研究报告生学术英语写作教程Unit5ReportingResults

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 parison and contrast;
-Learn the skills for choosing appropriate graphs and making graphs. Contents:
- Teacher’s introduction;
- Reading and discussion: Types of Language for Thinking and Le*ical Collocational Errors;
- Language focus: graphic description;parison and contrast;
-Writing practice: using graphs and describing graphs (tables and charts);
- Rewriting practice: grasping the major moves for outlining the results section;
- Classroom e*tension: 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 research paper is to present the resultswiththe statistical techniques such as tables and charts. This does not mean that you do not need any te*t to describe data presented in graphs.
Think about the following questions before reading the te*t and then have a discussion with your classmates.
1. What 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 pare and contrast the data presented in graphs"
The following is part of the results section of a research paper which
investigated howEFL learners’ types of language for thinking influence
their le*ical collocational errors in speech.
1.2 Reading Passage
Results
Types of Language for Thinking and Le*ical Collocational Errors 1One key issue in this study was whether a learner’s type of language
for thinking influences le*ical collocational production. 2This issue was e*plored by e*amining one retrospective report on the questionnaire,
‘‘When tape recording, what language did you mainly use for inner speech"’’3Based ontheir responses, the 42 participants were classified into four language groups: Chinese, English, Chinese mingled with English, and other languages.4The participants’inaccuracy rateswere pared, which
were obtained by dividing the number of errors by the overall number of le*ical collocations they produced individually,among the language groups.
The preliminary analysis discovered that the 42 participants produced a total of 2,491 le*ical collocations, and each participant created appro*imately 29 le*ical collocations per minute. Regarding learner errors, 263 incorrect collocations were found among the 2,491 le*ical collocations, resulting in aninaccuracy rate of 10.56. To report the effect of language for thinking on the production of le*ical 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 mainly used English for thinking, 20 primarilythought in Chinese mingled with English, and none thought in other languages. The inaccuracy rate of oral le*ical collocations in each language group was calculated by dividing the total number of le*ical collocational errors by the total number of le*ical collocations produced. Descriptive statisticsdemonstrated that those who mainly thought in their native language (Mandarin Chinese) produced the highest inaccuracy rate of le*ical collocations (M=15.17), followed by those who primarily thought in English (M=12.40) and those using a bination (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 production of le*ical collocations.
To probe intergroup differences, the Fisher Least Significant Difference (LSD) posthoc testwas adopted, which aims at discerning whether the parison between groups reaches the significance level. The LSD test showed that the Chinese-mingled-with-English group had a markedly lower inaccuracyrate 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 le*ical collocations.
Table 1:Types of Language for Thinking and Inaccuracy Rates of Le*ical
Note: Mean shows the average inaccuracy rate of collocations in each group.
*P<.05
(Hung-ChunWang & Su-Chin Shih, 2011)
1.3 Reading prehension
1.3.1Read the first paragraph and identify the information elements you find in each sentence of the te*t.
as "show〞and "indicate〞. Read the second and third paragraphs carefully and think of the question: Which verbs did the authors use for
the question: What is the function of the last sentence in the 2nd and 3rd paragraph s
2Language Focus
2.1 Graphic description
The results section clearly presents the findings of your study. It is usually presented both in graph and te*t. 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 te*t-based section, the description of graphs is of great importance in paper writing. Good descriptions can help the readers understand your research better while using a single sentence pattern to describethe 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 describing the statistical and graphic information.
Here we will introduce some useful words, phrases or sentence patterns
use some adjectives such as "apparent〞, "clear〞, "interesting〞, "obvious〞, "revealing〞 and "significant〞 to make your 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 E*periment2 resulted in the lowest value
of ...
4. What is interesting in this data is that ...
5. In Figure10, there is a clear trend of decreasing ...
6. As Table 2.1 shows, there was a great deal of difference between
the e*perimental group and the control group.
7. As shown in Table 6.3, chunk frequency also has significant
correlation 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 □agree □I don’t know □ disagree □
strongly disagree
Question 2: You are active in group discussion in the classroom.
□Strongly agree □agree □I don’t know □ disagree □
strongly disagree
Table 1 Data concerning the students’ interest and participation
Note: N=number; P=percentage
Now 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 pleted and returned the questionnaire form.
2. The majority of respondents felt 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 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 e*ercises.
A. Mark the following places in the graph.
a) The bottom of the line;
b) The peak of the line;
c) The fluctuating part.
B. Describe the growth rate of Ford car productionin 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 October 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 parison and contrast
When you are writing the reports section, you need to do much more than just give data. What you should always try to do is to convey more information with the data. paring and contrasting is a mon way to deal with the data. The purpose of parison is to show similarities while contrast is used to show differences. Through parison or contrast between two or more things, the reader can understand them better.
are some points for you to pay special attention to.
1) Not all the information has to be pared or contrasted with each other. It is mon to introduce the most significant or important information and pare or contrast it. If necessary, you must make some calculation before paring or contrasting the data.
2) When paring or contrasting information in the graphs, it is not necessary to lay equal 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 parison/contrast should be supported by concrete and relevant
facts or data.
The tables below are the results of a research which e*amines 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:
Girls:
3.Writing Practice
3.1 Using graphs
Graphs are monly used in reporting the results of your research. A graph is a diagram, usually a line or a curve, which shows how two or more sets of numbers and measurements are related. Graphs usually includebar/column charts/graphs, pie charts, line graphs and tables.
Generally speaking, barcharts are diagrams with rectangular bars with lengths proportional to the values 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’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 following pie chart shows the percentage of living costs per month in a family.
A line graph is a type of graphdisplaying 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 shows the change of annual ine 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. Tablesare efficient, enabling the researcher to present a large amount of data in a small space. They can show e*act 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.
purposes.
3.2 Describing a graph
The description of graphs is of great importance in paper writing because it can help the readers understand your research better. How do you describe 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 significantdata and make some parison if necessary. Words and e*pressions 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 are the correct statements describing the graph"
A. The sales amountincreased 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 describing the sales amount of an online shop from Monday to Friday with the information presented in the graph above.
3.3 Describing a table
The 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 according 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 l anguage(s) used by English teachers in class
Questions:
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 charts
The following is a result from a market survey of personal puters. Report the result from a university student’s perspective. First, describe the student’s needs in personal puters.Then, pare and contrast
the three types of personal putersin the items listed in the table below. Finally, conclude by stating which puter seems to be the most suitable
for the student’s needs you have described.
Table2 A market survey of personal puters
4. Writing project
4.1 Get prepared for writing theresults section
Before you write the Results Sectionof your research paper, you need to make everything ready for your writing. The following steps may be helpful for your preparation.
1. Read the literaturereview section and themethod sectioncarefully and rethink about the research questions;
2. Review you results and check whether they have answered all the research questions;
3. Organize your results in a logical manner (For e*ample, according to priority of the appearance of research questions);
4. Prepare tables and/or other diagrams;
5. Select appropriate language style and pay attention to the use of grammar;
Work in groups and discuss what other preparations you can make for writing the results section of your research paper.
4.2 Outlining theresults section
When outlining a results section, there are usually four major moves to follow.
Move 1: Preparing information
This move functions as areminder and connector between the method section and the results section, as it provides relevant information for thepresentation of results. It providesa review of issues mentioned in the method section, the location of tables or graphs where results are displayedand a general preview of the section. However, it is not obligatory because there are also results sections that do not have thismove.
Move 2: Reporting results
Move 2 is the core element. It is the move in which the results of a study are presented, normally with relevant evidence such as statistics and e*amples. In this move, the authors need to locate where the results are and clearly describe the findings of the study both in diagrams and te*t.
Move 3: menting on results
This move serves the purpose of establishing the meaningand
significance of the research results in relation to the relevant field. It includes information and interpretations that go beyond the "objective〞 results.This can involve how the results can be interpreted in the conte*t of the study, howthe findings contribute to the field (often involving parison with relatedliterature),what underlying reasons may account for the results, or ments about thestrength, limitations or generalizability of the results. As indicated by the frequencyof moves and steps, this section is highly cyclical.
Move 4: Summarizing results
In this move, the major results obtained are summarized in order to help readers understand the research better. This move is optional in a research paper due to the limited length while it is a must for a dissertation or thesis.
Now, you are required to outline the resultssection of a research paper entitled A study of the effect of Chinese language on English
4.3 Drafting your results section
Begin your writing now with the information you have just obtained from your survey.
5. Final Checklist
Here are some useful questions to ask yourself about writing the results section of your paper:。