academic writing 05 writing summaries

Summary在此是指將參考文獻引入自己的文章中, 寫作要點如下:

1. 必須聚焦於全文的重點, 但不必表達出來源文章的每一個章節或段落
2. 必須呈現出全文的精確風格(accurate fashion)
3. 最好濃縮全文的意思後用新的詞語表達, 直接複製全文內的句子效果不佳

寫作技巧簡述如下:

1. 界定引用來源, 例如according to 某人 (某年), 某人's 某年 paper on fluoridation discusses, 某人 (某年) states that等, 常用的動詞如presume, speculate, describe, recommend, claim, assume, contend, propose, theorize, support及examine等, 這些動詞又分為客觀性的和評估性的兩種, 像describe應該就比較客觀, 而support應該就具有評估意味(吧? 我想的); 注意, mention這個動詞非常不正式, 不宜用於summary. 另外, 也可以善用副詞來表達自己的想法, 例如某人wrongly assumes that....
2. 延續性的引用, 在較長的敘述中, 應適度提醒讀者這是引用參考文獻, 而非本研究論點或成果, 例如the author goes on to say that, the article further states that, 某人 also states that, 或in the second half of the paper, 某人 presents.... 另外, 也可以用轉折語, 如additionally, in addition to, also, furthermore, further, moreover等
3. 比較性的引用, 可以顯示出自己對文獻的分析, 最初步的比較就是列出相似處和相異處, 其之, 應能夠顯示出文獻之間的關聯性, 包括重疊的觀點和重要的差異; 顯示相似處的轉折詞如similarly, likewise, in the same fashion等, 顯示相異處的轉折詞如in contrast, unlike, in contrast to, on the other hand, whereas等; 另外, 也可以用動詞來表達, 例如相似處: to be similar to, to resemble, to be comparable to, to correspond to等, 相異處: to differ from, to contrast with, to be different from等.

(Swales, J. M. and Feak, C. B. 2007, Academic Writing for Graduate Students, University of Michigsn Press, Ann Arbor.)

academic writing 04 data commentary

data commentary的文字必須謹慎拿捏, 不能只有單純地複述數據, 也不能過度解釋遽下結論.

個別而言, data的描述與評論又必須拿捏肯定性及普遍性, 呈現出"confidently uncertain", 以提高研究結果的精確度:

1. probability, 一句話要講到多強烈? 多有信心? 由強到弱可採用下形容詞或副詞: (最強) certain --> almost certain --> very probable/highly likely --> probable/likely --> possible --> unlikely --> very/highly unlikely (最弱)
2. distance, 結果與事實之間可能的距離, 其實也就是作者信心的呈現, 舉例如下: (最強) the factory has benefited form... --> the factory seems to have benefited from... --> the factory appears to have benefited from... --> it seems that the factory has benefited form... --> it has been said that the factory seems to have benefited form....
3. generalization: 把結果普遍化而又不武斷, 例如把Children living in poverty have a history of health problems.改成Children living in poverty tend to have a history of health problems. 或Many children living in poverty have a history of health problems.

若出現不符預期的數據, 應該討論它而不是忽略它, 可以使用以下動詞片語: may be due to, can be attributed to, can probably be accounted for, is probably a consequence of, would seem to stem from等.

(Swales, J. M. and Feak, C. B. 2007, Academic Writing for Graduate Students, University of Michigsn Press, Ann Arbor.)