Academic Skills Workshop student activity pack:
How to put your reading into your writing – 2016/17
Task 1.
Summarising – True or false?
You have to summarise each point in the text
You must rewrite the original and use complex
sentences
You should keep the points in the same order as the
original
You can add your own opinions/examples/emotion
You must write in Academic English style: impersonal
and objective
You should illustrate your points with examples
You can change the meaning of the original slightly
You should never cite the author
Your summary should be shorter in length than the
original
True/ False
Task 2: The following paragraph from a book has been summarised
in three ways.
Choose the best summary and say why you did not choose the others.
Reference: Martin, J.S. and Chaney, L.H. (2006). Global Business Etiquette
Westport, CT, USA: Praeger Publishers.
There are various ways of preparing for cultural shock. It is helpful to learn as
much of the language as possible before going to the country, to learn about the
new culture, in particular aspects such as time differences, communication,
conflict resolution, climate, standard of living, transportation, ethical practices,
holidays, superstitions, taboos and technology. However, something that is
extremely difficult to prepare for is what is known as ‘ecoshock’, the result of a
person’s ‘physiological and psychological reaction to a new, diverse, or changed
ecology’, a typical example of this being travel dysrhythmia, or jet lag, when
people’s biological clocks have problems synchronizing with the local time.
Physiological adjustment to the temperature, humidity, and altitude are also
features of ecoshock, though these are generally coped with in the initial stage of
cultural shock rather than being prolonged difficulties in the process of
adjustment to life in a new country. For those who take frequent short trips
abroad, however, ecoshock may be the most difficult part of dealing with cultural
shock, since they do not experience its various longer term phases.
1) There are many ways of getting ready for cultural shock. It is useful to learn as
much of the language as you can before going there, to learn about the new
traditions, in particular factors such as attitudes to time, talking, arguments,
weather, poverty, getting around, moral practices, vacations, beliefs, areas which
cause discussion and innovation. However, something that is very difficult to get
ready for is what is known as ‘ecoshock’, the sum of a person’s ‘physiological and
psychological reaction to a new, diverse, or changed ecology’, a typical example
of this being travel problems, or ‘jet lag’, when people’s inner clocks have
problems matching up with the local time. Bodily adjustment to the climate,
changes in the water in the air, and height are also features of ‘ecoshock', though
these are generally dealt with in the first stage of cultural shock rather than being
extended difficulties in the process of changing to life in a new nation. For those
who take short trips abroad often, however, ‘ecoshock’ may be the most difficult
part of accepting cultural shock, as they do not experience its many longer term
phases.
2) Preparing for cultural shock can be done in many different ways but you can’t
really prepare for ecoshock which is potentially the most difficult part of culture
shock.
3) Preparation for cultural shock can take different forms, e.g. learning about the
target culture and learning the language. However, preparing for particular
aspects of culture shock, such as ‘ecoshock’ is more difficult because it is hard to
adjust one’s body to local time, weather, humidity and altitude. Features such as
these are usually experienced in the initial, rather than latter, stages of culture
shock.
Adapted from: http://aeo.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/Files/Summarizing/Summarising.html
Task 2a
Summarising a paragraph
Write a summary of the following paragraph. Check your summary with the
possible answer using the link below the paragraph reference.
In amongst these formal services networks, however, are a series of hidden niches,
often prime public spaces (e.g. car parks, main thoroughfares or parks) which
homeless people colonise at particular times for particular purposes, and which
become re-classified as places of homelessness. Research has found that these
formal networks and hidden niches are interspersed by carefully mapped out
geographies, as homeless people sleep, eat, deal with cold and wet weather,
arrange their ablutions and addictions and relate to each other in ways which
incorporate fun and social association but also fear and avoidance of regulation.
Flows of movement result, as people find places to set up ‘home’, make friends,
ensure security and seek money and entertainment. Such flows involve
performances, such as begging, and ‘hanging out’, which produces a life of its own.
Thus, silently mapped geographies can become underpinned by logic relating to
space, as in Bristol’s ‘food route’ – a time-space map of free eating opportunities, or
the organisation and regulation of begging pitches. Spatial logics vary enormously
between places, according to the visibility, regulation and policing of street
homelessness at the local level.
Cloke, P., Johnsen, S & J. May. (2009). Homeless places: the uneven geographies
of emergency provision for single homeless people [Online]. Available at
http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/homeless/homelessplaces/finalreport.pdf. Accessed
3/8/10 (Adapted).
http://aeo.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/Files/Summarizing/Summarising.html.
Task 3: Find the reporting verbs in the extract below from a
research article about dressings.
How the intervention might work
Lawrence (1998) observed that dressings can act as a physical barrier to protect
wounds until the continuity of the skin (epithelialisation) has been achieved. This
occurs within about 48 hours of surgery, and to absorb exudate from the wound,
keeping it dry and clean with the aim of avoiding bacterial contamination from the
external environment. This was found to be the case in the research of Hutchinson,
1991; Mertz, 1985 and Ubbink, 2008. Another reason for using a dressing is to
prevent contamination of the surrounding area by any wound discharge, as was
reported by Downie in 2010, although this is mainly applicable for cleancontaminated, contaminated, and dirty or infected wounds. Some studies have
identified that the moist environment created by some dressings accelerates wound
healing (Dyson, 1988), although others believe that it is a disadvantage, as
excessive exudate can cause maceration (softening and breakdown) of the wound
and the surrounding healthy tissue, a view stated in Cutting (2002).
Toon CD, Lusuku C, Ramamoorthy R, Davidson BR, Gurusamy KS. Early versus
delayed dressing removal after primary closure of clean and clean-contaminated
surgical wounds. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 9. Art. No.:
CD010259. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010259.pub3.
Task 4. Match the reporting verb to the definition in the following
tables:
Admit
a) Assert that something is true or factual, state that something is the case
Assure
b) Show the truth of something by giving proof or evidence
Claim
c) Inform with certainty and confidence
Confirm
d) Give knowledge of something to someone
Demonstrate
Inform
e) Prove that a belief or an opinion that was previously not completely
certain is true
f) Declare to be true, accept as valid
Persuade
g) Give an account of something that has been observed or investigated
Report
h) Cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action
Task 5. Look at this essay title:
“Discuss why assignment essays are common assessment tasks in
undergraduate tertiary coursework, and evaluate the effectiveness of
assignments as an avenue for learning”
•
You have found four relevant articles. Here are your notes.
•
You now need to identify and organise themes/key points.
Task 6. Integrating synthesised information into an academic
paragraph. Read the following and see the animated notes
(exercise 3 online) which identify the anatomy of a structured
paragraph: http://learninghub.une.edu.au/tlc/aso/aso-online/academicwriting/synthesising-evidence.php
Using assignment essays for assessment supports student learning better than
the traditional examination system. It is considered that course-work assignment
essays can lessen the extreme stress experienced by some students over
‘sudden-death’ end of semester examinations and reduce the failure rate (Peters
2008, p. 79; Wonderland University 2006). Study skills researchers (Jones et al.,
2004, pp. 36-37; Peters 2008, p. 79; Wonderland University) defend assessment
by assignment because research assignments can be used to assess student
learning mid-course and so provide them with helpful feedback. They also
consider that assignment work lends itself to more critical approaches which help
the student to learn the discourse of their subjects. In contrast, Abbot (2008,
para. 20) argues that assignments are inefficient, costly to manage and are the
cause of plagiarism problems in universities. He states that ‘assessment by
examination is a clean-cut approach as you get students’ knowledge under
suggest that it is a fairer and more balanced approach to have some assessment
by assignment rather than completely by examinations.
Online exercise from University of New England Learning Hub:
http://learninghub.une.edu.au/tlc/aso/aso-online/academic-writing/synthesisingevidence.php [accessed 16 September 2016]
Task 7. Where would you insert a paragraph break in the passage
below? 1, 2 or 3?
Tutors used their Facebook pages in different ways: for sending messages to the
group, for responding to students' needs, for sharing interesting readings,
newspaper texts and YouTube videos, for encouraging interaction and
participation, for discussing important concepts and debates. [1] Some tutors
were more enthusiastic about the project than others and their pages flourished.
[2] Students used the closed-group Facebook page mainly for social purposes
such as getting to know one another and establishing a class identity, [3]
communicating with people they wouldn’t normally communicate with, supporting
each other emotionally, venting, sharing feelings and empathising with others....
through exams and through personal crises.
Reid, J. (2011) “We don’t Twitter, we Facebook”: An alternative pedagogical
space that enables critical practices in relation to writing. English Teaching:
Practice and Critique. [online] Volume 10. (1), pp. 58-80. [Accessed 14 August
2015].
Available online with other information and exercises in the Library’s Writing for
University Workbook: http://academicskills.uwe.ac.uk/general/workbooks/writingfor-university/4730/paragraphing
Task 8. Linking Ideas
Successive paragraphs and sentences should follow one another in a logical order,
guiding the reader through a line of reasoning. Words or phrases should link your
ideas and signpost the direction your line of reasoning is about to take.
Below is a table of linking words and phrases that may help you develop your draft.
There are already listed some more words and phrases to add. Where in the table
would you put them?
Put the words on the left into the empty ‘linking words’ boxes, next to the correct
purpose of link