Universidad Autnoma Del Carmen

Des Educacin y Humanidades

Lic. En Lengua Inglesa

Academic writing

Professor: Jos Luis Len Hernndez

Yanet roldan Espinoza

Yesenia Garca Ara

Write great essays report We often have to read when we want to research something interesting or also when teacher asks to us find out some information sometimes that can be frustrated to us. Most of the times students read out of obligation not for pleasure; another problem that reading presents is that not everybody has a good reading habit some readers are slow and some has the ability to grasp or understand the first time around so what can I do when that could happen? You do not need to read the whole book to find out exactly about what is. First you should find in the book those bit and pieces for example information, reasoning, ideas, theories, explanations and conclusion and what is the purpose to find that? The main reason is that some bits and pieces will help you to address the topic. Exists other factors that you can present when you are reading; you can find reading academic books and that often happens when you are studying and you have to investigate in some books that the teacher sends you, so you have to take note what you suppose is relevant the problem is that can be time consuming; Another problem that you could present is academic speak especially in a subject that is new to you. You will find some words that are not familiar to you, what you can do in this situation are focus in what is relevant to your needs. In most classrooms students are observed by teachers with the purpose to look the academic learning. Academic learning refers to the learning that happens in the classroom instead of somewhere else. For academic learning there are three stages.

Table 1: Three stages in academic learning Stage Activities Selecting and copying Making notes

Translating

Paraphrasing and annotating

Digesting

Engaging with the subject, thinking and reasoning in the subjects language

What does it mean? First you have to select what seem to you the most important points and write those down , so you will try to select relevant passages You can find some academic-speak that make reading difficult. Translate it into your language is good technique to understand the reading. This is when you assimilate; absorb the topic or the subject.

An important question that you have bear in mind when you start to read a book it is to ask yourself why I am reading it, what is my purpose? Once you know your purpose, you can examine the resource to see whether it's going to help you.

There are some reading strategies that can help you at the moment of read: exploratory, dedicated, targeted and cant stop/ wont stop.

Table 1: Four reading strategies

Exploratory reading Is done when the readers want to know how the whole selection is presented

Dedicated reading Working your way through a textbook or set text which you are required to master. Useful for getting on top of a subject and mastering essential language and concepts

Targeted reading When you have identified From your overview a section or passage that might be useful, focusing on it for a closer look, and working through it thoroughly

Cant stop/wont stop reading. If you pick up a book and become so engrossed in it that you can not put it down until you reach the end, it will probably feel more like fun a task. It wont call for conscious effort, but it may take up a fair amount of time.

essential if you are to get good marks.

Have you ever your teacher has left you much to read that you do not where to begin .What can you do when you teacher leaves you summarize a publication and contain much information? First of all you have to explore your book to get an overview of a publication. You do not need to read whole book there six step useful at the moment of summarize.

Table 3: six steps in summarizing

Step 6: Compile your summary

Step 5: `Map the publication (optional) Step 4: Find out what you can about the authors conclusions Step 3: Find out what you can about the authors approach Step 2: Get acquainted with the structure of the publication Step 1: See what type of publication you are faced

Its very important to know what kid the publication we are reading in a publication. Why? Because if you know the type of publication that you are reading will be easier to know for what is the book. In the table 4 shows about the types of publication. Table 4: Types of publication Type `Q to (question answer Brief description Example A Starts with a question to and concludes with the answer to it. Answers range from plausible speculation to rigorous explanation in terms of theories and mechanisms

Research report

The story of what the author did and found.

Review

Reviews research findings, literature, `state of the art, current debate, etc., in a field.

Theory

Presents a conceptual framework of some kind and its implication.

Argument

Argues/puts the case for a particular point of view.

Issue - centred

Starts with a issue(a `what should be done? question) and usually concludes by advocating a particular course of action.

Thematic

Is constructed around a `theme and incorporates elements of some or all the above.

Sequence

Contains elements of some or all of the above in a comprehensible sequence.

Textbook

Contains elements of some or all of the above, especially survey and theory, tailored to a student readership.

After you know what type of publication that you are reading you have to get familiar with the structure what does it mean? Well you have to see how the book is organized for instance. You can check the content and that is a good idea to know about the book, the preface or introduction you can look for description in the chapter, expressions and also if you want to know more information you can cross- checking in other books. Checks how are divide the publication, try to look for conclusion if the publication does not have a conclusion then you could find it in the middle of some chapter or maybe in the preface or introduction.

How I mention before we have to ask ourselves what the purpose is of read the publication? Who is it for? And why did the author take the trouble to write it? Remember that according to the publication that you read will change the approach of the author. And where do you can find authors approach? It is quite usual to find objectives restated in a books final chapter or an articles final section. there are many forms of conclusions. Some authors begin the opening section with a question but at the end they do not provide the answer. This means there are publications that have not conclusions. When we are reading a book or an article is not a bad habit to look the ending. Actually the ending can get our interested and we will check the complete reading to find why the author has got that conclusion. Another point that is helpful at the moment that you are reading a publication is the diagrams form. Mapping is representing the parts of the publication in diagrammatic form. It needs a lot of practice, but at the beginning it just needs lines, arrow- heads and blocks. Mapping a book is a good way of capturing what the author is presenting, so those blocks helps to students to understand clearly what they are reading. At the end that you have kept the steps mentioned you should compile your summary is just putting all the notes and comments that you have made in the previous steps. It could be divided into five steps: Type of publication Structure of the publication The authors approach The authors conclusions The main points that students take from the publication and how it helps them in studying the subject.

You have to be clear what are you looking for when you start to read a publication after that what you can is to do a key terms list that is going to depend about the topic for example if we are talking or reading that people in Mexico feel frustrated when go to vote some key terms that you could look for are frustrated, vote. have a relationship with the topic. Seek out and discover relevant extracts is scanning; and scanning deal with the key terms that you have identified. Maybe when you want to scan a publication you have some techniques to make easier and understandable the reading but also you could follow the next procedure: Those key terms

Table 5: seven steps in scanning

Step 1 Remind yourself of your key terms.

In this step what you should do is write the list of key term you can use colours or highlighter to make the words stand out. This is a good idea to prime your mind.

Step 2 Scan the contents page

You can begin looking for you key terms, maybe the key terms can be on the chapter title if you find there put a post-it, this will help you to mark the part where you found your key terms.

Step 3 Scan the index

A good idea to scan the index is following your fingertip with your eyes but faster do not waste your time trying to read about what the publication is. Just focus to find the key terms.

Step 4 More bookmarks

If you find relevant information go on marking it with post it.

Step 5
Scan the whole book

Try to remind your list of key term using your index and the middle finger scan quickly the first page of text for instance preface, introduction or chapter 1. Stop until one of your key terms catches your eyes, put it a post-it the page and a brief note of whats there.

Step 6 Photocopy the most important bits (optional but recommend)

Photocopy the pages where you found the information you need but be careful with the post it at the moment of photocopy.

Step 7 Organize and apply your results

Now you have scanned the publication or content, what you have to do is organize the information found. In the passage where have key term ask yourself whether it is relevant or not.

Yesis Knowledge gained from reading From my point of view of these issues presented in the photocopies are not only interesting but also helpful, in my case sometimes I asked myself the question of why I was so slow at the moment of read. I thought that happened just to me, it was frustrated because I felt that I was not advancing anything. Another point that I did not know was that ours teacher observe our progress better known like academic learning, I never realize that I usually use the three stages in academic learning, selecting and copying, translating and digesting. In this reading I learnt that first of all I have to ask myself what I am reading for. Believe me I never ask that question I just did it because the teacher told me that I had to do it. I never had a purpose when I read and about the reading strategies I knew a few but I used to not pay attention on that but now I know that are really important to make the reading easier. I thought that summarize a publication just was to read and write what I understood about the reading; it was tired and sometimes wearisome but I had to do it. However now I know that first I have to know what type of publication I am reading, check how is the structure of the book (headings, preface, chapter, contents, etc). compare with other book a similar information, check if the book is divide by chapter or articles, find the conclusions and the connection that exist between the chapters. In sum up I have to find out everything about the publication. That was certain thing that I learnt in this reading. Yanets Knowledge gained from reading I consider myself as a slow reader because when I am reading I always try to read everything. I like to do this because I do not want to miss some information that probably is important but this way of reading take me long time. When I read once I think there is so much information to catch and I get frustrated and at the end I do not catch anything. So if I want to understand clearly I have to read again, but this way of reading take me long time too. Looking for the meaning of the unknown words takes me long time too. According with the reading I have understood all what I have done is not necessary, I should be an active reader because it is not necessary read the

whole reading; I do not to need to get frustrated, I need to find what is important and absorb it, in that way I will learn and think about it; it is good to translate the unknown words but I can do it at the end of reading. Why or why not I modify my reading habits. (Yesi) I definitely modify my reading habits. Why? Well because I really do not have a good habit of reading. Reading is a skill. I am sure that watch sponge Bob, soup opera wont help me to develop reading skill; on the contrary I will be wasting my time. Reading improves our concentration not all people have a good concentration so we have to work in that. In my case I would like to enjoy the reading does not matter about what type of publication it is. Personally my problem is not that I lack good books, but I lack the discipline and determination to read them. Actually I begin to buy a magazine (Speak up) it's really hard to me to take time to read, I get distracted easily. One strategy I did was copy the audios of reading to my cellular and listen it in my free time like for example when I go to university or when I come back from the university. I hope to be a good reader someday using and have the ability of this wonderful skill that not everybody has. Why or why not I modify my reading habits. (Yanet) I will change my reading habits because there are times I read once and I think that I have understood clearly the main information about the reading but I have not, I just begin to understand what the reading is about. Also because I am used to waste so many time reading information that is not necessary or is not relevant and looking the translation for some words. Finally I will change my reading habits because I have understood that we should read as a detective, it means that is not necessary read and catch the complete information, is better reading in order to find that bits or pieces. Once I have found those words I have to concentrate on them to understand about the reading, so in this way I do not spend long time and I really focus on the reading.