Process writing что это

Несколько раз в год мои старшеклассники пишут в мини-группах творческие сочинения, использую технологию Process Writing.

В практике каждого учителя бывали случаи, когда ученики за выходной день (в который у них больше свободного времени) напишут 2-3 сочинения и в каждом из них сделают одну и ту же ошибку. Почему так получается?

Разные авторы выделяют несколько разные стадии процесса письма, но чаще всего присутствуют следующие этапы:

1. Этап мозгового штурма.

Когда идеи, таким образом, появились, наступает пора сгруппировать их в логичный план. На этом этапе совершенно естественно, что появляются новые мысли и ученики что-то добавляют или, наоборот, убирают из плана. Если письменная работа пишется в мини-группе, учащиеся распределяют между собой пункты плана: кто какой пункт будет писать.

Ученики пишут сочинение, придерживаясь плана. На этом этапе важно содержание. Можно не уделять много внимания орфографии, важно изложение, связность, логичность. Я предлагала ученикам в течении 8 минут написать 5-6 предложений на свой пункт. Конечно, в ходе написания ученики могут изменить порядок следования событий, что-то переставить или убрать. Но не бывает такого, чтобы с первого же варианта сочинение получилось законченным и без ошибок. Таким образом, мы подходим к следующему этапу – редактированию.

Итак, учащиеся степлером скрепили свои листочки, чтобы получилось последовательное повествование; вместе прочитали, логично ли оно, добавили необходимые изменения или вычеркнули лишнее. На редактирование я давала им 3-4 минуты.

Наступает время этапа корректирования, проверки, как написано. Ученики проверяют орфографические, пунктуационные ошибки, заменяют повторяющиеся фразы и слова, проверяют, в подходящем ли стиле изложен материал. Корректировать текст может как сам автор, так и его одноклассники, обменявшись сочинениями.

По возвращении работ обучающиеся просматривают исправления и дополнения, внесённые другой подгруппой, соглашаются или не соглашаются с ними.

Теперь ученики ещё раз переписывают сочинение, уже набело, чтобы сдать готовую работу учителю, переписывают индивидуально или в подгруппе в зависимости от количества оставшегося времени. Если я задавала на дом, то каждому ученику делала ксерокопию их совместного «творения», а если писали в классе, то минут за 15 секретарь группы переписывал, а остальные ещё по ходу что-то советовали и переделывали. А я по критериям оценивала. Ученики могли сравнить свои оценки после написания первого варианта и отредактированного совместно с другой подгруппой и переписанного набело. Оценки были, конечно, лучше.

Таким образом, ученик пишет сочинение в нескольких вариантах, в процессе написания которых он обращает внимание на свои ошибки, соглашается или не соглашается с предложенными его одноклассниками изменениями. Как показывают результаты исследований, исправление ошибок эффективнее в процессе написания черновых вариантов письменной работы, а не тогда, когда ученики сдают свои работы учителю на проверку. На ошибки, исправленные учителем в готовом сочинении, как правило, ученики почти не обращают внимания и не запоминают правильный вариант. Исправлениям же в черновом варианте, который предстоит ещё грамотно переписать, ученики уделяют больше внимания, таким образом, реже делая подобную ошибку в будущем. На организацию этого вида письма требуется большое количество времени, но, как показывает опыт, на всех этапах письма наблюдается ещё и раскрепощённое общение на изучаемом языке. Роль учителя меняется. Учитель теперь не только тот, кто оценивает, учитель – читатель, для которого ученик пишет сочинение/очерк. Ученику приходится больше думать о читателе: «Для кого он пишет?», «Что читателю надо узнать?», «О чём надо сообщить читателю?». Учащиеся осознают, что то, что написано, можно изменить, можно удалить часть текста, а можно добавить, можно поменять отрывки местами и т.д. Таким образом, конечный результат получается интересным и содержательным для читателя и обучающим для самого ученика. Технология Process Writing позволяет не только развивать умение написания связного развёрнутого аргументированного высказывания, но и формировать регулятивные и коммуникативные универсальные учебные действия за счёт необходимости постоянного интеллектуального сотрудничества учащихся, работающих в мини-группах.

Список использованной литературы:

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The Writing Process: 6 Steps Every Writer Should Know

You’ve probably heard the saying “good writing is rewriting.” It means good writing requires coming up with ideas, reviewing and organizing them, putting them into a cohesive written work, revisiting your work, editing it, and revising it to make your words stronger. These steps are known as the writing process.

No matter what you’re writing, whether it’s a blog post, a screenplay, a research paper, or a book review, you’ll work through the writing process to turn your rough ideas into a polished, publishable finished piece. Read on to learn more about the writing process’ six steps in detail.

Brainstorming

Depending on the assignment, you may be given a topic or you may have to create one yourself. Do an internet search for the topic you’ll be covering to get a stronger grasp on it and all the potential directions your writing can take.

When you brainstorm, you think deeply about the topic you’ll be covering in your writing and let your mind follow any and every lead it comes across. If you’ve been assigned to write within a fairly broad area, this is the point where you narrow your topic down to a specific thesis statement.

For example, if you’re writing about key events in American history during the Gilded Age, you could decide to focus on the debate surrounding the gold standard that occurred during that time. As you brainstorm, you might zero in further on how it was portrayed in pop culture and decide to write your essay on how L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz represented this debate through specific imagery.

Jot down every idea you have while you brainstorm, even if it’s only tangentially related to your topic. The goal here isn’t to create a coherent piece of writing—it’s to clear a path for your writing.

Brainstorming isn’t just about developing a clear topic and set of supporting content to cover; it’s about determining the most effective way to present your information to your intended audience. Think about the type of writing you’re doing and whom you’re writing it for. A video script that walks your viewers through a specific knitting technique requires a much different tone, structure, and vocabulary than an academic research proposal for your master’s program in marine biology.

Once you have a clear central theme for your writing and a strong grasp on your supporting arguments, it’s time to finesse your brainstorming results into a logical outline.

Preparing to write

An outline is basically a skeleton of a finished piece of writing that maps the topics you’ll cover and where each paragraph fits into the piece. It provides a structure that helps ensure your ideas flow logically and clearly. It can be helpful to look at outline templates online, especially if you’ve been assigned a type of writing that you haven’t done before.

Choosing authoritative sources

Make sure your chosen sources are appropriate for your writing before you decide to use them. For an academic writing assignment, the range of acceptable sources you can use is typically limited to academic articles, government or nonprofit research groups, and, if you’re writing a literature review, the literary works you’re comparing in your writing. With other kinds of writing, appropriate sources are relevant sources. For example, if you’re writing an article about the rising popularity of mushroom-based health supplements, effective sources may include:

Striking the right tone

Writing your first draft

You’re finally ready to write!

Don’t worry about making your writing perfect just yet—at the rough draft stage, your goal is to get words on the page, not to churn out something that’s ready to publish.

Using the outline you created, start building your draft, sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph.

Doing it this way can also make those tough spots a lot less daunting because it reduces them from big, scary holes to fill up to small blanks to fill in.

Editing and revising

Edit with fresh eyes

Before you edit, give your work time to “cool off.” In other words, don’t jump from writing the first draft to editing it unless you’re crunched for time and you absolutely must. By taking time between writing and editing, you’re giving yourself some distance from your work. This enables you to view it with “fresh eyes” and catch mistakes and areas for improvement more easily than you would if you hadn’t created that distance.

With fresh eyes, look for:

One way to easily find areas where you can make your writing stronger is to read it aloud. By listening to the rhythm of your writing, you can hear words that feel out of place, awkward transitions, redundant phrases, inconsistent tenses and tone, and points where you need more (or less) detail.

For example, you might find you used language that’s too formal for your blog post that’s making your writing seem stiff and boring. Instead of “the balloon was inflated,” try “we blew up the balloon.”

Or you might find your writing contains redundant phrasing, such as “In my opinion, I think that’s a problem.” Change this to “That’s a problem” to make your writing more direct and concise.

Pay attention to how effectively your supporting arguments prove and strengthen your thesis statement. Even if the piece you’re writing doesn’t have a formal thesis statement, it has a central theme or argument. The goal of editing and revising your work is to optimize your writing to make that central theme as clear and powerful as possible.

This is also the stage where Grammarly can really help you out. Not only does the Grammarly Editor catch typos and grammar mistakes, but it can also detect your tone and make word choice suggestions based on your specific writing goals.

Once you’re finished editing, it’s time to revise your draft into its final version. This is the process of implementing all the changes you noted during the editing process.

Proofreading your final draft

Proofreading is one last lookover to catch any spelling mistakes, grammar errors, typos, formatting errors, or incorrect structure or syntax. Unless something is egregiously wrong, you’re not changing any of your content—you’re simply double-checking that everything is grammatically correct. Ideally, you have enough time to proofread your work with fresh eyes.

After you’ve proofread your work, give it one last pass through Grammarly. Grammarly can catch any last-minute mistakes that slip past you and help you avoid embarrassing, easily fixable errors in your work.

Publishing your finished work

Your work is ready to be shared with the world!

What it means to publish your work depends on the type of writing you’re doing. If it’s a blog post, a story you’re self-publishing, a video you’ve written and shot, or anything else where you’re the publisher as well as the writer, this stage is essentially you uploading your own work and making it available to others. If you just completed an academic assignment or a commissioned piece for a journal, blog, or another outlet to which you’re a contributor, this step is when you send it off to your professor or editor. Publishing can also mean submitting your work to an academic journal, querying your novel, or delivering a finished piece of content to your client.

No matter what publishing means for your particular piece, take a moment to celebrate. You wrote something and now, people are going to read it.

This article was originally written in 2019 by Jennifer Calonia. It’s been updated to include new information.

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Process writing что это

Once we have planned, we start writing. What we write for the first time is never perfect. When we read it for a second time, we see that some places need clarification, so we write it again. We keep editing and proofreading our drafts until we reach a final product. This is what a process approach is about. Though this process seems linear, in the real world, we keep changing our ideas while writing; thus, we may need to go back and forth between these stages.

Apparently, enthusiastic as the above mentioned student may seem, she never went further than writing only a first draft. Most probably, if she had proof-read and edited her draft, she would have realized her own mistake and refrained from repeating the same mistake.

There are scientific reasons as to the benefits of process writing as well. Research has shown that when feedback is given on the draft, it is more useful since the students find the opportunity to correct their mistake by writing again.

With little effort, it is possible to apply process writing in our classes. Instead of giving the writing topic to the students and asking for the final product, we can help the students go through the stages of process writing.

Process writing consists of the following stages:

1. Brain-storming stage

As most of you would appreciate, getting started is the most difficult task in writing. With the help of brain-storming, we make it less painful for the students. In the brain-storming stage, the student starts thinking about the topic given. This may be done as a whole-class activity or in groups so that students benefit from each other as well. The teacher writes on the board every idea that comes from the students, without eliminating any. For example, if the topic is “Advantages of the World Wide Web”, the ideas that may come are:

Once the ideas are put randomly on the board, it is now time to eliminate some and organize the rest of the ideas as “main support” and “example”; in other words, plan the writing. In our example, the plan can be something like:

Thesis: WWW has many advantages

b) No need to be transported – it is everywhere

c) Only requires a modem

a) can be accessed from everywhere via telephone lines

b) no waiting in queues

c) does not require many accessories

Thesis: WWW has many advantages

II Shopping/ Banking

While producing the plan, it is quite normal for the students to add or delete information. Actually, they keep adding and deleting till the final product is reached.

3. Writing the first draft

By looking at the plans, the students start writing their essays. They may change the order of their main supports, or re-arrange their minor supports. If you have read myths about people writing a perfect essay on their first try, it is time to face the truth: there is always a mistake either in the organization or in the grammar or the choice/ form of the vocabulary. This leads us to editing and proof-reading.

Here, we would like to point out the distinction between editing and proof-reading. Editing refers to “ what you write”, whereas, proof-reading refers to “ how you write”. The distinction is very important in process writing since we need to focus on one thing to correct at a time. If we try to provide feedback on both the student’s grammar mistakes and the wrong organization of her ideas, she might get confused and not be able to correct all her mistakes. Correcting everything at the same time is also hard for the teacher as the grammar mistakes keep interfering while trying to concentrate on the organization mistakes.

To avoid such confusion, we have divided the correction stage into two; editing and proofreading. It is logical to start dealing with the paper’s organization and content (editing) since the sentences may change with the help of the feedback.

As we have mentioned before, editing deals with “what you write”. While giving feedback on the student paper, we look at the content and the organization. A student essay is expected to have the following basic features:

If the essay lacks enough examples to support the thesis, or if there is redundancy, this is the time to add or delete. Once the content and the organization of the ideas satisfy the student, she writes a second draft and the paper is ready for proof-reading.

Proof-reading deals with “how you write”. While proof-reading, the paper is checked for any spelling, punctuation mistakes, lack of parallelism in the structures, flaws in the style (formal/informal), and grammar mistakes. To be more precise, we look for:

10. style inappropriate for the audience

It is better to leave proof-reading to the last since the text may change many times before the writer is content with her essay.

6. The final product

It is quite clear that writing the paper once is never enough. Now that the student has feedback on the spelling and grammar mistakes, she writes the essay again. This means, the same essay needs to be written at least three times (first draft, second draft after editing, final product after proof-reading) before a final product can be reached. Current technology (word-processors) enables us to rewrite the same essay without spending much time. Word-processors also provide spell and grammar checks – though they do not give hundred percent correct feedback. To be on the safe side, one still needs to check it oneself.

Ways of giving feedback

There are three ways of giving feedback to the students:

For a beginner student who starts writing essays towards the end of the first term, it may be difficult to do the self and peer editing; the teacher may provide more guidance during editing or she may do the editing and proof-reading with the student to set an example.

Here, the texts are interchanged and the evaluation is done by other students. In the real world, it is common for writers to ask friends and colleagues to check texts for spelling, etc. In the classroom environment, the students can exchange their papers and comment on each others’ papers.

As you may also have encountered, it is very common for the writer to miss her own mistakes. This is why it is recommended to sleep on it for a night. After putting the paper aside for some time, emptying the mind and dealing with some other work, the writer is able to approach her paper with a clear mind. In the classroom environment, we can have the students write their essays one day, collect the papers, and have them edit and proof-read them the next day.

There are excellent web sites that guide the students while editing and proofreading their or their classmates’ papers. You can have the students check these web sites or if you want to make sure they read them, download the checklists and take them to the class. Here are some addresses for editing:

Gardner and Johnson (1997) describe the stages of the writing process:

Writing is a fluid process created by writers as they work. Accomplished writers move back and forth between the stages of the process, both consciously and unconsciously. Young writers, however, benefit from the structure and security of following the writing process in their writing.

Basically, we would like to see our students acquire the basic academic skills. Once the students get used to the stages of planning, drafting, and evaluating their papers, we will feel content that they can survive in their departments. As writing teachers, we need to encourage our students to consider their audience and the rhetorical norms of English while developing their papers.

Bereiter, C. and Scardamalia, M. (1987). The Psychology of Written Composition. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Flower, L. and Hayes, J. R. (1981). ‘A cognitive process theory of writing’. College English, 44, 765-77.

Grabe, W. and Kaplan, R. B. (1996). Theory and Practice of Writing. London: Longman.

Hedge, T. (1988). Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Horowitz, D. (1986). ‘Process, not product: less than meets the eye’. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 141-4.

Leki, I. (1990). ‘Coaching from the margins: issues in written response’. In B. Kroll (ed.), Second Language Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 57-68.

Raimes, A. (1983). Techniques in Teaching Writing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Silva, T. (1993). ‘Towards an understanding of the distinct nature of L2 writing: the ESL research and its implications’. Journal of Second Language Writing, 2, 657-77.

Spack, R. (1988). ‘Initiating ESL students into the academic discourse community: how far should we go?’ TESOL Quarterly, 22, 29-51.

Susser, B. (1994). ‘Process approaches in ESL /EFL writing instruction’. Journal of Second Language Writing, 3, 31-47.

White, R. and Arndt, V. (1991). Process Writing. London: Longman.

Zamel, V. (1985). ‘Responding to student writing’. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 79-101.

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The writing process

Many people feel overwhelmed by the prospect of starting to write an academic paper. At this point it can be useful to remind yourself that writing is a process made up of many different phases. Most texts are revised several times before they are finished. This section provides tips on how you can make this work easier.

Your writing process

An important starting point for successful writing is finding your own way of writing: your writing process. Therefore, ensure that you write about something that engages you within the area you are expected to write about. Does a subject prompt you to pose the questions: “How?” and “Why?” If so, you have probably found something that is worth writing about. It is the curiosity and passion for discovery behind these questions that is the basis for most of the research carried out in the past. So, adopt the researchers’ approach – proceed from your own thoughts and experiences. What engages you? What are you interested in? Take the opportunity to develop your own ideas, test your prior knowledge and learn more about what made you want to pursue your studies!

The overall writing process

The writing process consists of all the work you do, from thoughts and outlines to finished text. Depending on where you are in the process, you will notice that the texts you write look different. Some of them will deviate from the requirements for clarity and precision that are fundamental for academic texts. It is important to remind yourself that these requirements apply to the finished text. The development of your thoughts and text can require that you write in a less formal way.

Formal and informal – examples of different types of writing

A good starting point for describing the differences between various types of writing is a model developed by Dysthe, Hertzberg and Løkensgard Hoel (2011). The model divides up academic writing into free writing and presentation writing.

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Clarify vague ideas

Explain to yourselfCommunicate

Explain to othersTYPICAL FEATURESCreative thinking

The process is most importantCritical thinking

The product is most importantRECIPIENTYou

Fellow students in the writing group

Teacher as dialogue partnerOthers

Teacher as assessor

ExaminerLANGUAGEPersonal language

Formal expression is unimportantFormal language (adapted to the subject culture and norms)

CorrectGENRESWritten thoughts, notes, log, subject diary, first draftSubject paper, report, article, degree paper

The texts you produce during the writing process may differ a lot from each other, depending on the function they have, where you are in the writing process and the instructions you have received from your lecturer regarding the text. If you are writing for a degree project this could, for example, mean you need to devote more time to free writing than if you are writing a laboratory report. However, in both cases it is important that you are aware of the type of text you are going to write.

The six phases of the writing process

A simplified model of the writing process is illustrated below. It is important to remember that academic writing is not a linear process – this is illustrated by the arrows in the model. It is common, for example, that you need to go back and supplement the preparation, produce new drafts or perhaps amend your aim. It can also be the case that you need to revise your text several times. Give yourself the time to go through all the phases of the writing process, from the first creative steps when you investigate what you are going to write about to the final steps when you make the text as reader-friendly as possible. To find time to do all this, it is important that you start writing as soon as you can.

1. Preparation

Preparation consists of:

The first thing you need to do is to analyse the assignment and the language situation. Often the circumstances are stated in the assignment you have received, but in other cases it is up to you to analyse what is most suitable for the assignment. After this, formulate a plan for your writing. With a plan for your writing activity and how the text is to be structured, your writing will more straightforward and logical. Remember that this preparation is the framework for your text!

What is a language situation?

The language situation is the context your text is written in – the aim of the text, its sender and its recipient. As a student this can be additionally problematic, as there is often a double language situation.

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In one of these language situations, the focus is on the student in the role of student. Here, the aim is to pass the course. The sender is the student as student. The recipient is the teacher as examiner. In the second of these language situations, the focus is on the student in the role of researcher or investigator. The aim, sender and recipient are often indicated in the task the student has received. The aim, for example, can be to provide information about a survey he or she has done or to conduct a study of relevant literature. The sender is the student as researcher or future colleague, for example. The recipient is, for example, the public or researchers within the subject area.

Writing a successful text requires you as a student to be clear about the role you and your recipients have. It is important that you base this on the assignment that you are to write.

Analysis of the assignment and language situation

To analyse the assignment, you need to ask the following questions:

What type of text is to be written?

The type of text you are to write determines the degree of focus you need to devote to the text’s various parts. The type of text also steers how formally or informally you can express yourself. Is the text of an argumentative nature? In this case, it is important that you structure your text so that your arguments are clear for your readers. Or is it a scientific report, a review or a commentary? If so, different guidelines apply for these types of text. Therefore, you should first and foremost identify the type of text you are to write. The common aspects of all academic texts are found in the section Writing.

Who is the intended reader?

The intended reader provides a hint about the level of language you should maintain and the reader’s expected level of prior knowledge. It is most common in the writing of academic texts to write for a specialist in the subject – someone, just like you, who has considerable prior knowledge, but is interested in finding out more. If it is not apparent from the assignment who the reader is, we recommend that you imagine a reader with about the same level of education as yourself – one of your fellow students, for example.

What shall I write about?

Once you have a clear idea of the assignment, part of the preparation work has been done. The most important question to answer is: What you are going to write about? Sometimes this is apparent from the assignment, but in large, independent projects, it is down to you to answer the question. It is important that the subject you choose is adapted to the assignment in terms of scope and subject area. By reformulating your subject to an aim, a research issue and/or several research questions, you make it easier for yourself and the reader to identify your main area of interest. You can read more about how to do this in the section, Aim, issue and research questions – delimiting the subject matter.

It is important to allow time for working out what you are going to write about. It is also important not to be afraid of changing your mind along the way. Few writers adhere completely to their aim and research issue during the process. Therefore, do not spend too much time trying to come up with the perfect aim or research issue. Be satisfied with one that is sufficiently clear, focused and complex to allow you to start the work.

Another important point is to save all the sources and all information you find and may possibly use in the work. It is a good idea to save a copy of texts you find on the internet, as in the worst case scenario these might have been removed the next time you search for them. Collect all information on your source in a single document, for example, and it will make your later work on source references much easier. You can find out more about how to save and handle references in the section, Managing references.

Generating ideas

Many inexperienced writers start by collecting as much information as possible, in order to have something to write about. Instead, start by asking yourself: What do I know about my chosen subject? What is particularly interesting? Where do I need to deepen my knowledge?

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Free writing can be a good approach for generating ideas. Using this approach means you get going on the writing, while also being sure that you don’t forget your thoughts. Start, for example, by looking at how much you already know about the area and think about how to find out more. Does all the material emanate from memory and your own experiences or does the task require you to search for information via the library or the internet? Do you need to conduct an experiment, a survey or interviews? What other sources do you need to access?

Another way to gain or improve ideas is to be creative in the search for literature. You can do this by searching different databases and varying your search words. You can also try to find synonyms for the words you are using.

Aim, issue and research questions – delimiting the subject matter

When you have chosen a subject, the next step is to delimit the subject matter according to the assignment. Going through and sorting the gathered material hopefully awakens thoughts on something particularly interesting that you can build on in your project. In order to identify this, use your aim, issue and research questions.

It is not altogether self-evident where the dividing lines are between these three terms, or if you need to use all three. Sometimes other terms are used such as “presentation of a problem”. If it is not stated in the assignment instructions, it is a good idea to discuss what is required with your supervisor or someone else familiar with the subject area you are writing about.

If you use the aim-issue-research questions approach, it is important to consider that all the ways of describing your study must be in agreement. They all have the same function: to delimit the subject area you have chosen and tell the reader what you have done.

In general, it can be said that aim and research issue are somewhat broader terms, intended to give an overall view of the work you have done. If required, these can be broken down into one or more research questions, which further clarify what the text is about.

Things to consider when formulating your aim:

Things to consider when formulating a research issue:

Things to consider when formulating research questions:

Defining your aim, issue and research questions

A good aim, a good research issue and a good research question are clear, delimited and sufficiently complex to be analysed.

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Example 1: Be clear

Unclear: Why are social networking sites harmful?

Clear: How do online users experience and address integrity issues on social networking sites such as Google+ and Facebook?

Formulated as an aim: The aim of this study is to examine how users experience and address integrity issues on social network services such as Google+ and Facebook.

The unclear version does not specify the social networking sites concerned or suggest what type of harm the sites are causing. It also assumes that this “harm” has already been proved and/or accepted. The clear version specifies the sites concerned (Google+ and Facebook), the type of issue/problem (integrity issues) that are of interest, and who the issue is affecting (users). A good aim and a good research question or issue should leave no room for ambiguity or interpretation.

Example 2: Delimit the subject matter

Unfocused: How does the production of renewable energy affect its surroundings?

Focused: How does the installation of wind turbines affect landowners in Blekinge, financially?

Formulated as an aim: In this study we want to examine how the installation of wind turbines affects landowners in Blekinge, financially.

The unfocused version is so broad that it could not even be dealt with in an entire book, let alone a student’s academic paper. The focused version is delimited to a specific type of renewable energy (wind power), a specific group that is affected (landowners), a place (Blekinge) and a specific type of effect (financial). When you are unsure, make your version as narrow and focused as possible.

Example 3: Write in a sufficiently complex way

Too simple: Can massage alleviate cancer patients’ pain?

Sufficiently complex: What effect does massage have on cancer patients in pain and what instruments are used to measure these effects?

Formulated as an aim: The aim of this study is to examine the effects that massage has on cancer patients in pain and the instruments that are used to measure these effects.

The simple version of this question/aim can be answered easily by an online search. It is not a question/aim that has scope for analysis. The more complex variant requires a more exhaustive study. As a general rule, if a quick Google search can answer the question, it is not likely to be a usable question.

The examples have been inspired by:

The Writing Centre at George Mason University (2012), How to write a research question.

Research issue for a degree project

Are you going to write for a degree project and find it difficult to find a problem formulation? Listen to some good advice from Ulrica Skagert, PhD in English and Quality Developer at the Blekinge Institute of Technology:

Material

During your preparation work, you should think about how you are going to find material for the text. Does the type of text and aim of the text require you to conduct a quantitative survey, or are in-depth interviews more suitable? Certain assignments perhaps do not require some form of material gathering, but rather the use of your own memory.

2. Outline

When you have conducted a basic analysis of the assignment, it is time to draw up a plan for the continuing work. A suitable starting point is to produce an outline of the text. Perhaps you already have one or more free writing texts about what you want to write about? Use these!

Produce a rough outline

It is often a good idea to start creating a framework for your text at an early stage. A good strategy is not to be satisfied with obvious headings such as introduction, method, analysis, discussion and so on. Try to use headings with content linked to what you are actually writing about. This will make it much easier for you later, when it is time to fill the various sections with content.

Depending on the topic you are writing about, it is important to be aware of the requirements set for the finished text’s format. Within the humanities it is common to have content-related headings, but these are not used, for example, in the sciences, engineering and medicine. However, this does not prevent you from using headings as a way to get going and progress in your writing process. Remember to ensure that the final text complies with the requirements relevant for your subject area.

Working on the headings is very likely to make your writing easier, which you will notice, for example, when you start writing the introduction and suddenly get an idea that is more suitable for the method or discussion chapter. If you have already created a framework, it is easy to add comments or create a new subheading in the right place, and then go back to the introduction without forgetting the smart idea that came up during the writing session. Writing is a learning process in itself – while you write, your thoughts become clearer, and new thoughts spring to mind.

In the section, Parts of an academic paper, you will find more detailed tips on what should be included, and the style to follow, in the various parts of the academic paper.

Creating subheadings

If, for example, you are to write about the different ways that patients with COPD are treated, create subheadings such as:

Read more

Try to include as many subheadings as you can – it does not matter if you remove some of them later. Using this method of structuring your thoughts, you generate new ideas at the same time and see where there are gaps that need to be filled. However, remember in the final text to adapt your headings to the structure that research texts have in your subject area.

Are you interested in seeing what research articles on COPD look like? Search for “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” in your library’s databases.

Creating a text

Get inspiration for your writing process from the presentation, “Structuring a text around the three-part essay” by Dr. Ellen Turners from Lund University (5 min):

Start to express yourself

When your framework is ready, it is time to start writing the text you are going to submit. If you have previously made notes or have passages of free writing, you can begin to place these under the respective subheadings. However, bear in mind even at this stage that the finished text is to be communicative, so adapt the content to your readers.

3. Feedback

The next stage in the writing process is to get feedback on your text. This is something that many writers worry about. If you are worried, try to remind yourself that feedback is a tool for helping you to progress, not criticism of you personally or of you as a writer. In general, we are bad at letting our texts go, and at giving and receiving feedback on what we have written. However, the only way we can improve is to practice. Through practice you will also notice that you get more benefit from the feedback you receive.

Remember that you are responsible for the text. You don’t need to change everything according to people’s objections. On the other hand, you must have a good argument for not making the changes.

How to make the feedback process easier

The basis for good feedback is clarity – from the person who is to get feedback and the person who is going to give feedback. You can make things easier for yourself, and for the respondent, by indicating the aspects or parts of the text where feedback is most needed. One way of doing this is to use the word processor’s comment feature.

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The comment feature makes it possible for a reader to read the text in sequence, while having access to your thoughts in close proximity to the text. Here you can, for example, ask: Does the research issue work? Is this paragraph structured correctly? Do you understand what I mean here? Is there a theme throughout the text?

Such comments make it easier for the reader, but they also help you to highlight things you are uncertain about. Using comments means there is no risk of forgetting a thought or objection that has occurred to you.

4. Revision

In most cases, getting feedback and revising your text is in several stages, and the number of revisions rises with the scope of the assignment. What you primarily need to think about in the revision phase is that you are now in the process of creating a presentation text. Therefore, refer to the right-hand column of the Dysthe, Hertzberg och Løkensgard Hoels model. The text is now oriented towards explaining to others rather than explaining to yourself. If you have used personal language, you should now make it more formal. You can find out more about how to do this in the sections, Creating cohesion and Academic language.

In this phase of the writing process, you also find yourself in a creative process. It is therefore important that, as you start working on making the text communicative, you also give yourself time for rethinking and developing thoughts that have emerged in the course of the project. Do not spend too time much on writing perfect sentences, as you risk getting stuck in the details.

Things to consider during the revision phase:

5. Proofreading

When you feel that you have included everything that is required, that the text has a theme, and you have used the language and format appropriate to the assignment you are to write, then it is time to proofread the text. Now you have the chance to find errors and ambiguities that can be easily corrected.

Things to consider when proofreading:

If possible, get help from someone else to proofread your text. It is easy to have a blind spot for your own errors and read into the text what is not actually there.

6. Final revision

Go through your proofreading notes, from beginning to end. Also check that the page numbering is correct, that the title page, if you are expected to have one, follows the guidelines that apply, and that references and appendices are included.

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