ENGLISH 1 – d4301 SEMINAR 2 Homework task from seminar 1: * Research / look up 3 examples of useful academic words that you think might be useful when writing-up a research project. Write down a sentence each for the meaning and an example of the word used in context. * We will share and peer review this vocabulary next seminar. * Examples: Seminar 2: Grammar and vocabulary for academic writing 1. Passive voice * Read and think about the sentences below: Active: We often refer to poorer countries as ´developing countries´. Passive: Poorer countries are often referred to as ´developing countries´. Active: In our study we established that there is a clear link between sleep and performance. Passive: A clear link between sleep and performance was established in the study. * How are the above sentences different in their focus? * Why is the passive voice often used in academic writing? *Discuss with the group. A) Rewrite the sentences using the verb phrases in italics in the passive: 1. We can illustrate the idea in more detail, once we have a concrete hypothesis. …………………………………………………………………………… 2. Many people think of professional sport as an attractive domain. ……………………………………………………………………………. 3. We can find examples of gender inequality in many sports. …………………………………………………………………………….. 4. You should note that a vegetarian diet does not necessarily mean it is a healthy diet. ………………………………………………………………………………. 5. They should take into account the social conditions as well as the economic situation. ……………………………………………………………………………….. 6. They have discovered a new anti-inflammatory drug. ………………………………………………………………………………. 7. The researchers have developed a new technique for data processing. ……………………………………………………………………………….. 8. Our research study is focussing on improving posture in sedentary populations. ………………………………………………………………………………… B) Reporting verbs: choose the best verb in the brackets to complete the sentence: 1. It has been _______________ that there are small amounts of water contained within the atmosphere of the planet Mars. ( discovered, said ) …………………………………………………………………………… 2. It has now been ________________ that around half of cancer cases in a given population are lifestyle related. ( revealed, established ) ……………………………………………………………………………. 3. It has now been ________________ that the crash of the passenger train was the result of an obstruction on the track. ( detailed, proposed ) …………………………………………………………………………….. 4. It has now been _______________ that all lessons in the forthcoming semester should take place in a distance format. ( planned, suggested ) ………………………………………………………………………………. 5. It is ________________ that another exploratory trip to the surface of Mars will be initiated next year by NASA. ( assumed, thought ) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 6. It was ________________ to hold further negotiations between the two political parties prior to the upcoming elections. ( agreed, announced ) ………………………………………………………………………………. 7. It has been _______________ to appoint a new rector of the university from the beginning of January 2021. ( proposed, decided ) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 8. The company is _______________ to lay-off a further 1000 people from their European subsidiaries due to the severe economic downturn. ( expected, decided ) ………………………………………………………………………………… 9. It has not yet been _________________ who was responsible for the gross errors that were reported in the research study findings. ( claimed, explained ) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 10. It was ________________ that Professor Brown would chair the scientific convention, due to his expertise on the chosen topic. ( hoped, wished ) ………………………………………………………………………………… 2. Countable and uncountable nouns * What are examples of countable nouns? What are their properties? How do we describe them in singular and plural? * Name some uncountable nouns. Why are they considered to be uncountable? How do we describe singular items of uncountable nouns? Please, notice that some uncountable nouns are countable in Czech and so they will cause special difficulty. Here are some of the most common ones: Absence Advice Equipment Evidence Experience Knowledge Money News Permission Research Please notice also that some words in English form an irregular plural, for example: * Find examples of the plural form, and give an example sentence in the below words: Singular Plural example sentence: a means – a species – a series – a phenomenon – an analysis – hypothesis – Some nouns end in –s but are uncountable and take a singular verb, for example: Gymnastics is difficult. Mathematics is a compulsory subject. * Can you name some of the other ‘ics’ words, like the above: A) Correct the following sentences if needed. Notice the use of nouns, either uncountable or irregular, and think of singular and plural also: Some people have the perception that a scientific knowledge always equates to 'the truth'. These informations have many implications in the field of neurology. Advice regarding foot care should be provided to reduce disease progression. We are worried about the child´s lack of a progress in learning. There are much ways of teaching coaches to deal with problem behaviour. Recent research shows that babies in the womb can be influenced by a beautiful music. There doesn’t seem to be many evidences? These evidences are not very reliable. The Internet is effective means of finding qualified job applicants. These phenomenons occur during early foetal development. It was series about hospital that was very popular during 1990’s. The news are very hopeful, we hope that the lost child will soon be found. It is believed that much of our unhappiness as species can be seen in the increasing rates of many psychological disorders. (sentences adapted from the British Academic Written English Corpus) B) Choose the correct form of the verb. 1. Our knowledge of the subject is / are limited. 2. The new research is / are based on reliable data. 3. That amount of money is / are insufficient. 4. The results of the investigation is / are surprising. 5. Advice for parents is / are needed. 6. First-hand experience in a hospital is / are invaluable. 7. The phenomena she studied is / are very complex. 8. The analyses is / are very detailed. 9. This species is / are threatened with extinction. 10. Athletics is / are slightly more popular than physics. 3. Academic vocabulary Discussion questions Why is vocabulary important? In what ways can building and increasing your vocabulary improve your academic writing? * Discuss in pairs or small groups, then discuss with the group. Interesting statistic: Most native-speakers of English come into university with a vocabulary of about 20,000 words. Without thinking about it we usually pick up about a thousand new words a year. Starting university puts additional pressure on this natural development of your vocabulary General academic words: Academic world list – 570 head words – 3,000 words; Medicine – 1540; Criminal Law – 376; Music – 269; A) General academic words * Match the letter of the most appropriate definition with the following words from the Academic Word List. * Complete the task individually, then discuss with the group. 1. __ predominant a. the most common b. the earliest variety c. the weakest 2. __ phenomenon a. a spectacular event b. something which occurs at a precise time c. something that is observed to happen or exist 3. __ whereas a. in contrast b. similarly c. in another place 4. __ dynamic a. fuel-powered b. constantly changing and progressing c. rigid, fixed to a spot 5. __ paradigm a. a rectangular shape b. contrasting theories of the same event c. a model which explains an event 6. __ hierarchical a. passing information from generation to generation b. multi-layered c. a system of ranking by importance 7. __ arbitrary a. without principles or plans b. judged by merit c. following pre-determined procedures 8. __ parameter a. a system of measurement b. defined limit c. variability 9. __ commodity a. a feature shared by two or more people b. something sold for money c. weakness 10. __ infrastructure a. animal skeleton b. public transport system c. the basic facilities of an organisation, society (Adapted from Alison Brown, 2007) B) Explain the difference between the sentences in each pair. 1. Graig´s article supports Park´s theory. Graig´s article challenges Park´s theory. 2. Describe the new tax regulations. Discuss the new tax regulations. 3. Lodhi provides new data. Lodhi considers new data. 4. Titova conducted four sets of experiments. Titova examined four sets of experiments. 5. Lee established why such changes occur. Lee investigated why such changes occur. 6. Okaz assumed that the data were reliable. Okaz proved that the data were reliable. (McCarthy, M.; O´Dell, F. Academic Vocabulary In Use. Cambridge University Press, 2008.) C) Complete the thesis statements with suitable verbs in the correct form: 1. Firstly, I am going to ………………………….. the social and economic reasons why it is important to teach traditional subjects at university. 2. This essay ………………………… the importance of science, medicine, and technology in today´s globalised economy. 3. In the next chapter, I will ………………………. on the concepts that have been previously introduced. 4. I would …………………… with previous studies in this regard, as the data from our study is almost identical. 5. During the initial stages of the pilot study, when the data was being …………………, there were a number of subjects who dropped out. 4. Collocations * Read all the sentences in each section and choose a word from below which best collocates to every sentence in the group. factor research area theory performance Group 1. _______________ She was able to maintain a high level of … over the last ten years. The author explains how sports science support can help to improve athletic … The team put in an excellent … at the Olympics. We achieved the highest … rating of three stars from the Healthcare Commission. The use of …. – enhancing drugs is commonly referred to as doping. Use a sports test to measure and track your…! Group 2 ___________ Addictions affect various …s of a person´s life. The study of Sport Science traditionally incorporates the …s of physiology, psychology, motor control and biomechanics, but also includes topics such as nutrition and diet, sports technology, anthropometry and performance analysis. All instructors are well qualified to teach their …s of expertise. The evaluation also identified specific …s where further development was required. The course covers two main subject … s. There 's also a play … for the children in the facility. Group 3 ________________ They are carrying out original .. into the psychological and intellectual effects of physical education upon the total development of the child. Dr. Elliott's groundbreaking … on NFL hamstring injuries has recently been published by the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Recent scientific …has shown a link between poor oral health and other conditions such as heart and lung disease. It can be seen that both quantitative and qualitative methodologies do have strengths for sports fan … Most … in the field has concentrated on the effects on adult athletes. One paper based on … conducted at Oxford suggested that the drug may cause brain damage. Group 4 _____________ Penalty kicks are the new deciding … in football matches. Studies have established that smoking is a risk … for cancer.. Look for the common …in all these cases. The outcome will depend on a number of …. The findings of this study add value to the field by identifying …s contributing to coaching effectiveness. Orthopedics Medical Article: Behaviour, the Key … for Sports Injury Prevention. Group 5 ___________ Dr. Smith put forward the popular … of madness. She draws a distinction between … and practice. In … these machines should last for ten years. Data that challenges the original … forces the researcher to re-consider their position. The germ … has been refuted by many researchers. 5. Formal vs Informal Vocabulary * Individually or in pairs, identify the informal expressions in the following sentences. * Rewrite the sentences, replacing the informal expressions with a more formal equivalent. 1. Significantly, even at this late date, Lautrec was considered a bit conservative by his peers. 2. Later Florey got together with Paul Fildes in an experimental study of the use of curare. 3. Simply making the effort to reclaim this wasted stuff for fertilizer would have a positive effect on greenhouse releases. 4. It is difficult to imagine exactly what is meant by saying that such a classification is natural as any collection of things could be classified in this way. 5. The radical change of structure of British politics after 1931 doesn’t lie in the events of 13-28 August, but in the changing attitudes within the National Government. 6. The material amenities of life have gone up increasingly in Western society. 7. The press reflected the living culture of the people; it could influence opinion and reinforce existing attitudes but it did not come up with new forms of entertainment. 8. The aggregate of outstanding balances went up and down quite violently. 9. Dieters often feel that they should totally get rid of high-fat and high-sugar foods. 10. The solitary feeding of insectivores in forests was therefore put down to a foraging strategy involving the pursuit of cryptic and easily disturbed prey by singletons. (Adapted from: UEFAP: http://www.uefap.com/writing/feature/intro.htm) Homework task: * Write a short, 100 – 200 word essay about your own research, or a study you have participated in. Explain what the study was about, what it hoped to find, the findings or expected findings, conclusions etc. * Try and use some examples of the passive voice and academic vocabulary that we have been working on in the seminar today. * Be prepared to share or present your homework next seminar.