Technical Writing Workshop 11 April 2019 B Tech 1st year and 2nd year Camellia Institute of Technology Dr Sumana Bandyopadhyay NSOU

Content Introduction L2 Writing The Process Approach Genre Based Approach Activities of the writing process Hedging Conclusion

L2 Writing L2 writing is a complex process that involves Cognitive processes Genres Purposes Values of discourse

L2 Writing Cognitive factors Writing as a form – example Dictogloss – reconstructing passages after listening to them, i.e., focus on form while expressing meaning. Pair work essay – i.e., grammatically correct and syntactically accurate essays, enhancing focus on form.

L2 Writing L2 writing requires: Learning an L2 Creating a text Adapting it to a specific discourse community.

The Writing Process Approach The expressivist approach – writing is a process of discovering meaning and personal voice. The cognitivist approach – writing is a problem solving activity. Writing is an exploratory and recursive process.

The Process Approach Stages Pre-Writing ‘Generation of ideas’, ‘global planning’, ‘re-reading’

The Process Approach Stages Drafting Organizing information Selecting appropriate language Making a draft

The Process Approach Stages Revision Level 1 – reading and reviewing Level 2 – revising and editing

Genre Based Approach Genre is the textual response to the requirements of the social context. This approach is adopted in ESP. Learners receive explicit instruction on the complex linguistic and discourse demands of scientific and other discipline-specific forms of writing.

Activities of the writing process Planning Thinking about the purpose of writing Organizing the writing Finding a style appropriate for the purpose. Planning is an interplay between thinking and writing. Plan in detail before writing.

Activities of the writing process Revising Re-read the sentences or look back at their original plan. Think about how to express the next set of ideas. Review the text and ask questions- Is the argument clear? Are the sections repetitious? Do the sentences need rearrangement?

Generating ideas Guided techniques Prompts, questions are used. Unguided techniques Students generate ideas by themselves. Brainstorming

Hedging Hedging is a linguistic resource which conveys the fundamental characteristics of science of doubt and skepticism. Hedging is expressed through the use of the following strategic stereotypes. Modal auxiliary verbs The most straightforward and widely used means of expressing modality in English academic writing. (may, might, can, could would, should)

Hedging - Modal auxiliary verbs Such a measure might be more sensitive to changes in health after specialist treatment. Concerns that naturally low cholesterol levels could lead to increased mortality from other causes may be well be unfounded.

Hedging - Modal lexical verbs Speech act verbs used to perform acts such as doubting and evaluating rather than merely describing. To seem To appear To believe To assume To suggest To estimate To tend To think to argue To indicate To propose To speculate

Hedging - Modal lexical verbs Our analyses suggest that high doses of the drug can lead to relevant blood pressure reduction. These results indicate that the presence of large vessel peripheral arterial disease may reflect a particular susceptibility to the development of atherosclerosis. In spite of its limitations, our study appears to have a number of important strengths. Without specific training, medical students’ communication skills seem to decline during medical training.

Hedging - Adjectival, Adverbial, and Nominal modal phrases Probability adjectives: possible, probable, unlikely Nouns: assumption, claim, possibility, estimate, suggestion Adverbs: perhaps, possibly, practically, likely, presumably, virtually, apparently

Hedging - Adjectival, Adverbial, and Nominal modal phrases Septicemia is likely to result, which might threaten his life. Possibly the setting of the neural mechanisms responsible for this sensation is altered in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. This is probably due to the fact that Greenland Eskimos consume diets with a high content of fish.

Hedging – Approximators of degree, quantity, frequency and time Approximately Roughly About Often Occasionally Generally Usually Somewhat Somehow A lot of

Hedging – Approximators of degree, quantity, frequency and time Fever is present in about a third of cases and sometimes there is neutropenia. Persistent subjective fatigue generally occurs in relative isolation.

Hedging Introductory phrases I believe To our knowledge It is our view that We feel that Expresses the author’s personal doubt and direct involvement.

Hedging – Introductory Phrases We believe that the chronic fatigue syndrome reflects a complex interaction of several factors. There is no simple explanation.

Hedging - If clauses If true If anything If true, then, our study contradicts the myth that fishing attracts the bravest and strongest men.

Compound Hedging Modal auxiliary combined with a lexical verb It would appear A lexical verb followed by a hedging adverb or adjective It seems reasonable / probable Double hegdes It may suggest that; it seems likely that Treble hedges It seems reasonable to assume that Quadruple hedges It would seem somewhat unlikely that; It may appear somewhat speculative that

Genre and Rhetorical Function General Universal Editorial – Review Paper Role of author: Critical essay writer Evaluator Content: judgment/ value/ instruction Encyclopedia – like writing Pretension to generalization

Genre and Rhetorical Function Research paper Author: observer Instructor Critical writer Content: description / suggestion / advice Novel-like writing, some pretension to generalization

Genre and Rhetorical Function Particular / individual Case report Author: objective informant Content: almost pure description Short story – no pretension or generalization

Conclusion The principles incorporated in the presentation discusses writing as a process approach. This is followed by a range of activities on technical and report writings. The process approach aims at developing effective strategies to produce a range of discourse types for commercial and technical texts.