1. Aiming for National or International Publication: Issues in Designing and Writing Research Papers Li Zonghong English Department, Hexi University

2. 2 The Challenge Getting research published nationally or internationally is a universal challenge More so for writers of English as an Additional Language (EAL) Incorporates challenges –with language –with research content –with showing membership of the national or international research community

3. 3 Experience Addressing the Challenge With writers of English as a first language –Research students –Novice researchers in workplaces With EAL research students –Literature reviews –Research proposals –Theses and dissertations –Journal articles

4. 4 Experience Cont. With EAL writers in China –Linguistics and literature researchers –Research students (non-English-majors) –6-day workshops annually since 2001 –Funded by science organisations Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) International Centres for Studies Relating to Language, Its Teaching and Learning

5. 5 Transferable Teaching Approach Based on –Results of genre analysis studies of research articles (RAs) –Collaboration with ‘expert informants’ (authors, editors, referees) from content field –Methodology from EAP/ESP Not well known to scientists anywhere! –Students work on writing a paper on their own results (Cargill 2004)

6. 6 This presentation is for - Research students and researchers who want to publish their own results Research supervisors who want to help their students to publish Development of the approach through ongoing contact in the future

7. 7 Basic Components of the Approach (1) Pedagogical summary of results of genre analysis of RAs –Macro-structure –Section by section Guided analysis of carefully selected example paper/s from target field and journal/s

8. 8 Basic Components of the Approach (2) Focus on English language features commonly used to express the functions, eg –the/a/- in Introductions –passive voice in Methods Students draft their own section Refereeing processes –discussed in detail, and –practised, with feedback

9. 9 Examples of Materials Referee guidelines and author instructions Article structures –Argument papers –Empirical papers (data is collected and analysed)

10. 10 Writing Articles: The Two- audience Dilemma for Authors Assumed audience: readers of the journal; our discipline-colleagues The prior audience: the journal editor and (mostly anonymous) referees Manuscripts must pass the gate-keepers before the assumed audience becomes relevant

11. 11 The Approval Process (1) Author submits manuscript with covering letter Editor decides if worthy of refereeing If yes, sends to (usually) 2 experts in the field for review, usually ‘blind’ (no names) Each referee writes a report, usually based on guidelines/criteria provided by editor

12. 12 The Approval Process (2) Editor makes final decision: –Accept as it stands (rare) –Accept with minor revisions –Reconsider after major revisions (detailed in report) –Reject Editor usually judges whether revisions are satisfactory; sometimes re-reviewed

13. 13 What are Referees Looking for? Of interest to the readers of the journal Grounded in a/the relevant literature Methodologically sound Structure and organisation as expected Format requirements met (referencing etc) Makes important contribution to the field

14. 14 Examples of Authentic Criteria (1) Interesting to the readers of the journal –Content is relevant to target audience –The paper says something of interest to the … readership – Engages with issues/problems of significance to the … community –The suitability of the topic dealt with in the paper

15. 15 Examples of Authentic Criteria (2) Grounded in the relevant literature –The issue/problem is well situated in an appropriate literature. –Is grounded in theory/scholarship: is the paper informed by relevant published work in this field?

16. 16 Examples of Authentic Criteria (3) Methodologically sound –The paper demonstrates methodological soundness. –The design and analysis methods are appropriate

17. 17 Examples of Authentic Criteria (4) Structure and organisation as expected –The paper is succinct and coherent. –The conclusion is well supported and persuasively argued. – Content is organized clearly and ideas are coherent. –Is logically argued to a well-supported conclusion. –Evinces a coherent structure

18. 18 Examples of Authentic Criteria (5) Format requirements met (referencing etc) –Conforms to format guidelines, including appropriate referencing style and accurate proofreading. –Style is appropriate and bibliographic conventions are followed accurately.

19. 19 Examples of Authentic Criteria (6) Makes an important contribution to the field –The paper provides an important critical and/or analytical insight. –Article makes a worthwhile contribution to the field.

20. 20 Additional Referee Factors Refereeing is unpaid work for busy people. Language problems may annoy, or impede full understanding of intended meaning (Flowerdew 2001). Some journals can afford language editors; many cannot. Even with interesting content, structure or language issues may lead to rejection.

21. 21 Genre Analysis Insights into Article Structure Most work on Introductions (eg Swales 1990, Samraj 2002) Focus is on papers which report a study –Results, Discussions, Conclusions (eg Brett 1994, Holmes 1997, Yang & Allison 2003) Teaching texts also available (Weissberg and Buker 1990) Pedagogical summary can be useful for novice writers Results on RAs in Applied Linguistics suggest considerable flexibility (Yang & Allison 2003, 2004)

22. 22 ‘Secondary’ AL Papers (Yang & Allison 2004) Introduction – Argumentation – Conclusion Optional transition stages: theoretical basis, pedagogic implications/application Three overall purposes suggested: –Theory-oriented (point-by-point structure) –Pedagogy-oriented (problem-solution or demand-supply) –(Pedagogic) application-oriented (problem- solution-demonstration)

23. 23 IMRAD: The Logic behind the Structure Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion/Conclusion/ Pedagogic implications

24. 24 Results: The ‘DRIVER’ Relates to ‘importance’ of contribution Four questions to ask about your results: –What exactly do my results (analyses) say? (= concise summary) –What do these results mean in their context? (= significance) –Who needs to know this? (= my audience) –Why do they need to know? (= significance) (Cargill 2004)

25. 25 Audience Issues When selecting a journal, go to internet homepages and check out the sections called Scope and Coverage / Audience. Check also Instructions to Authors. Aim to scan several issues of the journal, and read several papers, to get an idea of the style and approach. Try to refer in your paper to some articles in the same journal.

26. 26 Example Paper for Today’s Talk Yang Ruiying and Desmond Allison (2003) Research articles in applied linguistics: Moving from results to conclusions English for Specific Purposes 22, 365-385

27. Yang and Allison’s Results QuestionAnswer What do the results say? Organisational options in AL concluding sections relating to function; moves AND steps in AL Discussions; able to capture data of 20 RAs insightfully What do they mean in context? Considering all types of concluding sections together increases usefulness of analysis for research and teaching purposes Who needs to know? Genre-analysis researchers; those teaching students to write research articles in AL Why? To expand knowledge of RA structure; potentially to improve teaching effectiveness

28. 28 The Five Stages of an Introduction (after Weissberg and Buker 1990) General Specific 1. General statements about a field of research to provide the reader with a setting or context for the problem to be reported and claim its centrality 2. More specific statements about the aspects of the problem already studied by other researchers, laying a foundation of information already known 3. Statements that indicate the need for more investigation to create a gap or research niche for the present study 4. Very specific statements giving the purpose or objective of the author’s study or its principal activity 5. Optional statement(s) that give a value or justification for carrying out the study

29. StageRealisation 1- Setting RAs, the central genre of knowledge production, have received extensive attention in genre analysis… 2- Previous wk Most studies have… Much research has been done on… 3- Gap So far, virtually no published research takes account of the influence of neighbouring sections… Despite more recent progress in understanding selected sections, the general picture remains unclear. 4- Present aim Our study accordingly explores some of the ways in which empirical research articles in one discipline proceed from presenting results through to closure. 5- Justification The Results and subsequent sections are crucial and essentially related stages of RAs, in which … Extra step Our paper develops as follows. After reviewing…, we briefly describe…

30. 30 Conclusions for Intending Authors (1) Consider from the planning stages how you will aim to meet refereeing criteria. Select a ‘package’ of results and match to a suitable journal. Become an apprentice genre analyst: read all papers for genre features as well as content.

31. 31 Conclusions for Intending Authors (2) Consider informal ‘journal clubs’ to discuss articles –Where in the article do the authors make and substantiate their claims of ‘relevance’, ‘importance’, etc.? –Can you identify possible ‘sentence templates’ that could be re-used for similar purposes in your own writing?

32. 32 An Example from Yang & Allison “Although further investigation using the present framework would be needed in order to verify its wider descriptive adequacy and its pedagogic utility, we are already confident that it is worth exploring with teachers and students.” Key question: Are the analysis results (presented earlier) strong enough to make this claim credible? Note the hedging effect of the introductory ‘although’ clause.

33. 33 Conclusions for Intending Authors (3) Publishing a paper is joining a national or international conversation. –Listen to others’ voices keenly as preparation for writing (ie read and discuss their papers). –Learn as much as you can about who the other players are and why they may hold the views they do. –Think about features of the Chinese context that may form a point of interest or comparison for your audience.

34. 34 Conclusions for Intending Authors (4) Recent research highlights the tension between text and context in learning research writing (eg Johns and Swales 2002). A valuable contribution to understanding the context of the research article can come from attending at depth to insights from sociology and related fields.

35. 35 Conclusions for Intending Authors (5) Context of RAs is not (should not be seen as) fixed (Canagarajah 2002) Issue can be framed as: –“Improving access to publication for EAL authors”; OR –Opening opportunities for the academy to engage with perspectives not previously heard –But what are the REAL* ramifications of such an approach? * Research English as an Additional Language (Cadman and Cargill, 2005)

36. References Brett, P. (1994). “A genre analysis of the Results section of sociology articles.” English for Specific Purposes 13(1): 47-59. Canagarajah, S. (2002) "Multilingual writers and the academic community: towards a critical relationship." Journal of English for Academic Purposes 1: 29-44. Cargill, M. (2004). “Transferable skills within research degrees: a collaborative genre-based approach to developing publication skills and its implications for research education.” Teaching in Higher Education 9(1): 83-98. Flowerdew, J. (2001). “Attitudes of journal editors to nonnative speaker contributions.” TESOL Quarterly 35(1): 121-150. Holmes, R. (1997). “Genre analysis, and the social sciences: an investigation of the structure of research article discussion sections in three disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 16(4): 321- 337. Johns, A. M. and J. M. Swales (2002). “Literacy and disciplinary practices: opening and closing perspectives.” Journal of English for Academic Purposes 1: 13-28. Samraj, B. (2002). “Introductions to research articles: variations across disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 21(1): 1-18. Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Weissberg, R. and S. Buker (1990). Writing Up Research: Experimental research report writing for students of English. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA, Prentice Hall Regents. Yang, R. and D. Allison (2003). “Research articles in applied linguistics: moving from results to conclusions.” English for Specific Purposes 22: 365-385. Yang, R. and D. Allison (2004). "Research articles in applied linguistics: structures from a functional perspective.“ English for Specific Purposes 23: 264-279.

37. 37 Thank you for your attention! Li Zonghong zonghongli@yahoo.com.cn