Academic Writing: 2014

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Poster and Presentation Resources

Academic Poster Presentations

General Presentation Advice: (presenting academic research, communicating to a lay audience)

Free Poster Template

http://www.posterpresentations.com/html/free_poster_templates.html

The best site for poster template
http://www.makesigns.com/SciPosters_Templates.aspx

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Which should you use, "toward" or "towards"?

Question

Margaret from the US asked when to use toward and towards.

Answer

Although this is a question that confuses many, the answer is simple: Toward and towards are completely interchangeable, so you can use either one whenever you want.
Now let’s go a little deeper:

Making a presentation: language and phrases

This is a list of phrases to help you make a professional presentation in English.

Good presenters always use language (sometimes single words, sometimes phrases) which shows where they are in their presentation. These ‘signposts’ make it easier for the audience to:

follow the structure of the presentation
understand the speaker more easily
get an idea of the length and content of the presentation.

The sentences and phrases below follow the logical progression of a well-balanced presentation.

Welcoming

Good morning and welcome to [name of company, name of conference hall, hotel, etc.].
Thank you all very much for coming today.
I hope you all had a pleasant journey here today.

Introducing yourself

My name is Mark Watson and I am responsible for … .

My name is Mark Watson from [name of company], where I am responsible for … .

Let me introduce myself; my name is Mark Watson and I am responsible for … .

Introducing your presentation

The purpose of today’s presentation is to … .

The purpose of my presentation today is to … .

In today’s presentation I’d like to … show you … . / explain to you how … .

In today’s presentation I’m hoping to … give you an update on… / give you an overview of … .

In today’s presentation I’m planning to … look at … . / explain … .

You can also outline your presentation to give the audience a clear overview of what they can expect:

In today’s presentation I’m hoping to cover three points:

firstly, … , after that we will look at … , and finally I’ll … .

In today’s presentation I’d like to cover three points:

firstly, … , secondly … , and finally … .

Explaining that there will be time for questions at the end

If you have any questions you’d like to ask, please leave them until the end, when I’ll be happy to answer them.

If there are any questions you’d like to ask, please leave them until the end, when I’ll do my best to answer them.

Starting the presentation

To begin with … .

To start with … .

Let’s start by looking at … .
Let’s start by looking at … .

I’d like to start by looking at … .
Let’s start with / start by looking at … .

Closing a section of the presentation

So, that concludes [title of the section] … .
So, that’s an overview of … .
I think that just about covers … .

Beginning a new section of the presentation

Now, let’s move on to … .
Now, let’s take a look at … .

Now I’d like to move on to … .
Next I’d like to take a look at … .

Moving on to the next part, I’d like to … .
Moving on to the next section, let’s take a look at … .

Concluding and summarising the presentation

Well, that brings us to the end of the final section. Now, I’d like to summarise by … .

That brings us to the end of the final section. Now, if I can just summarise the main points again.
That concludes my presentation. Now, if I can just summarise the main points.
That’s an overview of … . Now, just to summarise, let’s quickly look at the main points again.

Finishing and thanking

Thank you for your attention.

That brings the presentation to an end.

That brings us to the end of my presentation.

Finally, I’d like to finish by thanking you (all) for your attention.

Finally, I’d like to end by thanking you (all) for coming today.

I’d like to thank you (all) for your attention and interest.

Inviting questions

If anyone has any questions, I’ll be pleased to answer them.

If anyone has any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask them now.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask them and I’ll do my best to answer.

Referring to a previous point made

As I mentioned earlier … .

As we saw earlier … .

You may recall that we said … .

You may recall that I explained … .

Dealing with (difficult) questions

I’ll come back to that question later if I may.

I’ll / We’ll come back to that question later in my presentation.

I’ll / We’ll look at that point in more detail later on.
Perhaps we can look at that point at the end / a little later.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Till vs Until

I regularly receive questions from people who are confused about "till," "until," and " 'til."
When you're talking about a period of time that must lapse before something happens, "till" and "until" are equivalent. Don't believe it? Check a dictionary. "Till" actually came first, and "until" followed more recently.

We spun in circles until we were dizzy.
We ran till we were breathless.

" 'Til" is also an acceptable shortened form of "until," but the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language says the form is “etymologically incorrect.”
If you want to avoid controversy, it's safest to stick with "until."
- See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/until-till-and-til#sthash.W27cr9Jc.dpuf

We spun in circles until we were dizzy.
We ran till we were breathless.

We spun in circles until we were dizzy.
We ran till we were breathless.

Shame vs Ashamed

There are still quite a few people who become confused with the words ashamed and shame. Perhaps it’s because ashamed has the root word shame in it that makes it confusing. In reality, it’s the usage of both words that may appear complicated for some English users. This is often true when the word shame is used with the letter ‘d’ resulting to the term ‘shamed.’

Foremost, the two terms differ because they are two different word types. Shame is a noun while ashamed is an adjective. As a noun, shame is described as a painful feeling that may arise from the thought or the realization of something disgraceful, vile and detestable whether it be done by someone else or by oneself. Thus it is an emotion or an affect so to speak. An example of using shame in a sentence is ‘He has been filled with shame after killing those women.’

Shame can also be synonymous to disgrace as in the example, ‘You brought great shame upon the name of our family!’ Similarly, it can signify a very disgraceful state as in the case of, ‘The issue involving the company was a shame to all!’ The word shame can also become a transitive verb when converted to the terms ‘shamed, shames or shaming.’ In this instance, the meaning of the word will become more of forcing or driving something or someone into shame like, ‘She shamed him into going.’

One of the most common situations wherein someone will feel shame is when he or she gets caught lying. Thus, this word is somewhat similar to embarrassment although it is generally a more painful feeling than the latter. Shame is also considered to have a social aspect. It is a very broad term that can have many subtypes like genuine, false, toxic and vicarious shame.

Conversely, ashamed is generally used as an adjective. It is when one is feeling the guilt or shame. When this happens to a person, it is safe to describe him or her as being ashamed. A good example of using the word ashamed is seen in this sentence ‘“ ‘Is she not even ashamed for stealing her classmate’s stuffs at school?’

In summary, shame and ashamed are two very different words because of the following reasons:

1. Shame is generally used as a noun whereas ashamed is typically used as an adjective.

2. Shame is the actual feeling (an affect or emotion) which is considered to be a painful one while ashamed is feeling shame itself.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Best Grammar Checker

1. Online
http://www.paperrater.com
http://correctenglish.com/

2. Software
Whitesmoke
Ginger

3. Dictionary
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com

Should I use a comma before “and” or “or”?

Whether it is correct to use a comma before a coordinating conjunction ("and", "but", "or", "nor", "for", "yet", "so") depends on the situation. There are three primary uses of conjunctions:

When a coordinating conjunction is used to connect two independent clauses, a comma is always used. Examples:
- I hit my brother with a stick, and he cried.
- The rain stopped, and the sun came out again.
- Should I eat dinner, or should I play a game?
When a coordinating conjunction is used to connect a dependent clause, a comma is never used. This includes both of your given examples. Other examples:
- The boy ran to his room and cried.
- Frank is a healthy and active child.
- Should I eat dinner or play a game?
When a coordinating conjunction is used to connect three or more items or clauses, a comma is optional (though I personally prefer to use one). Examples:
- I bought cheese, crackers, and drinks at the store.
- Should I eat dinner, play a game, or go to the store?
Here's a good guide: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp
And some examples:
I fell over and hurt my knee.
I fell over, hurt my knee , and got stitches.
I like the colors red and blue.
I like the colors red, blue , and purple.
You can buy an apple, a pear , or an orange.
I can go or stay - which would you prefer?

When used in a list, and and or never take a comma when the list has two items; when it has more, it is generally a good idea to use the comma.
When used as a conjunction it is generally a good idea to use the comma (unless the phrases are very short).

Source:
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/30516/should-i-use-a-comma-before-and-or-or

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

English for Presentation

"The success of presentation depends on how much you prepare and practice"

Plan your presentation through a clear structure/slides and easy-to-follow explanations.
- Begin by focusing what you want to say rather than creating slides immediately

Focus on three key points:
- Identify and limit the number of key points: 3-4

what problem
how you do it: your methodology
what success you had: your results

Think about structure by answering the questions.

a) Why did I choose this topic in general? Why am I enthusiastic about it? What can I tell the audience that they probably don’t know but that they will ﬁnd interesting? How can I make it interesting to those attendees who are not experts in this ﬁeld?
b) What motivated me to decide to test a particular hypothesis or investigate a particular aspect? Was I stimulated by someone else’s research?
c) What did I do to test the hypothesis/aspect (i.e., a description of your methodology)? What problems did I have during the design and testing phases (these problems may be even more interesting to the audience than the successes, so think about the strengths and weaknesses of your approach)
d) What did I ﬁnd? And what did I not ﬁnd? Did my ﬁndings conﬁrm my initial hypothesis? Were there any inconsistencies or surprises?
e) What is the signiﬁcance of my work in the big picture of my ﬁeld of interest? How and where can my ﬁndings be applied?
f) What questions do I still have?What am I planning to do next? (Plus a reminder to the audience of most important results so far)

Write down beginning and ending
- Give your presentation a structure: Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions (Einleitung, Methodik, Ergebnisse, Diskussion und Schlussfolgerungen).

Learn the correct pronunciation of keywords
Many people in the audience will not be familiar with your type of accent. If they cannot understand what you are saying, your presentation cannot be successful.
no native speaker would pronounce the gh in high or height, the b in doubt or debt, the w in yellow or write,or the d in Wednesday
- Enunciate number clearly

thirteen, thirty

- Not to distract audience by voices such as er, erm, eh, uhm
- Use your normal speaking voice
- Don't speak too fast or too much (make soure you pause frequently and do not talk continously)
- Vary your voice and speed
- practice your presentation using different types of voice and mood: angry, happy, sarcastic, and authoritative.

- read your script aloud so that you become familiar with what you want to say. Then, abandon your script completely and just use notes

First of all / thank you very much / for coming here today. My name’s ... /and I am currently doing research into psycholinguistics [sy/my] / at Manchester University. / I’d like to show you / what I think / are some INCREDIBLE results / that I got ...

What are in writing
- Choose the shortest forms possible:
regarding = on; however = but; furthermore = also; consequently = so; necessary = needed
We needed to make a comparison of x and y. = We needed to compare x and y.
There is a possibility that X will fail. = X may fail.
Evaluating the component = Evaluating components
The user decides his/her settings = Users decide their settings
The activity of testing is a laborious process = Testing is laborious
No need for the following: = No need for
Various methods can be used to solve this problem such as = Methods:
- Cut brackets containing text
- Make good use of the phrase that introduces the bullets:

- Keep to a maximum of two levels of bullets
- When you’ve ﬁnished creating your slides, always check your spelling
- Use verbs not nouns

Prepare 2 minutes talk

Vary the parts you practice
- occasionally begin in the middle, or begin with the conclusions
- don’t forget to practice answering questions—imagine the question, and then answer it in various ways (including imagining that you didn’t understand the question)
- practice the opening and the ending again and again and again

Eye contact practicing and using
- make better eye contact with people

- but avoid focusing on a single individual in the audience for more than two seconds, otherwise this individual will feel uneasy

Learn how to be self-critical
- How did you do? What do you think?

Improve your slides
- why was this slide necessary? If I cut it, what would change?
- did this slide really support the objective of my presentation?
- why did I include this info? Was it relevant/interesting/clear? What impact did it have?
- could I have expressed this info in a clearer or more pertinent way?
- was this series of slides in the best order? Was there anything missing in the series?
- were these slides too similar to each other? Did they really gain the audience’s attention.

Handling Your Nerves
- reduce your fears, avoid becoming blocked, and speak calmly and relatively slowly
- focus on content rather than problems connected with your level of English
- prepare for things that might go wrong

Writing out your speech
- Using script and writing notes to accompany slides.
- One idea per sentence and repeating key words --> help the audience to follow instead of "it".
- Using verbs in preference of nouns, active forms instead of passive ones.
- Do not use synonyms for key words or technical words.
- Deleting relative pronouns (who, whom,..) and link words/phrases --> This shortens the sentences and gives you natural pauses when speaking.
- Explain or paraphrase words that may be unfamiliar to the audience
- Avoid abstract nouns (situation, operation, activities, ...)
- Use very few linkers (also, in addition, ...)
- Use concrete examples

Presentation Assessment

Structure

Strong beginning—topic introduced clearly
Overall topic previewed
Clear transitions and links between points
Clear conclusions and strong ending

Slides

Clear text
Simple diagrams
Not too much detail
No distracting colors, fonts, animations

Voice/Delivery

Right speed—did not begin in a rush
Clear and loud voice
Short clear phrases, individual words articulated clearly
No annoying noises (er, erm, um)
Good pronunciation
Enthusiastic and friendly
Sounded credible

Audience involvement

Attention of audience immediately gained
Topic clearly related to audience
Audience personally involved in some way
Variety to maintain attention

Body Language

Eyes on audience, not on screen
Moved around
Used hands appropriately

Time management
- knowing exactly how much time you need for each part of your presentation
- thinking in advance what slides you could cut

Put good titles/sentences

the adjective next to the noun it refers to (innovative refers to methodology not to
students)
have a verb (teaching)
use prepositions (for, to)
good example: An innovative methodology for teaching scientiﬁc English to ﬁrst-year PhD students
bad example: An innovative ﬁrst-year PhD student scientiﬁc English didactic methodology

Use slide titles to help explain a process

Do not rely too much on slides
- Try practicing your presentation without using any slides. If you ﬁnd it difﬁcult, it means you are relying too much on your slides.
- Only use a slide if it is essential, never read your slides.
- Try to reduce any overlap between what you say and what your slides “say.”
- Only write what you are 100% sure is correct.
- One idea per slide.
- Generally speaking, avoid complete sentences.

Question?
- what hypotheses you wanted to test?
- why you chose this particular method for testing them?
- what you achieved?
- what impact this might have on your ﬁeld?

Sequence of slides
- what you did and found in your research
- the sequence of your slides and why they follow a particular structure

Say something personal about yourself (related to topic if neccessary)
- with fun, happy --> frustrating.
- signal a move from one section to the next.

am going to give you the three most important ﬁndings of our research.

- Tell a story rather than sounding like a technical manual.

- use active verbs rather than passive verbs.

Outline:
Let me just outline what I’ll be discussing today.
First, I’m going to tell you something about the methodology/background to this work.
Then I’ll take a brief look at the related literature and the methods we used.
Finally, and most importantly, I’ll show you our key results

Referring to future points in the presentation
As we will see in the next slide ... As we will be seeing in the next slide ...
I’ll tell you more about this later ... I’ll be telling you more about this later ...
I will give you details on that at the end ... I will be giving you details on ...

Explaining the background and motivations
As is well known, Semantic Desktop is .... But ....
Current practice involves doing X but we believe that doing Y would be more effective

Use the simple past for events and situations that have ended.
We decided to address this area because:
We started working on this in May last year.
Our initial attempts failed so we had to adopt a new approach.

Giving conclusions
During this presentation, I have shown three ways to do ...

Outlining future research
I plan/am planning to extend this research into the following areas ...
In the next phase we will be looking at ...
- Make sure your ﬁnal slides give useful information - don’t write full sentences

Final
“The end,” “Thanks,” and “Any questions?”

Question and Answer
- Repeat the question

- One question I am often asked is ...
- You are absolutely right. I didn’t mention that point because it is quite technical/because there was no time. But it is covered in my paper.

Find out about the audiences, Prof.,

Prepare a bottle of water

[word, phrase]		[meaning, function]

briefly	…	‘very quickly’
take a look at	…	‘look at’
take a brief look at	…	‘quickly look at’
return to	…	‘go back’, ‘explain again’
I’ll outline	…	‘I will explain’
here we can see	…	to draw attention to a specific point on a slide
as you can see here	…	to draw attention to a specific point on a slide
(let’s) move on to	…	to start a new subject
(let’s) continue with	…	to start a new subject
(let’s) continue by looking at	…	to start a new subject
to illustrate this point	…	when giving an example
let’s, we can, we will	…	using ‘we’ and ‘us’ instead of ‘I’ connects you to your audience

Academic Writing