Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Parallelism
pp 3-13
Recognizing Main Ideas
Supporting details:
1. The roast beef sandwiches have a chemical
taste.
2. Prices are high – for example, $20 for a
small coke.
Recognizing Main Ideas
Most textbook paragraphs are
made up of this two-part structure.
h ra s e
Parap
(From an article called “Tunnel traffic angers citizens”
written by Kiwi Wong on page 12 of the SCMP on August 15,
2005)
Examples of Borrowing Information-2
•Original: •Version 2 - Is this an example of
Kowloon citizens are paraphrasing, summarizing,
complaining loudly about the quoting, or plagiarizing?
problems and inefficiency of In her article “Tunnel Traffic
the transportation system Angers Citizens” (South China
because there have been Morning Post, August 15, 2005),
delays at the Cross Harbor Wong states that getting around
the city has been a problem for
Tunnel Crossing during the the people of Kowloon. They are
past two Fridays’ evening unhappy about traffic jams that
rush hour which lasted until are slowing down their evening
after 9:00pm. commute. For example, traffic at
the Cross Harbor Tunnel Crossing
did not flow freely until past
9:00pm for the last two Fridays.
a ry
Summ
(From an article called “Tunnel traffic angers citizens” written by
Kiwi Wong on page 12 of the SCMP on August 15, 2005)
How to Summarise
should
• briefly restate the thesis and the
main supporting points, and
• present a concluding thought
about the subject of the essay.
Introduction to Essay
Development
English Skills for Academic Studies
John Langan
Pp 291-299
Subject of the paper
point,
point
or thesis.
Begin with a Point, or
Thesis
Write your
point out in a
single sentence.
Common Errors in Writing a
Thesis
• ANNOUNCEMENTS rather
than statements
• Statements that are
too broad
The health care system affects many kinds of people.
too narrow
A hurricane hit southern Florida last summer.
just right
Giving up smoking can bring you life-long benefits.
Statements That Contain
More Than One Idea
Eg.: Smoking can be an expensive
habit, and the government has imposed
effective measures to discourage
smoking.
In the statement above, the reader is asked to
focus on two separate points, each of
which more logically belongs in an
essay of its own.
Support the Thesis with Specific
Evidence
Provide enough specific details to fully
support the point.
Giving up smoking can bring you life-long
benefits.
- You will be socially more popular.
- Your will live a longer and healthier life.
- You will save a lot of money.
See page 163 for another
example
Writing Academic Essays:
The Writing Process
English Skills for Academic Studies
John Langan
(pp 130-156)
The Process: 4 Steps in a
1.
Nutshell
Discover a clearly stated point or
thesis.
thesis
2. Provide logical, detailed support for
your thesis.
3. Organize and connect your
supporting material.
4. Revise and edit so that your sentences
are effective and error-free.
The Writing Process:
Prewriting Techniques
Freewriting
Jot down whatever comes to
mind about a topic
Focus on discovering what you
want to say about a topic
Don’t worry about mistakes
The Writing Process:
Prewriting Techniques
Questioning
Generate ideas by asking
questions about a topic
Use question words Why? When?
Where? How? Who?
Ask as many questions as you can
think of
The Writing Process:
Prewriting Techniques
Making a List
(Brainstorming)
ecif ic
Sp
Importance of Specific
Details
People are also
always moving
around near you, Exactly how do they move
creating a around?
disturbance and
interrupting your
enjoyment of the What kind of disturbance?
movie.
How do they interrupt your
V ag ue enjoyment?
Importance of Specific
Details
They also cough - Describes in detail what
and burp, squirm the other moviegoers do
endlessly in their - Makes the readers see,
seats, file out for hear and feel what
repeated trips to happened specifically
the rest rooms or
concession stand,
and elbow you out
of the armrest on
either side of your
ec if ic
seat. Sp
CC 2040
English for Academic Studies
[Health Care]
Research Skills I: Designing a
questionnaire
Questionnaire Survey
It is a research method to
collect data or information
by administering a pre-
designed questionnaire to
a sample drawn from the
population (the entire
group under research).
Steps to Doing a
Questionnaire Survey
Defining the Objectives
Determining the Sample
Writing the Questions
Administering the
Questionnaire
Interpreting the Results
Formatting the
Questionnaire
A questionnaire should
always be formatted with
the following factors in
mind:
Readability
Ease of completion
Accuracy
Formatting the
Questionnaire
I. Introduction
Should have a cover letter or cover
page to:
Express appreciation for the
respondent’s time and effort; and
Provide an orientation by saying
what the respondent should
expect, and how much time the
survey will take.
Guarantee confidentiality of the
respondent’s identity and
information in the orientation.
Formatting the
Questionnaire
II. Instructions
After the orientation, give instructions
on how to complete the questionnaire:
Give clear directions on how to
complete the questionnaire
Stress the importance of
answering every question
Give clear directions on how to
return the questionnaire
(Source: adapted from “Chapter 13 – Conducting Research and Using Data”, Business Communication,
O’Hair, O’Rourke, O’Hair, South-Western College Publishing, Thomson Learning.)
Example: Introduction to a
Questionnaire (I)
Exhibition Industry in Hong Kong
Please take approximately 15 to 30 minutes to complete this
questionnaire. Your responses will provide important information
that will help us to propose suggestions to improve the exhibition
industry in Hong Kong.
Confidential
What this survey is for?
This survey provides you with an opportunity to share your
thoughts on what changes the Hong Kong exhibition industry
needs to keep its competitiveness and to benefit Hong Kong
economically. You do not have to complete this survey if you do
not wish to do so. However, everyone’s views are important and
the more participation we receive, the better the results will be.
Please understand that this questionnaire is completely
confidential.
Example: Instructions to a
Questionnaire
1. Do not write your name on the questionnaire.
2. Answer all the questions provided as your response to
every question is important to the results generated.
2. Return the questionnaire to our staff in person once
you have completed it.
Your questionnaire will only be viewed by the
team analyzing your responses to the questions.
Your questionnaire will be placed with many others and
there will be no way to identify individual respondents.
The results of all the questionnaires will be added
together and kept by an independent institution.
Instructions...
Setting Questionnaire Survey
125
Practice on Writing
Questions
What’s wrong with the
following question?
Q: Do you project the overall
oil price to be bullish or
bearish in 2009?
No jargon!
126
Practice on Writing
Questions
How can you make it better?
Q: Do you project
the overall oil price
to rise or fall in
2009?
127
Practice on Writing
Questions
What’s wrong with the
following question?
Q: Are you satisfied with the
service of the saleswomen in
Gucci?
No biased
language!
128
Practice on Writing
Questions
How can you make it
better?
Q: Are you satisfied with
the service of the
salespeople in Gucci?
129
Practice on Writing
Questions
What’s wrong with the
following question?
Q: Are there any necessary
improvements which could be made
to the library to provide better
service?
No redundant
words!
130
Practice on Writing
Questions
How can you make it
better?
Q: How much do you know
about the history of Hong
Kong?
131
Practice on Writing
Questions
What’s wrong with the
following question?
Q: What is your income?
“Income”
not
defined!
Time
period not
stated!
132
Practice on Writing
Questions
How can you make it better?
Q: What is your
current personal
monthly salary?
Q: What is the current
monthly income
(counting all sources)
of your whole family?
133
Practice on Writing
Questions
What’s wrong with the following
question?
Q: Does your hospital provide
training for new employees and
retraining for existing staff?
Don’t ask two
questions at
once!
134
Practice on Writing
Questions
How can you make it better?
How can you make it better?
Q: Does your hospital
provide training for new
employees?
136
Practice on Writing
Questions
How can you make it better?
Q: Do you support this
proposed government
policy?
137
Practice on Writing
Questions
What’s wrong with the following
question?
Q: If you were a superstar, how
would you deal with paparazzi?
No
hypothetica
l questions!
138
Practice on Writing
Questions
How can you make it better?
Q: How should a
superstar deal with
paparazzi?
139
Practice on Writing
Questions
What’s wrong with the following
question?
Q: How old are you?
Avoid
questions
that are too
personal!
140
Practice on Writing
Questions
How can you make it better?
145