Abstracts in Research Papers

Analysis of Abstract Research Papers

Giorgio Ciofalo M. R., Sánchez M. F.

Universidad CAECE

The analysis of Research Papers (RPs) and Research Articles (RAs) sections and main features has become an area of discussion for researchers. One of these sections are Abstracts, considered of main importance since an unsatisfactory paper may “affect how many people will read your paper” (Swales, 1994, p.210). An abstract “is a description or factual summary of the much longer report, and is meant to give the reader an exact and concise knowledge of the full article” (Bhatia, 1993, p. 78, as cited in Zhen-ye, 2014, p. 62). While RP abstracts tend to inform about what researchers have already written, Conference abstracts predict the future work, and journal articles (JAs) “function as mini – summary texts about topic, methodology and main findings; as screening devices; previews and indexes” (Huckin, 2001, as cited in Feak and Swales, n.d., para. 2). According to Swales (1994) “journals employ a vast amount of skimming and scanning. If they like your abstract, they may read your paper, or at least part of it. If they do not like it, they may not” (p. 210). Thus, every researcher from any field needs to be a skillful abstract writer.

Many authors have written descriptions on how to write an appealing abstract. Graetz (1995, as cited in Swales, 1994) outlines some of the linguistics characteristics that abstracts should present such as the use of full sentences, the past tense, impersonal passive, the absence of negatives and the avoidance of abbreviation, jargon and  symbols. Swales (1994) argues that “conclusions are nearly always in the present (…) and abstracts often use the present or present perfect for their opening statements” (p. 212).

Although there is a great amount of research on how to capture the audience's attention through a well written abstract, not many authors have contrasted abstracts in the different areas of knowledge to see if they may be appealing to the academic community or not. The aim of this paper is to compare the Abstract sections of four RAs  from the medicine and education fields, to describe their main features and to determine if they are written under the aforementioned conventions.

The abstracts from the field of medicine are informative, they “summarize the main findings, and (...) have a background statement, and (...) something about methods” (Feak & Swales, n.d). Also, they may be described as structured, which is a typical characteristic of the field, because they contain four sub-headings under the heading Abstract: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. First, in the Background section, the topic is presented “preventive care for adults with diabetes has improved substantially in recent decades” (p.1514) . Then, in the Methods section, participants and methodology are detailed. After that, in the Results section, the main findings are presented. Finally, a summing up of the research is reported.

As regards linguistic features, it can be stated that the opening sentence is written in the present perfect tense “Preventive care for adults with diabetes has improved (...)” (Gregg et al., 2014, p.1514), “Although the increased prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States has been documented (...)" (Cunningham et al., 2014, p. 403). Gregg et al.’s (2014) concluding sentences are written  in the present perfect and present simple tenses “rates of diabetes-related complications have declined substantially in the past two decades, but a large burden of disease persists (...)” ( p. 1514); and, Cunningham et al.’s (2014) concluding sentence is written in past tense “incident obesity between the ages of 5 and 14 years was more likely to have occurred at younger ages, primarily among children who had entered kindergarten overweight” (p. 403). The simple past tense is used in the description of the  Methods and Results sections. Regarding the use of passive voice, it can be stated that it is used in Cunningham et al.’s (2014) article to relate the Methods section. In addition , as regards the use of negatives, there is no presence of negatives in Gregg et al.’s (2014) article. However, a negative statement can be found in Cunningham et al.’s (2014) paper “ (...) 6807 were not obese at baseline (...)” (p. 403).

After comparing both medicine articles it can be concluded that they are structured respecting the conventions of the field. The problem, the participants and the main findings are outlined but implications are not described.

The abstracts from the education field are not preceded by the Abstract heading. They are unstructured and informative. Both of them  look at the past and describe the main findings. Aydın and Yildiz´s (2014) article as well as Baralt et al.´s (2011) article consists of one paragraph and follow the IMRaD structure while summarizing the ideas. As regards linguistic features, each article uses full sentences and the past tense in the description of the Methods and Results sections: the informative task yielded (...)” “The results revealed…” (Aydın &Yildiz´s, 2014, p. 460); “[students of] Spanish course submitted drafts (...) wordles also contributed to…”  (Baralt et al., 2011 p. 12) , while the opening sentences and the conclusion are written in the present tense “This study focuses on…” (Aydın & Yildiz, 2014, p. 460)  “This paper introduces…”; “The paper concludes with (...) as well as use them... “ (Baralt et al., 2011 p. 12) . Considering the use of passive voice, and the use of negatives, it can be stated that Aydin and Yildiz (2011) use the passive voice while describing the methods section “EFL [students] were asked to accomplish (...) wiki pages were then analyzed (...)” (p. 460) and there is no evidence of negatives sentences. In Baralt et al (2011) RP the passive voice is also shown in the methods section “how word clouds (...) were used in an action (…)” , “The wordles were then used as visual tools (…)”  (p. 12) and,  as well as in Aydin and Yildiz´s article, no negatives sentences were found.

Concerning abbreviations, both RA illustrate an acronym very well- known in the field by the academic community and each of them define the acronym clearly . Aydin and Yildiz (2014) state “English as a foreign language (EFL)”  (p. 460) while Baralt et al describes “foreign language (FL)” ( 2011 p. 12).

The most important distinguishing features shown comparing the educational RAs are: the keywords list in Aydin and Yildiz´s (2014) article; and the contributions for instructors stated by Baralt et al. (2011). According to APA style rules “the list of keywords should follow after the abstract paragraph, and the word Keywords should be italicized, indented five spaces from the left margin, and followed by a colon. There is no period at the end of the list of keywords.” (Writing Commons, n.d, General Format). In the case of Aydin and Yildiz´s (2014) Keywords is in bold and indented but not ictalized. This list is followed by the APA citation style and the copyright forms. Baralt et al.´s (2011) abstract includes the description of the  main findings and the conclusion section some implications that the RA indicates to FL teaching while using Wordles.

So as to conclude, it can be stated that all articles follow the most important characteristics for writing abstracts. Though their formats differ in aspect and structure, all passages analyzed are informed abstracts with very clear purpose: to inform and describe main findings of a RP.  Relevant linguistic features, such as the use of the passive voice, present tense in the introductions and conclusions were illustrated throughout the analysis. The four articles may be regarded as appealing for their respect academic communities.

References

Aydin, Z., & Yildiz, S. (2014) Using Wikis to Promote Collaborative EFL Writing. Language Learning & Technology Journal, 18, 1. Retrieved from  http://llt.msu.edu/issues/february2014/aydinyildiz.pdf

Baralt, M., Pennestri, S. & Selvandin, M. (2011) Using Wordles To Teach Foreign Language Writing. Language Learning & Technology Journal, 15, 2. Retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/june2011/actionresearch.pdf

Cunningham, S. A., Kramer, M. R. & Venkat Narayan K. M. (2014) Incidence of Childhood Obesity in the United States. The New England Journal of Medicine.  Available at http://www.nejm.org/

Feak, C & Swales, J. (n.d.) Journal Article Abstracts. Journal Article Abstracts. University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan USA. Retrieved from

http://turkey.usembassy.gov/uploads/images/WX6duzqT06rI9geYcx3UrA/FeakAbstracts_and_the_Writing_of_Abstracts_March_2.pdf

Gregg, E. D., Li, Y., Wang, J., Burrows, N. R., Ali, M. K., Rolka, D., Williams, D. E., & Geiss, L. (2014) Changes in Diabetes-Related Complications in the United States, 1990-2010. The New England Journal of Medicine.  Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1310799

Hengl, T. & Gould, M., (2002) Rules of thumb for writing research articles. International Institute of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation. Retrieved fromhttp://www.itc.nl/library/papers/hengl_rules.pdf

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Retrieved from http://sharif.edu/~hatef/files/Academic%20Writing%20for%20Graduate%20Students-Essential%20Tasks%20and%20Skills%20-%20For%20Nonnative%20Eng%20Speakers.pdf

Writing Commons (2014) Formating the Abstract Page (APA). Retrieved from http://writingcommons.org/open-text/writing-processes/format/apa-format/1100-formatting-the-abstract-page-apa-sp-770492217

Zhen-ye, N. (2008) A genre-based analysis of English research article abstracts and the linguistic feature of personal pronouns for financial economics. US-China Education Review. Retrieved from

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED502582.pdf

APA style: Reference list

APA Style in a Reference List

Papers and participants who want to belong to the academic community must follow certain requirements so as to be accepted by the rest of the members of the community. In order to gain this membership, academic writing is ruled by conventions which should be accomplished. Each academic field works with different manuals of conventions. As regards the social and humanity sciences the “American Psychological Association (APA, 2010) is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences” (Purdue Owl, Reference list, Basic Rules, para 1) while “MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities” (Purdue OWL, 2014a, MLA Sample Works Cited Page).

Each manual has delimited its own conventions for writing references lists and in-text citations. However, little research has been developed how papers acknowledge its sources in reference lists, so as to avoid plagiarism. The aim of this paper is to contrast some reference entries and to show if they comply or not with what an APA Style papers requires.

APA general requirements for reference lists

According to Salmani-Nodoushan and Alavi (2004) academic writing under APA style requires providing an alphabetical list of references at the end of the paper in a separate sheet. This manual also says that each reference entry needs to be written by certain features. For example, entries are indented and alphabetized, authors´ names are inverted and respect capitalization.

Authors

APA style states that authors should come first in a reference entry.  In such a case that the writer is non-existent, the source is shown. Authors are established by their “last first name and the authors initials” (Purdue Owl, Reference List: Author/Authors, para 1). The first work cited in the samples´ list ("Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.)  lacks of author and starts by displaying the name of the article. The second source (Clinton, Bill. Interview by Andrew C. Revkin. “Clinton on Climate Change.” New York Times. New York Times, May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.)  firstly, shows the author of the material but neither the name´s initial nor the date requirements are shown while the last font (Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." New York Times. New York Times, 22 May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009.) follows the same structure as the previous one.

Sources

As regarding referring to sources the University of Southern Queensland states that after the year of publication, the source must be clarified. The entry will depend on what kind of source the work belongs to. The first sample illustrates the name of the article and the font of the work. Lastly the dates of publication retrieval are shown.  The second sample reference belongs to a news on-line paper article. APA style determines that the title of the article should precede the name of the newspaper (University of Southern Queensland, 2013). In this case, as well as the third example, this rule is complete although the date is written at the end of the entry.

All in all, the sample entries analyzed demonstrate many inconsistencies as regards APA style conventions. These references acknowledge the sources under other rules since they display the same data but not in the style proposed by APA. So, it might be stated that the sample references belong to the MLA Style Manual.

         

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC.  

Purdue OWL (2014). Reference List: Author/Authors. Retrieved May 2014, from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/06/

Purdue OWL (2014a) MLA Sample Works Cited Page. Retrieved May 2014, from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/

Salmani-Nodoushan M. A, Alavi. S. A (2004) APA Style and Rese arch Report. Zabandekah Publications

University of Minnesota Center for Writing. (n.d.). Quicktips: APA documentation style: Reference list. University of Minnesota: Student Writing Support. Retrieved October 2013, from http://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/apa_References.pdf

Analysis of Methods Results and Conclusion Sections of RPs

A Comparative Analysis of Three Main Sections of Research Articles

Giorgio Ciofalo, M. R., and Sánchez, M. F. 

 Universidad CAECE

When writing academic papers writers must take into account certain requirements established by the discourse community. Swales and Feak (1994) claim that, in academic writing “Information is presented to readers in a structured format. Even short pieces of writing have regular, predictable patterns of organization” (p. 10). According to Hengel and Gould (2002), “a Research Article (RA) has a required structure and style, which is by international consensus known as "Introduction Methods Results and Discussion" or IMRaD” (p. 1). Many authors have written books to help researchers write RAs that respect academic conventions. However, there is very little research on how those conventions are displayed on RA from different areas. The aim of this paper is to compare the results, discussions and conclusion sections of two RAs from medicine and education fields and to show how these differences might or not affect their credibility in the appropriate discourse community.

The results section in Gregg et al.´s article (2014) is isolated from the discussed section. According to Swales and Feak (1998) “the results section of a Research Paper (RP) should simply report the data that has been collected” (p. 170). Gregg et al. (2014) devote this part of the RA to present the main finding of the research which is that “rates of all five major complications in the population of adults with diabetes declined significantly between 1990 and 2010” ( p.1516).  

As regards the characteristics of this section, it can be stated that, there is a repetitive use of the simple past tense, which shows that the researchers have respected how outcomes are described in RA results sections. Moreover, there are three tables and one figure which summarize the information in the section. In the case of the tables, they respect most of the basic rules established by the American Psychological Association (2007) becoming key sources when showing the present results. They are appropriately numbered and have an individual title, presented with each word capitalized, e.g. “Table 1. Age-Standardized Rates of Diabetes Complications among U.S. Adults with Diagnosed Diabetes” (Gregg et al., 2014, p 1517). Horizontal lines are used to separate data. Tables are correctly referenced in the text of the paper, e.g. “(Table 2 and Fig. 1B)” (Gregg et al., 2014, p.1518) . Every column has headings “Variable” “Year” “Change, 1990–2010” “P Value” (Gregg et al., 2014, p. 1517). However, titles are not italicized, one of the tables does not begin on a separate page and elements are not doubled spaced. In the case of the figure, it is a line graph. It correctly includes a caption and legend below the figure. “Figure 1. Trends in Age-Standardized Rates of Diabetes-Related Complications

among U.S. Adults with and without Diagnosed Diabetes, 1990–2010. For rates of myocardial infarction, stroke, and leg amputation (...)” (Gregg et al., 2014, p. 1518). Nevertheless, the word figure and the number are not italicized.

   In the case of the RA from the field of education, the word results is not presented in the paper to make the reading smoother. The main findings of the research are presented in Baralt et al.’s (2011) article under the titles “Action Research Stage 2: Data Collection” and “Action Research 3: Qualitative Evaluation of the effects of wordle” (pp. 16 - 19). “Both the instructor and students had positive perceptions of wordles, confirming the instructor’s hypothesis that wordles could be an effective tool for improving student writing” (p.20).

   In this RA, researchers use the simple past tense, which is a feature of results sections, e.g. “For the writing component, students wrote four compositions throughout the semester (...)” (Baralt et al., 2014, p. 15). There are three figures in this RA. The word figure and the number is italicized and it is followed by a caption, e.g. “Figure 1. Example word cloud from Wordle.net (created by the authors)” (Baralt et al., 2011, p. 13). There are no legends.

   Discussion sections describe, compare and give explanation for the differences found in the results sections. They might include a conclusion or they might be isolated. They show and contrast with other previous results and give suggestions for supplementary research.

   Baralt et al. (2011) discussion section is presented under the word discussion, all in capitals and in bold. This section clearly states the aim of the designed project and it most important findings. Among the main results the authors show that “The incorporation of wordless (…) resulted in students using more varied vocabulary, more verb tenses, and more accurate grammar in their writing” (Baralt et al., 2011, p. 20). This segment also displays the positive feedback researches received after using wordles for writing from FL students and instructors. A sub- heading follow the named section: “Other Uses of Word Clouds in FL Classroom”. The authors claim further uses and they also suggest other purposes for using wordles. Each of these suggestions for FL instructors are introduced with a header in bold and italics and briefly described.

   The medicine RA shows no clear distinction between the discussion and the conclusions. Both of them are under the heading discussion written in capitals and centered. In this section Gregg et al.’s (2014) state the key findings and explain the causes and effects of many other variables found while researching. As the aim of the article was “to examine how the spectrum of diabetes complications has changed in the past 30 years” (Gregg et al., 2014, p. 1515), the discussion section illustrates several trends causing this such as: reduction in the cardiovascular disease, renal disease, infarction, stroke and amputation. Authors state that the findings are a reflection of “a combination of advances in acute clinical care, improvements in the performance of the health care system and health promotion efforts directed at patients with diabetes” (Gregg et al., 2014, p.1521). In addition, the researchers enumerate all the causes they have found which influence the declining rates of diabetes complications such as management and improvements in blood, advances in medical procedures, social changes and eating habits. However, Gregg et al. (2014) assert that there is no clear evidence for comparing rates according to age, complications of type 2 diabetes, since they lack national data to examine the trends.

   Conclusions tend to refer to the introduction and hypothesis formerly stated, they illustrate main findings and the effect of those on the area of research. They also try to persuade the reader expressing why this research might be of some importance for the field and recommend some issues.

   In the educational RA, the conclusion is announced under the heading: “Conclusion, limitations and suggestions for further research”, all in capitals and bold. This section asserts how wordless helped instructors, students and contributed on relating emerging technology and FL learning. In a second paragraph, authors declares the limitations of their findings such as “lack of generalizability”, “a Java- enabled web- browser” and “the algorithm used by wordle that automatically eliminates `common words´” (Baralt et al., 2011, p. 21). In the last paragraph of the conclusion, researchers suggest “the implementation of word clouds as well as other visualization tools in the classroom”; on the other hand, they declare the need for further research and projects on the area in a variety of contexts and language.

   The medical RA states a straightforward conclusion on the first page of the paper after the abstract and methods in only one clear sentence while other minor concluding statements are included in the discussion section. In the last paragraph of the RP researchers conclude that there have been encouraging reductions in rates of diabetes-related complications; however, the total burden of patients with diabetes has highly increased due to many factors. Authors agreed on that these latest rates “will probably continue to increase in the coming decades” (Gregg et al., 2014, p. 1522). Neither pieces of advice nor suggestions of further research are included in this section. Although, authors do not induce readers why this research is significant, they have stated throughout the discussion why investigation in this area is of utmost importance.

   All in all, it can be stated that both RAs respect  RP´s basic functions which is “to transfer a new knowledge on a research topic” (Hengl & Gould, 2002, p 6). Also, they may be considered credible papers because they are:

Clear, coherent, focused, well-argued and use language that does not have ambiguous or equivoque meaning.  However, it is not only the message that is important. The RA must have a well-defined structure and function in serve like a cook-book, so the others can reproduce and repeat explained experiments. (Hengl & Gould, 2002, p.6)  

Both articles respect the order of the IMRaD sections and they also express their limitations while doing research in the conclusion section.  Although both papers do not fully accomplish RA requirements while signalling sections and the introduction of charts does not follow all APA style rules, the analyzed RAs can be considered as part of the discourse community due to their clear statements, hypothesis treatment and results evaluation.  

References

Baralt, M., Pennestri, S., Selvandin, M. (2011) Using Wordles To Teach Foreign Language Writing. Language Learning & Technology Journal, 15, 2. retrieved fromhttp://llt.msu.edu/issues/june2011/actionresearch.pdf

Gregg, E. D., Li, Y., Wang, J., Burrows, N. R., Ali, M. K., Rolka, D., Williams, D. E., & Geiss, L. (2014) Changes in Diabetes-Related Complications in the United States, 1990-2010. The New England Journal of Medicine.  Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1310799

Hengl, T. & Gould, M., (2002) Rules of thumb for writing research articles. International Institute of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation. Retrieved from http://www.itc.nl/library/papers/hengl_rules.pdf

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Retrieved from http://sharif.edu/~hatef/files/Academic%20Writing%20for%20Graduate%20Students-Essential%20Tasks%20and%20Skills%20-%20For%20Nonnative%20Eng%20Speakers.pdf

An Analysis of Two Main Sections of Research Articles

An Analysis of Two Main Sections of Research Articles

Giorgio Ciofalo, M. R., and Sánchez, M. F.
Universidad CAECE

Research papers (RP) are structured in a way that facilitate communication and understanding in the academic community. The most widely used format for academic RP is the IMRaD formula (Introduction, Methods, Research and Discussion) (Hengl and Gould, 2002). Each section has a particular goal and its own characteristics, assumed by experts as conventions in the field of academic writing, which make articles understandable and readable.

However, the comparison of two RA from different areas of knowledge has demonstrated that not all papers follow the IMRAD rules. The aim of this paper is to analyze and contrast two of the belonging sections of RPs: the Introduction and Methods sections of a medical and an educational RA in order to reveal if the conventional academic layout of articles is accurately achieved.

  Swales and Feak (1994) have created a model to structure introductions in RP. The C.A.R.S. (Create A Research Space) model states that an introduction contains organizational patterns such as different moves and semantic and syntactic features.Each introduction comprises three different moves (or cycles). In the first move, the researchers create the need to conduct a research after a literature review. Afterwards, in the second move, the motivation to establish a “niche” or a gap is stated, while in the third one, the purpose, main findings  and main findings of the research are outlined.

       Baralt, Pennestri and Selvandin´s (2011) introduction presents two clear paragraphs. In the first paragraph, the researchers state the three moves that an introduction requires.  The first sentences deal with data visualization and the importance of “wordles” or word clouds to appeal different types of learners. The first move is clearly stated when the authors say that “there is relatively little research” (Baralt et al., 2011, p12) on the focused area. Sentences are written in present simple tense showing that there is no allusion to the research activity, but, that knowledge may belong to the grounds of common knowledge. The second move is established in Baralt et al. ´s article when a niche is settled by using a negative connector which states that “No study exists to date that explores their potential in the FL classroom” (p. 12). This second move articulates the cycles one and three in a smooth reading. The third move is presented in two parts, the former in the first paragraph, when researchers establish their purpose and present the project done; and the latter, in a separated paragraph, which includes an outline of the article and the goal of each section. The purpose of the paper is signaled with the phrase “the present paper aims to…”  (Baralt et al., 2011, p 12) followed by the goals of the project previously ran.

The medical article´s introduction differs from the educational one in various aspects. As previously stated, both articles have different aims, the former´s aim is descriptive while the latter, purposive. Gregg et al.’s (2014) paper shows an only-one- paragraph introduction which begins with a general review of the previous research in the field and states the changes in society as the first move. All these sentences are in the past tense indicating what other studies showed twenty years ago.  Then, researchers enumerate many of the new trends in the field so as to generate a niche and the needs for research, achieving a second move without using any signal phrase. Finally, the third move is not determined by any semantic feature as in Baralt et al.’s (2011) article, but it shows that researchers assembled data to examine how the spectrum of diabetes complications has changed (Gregg et al., 2014).

   As regards the Methods section, it can be stated that both papers, the Research Article (RA) from the field of medicine and the RA from the field of education, respect almost none of the characteristics of a well-structured methods section (Swales & Feak, 1994). Centered headings and subheadings typed at the left margin show a correct paper’s organization. In the case of the RA from the field of medicine the word Methods has been precisely centered at the start of the section. However, although the three sub categories of the methods section are correctly typed at the left margin, these subsections have been written using words that are not the usual ones.  

The participants who took part in the research and the materials used are described under the subheading “data sources”:

The National Health Interview survey (NHIS) amples an average of 57,000 adults per year […]. The National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) collects data on discharged patients […]. The U.S Renal Data System (USRDS) […] data on end-stage renal disease drawn from clinical and claims data reports […]. The National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) is a registry of all U.S deaths that includes information about decedents’ age, race, sex, state of residence, and underlying cause of death  (Gregg et al., 2014, p 1515).

Another set of materials are detailed under the subheading “definitions”, e.g. “to identify cases in hospital discharge records, we used the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM)” (Gregg et al., 2014, p. 1515). And, the procedures are described under the subheading “data analysis”, e.g. “for the primary analysis […] we calculated […]. To assess the potential effect of larger increase in detection or diagnostic practices, we conducted […]. To examine trends in the relative risk of complications associated with diabetes, we also estimated […]” (Gregg et al., 2014, p. 1516).

In the case of the educational RA, there is no direct heading to indicate the reader what the methods section is. The article presents a title: “The Present Study” that introduces the readers to the main aspects of the project carried out anticipating the classroom context and project stages.

There is a picture of participants and materials under the sub-heading “Classroom Context”: “an intermediate-level Spanish FL class at a private research university. […] 18 students.” (Beralt et al., 2011, p. 15). There is also a thorough explanation of procedures under the sub-headings “Action Research Stages 1, 2 and 3”. Words such as “first”, “second”, “lastly” or phrases for example “in the second composition”, “in the third composition”, “by the fourth composition”, “at the end of the semester” are used to describe what the researchers did gradually.

  Another drawback in structuring the papers is that, any of them shows a careful choice of verbal tense. Past or present passive voice is not the mostly used one. In the case of the RA from the field of medicine the researchers frequent use of the word “we” gives less importance to the experiment carried out and more emphasis on them as doers of the action. In the case of the educational RA, prominence is also given to the participants and the instructors. As regards terminology, Gregg et al.’s (2014) article supposes that readers have a specific background knowledge of the subject matter to understand the message that is being conveyed.

  A comparative analysis of the “introduction” and “methods” sections of the two research papers reveals that although each article has a different purpose, they have been written under the introduction moves proposed by C.A.R.S model. The educational paper shows all the introduction requirements and discourse markers while the medical article displays them but not attaching to conveyed rules of an appropriate structured RA. However, referring to methods, both papers are difficult to skim. Although both researches are based on sound theory, the methods sections lack academic reliability because they are not accurately structured. So as to conclude, none of the introduction and methods sections in the papers analyzed follow the requirements and the steps of a RA precisely, nevertheless, they are legible and understandable for the academic community.

References

        Baralt, M., Pennestri, S., Selvandin, M. (2011) Using Wordles To Teach Foreign Language Writing. Language Learning & Technology Journal, 15, 2. retrieved from http://llt.msu.edu/issues/june2011/actionresearch.pdf

Gregg, E. D., Li, Y., Wang, J., Burrows, N. R., Ali, M. K., Rolka, D., Williams, D. E., &Geiss, L. (2014) Changes in Diabetes-Related Complications in the United States, 1990-2010. The New England Journal of Medicine.  Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1310799

Hengl, T. & Gould, M., (2002) Rules of thumb for writing research articles. International Institute of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation. Retrieved from http://www.itc.nl/library/papers/hengl_rules.pdf

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Retrieved from http://sharif.edu/~hatef/files/Academic%20Writing%20for%20Graduate%20Students-Essential%20Tasks%20and%20Skills%20-%20For%20Nonnative%20Eng%20Speakers.pdf

Academic Summary

Academic Summary: The use of Haiku in the Classroom

Iida (2010) in his article “Developing Voice by Composing Haiku: A Social-Expressivist Approach for Teaching Haiku Writing in EFL Contexts” states that the social expressivist approach to writing is encouraging the teaching of Haikus in EFL classrooms. Haiku is a kind of poetry composed of three lines which facilitates students to contact their feelings and express them by describing nature and human behavior. It helps to increase students´ vocabulary and to develop their writing skills. Furthermore, it stimulates students to find their own voice considering the audience.

Haiku has some special features such as a syllable pattern, a seasonal reference and a cutting word or punctuation mark which divides the Haiku in two independent pieces and fosters reflection on both parts and the Haiku as unity. Because of these and due to the audience, each Haiku is free of interpretation. (Iida, 2010)

Reading Haiku is the first stage to introduce this type of poetry into the classroom (Iida, 2010). By analyzing structures, discovering meaning and interpreting them, students can be aware of the writer´s voice. By sharing free and multiple interpretations students will negotiate meaning with other members of the audience and the author.

Secondly, students should compose their own Haikus. Instructions should be open, clear and simple. According to Iida (2010), after reviewing the concept of Haiku and its features, students go to the outside world to hear and observe. They compose by using their impression, the correct use of words, wording and the possible use of synonyms. Peer reading helps to discover meaning and to see the impact of them. Afterwards, students are requested to collect important memories, so as to write a haiku about them. It is very important to foster writing fluency than grammatical accuracy.

Lastly, Iida (2010) states that to show students´ haikus increase the possibility to find new audiences to interpret students´ productions, not only peers and teachers in the classroom context. (p. 33)

Through the introduction of Haiku in the classroom students will achieve the use of their own voices, and awareness of audience.  The usage of the speaker´s discourse influenced by his life´s story, experiences and culture encourages the growth of literacy and critical thinking.

References

 Iida, A. (2010).  Developing Voice by Composing Haiku: A Social-Expressivist Approach for Teaching Haiku Writing in EFL Contexts. English Teaching Forum, Nbr. 1. DOI: EJ914886