研究生學(xué)術(shù)英語寫作教程UnitReporting Results

1、Unit 5 Reporting Results Objectives:-Understand the function and the major elements of the results section;-Learn the major steps to deal with the results section;-Use the tips for describing graphic information;-Grasp the tips for making comparison and contrast;-Learn the skills for choosing approp

2、riate graphs and making graphs.Contents:- Teachers introduction;- Reading and discussion: Types of Language for Thinking and Lexical Collocational Errors;- Language focus: graphic description; comparison and contrast;-Writing practice: using graphs and describing graphs (tables and charts);- Rewriti

3、ng practice: grasping the major moves for outlining the results section;- Classroom extension: descriptions of data and graphs when reporting results. 1. Reading Activity 1.1 Pre-reading Task Do you know how to report the results of your research? The standard approach to the results section of a re

4、search paper is to present the results with the statistical techniques such as tables and charts. This does not mean that you do not need any text to describe data presented in graphs. Think about the following questions before reading the text and then have a discussion with your classmates.1. What

5、 is the function of the results section? 2. What are the major elements included in the results section? 3. What are the major steps for you to deal with the results section? 4. How do you describe graphic information in the results section?5. How do you compare and contrast the data presented in gr

6、aphs?The following is part of the results section of a research paper which investigated how EFL learners types of language for thinking influence their lexical collocational errors in speech. 1.2 Reading PassageResultsTypes of Language for Thinking and Lexical Collocational Errors1One key issue in

7、this study was whether a learners type of language for thinking influences lexical collocational production. 2 This issue was explored by examining one retrospective report on the questionnaire, When tape recording, what language did you mainly use for inner speech? 3Based on their responses, the 42

8、 participants were classified into four language groups: Chinese, English, Chinese mingled with English, and other languages. 4The participants inaccuracy rates were compared, which were obtained by dividing the number of errors by the overall number of lexical collocations they produced individuall

9、y, among the language groups.The preliminary analysis discovered that the 42 participants produced a total of 2,491 lexical collocations, and each participant created approximately 29 lexical collocations per minute. Regarding learner errors, 263 incorrect collocations were found among the 2,491 lex

10、ical collocations, resulting in an inaccuracy rate of 10.56. To report the effect of language for thinking on the production of lexical collocations in speech, Table 1 records the fact that 5 students stated that their type of language for thinking was for the most part Chinese. As Table 1 shows, 17

11、 mainly used English for thinking, 20 primarily thought in Chinese mingled with English, and none thought in other languages. The inaccuracy rate of oral lexical collocations in each language group was calculated by dividing the total number of lexical collocational errors by the total number of lex

12、ical collocations produced. Descriptive statistics demonstrated that those who mainly thought in their native language (Mandarin Chinese) produced the highest inaccuracy rate of lexical collocations (M=15.17), followed by those who primarily thought in English (M=12.40) and those using a combination

13、 (M=8.44). Results of a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) further displayed that the difference among these three groups reached a significant level, F(2,39)=4.07, p<.05. This result supports the notion that EFL learners type of language for thinking appreciably influences their oral productio

14、n of lexical collocations.To probe intergroup differences, the Fisher Least Significant Difference (LSD) posthoc test was adopted, which aims at discerning whether the comparison between groups reaches the significance level. The LSD test showed that the Chinese-mingled-with- English group had a mar

15、kedly lower inaccuracy rate than the Chinese or English groups, while the difference between the Chinese and English groups was not significant. Thinking in both Chinese and English was more beneficial and effective to the EFL learners oral production of lexical collocations. Table 1: Types of Langu

16、age for Thinking and Inaccuracy Rates of Lexical CollocationsGroupNM(%)SD(%)FCommentsChinese (CH)515.175.484.07*CH>CE*English (EN)1712.406.72EN>CE*Chinese mingled with English (CE)208.444.32Others0Note: Mean shows the average inaccuracy rate of collocations in each group.*P<.05 (Hung-ChunWa

17、ng & Su-Chin Shih, 2011)1.3 Reading Comprehension1.3.1 Read the first paragraph and identify the information elements you find in each sentence of the text.SentencesElementsSentence 1Sentence 2Sentence 3Sentence 41.3.2 Some verbs can be used to locate the results of the research, such as “show”

18、and “indicate”. Read the second and third paragraphs carefully and think of the question: Which verbs did the authors use for locating the results? ParagraphsVerbs locating the resultsIn the 2nd paragraphIn the 3rd paragraph Read the second and third paragraphs carefully and think of the question: W

19、hat is the function of the last sentence in the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs respectively? SentencesFunctionLast sentence in the 2nd paragraph Last sentence in the 3rd paragraph 2 Language Focus2.1 Graphic descriptionThe results section clearly presents the findings of your study. It is usually presented

20、both in graph and text. First, prepare the graphs as soon as all the data are analyzed and arrange them in the sequence that best presents your results in a logical way. Then, as the results section is text-based section, the description of graphs is of great importance in paper writing. Good descri

21、ptions can help the readers understand your research better while using a single sentence pattern to describe the statistical and graphic information in a research paper will make your readers feel too bored and lose interest in reading on, so we need to pay more attention to the language use when d

22、escribing the statistical and graphic information. Here we will introduce some useful words, phrases or sentence patterns which can be used in different situations of graphic description.SituationsExpressionsWhen introducing the graphic information and making a general statementThe chart shows the p

23、ercentage of The vertical axis shows The horizontal axis compares When referring to a graphAs can be seen/It can be seen from the graph As can be seen/It can be seen from Graph 3,As shown in Graph 3,From the graph above, it may/can be seen/ concluded / shown/ estimated/ calculated / inferred thatThe

24、 graph shows/presents/provides thatThe graph below /The pie chart above shows/ illustratesAccording to Table 1, When describing a graphThere was a minimal (slight, slow, gradual, steady) rise. There was a rapid increase.There was a (an) marked (large, dramatic, steep, sharp, abrupt) decrease (declin

25、e, reduction, fall, drop).There was a sudden fluctuation.There was no change.When describing a curve or a trendconvex/concave; top/bottom; a slope/ peak / plateau a gradual/slight increase; a sharp/steep rise; the peaka rapid/abrupt fall; a slight dip; no change; slow fall It shows an upward trend.I

26、t shows a downward trend.When making a conclusionto sum up; in conclusion;It appears thatThe two charts clearly showIf you need to highlight significant data in a table/chart, you may use some adjectives such as “apparent”, “clear”, “interesting”, “obvious”, “revealing” and “significant” to make you

27、r viewpoint known and meanwhile attract readers attention.The following sentence patterns are useful for you when you report significant results or findings. 1. It is apparent from Table 2 that.2. Table 5 is quite revealing in several ways. 3. From Chart 5 we can see that Experiment 2 resulted in th

28、e lowest value of .4. What is interesting in this data is that .5. In Figure 10, there is a clear trend of decreasing .6. As Table 2.1 shows, there was a great deal of difference between the experimental group and the control group. 7. As shown in Table 6.3, chunk frequency also has significant corr

29、elation with the indices of oral proficiency.8. There was no obvious difference between Method 1 and Method 2. The following table lists results of a questionnaire concerning students interest and performance in class. Question 1: You are very interested in the English writing course.Strongly agree

30、agreeI dont know disagreestrongly disagreeQuestion 2: You are active in group discussion in the classroom.Strongly agree agreeI dont know disagreestrongly disagreeTable 1 Data concerning the students interest and participationItemstrongly agreeagreeI dont knowdisagreestrongly disagreeNPNPNPNPNP13550

31、%2535.7%22.9%57.1%34.3%22840%2840%34.3%710%45.7%Note: N=number; P=percentageNow you are required to report results from the interview. The following sentence patterns may be used in your report.1. Of all the subjects, 70 completed and returned the questionnaire form.2. The majority of respondents fe

32、lt that 3. Over a half of those surveyed indicated that 4. A small number of respondents 5. A minority of participants (%) indicated .6. In response to Question 1, most of those surveyed indicated that .7. The overall response to this question was very positive.8. It is apparent from the table above

33、 that._ The following line graph shows an upward trend in growth rate of Ford car production during the period from January to December 2011. Look at the line graph carefully first and then do the following exercises. A. Mark the following places in the graph.a) The bottom of the line;b) The peak of

34、 the line;c) The fluctuating part. B. Describe the growth rate of Ford car production in the following months respectively. Try to use the phrases or sentence patterns of graphic description you learned in this section.a) In January: _.b) From March to April:_.c) From May to September:_.d) From Octo

35、ber to December:_.C. What does the overall line graph reveal in the growth rate of Ford car production during the period from January to December 2011?_. 2.2 Comparison and contrastWhen you are writing the reports section, you need to do much more than just give data. What you should always try to d

36、o is to convey more information with the data. Comparing and contrasting is a common way to deal with the data. The purpose of comparison is to show similarities while contrast is used to show differences. Through comparison or contrast between two or more things, the reader can understand them bett

37、er.Here are some key words commonly used to express comparison or contrast. Words and expressions showing comparisonWords and expressions showing contrastlike, toosimilar as, similarlyboth, likewiseas well as, alsoin the same way have in commonthe same asalthough, yet whereas, however but, whileinst

38、ead, unlikeunless, be different fromthe reverse, differ,contrary to, converselyeven though, on the contraryon the other handNote: Comparison and contrast is often used in graph description. Here are some points for you to pay special attention to.1) Not all the information has to be compared or cont

39、rasted with each other. It is common to introduce the most significant or important information and compare or contrast it. If necessary, you must make some calculation before comparing or contrasting the data.2) When comparing or contrasting information in the graphs, it is not necessary to lay equ

40、al emphasis on every change. Just give stress to those dramatic changes or to those that are of special interest to you, or those that you want your readers to pay more attention to and ignore the less important parts. 3) The comparison/contrast should be supported by concrete and relevant facts or

41、data. The tables below are the results of a research which examines the average marks scored by boys and girls of different ages in several school subjects. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below. You should write a minimum of 150 words.Boys:Subject /AgeMathScience

42、GeographyLanguagesSports76370636271106572686074136974706075156773645878Girls:Subject /AgeMathScienceGeographyLanguagesSports76469626265106573646764136470626562156872647560 3. Writing Practice 3.1 Using graphsGraphs are commonly used in reporting the results of your research. A graph is a diagram, us

43、ually a line or a curve, which shows how two or more sets of numbers and measurements are related. Graphs usually include bar/column charts/graphs, pie charts, line graphs and tables. Generally speaking, bar charts are diagrams with rectangular bars with lengths proportional to the va

44、lues that they represent. The bars can be plotted vertically or horizontally. However, they more clearly show the relationship of different parts of the sample to each other. They do not clearly show the parts in relation to the whole. The following bar chart shows the teachers with master

45、s degree or above in Northwestern College according to gender. A pie chart is a circle divided into segments. Pie charts can be used to show the sizes of various parts of the results in relation to each other and in relation to the whole sample. They are usually used to show percentages. The fo

46、llowing pie chart shows the percentage of living costs per month in a family. A line graph is a type of graph displaying information as a series of data points connected by continuous lines. It can show a pattern or trend which usually takes place over a period of time. The following line graph show

47、s the change of annual income of an average family in a certain city in China. . A table is a set of facts and figures arranged in columns and rows. A table is a very useful way of organizing numerical information. Tables are efficient, enabling the researcher to present a large amount of data in a

48、small space. They can show exact numerical values and present quantitative data. They emphasize the discrete rather than the continuous. Here is a table which shows the percentage of the use of transportation vehicles in Northwestern College.Table Use of transportation vehicles in Northwestern Colle

49、ge YearBikesBusesCars199263%36%1%200248%46%6%201231%42%27%Turn the table above into other graphs for your different research purposes. 3.2 Describing a graphThe description of graphs is of great importance in paper writing because it can help the readers understand your research better. How do you d

50、escribe a graph? Here are the major steps for you to follow:Step 1: Introduce the graphic information briefly and indicate the main trend. Normally it includes the place, time, content and purpose of the graph.Step 2: Describe the relevant and most important or significant data and make some compari

51、son if necessary. Words and expressions for describing a curve or a trend are very useful in presenting graphic information. Step 3: Summarize the data/trends. The line graph below shows the sales amount of an online shop from Monday to Friday. Match the descriptive statements with the graph. Which

52、are the correct statements describing the graph?A. The sales amount increased sharply from Monday to Tuesday.B. The sales amount reached a peak on Friday.C. There was a fluctuation in the sales amount.D. The sales amount dropped drastically from Wednesday to Thursday. Write a short passage describin

53、g the sales amount of an online shop from Monday to Friday with the information presented in the graph above.3.3 Describing a tableThe table below shows the results of the interviews on the teaching language(s) used by English teachers in class. Answer the following questions first and then accordin

54、g to the answers, describe the information in the table. Pay attention to the use of different sentence patterns when reporting the data. Table 1 Teaching language(s) used by English teachers in classChoicesFrequencyPercentAlmost English630%Mainly English1365%Mainly Chinese15%Almost Chinese00%Total2

55、0100.0Questions:1. What does the table show us?2. How many teaching languages are mentioned in the table?3. What language is used most frequently by English teachers in class?4. Do English teachers in class often use Chinese? 5. In summary, what impression do you have on the teaching language(s) used by English teachers in class?3.4 Describing chartsThe following is a result from a market survey of per