Unit 6 .

- Characteristics of academic
texts and formal requirements
6.1. Language in context
6.1.1. The importance of reading

In the academic field, as in other contexts, texts are knowledge resources. These
texts can contain interesting information for us, introduce us to new concepts or
provide ideas to defend our thesis or to justify a decision.

This is why it is important not only to master writing techniques, but also properly
understand what the text communicates. To that end, it is important to know a
series of strategies.

6.1.1.1. How to improve your reading

There is not always the same objective when reading an academic text. For
example, if we do not know the text, we glance over it to be sure that it contains the
information we need. Once the text is consulted, we look for that information that
attracted our attention. In order to effectively read, it is necessary to know how to
use some helpful techniques (A. Giovanini, 1996):

1. Read fast in order to foresee the content of the text. It means, being able to
determine the topic of the composition after a fast look on the text.

2. Look at the page to find relevant information. The reader must be able to look up
data in different points of the texts.

3. Understand the objective information given in the text:

- extract the main ideas and,

- establish how these ideas are related in order to create the full meaning of the
text.

4. Understand the observations and the subjectivity that the author tries to
communicate and be able to critically read the text:
- determine what are the author's purposes and,

- what does the text explicitly say and what ideas are "hiden" in the text.

This is how we can properly understand the full text.

6.1.1.2. Decoding a writing

Many publications in journals require an abstract at the head of the article. In order
to present a conference or a poster during a scientific event, it is necessary to
provide an abstract of the conference. Then, the scientific committee decide if they
accept it or not. In the scientific field, the compilations of abstracts are frequent.
These abstracts allow the specialist to have an idea of what is published about the
topic. In all these contexts, the abstract becomes an essential tool.

The abstract is not common outside the investigation field. Enterprises and public
institutions rarely use the abstract at the beginning of their reports or proposals.
The authors of these documents do not have time for writing them and, maybe,
they do not know how. However, the readers of the professional documents are as
busy as scientists and they would thank the inclusion of this tool.

Source: Afilar el lapicero, pages 87-88.

In order to decode a text like the above, it is important to have an idea of what the
text is about. This allows us to activate the knowledge we have about the topic and
better understand the text. For example, if a student faces this reading, he would
be able to answer questions like 'what the text suggests to you?', 'what do you
think the text is about?' in order to correctly deduce its meaning. In this case, the
answer would be importance of including abstracts in formal texts.

It would also be needed to be able to remember data. For example, to decode the
text above, he must remember that:

- It is important to previously submit an abstract before any communicative text.

- The abstract allows creating an idea of what is published about a topic.

Besides, it has to have the ability of obtaining relevant information of the text.
Taking as example the text above again, the reader could ask:

- What is the purpose of the scientific abstract? Answer: helping a committee to

decide if an article is acceptable for its publication.
- What advantage has it? Answer: it helps the reader to have an idea of what is the
text about.

Additionally, it must cleverly connect the different ideas it treats. It will help the
reader to perceive the text as a whole, which allows him/her to understand its
content more efficiently. In order to properly decode the text presented before, the
reader must establish associations like the following:

Figure 6.1: Decoding a writing.

Finally, the reader must to be capable of determine different aspects in order to

properly understand a text, aspects such as: what is the aim of the text, what is
point of view of the author and what is his or her tone? This way, the reader will be
able to do a critical reading of the text. For example, if the reader of the text before
answers the questions below, his or her answers would be:

- What is the aim of the text? Answer: reinforces the importance of including an
essay at the head of a text.

- What is point of view of the author? Answer: it is a critical text. The author points
out that enterprises and institutions do not usually use abstracts. The abstract
would help the reader to understand the text.

- What is the tone of the author? (Very formal language/not formal). What elements
demonstrate that? Answer: Not formal. The author does not uses technical terms,
uses elements that are not typically of formal texts ("...are as busy as scientists",
"they would thank..."). Use of expressions of the oral language.

Thus, the reader can interpret the reasons the author has written the text, and it will
help the reader to better understand the text.

 
Reflection tasks 6.1.

Below, there is a fragment of a text. Read it and complete the exercises that follow
it.

1. The learner writes in class

A lot of teachers think that they better spend the class time explaining grammatical
rules and studying the text book. Meanwhile, writing -presumably an individual and
silence task!- can be done at the student home, as homework. So, we do not
realise that we are stigmatizing the writing ability; we are attributing the homework
negative connotations to it -boredom, obligation, solitude, complementary work-.
We also impede the learner to show how he writes in class (to socialize the
cognitive processes of writing), to see how other colleagues and the teacher write,
to collaborate with the elaboration of a writing, a process a lot of psychologists
point out that is complex and difficult. If it is so important to learn how to
communicate, to create meaning -as it is suggested by psycho-pedagogical and
linguist literature and even some curriculums, right?-, we should let the students to
write in class, in order to practice and to learn how to do it. They would not only
learn writing; they will learn much more: to reflect about writing, to develop ideas,
to share reflections, to analyse language.

2. The learner cooperatively writes: cooperation with others

Writing tasks must encourage the relation between learners. If we accept that the
language is a social activity, it is acquired and developed from community
interaction; then, tasks must encourage the help between learners. Colleagues can
help a learning author to find ideas, organize them, revise the drafts, etc. What is
the sense of forbidding the student to copy or isolating him or her from his or her
colleagues? After all, we do not speak through the language, the language speaks
through us. What benefit do we have from teaching writing individually, if
communities demand cooperative authors that can work as a team?

3. The learner talks about what he writes with colleagues and teachers

Talking and listening, chatting, interacting is the main tool of learning. The
interrelationship between learners and the teachers is basically developed through
the speech. So, in any case we should not forbid or restrain talking about writing.
Co-authors or colleagues can exchange ideas about the text, its process of
composition, its planning, its features, etc. Does silence benefit learning writing?
No! Dialogue, conversation, listening are ways of getting, developing, interpreting
and preparing ideas for the writing. The colloquial speech does not contaminate
the writing: boys and girls properly distinguish talking and writing if they are offered
real contexts of writing, and plausible receivers.

4. Learners read what he or she writes, with different aims and procedures
Reading is also part of the writing process. The author must read his or her
intermediate compositions in class (schemes, drafts, revisions, etc.) paying much
more attention and reflecting much more than reading other social writings:
newspapers, textbooks, and letters. When someone reads what he or she is
writing, he or she must not only understand the meaning, but check that it exactly
coincides with what he or she wanted to mean and thought. Reading drafts is for
the writing, the same of self-listening for the speech. Writing without reading one's
own drafts is the same as speaking while listening to loud music: we cannot control
the volume and the tone of our own words.

5. Learners take discoursive responsibility over its writing: self-ruling

Deciding what you want to write, how you will write, how you will correct, correct
what is written, etc. is part of the process of writing. If writing is a tool for surviving
in an alphabetized world; in order to express ideas, claim for your rights,
demonstrate knowledge, recover information, writing tasks must allow the learner
to take decisions about his or her own writing. When we detailed what students
must write (receiver, extension, register, theme, structure, etc.) we turn our learner
in a textualizing puppet. The learner only executes orders that we decide. Let the
learner plan (what should I write?, to whom?, for what purpose?, how?) and check.
We have to help them doing it, instead of hampering them.

6. Learners use contemporary materials and sources

The classroom where the writing process is done must provide the most current
sources for the social writing: dictionaries, grammars, encyclopaedias, computers.
Who can write a decent text -coherent, cohesive, correct, elaborated, and
interesting- without these sources? How can we ask to the learner something that
we cannot do? Writing is a skill that takes time, it is characterized by the planning
and elaboration.

7. Teacher write in the class: in public, in class, with the learner...

It is easier to learn cooking as a kitchen help for a great chef, than reading receipt
books or practicing alone. The best way to learn to write is also be able to see how
an expert writes. He or she is an example of the different mental and physical
techniques and tasks in the process of writing. It allows the learner to 'participate'
with an expert in the production of a text in a real communicative context. The
teacher is the best -the only- 'expert' the learner has in the class. The teacher must
write with his or her students without delay: writing his or her own text in front of
them, exemplifying the how the techniques work, helping students their own text,
etc. We must not be afraid of writing with students, showing our limitations and our
needs -consulting dictionary, revise, etc. This is how we are giving a real picture of
a writer to the students, who have never seen a writer working and might think the
writing process is simpler.
8. Teachers act as readers, collaborator, consultants, not as an arbitrator,
judge or a boss

Teachers can offer another help to the learner by reading his or her texts and
reacting as an expert reader, explaining to the author what he understood, what he
did not understand, the impressions and surprises he had during the reading, etc.
This real and vivid reaction becomes much more formative than a direct and
authoritarian correction ('this is right', 'this is wrong'), which usually specifies what
the teacher expects from the learner. It never gives satisfactory explanations about
the text to the author, neither encourages him or her to express what he or she is
really interested in.

9. It is forbidden to throw or destroy the intermediate compositions

Why we are only interested in the final version? Are not interesting the previous
drawings of a painting? Or a house plan? Or the model of a building? The drafts
show us the inner functions of our brains, they show us ways our thoughts follows
and explores. Paying attention to the intermediate products (lists, schemes, drafts,
etc.) incite the conception that writing is much more than the final product. It
includes all the process of elaboration and the creation of meaning. Do not trash
our drafts! Appreciate it for what it is worth and symbolize.

10. We write about every topic in order to do and accomplish things we are
interested

Writing techniques covers a lot of material and all the corners of human
community. It is naive to restrict the writing to literature or to humanities. Writing is
organization, democracy, rights, science, knowledge, projects, socialization, etc.
Writing might be a way of produce disciplinary scientific and humanist knowledge,
if it is effectively used, following these advices.

Source: Cassany, D.: Decálogo. (online:

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/~cepco3/competencias/lengua/primaria/D
ecalogo_Cassany.pdf) [Checked on the 1st November 2013].

1. Read the following questions and find the information in the text:

a) What suggests you the text? What is it about?

b) Fill the blanks:

- Writing tasks must encourage______________.

- When you read what you write you must understand _____________ and
_____________.
- Paying attention to the intermediate drafts encourages____________.

2. Answer the following questions:

a) Comprehension questions:

- Why does the author think that writing in class is good?

- According to the author, what are the advantages of the dialogue about writing in
class?

- Why does the author think that it is important to read what oneself is writing?

- Why does the author defend that it is important the teacher writes with his or her
students?

b) Make a scheme of the main ideas of the article.

c) Read the text again and answer the following questions:

- What is the texts aim? Justify your answer.

- What is the text function? Justify your answer.

- What is the author's attitude? Justify your answer.

- What is the tone of the text? (very formal/not formal), what elements demonstrate
this?

Read the comments about this task in the virtual campus. The comments are
posted in the section "Evaluation".

6.1.2. General features of academic texts

Academic texts are compositions written in university, investigation and scientific

contexts. Its aim is to defend a point of view, present the results of a research, etc.
Summing up, they have an institutional character, for this reason it is important to
respect these three principles:

1. Accuracy: words used must not be ambiguous. The more meanings a word has,
the more difficult it is to understand what the text means.

2. Clarity: academic texts must be written in a way that the reader can understand
the ideas without doing any hipothesis about the text tries to express.
3. Objectivity: it is important that ideas are bibliographically supported and maintain
a neutral tone.

It has also to be considered what intention the message has (demonstrate

knowledge or explain the results of a work of investigation), what kind of receiver it
is addressed (an expert reader, a reader who is familiarized with the topic or
readers which have their first contact with the topic) and the topic. These aspects
will define the way to write a text. It is essential being coherent with the choices
made.

6.1.2.1. Criteria for writing an academic text

As seen in the two first units of this programme, when writing a text, the planning
phase is very important. The writer must keep in mind the prototypical composition
scheme of the text he will write, and also what principles he must respect to be
appropriate for the academic context. This way, the writer will write a coherent and
cohesive text.

In order to achieve this cohesion and coherence, we must keep in mind:

a.- Macrostructure

Macrostructire is the appropriate formal and semantic organization in order to write

the text.

1. The formal macrostructure: it refers to the scheme adopted to write a text.

Although between the academic texts we can distinguish different genres -each
with its own composition characteristics-, there are four parts which have to be
respected:
It is also important to consider the text disposition, like the typography you will use
(letter size and type).

2. The semantic macrostructure: it means the way to organize the global content of
the text. When presenting ideas in an academic text, the text must present the
most general ideas first, then, the most detailed ideas:

You should start for a principal idea; the idea is composed by a series of secondary
questions, which will be treated in different paragraphs. These paragraphs are
composed by a group of clauses, which must include the associated concepts.

Example:

One of the fundamental aspects we must keep in mind during the planning of a
course of foreign language is the culture; but knowing the way of life, costumes,
knowledges, etc. of a culture society to develop a cultural competence. It allows,
on the one hand, to effectively face unknown cultural situations. On the other hand,
it solves the problems of communication associated to the cultural component.

During the designing phase, we should keep in mind the learning context where
the training will take place and the needs and interests of the learners. It is
important that the person who plans the activity think about the kind of cultural
knowledge that are relevant in order to help the students to get along in a
community without misunderstandings. It is also essential that the cultural contents
were interesting for the student, it is the only way to keep the students sufficiently
motivated to internalize them.
Each paragraph must develop a complete idea (a topic core) and never be
repeated; these ideas must be combined in order to make the text flow.

b.- Microstructure

Microstructure refers to the inner organization of composition. It means, how the

different parts of the text are linked in order to keep coherence and cohesion. In
order to achieve that, it is important to follow a series of rules:

1. Relations between lexemes of a text (lexical): if the academic text must be

cohesive and coherent, the different terms of the text must be linked. Some of the
mechanisms which allows it are1:

a) Synonyms: it means, use a term for a variation. Example: formal texts must be
characterized for a series of features that must be respected to be proper for the
context. In this kind of works, academic works can be found. They are
compositions intended to defend a point of view or present the results of an
investigation.

b) Superordenation: the use of a term which is more generic than the one
included in the text. Example: academic texts -reports, essays, monographs,
thesis, investigation articles, etc.- are characterized by a series of features that
must be respected in order to design proper compositions.

c) Generalise: the use of a lexeme that refers to a generic class or the use of a
metaphor to refer to the term. Example: the knowledge that the student previously
knows about a topic is one of the key factors that affects the learning. This is why
it is important to the learner be conscious of what are the points to improve, it is
the only way to advance in the acquisition of the L2.

2. The referential relations are those relations made between the previous and
later information2.

Example:

The academic text is defines by three essential features: clarity, precision and
objectivity. In order to write a text that respects these three principles, it is
essential to spend time in the planning. It is the moment when the writer thinks
about what is the intention of the message, what channel he or she is going to use
to transmit it, who is going to be the receiver, what kind of text will be written and
what tone will be used. Making all those questions before starting to write helps
the text being coherent and cohesive.

As it can be seen, the elements in bold connect the different clauses that forms the
paragraphs. It helps the reader to understand the writing as a whole.

3. Textual connectors3: they are used to guide the process of reading. According to
their position in the text, they can be classified in:

a) Text aperture connectors: this text aims, this text is about, etc.

b) Connectors to introduce a new topic: in relation to, the next item deals with, etc.

c) Connectors to close the text: in conclusion, to sum up, etc.

d) Connectors to organize the textual sequence: first of all, on one hand... on the
other hand..., etc.

e) Connector to highlight an idea: it means, in other words, etc.

f) Connectors to structure the ideas:

i) Show the cause: because, this is why, etc.

ii) Show consequence: as consequence, therefore, etc.

iii) Show the purpose: in order to, with the pursuit of, etc.

iv. Show condition: a condition that, etc.

v. Show opposition: (adversative) on the other hand, however, etc.

vi. Show objection: (concessive) although, even though, etc.

4. Linguistic aspects:

a) Punctuation4: it is important to respect the rules of punctuation. Not following

them provokes bad interpretation of what must be transmitted. Each paragraph and
sentence must be separated by full stop. Phrases must be separated with stop or a
comma.

b) Use of the passive to keep the objectivity 5: it is thought, it has been shown...

c) Use of simple structures in order to be clear: not using the fronting, etc.

d) Use of indicative tenses to present ideas like proven facts and objectives: the
students control their process of learning.

e) Use of subordinate clauses to develop ideas. This is how a cohesive text can be
constructed.

Example:

Different clauses that forms a text are connected. They form a dense web of
relations. The mechanisms that use to connect them are called cohesion forms
and there are different types: repetitions or anaphora (recurring participation of an
element of the text, through synonyms, pronominalization, etc.), semantic relations
of words (antonyms, synonyms), links or connectors (punctuation, conjunctions),
etc. For example, in the fragment: "Mary was at the animal shop and bought a
mouse. At home, she dyed the mouse pink. At the night, she put it on the shoulder
and she went to the most modern bar", there can be found these forms of
cohesion: repetitions, semantic relations and links.

So, the cohesion is the text property that connects different sentences. These
mechanisms have the function to assure the interpretation of each sentence in
relation with the other sentences, and, definitely, assure the comprehension of the
global meaning. Without cohesion, a text would be a list of unconnected sentences
and communication would fail, since the receiver must connect the sentences
alone, with a huge error margin.

Source: Cassany, D.: Describir el escribir. Cómo se aprende a escribir. Ed. Paidós
Comunicación. Pages 35-36.

f. Use of specialized terms (technical terms, initials, acronyms, etc.) 6: lexemes with
only one meaning. Academic texts must be characterized by expressing precise
ideas. This is why aspects should be clear.

Example:
Semiotics as a web theory

The term "semiotics" comes from the Greek term semeion (sign), it means that
semiotics constitutes the science of the sign and its object is the semiosis, which is
the semiotic function that produces the signs based on a relation of mutual
presumptions between the significant and signifier (using Saussures's
terminology). Semiotics is traditionally considered a theory of codes (the most
important code is the human verbal language) and also a theory of signs
production (the sign is everything which represents something else), it also studies
the productive processes of communication, since these processes are produced
by human agents that are related between them through social conventions.

Source: Camarero, J. et al: Intertextualidad. Redes de textos y de literaturas

transversales en dinámica intercultural. Ed. ANTHROPOS, 2008, Pages 77-78.

 
1
This topic is treated in unit 3.
2
This topic is treated in unit 9.
3
This topic is treated in unit 8.
4
This topic has been treated during unit 4.
5
This topic and the following will be treated in unit 8.
6
This topic will be treated in unit 9.

6.1.2.2. Inadequacy1

A very important aspect is the kind of errors that must be prevented. Some are
specified below:

a.- Errors related to the organization of ideas

1. Ideas that are not related to the central topic:

The concept "interculture" understands education as environment where diversity

is an essential element to achieve a comprehensive and quality instruction that
uplifts the students.

The philosophy that lies beneath this concept is that, in education, it is not only
important to acquire theoretical knowledge and also to learn to live in society and
develop the respect and tolerance to other people.

Both paragraphs must be one, since they refer to the same idea.
2. Ideas that are not completely developed:

The language teacher must work the four skills in classroom, it is the only way to
make the student develop the strategies needed to use language in its essential
aim, which will allow them to effectively communicate in real world communicative
situations.

It can be seen that the four skills are not specified, neither the language essential
aim. This makes the reader to suppose to what the writer is referring and make an
erroneous interpretation of the text.

3. Repeating ideas:

Cassany defines legibility as the grade a text can be read, understood and
memorized. (D. Cassany, 1995). This concept is related with two properties of the
texts: coherence and cohesion. The first term can be defined as the pragmatic text
property, since the text is conceived as a unit of global sense (Martín Peris, E.
1998-2008). The second term is the textual property by which texts are presented
as linked by different grammatical, lexical and graphical mechanisms (Diccionario
de términos, online).

It means that for a writing being understandable, the student must read, under and
memorize it.

This sentenced is not needed, it is a repeated idea from the first sentence.

b.- Errors related to morph-syntactic aspects

1. Misusing the signs of punctuation:

In conclusion, the AVE virtual campus of academic Spanish, is an instrument

which helps the student learning the proper academic writing (A comma between
subject and verb is used).

2. No concordance between elements of the sentence:

Non-expert writers -it means those who does not have the habit of writing and,
therefore, has not developed the proper skills to design proper writing... ('Who' is
referring to plural to a plural subject, so the verbs do not need the third
person singular 's').

3. Use of too long parenthesis:

This research project tries to answer a series of questions -why does it happen?,
why after so many years of study the students cannot achieve a native
competence in L2?, is it possible?, what is not working?, can really the teacher
help the student to achieve it?- which will bring some light on how help students to
be more competent using the L2. (It can be seen that the parenthesis makes
more difficult the reading).

4. Misusing discourse markers (it can be a bad use or the absence of them):

I. According to D. Cassany (1999), in order to help the student to learn to write

properly, the teacher must follow some patterns. First of all, he has to encourage
the writing in the classroom and help the students to learn how to cooperate in the
writing process. On the one hand, it helps the teacher to know how students write,
and allows the students to interact and develop their abilities (When using 'On
one hand...', later on the text it must be use 'on the other hand...' too).

II. Working reading compression in the class helps the student to effectively read.
Learning to properly read allows developing the thought. Reading is essential for
the intellectual progress of the student. (This text lacks cohesion, on the start of
each sentence there should be a connector).

5. Ambiguous use of anaphoric elements:

They are strategies that will help the students to effectively act in real interactions,
they are essential for the communicative competence. ('They' is ambiguous
because it can refer to strategies or to interactions).

6. Abusive repetition of a term. It slows down the reading and can make the reader
be lost. Below there is an example:

The development of the cultural competence is an essential element in language

learning. The cultural competence helps the student to develop strategies which
allows him to properly interact in a culture.

Cultural competence can be defined as the knowledge that the student has about
the facts and the most important characters of a community. (...)

7. Poor lexical precision and variation (use too colloquial and generic words,
misuse of a term...):

When the student does the task... (The verb "do" is too generic, it is better to
use a more precise verb, like "complete").

8. Use of expressions that does not contribute to the discourse:

This paper basically tries to develop a final task from the manual (...). This manual,
regarding its structure, is divided into these parts. (The expressions "basically"
and "regarding its structure" can be avoided and there is no loss of
meaning).

9. Personalization:

In this paper, I have tried to demonstrate that the curriculum design is a difficult
work which requires paying a lot of attention to multiple aspects. (Sometimes the
use of the first person brings too much subjectivity in a text).

 
1
The topics shown below have been treated during unit 3, 4 and 5. They will also be treated in units
8 and 9.

6.1.3. Examples of academic texts and their characteristics

Below, a fragment of an academic text is presented. Then, its features will be

analysed (cohesion and coherence tools, the vocabulary used, organization of
ideas, etc.).

The web 2.0 allows to link reality and 'virtuality' to the Spanish as a Foreign
Language (ELE) in class through online participation. The development of the
interactivity and the collective intelligence benefits the community. (Cobo and
Pardo, 2007).

An example that clearly illustrates this interactivity is Wikipedia. The biggest

encyclopaedia of the world is free, it is in the Internet and it is edited by millions of
users. Any user can cooperate in the update of Wikipedia's content. This is why it
is the best example of the web 2.0 utility as a cooperative knowledge constructor.

Of all the tools offered by webs 2.0, the most profitable tools for learning and
teaching are the blogs (used as a system of knowledge manager) and the wikis
(used to develop the creative writing).

Castrillejo (2009) defines the concept of wiki as a tool that allows several authors
to cooperative write and edit a common text in the web. One of the big advantages
that can offer is the fact that users can intuitively learn to use it. It is not required an
advanced technological alphabetization for using it. There are no hierarchies,
neither only one way, but an active construction of shared knowledge in a virtual
space (González Lozano, 2009). 4
Therefore, the wiki is a tool that can be best adjusted in our aim of modernizing
and diversifying educational practices related to the development of the strategies
of cooperative written expression through a virtual space.

Our purpose, then, is to transform writing into a social act in which students
construct knowledge through interaction. Writing is a complex act which implies the
use of other communicative activities of the language: we read drafts that we write
and we dialogue with other authors and readers about the text in order to better
plan and revise it. (Urbano, 2004: p. 4).5

Without a doubt, cooperative writing can help learners to solve problems during all
the process of composition (Urbano 2004: p. 4) by assuming roles which actively
involve all the members of a learning community. This situation forces the teacher
to teach social strategies (cooperation and emphasis) in order to work in teams
and, then, obtain the best performance from students. Barnett (1993) and Benett
and Stevahn (1991, quoted in Urbano 2004) emphasize the importance of
developing the following social skills in order to facilitate the teamwork: create trust,
improve communication, solve problems and make decisions during the group
interaction (Urbano, 2004: p. 1).

Source: González Lozano, J.: "Aprender escribiendo" in Boletín ASELE, N 44,

page. 16 (online publication)

During the planning phase of a text, it is important to think about the intention of the
message, the kind of receiver it is addressed and the topic. In the text above we
can identify:

Show the advantages of the use of the wikis in educational

The aim of the message
practices.

Kind of receiver the text is

Professional - teachers
addressed

Topic The web in the ELE class.

Table 6.1. Caracteristics.

Another essential aspect is related on how to organize what the text wants to
communicate. We must keep in mind: Semantic organization, lexemes relationship,
the anaphoric elements and discourse connectors. By analyzing the text above, we
can find the following:
 

Main idea:

 Webs 2.0 allows to link reality and

'virtuality'.

Secondary idea/s:

 Blogs and Wikis are the most profitable

web 2.0 tools.
 Wikis promote cooperative writing.
 Wikis help to solve problems during the
process of composition.
SEMANTIC ORGANIZATION

Associated concepts:

 web 2.0.
 'virtuality'.
 intercreativity.
 Wikipedia. 3
 web.
 blogs.
 wikis.
 intercreativity.
 ...

 Tools - blogs, wikis (superordenation).

 Concept - wiki (superordenation).
RELATIONS BETWEEN LEXEMES (MENTION
 Tool -wiki (superordenation).
THE RELATIONS AND USE EXAMPLES)
 Space - wiki (generalization).
 Writing-exercises (superordenation).

ANAPHORS  See the text below.

 Therefore, this is why - consequence.

 Then - purpose.
CONNECTORS AND USE
 Without a doubt - Highlight an idea.
 See the text below.
 Table 6.2. Text organization.

Below, we can see examples of anaphors (bold) and connectors (underline) in the
text:

The web 2.0 allows to link reality and 'virtuality' to the Spanish as a Foreign
Language (ELE) in class through online participation. The development of the
interactivity and the collective intelligence benefits the community. (Cobo and
Pardo, 2007).

An example that clearly illustrates this interactivity is Wikipedia. The biggest

encyclopaedia of the world is free, it is in the Internet and it is edited by millions of
users. Any user can cooperate in the update of Wikipedia's content. This is why it
is the best example of the web 2.0 utility as a cooperative knowledge constructor.

Of all the tools offered by webs 2.0, the most profitable tools for learning and
teaching are the blogs (used as a system of knowledge manager) and the wikis
(used to develop the creative writing).

Castrillejo (2009) defines the concept of wiki as a tool that allows several authors
to cooperative write and edit a common text in the web. One of the big advantages
that can offer is the fact that users can intuitively learn to use it. It is not required
an advanced technological alphabetization for using it. There are no hierarchies,
neither only one way, but an active construction of shared knowledge in a virtual
space (González Lozano, 2009). 4

Therefore, the wiki is a tool that can be best adjusted in our aim of modernizing
and diversifying educational practices related to the development of the strategies
of cooperative written expression through a virtual space.

Our purpose, then, is to transform writing into a social act in which students
construct knowledge through interaction. Writing is a complex act which implies the
use of other communicative activities of the language: we read drafts that we write
and we dialogue with other authors and readers about the text in order to better
plan and revise it. (Urbano, 2004: p. 4).5

Without a doubt, cooperative writing can help learners to solve problems during all
the process of composition (Urbano 2004: p. 4) by assuming roles which actively
involve all the members of a learning community. This situation forces the teacher
to teach social strategies (cooperation and emphasis) in order to work in teams
and, then, obtain the best performance from students. Barnett (1993) and Benett
and Stevahn (1991, quoted in Urbano 2004) emphasize the importance of
developing the following social skills in order to facilitate the teamwork: create trust,
improve communication, solve problems and make decisions during the group
interaction (Urbano, 2004: p. 1).

Finally, when writing an academic text, it is essential to respect a series of linguistic

aspects: punctuation rules, orthography, depersonalise the text, use of basic
structures or specialized terms. We can analyse as follows these aspects in the
text above:

LINGUISTIC ASPECTS YES SOMETIMES NO EXAMPLE

Respects punctuation and orthography rules X

Depersonalise the text X

Use basic structures X

Use of subordinates to develop ideas X

Use of specialized terms X

Table 6.3. Linguistic aspects.

All this helps being precise and objective, and clearly organizing a text.

Reflection tasks 6.2.

Carefully read the text below and complete the tasks that follow it:

Radio FLE
www.fundacionlengua.com/radiofle
[Checked on the 1st November 2013].

Fundación de la Lengua Española offers us a radio whose programmes have been

designed for ELE (Spanish as Foreign Language) students. The access is free, so
the students can listen to it through the web page, but also through different Apple
devices (iPod, iPad or iPhone), listeners will also be able to follow the news in
social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
In the section "programmes" there are Spanish courses according to the different
levels of the European Framework and the curriculum plan of Instituto Cervantes.
There are also programmes centred on phraseology, science, cinema, literature,
gastronomy, history, art or environment. It can be seen, then, the perfect
combination of language and culture, and it can be perfectly shaped to the student
tastes or to his or her needs related to what is being studied in class.

It should be noted that this radio broadcast 24 hours the 7 days of the week. There
are, each hour, a 5 minutes news section, 25 minutes Spanish class of different
levels and half an hour of any of the other programmes.

Lastly, I do not want to forget the blog section, where students can practice their
reading compression.

In conclusion, it is a page that, even though it does not present didactic work, it is
an infinite source of both oral and written input for the student. It helps the student
to improve his or her compression skills and, at the same time, widen his or her
cultural background and vocabulary.

Ana Sanmiguel Mariño

The King John School

Essex, Reino Unido

Sanmiguel Mariño, A.: "Radio FLE", in Boletín ASELE, Nº 45, page 59 (online
publication)

1. Complete the following table:

The aim of the message  

Kind of receiver the text is addressed  

Topic  
  

2. Complete the box below:

Main idea:

SEMANTIC ORGANIZATION Secondary idea/s:

Associated concepts:

Relations between lexemes

 
(mention the relations and use examples)

Anaphors  

Connectors and use  

3. Complete the table below about linguistic aspects. Remember to write some
examples:

LINGUISTIC ASPECTS YES SOMETIMES NO EXAMPLE

Respects punctuation and orthography rules        

Depersonalise the text        

Use basic structures        

Use of subordinates to develop ideas        

Use of specialized terms        

4. Answer the following questions:

a) Why do you think that sometime the author does not depersonalise the text?

b) Why do you think that sometimes the basic structure is not respected? Use
some examples.

c) Are a lot of technical words used? Why?

5. If you were an editor of a magazine and this article has to be published, what
mistakes do you think the author did in the text above? Make the few corrections it
is needed to be considered an academic text.

Read the comments about this task in the virtual campus. The comments are
posted in the section "Evaluation".

6.1.4. Quotes1

Quotations are references to other authors to give more credit to our ideas.
Quotations are used to reinforce and support our point of view or the results and
data presented in a paper. They also are used to provide examples of the topic
treated and extend the arguments in the body of a paper. Their use is mandatory in
academic papers and must be used in final projects and in this programme forum.

It is essential to know the quotations rules. This will avoid common mistakes like
the following:

1. Forget information, for example forgetting to mention to which piece of work an

article belongs: Poyatos, F. (1970): "Paralingüística y kinésica: para una teoría del
sistema comunicativo en el hablante español", in Magis, C.H. (coord.), (It must be
mentioned that the article belongs to Actas del Tercer Congreso Internacional de
Hispanistas).

2. Not respecting the format. For example, forget to use italics for the title:
Huddleston, R. and Pullum, G. (2005): A Student's Introduction to English
Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 
1
For this unit, the 2013 APA rules have been followed. However, as it is shown in the Introductory
Tasks, in this programme you can use the quotation rules available in the virtual campus.

6.1.4.1. Criteria to properly quote

 
Quotes can be found:

Inside the text

These kind of quotations includes the essential information of the source, it only
shows the name and surname of the author, the year of publication and the page
-the later is optional-. It is possible to find the following types:

1. Direct quotes (textual quotes): are the quotes that represent the idea or concept
literally, it uses the same words the author did.

Format: it must be between quotation marks. The source must be specified after
the stop. The source must be in parenthesis. It contains the author initial of the
name (in capital letter), his or her surname, the year and page -the later is
optional-.

Example:

"Only specialized studies of journalism, translation or teacher training include in

their curriculum, and not to an extent, any subject only about writing. Even
potential writers of creative literature must be satisfied studying philology (that
teaches more reading than writing), because there is no equivalent to Fine Arts or
Schools of Music in the field of the humanities". (D. Cassany, 1995: p. 14)

2. Indirect quotations: are the quotations that refers to the ideas or concepts of an
author, but they are not textually transcribed. They can use two formats:

a) Introduce the author before presenting the idea. The author's initial of the name,
the surname and the year in parenthesis:

As it is mentioned by A. García Santa-Cecilia (1995), the communicative approach

does not constitute a method in a prescriptive sense, but it is a group of ideas and
principles.

b) Mention the author at the end of the quotation. In this case, we must write the
initial of the name, the surname, the year of publication and the page -the later is
optional-:

the communicative approach does not constitute a method in a prescriptive sense,

but it is a group of ideas and principles (A. García Santa-Cecilia (1995)).

3. Quoting a quote: the quotation presents ideas and concepts of an author that
are found in a different piece of work. It is usually used when the original cannot be
found.
Format: this quotation specifies who is the original author and in what text it was
taken from:

A task is: [...] a work unit in the classroom, it implies learning through
understanding, handling, production or interaction with the L2, meanwhile the
student is primarily concentrated into the meaning of the form (Nunan 1989: p.10
quoted in J. Zanón, 1995: p. 52).

Bibliography

All references that have been specified in the paper must be completely shown at
the last pages of the writing. It is needed to know how to properly write the sources
that have been used during the paper composition.

Below, we show you how to quote the main bibliography used as reference to
realise academic writings.

1. Paper based publications:

a) Books

- One author:

SURNAME, INITIAL OF THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR. (year): Book title. Print.
Place of printing.

Example:

CASSANY, D. (1995): Taller de textos. Leer, escribir y comentar en el aula.

Paidós. Barcelona.

- More than one authors:

SURNAME, NAME of the responsible of the publication, add: et al. -meaning 'and
others' in Latin-, (year): Title. Print. Place of printing.

Example:

GIOVANNINI, A. et al. (1991): Profesor en Acción 1: el proceso de aprendizaje,

Ed. Edelsa, Col. Investigación Didáctica, Madrid.

- Chapters of the book:

SURNAME, INITIAL OF THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR. (year): Book title. Print.
Place of printing. Chapter number.

Example:

CASSANY, D. La cocina de la escritura (2007), Ed. Anagrama. Barcelona. Chapter

5.

b) Book articles:

SURNAME, INITIAL OF THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR. (year): "title of the article",
The coordinator of the publication (coord.), Title of the book. Print. Place of
printing.

Example:

Amarbà, T. (1998): "Desde la sociolingüística", in A. Mendoza (coord.), Conceptos

clave en didáctica de la lengua y la literatura. Ed. Horsori. Barcelona.

c) Magazine article:

SURNAME, INITIAL OF THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR. (year): "title of the article",
The responsible of the publication (ed. or eds), Title of the magazine. Print. Place
of printing, pages of the article.

Example:

Vázquez López, M. (1997): "Aplicaciones prácticas del enfoque por tareas" en L.

Miquel y N. Sans (eds.), Didáctica del Español como Lengua extranjera IV,
Cuadernos del tiempo libre, Col. Expolingua, Madrid, pp. 237-253.

d) Articles from conferences and seminars:

SURNAME, INITIAL OF THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR. (year): "title of the article",
in Name of the conference, seminar, etc. where it was published. Print. Place of
printing, pages of the article.

Example:

Sans, N.: (2000) "Criterios para la evaluación y el diseño de materiales didácticos

para la enseñanza de ELE", in Actas del VIII Seminario de dificultades de la
Enseñanza del Español a Lusohablantes, São Paulo, pp. 10-22.

e) Thesis:
SURNAME, INITIAL OF THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR. (year): title of the thesis.
Field of knowledge. Institution that publishes the thesis.

Example:

CARDENAS, B. (2007): Hacia el desarrollo de la habilidad de la expresión escrita

y sus implicaciones didácticas en el proceso de adquisición del idioma español
como segunda lengua. Tesis doctoral del programa "Aportaciones Educativas a
las Ciencias Sociales y Humanas". Universidad de Granada UNICA.

2. Internet sources:

a) Articles in online magazines:

SURNAME, INITIAL OF THE NAME OF THE AUTHOR. (year): "title of the article",
Title of the online magazine. Number of the magazine. [Specify it is an online
source: Online].

Example:

Mendoza, A. (2004): "Los materiales literarios en la enseñanza de ELE: funciones

y proyección comunicativa", in RedELE, num. 1 [Online].

b) Thesis and conferences articles: this cases follows the same scheme presented
on printing sources, but it must add [Online] at the end in order to specify it is an
Internet source.

Example:

LÓPEZ, PÉREZ, M. V (2008). "La enseñanza del vocabulario de la lengua de

instrucción (LI) en E/L2 en contextos escolares: selección de voces y
programación". In Actas del XXIV Congreso internacional AESLA. Aprendizaje de
lenguas y modelación cognitiva: perspectivas aplicadas entre disciplinas, Madrid:
UNED, pages 919-936. [Online]

* If a source is published in both formats, it is important to specify that it can also

be consulted online.

c) Dictionaries:

SURNAME, INITIAL OF THE NAME OF THE COORDINATOR. (year): "word or

concept consulted", name of the dictionary. Institutions of publication. [Online]

Example:
Martín Peris, E. (Coord.) (1997-2008): "Destrezas lingüísticas", in Diccionario de
términos clave de ELE. Madrid: Instituto Cervantes. [Online].

6.1.4.2. Symbols and punctuation signs

Some of the symbols more used in bibliography are:

ABBREVIATION MEANING COMMENTS

Ed./Eds. Editor/Editors  

Chap. Chapter  

Et alii (and It is used if the work cited was written by more than 6
et al.
others) authors.

ibíd. ibídem It is used to refer to a work cited just before.

n. Numbero  

Opere citato It is used together with the author's name and page number
Op. cit.
(in the work cited) when the full reference has already been cited.

p. Page  

Vol./Vols. Volume/Volumes  

Table 6.4. Symbols and punctuation signs.

Some important punctuation signs for using quotes:

SIGN USE

Brackets [] It is used for additional information.

 Quotation marks " " It is used to quote an entire fragment or the literal quote of a person.

Parentheses () Include data about an information.

Table 6.5. Punctuation signs for using quotes.

Reflection task 6.3.

The following quotes are taken from an academic work. A teacher would be the
receiver of the text. Its aim is to evaluate the knowledge acquired, reflect on the
conclusions of the writer and help him on his process of learning. Do you think that
the sources are properly quoted? Justify your answer.

Quote A

According to A. Giovannini et al. (1996), autoevaluation is the initial motor and the
central concept of learning. The author adds: The student must discover which
ones are the most convenient strategies to his or her own learning style.

However, the problem of the autoevaluation is that not all the students are used to
this kind of reflection. This is why it is important training in the evaluation
competence at the beginning.

Quote B

Selinker (1972) uses the term interlenguage to the linguistic dynamic system which
is close to the target language and the student uses in order to communicate in the
SL class. In this system L1 is a strategy more. However, in a context of teaching-
learning, the teacher must not rely on L1 too much because it can affect the
student's development of the competence. We cannot forget that a high
percentage of input that the student receives comes from interaction situations. If
the teacher relies too much on L1, or allows too much its use, the students will
have less contact with the target language.

Quote C

Breen, M.P. (1997): "Paradigmas contemporneos en el diseo de programas de

lenguas I y II", en Signos. Teora y prctica de la educación, n 19 y 20.

Quote D
Canale, M., 1995: "De la competencia comunicativa a la pedagogía comunicativa
del lenguaje" en Competencia comunicativa, Edelsa, grupo didascalia, S. A.,
Madrid.

Quote E

Martín Peris, E.: "Documentos reales y aprendizaje comunicativo en el aula", en

HIZPIDE, n 40.

Read the comments about this task in the virtual campus. The comments are
posted in the section "Evaluation".

6.2. Review
 

This section summarises the knowledge acquired during this unit:

- The introduction presented the units that will treat the academic writing and the
theoretical contents of the unit 6.

- The section the importance of reading has given a brief information about the
relevance of properly read a text before to analyse it.

- In general features of academic texts, the distinctive features of academic

writing have been analysed.

- In section examples of academic texts and their characteristics, it has been

analysed practical examples of how the features are connected in order to properly
write an academic text.

- Finally, the chapter Quotes has given the rules to write bibliographical
information in the text. You can use these rules based on the APA or the rules
given in the virtual campus.

6.3. Check your knowledge

 

Enter the virtual campus and access the Reflection exercises section. There you
will find the tasks you have seen during this unit. You have to complete all of them
and, when you finish them, the system will provide you the feedback. If you need
more information, consult the files "Assessment", right under the section
Assessment of the unit.
Remember that, apart from reading the contents and completing the Reflection
exercises, you have to complete the activities and the exam or the final task. The
teacher had provided the information about them in the Group forum.

Bibliography 
[1] The sources used can be found in the examples of the chapter quotes.