Its everyday meaning is something sweet and organic that is served as a dessert. However, the botanic meaning of fruit is "the seed-bearing structure in angiosperms formed from the ovary after flowering" Wikipedia. Many students have difficulty in categorizing a cucumber or a tomato as a fruit because of the different everyday meaning. I can testify from my own and my colleagues' teaching experience that many academic terms learned in school have a dual meaning and are therefore the source of many misconceptions.
What can be done to prevent or minimize misconceptions resulting from this duality of terms? First, teachers, teacher educators, and students should be aware of this phenomenon as part of minimizing the effects of the "curse of knowledge ".
Teachers should relate to this duality of terms explicitly in their lessons. Second, whenever such a term occurs in the classroom, the teacher should explicitly refer to its various meanings. A tool my colleagues, the students, and I have found very useful is a table such as the following:. Also, in order to draw the students' attention to this phenomenon, one of the assignments in my course on the teaching of concepts requires each student to find five dual terms and add them to a classroom thesaurus.
Skip to main content. Yechieli Tami. Tami Yechieli is the head of the graduate school at the Michlala - Jerusalem College The main purpose of everyday language is to enable fast and economical communication among people from the same culture and context.
Incorporating source material into your writing effectively is similar to weaving a thread of one color into a carpet or blanket of another. In combination, the two colors can create a beautiful pattern. Try to follow this sequence:. Comment on the source material and set up the next use of a source. Continue using the steps in the same or similar order for each source. Such variation of your own ideas, commentary, and interpretation on the one hand and source material on the other creates a smooth flow of the text and can be used not only for work with direct quotes but also with source summaries and paraphrases.
When using external source material, whether by direct quoting, summarizing or paraphrasing, it is important to guide your readers through it in such a way that they always understand clearly where it is you, the author of the paper speaking and where you are working with external sources. To indicate this, signal phrases are used. Signal phrases introduce quoted, paraphrased, or summarized material to the reader.
There are many other variations of these. When writing your own papers, play with these phrases, modify them to suit your needs, and see how that does to your writing. Remember that your readers need to be prepared for every quote, summary, or paraphrase.
They need to know what is coming and why. Using signal phrases will help you prepare them. If you suspect that you might have passages like the one above in your own academic writing, try to locate them. Then, make them your own by using sources for your rhetorical purpose rather than letting your sources control you. Follow the following suggestions:.
Creating an annotated bibliography of your research sources can help you take control of them and put your own voice and personality back into your research writing. According to Owen Williams, a librarian at the library of the University of Minnesota, annotated bibliographies are created with the following purposes:.
Weaving a program: Literate programming in WEB. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Sewell explains the code language within these pages including certain lines of code as examples. One useful idea that Sewell uses is to explain characters and how they work in the programming of a Web Page.
He also goes through and describes how to make lists and a title section. This will be very useful because all Web Pages have a title section. This author also introduces Pascal which I am not sure if I will include in my manual but after I read more about it I can decide whether this will be helpful to future users.
This book will not be the basis of my manual but will add some key points, which are described above. Note that the author of this entry not only summarizes the content of a source, but also evaluates the usefulness of this source a specific research project. Annotated bibliographies are not just exercises in the rules of citation.
Instead, they help writers to begin the transition from reading sources into writing about them. By combining evaluation with description, annotated bibliographies help writers approach their research actively by beginning to make sense of their sources early on in the research process.
Begin a research project by collecting and annotating possible sources. Remember that not all the sources which your annotated bibliography will include may end up in your final paper. This is normal since researchers cast their nets much wider in the beginning of a project than the range of sources which they eventually include in their writing. The purpose of creating an annotated bibliography is to learn about the available resources on your subject and to get an idea how these resources might be useful for your particular writing project.
As you collect your sources, write short summaries of each of them. Remember that, in the process of research, you are learning about your subject, and that you never really know where this learning process takes you. As a college student, you are probably taking four, five, or even six classes simultaneously. In many, if not all of those classes you are probably required to conduct research and produce research-based writing. So far in this chapter, we have discussed some general principles of academic research and writing which, I hope, will help you improve as an academic researcher and writer regardless of your major or academic discipline in which you work.
In this segment of the chapter, I would like to offer a practical checklist of approaches, strategies, and methods that you can use for academic research and writing.
Kuhn, Thomas. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. Melzer, Dan. Skip to main content. Module 1: Research and the Writing Process. Search for:. Research Writing in the Academic Disciplines Introduction Regardless of the academic discipline in which you conduct research and write, and the heart of the research and writing processes lie the same principles.
The purpose of academic writing is to generate and communicate new knowledge and new ideas. Academic writers carefully acknowledge all their research sources using source citation and documentation systems accepted in their disciplines. Intellectual and Discourse Communities. Writing Activity: Analyzing Intellectual and Discourse Communities List all intellectual and discourse communities to which you belong.
One you have listed all the intellectual and discourse communities to which you belong, consider the following questions: What topics of discussion, issues, problems, or concerns keep these communities together?
And what constitutes new knowledge for your group? Is it created experimentally, through discussion, or through a combination of these two and other methods? How would you characterize the kinds of language which each of these communities use? Is it formal, informal, complex, simple, and so on?
When you entered into the community, did you have to change your discourse, both oral and written, in any way, to be accepted and to participate in the discussions of the community?
This might be a good time to consider all the linguistic adjustments you had to make becoming a college student or entering your academic major. Think of several classes you are currently taking. How do the discourses used in them differ from one another? Think about topics discussed, ways of making knowledge accepted in them, the degree of formality of the language used, and so on.
Does your community or group produce any written documents? These may include books, professional journals, newsletters, and other documents. What is the purpose of those documents, their intended audience, and the language that they use? How different are these documents from one community to the next?
Compare, for example, a paper you wrote for your psychology class and one for a literature class. How often does a community you belong to come into contact with other intellectual and discourse groups? What kinds of conversations take place?
How are conflicts and disagreements negotiated and resolved? How does each group adjust its discourse to hear the other side and be heard by it? Writing Activity: Rhetorical Analysis of Academic Texts In consultation with your instructor, select two or three leading journals or other professional publications in your academic major or any other academic discipline in which you are interested.
What is the purpose of the articles and other materials that appear in the journals? Talk about this purpose as a whole; then select one or two articles and discuss their purpose in detail.
Be sure to give concrete examples and details. Who are the intended audience of these publications? What specific elements in the writing which appears there can help us decide? Consider the structure and format of the writings in the journals. How do they connect with the purpose of the writing and the intended audience? The Making of Knowledge in Academic Disciplines In the preceding section of this chapter, I made a claim that the making of ne w knowledge is a social process, undertaken by intellectual communities.
Writing Activity: Investigating Histories of Academic Discussions The subjects of academic research, debates, and disagreements develop over time. What is the topic of discussion? What is being said about the issue and by whom? Are there opposing sides in the discussion and on what ground do they oppose each other? What arguments do all the sides in the discussion use?
As a historian, you will need to cover the following areas: The first time the topic or issue gets significant attention from the professional community. Cloning: Current Perspectives and Discussions Since I am not a scientist, my interest in the subject of cloning is triggered by an article on stem cell research that I read recently in the popular magazine Scientific American. Cloning: A Historical Investigation Dolly the sheep was cloned in by British scientists and died in Research Activity: Interviewing Academic Professionals In order to learn more about the conventions of academic discourse, interview a professor at your college.
To get you started, here are three suggestions: Ask to describe, in general, the kinds of research and writing that professionals in that academic field conduct. Discuss how a specific text from the academic discipline, such as a book or a journal article reflects the principles and approaches covered in the first question.
Ask for insights on learning the discourse of the discipline. Always remember to use research for a rhetorical purpose—to create new knowledge and convey it to your readers.
Except in rare cases, writers are not compilers of existing information. Resist the urge to limit your research to simply summarizing and quoting external sources. Therefore, your ultimate purpose is to create and express your own theories and opinions about your topic. Talk to academics or professionals to find out what constitutes authoritative writing in their field.
It could be the presence of a strong voice, or the use f particular research methods and techniques, or a certain way to present the results of your research. Later on in the chapter, you are offered an interview project designed to help you do that. Create annotated bibliographies to make sense of your research and make the ideas and theories you read about, your own.
Try the annotated bibliography activity later on in the chapter. Use only reliable sources. Integrating Sources into Your Own Writing One of the most difficult tasks facing students of research writing is learning how to seamlessly integrate the information they find in the research sources into their own writing. How Much to Quote Students often ask me how much of their sources they should quote directly in their papers.
Original passage:. How to Quote, Paraphrase, and Summarize Effectively. Try to follow this sequence: Introduce the source and explain why you are using it Quote Comment on the source material and set up the next use of a source Quote Continue using the steps in the same or similar order for each source.
Quick Reference: Using Signal Phrases When using external source material, whether by direct quoting, summarizing or paraphrasing, it is important to guide your readers through it in such a way that they always understand clearly where it is you, the author of the paper speaking and where you are working with external sources.
Writing Activity: Putting the Writer Back into Writing If you suspect that you might have passages like the one above in your own academic writing, try to locate them. Follow the following suggestions: Do something with every source and every external reference.
Sources, no matter how authoritative, do not speak for themselves. It is up to you as a writer to explain their significance for your paper and to comment on them. Therefore, every time you need to use an external source in your writing, explain to your readers what that source does for your argument and why you are using it. Establish and assert your authority over the subject of your writing and over your sources.
It is your paper, and therefore it your voice, your opinions, and your theories that really count in it. External sources are useful learning and argument tools, but it is still you who does the learning and the arguing.
If you summarize and paraphrase your sources, make sure your readers know where a reference to one source ends and a reference to the next one begins. Make sure your readers know whether it is your source speaking or you. If you summarize or paraphrase your sources, rather then quoting them directly, do so in such a way that your audience knows where the summary or paraphrase ends and your own commentary on it begins.
Carefully analyze what information about your sources your readers need. For example, if most of your readers have not studied your sources in detail, provide them with enough information about the sources.
Apply the conventions of working with sources that exist in your academic discipline. Writing Activity: Creating an Annotated Bibliography Purpose Creating an annotated bibliography of your research sources can help you take control of them and put your own voice and personality back into your research writing.
According to Owen Williams, a librarian at the library of the University of Minnesota, annotated bibliographies are created with the following purposes: To review literature on a particular subject. To illustrate the quality of research that you have done To provide examples of the types of sources available To describe other items on the topic that might be of interest to the reader. Conclusions As a college student, you are probably taking four, five, or even six classes simultaneously.
Approach each research writing assignment rhetorically. Learn to recognize its purpose, intended audience, the context in which you are writing and the limitations that this context will impose on you as a writer.
Also treat the format and structural requirements, such as the requirement to cite external sources, as rhetorical devices which will help you to make a bigger impact on your readers. Try to understand each research and writing assignment as best as you can. If you receive a written description of the assignment, read it several times and discuss it with your classmates and your instructor.
All students, however, need to acquire academic language to thrive and succeed in academic settings, particularly students with cognitive or developmental delays, students who may live in unsupportive, dysfunctional, or unstable environments, and children from high-poverty, low-education, and otherwise disadvantaged backgrounds who enter school without basic language and literacy skills.
By the time they begin school, most children have developed the ability to communicate interpersonally, and students continue to develop conversational-language skills throughout their education. For native-English speakers, the development of academic language builds progressively on conversational skills, but the challenge for English-language learners is to learn both conversational and academic language concurrently.
While there is no official, formal definition, academic language refers to more than just vocabulary and grammar in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Due to the proliferation of linguistic irregularities, symbols, idiomatic expressions, and slang in the English language, learning academic English can be challenging, particularly for non-native speakers for example, why do English speakers say embarrassment, shyness, and likelihood, instead of embarrassness, embarrasshood, shyment, shyhood, or likeliment?
In addition to grammatical rules, academic language also demands that students acquire proficiency in different linguistic systems such as the metric system or mathematical terms and signs or contextual language many words used in everyday conversation have specific meanings in specialized fields, such as product in math, inflation in economics, or bug in software coding, while others have complex, abstract meanings, such as democracy , justice , or equality.
For example, do their parents correct language errors, explain the meaning of words, use a diverse vocabulary, keep books in the house, or encourage their children to read and discuss texts? While intentional English-language modeling is more common in wealthier, higher-educated, English-speaking households, it is often irregular or absent in disadvantaged and non-English-speaking home environments.
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