English for international business

English for international business

Unit 1: Components of academic writing

There are no fixed rules but different formats in writing.

Sentence structure

• Contain verbs: Simple sentences are easier to write and read, but longer sentences are also needed. However, we need to avoid writing very lengthy sentences.
• Use conjunctions (but), relative pronouns (which), or punctuation (the "; "semicolon, a pause but not so long) to link the clauses.

Common text components

• Heading
• Subtitle
• Paragraph
• Title
• Phrase and some other common text components
• Citation: Reference to source
• Abbreviation: For convenience
• Italics (corsive): Used to show from other languages or add emphasis
• Brackets (parentesi): Used to give extra information or to clarify a point

Plagiarism

Avoiding plagiarism is a concern for both teachers and students; we need to clearly understand the issue. In the English-speaking academic world, it is essential to use a wide range of sources for writing and acknowledge the sources correctly; otherwise, there is a risk of plagiarism. It basically means taking ideas and words from a source without giving credit (acknowledgement) to the author. It can be seen as an academic crime.

Students are expected:

• To show that they have read the relevant sources on a subject (by giving citations)
• To explain with their own words and come to their own conclusion

Reasons to avoid plagiarism

• Copying the work of others is easily detected
• It is failing and may lead to a course failure

If we borrow from other people, we must show that we have done this by providing the correct acknowledgement. There are two ways:

1. Summary citation
2. Quotation citation (using the same words)

Citations make it clear and give necessary information to find the source. They are linked to a list of references at the end of the main text, including: Author, Date, Title, Place of publication, and Publisher.

In some situations, it is difficult to decide if plagiarism is involved or if it can be accidental:

• When the name of the Author is misspelt, it is technically plagiarism but really carelessness.
• Self-plagiarism is also possible
• In general, anything that is not common knowledge or your own ideas and research (published or not) must be cited and referenced.

Quotation should not be overused. We must learn to paraphrase and summarize in order to include other writers' ideas. It involves:

• Rewriting a text so that the language is different while the content stays the same
• Summarizing means reducing the length but retaining the main points

Understanding essay titles

For students, it is essential to understand what an essay title is asking them to do. The process of planning should include these three steps:

1. Analyze the title wording
2. Decide how much space to give to each part of the answer
3. Prepare an outline using our favorite method

Title instructions

Contains instruction words which tell the student what to do, often containing the question “what” by asking for a description and “why” for a reason or explanation. Many essay titles also include a context, such as a time period or geographical area. Clearly, it is important to limit the answer to give context.

• Analyse = break down into the various parts and their relationship
• Assess/evaluate = decide the value or worth of a subject
• Describe = give a detailed account of something
• Discuss = look at various aspects of a topic, compare benefits and drawbacks
• Examine/explore = divide into sections and discuss each critically
• Illustrate = give examples
• Outline/trace = explain a topic briefly and clearly
• Suggest/indicate = make a proposal and support it
• Summarise = deal with a complex subject by reducing it to the main elements

Brainstorming

When time is limited, it may be helpful to start thinking about a topic by writing down the ideas in any order.

Essay length

Normally between 1000 and 5000 words. 20% (400 words) is usually sufficient for the introduction and conclusion together (references are not usually included) and the main body would have 1600 words.

Summarizing and paraphrasing

They are normally used together in essay writing. Summarizing aims to reduce information to a suitable length, allowing the writer to condense lengthy sources into a concise form, while paraphrasing means changing the wording of a text so that it is significantly different from the original, without changing the meaning. Both are needed to avoid the risk of plagiarism.

Summarizing is a common activity in everyday life; it is used to describe the main features of the subject in order to give a clear and simple impression. It is a flexible tool; we can use it to give a one-sentence outline or to provide much more detail, generally focusing on the main ideas and excluding examples or supporting information.

Techniques for summarizing

1. Read the original text carefully and check any new or difficult vocabulary
2. Mark the key points by underlining or highlighting
3. Make notes of the key points, paraphrasing where possible
4. Check the summary to ensure it is accurate and nothing important has been changed or lost
5. Write the summary from your notes, reorganizing the structure if needed

Techniques for paraphrasing

1. Changing vocabulary by using synonyms
2. Changing word class (reorganizing the sentence)
3. Changing word order

Note that in practice, all these techniques are used together. Do not attempt to paraphrase every word, since some have no true synonym (demand, economy, etc.).

Citation references

As we said previously, it is important to refer correctly to the work of other writers which we used. We mainly present these sources as a summary, paraphrase, a quotation, or use both. In each case, a citation is included to provide a link to the list of references at the end of your paper.

Reference verbs

Summaries and quotations are usually introduced by a reference verb; "argues that…" or "claimed that…". These verbs can be either in the present or the past tense. Normally, the use of the present tense suggests that the source is recent and still valid, while the past indicates that the source is older and may be out of date. In some disciplines, an older one can be relevant.

System of referencing

There are various systems of referencing employed in the academic world.