It is advisable to use the main points or issues you are going to consider as working headings, or to make notes of the parts of your writing. They may look like the following:

- the purpose of the composition;

- the subject and its introduction;

- information included in each paragraph;

- explanation of obtained information or results;

- drawing conclusion.

The draft can show if the order of the paragraphs is appropriate and help rearrange them if necessary so that they lead smoothly to the conclusion. Depending on the length of the work the order of information may follow increasing or decreasing importance.

The writer must capture the interest of the reader from the first sentences of the text. There should be one paragraph for each aspect of the subject and all sentences should provide information relevant to the topic. Each sentence should be related to the preceding one(s) and to the next. Try to avoid ambiguities and superfluous introductory phrases (for example: Secondly it must be said that … Next it must be noted that…). Paragraphs should not be too long or too short.

Revise your draft carefully, make all the necessary additions or editing and read the final text aloud to ensure that it sounds well. Sometimes several revisions are needed to provide sufficient explanation to all the ideas and to improve the quality of the composition. Check the spelling and figures. When the paper has been revised, put it on one side for a while and read again in one or two days. If everything satisfies you and no further improvements are required, send a copy to your referee or publisher.

2. Learn more about the structure of the scientific text and say which parts should always be found in a scientific work.

Scientific texts of different length may differ to some degree in their parts: a monograph, for example, contains the front cover, the title page, the table of contents, appendices, index which a leaned article does not. But in general, while writing a scientific work, a researcher follows a certain scheme or rules of dividing the composition into several obligatory parts or sections. These help the writer to disclose the purpose of the work, the way of thinking, to present results in detail and give a supported explanation and argumentation. These sections may have or have not headlines, depending on the type of the text and the requirements of the publisher. Each section should contain the answer to a certain question.

The sections and the questions are the following:

Introduction. This section contains the answer to the question “why?” In this section the writer names the problem highlighted in the text, explains how he/she became aware of it and why it is of interest to assumed readers.

Materials and methods. Here the writer explains how the information related to the problem was obtained.

Results. The answer to the question “What did the researcher(s) find?” is given in this part of the text.

Discussion is the main section of any scientific work. The author discloses in this section what is made of the results and how these findings are related to the previous work(s).

Conclusions contains the answer to the question “What does the author conclude?”.

References is a list of literature mentioned int the text. A reader is informed how he/she can obtain a copy of each of the sources cited in the text.

Summary (or abstract, résumé, précis) is intended to reveal in a few short sentences what the main points of the scientific text are.

Some texts include additional information as follows:

Acknowledgements. In this section the writer mentions sources of ideas, information, illustrations or finance (people or institutions).

List of abbreviations contains abbreviations and full names of substances, phenomena, institutions, etc. mentioned in the text. It makes reading and understanding the composition easier.

3. Analyse the following underlined expressions to be used in writing scientific texts. Translate the sentences.

Introduction.

This paper presents a new approach to the study of human brain.

The general aim of the work is to establish the proper procedure for data collection and processing.

The present investigation considers what factors influence language acquisition.

In this article the main functions of the government are examined.

The article is devoted to the properties of new substances.

The book examines the development of the bond between children and their parents.

In the paper I examine the nature of this phenomenon.

Materials and methods

In our study we have applied an innovative approach to the problem.

We used statistical methods in our study.

The researchers relied on some well-established methods of investigation.

A new method has been worked out to investigate the phenomenon.

Our analysis of tiger’s behaviour is based on observation.

We consulted the municipal archives in an attempt to find the necessary documentation.

Results

Our study shows that such behaviour is typical under this circumstances.

The investigations reveals some unknown properties of this substance.

The obtained data lend support to the hypothesis of global warming.

It has been shown that these changes resulted from human impact on the environment.

The figures show a trend towards healthier eating habits.

Discussion

These findings need careful explanation.

These results of our investigation require a careful study.

The most logical explanation for this phenomenon is the following.

Our observations reveal significant changes in the behaviour of the animal the causes of which should be discussed.

We are faced with the problem of environment deterioration, which means that urgent measures should be taken to prevent the extinction of rare species.

We shall now briefly explain the effects of stress.

Conclusions

Our interpretation makes explicit the influence of climate change on animal behaviour.

Now it should be clear that the evidence in support of the hypothesis has been found.

Our conclusion holds for any case of changes in supply and demand.

Such knowledge permits predictions about the animal behaviour.

Thus, the relationship between the two phenomena has been firmly established.

4. Guess to which sections of the scientific text the following expressions belong, and complete the sentences using ideas related to your dissertation.

This approach helps to investigate …. .

We can explain the process if we assume that … .

One of the main objectives of the paper is …. .

The obtained data indicate that … .

Our interpretation makes explicit that … .

The present investigation focuses on … .

The most logical explanation for … .

Observation was adopted as … .

The conducted investigation highlights … .

….. was discovered as a result of our study.

…. is convincingly demonstrated.

5. Write a short article based on your research (2 pages). Use the following hints and the above-given verbal expressions:

1. Think about the purpose of your paper and make notes of the main ideas you are going to focus on.

2. Prepare a topic outline and think about sources of information, figures or illustrations you might need.

3.Write the draft of the paper using the topic outline as a quide. Keep to the point in each section or paragraph of the draft. Leave enough space on the sheet of paper to correct and improve the draft.

4. Read the draft and check if any essential ideas or information are missing. If this is the case, write the second draft. Make sure the writing satisfies you and matches the needs of estimated readers: all main points are emphasised, the meaning of each sentence is clear and correct.

5. Revise the second draft. Check vocabulary and spelling. Put it on one side for a while. Read it aloud to yourself or your group-mates, colleagues, friends. If this is the best draft from your point of view, you can send it to the publisher. Don’t forget to write a summary.

Unit III

1. Read the text and answer the questions:

a) what types of “secondary” scientific texts are described?

b) what is the general purpose of all “secondary” scientific texts?

c) in which way do types of “secondary” scientific texts differ?

REVIEWING SCIENTIFIC TEXTS

When you read scientific works, you sometimes make for yourself notes of the points that are important for your research. Or you can find information about key ideas presented by the author in a special kind of writing. The text you read (or scientific work you write) is usually called a “primary text” while its reduced variant is called a “secondary” text. Secondary texts may differ in length and are known by different names which do not always coincide in the American and British variants of English. In the Russian language they are usually called «аннотация» or «реферат».

Review of a certain academic book or of series of scientific books or learned articles devoted to a particular problem is usually written by well-known scientists for specialized journals or by suitably qualified reviewers for popular magazines, i.e. for readers interested in the advance of science and technology. Students can also write such kind of reviews as a part of their examination task or an exercise in comprehension.

The length of the review published in journals is decided by the editor, in other case it is decided by the reviewer and may vary from several sentences to several pages. While writing a review one should not only highlight the main idea of the author(s) and focus on the main points of the book. The special features of the book i.e. of the described investigation, theory, hypothesis, etc. should be emphasised and evaluated. The reviewer may criticize the treatment of the subject (if it is comprehensive or not), the style of the author (if it is easy to read, if the illustrations are effective), the organization of information in the text, etc.

In case of reviewing several texts by different authors it is necessary to compare adopted approaches to the problem, achieved results, drawn conclusions. If different texts belong to the same author, the reviewer notes changes (if there are any) in the author’s standpoint from his earliest to his latest works. The reviewer may include short quotations from “primary” texts. The titles of the books and subtitles as well as the date and place of their publication are always included in reviews.

If the essential meaning of the “primary” text you have written is retained but all the details are excluded, the “secondary” text (or the reduced notes you have made while reading someone else’s scientific work) is called a précis or an annotation, or a synopsis. Although this type of the text is rather short, the order of presentation chosen by the author of the original text should not be changed, but should be conveyed in your own words.

A summary, as a type of scientific writing, is much shorter comparing to a précis. It should concern the most important facts or ideas about the subject of the text and include only the author’s main points. It is usually organized in a few sentences (or 200 – 300 words). In your own published scientific work, the summary may be called an abstract in Britain or Europe, or a résumé in the USA. This is intended for the reader as a hint whether to read the whole text or not.

2. Learn more about writing a summary. Use the given advice while writing this type of a scientific text.

1. If you have no practice in preparing a summary, find an article (or articles) relevant to your research from recent issues of scientific journals. First, read the articles carefully, make the notes of the most important points, then look at the author’s summary (abstract). Compare your notes with the summary and agree or disagree with the author’s choice of key ideas. Look at the author’s choice of words and sentence structures.

2. When you have written a scientific paper, write the first draft of your summary. Check that it includes each of the main points and nothing more. The summary must include a brief statement of the problem touched upon in the article, the main findings, your conclusions and recommendations. These elements must follow the order of information in the article. When experiments are described the used methods should be mentioned. For new methods, it is necessary to give the basic principles, the range of operation and degree of accuracy. The validity range of statements or conclusions should be indicated.

3. Write the summary in the third person, in complete sentences, develop simple, clear and direct style, choose the words that are appropriate for scientific writing and will be easily understood by the readers. The summary should capture the readers’ attention and enable them to decide whether it contains the searched information and the whole text is worth further reading.

4. When you reconsider the first draft of the section of the scientific text called a Summary or an Abstract, make sure that it contains everything you as the author want your readers to know. It should not contain information that is not included in the “primary” text, cross-references to illustrations or pages of this text, or references to other publications. Your summary should be complete, interesting and informative without reference to the rest of the text.

3. a) Look through the recent issues of journals and do as is advised in the above text (point 1).

b) analyse the given below samples of book reviews and summaries.

1. Alan Lightman. “Einstein’s Dreams”. Bloomsbury; 180 pages.

With his famous lecture in 1959, “The Two Cultures”, C.P.Snow, sparked a rancorous debate about relations between literature and science. He deplored the fact that scientists and men of letters no longer shared a common language – and, anyway, had nothing to say to one another. <…>

One scientist who would have denied that such a division existed at all was Albert Einstein, whose theories of relativity provided bold new ways of looking at time, space and matter. So it is entirely fitting that a young lecturer in physics, Alan Lightman, has written a novel, “Einstein’s Dreams”, which lets the writer’s imagination loose on Einstein’s philosophical speculations upon the nature of time.

Mr. Lightman imagines Einstein marooned as a poorly paid, patent clerk in his home town of Basle, Switzerland. There he dreams about the consequences for ordinary people of looking at time in different ways. <…>

This book is a joy. It stimulates the intellect. It bridges disciplines by linking intellectual understanding with the kind of relaxing enjoyment to be expected from a good novel. The message is simple: like literature, science at its best must take great leaps of the imagination.

2. Guterl, Fred. “Keyhole view of a genius”. Physicist Albert Einstein is profiled. A series of books about the man delves into his complicated and passionate private life.

3. ABSTRACT. The hawk was the focus of our studies. Over a three-year period we spent more than 2,000 hours observing 19 nests from blinds built high in trees. As long as we observed from a distance, the birds acted as if we weren’t there. But to make detailed studies of nests, eggs and chicks, we had to climb to the hawk’s aeries and the attack often ensued, usually from behind.

In cooperation with Dr Jeffrey L. of Cornell University, we found that the only pollutant abnormally high in the broken eggs was DDE.

We obtained evidence suggesting that DDE, in addition to its effect on eggshells, may also disrupt normal reproductive behaviour of hawks.

4. RÉSUMÉ. This work provides an overview of a wide range of exiting and compatible approaches to written text analysis. It includes the criticism of both classic and modern papers by distinguished scientists who share a common linguistic framework. The focus varies from their approaches to single words and individual expressions through their analyses of the organisation of paragraphs, sections and whole texts. The quotations are selected from both classic and specially commissioned papers.

5. SUMMARY. McCloskey, Donald. “An economic uncertainty principle”

Economists claim to know the next month’s interest rate, yet they are not rich. Their claim is also a claim that others in the market do not know the future of the interest rates. The economic uncertainty principle is examined.

4. Read and translate the following sentences. Analyse the underlined expressions. Use them while writing summaries or book reviews.

A. 1. In his last paper the author attempts to clarify the relation of mankind and environment. To do so, he first presents a list of technological catastrophes and then shows the harm they caused to nature. 2. The author debates the problem of greenhouse effect. 3. This work presents theoretical discussion on the problem and comments on the empirical results obtained by the author. 4. The researcher suggests a new methodological framework within which this phenomenon can be studied. 5. The author explores the many different forms of tornadoes and the devastation that they can create. 6. The authors describe two experiments demonstrating the utility of noise in bringing out an electronic signal and the possible extraction of data from background noise. 7. The book brings together educators from Europe and the USA with wide experience of interactive video for education and training, describing their experience and potential for this medium. It reflects the current knowledge, both theoretical and practical, relevant to the production of good video material. 8. The book is concerned with the advanced or mature student learning a new language.

B. 1. In this article I review the history of psychology. 2. In my paper I demonstrate the advantages of this approach and argue that it is valid for all cases. 3. I claim that insufficient attention has been paid to this techniques. 4. In this article I claim that insufficient attention has been paid to this question. 5. I conclude with a discussion of consequences of the greenhouse effect. 6. This unique and effective picture of the current state-of-the-art draws on a broad range of international experience in computer and modern language teaching. It effectively covers the gap left by scattered papers in journals on individual programmes. 7. The paper clearly demonstrates the importance of support for dementia sufferers. 8. The article offers an analysis of social stratification.

C. 1. Here the results of the study are evaluated and assessed in the light of the problem of protecting the environment. 2. The risk management principle is examined in the paper. 3. The formation of memories about emotional experiences have been traced. 4. The construction of the experiments and the likely results are discussed. 5. The question of whether the machines that humans have invented to extend the power of the human mind could outlive them to inherit the earth is addressed. 6. An attempt at integration of economic and psychological theories of consumption is presented. 7. The relationship between educational technology and student achievement in mathematics is established and supported by statistics.

APPENDIX A

Learn more expressions which can help you to write about the following:

a) source materials

a review of the literature on the problem; an extensive body of literature exists on the phenomenon; the most important primary source of information on the issue is …; the archive proved a valuable resource; N’s work laid the foundations for…; the paper is based on findings from recent research into…;

b) facts, evidence and data

facts are interesting, relevant, undeniable, little-known; the author drew attention to the fact that…; the evidence we collected may point to (suggest) a conclusion; several pieces of evidence (new evidence) come(s) to light; the obtained empirical data are/is reliable and comprehensive; we ensured that any collected data is/are valid;

c) periods of time

we are involved in a number of ongoing projects; the author is researching contemporary music; the article will be published in the forthcoming issue; there were concurrent events in this region; simultaneous experiments were conducted in both laboratories; in recent times society has gone through a period of considerable change; in recent years; prior to the 1990s; since the late 20^th century; for the last decate; nowadays; at the moment; over the next few years; in the near future; in the distant future; temporary; our research is at the initial (intermediate; final) stage; annual/annualy; quarter/quarterly; daily; early; late; permanent; at the same time; successive; eventual;

d) cause and effect

it had a considerable influence on; it accounts for the change in…; it was triggered by…; it is facilitated by…; it stimulates growth of…; it gave rise to…; it contributed to…; a number of benefits can be derived from…; this set off a chain reaction; it had several consequences; it resulted from…; it resulted in…; the reason it for was…; the first event caused the next one; this movement of intellectual thought has had a major impact on a number of academic disciplines;

e) research and study aims

we wanted to see if we could explain the fact that…; our research questioned the notion that…; we carefully restricted our sample to…; we took the deliberate decision (to do smth); our purpose was to test this theory; we had this as a goal which has been achieved; the aim of the study was to establish new understanding of…; the target of extending knowledge bases in these area has been reached; we were hoping to instigate a new type of investigation; the aim was to explore and challenge traditional research methdologies; to further develop…; to contribute to the development of…; we were motivated by N to study…;it was an intentional/deliberate decision to provide …; we were encouraged by N to eatsblish…; our research team wanted to further the understanding of…; the purpose/objective of the project was to explore…;

f) analysis of results

we concluded that the benefits of this method outweigh its drawbacks; the survey provided some useful insight into the problem; the results point to a new trend; on the basis of our data we predicted…; the research is likely to lead to some interesting results; it is undoubtedly true that…; there isn’t much evidence to support the opinion that…; the results revealed shortcomings in…; let us weigh up the benefits and drawbacks of …

g) classification and categorising

they fall into one of the three categories; this is an essential component of…; it can be described as being at the top of a hierarchy; they are on the bottom level of a hierarchy; the structure of this device is as follows; the lion is one type of large cat; there is an enormous variety (diversity) of living things; we classified them according to their similarities and differences; it consists of…; it is distinct from…; the types of employment are subsumed under the heading of occupation; they can be included under the term…; linguists allocate all languages to a place in the system of language families, based on…;