Иностранный язык ИФ (11 гр. МИст. ОЗО)

STRATEGIES TO PREWRITING THE RESEARCH PAPER: INTRODUCTION

TO THE RESEARCH PAPER, DISCOVERING SUBJECTS, CHOOSING AND

LIMITING A SUBJECT, GATHERING INFORMATION, ANALYZING,

EVALUATING SOURCES

 

 Task 4 Read the text and define your own way of gathering information.

Gathering Information

Сбор информации

Once you have a suitably limited subject, your next step is to formulate a list of

questions your paper should answer. If you have decided to write a paper on current

developments on how computers are helping people with disabilities, for example, your

guide questions might include the following.

Guide Questions

• Are there different kinds of computers for different disabilities?

• How do computers help people with language disabilities?

• How do they help people who have lost their ability to speak or have never been

able to speak?

• Just how do computers help people who are blind “to see”? How do they help them

read and write?

• How do computers help people who have limited mobility? How do they help

people who are paralyzed? How do they help them move? What tasks do they help

them perform?

• What are the costs? What are the benefits?

After you have a list of between five and ten questions, you can turn to appropriate

library sources to answer them. The following steps will guide you through the process of

collecting appropriate sources in the library.

Steps for Gathering Information

1 Begin by consulting a general reference work such as an encyclopedia or handbook

to gain an overview of your subject. Also make a note of any sources that are listed

at the end of articles.

2 Use the subject cards in the card catalogue to find books on your subject.

3 Consult the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature to find magazine articles on

your subject.

4 Use a newspaper index to identify news articles.

5 Make a list of all available sources on your subject. For each book, record or author,

title, copyright year, name and location of the publisher, and the call number. If

your source is a magazine or a newspaper, record the name and the date of the

publication, the author, the title, and the location (section and page numbers) of the

article.

6 Assign each source a number to identify it in your notes.

 

Task 5 Read about analyzing. Make a cluster to analyze the main parts of your

research paper. Use it to help you limit your subject and specify the material.

Analyzing

Анализ

Suppose you wanted to know how the car works. How would you find out? You

would probably open the hood and start looking at the different parts of the engine to see

what they are and what they do. Breaking something down in its various parts is usually the

best way to understand it – whether it is a car, a story, or an idea. When you carry out the

process systematically, you are analyzing.

As you prepare to write a research paper, stop to analyze your subject. Ask yourself

how you can break it down into smaller parts. To open your mind and help you analyze the

 

subject try a cluster. Once you have identified the major parts of a subject, you can use

them to limit the subject and also to point out the specific directions for your research.

 

Task 6 Read the material about evaluating sources and then make notes on it in your

writing folder.

Evaluating Sources

Оценка источников

In the process of reviewing sources for up-to-date material, accuracy and objectivity

is an essential part of your research. If a book has an old publication date, for example, it

may be missing critical new information. If the author is biased – has a strong leaning

toward one viewpoint because of emotion or self-interest – then the book or article may

have only information that supports the author’s viewpoint. The checklists can help

evaluating sources.

Model: Checklists for Evaluating Books and Articles

1 Who is the author? What is his or her credo? You can find it by reading the book

jacket or by reading about the author in a biographical reference book. In the article

you can find this information in a note at the beginning or end of the article.

2 Is there anything in the author’s background that might suggest a biased viewpoint?

3 What is the publication date? If the subject requires the most up-to-date information,

such as recent medical findings, then avoid books that are more than a few years

old.

4 Check the table of contents and the index. Is there information on your limited

subject in the book?

5 After using checklist to evaluate books or articles, use only those sources you can

rely on for accuracy and objectivity.

 

Task 7 Read the dialogue and fill the replies according to the context (the adviser

and postgraduate). Reproduce the whole dialogue.

And evaluating sources?

Now you have to write the research paper. There are some stages in the process of

writing: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

The first thing is discovering subject of one’s research. Then it is choosing and limiting

the subject. You have done it already. Now the next stage is gathering information.

Writing the Research Paper at the Stage of Prewriting

− (1)

− What kinds of activities are at the stage of prewriting?

− (2)

− Very well, you have to combine the work with the electronic form and publishing.

Analyzing the subject is a very important next stage.

− (3)

− In the process of reviewing sources for up-to-date material, accuracy and objectivity

is an essential part of your research.

− I will begin prewriting immediately.