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

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

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

4. 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.

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

6. 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.

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

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

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

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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?

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

14. 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)

15. 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.

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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

19. 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.

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

21. 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.

22. 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.

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

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

25. 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

26. 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

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

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

29. 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.