Synthesis (or “putting things together”)

(Week 4)W R I T I N G I V

(HE285)Prof. Dr. Ron Martinez

drronmartinez@gmail.com

Goals for the week

• (1) the analysis and evaluation of content knowledge

• (2) the writer’s development of a position, and (3) the presentation of that position in a coherent manner

Today’s agenda

• Go over vocabulary (briefly)• Go over “Debate” homework• Review Essay 2 and important concepts• Jigsaw reading• Develop arguments for this weekend’s essay

From Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Vocabulary (from last week)

Wingate (2012, p. 147)

• “…it is the development of a position, reflected in ‘the large-scale structuration of the essay’ [...] rather than the evidence for individual claims, that determines the quality of an essay.”

3 typical difficulties (Groom, 2000)

• “solipsistic voice” (just giving opinion)• “unaverred voice” (just stating other people’s

opinions)• “unattributed voice” (stating other people’s

opinions as if they were your own)

From Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

The “stigma” debate

• Download questions online, answer the questions.

Essay 2

Good argument?

Wingate (2012, p. 147)

• “…it is the development of a position, reflected in ‘the large-scale structuration of the essay’ [...] rather than the evidence for individual claims, that determines the quality of an essay.”

Missed opportunities?

Online worksheet

• Download the worksheet and try to make the argument stronger.

Jigsaw reading

• Belcher (2007) (“Seeking acceptance in an English-only research world"), and Vasconcelos et al. (2007) ("Scientist-friendly policies for non-native English speaking scholars")

• If your name is Alexandre, Aline, Allexandra, Amanda, Ana Laura, Bruna, Camila or Kely, please read Belcher (2007) and do a Reading Engagement Log for that article for Wednesday (bring to class).

• If your name is Lais, Leandro, Lucas, Maria Claudia, Mauricio, Othelo, Patricia, Plinio or Tatiana, please read Vasconcelos et al. (2007), and complete a Reading Engagement Log for that article for Wednesday (bring to class).

Jigsaw Reading

1. Find another person who read the same article you read. Compare your notes.

2. With that same partner, find two people who read the other article and summarize the information in your article.

3. Provide highlights of points that you thought were interesting, important, etc.

SYNTHESIZE!

• How does the information you just learned fit into the arguments you have seen so far?

• Do they perhaps support your position? Can they be used to help your arguments in any way?

Do for homework, bring to classFlowerdew’s position (+ arguments)

Casanave’s position (+ arguments)

Flowerdew’s responses to Casanave

How that whole debate relates to the Hanauer and Englander (“Mexican Scientists”) paper

YOURPOSITION(Try to state in one or two sentences max.)

Talk to a partner about your revised (synthesized) position

Flowerdew’s position (+ arguments)

Casanave’s position (+ arguments)

Flowerdew’s responses to Casanave

How that whole debate relates to the Hanauer and Englander (“Mexican Scientists”) paper

YOURPOSITION(Try to state in one or two sentences max.)

WEEKEND HOMEWORK

See sample online!

• Essay 3 question: To what extent are non-native English speaking (NNES) researchers at a disadvantage? Write a critical analysis of the challenge faced by NNES scholars who need to publish in English. Arrive at your own conclusion based on an argument that draws on relevant literature.

Good news:

No reading engagement log

• I want you to focus on the essay – please turn it in!• The skills worked on now comprise elements that

will be formally assessed on the midterm essay, which makes up 15% of your total grade.

• Don’t assume that you will be able to catch up. • Showing me you can do it now provides me

evidence so that you can have “benefit of the doubt” if the midterm and final essays are for some reason not “up to snuff.”

SUBMIT FORM AND EMAIL ME!!

• To avoid possible confusion and glitches, please submit all essay assignments both by online form and by email. (Send them at the same time.)

• If by Monday morning I am unable to locate your assignment in the Submission location, I will then check my email (drronmartinez@gmail.com).

• If your essay is not in either location, it will be given no credit. (But see below.)

• If I find that you have submitted after the deadline, it will receive a maximum of 7 points if received within 24 hours of the deadline, and no credit any time later.

HOMEWORK

• Write Essay 3 (send in form & email me). Remember to check rubric and see sample online.

• Online, download and read the SciELO document (only Section 2, Section 4, and Section 5.2.8. -- very short!), and also the blog post (also online).

• What are the “causas chave e persistentes do baixo desempenho internacional dos periódicos do Brasil?” (according to what you will read).