Writing Critiques
Summary Writing:
Considerations before Writing a Summary
1. It should be focused on the aspects of the source text or texts that are
relevant for your purpose.
2. It should represent the source material in an accurate fashion.
3. It should condense the source material and be presented in your own
words. Summaries that consist of directly copied portions of the original
rarely succeed. Such a summary may suggest that you can find potentially
important information but will likely fail to reveal the extent to which you
have understood it
Preliminary steps in writing a summary.
1. Skim the text, noticing and noting the subheadings. If there are no subheadings, try
to divide the text into sections.
2. If you have been assigned the text, consider why. Determine what type of text you
are dealing with-that is, the genre of the source text (e.g., a research paper) or
perhaps the organization (problem-solution or general-specific). This can help you
identify important information and focus your reading strategies.
3. Read the text, highlighting important information or taking notes.
4. In your own words, list the points of each relevant section. Try to write a one-
sentence summary of each.
5. If it is impossible to use your own words, then quote the
material. Remember, however, that too much quoting will not
likely result in a successful paper. Information from sources
should support, but not replace, your own ideas, interpretations,
and explanations
6. List the key support points for the main topic, and include
minor details if necessary
7. Make sure your notes reflect the strength of the claims or
conclusions
8. Write your reactions or thoughts about the sections you have
identified as important.
9. Go through the process again. Read the text several times if
necessary, making changes to your notes as appropriate.
Citations in summaries:
Note that when your citation style requires the use of author names,
you need to provide the family name. First names only are not used
in in-text citations since this makes it difficult for your reader to
know to whom you might be referring.
Generally, family names alone are sufficient, but occasionally, you
may see citations that include both first and last names of a single
author. One reason to do this is to distinguish two authors with the
same family name.
Another reason is to acknowledge an author's status in the field.
Well-known figures in certain fields are frequently referred to by
both first and last names. (e.g. Albert Einstein)
Syntheses of More than One Source
Dealing with two or more sources can be more challenging than
writing simple summaries because they require you to analyze and
use information from two or more sources that may overlap, slightly
differ, or contradict each other. When working with multiple sources,
you often need to infer and make explicit the relationships among
them.
Language focus: similarities and differences
Writing Critiques:
I. Book Review:
a schematic description of the elements in book reviews:
1. Introducing the book by:
Establishing the topic
and/or describing potential readership
and/or providing information about the authors
and/or making generalizations about the topic
2. Outlining the topic by:
Highlighting the general organization of the book
and/or describing the content of each chapter or section
and/or referring specifically to non-text material such as graphs,
tables, and appendices
3. Highlighting parts of the book:
Providing focused evaluation by making general, positive commentary
(the degree of originality, coherence of an argument, readability/style,
extent or relevance of references, and even the author of the book
under review)
and/or offering specific, negative commentary
4. Providing final commentary and recommendations:
Commenting on price Of production standards (good binding, paper
quality, size)
and/or specifying the scope of the usefulness of the book
and/or recommending (or not recommending) the book, despite
limitations, if any
EXAMPLE:
Language focus: stating opinions:
Authors need to exercise good judgment when interpreting data and
giving an opinion.
Carefully chosen language can contribute to the reader's willingness
to accept your claims.
Opinions can be softened (hedged); they can also be strengthened
(boosted), as shown in the following examples:
Scientists and industrialists disagree about the health hazards
of dioxins, the latter stating that the risks are exaggerated.
Hedged: Scientists and industrialists disagree about the health
hazards of dioxins, the latter stating that the risks may be
exaggerated.
Boosted: Scientists and industrialists disagree about the health
hazards of dioxins, the latter stating that the risks are clearly
exaggerated.
Other features such as markers of attitudes and engagement and
self mentions are also used in book reviews.
Authors can indicate their attitudes toward a proposition or idea by
indicating surprise, disbelief, understanding, Of "interestingness,"
as shown in these examples:
It is surprising that all students, even the best ones, failed the exam
With such vague and circular notions, it is hard to accept the
author's later conclusions.
I understand that web development is a broad field and it is
impossible to cover everything in one single book.
It is interesting to note that, at least to my knowledge, no such
comprehensive book has ever been published.
Authors may also attempt to establish a connection with their
readers and bring them into the text through the use of engagement
markers.
Engagement markers can take a variety of forms including personal
pronouns (e.g., we and you), questions, commands, or directly
addressing the reader or readers. Here are some examples:
If you are an experienced de motor engineer, you may enjoy reading
Chapter 6.
When you are looking for a reference work in econometrics that
will be on your "frequently used" bookshelf for the next years to
come, please take another pick.
How are we to place Sachs's prescriptions for ending world poverty
into the development economics literature?
Readers may be pleasantly surprised to note that the case examples,
provided throughout the text, begin within the very first chapter.
Examples of self-mentions:
I think that the discussion about institutions, cluster policies, and
relations that bridge and connect clusters with external agents
deserves more attention.
It seems to me that the book is more or less an overview of the
authors' research plus other examples that are methodologically
close to it.
Evaluating a published article:
Questions to consider when evaluating an article:
1. Who is the audience?
2. What is the purpose of the article?
3. What research questions or hypotheses are being addressed in the
article? Are the questions relevant?
4. What conclusions does the author draw from the research? (Hint:
Does the author answer yes or no to the research questions?)
5. What kind of evidence was collected to explore the research questions? Is there any evidence that
could or should have been collected and included bur was not? How good is the evidence? How well
does the evidence support the conclusions?
6. Are there any important assumptions underlying the article? How do these influence the
conclusions?
7. Are the charts, tables, and figures clear? Do they contribute to or detract from the article?
8. Does the research make an original contribution to the field? Why or why
not?
Types of articles:
1. Theoretical articles:
The theoretical article draws on existing research to examine a
topic.
In this type of paper, you will need to trace the development of a
theory or compare theories by examining the literature to arrive at
the current thinking about topics such as autism, criminal behavior,
learning disorders…etc.
The theoretical article generally accomplishes four aims:
1. Identifies a problem or hypothesis that has historical
implications in the scientific community.
2. Traces the development and history of the evolution of the theory.
3. Provides a systematic analysis of the articles that have explored
the problem.
4. Arrives at a judgment and discussion of the prevailing theory.
2. Report of an Empirical Study
The empirical report accomplishes these four purposes:
1. Introduces the problem or hypothesis investigated and explains the
purpose of the work.
2. Describes the method used to conduct the research.
3. Reports the results and the basic findings.
4. Discusses, interprets, and explores the implications of the findings.
3. Review article
The purpose is to examine the state of current research—and, in some cases, to determine
if additional work might be in order. A review article sets out to accomplish several goals:
1. Define a problem or issue that is the subject of discussion.
2. Summarize the article(s) or book(s) under review.
3. Analyze the literature to discover strengths, weaknesses, or inconsistencies in the
research.
4. Recommend additional research that might grow logically from the work under review.
Format of a Scientific Paper:
The scientific paper has the following elements: Title, Abstract,
Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Literature Cited.
1. Title:
The title should contain three elements:
A. the name of the organism studied;
B. the particular aspect or system studied;
C. the variable(s) manipulated.
2. Abstract:
The abstract is a one or two paragraph condensation (150-200
words) of the entire work described completely in the article.
It should contain these four elements:
A. the purpose of the study (the central question);
B. a brief statement of what was done (Methods);
C. a brief statement of what was found (Results);
D. a brief statement of what was concluded (Discussion, in part).
3. Introduction:
The function of an introduction is to present the question being asked and
place it in the context of what is already known about the topic.
Background information that suggests why the topic is of interest and related
findings by other scientists are usually mentioned here.
In other words, this section should contain:
1. a description of the nature of the problem and current state of knowledge
or understanding at the beginning of the investigation (background);
2. a statement of the purpose, scope, and general method of investigation in
your study;
3. hypothesis/hypotheses and predictions.
Remember that the Introduction is meant to introduce the reader to
your research, not summarize and evaluate all past literature on the
subject.
Include only enough background information to allow your reader to
understand why you are asking the questions you are and why your
hypotheses are reasonable ones. Often, a brief explanation of the
theory involved is sufficient.
The statement of purpose expresses the central question you are asking
and thus presents the variable you are investigating. For example: This
study investigates the relationship between tree density and fruit size.
4. Methods:
The function of this section is to describe all experimental procedures,
including controls. The description should be complete enough to
enable someone else to repeat your work.
1. Explain why each procedure was done, i.e., what variable were you
measuring and why?
2. Mathematical equations and statistical tests are considered
mathematical methods and should be described in this section
along with the actual experimental work.
3. Use active rather than passive voice when possible. Always use the
singular "I" rather than the plural "we" when you are the only
author of the paper. Throughout the paper, avoid contractions, e.g.
did not vs. didn’t.
4. If any of your methods is fully described in a previous publication
(yours or someone else's), you can cite that instead of describing the
procedure again.
5. Results:
The function of this section is to summarize general trends in the
data without comment, bias, or interpretation.
Statistical tests applied to your data are reported in this section
although conclusions about your original hypotheses are saved for
the Discussion section.
Data may be presented in figures and tables, but this may not
substitute for a verbal summary of the findings. The text should be
understandable by someone who has not seen your figures and
tables.
1. All results should be presented, including those that do not
support the hypothesis.
2. Statements made in the text must be supported by the results
contained in figures and tables.
3. The results of statistical tests can be presented in parentheses
following a verbal description.
6. Discussion:
The function of this section is to analyze the data and relate them
to other studies. To "analyze" means to evaluate the meaning of
your results in terms of the original question or hypothesis and
point out their biological significance.
1. The Discussion should contain at least:
• the relationship between the results and the original hypothesis,
i.e., whether they support the hypothesis, or cause it to be rejected
or modified.
• an integration of your results with those of previous studies in
order to arrive at explanations for the observed phenomena.
• possible explanations for unexpected results and observations,
phrased as hypotheses that can be tested be realistic experimental
procedures, which you should describe.
2. Trends that are not statistically significant can still be discussed if
they are suggestive or interesting, but cannot be made the basis for
conclusions as if they were significant.
3. Avoid redundancy between the Results and the Discussion
section. Do not repeat detailed descriptions of the data and results
in the Discussion.
End the Discussion with a summary of the principal points you
want the reader to remember. This is also the appropriate place to
propose specific further study if that will serve some purpose, but
do not end with the tired cliché' that "this problem needs more
study." All problems in biology need more study. Do not close on
what you wish you had done, rather finish stating your
conclusions and contributions.
7. Acknowledgments
Provide a brief statement acknowledging the efforts of any
participants or consultants who are not included as authors of the
manuscript. State all of the funding sources for the work, ensuring
that the statement adheres to the guidelines provided by the funding
institution.
8. References (APA or MLA):
Include all references that have been cited in the text. The references
should be well considered, so that they contain all key sources in the
field as well as previous studies that support or motivate the present
work.
All authors must be named in the Literature Cited; use "et al." only
with the text.
No reference is listed in this section unless it was cited somewhere in
the text.
9. Tables and table captions:
Tables should generally be included in a separate section after the
References section. The tables should be headed with a caption and
title in bold (i.e., Table 1: Material Properties), followed by a
sentence or two that describes the content and impact of the data
included in the table.
The table itself should be formatted so that the data is clearly
presented and easily interpreted by the reader.
Make sure that each table is referred to in the manuscript text; this
will most likely occur in the Results section, but may also occur in
the Introduction, Methods, or Discussion sections
10. Figures and figure captions
As with the tables, figures can also be placed in a separate section after
the References section. Again, clarity is the key factor, especially with
images and graphs.
All images should be as large as possible, and include accurate scale
bars. The graphs should be large, with data points and axis labels in a
large font. All figures need a caption.
The caption should identify the figure in bold (i.e., Figure 3), state a brief
title to the figure
As with the tables, make sure that each figure is referred to in the
manuscript text.
The Literature Review:
One important purpose of a literature review is to contextualize the
student’s research.
Features of the Literature Review:
Thereview of the literature should describe and synthesize the
major studies related to the topic of the research.
Itshould demonstrate the relationship between the student’s
project and what else has been done in the particular area.
What Should be Included in a Review of the Literature?
Theliterature review should focus on the key issues which underline the
research project.
Thereview of the literature needs to focus on the major findings of the
studies that are reported on, when they were carried out and who they were
carried out by.
Reportson studies directly related to the student’s project should be
discussed in more detail, including information about the methodological
approach used, data collected and analytical procedures used on the study.
The literature review also needs to include critical comment on these
studies (related to the student’s project) telling the reader which are the
best studies, and why, rather than just presenting factual information about
the studies that are being reviewed.
Organizing the Literature Review:
The literature review may be arranged:
According to the various questions to be asked.
According to the various topics and sub-topics that are central to
the study.
According to the specific variables in the study.
Chronologically from oldest to more recent research.
According to different points of view.
Or a combination of these.
Note: there is no single ‘right way’ in which to
organize the review of the literature. Often, the
nature of the research problem will determine
the organization of this part of the thesis.
Strategies for Reading for a Literature Review
A. Providing Background Information:
In the review of the literature, it is important to provide enough
background information to previous research so that the context of
the proposed research is clear. That is to say, the review should
describe previous relevant research, and the results of that research.
The following are questions that are useful to consider
when describing research:
Who carried out the research?
Who were the subjects of the research?
Why was it carried out?
Where was it carried out?
How was it carried out?
When was the research published?
What was the result of the research?
Steps and Strategies for Writing a Literature Review
(Paltridge & Starfield, 2007)
Reading, Summarizing and Critiquing Previous Studies
Summarizing a previous study:
What are the major research questions or hypotheses in the study?
What were the main findings of the study?
Why was it important to carry out the research?
What is the relationship between this study and the student’s own
project?
What other research studies were conducted in the same area?
What is the relationship between these studies and the student’s own
project?
Summarizing Research Methods and Analysis of the Data:
What research design was used in the study?
What were the main variables in the study?
What data were collected for the study?
Describe the population, sample, and selection procedures for the
sample.
Describe the data collection procedures used in the study
How were the data collection procedures developed?
Were issues of reliability and validity considered?
How were the data analyzed in the study?
Were the analytic procedures quantitative, qualitative or both?
Wouldyou be able to re-analyze the data on the basis of the
information provided about the analytic procedures?
It is also necessary to be able to identify the key findings of a research
study. You also need to be able to identify the relationship between these
findings and other research on the topic. To do that, you need to consider
the following questions:
What were the main findings of the study?
How do the findings relate to previous research on the topic?
What conclusions does the researcher reach on the basis of their
findings?
What are the implications of the findings?
What recommendations does the researcher make based on the
findings?
What recommendations does the researcher draw from the results of
their study?
How to Report on Previous Research?
There are several ways a student can report on previous research.
Examples of these ways are: central, non-central and non-
reporting styles of reporting.
A. Central: an author is directly reported as being responsible for
a particular finding or argument and placed in subject position in
the sentence = (strong author focus)
EXAMPLE: ‘Burke (1986) discovered that many students would
like to become integrated into Australian society’
B. Non-central: an author is reported as being responsible for a
particular finding or argument but with their name being given less
focus by being placed in brackets at the end of the relevant
statement = (weak author focus)
EXAMPLE: ‘It has been shown that students have often performed
successfully in their own education system before they seek entry to
the particular university’ (Ballard, 1991).
C. Non-reporting: the results of a piece of research are presented
with less focus being given to the author or the actual study and no
‘reporting verbs’ such as ‘claim’ or ‘shown’ are used = (no specific
author focus)
EXAMPLE: ‘Instead of motivation producing achievement, it may
be that achievement produces motivation’ (Spolsky, 1989)
Reporting Verbs:
There are different verbs that can be used to report on previous
research. These verbs can be classified into groups such as:
Verbs which make a statement such as: ‘report’, ‘state’,
Verbswhich express, in a very general way, a writer’s personal
judgment such as: ‘explain’
Verbs which express a writer’s opinion such as: ‘argue’, ‘believe’,
‘think’,
Verbs which present a writer’s suggestion such as: ‘propose’,
‘recommend’, ‘suggest’
Verbs which express some kind of disagreement such as: ‘doubt’,
Tenses: (Paltridge & Starfield, 2007)
Suggested topics:
1/ Language Anxiety And English Language Proficiency
2/ Integrative Grammar in Teaching Academic Writing
3/ the Impact of Grammar Teaching on Writing Development
4/The Role of Grammatical Instruction within Communicative Language
Teaching among Algerian EFL Students
5/ The Effects of Using Games in Teaching English Grammar to Young
Learners
6/ Investigating the Effects of Effectiveness of Using Subtitled Videos to Teach
Grammar
7/ Investigating the Effectiveness of both Deductive and Inductive Grammar
Teaching to Adult Learners of English .
