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Introduction to
scientific writing

SELVB201 – Applied English

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Two main types of abstracts

1. Abstract of an article

2. Conference abstract

" Both meant to whet the reader’s appetite:

to make the reader want to read your article/ consider
it for publication/ accept it for a conference
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Types of articles

1. Research papers

2. State-of-the art/review papers

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Abstract analysis (1)

Analyze the abstracts on your workheet. What do you

observe?

-> Form and content

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Abstract analysis (1)

1. 1 paragraph vs. several paragraphs

2. vary in length

3. Synopses of each main section of your paper //

summary
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Main sections of an abstract

1) Setting the scene: explain the importance of a

field/topic and with relevant background info and state
the relevance of the topic at hand + gap in the lit.

2) Aim of the paper: clearly state what the article aims to

do.

3) Method

4) Results: describe the main results

5) (Conclusion: draw the key conclusions)
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1. Phraseology and presentation of

useful tools
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Phraseology

= the study of how words combine to form language

It includes:

- lexico-grammar: e.g. interested in

- collocations: e.g. do/conduct/perform research (not *make)

- lexical bundles/chunks: e.g. “The present paper discusses”, “it has

been shown that”, etc.

You do not have to study this. This is just to raise your awareness that language is not random.
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Academic English (i.e. for research)

The jargon of academic English is not just vocabulary!

It is also:

- collocations

- lexical bundles/chunks

There are preferred ways of saying things in academic English. This

genre has its own “style”.
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The importance of phraseology

“In fact, it is often a failure to use native-like formulaic sequences which

identifies students as outsiders and there is a general consensus that

formulaic sequences are difficult for L2 learners to acquire (e.g.Yorio,

1989). Control of a language involves a sensitivity to the preferences

of expert users for certain sequences of words over others, but students

can have enormous difficulty distinguishing the idiomatic from the

merely grammatical” (Hyland, 2008: 5)

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Chunks always have a

communicative function
n Reference to other studies

n Indication of a gap, lack of smt

n Statement of facts

n Aim of our study

n What you find/found

n …

Using these chunks is not considered as plagiarism! They are

considered as common usage in academic English (vs. apt terms).
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Exercise

Read the abstracts on your worksheet and sort the phrases

in green in the table (pg 4), according to their rhetorical

(communicative function).
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Exercise

Ref. to studies Gap in the lit. Facts

Aim of your study What you find …

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Ref. to studies

Recent studies have suggested that

Others

n have been found to /have been shown to

n have received much attention

n a growing body of work suggests that

n most available work addresses

n some findings suggest that

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Gap in the literature

are among the least known

relatively little is known about

Others

n Surprisingly, little work addresses

n but empirical research on this subject is limited

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Statement of facts

is known to

Others

n are more likely to

n It is likely that
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Aim of your study

Our aim was to

Here we examine

Here we conduct

Here, by… we investigated whether

Others

n This review describes

n This review investigates

n This paper analyzes

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What you find

Our results suggest that

Our results revealed

We conclude that

Our results demonstrate

These findings strongly suggest that
Others

n We show that

n We found little evidence of

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REMINDER: Using these chunks is not considered as

plagiarism! They are considered as common usage in

academic English (vs. apt terms).