weeks-2-&3-Choosing-a-research-Topic

Understandingresearch&ChoosingaresearchTopicAcademicResearchwritingWeeks2&3SomeReferencesforyouPeterG.Beidler,WritingMatters,四川大学出版社，2003.BrianDevlin,《英语论文写作教程---基于国际标准的学术写作与发表》（InternationalStandardsforstudents’writing），清华大学出版社，2003程爱民，祈寿华，英语学术论文写作纲要，上海外语教育出版社，2005.TheOnlineWritingLabatPurdue(OWL)，1.understandthedefinitionsofAcademicResearchWriting,andargumentativeandanalyticalresearch2.understandwhatconstitutesagoodtopicforresearch,3.Knowwhatstepstofollowwhenchoosingatopic,4.havelearnedhowtoimprovetopicsthathaveproblems.I.UnderstandingresearchIdentificationofacademicresearchTypesArgumentativeresearchAnalyticalresearchDefinitionofAcademicResearchWritingAnacademicresearchpaperisagenreofwritingthatemphasizesthecombinationofpersonalinsightsandsecondarymaterialgatheredthroughfocusedresearchandinvestigationofaparticulartopicAresearchpaperistheculminationandfinalproductofaninvolvedprocessofresearch,criticalthinking,sourceevaluation,organization,andcomposition.(PurdueUniversity'sonlinewritingresourcecenter,theOwlWritingLab).Bydefinition,theessenceofaresearchpaperistocombineprimaryandsecondaryinformation,guidedbyaprovablethesisorclaim,toarriveataneworenlightenedconclusionaboutthetopic.Aresearchpaperdiffersfromothergenresofacademicwriting,forexampleexpositorywriting,inthatitattemptstoofferinterpretationsstemmingfrominvestigationsintothesubjectfromothersources,ratherthanmeresummariesofthetopics.TypesTwomajorcategoriesofacademicresearch:argumentativeandanalytical.Whilebothrequireextensiveresearchtosupportathesisorclaim,thegoalsofeachtypeofpaperdiffergreatly.Whatisargumentation?Tochangereaders’wayofthinkingorcourseofactionwithone’spointofviewOne’spointofvieworclaimismainlysupportedbyevidencesorganizedlogicallyOne’sargumentationreadersarenaïveandcriticaltotheclaimArgumentationisnotexpositionwhichistointroduceandexplainsomethingtoreadersArgumentativeResearchThegoalofanargumentativeresearchpaperistopersuade.Therefore,thewritermustclearlydecideandcommunicatetheirstanceonthechosentopicintheformofathesisstatement.Thethesisofanargumentativeresearchpapertypicallystemsfromacontroversialissue---onethatcanbedebatedandcontainspotentialrefutationthatthewriter'sresearchwillneedtoaddress.Ideally,thestudentwouldsupportthisthesisthroughoutherpaperbymeansofbothprimaryandsecondarysources,withtheintenttopersuadeheraudiencethatherparticularinterpretationofthesituationisviable.(theOwl)Criteriaforandcharacteristicsofgoodargumentativewriting:Arguable能够争辩的有争辩价值的–manywoulddisagreeandarguebackwiththethesis/viewFocused–convergentratherthandivergentinfocus聚焦的、高度集中的议论Critical–withone’sindependentjudgmentsorauthorialvoicebeingclearandstrong个人独立的判断，声音清晰强劲Supportive–examplesandevidencesarerelevant,specific,andsufficient/representative例子证据要典型性相关性代表性Clear/Explicit–keytermsandreasoningnotbeingvague,general,andlooseDeductiveorganizationwithgooduseofvariouslogicalrelationsReaderfriendly–withtransitionalmarkersandothereasy-to-followsign-postingOne’sownexpressions,ratherthanclichéandfancyexpressionsVarietyofsentencelengthandC.B.S.styleAnalyticalResearchUnliketheargumentativepaper,whichforcesthewritertotakeadefinitivestanceonatopic,theanalyticalpaperposesaquestionbythewriterthatrequiresfurtherinvestigation.Thisquestionisreferredtoastheresearchquestionandisthedrivingforcebehindtheanalyticalpaper;itrequiresthatthewritertakenostanceandremainobjectivethroughouthisinvestigationofthetopic.Inananalyticalpaper,itisnotthestudent'sintenttopersuadetheaudiencethathisideasarerightwhilethoseofothersarewrong.Instead,hisgoalistoofferacriticalinterpretationofprimaryandsecondarysourcesthroughoutthepaper---sourcesthatshould,ultimatelybuttresshisparticularanalysisofthetopic.(theOwl)II.ChoosingaresearchTopicAScopesintopicselectionBCriteriainTopicSelectionCStepsinTopicSelectionAScopesBritishandAmericanLiteraturereview(英美文学评论)ComparisonofEasternandwesternLiteratureandculture(中西文学文化比较)EnglishLanguageteaching(英语教学)Linguisticsandappliedlinguistics(英语语言学及应用语言学)CulturesofEnglishspeakingcountries(英语国家文化)Cross-culturalcommunication(跨文化交际)Translationtheoriesandpractices(翻译理论与实践)BCriteriainTopicselectionWhatarethecriteriafortopicselection?1.Interest.interestingtoyouandtoyouraudience.2.Relevance:relatedtoyourmajor;acompromiseisneededherebetweenpersonalinterestandmajorstudy3.Significance:directlyrelatedtoyourmajor;torelatesomeproposalsorhypothesistopractice.4.Practicality:withinyourknowledgecapacity;possibleintermsofmoneyortimeormaterialavailability.SignificanceHowtoachieveSignificanceOriginal?Anyinsight?Anydepth?Useful?E.g.trytodiscussimportantissuesinEnglishlinguistics,literature,orculture,orvoiceyouropiniononacontroversialtopicinthesefields;ormakeacomparativestudybetweenChineseandEnglish,orbetweenChineseliteratureandEnglishliterature;oryoucanconductaresearchontheapplicabilityofsomespecificteachinghypothesisinChina.AnalysisofExamples实例1:OnProblemsinCross-cultureCommunicationandLearn