English Matters
Course for MSc students at IDI
Stewart Clark
Rector’s Office
Norwegian University of
Science and Technology
stewart.clark@ntnu.no
tel. +47 73 59 52 45
Four themes
1. What is academic writing?
1
2. Readability
5
3. Thesis structure and style
9
4. Web resources
23
Theme 1:
Some characteristics of
academic writing
• ‘Academic Language’ (from an MIT
course)
Important ideas to remember, see p. 29
Use appropriate language
Use formal register
• The government needs to get rid of the
deficit. (no)
• The government needs to eliminate the
deficit. (yes)
Avoid phrasal verbs, use the defining word
instead
Use formal English:
"Formal" words of classical origin
arrange dinner
by coincidence
calculate
collect someone
commence work
consider
construct
donation
we will endeavour
enquire
finalize a contract
determine the results
inspect
make a reservation
position
review the problems
settle matters
settle the account
"Informal" native words
lay on dinner
by chance
work out
pick up
start work
weigh up
build
a gift
we will try
ask
tie up a contract
fix the results
look over
book a theatre ticket
job
look at the problems
sort out matters
pay the bill
Formal and informal English –
phrasal verbs:
two or more words added to a verb such as:
stick around
stick by
Phrasal verbs
are often informal
stick around
stick by
stick out
The single word
equivalent is
usually more formal
(see defining sentences)
wait
loyal
protrude
sting someone
borrow
Phrasal verbs in the ‘Oxford’:
Phrasal verbs are two or more words added to a verb such as:
These are often informal
equivalent is
A single word
stick around
stick by
stick out
usually more formal
wait
loyal
protrude
sting someone
borrow
s comare common in informal English these words/expressions so that the most formal one is 1, the next most formal is 2 and so on
1.
big, large, substantial, huge, enormous,
considerable
2.
3.
4.
5.
short of money, skint, hard up, in difficulties,
red-letter day, vital concern, big deal, no joke, a
skill, expertise, mastery, ace, gifted, wizardry,
intellectual, smart ass, egg head, highbrow,
insolvent, cleaned out
matter of life and death, important matter
competence
guru, boffin
Use academic vocabulary
Useful nouns
• Notion, concept, theory, idea, hypothesis,
principle, rationale
Useful verbs
• Indicate, illustrate, point out, present, embody,
state, establish, formulate, accept, reject,
support
Avoid: thing, tell, say
Study: Academic Word List
(see Theme 4 in the compendium)
Tentative language
If you lack absolute proof, or are unsure of a direct causal
relationship between phenomena, use tentative language
Examples: tends to, appears to, suggests that, would seem
to, indicates that…
• This tends to occur whenever there is a decrease in
pressure.
Other examples: may, possible, unlikely, probably
• This may be the result of the sampling method, but with new
technology this is unlikely to be a future problem.
However if something always happens and you are confident it
will happen the same way in the future, do not be tentative.
• This occurs whenever there is a decrease in pressure.
No contractions ("I'm...won't...") = informal style
Contractions (also called short forms) are to be avoided
in serious mails/letters, reports and scientific writing.
Typical contractions: aren't, can't, don't, I'm, isn't, it's are
used in informal, conversational writing and speech
In formal English, the expected forms are: are not,
cannot (usually one word), do not, I am, is not, it is.
Using contractions in the wrong context looks sloppy
and leads to mistakes such as it's (it is) when you mean
its ("the cat hurt its tail").
Contractions cause confusion
• Contractions are typical of informal speech and
are only correctly used in academic writing to
report speech.
• Soundalikes that are often confused:
contraction it's
possessive its
contraction they're possessive their, adv. there
contraction you're possessive your
contraction who's possessive whose
! exclamation mark
for emergencies only, not otherwise.
“Fire!”, he screamed
• All style guides in English agree that exclamation marks
should be avoided in formal and academic English. "These
should not be used in scholarly writing" (Modern
Humanities Research Association Style Book, 1995).
• It signals a forceful utterance that gives a warning,
indicates astonishment and surprise …”absurdity,
command, contempt, disgust, emotion, enthusiasm, pain,
sorrow, a wish…” (Oxford Dictionary for Writers and
Editors)
What is said about !!
Do you wear underpants on your head?
”The exclamation mark is the punk in the school of
punctuation. Favoured by advertisers, immature
writers and writers of ransom notes…”
In Guardian Style (2007), editor David Marsh
exclaims simply, "do not use!"
About multiple exclamation marks, novelist Terry
Pratchett calls them a "sure sign of someone
who wears his underpants on his head.”
If you still find them being used: Google the phrase
”avoid the exclamation mark”
Avoiding etc.
a. Indirectly, they also include the impact of
industry, business strategy, market, and the
economic environment etc.
b. The proposed model considers only risks,
while in real life, managers make decisions
regarding other important aspects, such as
strategy, cost reduction, and service quality
etc.
c. Measures in hedging risks may be to keep
management in house and use spot
contracts when contracting carriers etc.
Politeness - Acknowledgements
Be formal :
- I wish to thank my supervisor Professor Arne Olsen at
the Department of Computer Science, Norwegian
University of Science and Technology for his
invaluable assistance.
- I would also like to thank…
- I appreciate the assistance from…
- Special mention is given to to…
- Gratitude is also given to…
- I am grateful for the help from Anne Olsen, research
technician and other departmental staff.
Theme 2:
What makes texts readable?
Online readability tools
Link words
Word order
Nominalization
Using the Lix readability index
"LIX" is a measure of how hard a text is to read. It is defined
as the percentage of words longer than six letters plus the
average number of words per sentence.
Enter the text in the box and analyse it.
• LIX < 20: Very easy reading
• LIX < 30 - 40: Popular reading
• LIX < 40 - 50: Normal for newspapers
• LIX < 50 - 60: Normal for academic texts
• LIX < 60 and higher: Heavy to read, should be revised
Scroll down and note the list of sentences on the left
(variation)
The word frequency count is given on the right.
What features do you find interesting about Lix?
Sentence length
Version 1: Even though pervasive gaming is a
fairly new field, and there are just a few
pervasive games developed, it is already
possible to identify several unique types of
pervasive games such as smart toys, affective
games, augmented tabletop games, augmented
reality games and location-aware games (ref).
(Over 40 words). The Lix readability score is 76.
Score: very heavy language
What can be done to make this more readable?
Sentence length
Version 2: Even though pervasive gaming is a
fairly new field and only a few such games have
been developed, it is already possible to identify
several types of games. These include smart
toys, affective games, augmented tabletop
games, augmented reality games and locationaware games (ref).
(Two sentences). The Lix readability score is 52.
(Normal for official texts)
Sentence length
Version 2: Even though pervasive gaming is a
fairly new field, and only there are just a few
such pervasive games have been developed, it
is already possible to identify several unique
types of pervasive games. These include such
as smart toys, affective games, augmented
tabletop games, augmented reality games and
location-aware games (ref).
What are the changes?
Red = deleted text
Underlined = inserted text
Check how many sentences start
with ‘the’
The last 20 years has seen overall growth.
The international business community was
shaken by the financial crisis in 2008. The
banking sector was in trouble. The calls for
better regulation resulted in…
(Four sentences). The Lix readability score is 36.
(Popularized text, easy reading)
Check how many sentences start
with ‘the’ – revised version
Although the last 20 years has seen overall
growth, the international business
community was shaken by the financial
crisis in 2008. In particular, the banking
sector was in trouble and consequently the
calls for better regulation resulted in…
(Two sentences). The Lix readability score is 51.
(Normal for official texts)
Nonlinear Analysis of an Absolute Value Type of
an Early-Late Gate Bit Synchronizer
Simon, M.
California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract
The steady-state phase noise performance of an absolute value type of earlylate gate bit synchronizer is developed using the Fokker-Planck method.
The results are compared with the performance of two other commonly used bit
synchronizer circuit topologies on the basis of either 1) equal equivalent signal
to noise in the loop bandwidth in the linear region, or 2) equal loop bandwidth at
each input signal-to-noise ratio Rs. These comparisons are made as a function
of Rs. In both cases, the absolute value type of early-late gate yields the best
performance (in the sense of minimum phase noise) at every value of Rs.
Index Terms
Additive noise , Circuit topology , Integrated circuit noise , Performance analysis
, Phase locked loops , Phase noise , Signal analysis , Signal to noise ratio ,
Steady-state , Voltage-controlled oscillators
Readability - exercise
Exercise – find a text of about 100 words on your
laptop and enter it in Lix
http://www.lix.se/index.php
Exercise – find a text of about 100 words on your
laptop and enter it in Lix
Results over 60 need revision, aim at 50.
Other readability indexes
Most other readability indexes are computed using 5 steps:
•
Count the number of words in the document.
•
Count the number of syllables in the document.
•
Count the number of sentences in the document.
•
Compute the index – formula given
The result is the number of years of formal education needed to
understand the text
Examples:
http://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp
http://www.standards-schmandards.com/exhibits/rix/
About the readability isssue:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Readability-Metrics:-Are-They-Getting-YourMessage?&id=351293
Link words 1
Link words to provide a structure of
sentences:
•
link words: the subconscious
structure in a text
•
•
•
link words are like
signposts by the road
links in a process
links to orientate the reader
Link words 2
1. Linear
First,... Second,... Third,...
Next,... Then,...
Finally,...
When you have you the word 'first,' – make sure there
is a 'second', a 'third', and a 'finally'.
Example:
• First, the experiments considered the effect of
heating. Second, variations in the temperature were
compared at three different pressure readings
(1 atm, 2 atm, and 3 atm). Third, the effect of
pressure was studied as an. Finally, the …
• NOT
First, the effect of heating is studied. The
temperature was varied and the pressure studied as
an independent variable. Then, …
Link words 3
2. Loop
having completed ..., the next stage/step is
3. Flashback
previously .....
earlier .....
4. Simultaneously
during this stage ....
while ....
at the same time ....
5. Conclusion
finally,
in the last stage,
the process concludes/finishes with ...
the last step is ... make sure that this is ‘finally’
Link words 4
Time and sequence link words
• to begin with, at first, in the first place, first
(second, third, etc.),
• then, after, afterwards, next, later, previously,
soon, subsequently,
• meanwhile, at the same time, currently,
simultaneously, for the time being,
immediately, instantly, in the meantime, in
time, in turn, presently,
at last, finally, in conclusion,
(See Words – A User’s Guide p. 431)
Don’t throw the baby out with the
bathwater
On the one hand, fibres from
different wood species have
properties that vary. On the
other hand, each tree has a
unique distribution of fibre
dimensions due to variation
in growth factors and genetics.
Consequently, it is important
to have a good quality control
of the timber. However, only a few pulp mills
can utilize these opportunities.
Theme 3:
Thesis structure
Editing your work
Style
British or American English?
Format - Acknowledgements
Be formal
- I wish to thank my supervisor Professor Arne
Olsen at the Department of XZY, Norwegian
University of Science and Technology for his
invaluable assistance.
- I would also like to thank…
- I appreciate the assistance from…
- Special thanks are given to…
- Gratitude is also given to…
- I am grateful for the help from Anne Olsen,
research technician and other department staff
in preparing the FEM analysis
- Finally, I acknowledge the generous financial
support from the Research Council of Norway
Structure
Short report or paper:
• Section used for all levels.
• Numbered as: 1.1 1.1.1 1.1.1
Thesis/dissertation or book:
• Chapter is normally level 1*.
• Use section for levels 2, 3 and 4
Avoid "subchapters" and "subsections". A paragraph is several
lines.
*Part could be level 1 in a thesis with an overview and
publications. Then Chapter for level 2 and Section levels 3 & 4
• Part I: Introduction and Overview
• Part II: Publications
• Part III: Appendices
IMRAD structure
• Abstract
• Introduction
(problems to be solved)
• Methods
• Results and Discussion
(analysis of findings)
• Conclusions and
Recommendations for Further
Research (logical results)
• Appendix: Details
Title
- Label not a sentence, no final stop (period)
- Lower case for articles, conjunctions
(and, but, for, or, nor), and most short
prepositions
- Avoid articles and fuzzy words (some, certain)
as the first word:
Use
Boolean Functions, Transforms, and Recursions
Not
Some Boolean Functions, Transforms, and
Recursions
IEEE style
• For spelling, IEEE uses Webster’s College
Dictionary, 4th Edition.
• For guidance on grammar and usage,
consult The Chicago Manual of Style
• Write good continuous prose
• Abstracts are stand alone texts
• ‘By nature, Abstracts shall not contain
numbered mathematical equations or
numbered references’ (IEEE Editorial Style
Manual) http://www.ieee.org/documents/stylemanual.pdf
Abstract - format
(For scientific reports and theses)
Summary of the information in the report
• brief statement of why the work was
undertaken (objectives)
• brief statement of methods (methods)
• clear statement of the significant
facts/findings/ideas in the text (resultsrecommendations)
• An abstract should be as long as is necessary
to sum up the essential information (250 to
500 words as a rule of thumb)
Abstract - format
Index Terms
•
•
•
•
After the final paragraph of the Abstract
Written in bold as in the Abstract
In alphabetical order
Acronyms are defined in Index Terms if
defined in the paper.
‘Abstract’ for comment
Consider the following:
'Certain problems (specify them)
concerning dynamic Boolean systems
(without saying which) in some high
performance associative memory
systems (unspecified) have been
studied. Conclusions have been drawn
and recommendations for analytical
approaches are made.'
Two abstracts – exercise
(see page 31 in compendium)
Which of these is the most readable – why?
Do they both contain all the elements one
should include in an abstract?
Contents – layout example
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Contents
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vi
Nomenclature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
1.1 Thesis Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Avoid hanging paragraphs
Source: 2009 IEEE Standards Style Manual
Other front material in theses
Nomenclature
• Nomenclature lists the symbols and their
definitions
List of Abbreviations
• Some theses have an alphabetical list of
abbreviations and acronyms
List of Tables
List of Figures
• Check that the captions correspond to those
in the text
Content – Introduction
- Introduction (all items addressed in about
10 lines).
- Brief context background (10 lines).
- What is the problem? backed by references.
- What is the current state-of art/research frontier
in addressing the problem? backed by references.
- Objectives of the paper. What is new in this
paper related to the two items above.
- Short preview of approach/method used.
- Outline of the paper.
Source: Bjarne Helvik, Vice Dean, IME, NTNU
Context + Problem + Response
Presentation of the scope of the subject
Review of previous work and theoretical
considerations
Presentation of the problem and your objectives
and strategy in writing the report
State what is new, the response = approach/method
in your response
Should NOT contain information you know as a
result of having completed the work you are
about to report
Introduction – stating objectives
- Ideas to catch the reviewer’s interest:
The destabilizing condition
“It is generally accepted that these chemicals cause the
build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (+ ref.).
But recently the processes that thin the ozone layer have
been studied more closely and it was found that… (+ ref.)”
That powerful word – ‘However’
“It is generally accepted that these chemicals cause the
build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (+ ref.).
However, recent simulations indicate that… (+ ref.)”
“Recently, however, the theory that…”
Introduction – previewing the
approach/method used
- The promise of a solution:
“…ozone layer has been studied more closely and it was found that…
(+ ref.). In this paper we present an innovative analysis of chemical
bonding that…”
“This paper provides an alternative approach to wind farm design that
promises to …” “a promising approach”, “a more cost-effective
approach”
- State what you are comparing your work to
- Avoid subjective words like “better approach”
or “superior solution”
mc2
EE==mc2
Outline section – Introduction
Explains how the thesis is organized at level 1
For a paper, use ‘Section’ for levels 1, 2 & 3
Chapter 2 considers…
Then, Chapter 3 turns to the issue of …
After this, Chapter 4 demonstrates …
This is followed by Chapter 5 which presents the
conclusions and applications of this work for the
fish farming industry. Finally, Chapter 6 outlines
the implications and potential for further research
in this field.
(Avoid overusing ‘show’)
Format – Body
• Methods
- The defence of your results and their reliability
• Results and Discussion
- Presentation of principles, relationships and
generalizations
- Exceptions/unsettled points
- Applications/implications
• Conclusions and Recommendations for Further
Work
Format – End matter
• References
This has no section number in front
• Appendix/Appendices
Presentation of important experiments, data and
computations.
Label: Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C...
“See Figure A.12 and Table C.11 for…”
Order of writing
B >C> I> A> T
>Body
methods (details to appendices)
results (details to appendices)
> Conclusions
recommendations for further
work
> Introduction
> Abstract/exec. summary
> Title
Editing your work 1
Formal editing:
• Do the section titles in the report match the contents
list?
• Are tables and figures in chronological order?
• Are words like table, figure, equation, section correctly
capitalized?
• Are terms like figure, equation, section consistent?
(Figure 3/Fig. 4. Equation 6/Eq. 4)
• Use of brackets. Are sections and
equations easy to pick out? What is (3.3)?
• Check the cited references for consistency.
Use (Olsen 1997) or (Olsen, 1997), not both.
Editing your work 2
Stylistic editing:
• Check the recommended style in "Instructions to
Authors" from the journal you are submitting to?
• The Harvard reference system, preferred in this journal,
uses the name of the author, the date of publication and,
following quoted material, the page reference, as a key to
the full bibliographic details set out in the list of
references.
Examples in the text:
• ‘This has been questioned by several authors (Smith
1990, Jones and Cook 1998, Dobbs et al. 1991)’.
(N.B. et al. is used in the text when
there are three or more authors.)
• ‘Swanwick (1988, p. 56) has attempted to …’
Editing your work 3
Reference list:
• Where there are two or more works by one
author in the same year, use 1997a, 1997b, etc.
• The reference list must include every work cited
in the text. Ensure that dates, spelling and titles
used in the text are consistent with those listed
in the reference list.
• All co-authors are to be cited. Do not use et al.
here.
• Check the correct use of italics and
punctuation in the reference list.
Editing your work 4
Reference list:
• Check the reference list for consistency
- institution names,
- names of journals,
• Avoid Norwegian and English terms for
the same institution.
(Use Google to check on the home page.
Be careful: a PhD degree from NTNU in 1995
is impossible in two ways).
Editing your work 5
Use of page references in the reference list:
• Number system for papers (1999, 33-44)
• Use the p./ pp. system for printed works
(1999, p. 3 and pp. 33-44)
• Place p. after the title to give the total number
of pages Word for Word, 242 p.
IEEE Style Manual
Decide reference format
’NOTE: Editing of references may entail
careful renumbering of references, as
well as the citations in text.’ (From
IEEE Style Manual)
My suggestion: use the Harvard system
(name and year) as a working tool,
then convert to IEEE style when
finished.
IEEE Style Manual
Reference format
References in Text: In square brackets,
inside the punctuation. e.g.,
…as shown by Brown [4], [5]; as
mentioned earlier [2],
or as nouns:
as demonstrated in [3]; according to [4]
and [6]–[9].
IEEE Style Manual
Reference format
Reference list: Basic Format:
[1] J. K. Author, “Name of paper,” Abbrev. Title
of Periodical, vol. x, no. x, pp. xxx-xxx,
Abbrev. Month, year.
Example:
[1] R. E. Kalman, “New results in linear filtering
and prediction theory,” J. Basic Eng., ser. D,
vol. 83, pp. 95-108, Mar. 1961.
NOTE: IEEE style use pp. for both printed
works and papers
See: IEEE Editorial Style Manual, pp. 7-13
http://www.ieee.org/documents/stylemanual.pdf
IEEE Style Manual
Caption format
Suggest: consecutive numbering in each
chapter with stops
Fig. 3.1. Example of linear filtering.
Fig. 3.1. Example of linear filtering
’See Figs. 3.1 – 3.4’
Alternative:
Figure 3.1. Comparing traditional data mining
(top) and information visualization (bottom)
processes.
Some currencies and their threecharacter ISO 4217 currency code
ISO home page (http://www.iso.ch/) refers to sources of complete, updated
versions of this list.
AUD Australian dollar
CAD Canadian dollar
CNY Chinese yuan
DZD Algerian dinar
GBP British pound
INR Indian rupee
IRR Iranian rial
KRW Korea won
MXP Mexican peso
NOK Norwegian krone
PHP Philippine peso
RUB Russian rouble
BRL Brazilian real
CHF Swiss franc
DKK Danish krone
EUR euro
IDR Indonesian rupiah
IQD Iraqi dinar
JPY Japanese yen
KWD Kuwaiti dinar
NGN Nigerian naira
NZD New Zealand dollar
PKR Pakistan rupee
USD American dollar
Currency codes
• Use ISO currency codes (EUR, NOK, GBP, USD etc.)
- not "krone" or "dollar", which type?
• The currency code is written first, but read last
Written English
EUR 15.50
Spoken English
Fifteen euro fifty (cents)
NOK 2 million
USD 25.50
GBP 3.20
Two million Norwegian kroner
Twenty-five US dollars fifty
Three pounds twenty
Confusions with amounts of money
Consider:
Wages: "The salary is NOK 387.859 per annum"
(this means about NOK 388)
Prices: "The price is NOK 1,675 a unit “
(this means about NOK 1675)
• k for kilo (1000) as in kNOK 35 may confuse.
(write NOK 35 000)
• Avoid MEUR 25. Write EUR 25 m or EUR 25 million
• "Crowns" for monarchs, use “(Norwegian) krone"
Writing amounts of money
Decimal point in English
(Other languages - comma
34.956
34,956)
Thousand/million/billion markers
- use spaces above 9999 (ISO) 34 956
Do not use a comma here in English
Note nothing is written after an amount
Not: 34 956,- Use: 34 956
Writing exact amounts
NOK 1 000 000
avoid MNOK 1
million
Abbr. (m)
NOK 1 000 000 000
(Norw.: milliard)
billion
Abbr. (bn)
NOK 1 000 000 000 000
trillion
(Norw.: billion)
trillion
Abbr.
Digital dates
There are three main formats in use for
writing dates in digital form:
European (day-month-year)
American (month-day-year)
Military (year-month-day)
This can cause problems in contracts,
agreements, emails and letters
Never write a date like this in English:
Payment is to be made by 11/01/14 (or 11.01.14)
In Britain, this will be understood as
11 January 2014, whereas AE users may
understand this as November 1, 2014.
The only internationally accepted digital format:
(ISO 8601) Model: 2014-01-11(CCYY-MM-DD)
Read as ”on the 11th of January 2014*”(BE)
”on January 11th 2014”(AE)
*”twenty-fourteen” has become the English
standard
The date of the Twin Towers attack - 9/11
 For all-digit dates use ISO 8601 format
The model is 2001-09-11 (CCYY-MM-DD)
 Otherwise, 11 September 2001 - normal BE
format (Read as: ”the 11th of September
2001”)
 September 11, 2001 - normal AE format
(Read as: ”September the 11th, 2001”)
 Note no ordinal numbers in modern written
dates in English (not 1st, 2nd, 3rd)
Spacing
 Keep 2000 oC as one unit.
 Use a space before symbols like cm,
m, km, %, oC, as in: 25 %, 300 oC
 In a range, use a space on each side
of a dash: 30 - 40 mm. Note that
between and from should be followed
by and or to, as in "between 1995 and
1997" or "from 55 oC to 85 oC”.
Punctuation 1
: colon used before a list
; semi-colon
separates main items in a list: Separates the main
items in a list: “Olsen, 2005; Smith and James,
2002; Black et al., 2004”
stop/full stop (BE)/period (AE)
one idea per sentence
…ellipsis
three dots mark a word/words … omitted.
Normal punctuation follows: Did she? said John ….
See Words – A User’s Guide pp. 405 - 413
Punctuation 2
; semi-colon
separates main items in a list: Separates the main
items in a list: “Olsen, 2005; Smith and James,
2002; Black et al., 2004”
…ellipsis
three dots mark a word/words … omitted.
Normal punctuation follows: Did she? said John ….
See Words – A User’s Guide pp. 405 - 413
Comma use
Comma before ‘and’ = Harvard comma / Oxford comma /
serial comma adds more precision. Compare:
- This unit can print, scan, fax and log usage
- This unit can prints, scan, fax, and log usage
Comma before ‘and’ also avoids
ambiguity:
‘To my parents, John Smith and God’
‘To my parents, John Smith, and God’
See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma
Line break errors
Tips on line breaks
• Avoid dividing words, if possible
• Avoid creating odd words like: wo-men and mini-ster
(use women and minis-ter)
• Divide the word according to its origin and meaning:
tele-phone (not telep-hone); atmo-sphere (not atmos-phere);
re-adjust (not read-just)
• Divide as pronounced: edi-ble (not ed-ible); propo-sition;
ordi-nary; classi-fi-ca-tion (three divisions possible);
• Divide before -ing: carry-ing; mov-ing
• Double letters + -ing divide between the double letters:
refer-ring; control-ling
• Follow the dots in dictionary headwords - ther·ap·ist
See ‘Words’ page 412
British English (BE) or
American English (AE)?
• Latest BE dictionaries (Oxford), prefer "-ize" in
"organize". Brussels & London use ”-ise”.
• '- ize is the world English norm'
New Penguin Dictionary (2000).
• Note verbs: advise, comprise, devise and
supervise have "-ise" in BE and in AE.
• BE > less hyphenation: Cooperate, coordinate,
multiphase, multidisciplinary.
• Statoil, SINTEF, NTNU and public sector in
Norway have BE as the norm.
Thesis or Dissertation?
At most universities in the UK:
• thesis is used at PhD level
• dissertation is used at master's
or bachelor’s levels
At most universities in the USA:
• dissertation is used PhD level
• thesis is at master's
or bachelor’s levels
Summary of British & American spellings
-ce, -se
British spellings
advice (noun)
advise (verb)
device (noun)
devise (verb)
licence (noun)
license (verb)
practice (noun)
practise (verb)
defence
offence
American spellings
=advice (noun)
=advise (verb)
=device (noun)
=devise (verb)
license (noun)
=license (verb)
=practice (noun)
practice (verb)
defense
offense
Summary of British & American spellings
-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization)
American spelling avoids -ise endings in words like organize,
realize
British spelling mostly uses -ise, but -ize is also used (organise,
organize / realise,realize) Ratio 3:2 in the British National Corpus
Oxford (BE) favours -ize/ -ization, this dominates internationally
Many verbs only take -s- in BE and AE: advise, arise, comprise,
compromise, despise, devise, exercise, revise, supervise,
televise
(see ‘Words’ page 188)
-yse, -yze
-yse is British and -yze is American.
British English analyse, hydrolyse, paralyse
American English analyze, hydrolyze, paralyze
Summary of British & American spellings
-our, -or
British spellings
colour
habour
labour
neighbour
American spellings
color
harbor
labor
neighbor
Note many -or spellings in both British and American
English such as honorary, vigorous, laborious
Summary of British & American spellings
-re, -er
The common difference is words ending -bre or -tre:
British spellings
American spellings
centre
center
fibre
fiber
litre
liter
manoeuvre
maneuver
theatre
theater
metre
meter
meter
Note many -er spellings in British English such as
filter, number, parameter, September and sober.
Summary of British & American spellings
-ll, -l
British English doubling for -ed, -ing, -er, -est -or
British spellings
American spellings
cancelled
canceled
counsellor
counselor
cruellest
cruelest
labelled
labeled
modelling
modeling
signalling
signaling
travelling
traveling
Note controlled, controlling in both British and American English
American English doubling in words such as:
British spellings
American spellings
enrol(ment)
enroll(ment)
fulfil(ment)
fulfill(ment)
skilful
skillful
wilful
willful
Summary of British & American spellings
British spellings
-mme programme
-m = program
in computer science only
American spellings
-m
program
non- non-profit
non-linear
-oe- diarrhoea
-ae- leukaemia
-ogue- catalogue
-oul- mould
nonprofit
nonlinear
-e-e-og
-ol-
diarrhea
leukemia
catalog
mold
Ton or tonne?
When referring to weight there are three terms:
• Tonne or metric ton
= 1000 kg
• Short ton (USA)
= 907 kg
• Long ton (UK)
= 1016 kg
Gallons, pint and litres
US gallons and US pints differ from the
Imperial gallons and pints
The UK ones are larger
n
instead
NASA's metric
confusion caused
Mars orbiter loss (1999)
Software produced output
in pound-seconds (lbf×s)
of newton-seconds (N×s)
BE or AE - pronunciation
Wide regional differences in both BE and AE.
Note vowels of words like new, Tuesday, clerk, data and
dance/grass (in southern BE),
Also note pronunciations of fertile and missile are a good
indication of BE/AE differences fur’tile – furt’l
Stressing: Different word stress in some words in BE and
AE.
Compare BE ad'vertisement and AE adver'tisement;
BE alu'minium and AE a'luminum (note spelling difference)
BE la'boratory and AE 'laboratory
Check pronunciation in online dictionaries
BE or AE - some grammatical issues
In informal AE, the past participle get is gotten;
in BE it is got
AE: I've gotten a new automobile; BE: I've got a new car
Irregular verb differences, dived (past participle and past
tense of dive in BE) and dove (AE); leapt (mostly BE) and
leaped (mostly AE); sank (BE) and sunk (AE); shrank (BE)
and shrunk (AE)
Note spelt (BE) and spelled (BE and AE)
Often occurs in other verbs learnt (BE), learned (BE & AE)
Differences in prepositions. Examples:
BE
AE
a quarter past three
a quarter after three
a quarter to four
a quarter of four
at school
in school
fill in a form
fill out a form
Friday to Sunday
Friday through Sunday
Theme 4:
Web resources
English Matters portal
www.ntnu.edu/english-matters/
Pronunciation help
Vocabulary resources
Academic Word List
Online course in academic writing
Self study exercises
“The Elements of Style”
Collocation exercise 1
– natural word partnerships
Some words belong together naturally,
others do not.
Insert the opposites:
• Heavy traffic/ ________traffic on the
roads
• He suffered from a heavy cold/_______
cold
• A cup of strong coffee/________coffee
• A strong/_________wind was blowing
Collocation exercise 2
• Match each of these nouns to one of the
groups of verbs. All the verbs must
collocate with the noun:
battle
struggle
fight
war
A.avoid, get into, pick, provoke
B.declare, go to, lead to, prolong, wage
C.be engaged in, continue, give up, take up
D.fight, force, go into, lose
(See English Matters, Vocabulary exercises from Stewart)
Lexical chunks and collocations
Lexical chunks
by the way
on the other hand stick your neck out
If I were a boy
out of sight, out of mind
(these are set phrases, idioms, not collocations)
Collocations
absolutely convinced (20)
extremely convinced (0)
(adverb + verb)
slight breeze (20)
light wind (25)
weak wind (0)
(adjective + noun)
Numbers refer to hits on the British National Corpus
Resources on the Web
• Oxford Teachers’ Club
www.oup.com/elt/global/teachersclub/
• British Council Education and Training
www.britishcouncil.org/education
• English Matters
www.ntnu.no/intersek/english_matters
English matters
Nettportal for deg som bruker engelsk som arbeidsspråk.
www.ntnu.no/international/english_matters/
Online dictionaries – EN/EN
• Longman (BE), Miriam Webster (AE),
• Roget’s Thesaurus, Slang dictionary
• Dictionaries with pronunciation and
translation help
Online dictionaries – EN/NO and NO/EN
• Ordnett, Clue, UMB’s Green Dictionary
English matters
Longman online dictionary - Collocations
Chance - collocations
• there's a chance (that) (=it is possible that)
• there's every chance (that) (=it is very likely)
• some chance little chance no chance a
good/fair chance (=something is likely)
• a slight/slim/outside chance (=something is
unlikely)
• a fifty-fifty chance (=the possibility of
something happening or not happening is
equal)
• a million to one chance/a one in a million
chance (=something is extremely unlikely to
happen)
British National Corpus (BNC)
• 100 million word
collection of BE
texts
• Oxford UP,
Longman,
Chambers and
British Library
• Free search sampler
http://sara.natcorp.ox.
ac.uk/lookup.html
Exercise:
something that is quite
likely to happen
Is it a large? great?
big? possibility of …
or a
strong/real/distinct
possibility?
Use Longman and
BNC to find out, and
which verb to use
Use to BNC to check collocations
Standard collocations
’I found it on the Web’
absolutely convinced (20) extremely convinced (0)
(adverb + verb)
slight breeze (20)
light wind (25)
weak wind (0)
(adjective + noun)
Numbers refer to hits on the British National Corpus
English matters
Terminology – EN/NO and NO/EN
• UHR Termbase (educational terminology),
EØS base
• Norwegian ministries
• Norwegian legislation (Lovdata)
Style
•
•
•
•
Emails and letters
English Style Guidelines
Academic writing portal, self study exercises
CV writing
English matters
Vocabulary
• Vocabulary and current affairs BBC World
Service, select "News English" 3 new stories a
week. Often lesson plans in pdf
• BE and AE newspapers
Self-study
•
•
•
•
•
Collocation exercises
Agreement exercise
Phrasal verbs
Prepositions
Prefixes (BBC English 1)
Using English for Academic
Purposes
A Guide for Students in
Academic Writing
Linked on:
English Matters
Writing paragraphs
Click on Paragraph
• Try Exercise 2 (Pesticide Suicide)
Continue to Topic
- Identifying topic sentences
• Do Exercise 7 in groups of 3
Click on Flow
- Flow of information in paragraphs using key words
• Try Exercise 8
Writing paragraphs
Click on Paragraph
Continue to Signalling = link words
Note all the examples
• Do exercises 10 and 11.
• Any contrasts?
Writing paragraphs
Continue to Cohesion,
see lexical cohesion = key terms
use reference words like…
this process, this view, this solution, these
approaches
Words that summarize the text in the first
sentence and connects the next sentence.
Writing paragraphs
Group exercise: Add suitable reference words to
complete this paragraph:
’As soon as it gets to a certain size, every organization
begins to feel a need to systematize its management
of human resources.’
Some suggestions: account, advice, answer, argument,
assertion, assumption, claim, comment, conclusion, criticism,
description, difficultly, discussion, distinction, emphasis,
estimate, example, explanation, fall, finding, idea, improvement,
increase, observation, proof, proposal, reference, rejection,
report, rise, situation, suggestion, view.
Functions
• Click on functions in academic writing
No.16. Introducing
- note useful phrases at the bottom
No. 9. Including tables
- note language tips at the bottom
- Click on Exercises and try Ex. 1 and 2
(Gap filling)
Functions/Citing sources
Functions
• Click on functions in academic writing
No. 17. Conclusions
- note useful phrases at the bottom
Citing sources
• Reporting and summarizing
- note useful phrases at the bottom
Academic vocabulary
 Academic Word List (AWL) about 600 core
terms
 An AWL term has to occur over 100 times in
the 3.5 million word Academic Corpus.
 The AWL is like the icing on a cake.
 BUT don’t overdo it. A text that is full of AWL
terms will be heavy to read.
 Details of the Academic Corpus:
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/corpus.aspx
Academic Word List





Note the derived terms = 3000 words
Dictionary link on left
Pronunciation help
Visual thesaurus
Two sets of exercises based on AWL
The Elements of Style
William Strunk, Jr.
• Classic reference book
• Gives the principal requirements of plain
English style in just over 80 pages.
• Focus on the rules of usage and principles of
composition
• Sections II, III and V are the most useful
• Free online link:
http://www.bartleby.com/141/