Fitting Grammar into the Language Learning Experience Grant Goodall UCSD.
Language problems in grant applications
description
Transcript of Language problems in grant applications
The language of sciencea view from the other side
Marina Pantcheva
Language advisorHSL | University of Tromsø
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Language problems in grant applications
Successful grant applications have fewer language problems
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wrong word
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funded applicationsrejected applications
1Do knot trust the spell Czech
More than one of 10 bachelor students plan to enrol in research training program. Less then two of 100 want still to continue with they’re research short after they are ready whit the Master’s thesis, because they have bean unsatisfied with the field, which they have chosen.
not wrong
More than one of 10 bachelor students plan to enrol in research training program. Less then two of 100 want still to continue with they’re research short after they are ready whit the Master’s thesis, because they have bean unsatisfied with the field, which they have chosen.
18 mistakes
2Write in plain English
69,5 % preferred this
Text:more crediblemore stimulatingmore interesting
Author: more competentwith better organized mind
Plain English makes authors appear smarter
1580 scientiststwo texts
same factssame order
same five terms
Plain English Scientific English
Turk and Kirkman (pp. 14-16, 1989)
3Keep the sentence short
applicationsHSL
acceptedapplications
21,5 wordsper sentence
26 wordsper sentence
Recommended sentence length: max 25 words
applicationsCASTL
29 wordsper sentence
4Leave white space
Background for the studyDeaf people communicate with two hands. Hearing people communicate with only one mouth. What are the implications of this difference for our view of human language? The proposed research aims to approach this issue by addressing concrete questions, using innovative methods.
Primary and secondary objectivesThis proposal focuses on three questions that target different components in Dutch Sign Language. What kind of information does the
'other' hand contribute to communication?
What is the role of the ‘other’ hand in marking smaller units within a sentence?
What are the articulatory activities of the 'other' hand when it does not function to express linguistic information?
To answer these questions, the most recent technical possibilities will be employed…
Background for the studyDeaf people communicate with two hands. Hearing people communicate with only one mouth. What are the implications of this difference for our view of human language? The proposed research aims to approach this issue by addressing concrete questions, using innovative methods.Primary and secondary objectivesThis proposal focuses on three questions that target different components in Dutch Sign Language.• What kind of information does the 'other'
hand contribute to communication?• What is the role of the ‘other’ hand in
marking smaller units within a sentence?• What are the articulatory activities of the
'other' hand when it does not function to express linguistic information?
To answer these questions, the most recent technical possibilities will be employed. Our corpus of NGT, one of the first and largest digital sign language corpora in the world, will serve as a basic resource for addressing all questions. Secondly, recent measurement techniques enable quantitative articulatory studies.An answer to these questions will help us understand to what extent the differences observed between spoken and signed languages are fundamental, or whether they reveal common aspects of our human communicative capacity.We know that deaf people do not utter two different sentences at the same time (one with the left and one with the right hand), but there are indications that from below the level of single signs up to the structuring of discourse, the two hands contribute to communication in a fashion not be paralleled in spoken languages. The two hands can be mere copies of each other both in form and function, but there is always one dominant hand.
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Background for the studyDeaf people communicate with two hands. Hearing people communicate with only one mouth. What are the implications of this difference for our view of human language? The proposed research aims to approach this issue by addressing concrete questions, using innovative methods.
Primary and secondary objectivesThis proposal focuses on three questions that target different components in Dutch Sign Language. What kind of information does the
'other' hand contribute to communication?
What is the role of the ‘other’ hand in marking smaller units within a sentence?
What are the articulatory activities of the 'other' hand when it does not function to express linguistic information?
To answer these questions, the most recent technical possibilities will be employed…
serif font in running text
non-serif font in headings, 130% font size
white space around headings
boldface for emphasis
flush left
Background for the studyDeaf people communicate with two hands. Hearing people communicate with only one mouth. What are the implications of this difference for our view of human language? The proposed research aims to approach this issue by addressing concrete questions, using innovative methods.
Primary and secondary objectivesThis proposal focuses on three questions that target different components in Dutch Sign Language. What kind of information does the
'other' hand contribute to communication?
What is the role of the ‘other’ hand in marking smaller units within a sentence?
What are the articulatory activities of the 'other' hand when it does not function to express linguistic information?
To answer these questions, the most recent technical possibilities will be employed…
serif font in running text
non-serif font in headings, 130% font size
white space around headings
boldface for emphasis
flush left
Background for the studyDeaf people communicate with two hands. Hearing people communicate with only one mouth. What are the implications of this difference for our view of human language? The proposed research aims to approach this issue by addressing concrete questions, using innovative methods.
Primary and secondary objectivesThis proposal focuses on three questions that target different components in Dutch Sign Language. What kind of information does the
'other' hand contribute to communication?
What is the role of the ‘other’ hand in marking smaller units within a sentence?
What are the articulatory activities of the 'other' hand when it does not function to express linguistic information?
To answer these questions, the most recent technical possibilities will be employed…
serif font in running text
non-serif font in headings, 130% font size
white space around headings
boldface for emphasis
flush left
5Ask others to read your text
Reading list
Clark, S and G Pointon (2011) Words—A User’s Guide. Harlow: LongmanCutts, M (1995) Oxford Guide to Plain English. Oxford University Press.European Commission How to Write Clearly. http://ec.europa.eu/translation.Greene, A E. (2013) Writing Science in Plain English. University of Chicago Press.Strunk, W and E. B. White (1918) The Elements of Style. Longman.Swan, M (1993) Practical English Usage. Oxford University Press.Turk, C and J Kirkman (1989) Effective Writing. London: E. & F.N. Spon