Title: English Grammar
1- English Grammar Editing Workshop
How to improve grammar and editing for
assignments. ? ? ? ? ??
2Welcome to the workshop
- Speaker Jonny Wells
- ELSSA centre
3ELSSA Centre
- Website www.elssa.uts.edu.au
- Phone 9514 2327
- Support students with academic skill building
- Provide workshops in faculties throughout the
semester - Provide 1 to 1 appointments though our wesbite
4Please make notes today
- Presentation is not available will be on the
ELSSA website in the near future. - Please do not copy word for word there isnt
time. - Use good note taking skills
- Use bullet points to get the main issues
- Please feel free to ask questions as we go along!
5Todays program
- Discussion / Ice breaker
- Use of grammar for academic purposes
- Developing unity and cohesion in your writing
- Effective editing techniques
- 8 point editing checklist its importance
- Resources to help improve grammar
- Questions to ask your lecturer before hand-in!
6Discussion Questions
- Ask your partner these questions
- How do you rate your academic writing skills and
abilities? - How confident are you about your knowledge of
grammar, punctuation and spelling in your written
work? - How do you currently edit or proof your work?
- How many times do you draft your assignment work?
- Do you know how to improve your levels of
grammar, editing and academic writing knowledge?
7Question
- Why is careful editing and proofing of your
grammar, spelling, punctuation and style, so
important in your assignment work?
8ANSWER
You are university students, and as such, you are
expected to have above average knowledge and
usage of English grammar, vocabulary, spelling,
punctuation and academic register/style.
9What are some of the most common mistakes
university students make?
- Native speakers
- Poor overall structure
- Poor academic style too casual
- Informal use of vocabulary
- Writing in the 1st person I
- Non-native speakers (the above plus)
- Subject verb agreement They has a lecture.
- Use of articles (a, an, the)
- Preposition errors (in, for, at)
- Countable/uncountable / sing/pl nouns (evidences)
- Verb tense
- punctuation
10How to improve your knowledge of grammar.
- Like anything you need to practice!
- Also.
- Read what you want to write.
- Write often in the style required.
- Use grammar books to self-teach.
- Get friends/peers to check/tutor
11Excellent Grammar Aids
- English grammar in Use Raymond Murphy /
Intermediate /Advanced - English Basics Mark Cholij
- Academic Writing HandbookStephen Bailey
- Google!
- Good Bookshops have a browse and find one you
like
12Academic Grammar
- Increased use of the Passive Tense more formal,
less emotional and more authoritative. - Practice
- A. The lecturer presented the SWOT analysis
marketing theory. - B. I will analyse the key factors related to
monetary policy in Australia. - C. The Government claims that renewable energy
targets must be significantly increased within
the next 10 years.
13Developing Unity Cohesion
- Effective unity and coherence are essential for
good academic writing and essay writing! - A well written essay should be
- well organised into introduction, body
paragraphs/sections and have a strong conclusion. - Each paragraph should be well supported with
relevant logical arguments. - The body paragraphs should feature a topic
sentence, supporting sentences and have a
concluding sentence and the paragraphs should
flow logically together from start to finish. - All the parts of the paragraphs and essay should
work together to develop unity and coherence.
14Developing Unity Cohesion
- ?Developing Unity
- Having paragraphs all related to the main topic
sentence ensures unity in the writing and it
also ensures that the points and information
within the paragraph are relevant, connected and
in keeping with the topic of the essay.
15Developing Cohesion
- ? Cohesive Devices
- Cohesive devices are words and phrases that
connect sentences and paragraphs together, to
create a smooth flow of ideas. Cohesive devices
are words such as transitions, pronoun references
and the repetition of key supporting ideas.
16Effective Use of Transitions
- There are many transition words and phrases in
English that are used in academic writing to
connect sentences together or relate ideas to one
another. Here is a table of some of the common
examples.
Source Oshima Hogue, 2007
17Effective Pronoun Usage
- In academic writing, to develop unity in
paragraph writing, it is essential that the
pronoun use is consistent and relates to the same
idea, person, thing being described. -
- Example Climate Change is affecting most
nations on the planet. It is affecting the way
people are living on Planet Earth as it is not
able to adapt quickly enough to the changes in
the climate system nor are the human beings
living on it. They simply cannot escape the
affects of climate change if governments take no
action. (source climatechange.org) - Q What do the underlined pronouns refer to in
the above text?
18Importance of Unity and Cohesion
- Unity and cohesion are vital elements in your
writing. They ensure that your writing is
logical, well connected, relevant to your topic
sentences. Furthermore they tie into your thesis
statement and make for clearer, more concise and
smoother reading.
19Features of Academic writing
- Q What are some of the features of academic
register/ writing?
20Features of Academic Writing
- It has few personal pronouns, such as I, we
or they. - It is highly structured has a very formal
style. - It is impersonal and non emotional -usually fact
based. - Its grammar makes greater use of the passive
tense. - It is often research based and not opinion based
writing. It uses references and quotes to show
this. - It features no jargon or slang words.
- It has no colloquialisms. e.g. Im gonna go
now. - No grammatical contractions e.g. cant, wont,
doesnt etc. - It is a formal style of communication most often
used by professionals and academics and
university students!
21Editing and Proofing
- Q How many drafts of your assignment do you do
before you hand-in your work? - Q What are the minimum number of drafts you
should do, before hand-in?
22Editing checklist
- Q What questions do you need to ask yourself
when proofing and editing your work?
23Editing checklist - 8 things
- Have I answered the question fully?
- Are my arguments supported correctly?
- Is my writing clear and concise and meets the
marking criteria? - Is my writing logical and well structured?
- Have I plagiarised anywhere, intentionally/uninten
tionally? - Have I remained within the set word limit?
- Have I written in academic style /proper
register? - Have I spell checked and grammar checked
thoroughly?
24Editing Proofing Skills
- Q What techniques can help you edit your work
better?
25Good Editing techniques
- Leave text for 24 hours!
- Always print a hard copy
- Dont edit on screen
- Read from bottom to top
- Read it out loud to yourself
- Check topic sentences and concluding sentences in
your paragraphs - Ask your peers/friends to read it
- Spell check but dont rely on it
- Check punctuation, spelling and grammar you can
be sure your lecturer will!!!
26Edit X 3 rule
- Proof and edit for clarity of meaning.
- Proof and edit for style and grammar.
- Proof and edit for presentation/typos.
27Editing
- When proofing and editing, look out for the
common mistakes that native and non-native
university students make that were outlined
before. - Also- get someone to read your work for you.
28Good writers dowhat?
- Start early and finish early.
- Read around the subject thoroughly.
- Plan well (often over a day or two).
- Structure essays logically and check the marking
criteria. - Reference so that they support their argument
fully. - Have high levels of accuracy in their work.
- Pay close attention to correct grammar,
punctuation and spelling. - Hand their work in on time within deadlines.
- Ask for help if they need it.
29Things to ask your lecturer
- Are there any things that you dont want students
to do in their assignment? - How many references are wanted?
- Is there anything you particularly require in
assignments / indenting/ double spacing-1.5
spacing/single spaced? - What should I do if I cant hand my essay in
personally? - Can I submit my assignment electronically?
- Can I submit my assignment by faculty
mailbox/pigeonhole? - Dont be afraid to ask questions of your lecturer
- if you dont ask.you dont get!
30Further resources / help
-
- Internet
- Books / Bookshop Co-Op/Abbeys/Bridge
- Lecturer/ Faculty staff
- ELSSA centre
- Your Classmates/Friends/Peers
31Essay Writing Cycle
- Start early!
- Analyse the question fully.
- Plan effectively and take your time doing it .
- (your essay will write itself!).
- Write / edit / re-draft.
- Write / edit / re-draft for a 2nd time.
- Write / edit / re-draft for a 3rd time minimum.
- Make sure edit and proof fully
- If non-native speaker get a native speaker to
read your assignment for you before hand-in. - Do your best work.
- Hand-in on time
32Do you have any questions about todays workshop?
33- Good luck with your writing, editing and grammar
in your studies!
Thanks for your time.