by professors for covering various topics in each
class during the semester. Perseverance refers to the student’s intensity and focus on
academic content during the allocated learning time. Carroll’s (1963) study suggests
that all else being equal, the more time you spend on a course and the better you focus
on the material, the more successful you will be. Discover the ‘learning time’
available for each course.
 4. Although informal and less-structured classes are employed to stimulate
engagement in American class-rooms, the research mentioned earlier indicates that
these practices may impede international student learning. In addition, international
students are often unaccustomed to frequent testing and have more experience taking
essay-oriented examinations. Seek structured seminars.

5. Research indicates that classroom atmosphere and especially the quality and
degree of faculty-student interaction in American universities trouble international
students (Craig, 1981; Edwards and Tonkin, 1990). These findings reflect the fact that
most international students are accustomed to listening and learning rather than
speaking in class. International students should therefore consider seeking out
professors who lecture well. Seek structured seminars.

4. Writing a research proposal.

Unlike a taught Master’s degree, an MPhil (Master of Philosophy) is usually

awarded for the successful completion of a research project written up in a dissertation
or thesis.

4.1. a. You are going to listen to Youness talking about his research proposal. He
has included the following parts. Decide the order you expect them to be in the
proposal.

1. Outline of previous research.

2. Methods.

3. Research questions.

4. Conclusion.

b. Listen to Youness and check your answers.

1. Outline of previous research: (‘And so I would talk about, first of all, the fact,
well, emphasising the fact that not a lot of scholars worked well, worked on these
letters. They were more focused on...’).

2. Methods: (‘So then I went on, uh, talking about how many women I would
choose and how many men I would choose and how I would compare both of these
letters’).

3. Research questions: (‘And then I had another part where I would just, uh, talk
about the questions I would ask...for each group, I have two or three questions that I
would try to answer in my dissertation’).

4. Conclusion: (‘and then I would have the conclusion’).

 c. Listen again. What is the main way his research is different from work done by
other researchers?

Other researchers (scholars) have focused on letters by men (as part of a study of
economic history), while Youness is more concerned with letters written by women.

d. Why it is important to include a statement in a research proposal (and in the

final dissertation) saying how your work is different from previous research?
Share your ideas with the class.

1. It allows you to show that your research is original

2. It protects you against the plagiarism.

3. It allows you to show how your research is related to previous research.

4. It allows you to show that your research builds on previous research.

Writing up research: a research proposal.

For undergraduate or postgraduate students, a research proposal is an outline of the

research project they intend to undertake for their dissertation or thesis. Although there
can be variation across subjects and institutions in the organisation of research
proposals and their parts, many research proposals have a similar format. Following the
title, which gives an indication of the topic of the research, they are often divided into
the five or six sections outlined below.

9.1. Work in pairs. Think of three reasons why students are usually asked to write
a proposal before starting their research. Share your ideas with the class.

1. It helps to make sure that you have a research project that: is worth doing; is of
the right scale for the level; can be done in practice (that the data can be collected, and
can be completed in the time available).

2. It indicates that you are aware of what research has already been done, of
methods that might be used, and (more generally) that you have the potential ability to
complete the research.

3. It allows an academic institution to check that it has someone appropriate who

will be able to supervise the research.

9.2. Complete section headings 1-6 in the table with information from the box.

Sections of a typical research proposal

General purpose of
Section headings Elements in the section will say...
section
1. What general area you will be
To say why you want to do
Introduction working in.
the research.

To say what exactly you
Aims and objectives
want to do in the research.
To say how you are going
Methods
to do the research.
To show that you will
Ethical considerations conduct your research in an
ethical way.
To show how you will
complete your research by
Time scale
the deadline for
submission.
To acknowledge the
References sources you have referred
to in the research proposal.
Editing your work.
Developing good editing skills is important for success in academic writing. You
should carefully check and improve your assignments before you submit them.
2. How you came to be interested in
the topic.
3. Why the topic is important.
4. What work has and has not been
done on the subject so far in a brief
literature review.
5. How your research relates to what
has been done so far.
1. What research questions or
hypotheses you will address in the
research.
2. What you hope to find out in the
research.
3. What your research will contribute
to the field.
1. What theoretical approach you will
use.
2. Why you have chosen a particular
method or methods.
3. How you will select the data.
4. How you will collect the data.
5. How you will analyse the data.
1. How you will manage issues such as
anonymity of subjects and
confidentiality of data.
2. How your research will conform to
the ethical codes of your institution.
1. By what date you will finish each
section.
1. What sources you have mentioned,
including full bibliographical details.
4.1. Below is a checklist of questions to ask yourself when editing your work. (Not
all the questions will be relevant to each assignment.) Complete the checklist with
headings from the box.

Assignment-editing checklist

a) Organisation

1. Does the Introduction tell the reader what is to come?

2. Can the main points of the assignment be clearly identified (e.g. can I underline
them)?

3. Do (sub)headings give a clear outline of the organisation of the assignment?

b) Clarity and relevance

1. Is every point I make clear?

2. Are all parts of the assignment relevant to the question? If not, can they be
omitted?

3. Does the Conclusion sum up what I have said and relate it to the question?

4. Does the Introduction show that I am answering the question?

5. Do I avoid repeating things in my own words that are already said in quotations?

c) Claims and evidence

1. Are the claims I make justifiable?

2. Do I give evidence to support claims where necessary?

3. Do I hedge claims appropriately, or do I overstate them?

4. For an argumentative essay (e.g. Discuss...; To what extent...?), is my position on

the topic clear (in the Introduction, Conclusion, or both)?

d) Use of the literature

1. Do I depend too much on one or two sources?

2. Do I use too much quotation?

3. Have I checked that all quotations are accurate?

4. Have I integrated quotations accurately into the text?

5. Have I paraphrased sufficiently to avoid plagiarism?

 6. Have I followed conventions in the in-text references and in the reference list?

7. Have I used appropriate reporting verbs and with an appropriate tense?

8. Is the reference list complete (i.e. are all the works mentioned in the assignment
in the reference list, and vice versa)?

e) Style and presentation

1. Do I avoid features of spoken English such as contracted forms (e.g. it’s) and
idiomatic language?

2. Do I use personal pronouns (I, we) appropriately?

3. If I refer to other parts of the text, do I do this appropriately (e.g. with above and
below)?

4. Do I use nominalisations where possible?

5. Do I use gender-neutral language?

6. Do I avoid too much repetition?

7. Do I avoid asking rhetorical questions?

8. Is there enough space for markers to write comments?

9. Is there consistency in headings (e.g. use of upper/lower case)?

10. Does each one have a number and title?

Writing up research: the Abstract.

An Abstract (sometimes referred to as a synopsis) is a brief summary of a thesis or

journal article. You will probably be given instructions by your institution or
department on how long your thesis Abstract should be. If not, ask your supervisor for
advice.

5.1. At the beginning of your thesis, you will probably need to include an Abstract.
These typically include some or all of the following elements.

1. What is the most likely order of these elements?

Introduction, Purpose, Methods, Results, Conclusion.

2. Although the Abstract will come near the beginning of your thesis, it may be the
last section that you write. Why do you think this is?
 It is difficult to write an Abstract before knowing what the conclusions will be (that
is, before writing the final section of the thesis).

5.2. Put the sentences in these Abstracts from journal articles in order. Then
identify which elements from 5.1 are included in each abstract. Work individually
and then compare answers in pairs.

Abstract 1

Purpose

This study investigated the beliefs about stars that students hold when they enter an
undergraduate introductory astronomy course for nonscience majors.

Methods

Students’ pre-instructional ideas were investigated through the use of several

student-supplied-response (SSR) surveys, which asked students to describe their ideas
about topics such as what is a star, how is starlight created, how are stars formed, are all
stars the same, and more.

Results

The results from more than 2,200 responses suggest that although students often
have some initial knowledge is often incomplete or incorrect in important ways that
could negatively impact instructional objectives.

Abstract 2

Introduction

Compared to their European counterparts, the American public has been

characterized as relatively unknowledgeable and indifferent about genetically modified
foods.

Purpose and methods

To evaluate these claims, six focus groups were held in three Arkansas cities to: (1)
determine the extent of knowledge the public possesses about genetically modified
foods; (2) detail perceived benefits and risks associated with agricultural biotechnology
applications; and (3) explore lay perceptions about the genetic modification process
itself.

Results:

Participants demonstrated partial knowledge and tended to overestimate the number

of genetically modified foods.

However, participants tended to be familiar with debated surrounding benefits, risks

and moral issues associated with agricultural biotechnology applications.
 Findings also showed that while participants were not overly concerned about
combining genes between plants, they were concerned about inserting animal genes into
plants.

Conclusion

If these results are any indication, moral and ethical issues will dominate any
discussion of foods derived from a mixture of animal and plant genes.

5.3. Complete this Abstract with phrases from the box. The expressions in bold are
typical of particular Abstract elements.

Purpose

The purpose of this work was to determine if public communication of science

and technology (PCST) has any influence on people’s decision to become dedicated to
scientific research.

Methods

For this reason, a national survey involving 852 researchers from all disciplines
was conducted in Argentina.

Results

The results showed that the factors affecting scientific vocation are many, and
that, regardless of differences in gender, age or discipline, the greatest influence on the
decision to go into scientific research is exerted by teachers.

The analysis also demonstrated that different manifestations of PCST (science

books, press articles, audiovisual material, and activities such as visits to science
museums) play a significant role in awakening the vocation for science.

Conclusions

From these results it may be stated that PCST –in addition to its function of
informing and forming citizens– exerts a significant influence in fostering scientific
vocation.