ACADEMIC DISCOURSE

Discussion of genre transformation issues

Newspaper to academic text: “Women skipping mammography”, Herald tribune, 2006

General remarks: ReferencesPopular text

(Magazine/Newspaper)Academic

List of References at the end of the text

No list of References/Bibliography at the end of the text.

Reference/Bibliography is always at the end of an academic article.

In-text references(how people are referred to inside the text)

Authors in the Journal of Medicine say …

Reference to journals of other organizations in general

Jones (2009) suggests that …

General remarks: Structures Structures:

Good use of impersonal and passive structures, but without using in-text references on a number of occasions

Linking expressions: When used, restricted to ‘however’ or ‘additionally’. Restricted use of expressions for linking arguments in the

text: e.g. ‘the above-mentioned study’, ‘as argued above’, ‘the research in question’, etc.

Use of contracted forms: ‘so long as they don’t have’. Academic: ‘so long as they do

not have’

General remarks: Vocabulary (1)

Popular text (Magazine/Newspaper)

Academic

Informal expressions

A great number ofHave their breasts screened

A substantial number ofHave breast cancer screening

Informal words

Skipping mammograms Omission of mammograms

General remarks: Vocabulary (2)

Vocabulary: Absolute statements instead of a cautious language:

‘…mammography does not have any value …’. Academic: ‘…there is no firm evidence supporting mammography’s value…’

Real vs. actual: Real denotes that something is genuine as opposed to

false. Actual denotes existence rather than possibility; it

emphasises contrast with another state of affairs.

General remarks: Content

Be clear about what you are trying to express and express it concisely: Better to use simple and clear sentences than

convoluted ones

“However, the findings of a more recent survey (Kagey, 2006) seem to provide with a quite different viewpoint that tends to alter the previous considerations on the basis of a much lowered actual rate of breast screening.”

General remarks: Style

Academic texts are objective and impersonal. Use of cautious language (probably, may, assume, etc.) is widespread.

Expressions such as the following create an atmosphere of urgency and topicality not typical of academic texts: ‘…it is of utmost importance for scientists to discover…’ ‘In a recent study scientists (K. Brown and F. Jones) found that…’ ‘However, the real concern must refer to…’ ‘…the aggressive free-fall…’ ‘…an undeniable truth…’ “…a group of scientific and social researchers…’ ‘…specialists on the scientific field…’

Important to have in an academic text

In an academic text it is important to include the following: Sections for the handling of separate issues In-text references A list of references at the end

In-text references (1)

In-text references only require surname and date of publication:

For one author: Smith, 2000

For more than one author, the order is alphabetical Albin, Jones and Simons, 2009

In-text references (2)

You DO NOT need to mention the: researcher’s title first name research institute

Yes: (Smith, 2009)

NO: (Dr Smith, 2009) NO: (Dr Christopher Kagay) NO: (Dr Christopher Kagay of Harvard)

In-text references (3)

One author: It has been argued (Murphy, 2003) that… Murphy (2008) argues that …

Many authors: Linguists have argued (Burns, 1977; Jones, 1986;

Palmer, 1980) that the cultural significance…

Paraphrasing and quoting

Paraphrasing: As Jones notes (2002:98), instances of this type… Murphy (2009:56) maintains that the value of…

Quoting: Such examples are referred to as instances of

“systemic opposition” (Jones, 2008:27)… Antonymy has traditionally been defined as follows:

“Two lexical items that denote opposite ends of a scale” (Jones, 1980:78).

Specific issues (1)

‘Additionally, it was found that…’ Additionally, the above-mentioned study also

revealed that … Additionally, Jones (2002) found that …

‘According to recent research an estimated 80%...’ According to recent research (Jones, 2009)an

estimated 80%...

‘However, it is shown that real numbers …’ However, actual numbers are shown (Monk, 2010)…

‘Doctors suggested women over 69 should…’ Despite the lack of evidence supporting

mammography’s value for women over 69 (McKain, 2009), doctors still recommend it as a prescriptive test (Owen, 2010) …

Specific issues (2)

“It has been reported that important differences have been demonstrated in surveys that had been held concerning the frequency women get to have a cancer screening.” A recent study conducted by Kagey (2006) investigated the frequency of

breast cancer screening in elderly females. Contrary to existing data (Jones, 2003), according to which screenings take place once every two years, the above-mentioned study reveals that the actual screening rate approximates 61 percent.

Content issues Reported by whom? Differences between which studies? Which particular surveys?

get to do sth informal

Specific issues (3)

“According to Dr. Christopher Kagay of Harvard, it is assumed that the real rate of screening is equivalent to 61 percent.”

According to Kagay (2006), the actual screening rate is equivalent to 61 percent.

Specific issues (4)

“A survey (Caballos, 1988) on mammographs has suggested that 80% of older women have the cancer screening regularly.”

Content issues: A survey:

when at the start of an article it is important to be somewhat more specific.

On mammograms: In general or a specific aspect of mammograms? Existing surveys (Caballos, 1988) on the frequency of

mammography show that 80 percent of elderly females have the cancer screening regularly.

Specific issues (5)

The following sentence was found at the beginning of a new section:

“Besides this, it has to be mentioned that mammography may not be useful for women aged 69 and older.”

Despite the aforementioned/above-mentioned issue concerning screening numbers, it is important to point out that, as Kagay (2006) argues, mammography may not be useful for women aged 69 and older.

Specific issues (6)

“This difference could be associated with several factors, one of them being the age of the women interviewed that leads them into forgetfulness, as also, the deeply established tendency of individuals to present the image deemed as ‘correct’ for their personal customs.” The above difference could be associated with several

factors/could be attributed to a number of factors, one of which concerns the age of the women who were interviewed, which is associated with forgetfulness by a number of researchers (Jones, 2003), as well as individuals’ well-established tendency (Smith, 2003) to offer what they believe is the ‘right’ answer when discussing their personal habits.

Specific issues (7)

‘However, according to the researchers there is a better and more logic explanation: it is an undeniable truth that people who are surveyed about their personal habits tend to give as an answer what they believe is right.”

However, based on the research in question there is a more logical explanation: there exists a well-established tendency amongst people who are surveyed about their personal habits (Lemming, 1980) to offer answers that they believe are the ‘right’ ones.

Specific issues (8)

“In a recent study scientists (Dr. M. Johnson and Dr. F. Smith, 2006) demonstrated that there is no firm evidence that mammography has any value for women 69 and older.”

In a recent study Johnson and Smith (2006) argued that so far there is no firm evidence that mammography has any value for women aged 69 and older.

In a recent study Johnson and Smith (2006) argued that there is presently no firm evidence supporting mammography’s value for women older than 69.

Specific issues (9)

“However, the real concern must refer to the reasons for this aggressive free fall.”

However, what seems to be more important is to consider the reasons for the substantial difference in screening rates, which was discussed/mentioned above.

Specific issues (10)

“Researchers in general based on Medicare data agree that the actual rate is approximately 61%.”

Based on a representative sample larger than 145,000 women older than 65 years-of-age, it was estimated in the above-mentioned study that the actual screening rate approximates 61 percent.

Specific issues (11)

In their effort to answer to the fundamental question of how many women are actually screened, the professor of Harvard, Dr Christopher Kagey and his group of researchers, investigated the Medicare data demonstrated from a representative application of more than 145,000 women, over the age of 65.”

In an effort to answer the question of actual screening frequency Kagey (2006) investigated a representative sample larger that 145,000 women older than 65 years-of-age/aged 65 and older.

Specific issues (12)

“However, the findings of a more recent survey (Kagey, 2006) seem to provide with a quite different viewpoint that tends to alter the previous considerations on the basis of a much lowered actual rate of breast screening.” However, the findings of a more recent survey

(Kagey, 2006) seem to offer a quite different viewpoint in that they reveal that actual screening rates are considerably lower than was considered to be the case

Specific issues (13)

“Even though the survey does not seem to contain any possible explanation concerning the difference between the two studies, however, it has been suggested on the one hand that older women are characterized by a tendency towards forgetfulness, and on the other hand, that quite a few survey participants tend to give what they assume is the ‘right’ answer.” Even though the survey does not offer any conclusive explanations

concerning the difference between the two studies, it nevertheless suggests that, on the one hand, elderly females’ well-documented tendency towards forgetfulness (Jones, 2000) and, on the other, the equally well-established tendency participants have to give what they assume is the ‘right’ answer (Monk, 2004) might provide plausible reasons for the discrepancy.

Specific issues (14)

“Despite the unmentioned reason of this rate difference in Dr. Christopher’s research, a group of scientific and social researchers have tried to report alternative explanations (2006).” Despite the undetermined reasons for the rate difference in

Kagey’s research, which was discussed above, research undertaken by social scientists (Matthews et al., 2006) has tried to identify possible explanations.

While Kagey (2006) did not offer any explanation concerning the discrepancy in screening rates, research undertaken by social scientists (Matthews et al., 2009) has attempted to elucidate this issue by means of in-depth interviews with more than 2,000 elderly females. More specifically,…”

Specific issues (15)

According to a recent survey (London, March, 2006) regarding mammograms, the majority of elderly women (nearly 80 percent) tend to have the cancer screening at least once every two years. However, according to a new study (D. Christopher Kagey of Harvard), the actual numbers may be significantly lower. It has been reported (Corsi, T.M. and Harvey, M.E., the American Journal or Preventive Medicine) that the number of elderly women who are actually screened has been indefinite yet. As a matter of fact, the representative sample has been detected to be more than 145,000 women at the age of 65 and older (Medicare Data). Taking into account the above figures the actual screening rate is calculated to be nearly 61 percent.”

According to a recent (existing) survey (London, March, 2006) regarding mammograms, the majority of elderly women (nearly 80 percent) tend to have the cancer screening at least once every two years. However, according to a new (recent) study (D. Christopher Kagey of Harvard Kagey, 2009), the actual numbers may be significantly lower. It is important to point out that the question of actual screening rates in elderly females seems to be a somewhat pressing issue (Corsi and Harvey, 2007. To address that particular issue Kagey (2009) employed a representative sample of more than 145,000 women at the age of 65 and older (Medicare Data) and estimated that the actual screening rate approximates 61 percent.”