1. write base
1.1 Paragraph analysis and write:
Topic sentence:
Purpose:to tell readers the main idea of the paragraph(what will be discussed); Components:topic(the general subject) + controlling idea(the specific aspect of the subject it focuses on).
Supporting sentences: to develop the main idea; through details, facts, examples, reasons, etc. unity of ideas: no irrelevant sentences & connectors.
Concluding sentence: to bring the paragraph to an end restatement, summary, & result signal: finally, thus, therefore, etc.More general than the supporting sentences.
1.2 Process Essay analysis and write:
Introduction
- to introduce the topic
- to give readers the background information
- to catch readers’ interest
concluding paragraph
- Summarize the main points.
- Restate the thesis statement to emphasize the main idea.
- Add some comments: making a predication, giving advice, or showing results of the situation/topic.
- Do not add new information.
- Do not review only some of the information in your essay.
2. sentence skills
2.1 Basic sentence skills
Run-ons (标点符号不能连接两个句子，不规范，连词可以)
[❌]The bus stopped suddenly，I spilled coffee all over my skirt.
[✅]The bus stopped suddenly, and I spilled coffee all over my skirt.
Subject-Verb agreement (主谓一致和就近原则)
- An old chair with broken legs (has, have) sat in our basement for years.
- There (is, are) a pen, two books and many pencils on the desk.
- Not only my teachers but also my wife (encourage, encourages) me to work hard in college.
- Neither of those websites (is, are) credible.
Pronoun agreement and reference
- Alicia showed me her antique wedding band.
- Students enrolled in the art class must provide their own tools.
- Kia is really a shy person, but she keeps it hidden. (refer her shyness
)
Misplaced modifiers: Words that do not describe what the writer intended them to describe due to awkward placement(place words as close as possible to what they describe)
[❌]David couldn’t drive to work in his small sports car with a broken leg.
[✅]With a broken leg, David couldn’t drive to work in his small sports car.
2.2 Combining Sentences with Coordinating Conjunctions
Clause 1, conjunction clause 2
2.3 Combining Sentences with Transitions
Linking transitions are words or expressions that connect independent (main) clauses together.
eg:These people can communicate well through body language ; in addition, they have a good sense of balance and hand-eye coordination.
Do not use a SEMICOLON if you do not have a complete clause after the linking transition.
[❌]Many people use a mother’s or grandmother’s cure for a cold; for example, chicken soup.
| sig | english |
|---|---|
| , | comma |
| . | full stop/ period |
| : | colon |
| ; | semi-colon |
| ! | exclamation mark |
| “ ” | quotation mark |
| X’s | apostrophe |
| ? | question mark |
| w-w | hyphen/ splash |
| ( ) | parenthesis/ bracket |
2.4 Combining clauses with subordinating conjunctions
As soon as he said that , Rosa stood up.
Peter almost knocked me down before he saw me.
| Subordinator | Meaning | Example |
| :—————: | :—————————————: | :——————————————————————————————————-: |
| After | later than | He travelled to England after he wrote his first book. |
| Before | earlier than | Peter almost knocked me down before he saw me. |
| Until | up to that time | Let’s wait until the rain stops. |
| Since | from that time | I have been practicing yoga since I took a yoga course in 2020. |
| While | during that time | My father fell asleep while he was reading. |
| When | at/during that time | When he came in, I was listening to the radio. |
| Whenever | at any time that/ every time | You can take a short relaxation break whenever you need it. |
| As | immediately after | As the president spoke, the people in the audience listened to him. |
| As soon as | | The atmosphere changed as soon as Mary walked in. |
2.5 A summary of connectors
| title | Connectors indicating additional information |
|---|---|
| Coordinating conjunction | and |
| Transition | in addition, additionally, furthermore, moreover, also, besides |
| Correlative conjunctions | not only…but also |
| Prepositional phrases | in addition to, along with, as well as, besides, apart from |
eg1: High-level positions are stressful at times ; furthermore, (.Furthermore,) they can be harmful to your health.
eg2: Along with being stressful at times, high-level positions can also be harmful to your health.
| title | Connectors indicating sequence, time, and order |
|---|---|
| Transition | first, second, next, to start/ begin with, at the outset, at the commencement, in the first/second place, at this point, meanwhile, in the meantime, subsequently, later, then, ultimately, finally, lastly |
| Subordinating conjunction | before, after, until, since, while, when, whenever, as, as soon as |
| Prepositional phrase | in, at, on, for, during, within, from, prior to, previous to, before, after |
| Prepositional phrases | in addition to, along with, as well as, besides, apart from |
| title | Connectors indicating cause and effect |
|---|---|
| Coordinating conjunction | for, so |
| Transition | therefore, hence, as a result, consequently, accordingly |
| Subordinating conjunction | because, as, since, if (result of the condition) |
| Prepositional phrases | due to, because of, as a result of, owing to, on account of, for the sake of, for the purpose of, in the wake of, be the reason for, be responsible for |
| Verbal/Noun/Adverb phrase | contribute to, result from, cause, lead to, result in, thereby(adv) |
| -ing clauses of result | The carcinogenic substances are extracted from the soil, leaving the soil uncontaminated. |
eg1: We increased our prices, for the cost of materials rose sharply last year.
eg2: The cost of materials rose sharply last year. Accordingly, we were forced to increase our prices.
eg3: Many animals lost their habitats due to the wildfires.
eg4: Environmental education contributes to people’s increasing green thinking in China.
eg5: Regular exercise strengthens the heart, thereby reducing the risk of heart attack.
eg6: The carcinogenic substances (致癌物) are extracted from the soil ; hence, the soil is left uncontaminated (未被污染的).
eg7: The carcinogenic substances are extracted from the soil , leaving the soil uncontaminated.
| title | Connectors indicating comparison and contrast |
|---|---|
| Coordinating conjunction | and (comparison/similarity) but, yet (contrast/difference) |
| Transition | similarly, likewise, also, too however, nevertheless, in contrast, on the contrary, conversely |
| Subordinating conjunction | as, while, whereas,although |
| Prepositional/noun/verb phrases | like, alike, similar to, the same as, similarity, share… in common, unlike, dissimilar to, differ, different from (in), difference, notwithstanding, despite, in spite of, instead |
eg1. Most men tend to feel comfortable with “public” speaking, while/whereas most women enjoy “private” speaking.
eg2. Many environmental problems result from air pollutants , such as sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide.
| title | Connectors indicating exemplification |
|---|---|
| Transition | for example, for instance |
| Prepositional/verb phrase/other | such as, like, a prime/good example of, take… for example one case in point is that… |
| Correlative conjunctions | not only…but also |
| Prepositional phrases | in addition to, along with, as well as, besides, apart from |
| title | Connectors indicating summary |
|---|---|
| Transition | in summary, in short, in a nutshell, in a word, in simple terms |
| Prepositional/ noun/verb phrases | to sum up, to make a long story short, to put it in a nutshell, to put it crudely, summarize |
| Correlative conjunctions | not only…but also |
| Prepositional phrases | in addition to, along with, as well as, besides, apart from |
3 the typical structure of a research paper
3.1 Title
All words in the title should be chosen with great care!
“the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of the paper” (Gastel & Day, 2016, p.41)
Functions of Title
(1) Generalize the research paper
(2) Attract appropriate readers
(3) Facilitate the retrieval
Brief （简洁）
11-15 words now being the most common length.
Accurate (准确)
Accurate, clear, and exact
Without any misunderstandings
Grammatically accurate (word order)
Distinctive (区别性)
Be specific and distinctive to distinguish it from other treatments of the general subjects.
The research design identification is essential.
3.1 Abstract
Abstracts are highly promotional and designed to “hook the reader”.
- summarize the important parts of the article (100-250 words)
- arouse readers’ interest in reading the article
- make journal editors want to read and publish the article help readers remember key points from your paper
- be accurate, nonevaluative, coherent and readable (APA, 2010)
Five questions to answer in Abstract
- What is the background of the study in the research field? What motivated you to do this study? (Introduction:background and motivated)
- What is the purpose of the study? What are the research questions? (Purpose and significance)
- How were the data collected and analyzed? (Method:key skill\Method\idea\application)
- What were the results or major findings? (Result:Present main findings/results )
- What conclusion have you drawn? What is the contribution of the study to the existing body of knowledge? (Conclusion:gap/impact/solution/expand knowledge/inspire)
3.2 Introduction
3.2.1 Introduction structure
Move 1: Establishing a territory
- Step 1. Claiming centrality
- Step 2. Topic generalizations of increasing specificity
- Step 3. Reviewing items of previous literature
Move 2: Establishing a niche
- Step 1A. Indicating a gap
- Step 1B. Adding to what is known
- Step 2. Presenting positive justification (Optional)
Move 3: Presenting the present work
- Step 1. Announcing present research descriptively and/or purposively
- Step 2. Presenting research questions or hypothesis (optional)
- Step 3. Definitional clarifications (optional)
- Step 4. Summarizing methods (optional)
- Step 5. Announcing principle outcomes (Possible in some fields)
- Step 6. Stating the value of the present research (Possible in some fields)
- Step 7. Outlining the structure of the paper (Possible in some fields)
3.2.2 Claiming centrality/Establishing significance
3.2.3 Indicating a gap
- However, research evaluating creeping bentgrass reflectance under water stress and varying nitrogen rates for correlation with turf quality …has not been documented.
- Nonetheless, data to assess the feasibility of extractive reserves are limited. Few studies of rainforest extraction have presented a quantitative ecological framework…
- While this body of research has enriched our knowledge about peer interaction in peer feedback, scant attention has been paid to the specific strategies EFL students use during peer feedback to cope with the linguistic and cognitive challenges that arise during the peer interaction.
- Furthermore, little is known about the boundary conditions of the relationship between economic strain and social cohesion, especially the role that….
- Few researchers have addressed the problem of…
- There remains a need for an efficient method that can…
- The high absorbance makes this an impractical option in cases…
- Nonetheless, these methods do not sufficiently address …
- These can be time-consuming and technically difficult to perform.
- Although this approach improves performance, it results in an unacceptable number of…
- One primary problem with … is that…
- Notwithstanding the merits and proliferation of chatbots, their incorporation into writing classrooms remains insufficient.
- Nevertheless, there is a notable scarcity of research dedicated to investigating how students effectively compose text with chatbots.
3.2.4 Presenting the present work
3.3 Review of the literature
A literature review summarizes, interprets, and critically evaluates significant literature published on a specific topic.
3.3.1 Why Literature Review matters?
- Demonstrate your knowledge of the topic and scholarly context
- Show respect to “giants” in your field
- Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
- Position yourself in relation to other researchers and theorists
- Situate your work within the social and disciplinary context
- Prepare and justify the research questions or hypotheses of your study
- Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
- Add authority to the present study (by “quoting” from the authorities to support your study)
3.3.2 What features good Literature Review?
- A coherent argument
- A critical evaluation of what has been done: summarising the findings of related studies and establishing gaps or weaknesses in the present knowledge to pave the way for new knowledge claims (Thompson, 2009)
- The overall rhetorical organisation tends to follow the CARS model (Swales, 1990) of Introduction
- A separate section/chapter or being integrated into Introduction
3.3.3 The processes of conducting Literature Review
Step 1. Clearly define topic & research questions
Step 2. Search for literature using key words and reference lists
Step 3. Select and evaluate literature
Step 4. Analyze and summarize the literature
Step 5. Identify themes, debates, and gaps
Step 6. Outline your literature review’s structure
- Chronological: trace the development of the topic over time; avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order
- Thematic: use subsections to address different aspects of the topic
- Methodological: compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches
- Theoretical: argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach; create a framework for your research
Step 7. Write your literature review
3.4 Methodology
3.4.1 Purposes of Methodology
To present a clear and detailed description of how an experiment or an investigation was done
To provide careful instructions so that the process of your experiment or investigation can be easily visualized and replicated (Cotos et al., 2017)
To provide the information the reader needs to judge the study’s validity (Cargill & O’Connor, 2009)
3.4.2 Components of Methodology
1.Generalization/ Introduction
Gives an overview of the entire section
Provides necessary background information
Introduces the principal activity
Identifies & justifies the methodological approach
2. Methods/Procedures
Rules of thumb for describing the methods/procedures
If the method has been published, provide the reference.
If the method is well-established, just mention its name.
If a new method is introduced, try to provide the detailed information precisely and concisely.
Questions of HOW and HOW MUCH should be answered precisely to make the procedures clear and replicable
3. Data Analysis
This part deals with the procedures of analyzing the data collected in the previous section and verify its validity.
For some discipline/journals, data analysis is integrated into the Results section.
3.5 Results
3.5.1 Why do we need to write Results in text?
- To highlight our interesting and significant results
- To talk about the results as a solution to the problems raised in Introduction
- Numbers don’t speak for themselves! We should tell the readers what these numbers mean.
3.5.2 Example:REVIEW COMMENT
COMMENT1: At times this paper reads like a thesis. The authors seem to have included all their results, with the consequence that I am not sure which findings are significant and which are not. However, I also suspect that some contradictory findings have not been included. So although I generally recommend brevity, this should not include leaving out key findings that do not support the authors’ line of logic.
COMMENT2: Rather than highlighting the results that are significant or relevant, the authors have merely repeated in the text everything that they have put in their figures and tables, which seem to include every piece of data that the authors have elaborated in the last three years. This makes for very tedious reading. Moreover, I felt that I was not given the tools to understand for myself the significance of their data.
3.5.3 A model to structure Results section
Move 1. Stating the preparatory information
1) Revisiting the research aim/ existing research
2) Revisiting/expanding methodology
3) General overview of results
Move 2. Announcing results
1) Invitation to view results
2) Specify key results in detail, with or without explanations
Move 3. Commenting on results
1) Compare results with other research
2) Compare results with model predictions
3) Problems with results
4) Possible implications of results
Move 1. example sentence
- The results are divided into two parts as follows:
- It is apparent that in all/most/the majority of cases…
- Using the method described above, we obtained …
- Levels of weight loss were similar in all cases.
- In general, coefficients for months close to the mean flowering data were negative.
Move 2. example sentence
Invitation to review results
- The stress data in Fig. 18 indicate/demonstrate/ display/ reveal/suggest a more reasonable relationship.
- Figure 3 illustrates/reports/presents/shows the findings of the spatial time activity modelling.
- The results are summarised in Table 4.
- The rate constants shown in Table 1 demonstrate that the reactivity is much greater at neutral pH.
- As shown/detailed/listed/illustrated in Figure 1, …
Presenting specific/key results in detail
- … accelerate/change/decline/decrease/ drop/ expand/ fall/ increase..
- is/are/was/were constant/ different/equal/ higher/ identical/ lower/ unchanged/ uniform/ unaffected..
- It eventually levelled off at a terminal velocity of 300 m/s.
- It can be observed from Fig. 2 that there was only a very small enhancement when H2O2 was present.
- Comparing Figs. 4 and 5, it is obvious that a significant improvement was obtained in the majority of cases.
Move 3. example sentence
Comparison with other results
- The SFS results obtained here are in exceptionally good agreement with existing FE results.
- Our concordance scores strongly confirm previous predictions.
- The numerical model tends to give predictions that are parallel to the experimental data from corresponding tests.
- This is consistent with results obtained in [1].
- verify/ validate/ support/ reinforce/ refute/ match/ extend/ expand/ be unlike/ be inconsistent with/ disprove/ contrary to…
Stating problems with results
- The correlation between the two methods was somewhat less in the case of a central concentrated point load.
- It should, however, be noted that in FE methods, the degree of mesh refinement may affect the results.
- Minimise the problem: despite this/ negligible/slightly…
- It is difficult to simulate the behaviour of the joints realistically.
- Suggest reasons for the problem: unavailable/ possible source of error/ not examined in this study…
3.5.4 example sentence
The data don’t speak for themselves! The vocabulary we use to describe the data will influence how readers interpret our results.
nearly
extremely (high/low)
practically
fewer (than)
significant
under
close (to)
considerable
barely
at least
a great deal (of)
far (above/below)
as few as 45
only
even (higher/lower)
Statements of negative results
- No significant difference between the two groups was evident.
- None of these differences were statistically significant.
- No evidence was found for non-linear associations between X and Y.
Only trace amounts of X were detected in … - There was no evidence that X has an influence on …
- Overall, X did not affect males and females differently in these measures.
- There was no observed difference in the number of…
Statements of positive results
- Strong evidence of X was found when …
- This result is significant at the p = 0.05 level.
- A positive correlation was found between X and Y.
- There was a significant positive correlation between …
- The difference between the X and Y groups was significant.
- There was a significant difference between the two conditions …
highlight findings
- This result is somewhat counterintuitive.
- The more surprising correlation is with the …
- The most surprising aspect of the data is in the …
- The correlation between X and Y is interesting because …
- The most striking result to emerge from the data is that …
- Interestingly, there were also differences in the ratios of …
- The single most striking observation to emerge from the data comparison was …
3.6 Discussion and Conclusion
(Discussion)To interpret and describe the significance of your findings in light of what was already known about the research problem being investigated
To explain any new understanding or fresh insights about the problem after you’ve taken the findings into consideration
To explain how your study has moved the reader‘s understanding of the research problem forward from where you left them at the end of introduction/Literature Review
(Conclusion)To summarize the research
To elaborate the well-reasoned argument
To emphasize the significance by elaborating on the applications, implications, and/or future work
To move readers from the world of your paper back to their own world (Rosen et al., 1999)
3.6.1 Example:REVIEW COMMENT
The Discussion fails to relate the findings and observations to other relevant studies, and there appears to be no discussion on the implications and limitations of these findings.
In my work as a reviewer, I often have difficulty in understanding how significant the authors feel their work is, and why their findings add value. This is because authors are not explicit enough – they don’t signal to
me (and the reader) that they are about to say, or are now saying, something important. The result is that their achievement may be hidden in the middle of a nondescript sentence in a nondescript paragraph … and no one will notice it.
3.6.2 A tentative model for Discussion: A summary
Move 1: Background information: review of research purposes/theory/ methodology
- Revisiting previous research
- Revisiting previous sections
Move 2: Reporting /summarizing results: integration of specific results
- Summarizing/revisiting key results
Move 3: Explaining and evaluating results: establishing meaning & significance
- Interpretation of/ Explanation for results
- Comparisons with existing research
- Achievement or contribution
- Implications/applications
- Limitations
- Future work