SCIENTIFIC WRITING

A) Read the following texts and answer the questions:

1) Do the texts express the same idea?

2) What are the differences between the two? Which of them is more formal? Which of them is the spoken text and which is the written one?

3) What are the differences in the way an idea is expressed in spoken English and in academic written English?

 

Text 1

As companies experience the need for change, they often apply human resource planning to define the relevant issues and develop responses to them. Broadly defined, human resource planning is the process of analyzing an organization’s human resources needs under changing conditions and developing the activities necessary to satisfy those needs.

 

Text 2

Nowadays companies are finding that they have to change the way they do things and they’re finding that human resources planning is really helpful when they have to do this. One reason why it’s helpful is because it can help the companies work out what the issues are and then, when you’ve done that, it can help you make up your mind what you’re going to do about it. Basically, human resource planning is what you do when you’re going through ….

 

B) Study these paragraphs and select the correct comment about the writing style:

a) Formal, straightforward, clearly written, correct academic style

b) Informal, like spoken (colloquial) language, incorrect academic style

c) Too formal, uses too many words, incorrect academic style

 

1) It is in fact correct to say that academic essay writing is of utmost importance in the attainment of a university degree. A high proportion of marks are allocated to the compilation of essay assignments as part of a university course to the point where it could be the causation of terminating a degree program because of failure. There is somewhat of an obligation for universities in the provision of services to the student population to educate their students in the intricacies of essay writing early in their undergraduate first year.

2) I think that essay writing is an important skill for all of us students. Don't you see how many marks are given for this? Lots of students agree that they are marooned if they can't write a decent essay. In my opinion (as a struggling student), we should have lessons in essay writing from day one!!!

3) Essay writing is an important skill for tertiary students. Academic essays can attract a considerable proportion of assessment marks in most degree programs. Therefore, students may require a firm grounding in academic essay writing skills at the start of their first year to assist them to succeed in their university studies.

http://www.une.edu.au/tlc/aso/aso-online/academic-writing/academic-style.php

 

C) Study the following information about the way of writing an article and do the exercises:

1) Avoid contractions:"can't"→“cannot”, "doesn't"→“does not".

Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the informal abbreviated form with a more formal equivalent:

1. The radical restructuring of British politics after 1931 doesn't lie in the events of 13-28 August, but in the changing attitudes within the National Government.

2. This isn't easy to do since most historians persist in speaking of The National Government as if the same sort of government ruled from 1931 to 1940.

3. The first National Government wasn't intended to be a coalition government in the normal sense of the term.

4. These aren't at all original or exotic but are based on the ordinary things that most people tend to eat.

 

2) Use the more appropriate formal negative forms:not any → no; not much → little; not many → few. 3) Place adverbs within the verb.

Rewrite the following sentences, making them more formal:

1. The problem does not have many solutions.

2. The expedition did not meet any difficulties.

3. Deciding how to present data visually makes you think about the results carefully.

4. There are not many days left before the meeting.

5. The government did not allocate much funding for the program.

6. Then the solution can be discarded.

 

4) Limit the use of “run on” expressions:“etc.”, “and so forth”→and other (things). 5) Limit the use of direct questions:Why are visuals used in scientific papers? →It is necessary to consider why visuals are used in scientific papers.

Rewrite the following sentences, making them more formal:

1. These phrases can be used for presenting visuals - bar charts/pie charts/graphs etc.

2. What statistical analysis is to be done and what tests are to be used?

3. It is not suitable for students or graduates etc.

4. What can be done to better control graphene production?

 

6) Limit the use of words like "I", "me", "myself", “in my opinion”.You can use “I” when you describe either a research procedure or a way of organizing your work. 7) Avoid "you" to refer to the reader or people in general.

 

Rewrite the following paragraphs in a more academic style:

I would call Wagner a subjective artist. What I mean is that his art had its source in his personality; his work was virtually independent, I always feel, of the epoch in which he lived.

On the other hand, I always consider Bach an objective artist. You can see that he worked only with the forms and ideas that his time proffered him. I do not think he felt any inner compulsion to open out new paths.

 

8) Avoid colloquial words and expressions, two word verbs.

 

Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the informal expressions with a more formal equivalent:

1. Modern houses have so many labor-saving things that it is difficult for the person at home to have adequate exercise by doing chores, cooking, and looking after a family.

2. Simply making the effort to reclaim this wasted stuff for fertilizer would have a positive effect on greenhouse releases.

3. These exercises can easily be incorporated into an exercise routine, with each exercise done again a number of times.

4. Fleming did well in isolating a streptococcus from the cerebrospinal fluid of the patient.

Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the informal two-word verb with a more formal equivalent:

1. Thus, he should have looked into how the patient has coped previously.

2. They did not easily accept or put up with differences in others.

3. This was before he had read the guidelines on how to carry out the research.

4. Discussion of the outcome of experiments that have used this method will be put off until Chapter 7.

 

9) Use formal style.

Fill in the gaps of the table given below with an appropriate word:

Formal	Informal	Formal	Informal
?	seem	amiable	?
ascend	?	complete	?
assist	?	?	lively
cease	?	responsible	?
?	begin	?	enough
?	use	?	better
decrease	?	transparent	?
?	show	?	worse
?	go	?	wrong
enquire	?	?	in the end
finish	?	immediately	?
?	tell	?	again and again
obtain	?	subsequently	?
?	keep	therefore	?
?	say no	?	at first
release	?	comprehension	?
?	mend	?	chance
?	need	deficiency	?
reside	?	residence	?
retain	?	?	sight

http://www.uefap.com

10) Work in pairs and reduce the informality of the text:

Most people take drug overdoses because they find that it's difficult to sort out their problems clearly. That's why you should treat your patients in a clear way. That means you should treat your patients in a way that helps them to tell the difference between their problems and find ways to deal with them.

http://www.uefap.com/writing/exercise/feature/drugfram.htm