Academic Writing in English by ดร.ศานติ โบดินันท์

ACADEMIC WRITING IN ENGLISH For Asian Students and Researchers

Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn Ph.D. (Linguistics)

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

ACADEMIC WRITING IN ENGLISH For Asian Students and Researchers First Edition (2011) Copyright Â© 2011 by Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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FOREWORDS

Academic writing is a particular style of writing that is characteristic of academic institutions. It is the style essential for undergraduates, graduates, researchers and even lecturers when they explore particular academic questions in essays, reports, dissertations or theses, and academic papers. Although it shares many similarities with other styles of writing, it has its own characteristic features. As can be seen, the characteristic features that it exhibits give it a distinct style, and the great majority of students wishing to successfully complete a course of university study should ensure that their work reflects this style. If students are unwilling or unable to adopt an appropriate style, they are likely to have greater difficulties throughout their course.There are a number of factors and these relate to both the language itself and the structure. This book was designed to provide undergraduate, graduate students and young researchers, especially those of Asian background, with both the theory and practice of academic writing in English, necessary skill for them to complete their advanced studies and earn degrees in the field of their choice in and outside their own country.

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

CONTENT

Page CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION

5–9

CHAPTER 2 : WRITING ESSAYS IN ENGLISH

10 – 55

CHAPTER 3 : WRITING REPORTS IN ENGLISH

56 – 74

CHAPTER 4 : PARAPHRASE, SUMMARY & SYNTHESIS

75 – 81

CHAPTER 5 : WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS AND ABSTRACTS

82 – 106

CHAPTER 6 : WRITING A DISSERTATION

107 – 123

CHAPTER 7 : WRITING A LIST OF REFERENCES AND CITING SOURCES

124 – 140

CHAPTER 8 : PUNCTUATION

141 – 150

REFERENCES

151 – 161

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

162 - 164

5 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Academic writing is a particular style of writing that is characteristic of academic institutions. In other words, it is the style that is used by undergraduates, graduates and lecturers when they explore particular academic questions in essays, dissertations, PhD theses and academic papers. Although it shares many similarities with other styles of writing, it also has its own characteristic features, and it is these features that we will be examining. The characteristic features that it exhibits give it a distinct style, and the great majority of students wishing to successfully complete a course of university study should ensure that their work reflects this style. If students are unwilling or unable to adopt an appropriate style, they are likely to have greater difficulties throughout their course. So what, in general, characterises academic writing? There are a number of factors and these relate to both the language itself and the structure. A well-written academic essay will exhibit the following characteristics. It will: • • • • • • • • • •

put forward a coherent argument support that argument with evidence show the writer’s knowledge of the subject show evidence of reading reflect independent thinking contain quotations contain references and a bibliography adopt a formal style be logical and analytical be clearly structured.

This is not an exhaustive list but it provides an indication of the style of essay that is expected at a college or university. Other examples of formal writing may also reflect the elements listed here such as formal reports, formal agreements, certificates, government papers and so on. However, it is likely that many undergraduates will not have been required to adopt an academic style before their arrival at university. While their pre-university courses may have necessitated writing essays, these will probably not have reflected the formal language, the formal

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

structure and the presentation of a logical argument in quite the same way. In addition, many people now start their university course after a significant period of work and so they may not have written much at all for the ten years prior to starting their course. This will obviously make it hard for them to pick up on the style of writing that is needed in higher education. If you are reading this, you are likely to be a student in a college on an undergraduate or post-graduate course. You may be a native speaker of English or English may be an additional language for you. When preparing your essays, you may have found difficulties with selfexpression, essay structure, paragraphing, referencing, writing a bibliography and even punctuating correctly and this may have veiled some of your good ideas. You may not have achieved the grades that you hoped for. When your essays were marked you may have found comments reflecting the marker’s uncertainty about precisely what you were trying to say. • • • • • • •

You need to think more carefully about word order. Check your punctuation in this paragraph. This sentence is not clear. This is not academic language. Is this relevant? Reference? Is this a new paragraph or a continuation of the last one?

If you are in a college or university and you wish to improve your academic writing, skills and achieve higher marks in your assignments, you may need to work carefully on some or all of the following areas: • • • • • • • • •

your basic writing skills planning your writing paragraph writing structuring your writing run-together sentences sentence fragments sentences, clauses and phrases making links in your writing writing in a formal style

7 • • • • •

punctuation summarising and paraphrasing quoting, referencing and plagiarism parallelism and consistency preparing a bibliography.

If you wish to achieve high scores in your course, you will need to be able to: • • • • • • • • •

plan your essay write a good introduction with a clear statement of intent structure your essay clearly write paragraphs with clear topic sentences write grammatically coherent sentences use an appropriate academic style reflecting the conventions of academic writing use appropriate academic vocabulary punctuate your essay correctly write a good conclusion.

Writing is necessary for all students in higher education. Academic writing is clearly defined by having a clear purpose, either an exam question to answer or a research project to report on. Most academic writing in English is linear:

- It starts at the beginning and finishes at the end, with every part contributing to the main line of argument, without digression or repetition. What ever kind of writing your are producing, you, the writer, is responsible for making your line of argument clear and presenting it in an orderly fashion so that the reader can follow. Your written work should have the following sections: Preliminaries Main text End matter

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

The preliminaries and end matter will depend on the kind of text you are writing. The main text will, however, generally contain an introduction, a main body and a conclusion. The introduction will usually consist of some background information, which will give the reason for the writing and explain, to some extent, how this will be done. This must be closely connected to the essay or research question. The main body will then contain some data - either experimental, from ideas or from reading and some argument. This will then lead to the conclusion, which will refer back to the introduction and show that the purpose has been fulfilled. The actual form of the main body will depend on the type of writing. 1.1 Features of Academic Writing Academic writing in English is linear, which means it has one central point or theme with every part contributing to the main line of argument, without digressions or repetitions. Its objective is to inform rather than entertain. As well as this it is in the standard written form of the language.There are six main features of academic writing that are often discussed. Academic writing is to some extent: complex, formal, objective, explicit, hedged, and responsible. 1) Complexity Written language is relatively more complex than spoken language. Written language has longer words, it is lexically more dense and it has a more varied vocabulary. It uses more nounbased phrases than verb-based phrases. Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical complexity, including more subordinate clauses and more passives. 2) Formality Academic writing is relatively formal. In general this means that in an essay you should avoid colloquial words and expressions. 3) Objectivity Written language is in general objective rather than personal. It therefore has fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader. This means that the main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make, rather than you.

9 4) Explicitness Academic writing is explicit about the relationships int he text. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how the various parts of the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by the use of different signalling words. 5) Hedging In any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are making. Different subjects prefer to do this in different ways. A technique common in certain kinds of academic writing is known by linguists as a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;hedgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. 6) Responsibility In academic writing you must be responsible for, and must be able to provide evidence and justification for, any claims you make. You are also responsible for demonstrating an understanding of any source texts you use. The most common pieces of writing in the academic world are essays, reports, and research papers.

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

CHAPTER 2 WRITING ESSAYS IN ENGLISH Almost all students will at some time be expected to write an essay, or some other kind of argument, e.g. a review or discussion section, in a longer piece of writing. In English, an essay is a piece of argumentative writing several paragraphs long written about one topic, usually based on your reading. The aim of the essay should be deduced strictly from the wording of the title or question, and needs to be defined at the beginning. The purpose of an essay is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject, for you to present ideas you have learned in your own way. The emphasis should be on working with other people’s ideas, rather than reproducing their words, but your own voice should show clearly. The ideas and people that you refer to need to made explicit by a system of referencing. 2.1 Essay Sections An essay should have the following sections: 1. Preliminaries

•

Title page

2. Main text

• • •

Introduction Main body Conclusion

3. End matter

•

References

1) Preliminaries Before you start the main part of your essay or assignment, there should be a title page. The title page should contain information to enable your lecturer and departmental office to identify exactly what the piece of work is. It should include your name and course; the title of the assignment and any references; the lecturer it is for etc. Check with your department for clear information.

11 2) Main text English essays are linear:

- They start at the beginning and finish at the end, with every part contributing to the main line of argument, without digressions or repetition. Writers are responsible for making their line of argument clear and presenting it in an orderly fashion so that the reader can follow. Each paragraph discusses one major point and each paragraph should lead directly to the next. The paragraphs are tied together with an introduction and a conclusion. The main text of the essay has three main parts: I. An introduction II. A main body III. A conclusion I. The introduction. The introduction consists of two parts: a. It should include a few general statements about the subject to provide a background to your essay and to attract the readerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention. It should try to explain why you are writing the essay. It may include a definition of terms in the context of the essay, etc. b. It should also include a statement of the specific subdivisions of the topic and/or indication of how the topic is going to be tackled in order to specifically address the question. It should introduce the central idea or the main purpose of the writing. II. The main body. The main body consists of one or more paragraphs of ideas and arguments. Each paragraph develops a subdivision of the topic. The paragraphs of the essay contain the main ideas and arguments of the 11

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

essay together with illustrations or examples. The paragraphs are linked in order to connect the ideas. The purpose of the essay must be made clear and the reader must be able to follow its development. III. The conclusion. The conclusion includes the writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s final points. a. It should recall the issues raised in the introduction and draw together the points made in the main body b. and explain the overall significance of the conclusions. What general points can be drawn from the essay as a whole? It should clearly signal to the reader that the essay is finished and leave a clear impression that the purpose of the essay has been achieved. I. INTRODUCTION General Statement Organisation Statement

II. MAIN BODY A. Introductory Sentence Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 ... Concluding Sentence

B. Introductory Sentence Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 ... Concluding Sentence

C. Introductory Sentence Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 ... Concluding Sentence

III. CONCLUSION Recall issues in introduction; draw together main points; final comment.

3) End Matter At the end of the essay, there should be a list of references. This should give full information about the materials that you have used in the assignment. (See Writing a List of References for more information on the reference list). 2.2 The Process of Writing an Essay The following procedure is useful when writing an extended essay or assignment. Task 1.

Read the question and understand what you are required to do. Think about the subject, the purpose and the audience.

Skills Needed thinking academically

Product Essay subject.

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

Task

Skills Needed

Product

Think about what you know about the subject. Write it down in some way.

brainstorming

Diagrams or notes.

Go to the library and find relevant books or articles.

library/research skills

Reading list.

Find the books on your reading list and study them.

reading skills: skimming and scanning

List of materials studied.

Make notes on these books and articles.

reading in detail

Notes.

Record full details of the materials you use.

selecting & notetaking paraphrasing/summa rising

Organise your essay/assignment.

planning

Essay plan.

organisation 7.

Type or write your first draft.

writing from notes

First draft.

synthesis writing paragraphs typing/wordprocessing 8.

Discuss your first draft informally with friends, other members of your class and your lecturer if possible.

speaking skills listening skills discussion skills

List of revisions/ changes.

Task 9.

Skills Needed

Revise your first draft, bearing in mind any comments that were made in your discussions.

use of dictionaries & reference books

Go back to 2. if necessary

quoting/writing a list of references

Product Second draft.

writing introduction & conclusion

Produce your second draft. 10.

Proofread your draft.

checking for spelling mistakes

Assignment with changes marked.

checking punctuation and grammar checking vocabulary use checking style checking organisation, references etc. checking for plagiarism 11.

Produce a final typed version.

typing/wordprocessing

Final assignment.

writing title/contents page 12.

Check everything.

final check

Hand in.

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

2.3 Writing in a Formal Style Essays are formal entities, and the language we use should reflect that. The style of an academic essay should be appropriate and consistent. This is very different from an informal piece of writing. When we speak, or write informally, we often use multi-word verbs but this is not appropriate in formal writing. Here are some examples of multi-word verbs: call up

call on (visit)

call off

look at

give in

go into (a problem)

catch on

come by (a book)

turn up

ask for

set up

believe in

find out

care for

live down

deal with

bring up

long for

look up

object to

take in (deceive)

part with

One of the differences between some of these verbs is that some of them can have an item inserted before the preposition: he ran down the man - he ran the man down he took on the challenge - he took the challenge on the fire set back their plans - the fire set their plans back

17 In contrast, other verbs cannot have an item inserted before the preposition.

ask for a number ? ask a number for believe in a theory ? believe a theory in part with a lot of money ? part a lot of money with Multi-word verbs are very common in spoken English as they are less formal than single verbs. In contrast, single verbs can sometimes sound quite pompous in everyday speech. Compare: I asked for another appointment. I requested another appointment. Now compare these pairs of verbs: Informal

More formal

He checked up on his accountant.

He investigated his accountant.

They put up with their neighbours.

They tolerated their neighbours.

She caught on very quickly.

She understood very quickly.

She made up for it with an early night.

She compensatedfor it with an early night.

He went down with a fever.

He contracted a fever.

The cost of living went up.

The cost of living increased.

In formal writing, we use single verbs. This is an important element in achieving the correct style in academic writing. An essay with good ideas might well be marked down if the style is inappropriately informal. Using single word verbs instead of multi-word verbs is not the only way to achieve a more academic style. Here are some further points that you may find useful.

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

In academic writing, you often find that actions, processes and events are written in the orm of a noun. This produces a more formal style. For example:

The compound was discovered …. à The discovery of the compound was…. They invaded the island and ….. à The invasion of the island was ….. He achieved his goal and …… à The achievement of his goal was……. -Avoid addressing the reader with the general you. This is informal and inappropriate. Look at this example:

As soon as you start to look carefully at children's home, you frequently find evidence of abuse. The sentence can be rephrased in different ways to avoid the use of

you. Evidence of child abuse becomes apparent once careful investigative work is carried out. Careful investigation frequently leads to the discovery of child abuse. - Do not use contractions in essays. They are inappropriate in academic work. For example:

can't won't shouldn't haven't hasn't couldn't - State meaning very clearly. The reader can read the essay but not the mind of the writer so do not use etc and expressions like and so on. Use clear explanations and to make a coherent argument. The use of expressions like etc suggest a woolly and rather careless mind that cannot really be bothered to complete a sentence or an idea.

The invasion of the island resulted in misery, starvation, destitution etc. - Make sure every sentence makes sense. It is helpful to ask a friend or relative to read your draft essay to ensure that it is clear. Avoid ambiguous or confusing sentences. This proposal creates a way for

raising awareness in the UK of effective approaches to combat poverty

19 practised by overseas partners. We can take a guess at what the writer is trying to say, but there is no doubt that the sentence is unclear. - Do not overstate the argument that is being made in the essay by using expressions like this:

It is obvious that … It is clear that … The evidence proves … Anybody can clearly see that … - Always comment upon your own conclusions in a quietly confident manner, without attempting to claim too much. If a writer tries to claim that the study proves something, you might find a later researcher taking great pleasure in disproving the findings! Instead, use a less strident and a more detached academic tone. This is called hedging. Subsequent research may suggest other theories or produce results that conflict with your own, but by describing your findings as we have done below, your work can be seen as a further step in the academic road rather than a barrier that other people can knock down. The data reflect the fact that … (note: the word data is strictly speaking plural but often used as an uncountable or mass noun) These findings support this writer's view that … The results suggest that … The chart supports the theory that … - Avoid the use of expressions such as I think/I believe unless your own views have been specifically asked for, and use expression like these:

It is believed… Many researchers have noted… Some writers have stated..

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

The research suggests… The evidence indicates... - Use link words and expressions (however, nevertheless, as a result, in contrast, despite this) as well as link words like firstly, secondly ………… finally quite regularly throughout your writing as these help to guide the reader - The passive form is often avoided in other written texts but you will probably use more examples of the passive form in academic writing as these tend to sound more detached and formal.

Active: They often found evidence of child abuse in rural areas. Passive: Evidence of child abuse was often found in rural areas. Active: The researchers have proposed a variety of solutions. Passive: A variety of solutions have been proposed.

2.4 Planning and structuring your writing Before you start writing you will need to ensure that you understand very clearly what the question is asking you to do. Once you've done that, you can start your planning. Remember that your plan need not be slavishly followed as your ideas may well change to some degree as you write your essay. As you read more widely or discover unexpectedly rich sources of information, you can modify your plan. This might happen several times before the essay is ready to hand in. It is often very helpful to brainstorm ideas before you build a structure into your essay. Brainstorming involves writing down all the ideas that you have in your mind concerning one particular topic. They should be written down in any order, just as they come into your mind. Many students find it helpful to brainstorm by writing the topic in the centre of a large piece of paper and then placing around this central word/theme/topic a list of words/topics that they believe might be appropriate. This is a task that you will do at the very early stages of your writing and while some of the ideas you note down at this stage

21 will be central to the essay, others may be discarded at an early stage. This is quite natural, and a part of the whole process of brainstorming. Having gathered together as many points as you can, your next task is to link them where possible, and provisionally order them into a coherent structure. 2.5 The essay plan Having put together as many relevant ideas as possible, the next stage is ordering these points in an appropriate way. The important thing is to try to build up a coherent picture of your essay so that you can use it as the foundation for your writing. Your plan may be modified and developed as you proceed but the important thing at each stage is to focus precisely on the essay question and try to ensure that your essay plan provides a logical response to the needs of the task. An academic essay is likely to be divided into three main sections: â&#x20AC;˘ an introduction â&#x20AC;˘ the body of the essay

(a number of paragraphs exploring the topic) â&#x20AC;˘ a conclusion The introduction and the conclusion are likely to be moderately short, while the main paragraphs in the body of the essay are likely to be similar in length. There might, for example, be two or three paragraphs to a page. If one paragraph is noticeably longer or shorter than others, it would be well worth re-examining this paragraph. It may need to be divided in two if it is too long, or expanded if it is too short. It would be very unusual for a paragraph to be only two sentences. A paragraph should never be merely one sentence in an academic essay. It's very important to make your plan before you start to write. Try to express each point in your plan simply and clearly in note form. This will help you during the writing process. Look at this example:

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

Topic: The pros and cons of tourism in Thailand Thesis Statement: Tourism in Thailand is valuable, but only if it is properly regulated and monitored by the central government. Paragraph 1: A brief outline of Thailand's history. a) Sukhothai Period b) Ayuthaya Period c) Thonburi Period i) Rattanakosin Period Paragraph 2: Tourism in Thailand. a) General situation b) Tourist attractions i) Numbers of tourists ii) Services iii) Accommodation iii) Attitudes of local people c) Competition with neighboring countries Paragraph 3: Economic reform brings about change. a) The growth of private enterprise b) The availability of foreign exchange i) National funds ii) International funds e.g. IMF c) The expansion in foreign direct investment

23 i) Foreign funds ii) Foreign companies d) An increase in collaborative ventures Paragraph 4: The growth of tourism has brought some benefits to Thailand. a) Foreign exchange b) Employment c) Opportunity d) Reduced isolation Paragraph 5: The growth of tourism has had a negative impact on Thailand in some ways. a) The growth of unsuitable hotels i) Cultural clashes ii) Limited local employment b) A small increase in local jobs i) Low skilled ii) Poorly paid c) An increase in exploitation; pandering to western needs d) Additional damage in the public parks e) A low percentage of tourist costs being paid in Thailand Conclusion: Tourism needs to be fully exploited in Thailand but it can only bring significant benefits to the country is if is carefully regulated by the government. Unless this is done, the tourists will exploit Thailand, and then move on to new pastures, leaving a poorer country behind.

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Task : Now write the essay from the outline above. 2.6 Essay Samples Sample I Why Buddhism As A National Religion In The New Constitution. Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn, Ph.D. Suranaree University of Technology Nakhon Ratchasima 30000 Thailand

(Written in response to the drafting of Thailandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Constitution, sent to The Nation and Bangkok Post) The new 2007 Constitution has now sparked off controversies as to whether Buddhism should be stated as a state or national religion of the Kingdom of Thailand. Most Buddhists, both monastic and lay people, agree that the new constitution must clearly state Buddhism as a national religion, whereas, some non-Buddhists feel that doing so would lead to religious conflicts and downgrading people of other religions to second and third grade citizens, and that, in turn, would undermine the national security and reconciliatory attempts now underway, especially in the 3 provinces of southern Thailand. Whether or not should or must we include Buddhism as a national religion in the new constitution, historical, cultural, and educational landscapes of Thailand are some of the essential factors for Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) to carefully scrutinize before deciding to do or not to do something about Buddhism. Historically, Thailand has been practically a Buddhist state since Sukhothai period, about 900 years ago, as evidenced in the King Ramkhamhaengâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stone Inscription: King Ramkhamhaeng and His

people of all social strata have firm faiths in Buddhism; everyone observes Buddhist precepts, especially during Buddhist Rain Retreat. In the Ayudhya period, when King Luis 14 tried to convert Thai leaders into Christianity, King Narai the Great expressed His strong opinion that: This

is a very significant matter for us because we and our ancestors have long been embracing Buddhism, any attempt to convert us into other religions would be an uphill task, and if God really created the sky, the earth, and wished everyone should be a Christian, He should have done so through his supernatural power. In the Thonburi period, King Taksin the Great once declared: I am determined to promote, praise, and protect Buddhism, my country, and my people. Down to the present

25 Rattanakosin period, King Mongkut, wrote in some of His literary works:

Buddhism is our national religion, our nation and religion cannot be separated; therefore, it is essential that we all Thais maintain unflinching faiths in Buddhism which is our national religion(special emphasis), and preserve the Thai unique identities as we did in the past for many generations. Culturally, more than 90% of Thai people have been in one way or another influenced by the teachings of Lord Buddha, the great founder of Buddhism. Their minds, identities, and characteristics manifest Buddhist ways of life: Loving kindness, compassion, neutrality, sacrifices, honesty, self-detachment, and religious tolerance, under the umbrella philosophy of “Do good, come good” or “What goes around comes around” in the western way of thinking. The famous sentence: Thailand is a smiling country, is inherently a result of the Bwddhist teachings from generation to generation in the long but unified history of Thailand. Educationally, since ancient times, Thai people have received their education under the cares of knowledgeable Buddhist monks and scholars. Buddhist monasteries have served as a learning institution for Thai children for a long long time, up until now, even though the momentum or significance has to some extend reduced because of the western model of education that penetrated every part of the world under the globalization banner. The universal Buddhist philosophy of educational training: Sila, Smadhi, and Panna (Good behaviors, Concentration of Mind, and Wisdom), still plays a pivotal role in the Thai educational system, be it elementary, secondary, or tertiary. Thus, it is not at all an exaggerating to say that Buddhism has been an integral part of the Thai ways of thinking and doing. Now comes the most important question for CDC to answer and act on: Should Buddhism be stated as a national religion in the new 2007 Constitution? This question will definitely encourage CDC members to do some serious thinking about a place of Buddhism in the new constitution. As you may already know, most western or European constitutions do not mention anything about a state or national religion because they believe in the strict separation of state and religion, which is deeply rooted in the fears of increasing influence and power of the religion, including some Asian countries, such as, China, India, and Japan. However, most Buddhist countries inn Asia state the undeniable importance of Buddhism in their constitutions, for instances, Sri Lanka, 25

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

Bhutan, Sikkhim, Kamphuchea. The two very clear examples of countries in Asia that state their national religions are Malaysia and Indonesia. Article 3, Section 1 of Malaysian constitution states “Islam is

the religion of the Federation but other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation”, and Article 29, Sections 1 and 2 of Indonesian constitution mentions diplomatically, “ 1. The State shall be based upon belief in one god 2.

The State shall guarantee freedom to every resident to adhere to their respective religion and to perform their religious duties in accordance with their religion and that faith.” In conclusion, to do or not to do something about Buddhism in the new Thailand’ 18th ‘permanent’ constitution is up to all the CDC(Constitution Drafting Committee) and NLA(National Legislative Assembly) members,

but to accept it or not in the coming popular referendum is up to all the Thai people, particularly all Buddhists who constitute more than 90% of the whole population in the country (around 57 millions out of 62 millions). Sample II Strategies for Promoting University-Industry – Government Linkages Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn, Ph.D. Suranaree University of Technology Muang Nakhon Ratchasima 30000 Thailand (Adapted from the paper presented in Poland, 1999)

Introduction In the present age of globalization, the university system needs to become more responsive to society and produce graduates with a higher degree of responsibility and relevance to the needs of the country. It must improve its capacity to cater more proactively to the increasing demands of the economy and society and to strengthen it’s core mission as society’s think tank or intellectual lighthouse. Likewise, the industrial sector needs to play a more active role in supporting and interfacing with universities for mutual benefits and integration of knowledge and experiences.

27 General Strategies These are the broad strategies and related actions recommended to achieve the above-mentioned goals: 1. Build More Public Understanding and Awareness The notion of university-industry-government linkages must be incorporated into the mission of the universities. All public and private universities should be encouraged to develop their own strategic university-industry-government linkage plans which clearly set out definitions, guidelines, structures, and procedures to govern and guide the institution’s interface with society in general, and industry in particular. The strategic plan must fit perfectly into the overall policy goals of working towards increased self-sufficiency and supporting industrial competitiveness. While building on a common theme and concepts, each university’s plan must be appropriately based on the resources, environment, strengths, and future development vision of the relevant institution. Once the strategy plan has been complete, universities should make more efforts to make known the details of the plan both to university faculty and to outside which have a stake in the relationship. 2. Have Commitment and Vision Commitment and vision are the most essential factor that will determine the success of university-industry-government linkage implementation. These two components must prevail on three sides: university, industry and government. What must be kept in mind is that commitment without vision is blind and vision without commitment is useless. The two elements should exist harmoniously together and complement each other. 3. Stimulate Concerted Efforts to Meet New Demands As things stand, the educational needs of society are shifting and there is a clear path towards the provision of “life-long learning” and ongoing and continual education, especially in the science and technology areas. So, as universities move to meet these new demands and needs, the importance of searching for mechanisms which more explicitly involve the productive sector as a core component of the eventual solution must be stressed. On the government side, tax incentives to support the establishment of private industry retraining centers should focus mainly on supporting initiatives which involve university-industry-government collaboration. 27

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4. Include Co-operative Education or Practice School as Part of the University Curriculum. In the world of work, they do not require just graduates with a degree. They need more than that; they need working knowledge, hands-on experience, the ability to work and cooperate with others, good personality, and initiatives. In short, graduateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s employability is the heart of the matter. To cope with this new demand, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand introduced Cooperative Education into its curriculum since its first year of operation, 1993. It has been regarded as the first autonomous and innovative university in Thailand.

5. Promote Appropriate Mechanisms and Activities. Relevant measures need to be put in place to support the development of linkage activities and mechanisms. Existing measures and programs that could relate to such activities should be refocused and redefined to offer special consideration to university-industry-government linkage. A number of these involve elements that could be modified slightly in terms of emphasis to give particular support to initiatives. These programs include the linkage development of the BOI(Board of Investment), the research and technical assistance programs of NSTDA(National Science and Technology Development Agency), the industry support activities of the MOI(Ministry of Industries, and the umbrella activities of NSDP(National Supplier Development Program).

6. Improve the Flow of Technology

Communications and Information

Communication is a key element of successful activities and measures to be taken to strengthen the mechanisms to facilitate communications. Liberalization in the telecommunications sector will finally deliver fruit as the additional two million lines in Bangkok and one million lines in the regional areas are coming on line. However, there remains the need to remove other obstacles such as the outdated Telecom Act of 1923. In addition to simply facilitating general communications and exchange of information, the progressive introduction of information technologies will also be able to contribute greatly to broadening the range of many cooperation initiatives in all areas.

29 7. Promote University-Industry-Government Linkage as a Tool for Development Regional Thai universities, such as Suranaree University of Technology Chiang Mai University, Khon Kaen University, and Prince of Songkhla University, were established with the intention of supporting regional development. They should play a critical role as a local knowledge base and a window into world knowledge depositories for local industries. Therefore, the linkage development for regional universities should be given special priority as an explicit policy measure to compensate for weaknesses in the level of knowledge infrastructure in the regional areas as compared to what is available in Bangkok. The establishment of interface mechanisms of all types can serve to supply services to the private sector in the area as well as compensating to some extent for the high communications costs of always having to go to Bangkok for such services. Special technical and financial support should be given to the regional universities in this respect. 8. Provide and Enhance Incentives and Support for Other Cooperation Currently, the tax laws of Thailand provide little incentive for charitable donations. To facilitate the flow of resources, companies and individuals to aid university development in the forms of scholarships, endowments, professorial chairs, etc., full tax deductions should be provided. Furthermore, a mentality of supporting educational institutions should be encouraged through better organized alumni activities and specific find-raising campaigns. To enhance the relevancy of university education, more feedback should be encouraged, party through the increased private sector participation in universities at all levels, particularly in curricula development. 9. Establish a Proper Co-ordinating Center for the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; Industry-Government Linkages. A center for coordinating the activities and mechanisms for the linkages between the university, industry, and government should be established to implement plans and activities, and enhance productive relationship among them. However, it has to be a real focal point with qualified personnel and up-to date facilities, not just a premise without knowledgeable staff and modern facilities.

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10. Be a Member of Professional Organizations. It is necessary, in the present day, to be a part of each other to coordinate, cooperate, communicate, and compete. Together, we develop and prosper. So, partnership of the stakeholders should be considered an important step towards more sustainable progress in the implementation of university-industry-government linkages. Professional associations should be encouraged to play a bigger role in the development and accreditation of university programs. Conclusion All the ten strategies mentioned above, if followed appropriately, can contribute to the sustainability and progress of the linkages among the university, industry, and government in Thailand as well as in other countries. They should constitute a common ground for the tripartite linkages and serve as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ten Commandmentsâ&#x20AC;? for mutual advantages and recognition. The ten strategies can be, nevertheless, summarized in just three words: Actions, More Actions, and More and More Actions.

Sample III The Impact of Science and Technology on Society Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn, Ph.D. Suranaree University of Technology Nakhon Ratchasima 30000 Thailand

(Adapted from the paper presented in Singapore, 1998) Abstract As we prepare to enter the twenty-first century, civilization is in its greatest age of technological change. Society is in the midst of the massive task of absorbing science and technology on a scale never before experienced. Modern technology has given society new powers but also the responsibility to use science and technology in a way that enhances the quality of life. Throughout history, science and technology has been pressed onward like a glacier, overturning everything in its way and grinding all opposition into dust. Though the Industrial Revolution created new and serious human problems for some people in society, it was a great advance in the history of civilization. Technology continues to grow because of people themselves. Human beings, have tested the fruit of knowledge, cannot suppress their desire for it. They forever to expand knowledge of their environment, probably because of

31 the excitement of learning and their belief that more knowledge will help them control their environment. This paper takes a closer look at how science and technology enhance or affect society as a whole with the main focus on Thailand. 1. Introduction To begin with, we must acknowledge the innumerable blessings bestowed on us by science and technology. That is, nobody will dispute the enormous value that science and technology provide. If we look around at communications in the present day, we see radio, telephone, fax machines, television, video, satellites and so on, all of which have arisen from scientific and technological advances. Other obvious areas of development are in the medical world, where so many contagious diseases have now been virtually eradicated. Cholera is now quite rare, in Asia it is almost extinct. Bubonic plague no longer exists. Smallpox has all but vanished. We no longer have to fear these infectious diseases. Even brain operations are getting easier. Sophisticated examination and agnosis are more and more accessible. Then we have electricity and countless labor-saving devices. The field of biology has seen the development of genetic engineering, which may produce a new or specially adapted species of plants and animals. In short, it is almost impossible to list all those technological advances we have with us today.

2. Benefit-Creating Technology Or Benefit-Seeking Technology That application of science which effects the changes in the natural world, changing it into a so-called artificial world, is that which we call â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;technologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. However, technology is dependent for its existence on the knowledge obtained through science. Technology is the tool, or channel, through which humanity has worked to manipulate nature in the pursuit of material comfort, but at the same time, the dangers which threaten humanity are also contingent on this technology. Technology is thus both an instrument for finding happiness and a catalyst for danger. If we can constrain ourselves to creating benefit, the repercussions arising will be few and far between. But whenever technology is used to seek benefit, problems arise, as we can see in the present time. Therefore we must clearly distinguish between technology for the creation of benefit and that which is used to seek benefit.

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All in all, the benefits created by science appear to the mass of people through their technological manifestations. Humanity must, however, learn to choose between technology for creating benefit and technology for seeking benefit. ?(Bhikkhu P.A. Payutto, 1993: 9-17) 3. Features of Technology The dominant features of technology are change then more change. Technology forces change on people whether they are prepared for it or not. In modern society it has brought so much change that it creates what is called future shock, which means that change comes so fast and furiously that it approaches the limits of human tolerance and people lose their ability to cope with it successfully. Although technology is not the only cause of change, it is the primary cause. It is either directly or indirectly involved in most changes that occur in society Another feature of technology is that its effects are widespread, reaching for beyond the immediate point of technological impact. Technology ripples through society until every community is affected by it. The shock waves push their way into even the most isolated places. People cannot escape it. An additional feature of technology is that it is self-reinforcing. As stated by Toffler, : “Technology feeds on itself. Technology makes more technology possible.”( Toffler, 1971:26) 4. Phases of Technology and The Social Systems They Create Looking at technology in very general way, five broad phases of technology have developed. One phase at a time tends to dominate the work of a nation, and in so doing it has a major influence on that nation and creates its own distinct type of social system. In history, nations have tended to move sequentially through each phase, beginning with the lowest technology and moving higher with each step, so the five phases of technology roughly and moving higher with each step, so the five phases of technology roughly represent the progress of civilization throughout history. Although one phase of technology tends to dominate a nation’s activities at a particular time, other phases often will be practiced at the same time. The five phases are these:

33 1) Nomadic Society 2) Agrarian Society 3) Industrial Society 4) Service Society 5) Knowledge Society

5. Technology As a Social Force Throughout history, technology has been pressed onward like a glacier, overturning everything in its way and grinding all opposition into dust. In early nineteenth century England for example, a band of unhappy workers known as Luddites challenged the Industrial Revolution by roaming the countryside smashing machinery and burning factories. From their narrow viewpoint, machines were enemies taking away jobs and freedom and harming people. But the Luddites were soon overcome by the benefits brought by the same machinery they opposed. Their movement failed, much the same as their more modern successors did, such as the glassblower who opposed glassmaking machinery. We know now that they were largely mistaken about the broader significance of industrial technology. Though the Industrial Revolution created new and serious human problems for some people in society, it was a grate advance in the history of civilization. Technology continues to grow because of people themselves. Human beings, have tested the fruit of knowledge, cannot suppress their desire for it. They forever to expand knowledge of their environment, probably because of the excitement of learning and their belief that more knowledge will help them control their environment. 6. Social Consequences of Technological Change Technological advances bring both benefits and costs to society over long historical epochs, civilization has been carried to supreme heights of material progress and accomplishment by technology and science. Economic growth-driven by the engine of technological progress-has conferred wide benefits on humankind: supporting large populations at higher levels of living, extending expected life spans, and expanding a whole range of human potentialities that were the subject of science fiction novels not too ago. 33

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1) Social Costs In the same way that a lifesaving engineering gene may have side effects, technology also has had social side effects, when they are negative, the become social costs. While a nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s political infrastructure lacks the capability to monitor and pass judgment on the overall good or bad impact of every scientific advancement, society values many provide mechanisms that evaluate new technologies. On the political front, courts and legislatures can regulate the use of certain was banned by technologies. When coupled with a mobilization of public constituencies, similar political forces have checked and curbed the use of technology in business. There are other social costs to technology as well. Pollution, congestion, depleted natural resources, overpopulation, and the use of technology in settings such as developing nations where conditions for safe use may not exist all raise serious questions about the balance between technology and society. Business is an important actor in creating and resolving these dilemmas. Production marketing, and strategic planning decisions should not be made in a vacuum that ignores such social costs. The responsibility of business to current and future stakeholders in society requires careful attention to these costs. 2) Biotechnology-A New Frontier Another good example of the problems associated with new scientific and technological breakthroughs is the modern era of genetic engineering, also called biotechnology. Genetic engineering has a history over a century old, rooted in agriculture. In the nineteenth century the botanist, Gregor Mendel, pioneered the science of genetics. Ever since, genetic scientists have clones and propagated crops that have helped farmers produce more food per acre that is of better quality and less labor-intensive. The new era of genetic engineering includes new techniques that enable scientists to combine knowledge from various areas of science, such as biochemistry, genetics, microbiology, and ecology. Scientists can now identify and manipulate molecules in genetic material with revolutionary applications in agriculture, medicine, and industry.

35 One of the biggest worries surrounding biotechnology and genetic engineering is the uncontrolled escape of synthetically developed materials. For example, and engineered bacterium intended to build disease into a plant might also accidentally kill off a beneficial insect.

7. Business Applies Technology As soon as new knowledge exists, people want to apply it in order to reap its benefits. At this point business become important, because business is the principle institution that translates discovery into application for public use. Printing manufacturing, housing, education, and television are all dependent on business activities to make them work productively. Society depends on business to keep the stream of discovery flowing into useful goods and services for all people. Less developed nations have learned that scientific discoveries mean very little to them unless they have competent business systems to produce for their people what science has discovered. In a similar manner, developed nations have learned that an innovative business system helps translate technological developments into useful goods and services for their people. 8. Some Economic Effects of Technology 1) Higher Productivity 2) More Emphasis on Research and Development 3) Upgraded Job Skills 4) More Scientific and Professional Workers 5) Greater Capital Requirements

9. Business Responsibility for Technological Change In one important sense, business has only responded to expressed or potential public demands for more and better technology, in a private enterprise society, people register their wants through the marketplace, voting with their purchasing dollars. These free market demands have encouraged business to push greater technological growth through the 35

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introduction of new products and services. The enormous popularity and demand for todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s many electronic inventions-whether video games, videocassettes, pocket calculators, laptop computers, or digital recordings- illustrate the powerful dynamics of combining modern technology with a private enterprise system. The idea of a broad institutional partnership for humane technological advance belongs in the thinking of business leaders, as well as in the minds action of all those in society who have a stake in the technological future (Frederick, Post, and Davis, 1992)

10. Restraints on Technological Growth 1) Pollution Pollution is an unavoidable consequence of industrial production since waste by-products are produced along with useful things. In addition, many useful consumer products (e.g., automobiles) are themselves responsible for much pollution; and sooner or later, all manufactured goods wear out and are discarded as useless. The biosphere-the land, air, water, and natural conditions on which all life on earth depends-can absorb and break down many of these industrial contaminants without harm to people, animals, or plants. But the biosphere is not an infinite sponge, and the buildup of harmful chemicals in the ecosystem poses a threat all life and the planet itself.

2) The Industrial Resources Base A second, closely related factor limiting technological growth is the possible depletion of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s industrial resource base. This base is composed mainly of minerals, various forms of energy, water supplies, a skilled labor force, and human knowledge. Some studies have questioned whether the globeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s supplies of reasonably priced minerals, energy, and water are sufficient to support unlimited industrial and technological expansion.

3) Social Institution A third factor limiting technology is social values and institutions that many be inconsistent with the full productive potential that is

37 present in technology. Many societies, perhaps most of those adopt modern technology, encounter similar but less dramatic problems in arriving at a fit between their traditional social institutions and the new trends of technological development.

11. Science and Technology In Thailand: Then And Now Archeological evidence confirms the realities of life of the prehistoric people who inhabited the region known as Thailand today, and their level of technological development. Artifacts dating as far back as 3000 BC found at Ban Chiang in the Northeast of Thailand show that Thai people used sophisticated methods of rice agriculture, metallurgy and pottery-making. David Wyatt observed in Thailand: a Short History that Southeast Asian people had long known, among other things, how to make articles from bronze and copper. After World War 2, various ideological and political forces prompted governments to implement policies for the pursuit of what has been widely referred to as â&#x20AC;&#x153;development.â&#x20AC;? Initial schools of thought envisioned a linear and single path to development, or modernization, that involved the mass adoption of Western science and technology. It presumed that Western technology was appropriate for developing countries and that once adopted, those countries would proceed along the same path as Western countries. However, this notion was not always true; it was evident that even though many countries adopted Western technology they persisted in an underdeveloped state by Western standards. Moreover, it did not explain why some countries developed while others did not. As a result, reactionary schools of thought emerged to assert that technology from the West is inappropriate for developing countries, and that such countries should rather build up an indigenous capability. Yet again, there are examples of countries that followed these inward-looking policies that were not successful in achieving development dictated by Western standards. However, recent experience suggests that countries require a balance of technologies but also calls into question the notion of development as being defined by Western standards. This may be viewed as part of the globalisation phenomena. In academic circles this has given rise to the questioning of the right of Western intellectuals to speak for humanity. It has also allowed for the emergence of genuine questions about global culture. Ultimately, the globalisation phenomena gives developing countries the opportunity to search out their own goals and definitions of development that derive from their own cultural and social values and 37

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norms. Within this global environment, it may be possible for some real “universal” goals of development to emerge that are based not only on Western experiences but which also consider the experiences of nonWestern countries(Yuthavong and Wojcik, 1997). 12. Thailand as Part of the “Global Village” It is clear that Thai society is changing rapidly. While several sources of this change are internal, an important part of the change comes from external sources. Internally, change has resulted from such factors as the increase in population, the changing characteristics of employment, and urban migration. External sources may have either direct influence on the society or intermingle with the internal sources to cause a major change. An important factor is the global trend for increased interaction among societies, caused on the one hand by the trends towards freer trade resulting from multilateral trade agreements, and on the other hand by easier communication resulting from advances in telecommunication and information technology, and transportation in general. The external factors are the same all over the world, and therefore the changes in Thai society are in many ways typical of those taking place in other societies that are open by nature. The openness of the Thai society, combined with traditional advantages in low labour cost and natural resources have attracted outside investment, which is significantly spurring the growth in the economy, but at the same time fueling the rapid changes which are occurring at an increasingly greater pace. The changes in the mode of production and services in the Thai economy are paralleled by perhaps even greater changes, at the individual level, on the Thai people as consumers. Always receptive to external influence, the Thai people are rapidly and deeply affected by the new waves of change, to the extent that such change may wipe out traditional cultures and unique characteristics of the society. Will the society be transformed from one shaped by its unique history and position in the world, into one with a “universal” culture, monotonously common in the global village? Will a positive situation emerge, whereby the unique society is maintained, but constantly evolving to reap the benefits of globalisation without losing its identity? Science and technology, with both their universal and location-specific characteristics, will have a large role to play in the future transformation of Thailand.

39 13. The Good and Bad Effects of Science and Technology Thai Society

The trends of change in the Thai society resulting from science and technology have both desirable and undesirable components. Some of the consequences of the development and application of science and technology are direct, as for example optical fibre links, while others are indirect and result from interactions with other aspects of the society, as in human migration resulting from industrialization. In the attempt to fulfil the vision for Thailandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future, measures should be taken that would as much as possible allow the desirable components to be realized, while at the same time thwart the undesirable components. It may not be possible to achieve the goals completely: some changes will bring both good and bad news together. For example, information technology will make available both new educational tools and new tools for crime. It is therefore a matter of creating a wholesome balance in development and in the use of science and technology. In order to try to create such a wholesome balance, we might compile a list of desirable and undesirable effects of science and technology in some of the sectorial areas discussed in this book. The tables below contain short lists for industry, agriculture, health and communication. These are general effects for developing countries such as Thailand only, and are subject to exceptions in many specific cases. Nevertheless, they may show some important conclusions for us to set the courses for optimal development. 14. The Place and Role of Science and Technology in Thai Society For a society to have the capability for the development and application of science and technology, it should have a proper attitude towards these important tools. Many people in non-Western countries such as Thailand have the attitude that science and technology have their origins in, and still belong to, the West. This attitude creates alienation towards science and technology. We should look at the facts. The content of science and technology as we know them today owe their origins to the ancient Greeks and the Europeans of the Renaissance era, but we should examine the origin of science and technology, not in terms of content, but in terms of concept and system. In so doing, we find that science and technology should be the heritage of all mankind, because the essence of science and technology-use of reason, curiositygenerated observation and experimentation, making of tools--are the traits of every human society. Thailand, as well as other civilized 39

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societies old and new, possesses this universal trait irrespective of “modern” science and technology. Carl Sagan(1980) used to mention that the scientific world view works so well, explains so much and resonates so harmoniously with the most advanced parts of our brains that in time....virtually every culture on the earth, left to its own devices, would have discovered science. Science and technology, therefore, do not belong to any particular human society, but are the results of human evolution, especially that of the brain, over more than a million years. The fact that some civilizations made more advances than others in the past few thousand years does not mean that they “invented” science and technology, but simply that the civilizations reached that crucial stage of development. The status of science and technology is in a real sense a major indication of societal achievements. In the broad sense, therefore, scientific culture -- defined as a culture of reason, of systematic investigation, of thinking in conjunction with action, of readiness to be proven wrong -- is a desirable culture for any society. Scientific culture is not the same as science-oriented culture. While a scientific culture has attributes akin to those of the scientific process in the broad sense, a science-oriented culture implies aspirations towards scientific achievements per se. A culture may therefore be scientific without being science-oriented. The status of a scientific culture is much more difficult to discern. This can perhaps be roughly assessed by the reflections in various activities in the society.

As these indicators show, Thailand should not be considered a scienceoriented society. This has some serious implications concerning the ability to compete in world trade, and measures should therefore be taken to achieve more science orientation in the society. Even more serious is the fact that the Thai society is still a long way from having a scientific culture. Bhikkhu P.A. Payutto(1993), a modern authority on Buddhism observes that Thailand only has a “technology-minded” culture, not a “scientific” culture. It is more attracted by the products of technology, rather than the process of thinking and learning. A reorientation in the Thai society is needed to achieve a balance, where science and technology can have an suitable slot, both because of their contributions to material wealth and their spiritual role in human culture.

41 Conclusion The rate of technological change-during the past century has been greater than all of the technological advances made in the previous two thousand years. As technology marches on into the twenty-first century, society is presented with the opportCHAPTERy to capitalize on these innovations and the challenge to utilize technology in a way that reflects society’s moral standards. Society must weigh the benefits of technology against its negative side effects to ensure that the mistakes of the past are not repeated so that innovation will continue to improve the quality of life. However, since science and technology are a part of universal human culture, and at the same time also have many local characteristics, Thai society has a potential to grow its own science and technology, since it is an open society with a tolerant religious and general outlook. Both imported and indigenous science and technology can be important tools, providing development options for all people in the society. To reiterate here again, science and technology have contributed a great deal to society as a whole. They have, so to say, tremendously improved the quality of life and altered the ways we do things. There are no disputes or doubts about the validity and usefulness of science and technology for human consumption and inventions. However, we must bear in mind that science and technology have some limits per si; they can never answer all problems of human life; they can never reach the bottom of the human mind; they can never go beyond the physical world. In certain cases, science and technology can pose dangers to our own existence and the existence of plants and animals, or even to the universe. In other words, science and technology are not yet able to correct their own handiwork. To quote Sir Arthur Eddington(1929, p.282), “Science is incapable of leading mankind directly to the truth, or reality as such, it can only leads him to a shadow world of symbols.” Yet to quote Mack Plank(1984, p. 153), “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature, and, therefore, part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.” So, in the final analysis, what we need is a kind of science and technology that is moderate, appropriate, constructive, and serves to develop understanding for the improvement of human being. We perhaps must radically change our ways of thinking if we are to survive on this planet.

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Sample IV Research Conduct from the Inside Out: Personal Account of a Thai EFL Teacher Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn, Ph.D. School of English Suranaree University of Technology Nakhon Ratchasima 30000 Thailand (Full paper presented at the 20th Annual International TESOL Conference Sofitel Hotel, Khon Kaen, Thailand 30-31 January 2004)

Abstract Being a university teacher means having to cope with several things at the same time. The two main tasks that are mandatory for us are to teach and do research: We are expected to teach well and research more in order to create a novel body of organised knowledge that will benefit both students and community alike. However, it is not always easy to carry out those two missions with equal successes; there are some pains and pleasure involved throughout the teacher's research life. As the saying goes, no pains, no gains. Therefore, in this short talk, I will share my pains and gains experienced during the period of my experiments with the truths on the assumption that genius is 1 % inspiration and 99% perspiration.

Introduction With the new trend of research in Thailand, under Thaksin Government (2001-present), Thai teachers in universities, colleges, schools and researchers in general are forced to concentrate on grassroots level integrated and interdisciplinary research aiming to eradicate or reduce poverty of rural people, and gear the country toward knowledge-based economy and learning society So, the research approach recommended at present is “Outside In” that takes into consideration the needs and urgency of society on the very basic assumption that research should serve the social needs, help solve problems of the country, and lead the country to or beyond a new frontier of knowledge and development. However, this does not mean that “Inside Out” research is not encouraged. This “Inside Out”

43 approach is necessary in contexts that involve reflections and internal investigations, such as Classroom Action Research and Case Studies. Ultimately, and in my opinion, with the support of the 1994 National Educational Reform Act of Thailand, the combination of “Inside Out” and “Outside In” research should be a good answer to the problem, depending on what, when, where, and how. My presentation today follows the “Inside Out” approach. So, I will focus mainly on what was and is happening in my mind that eventually led and lead to research investigations.

Teacher as Researcher and Teaching as Research In Thailand, traditionally, teachers and researchers were supposedly two separate identities having their own things to do and look for. In the absolute sense, they did not need to depend on or learn from each other for their professional survival. But with the onset of globalization that sweeps across the world making things faster and compact, every sector has to adapt to changes and improve itself to catch up with new facets of science and technology. Teachers are at the forefront to immediately respond to the new change because they are primary change agents in society. Traditional classroom has become learnercentered, teachers have more autonomy and responsibility to manage their students, and IT technology has been an essential part of the learning-teaching process. Traditional teachers with the old style teaching methods are to be replaced by progressive and IT oriented ones. Glenda Bissex (1986), in her exploration of teaching as research, attempts to dispel some assumptions about the meaning of "research" and how it relates to classroom teachers. She points out that a teacherresearcher is an observer, a questioner, a learner. Teacher-researchers focus on what is happening at hand; they try to understand the ongoing events of their classrooms: I wonder how much students think about reading outside of class? Teacher-researchers question their educational assumptions; they're continually trying to make sense of their students' interpretation of the tasks and activities they set them: I wonder if children really have to learn to read before they can begin writing? Problems become questions to investigate; new ways of teaching become opportunities for learning: what would happen if I shared my writing with my students? Teacher-researchers are learners; they don't make a separation between those who "know" and those who "do"; they begin to trust their own ability to find out.

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Parsons (2004) stresses that traditional educational research has limited usefulness for classroom teachers. It often requires the carrying out of specific research projects to the exclusion of their teaching. When educators talk about teacher research, or teaching as research they envision teachers extending their role to include critical reflection upon their teaching. Some examples of teaching as research include educators who wish to undertake research in their classrooms or schools for the purpose of improving teaching, to test educational theory, or to evaluate and implement an educational plan. Teacher researchers have adopted the label "action research" to describe their particular approach to classroom research. Kurt Lewin (1946) has been credited with the development of the idea of action research. The evolution of an action research agenda within education has been influenced by people such as Kemmis (1983), Ebbutt (1985), Elliott (1991), Hopkins (1985) and others. Hopkins (1985:pp 58-60) offers good advice on teacher research when he advocates the development of teacher's professional expertise and judgment. He provides a basis for the selection of classroom research by teachers:

a) The teacher's primary role is to teach and any research project must not interfere with or disrupt this commitment; b) The method of data collection should not be too demanding on the teacher's time; c) The methodology used must be reliable enough to allow teachers to formulate hypotheses confidently and develop strategies applicable to the classroom situation; d) The teacher should be committed to the research problem under study; e) The teachers must follow ethical procedures when carrying out research; and classroom research where possible should adopt a perspective where all members of a school community build and share a common vision. Often the hardest part in classroom research is deciding on a focus. Teacher research does not require a precise hypothesis. In fact you do not have to begin with a problem. Hopkins (1985:pg 63) suggests that "

All you need is a general idea that something should be improved. Your general idea may stem from a promising new idea or the recognition that existing practice falls short of aspiration." Once the focus of the research has been decided, planning for data collection, followed by actual data collection and analysis occurs.

Now, how to get started on a project. Based on Hollingsworth (1994) and Hopkins (1985) we can benefit from the following practical suggestions for the teacher research process:

a) Decide on a focus Start with autobiographical data by locating your best professional self. Some questions you might ask - What are your broad interests in teaching and learning? What are your specific interests? What are manageable questions? Choose something you feel passionate about.

b) Justify that the project is your best solution to the problem. c) Develop a plan to gain insights Develop a time-line to gather evidence or data to examine what you are trying to accomplish/resolve/do in light of "what you do not know yet".

d) Decide what evidence you want to collect. Evidence includes such things as questionnaires/surveys, observations (video or written notes), collaborations (i.e. video or audio tape of meetings, peer coaching) interviews, tests and records, student work, video and audio tape transcripts, personal journal, library readings, etc.

e) Analyze the data by looking for patterns, or themes across the evidence Keep logs and journals, periodically read over the evidence, code data from themes and patterns, draw or chart patterns, try to summarize what you have learned as you go, by noting images, metaphors, and any new questions.

f) Check out your understandings by triangulating evidence (same theme, code, pattern appears in more than two types of data), and by talking to peers, students, friends.

g) Report on what you have learned to your colleagues, to parents, at conferences, in journals.

h) Summarize what you learned -- in an essay, narrative, poster, video, etc. k) Tell how the problem changed, did not change, or became worse because of changes in your practice. 45

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A key component of Action Research is sharing what you have learned. A number of techniques ranging from videos to formal presentations have been suggested, but the following can be your potential audiences as well:

- Colleagues at a staff development day - Parents and students - Email discussion groups (see On-line Resources) - Publications from professional organizations - Journals such as "Teacher Research: The Journal of Classroom Inquiry" - a journal by teachers, for teachers. When teacher research is shared, it allows for further action on the part of the teacher, or the broader educational community to continue. So,

If you have not undertaken teacher research in your classroom now is the time to try! My Struggle with Research Adventure and Misadventure To keep up with the new trend and new challenges, I started out as a serious researcher in 2000, after 5 years of teaching only at Suranaree University of Technology, and after ten years of my Ph.D. completion. To be frank and honest I became a dead wood in research for several years, and it is extremely hard to get back on tract again. Personally, I hated doing research because it is a tedious and arduous job taking up so much of my time with little or no impact on society at all, except for your own personal gains, such as academic promotion, salary increase, and some small illusory fame. Most of the Thai teachers’ research works have been lying on shelves in the library or at home with no social or market values whatsoever. Then, I thought to myself, “What’s the point of doing research?”. I have been thinking a long that line for several years and I still survive in my teaching career. Then with the new policy, rules, and regulations of the current Government and my own workplace, Suranaree University of Technology, I have to reengineer and rekindle myself: my ways of thinking, my teaching practices, and my world views as a professional teacher. I forced myself a lot to recover and wake up from academic complacency and inertia, if not deep slumber or oblivion to the outside world. I began by reading a lot of modern literature on research for language teachers focusing first on action research and case studies, both in Thai and English. As you know, old habits die hard. It took me a lot of efforts and time to turn over a new leaf and become research minded. The next step, after extensive literature reading and surveying, was to write up a good

47 proposal to get funds from my university. The first research I out, after I received Ph.D. in 1991, about ten years after, was study, a kind of classroom action research. The proper title research was An Analysis Of Discourse Features That

carried a case of my

Affect Students' Communication Of Written Texts In English V Academic Writing Classes At SUT. The final step in my search of academic excellence was to look for successful mentors and experts in the field who would guide me through and help me see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fortunately, Dr. Maneepen Abhibalsri, then Chair of the School of English, managed to secure UMAP funding for me to be in Australia for a few months. She even recommended one expert in the EFL field to me. That expert is here with us today. You would not get surprised if I mention her name because she is an internationally established EFL research and teaching expert who has been actively involved in TESOL conferences around the world. Well, I cannot hold you back any more. She is Jill Burton, a Professor from the University of South Australia. Done with my research with Jill Burton, I attempted and finished two pieces of research with Richard K. Coll, University of Waikato, New Zealand, and my colleague, Isra Pramoolsook, who is now on his doctoral study in England. Our research works are interdisciplinary in nature involving something far away from my field of teaching, but within the university mission. The proper tile of the two researches are

1) An Investigation Of Thai Students Co-Op Placement Experiences; and 2) Internationalization Of Cooperative Education From Thai Students' Viewpoints, respectively. Then, in June 2003, I went to Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, USA, as Visiting Professor, on the Government scholarship allocated specifically for Graduate School instructors to develop their research and teaching skills abroad. At NIU, I met with many professors and experts. To name a few, they are Deborah Pierce, Doris Macdonald, Casey Bozek, Michael Day, Grant Olson, John Hartmaan, Richard A. Orem. But I had a lengthy discussion about my research project on language awareness raising for Thai EFL students with and benefited a lot from Dr. Karen Carrier, School of Education, NIU. She is an expert in bilingual literacy and TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language). She also introduced me to other professors in her field. Like Jill Burton, she critically and carefully read my proposal and had good comments on it. She also allowed me to sit through her graduate classes to learn and observe how she teaches her graduate students from different countries and ethnic groups and how they behave and interact in class. I learned a lot from her and her students, and definitely enjoyed all the facilities: 47

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library, office, computer, etc. at NIU throughout the period of my stay there. During the last week of my stay at NIU, I flew over (or down, I am not so sure)to MIT in Boston, to meet with Alec Marantz, Professor of Linguistics and Head of the Linguistics and Philosophy Department. We discussed the possibilities of research cooperation but unluckily he is more interested in pure linguistics and artificial intelligence about which I know next to nothing. At MIT, I was also trying to meet with Noam Chomsky, the Father of Modern Linguistics, to whom I owe so much in the field of my study, Linguistics, but he was away in another country at that time. Later on, he sent an e-mail to me saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;sorryâ&#x20AC;? for being unable to meet me at his own office. Somehow, his secretary allowed me to sit in his chair and browse through several piles of his books and monographs. I was tremendously impressed by his deep scholarship and academic dedication and lifelong commitment to linguistics, world peace, and American politics. I spent a big amount on his books at MIT Press. To make the best use of my time and learn more about American ways of doing things in Boston, I also visited Harvard University during my trip to MIT. I was overwhelmed with the atmosphere at the world class campus and five star bookstore. I spent two days at Harvard doing what I enjoy most: sipping at coffee and reading latest publications in Linguistics and EFL/ESL in the cozy coffee bar, second floor, of Harvard Bookstore. Some American told me the special difference between Harvard and Cambridge Universities: Cambridge thinks it is the world but Harvard thinks it can change the world. There might be some elements of truths in that statement but things can change upside down. We can never be sure. Anyway, I bought a lot of good books from that bookstore, some inside and some outside my field. But all of them are very useful for me, my students, and my colleagues in Thailand.

My Difficulties with Action Research As pointed out by Newman (1987), the difficult thing about doing action research is that you have to override most of what you've learned about research as an activity. In a traditional research culture you begin by framing a question, setting up a situation which might provide some information, collecting data which bears on the question, then writing up results. Action research isn't like that at all. The research activity begins

49 in the middle of whatever it is you're doing â&#x20AC;&#x201D; something happens that you did not expect, and you begin wondering about what's going on. Another dilemma in an action research is that you may not even realize something interesting has occurred that you ought to think about unless you are already in the habit of keeping a journal or reflective log. Because teaching, like other activities which occur in and around schools, is so complex, we are accustomed to coping with the many things demanding our attention at once without really thinking about them; we generally do not make a point of recording those moments which surprise or perplex us or stand out for some other reason during the course of the day. However, as I experienced it myself, the hardest part of beginning an action research project is developing the discipline to keep a written account, of recording on a regular basis the details of what is happening, particularly when you have no idea what you are looking for. Unlike traditional research, action research begins not with a research question but with the muddle of daily work, with the moments that stand out from the general flow, and unless we record those moments they vanish, unavailable as data for reflection, for discerning some larger pattern of experience. So it's necessary to keep fairly detailed notes. Whether it's a journal, a daily log, critical incidents jotted on index cards, or more extensive field notes, without a written account, the enterprise cannot proceed. In addition, everything we do in the classroom is grounded on a set of assumptions about learning and teaching, about knowledge, and about what counts as legitimate reading and writing. That is, each of us operates on the basis of what Chris Argyris (1976) calls our "action theories." Our beliefs about learning and teaching are largely tacit. We operate a good deal of the time from an intuitive sense of what is going on without actively reflecting on what our intentions might be and what our actions could be saying to students. Our beliefs about learning and teaching can only be uncovered by engaging in systematic self-critical analysis of our current instructional practices. We use critical incidents as a way of finding out more about our current beliefs and about the assumptions underlying what we are doing in the classroom. We collect and share stories which contribute to our understanding about language and learning and about our role as teachers. Sometimes the incidents confirm what we believe; but more often, we are forced to reappraise our assumptions. What these critical

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incidents often reveal is a surprising gap between what we believe about learning and teaching and what our actions are showing. As a matter of fact, our learning opportunities come from many sources, such as from comments made in passing, from a statement overheard, from something a student might write in a journal, from something we might read either because it confirms our experiences or because we disagree and have to consider what we believe instead, or because it opens possibilities we have not thought about before. We also realize the learning remains hidden unless we have some reason for making it explicit. Writing the stories down is important as it forces us to explain the situation to ourselves. Engaging in this kind of analysis alone is not easy. We need to ask more questions like:

Why was an incident memorable? What made it significant? What did we learn from it? so as to see and understand the point of the story and to talk about the underlying assumptions.

My other dilemma as a teacher is that I can not teach good judgement; I can only create circumstances which make it possible for learners to experience the consequences of their own decisions. My main role is to structure conditions so that learners are willing to risk engaging in the experience and exploring the unfamiliar things. And when my students do not understand what is happening, when they encounter something they are not sure how to handle, I need to be by their side to ask questions, to give suggestions, and to provide moral support . As we know, teaching and earning, therefore, involve a very complex reciprocal relationship between student and teacher. In order for us to provide the kind of learning environment that supports the development of judgement, we have to face the fact that some of my own interpretations and decisions are likely to be wrong. If I have learned nothing else during my 15 years of teaching, I have learned that I can not control how students interpret my intentions and actions. No matter what I do, it will be supportive for some but definitely disruptive for others. The crucial thing for me as a good teacher is to discover when and how my instruction creates barriers. Observing ourselves learning can offer important insight into our students' behavior and help us think

51 about teaching that supports learning as opposed to teaching that interferes, disrupt, or undermines. In teacher/action research, understanding is often a retrospective enterprise; lots of events/experiences make sense only some time later.

The Four Noble Truths as Guiding Principles for Research to Nirvana At this section, I do not mean to be religious but I intend to introduce the principles that we, especially Thai teachers, are familiar with by their upbringing and profession. I apologize to those who are not familiar with what I am talking about at this point. The Four Noble Truths are the heart of Buddhism and the Laws of Nature discovered, not invented, by the Buddha more than 2500 years ago. They are, in simple terms, Statement of Problem, Diagnosis of Its Causes, Prognosis of Its Antidote, and Prescription of the Remedy (Phra Dhammapidok, 2003, pp 45-47). I always keep these noble and natural truths in mind when I begin my research. Prasertsan(2002, p. 113), mentions that most research works succeed only up to the first and second truths, which are considered half way to solving the problem. In fact, the true success in research lies in the third and fourth truths which involve ‘downstream management’ or the appropriate applications or implementation of research findings to the real situations for more sustainable outcomes. Moreover, good research must avoid at all cost these biases: biases caused by love or desire, biases caused by hatred or enmity, biases caused by delusion or stupidity, and biases caused by fear. And by using the term ‘Nirvana’ here, I do not mean to be sacrilegious, but to be a metaphor for research that aims ultimately to get rid of a specific problem in the professional life. Originally. The term Nirvana (or Nibbana in Pali) means the cessation of all suffering which is the highest spiritual achievement in Buddhism through practicing the Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Efforts, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration (Phra Dhammapidok, 2003, pp 64-65). Nevertheless, I intentionally employ the term just to mean cessation or end of a specific problem faced in performing our duty and in developing our knowledge and skills. Let us be clear about that, and I hope I have made myself clear enough on that point. Just to be more explicit, I mean to assert that our research and its findings should cover all four levels of the truths, not just being placed in shelves and sadly forgotten, in order to really solve the problem and serve the needs of our country in a more sustainable fashion.

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Conclusion Research is an on-going dynamic process. We have to renew and rekindle our enthusiasm at every step of our way. If we stop pondering or reflecting on research, we are academically brain dead. Somehow, we have to keep going even though we may at times feel lonely, isolated, and desperate. In the end, it will be rewarded and the joy will reign supreme. But we must remember, as Kevin, my friend from Oxford University always put it, success or failure is not the end of the world yet. Keep walking until you find something worthwhile in your life, and do not get discouraged if you cannot find what you are looking for. Take control of your life and be responsible for its consequences. You are the great architect of your life, so design and redesign your destiny. The future is not tomorrow but now. As a professional teaching and researching CEO (Chief Executive Officer) in our own rights, we should try to learn new ways, new strategies, and new concepts that will eventually shape up our successful life. However, my last words of warning is: Research may be everything for all researchers but

not everything is researchable!

References: Argyris, Chris. Increasing Leadership Effectiveness. New York: Wiley & Sons, 1976. Barnes, Douglas. From Communication to Curriculum. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books, 1976. Bissex, Glenda. "On Becoming Teacher Experts: What's a TeacherResearcher?" Language Arts, 63 (1986):482-484. Burton, Jill. “Current Development in Language Curriculum Design: An Australian Perspective.” Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (1998) 18, 287 – 303, 1998. ___________. “A Cross-Case Analysis of Teacher Involvement in TESOL Research.” TESOL QUARTERLY, vol.32.No. 3 Autumn 1998. ___________. “Learning from Teaching Practice: A Case Study Approach.” Prospect: A Journal of Australian TESOL Special Issue 2000.

Dhammapidok, Phra. Phoomdham Bhuddadham Foundation, 2003.

Chao

Put.

Bangkok:

MacDonald, Mary. "Looking For Answers." Language Arts, 63 (1986): 436-437. McConaghy, June. "On Becoming Teacher Experts: Research as a Way of Knowing." Language Arts, 63 (1986): 724-728. Newman, Judith M. “Learning to teach uncovering our assumptions.” Language Arts, 1987, 64(7): 727-737 Parsons, Sharon. Teacher Research. www.accessexcellence.org/21st/TL/AR, 2004. PerI, Sondra, & Nancy Wilson. Through Teachers' Eyes. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann Educational Books, 1986. Pinyonatthagarn, Dhirawit. “Writing Is Thinking: A Critical Step for Effective Writing.” Suranaree Journal of Science and Technology. 5 : 101 – 104, 1998. _____________________. Second or Foreign Language Acquisition Theories: How Do They Fit into Thai Contexts. Th Seminar on “Can Learner Independence Be Taught?”jointly organised by Suranaree University of Technology, The English Language Centre of Australia, and Supervisory Unit Region 11 of Nakhon Ratchasima, at Surasammanakhan Seminar Center, Suranaree University of Technology, on Saturday 27 March 1999. ____________________. An Analysis Of Discourse Features That Affect Students'Communication Of Written Texts In English V Academic Writing Classes At SUT: Research Report, 2002. Prasertsan, Suthira. (2002). Sappasing Luan Wichai. Office of Thailand Research Funds.

Bangkok:

Serebrin, Wayne. "A Writer and an Author Collaborate." Language Arts, 63 (1986): 281-283. Sukamolson, Suphat. “English Language Policy in Thailand.” In Asian Englishes: An International Journal of the 53

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Sociolinguistics of English in Asia/Pacific, pp.68 – 91. Tokyo: ALC, 1998. Wongsothorn, Achara, et al. (1996). “National Profile of Language Education: Thailand.” Paper presented at the 11th World Congress of Applied Linguistics, Finland, 5 –9 August. 1999 National Educational Reform Act. Thai Government Policies, 2001. Online Resources: Action Research - Introduction Teaching & Learning TEACHER RESEARCH. by Sharon Parsons San Jose State University. Introduction. ... Teacher research does not require a precise hypothesis. ... www.accessexcellence.org/21st/TL/AR/ - 12k Teacher Research Books, Papers and Conferences on Teacher Research. ... Papers. The Nature and Quality of Teacher Research by Jeff Northfield , Monash University; ... educ.queensu.ca/~ar/teacherr.htm - 4k Teacher Research Teacher Research Reports. The Maple Ridge Review of Special Education. ... Changed individual and organizational roles in teacher research. ... www.bctf.bc.ca/inquirer/support/research.html - 6k ED355205 1993-03-00 Teacher-As-Researcher. ERIC Digest. ... developing policy. Teacher research has its roots in action research. WHAT IS ACTION RESEARCH? ... institution. WHY IS TEACHER RESEARCH IMPORTANT? The ... www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed355205.html - 19k Virtual Science Center ... Teacher Research Center. Chabot ... Background on the Teacher Research Center: The key objectives of the Teacher Research Center are to: Provide ... www.chabotspace.org/vsc/teacher/trc.asp - 16k – 19. 2004 -

55 Teacher Research Teacher-Research at Deer Park School. ... To learn more about the process of teacher research, go to the Teacher Research web site http://gse.gmu.edu/research/tr. ... www.fcps.k12.va.us/DeerParkES/TR/tchrch.htm - 18k SAWP--Teacher Research Facilitators: Sharon Miller and Carrie Brennan. The Teacher Research and Inquiry Institute, 2003-2004. ... Information Request Form For Teacher Research and Inquiry: ... info-center.ccit.arizona.edu/ ~sawp/teacher%20research.htm 30k -

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CHAPTER 3 WRITING REPORTS IN ENGLISH

Report is a part of academic writings. It requires skills and knowledge of the subject matter. Many students and reseachers will at some time be expected to write a report. The report should have the following sections: 3.1 Report Sections

1. Preliminaries

Title Abstract Contents

page

2. Main text

Introduction Methodology Findings/Results Discussion Conclusion

3. End matter

References Appendices

1) Preliminaries Before you start the main part of your report, there should be a title page. The title page should contain information to enable your lecturer and departmental office to identify exactly what the piece of work is. It should include your name and course; the title of the assignment and any references; the lecturer it is for etc. Check with your department for clear information. A report should also normally include an abstract and a contents page. The abstract should give some background information, clearly state the principal purpose of the report, give some information about the methodology used, state the most important results and the conclusion. The contents page will give page numbers for the main sections.

57 2) The main text The main body consists of several paragraphs of ideas, data and argument. Each section develops a subdivision of the report purpose. The introduction gives background knowledge that supports the reason for writing the report and an organisation statement. The methodology section gives details of how the information in the report was obtained. Findings and results give the data that has been collected, while the discussion argues that the results lead to the clearly expressed conclusion. The sections are linked in order to connect the ideas. The purpose of the report must be made clear and the reader must be able to follow its development. I. II. III. IV. V.

Introduction Methodology Findings/Results Discussion Conclusion

I. The introduction. The introduction consists of three parts: a. It should include a short review of the literature to provide a background to your report and to attract the readerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention. It may include a definition of terms in the context of the report, etc. b. It should try to explain why you are writing the report. You need to establish a gap in current knowledge. c. It should also include a statement of the specific subdivisions of the topic and/or indication of how the topic is going to be tackled in order to specifically address the question. II. Methodology. The methodology section gives details of how the information in the report was obtained. It may give details of the materials and procedures used. In any kind of experimental report, details of the people involved will need to be included.

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III. Findings/Results. The findings and results give the data that has been collected. This may be shown in the form of tables, graphs or diagrams. In all cases, reference must be made to the location of the information, the main details of the data and any comments on this. IV. Discussion. The main purpose of the discussion is to show that the results lead clearly to the conclusion being drawn. This may include any limitations that might cause problems with any claims being made as well as any possible explanations for these results. V. The conclusion. The conclusion includes the writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s final points. a. It should recall the issues raised in the introduction and draw together the points made in the results and discussion b. and come to a clear conclusion. It should clearly signal to the reader that the report is finished and leave a clear impression that the purpose of the report has been achieved.

I. INTRODUCTION Background Identification Organisation Statement

Gap

II. METHODOLOGY Introductory Procedures

Sentence

Overview

Materials ... Concluding Sentence

III. FINDINGS/RESULTS Introductory Locating Findings Comment ... Concluding Sentence

Sentence Results

IV. DISCUSSION Introductory Sentence Review of Possible Limitations ... Concluding Sentence

Overview Findings Explanations

V. CONCLUSION Recall Issues in Introduction - Report Purpose; Draw Together Main Points; Final Comment - Clear Conclusion.

3) End Matter At the end of the report, there should be a list of references. This should give full information about the materials that you have used in the report. The appendices may contain full details of data collected.

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3.2 Report Sample

Correspondence to: Dr Richard K. Coll, email: r.coll@waikato.ac.nz 1 Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education

The Internationalization of Cooperative Education: A Thailand Perspective Richard K. Coll

Cooperative Education Unit, School of Science and Technology, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn and Issra Pramoolsook

Department of English, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Received 29 January 2003; accepted 3 April 2003 As the world moves to a situation of increasing globalization, cooperative education has experienced growth in demand for international placements. However, this globalization of cooperative education has not been accompanied by research to support the outcomes of such growth. Here we report on a case study involving research into Thai studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experiences of international work placements in a variety of overseas countries, and overseas students completing work placements in Thailand. The research findings found similarities in this exchange between non-Western and Western countries, with other exchange arrangements between two Western countries. As might be expected, the students encountered some difficulties with immigration, language and communication difficulties. Advantages reported included perceptions of improved selfconfidence and career enhancement. The research also found that cultural differences are of particular importance in international exchange arrangements between non-Western and Western countries, or countries of different cultures. The findings reported here provide placement coordinators with an understanding of some of the challenges students face in a country different to their homeland and we conclude with recommendations to smooth this sometimes difficult transition.

Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2003, 4(2), 1-6). Keywords: Thailand; technology; engineering; international exchange; student perceptions

61 Co-operative education (co-op) programs worldwide have experienced a student-driven increase in demand for international placements. These placements are typically carried out as exchange arrangements in conjunction with other tertiary institutions. Securing international placements is a complex and resource intensive process (McCallum & Wilson, 1988; Reeve 2001; Reeve, Schultz & Laslett, 1998), which frequently proves problematic (Heller & Geringer, 1984; Lee & Swinth, 1986)and there are now international organizations dedicated to facilitating such exchange (e.g., International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience [IAESTE], 2003). In recognition of the difficulties associated with international co-op exchange, the World Association for Cooperative Education (WACE) recently produced a set of guidelines for facilitating international placements (Reeve et al., 1998). This comprehensive document provides suggestions for addressing the numerous logistical difficulties involved in securing suitable international placements. However, there have been few reports of students’ or employers’ experiences of international exchange placements in the literature (but see, Coll, Owusu-Banno & van Loon, 1999; Dowdle, 1996; Gorman & Scott, 1996). The strong interest in the internationalization of co-op was highlighted at the 12th World Conference on Cooperative Education held at Suranaree University of Technology in Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand in July 2001 the theme of which was “Globalization of Cooperative Education: Adoption of Borderless Systems”. The present inquiry adds to the co-op literature in that it builds on a similar study of students’ perceptions of local placements in Thailand (Coll, Pinyonattagarn & Pramoolsook, in press; Coll, Pinyonattagarn, Pramoolsook & Zegwaard, 2002), and of students involved in international exchange arrangements between New Zealand and other Western countries (Coll & Chapman, 2000a). Co-op has been exhorted worldwide as an effective means for the development of graduates with desirable work competencies (see, e.g., Hodges, Rainsbury, Burchell & C Brown, 2001; Rainsbury, Hodges, Burchell & Lay, 2002) and this is also true for international placements in which technologies may be transferred (De Lange, 2001, 2002) or graduates may add an important cultural dimension to their education (Myers, 2001). Coll and Chapman (2000a) found that New Zealand and European students reported a number of advantages in being involved in international placements, including perceptions of enhanced career profile. However, the greatest growth was not in technical skills, but in terms of personal growth with student reporting increased self-confidence and enhanced communication skills as a result of their international 61

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placements. Similar perceptions were reported by Gorman and Scott (1996) with these authors reporting that the difference with international placement experiences came mostly in terms of personal development: the placements produced more balanced, well-rounded students with better interpersonal skills (see also, Dowdle, 1996; Cass, Faraday, Schultz & Ward, 2001). As Hodges et al. (2001) point out, such skills are valued by modern employers of business students and Coll, Zegwaard and Hodges’s (2002a, 2002b) studies suggest this is also the case for other disciplines such as science and technology. Context The context for this inquiry, namely the tertiary education system in Thailand and technology and engineering at SUT, is described in detail elsewhere (see Coll & Pinyonatthagarn, in press) and we briefly summarize the main features here. Suranaree University of Technology (SUT) is situated in the province of Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand and is the first university to operate as semi-autonomous institution responsible to, but not under direct control of, the Thai civil service. The University was established over 10 years ago to serve the peoples of the eastern provinces. It is the first institution in the country to use cooperative education as an educational strategy for preparing students for Thailand’s workforce. The program was developed from documentary reports, literature, and faculty visits to North American tertiary co-op providers in an attempt to achieve best practice in development of co-op in Thailand. The University is organized under five institutes with schools the next level of administration (Suranaree University of Technology [SUT], 2000; Teekachunhatean, 2001a). Institutes and Schools are: Social Technology - incorporating General Education, English, Management Technology, and Information Technology; Engineering – with Agricultural, Transportation, Chemical, Mechanical, Computer, Ceramic, Polymer, Electrical, Telecommunications, Civil, Metallurgical, Environmental, Industrial Engineering and Geotechnology; Agricultural Technology – with Animal Production, Crop Production, Food Technologies, and Biotechnology; Science – with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Remote Sensing and Laser Technology, and Photonics; and, Medicine – with Environmental Health, and Occupational Health and Safety. After beginning studies in his or her major field, a student is required to take a co-op placement comprising a trimester out of a total of six trimesters plus one month of the term break resulting in three work terms each with a duration of 12-13 weeks. The University runs an international exchange arrangement which is the focus of this study (Teekachunhatean, 2001b).

63 Research Objectives The co-op program at SUT, based on an international model gleaned from the literature, and in-depth consultation with overseas institutions has been implemented and maintained at SUT to provide what the University believes is superior education resulting in multi-skilled graduates with workplace competencies desired by Thai and overseas employers. Here, we have conducted an in-depth case study of students’ perceptions of their international work experiences as it pertains to the Thai perspective, including reports from Thai students who did placements overseas, and overseas students who did work placements in Thailand. These exchange arrangements are purely for work placements and do not include a study and work exchange arrangement. The research question for this study is: What are Thai and international students’ views on their overseas work-placements? In particular, we wished to probe students’ views on the best and worst features of their overseas placements. Theoretical Basis for the Inquiry The research reported here subscribes to an interpretivist philosophy in which the role of subjective experience (of participants and researchers) is recognized and acknowledged (Guba & Lincoln, 1989, 1994). This view means that the most appropriate research approach is via qualitative means of inquiry typified by the use of in-depth techniques such as interviews, examination of documentary evidence, unobtrusive observation, and so forth. The subjective nature of such studies proves to be both an advantage and a disadvantage. The main advantage lies in the extra depth of understanding gained from intensive data collection methods like interviews. As Patton (1990) points out, a questionnaire-based survey may provide an overall view of a learning context (e.g., the success or otherwise of SUT’s international co-op program), but interviews provide underlying reasons for the findings of a survey – which may ultimately be of more value to co-op practitioners (e.g., why SUT’s international program has been successful, or ways in which it might be improved). Interpretivist inquiries whilst recognizing the importance of context and subjectivity are prone to problems with reliability and validity. Guba and Lincoln (1989) provide some guidelines to avoid such problems. In particular they and others (e.g., Denzin & Lincoln, 1998) recommend the triangulation of data collection. That is, the gathering of data from multiple sources, particularly by the use of different methods (see, Coll & Chapman, 2000b, for more detail as this issue pertains to co-op inquiries). Interviews in particular are prone to misunderstandings and we have thereby employed the notion of the translation interface in which no new terms were introduced during discourse, and only the meaning ascribed by participants was deemed to 63

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be valid (Johnson & Gott, 1996). Interpretations of data are supported by the so-called thick description (Merriam, 1970) including a detailed description of the context of the inquiry (see above), and portions of verbatim transcript reproduced from interview transcripts (see ‘Research Findings’ below). Methodology

Data Collection and Analysis The main data-gathering tool used to gain a view of the students’ views consisted of interviews of a cohort of five Thai students who completed their placements overseas and three international students who completed placements in Thailand. The interview protocol was based on that used by Coll and Chapman (2000a) and consisted of a 35-point checklist of issues that the authors considered might influence student perceptions of their placement experiences (e.g., costs, immigration, travel, health, loneliness, work culture, etc.). Interviews were conducted in Thai for the Thai students and in English for the international students. Interviews were tape-recorded, and for the Thai participants transcribed verbatim in Thai, and translated into English. Two external individuals bilingual in Thai and English with no contractual interest in the research project checked all interview transcriptions. Pseudonyms (using common Thai bnicknames) have been used in any quotations to protect the identity of participants, allowing them to respond freely. Other data of relevance were obtained from examination of student placement reports. Data analysis involved the use of Concept Profile Inventories (CPI) (see, Coll & Chapman, 2000a). The CPI procedure consists of examination of interview transcripts for expressions and statements that could be construed as bevidence for students’ perceptions (in this case of the badvantages and disadvantages of their overseas placements). These expressions were summarized and formed the unit of analysis. By examining the entire set of expressions in the transcripts, we were then able to gain a global perspective of the participants’ views of what represented advantages or disadvantages. These views were then placed into a series of categories which form the Conceptual Inventory for an bindividual participant. Commonality of views among participant concept inventories was deduced from examination of the individual inventories, and used to summarize the research findings. Our interpretation of the research findings are described here and are supported by extracts from the verbatim transcripts.

65 Research Findings

Student Perceptions of the Benefits of their International Placements Interpersonal Skills and other Gains One of the principal benefits reported by the Thai students was enhancement of their communication skills, specifically, their English language skills. So, for example, Thai students in Malaysia and Croatia communicated with work colleagues and local citizens in English. Sao commented that “this is the most beneficial skill for co-op abroad. My English skills, especially pronunciation and conversation, have been improved very much.” Some students also reported picking up a bit of local language. Sauy commented that her language competency in English improved because “I had to speak English every day” and going on to say “I also learned to speak a little Malay too,” becasue “people in Croatia don’t speak much English.” The Thai students clearly identified new business culture experiences as important gains. Tum pointed out “I now understand more about overseas companies and how they work. Their working situation is quite different to Thailand.” Thus, it was evident that the participants felt they had gained a better understanding of different cultures, this it appears, gave them more some insight into how culture can influence workplace customs as seen in Tor’s comment: “I understand more about overseas companies and how they work. Each company has their own policy and their own way. Laws, culture also affect their work. In Malaysia there are two hours after lunch on Fridays because Muslim men have to pray.” International students working in Thailand also reported enhancement of English language skills. Samantha commented that her placement “improved my language skills” and reported picking up some Thai language at the same time. However, any language skills were closely linked to gaining knowledge of Thai culture as well as language, as seen in Jenny’s comment that she learned to “understand more about other countries cultures and knowhow.” She went on to say this “allows us to have a critical point of view on yourself, and to acquire an open mind.” However, whilst this was seen as a benefit, it was impacted on by placement duration with Tum commenting: “Because I just stayed there for three months, it is quite short to learn everything in a different culture.” Interestingly, the students did not specify that they gained in self-confidence as such. However, the above comments suggest that this did occur, mostly as a result of enhanced language skills and understanding of different cultures. Jenny when discussing her perceptions of career enhancement, provided evidence of her enhanced confidence: I feel now that I am not a new graduate. I have work 65

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experience. I have learned how people work in the real world. I have more self-confidence and am ready to work. I think these are advantages and many companieslook for this kind of staff, even with new graduates.”

Career Enhancement All of the students reported that they felt an international placement enhanced their career prospects. Son said: “I think I will have better employment prospects and I will be considered before other candidates,” and Sao likewise commented: “I hope so, I hope it should be better. I met lots of people overseas and different cultures.” This, he felt, would help satisfy immigration requirements: “Yes of course. I hope this will now be fine for me,” and Ton saying “I now know how to make contacts when I would like to go abroad again.” One reason that international placements were deemed beneficial to career aims for Thai students, was that it was considered to provide good evidence for language ability. Tor comments: “Absolutely. At least that can guarantee your English ability.” Travel, Lifestyle Issues, and Home Contacts The participants experienced differences: cultural, climatic and others from their home countries. Climate, although different to home for Thai students, was generally similar enough to be of little concern. Tor said: “The weather in Malaysia is very nice, a little bit cooler than in Thailand.” Even in colder countries the cold was seen as novel and interesting rather than particularly off-putting. Ton commented about the weather in Croatia that is was “very good. I like cool weather.” The international students,as might be expected, found Thailand rather hot: “It’s too hot for me,” commented Samantha. The placements were of relatively short duration (3-6 months). Nonetheless, the participants reported forming strong ties with work colleagues and other locals. Tor points out: “I think that it is a good time to make a lot of new friends,” and Ton said “I had a great chance to participate in different cultural activities with my work colleague.” Tum likewise said that he “formed a good relationship of a friend to remember.” Local travel was typically accessible for the participants and this enabled them to explore their host countries: Tor said: “Transportation in Malaysia is very convenient. I took the train around Kuala Lumpur nearly every weekend. I went to visit my Malaysian friend and her parents in another town too.” Few, however, reported engaging in any unusual recreational activities with Tor saying she enjoyed “normal Muslim activities” and Tum likewise

67 enjoyed “some traditional dancing that I hadn’t seen before.” The short duration of the placements may have mitigated against any concerns about contact with home. Home contacts were maintained by phone calls as seen in Tum’s comment: “I frequently made a telephone call.” But overall communication was not seen to be a big issue for the participants as there were a variety of options open as Tor pointed out: “I called my parents at least once a weekend, often wrote to my friends and also used email.”

Student Perceptions of the Difficulties of their International Placements Immigration Issues Immigration procedures varied depending on the relationship between the countries, and, for example, Tor said: I did not have a visa the first time because we had planned for the co-op in Malaysia for only two months. I could get a passport stamp for just one month and then another month. Unfortunately, I needed two weeks more [to complete the placement] but I could not get a longer time. So we had to get a visa. I had some problem with the visa, but the company took care of the process. Pre-planning did alleviate immigration issues for students with Ton unconcerned about immigration procedures, because “I had allowed enough time for preparation.” Overall, however, immigration procedures surfaced as a major logistical difficulty for the students. In some cases this was due to the fact that there was no embassy in the students’ home country: Tum comments: “It took a long time, to wait for the visa because there is no Croatian embassy in Thailand. We had to send the application form to Indonesia and so it took a long time to get the permission to enter Croatia.” Language Difficulties Despite seeing enhanced language skills as a significant benefit, all respondents reported communication problems both at work and in daily life, particularly at the beginning of their placements. Ton said: “This is the most difficult problem for me at the initial co-op period. Because in the first two months, my English was not improved very much.” Whilst this was a problem initially, it soon improved. Ton continues: “However, much later on, I can speak fluently and can communicate much more efficiently.”

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Language problems were acute for international students placed in Thailand with Samantha saying she found it “difficult to do the internship because I was unable to communicate well with others.” She felt it would be better to “improve people’s English skills [i.e., in Thailand] because in some countries there are not a lot of people who can speak English.” Placement Preparation, Placement Tasks, and Employer Expectations The participants generally considered that they were under-prepared for their overseas placements. Jenny comments that coordinators need to “improve the local know-how” and the Thai students commented likewise. Placements were not always deemed directly relevant to studies but students felt they gained knowledge and skills that were useful with Jenny seeing her placement was “relevant to my studies,” Tor likewise commenting that her placement “project covered my studies, it was very useful.” Tum likewise said his placement “was all about crop production” clearly relevant to his program of study. Unreasonable employer expectations were not deemed much of a problem: “What the company wants is students to get the feeling of working with people from different cultures, and to learn how to apply knowledge in the real work.” Other comments included “my employer just wanted to exchange knowledge about agriculture in Thailand” with Tor the only participant to point out that he had “to learn new things in a very short time, to adjust myself to a new environment.” The final major issue was duration of placements, with all respondents considering that their placements were too short in duration as seen in Tor’s comment that “two and half months is just too short to complete the project.” Another reason this was considered a problem was because of the language issues described above as seen in Tum’s comment that “I think for language skills the time should be extended to around one year.” A few students reported being homesick or lonely, but because of the short placement duration and the communication options described above this was not a big issue. Likewise, finances were not deemed a problem for Thai students: “It wasn’t expensive to live there [Croatia],” “I got enough salary for living,” nor for international students in Thailand with Jenny saying it was “no problem.”

69 Discussion and Conclusions The research findings reported here provide some insights into student experiences as part of international exchange arrangements across different cultures. Interestingly, similar issues were raised by the students as were raised in a previous Western-based study by Coll and Chapman (2000a), although it should be noted that it is possible that this is a feature of the methodology used (i.e., a similar interview protocol was used in both studies). Hence, immigration problems were an issue, self-confidence was an advantage, but there were new issues raised, mostly to do with language (as might be expected). Likewise, cultural experiences added to the learning experiences, something not easily achieved in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home country (see e.g., Cass, Faraday, Schultz & Ward, 2001), and as reported by Gardner (2001) and Waryszak (2000). Placement preparation and support were not generally provided as desired. Gunn (2001) points out that communication skills are important for co-op and non-co-ops, a finding confirmed by Hodges et al. (2001). Friedrich and Gunn (2001) argue that international co-op has the potential to enhance studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interpersonal skills in a manner not easily achieved via local co-op placements. The findings here suggest these participants agree that this is the case. Implications and Recommendations Given the modest sample size and highly contextualized nature of this study, it would be imprudent to attempt to over-generalize these findings. Nonetheless, they provide an indication of some important issues for international students and here we make some suggestions that co-op practitioners may wish to consider. First, is the issue of immigration: as has been reported elsewhere, good lead times are essential in reducing student stress over immigration procedures. Likewise, the duration of the placements needs to be longer, say six months. This seems especially relevant in the case of international placements where language and other enculturation factors (e.g., into a different working environment) are important. Although it should be noted that being away for a short time can act to alleviate homesickness. Better preparation of students is needed before embarking overseas. On-going placement support by faculty during placements is essential. Given that the co-op program at SUT was set up as a model for co-op in the nation the findings from this case study provides some food for thought for other practitioners in Thailand. The study also highlights common, in some cases predictable, problems associated with international work placements. It is interesting to note that these issues are similar to other exchange programs, irrespective of 69

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the country of origin and destination although there were some differences (e.g., language, living costs, etc.) that are peculiar to exchanges between Western and non-western nations. Hence, the study adds to the body of knowledge in the area of international co-op exchange and presents findings that confirm similarity of issues across different educational contexts, whilst identifying some differences. Additional research in other education exchange arrangements may help to better understand the complexities of internationalization of co-op. References Cass, A., Faraday, D.B.F., Schultz, R.A., & Ward, N.I. (2001, July). International cooperative education: A case study. Paper presented at the 12th World Conference on Cooperative Education. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. World Association for Cooperative Education. Coll, R.K., & Chapman, R. (2000a). Advantages and disadvantages of international co-op placements: The studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perspective. Journal of Cooperative Education, 35 (2-3), 95-105. Coll, R.K., & Chapman, R. (2000b). Choices of methodology for cooperative education researchers. AsiaPacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 1(1), 1-8. Coll, R.K., Owusu-Banno, A., & van Loon, N. (1999, March). International co-op exchange for undergraduate chemistry students: Perceptions of benefits and barriers. Paper presented at the third annual Conference of the New Zealand Association for Cooperative Education. Rotorura, New Zealand. Coll, R.K., Pinyonatthargarn, D., & Pramoolsook, I. (in press). Cooperative education in Thailand: A national model for cooperative education. Journal of Cooperative Education, 37. Coll, R.K., Pinyonatthargarn, D., & Pramoolsook, I. (in press). Evaluation of a work-based learning program in a developing country: Thai studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; views of their co-op experiences. Journal of Cooperative Education, 37.

71 Coll, R.K., Pinyonatthagarn, D., Pramoolsook, I., & Zegwaard, K. (2002, July). An investigation of Thai students’ placement experiences: How well does a model for

cooperative education transfer from one context to another? Paper presented at the biennial Asia-Pacific Conference on cooperative education. Bandung, Indonesia. Coll, R.K., Zegwaard, K., & Hodges, D. (2002a, March).

Ranking workplace competencies: Science and technology student perceptions. Paper presented at the sixth annual conference of the New Zealand Association for Cooperative

Coll, Pinyonatthagarn & Pramoolsook – The Internationalization of Cooperative Education: A Thailand Perspective Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2003, 4(2), 1-6 6 Education. Wellington: New Zealand. Coll, R.K., Zegwaard, K., & Hodges, D. (2002b, March).

Science and technology employers’ ranking of workplace competencies. Paper presented at the sixth annual conference of the New Zealand Association for Cooperative Education. Wellington: New Zealand. De Lange, G. (2001, July). Cooperative education interventions aimed at transferring new technologies from a developed to a developing country” German/South African collaboration in the automotive industry. Paper presented at the 12th World Conference on Cooperative Education. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. World Association for Cooperative Education. De Lange, G. (2002). Cooperative education interventions aimed at transferring new technologies from a developed to a developing country” German/South African collaboration in the automotive industry. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 3(1), 13-17. Denzin, N.K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.). (1998). Collecting an interpreting qualitative materials. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

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Dowdle, K.L. (1996). A studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perspective on cooperative education exchange schemes: My time with slime. In Proceedings of the Second Pacific Conference on Cooperative Education (pp. 605-610). Melbourne: Australian Cooperative Education Society. Friedrich, B., & Gunn, C.J. (2001, July). Cooperative education in the global marketplace: A borderless experiences. Paper presented at the 12th World Conference on Cooperative Education. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. World Association for Cooperative Education. Gardner, P. (2001, July). Developing global skill sets: A comparison of co-op and non- co-op students. Paper presented at the 12th World Conference on Cooperative Education. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. World Association for Cooperative Education. Gorman J., & Scott, A. (1996). Blending Tetley GB with Swinburne University students produces all rounders: Experiences of the cooperative education exchange program. In Proceedings of the Second Pacific Conference on Cooperative Education (pp. 477-490). Melbourne: Australian Cooperative Education Society. Guba, E.G., & Lincoln, Y.S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Guba, E.G., & Lincoln, Y.S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 1051117). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Gunn, C.J. (2001, July). Communication in the global coop marketplace. Paper presented at the 12th World Conference on Cooperative Education. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. World Association for Cooperative Education. Heller, B.R., & Geringer, W. (1984). Selected problems of international cooperative education: The USA as a sender and receiver of study-abroad students. Journal of Cooperative Education, 20(3), 41-52.

73 Hodges, D., Rainsbury, E., Burchell, N., & Brown, E. (2001, July). When East meets West: The impact of

language and cultural differences in cooperative education.

Paper presented at the 12th World Conference on Cooperative Education. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. World Association for Cooperative Education. International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience. Retrieved 3 April 2003, from: http://www.iaeste.org/ Johnson, P., & Gott, R. (1996). Constructivism and evidence from children’s ideas. Science Education, 80(5), 561-577.

Lee, J.B., & Swinth, R.L. (1986). Cooperative education as a component of an international exchange program. Journal of Cooperative Education, 22(3), 64-71. McCallum, B.A., & Wilson, J.C. (1988). They said it wouldn’t work (A history of cooperative education in Canada). Journal of Cooperative Education, 24(2-3), 61-67. Merriam, S.B. (1988). Case study research in education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Myers, L. (2001, July). Crossing borders, sharing

visions: A community college/state university system international internship partnership. Paper presented at the 12th World Conference on Cooperative Education. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. World Association for Cooperative Education. Patton, M.Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Rainsbury, E., Hodges, D., Burchell, N., & Lay, M. (2002). Ranking workplace competencies: Student and graduate perceptions. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 3(2), 8-18. Reeve, R. (2001). Employers’ guide to work-integrated learning. Boston, MA: World Association for Cooperative Education.

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Reeve, R. Schultz, R., Laslett, B. (1998). A guide for developing international co-op programs. Victoria, BC: Hillsdale Printing & Copy Centre. Suranaree University of Technology. (2000). Suranaree University of Technology: The first decade. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. (See also, http://www.sut.ac.th). Teekachunhatean, T. (2001a, July). Cooperative education: Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand pilot project. Paper presented at the 12th World Conference on Cooperative Education. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. World Association for Cooperative Education. Teekachunhatean, T. (2001b, July). International co-op placement for the Institute of Agricultural Technology, Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand. Paper presented at the 12th world conference on cooperative education. Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. World Association for Cooperative Education. Waryszak, R.Z. (2000). Before, during and after: International perspective of studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perceptions of their cooperative education placements in the tourism industry. Journal of Cooperative Education, 35(2-3), 84-94.

75 CHAPTER 4 PARAPHRASE, SUMMARY & SYNTHESIS

It is well-known that one of the most important aspects of academic writing is making use of the ideas of other people. This is important as you need to show that you have understood the materials and that you can use their ideas and findings in your own way. In fact, this is an essential skill for every student. Spack (1988, p. 42) has pointed out that the most important skill a student can engage in is "the complex activity to write from other texts", which is "a major part of their academic experience." It is very important when you do this to make sure you use your own words, unless you are quoting. You must make it clear when the words or ideas that you are using are your own and when they are taken from another writer. You must not use another person's words or ideas as if they were your own: this is plagiarism which is regarded as a very serious offence. The object of academic writing is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject, for you to present ideas you have learned in your own way. You can do this by reporting the works of others in your own words. You can either paraphrase if you want to keep the length the same, summarise if you want to make the text shorter or synthesise if you need to use information from several sources. In all cases you need to acknowledge other people's work. 4.1 Paraphrase Paraphrasing is writing the ideas of another person in your own words. You need to change the words and the structure but keep the meaning the same. Please remember, though, that even when you paraphrase someone's work, you must acknowledge it.

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Look at this example: Source It has long been known that Thailand is the land of a thousand smiles, but few foreigners know about this. Paraphrase Although Thailand has long been known as the land of a thousand smiles for many years, few foreigners know about this.

The following stages may be useful: 1. Read and understand the text. 2. Make a list of the main ideas. a. Find the important ideas - the important words/phrases. In some way mark them - write them down, underline or highlight them. b. Find alternative words/synonyms for these words/phrases - do not change specialised vocabulary and common words. 3. Change the structure of the text. a. Identify the meaning relationships between the words/ideas - e.g. cause/effect, generalisation, contrast. b. Express these relationships in a different way. c. Change the grammar of the text: change nouns to verbs, adjectives to adverbs, etc., break up long sentences, combine short sentences. 4. Rewrite the main ideas in complete sentences. Combine your notes into a piece of continuous writing. 5. Check your work. a. Make sure the meaning is the same. b. Make sure the length is the same. c. Make sure the style is your own. d. Remember to acknowledge other people's work.

77 4.2 Summary A summary is a shortened version of a text. It contains the main points in the text and is written in your own words. It is a mixture of reducing a long text to a short text and selecting relevant information. A good summary shows that you have understood the text. Please remember, though, that even when you summarise someone's work, you must acknowledge it. See Citation. Look at this example: Source The amphibia, which is the animal class to which our frogs and toads belong, were the first animals to crawl from the sea and inhabit the earth. Summary The first animals to leave the sea and live on dry land were the amphibia. The phrase "which is the animal class to which our frogs and toads belong" is an example, not a main point, and can be deleted. The rest of the text is rewritten in your own words. The following stages may be useful: 1. Read and understand the text carefully. 2. Think about the purpose of the text. a. Ask what the author's purpose is in writing the text? b. What is your purpose in writing your summary? c. Are you summarising to support your poins? d. Or are you summarising so you can criticise the work before you introduce your main points? 3. Select the relevant information. This depends on your purpose. 4. Find the main ideas - what is important. a. They may be found in topic sentences. b. Distinguish between main and subsidiary information.

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c. Delete most details and examples, unimportant information, anecdotes, examples, illustrations, data etc. d. Find alternative words/synonyms for these words/phrases - do not change specialised vocabulary and common words. 5. Change the structure of the text. a. Identify the meaning relationships between the words/ideas - e.g. cause/effect, generalisation, contrast. b. Change the grammar of the text: rearrange words and sentences. Change nouns to verbs, adjectives to adverbs, etc., break up long sentences, combine short sentences. c. Simplify the text. Reduce complex sentences to simple sentences, simple sentences to phrases, phrases to single words. 6. Rewrite the main ideas in complete sentences. Combine your notes into a piece of continuous writing. Use conjunctions and adverbs such as 'therefore', 'however', 'although', 'since', to show the connections between the ideas. 7. Check your work. a. Make sure your purpose is clear. b. Make sure the meaning is the same. c. Make sure the style is your own. d. Remember to acknowledge other people's work. 4.3 Synthesis A synthesis is a combination, usually a shortened version, of several texts made into one. It contains the important points in the text and is written in your own words. To make a synthesis you need to find suitable sources, and then to select the relevant parts in those sources. You will then use your paraphrase and summary skills to write the information in your own words. The information from all the sources has to fit together into one continuous text. Please remember, though, that when you synthesise work from different people, you must acknowledge it. The following stages may be useful: 1. Find texts that are suitable for your assignment. 2. Read and understand the texts.

79 3. Find the relevant ideas in the texts. Mark them in some way write them down, take notes, underline them or highlight them. 4. Make sure you identify the meaning relationships between the words/ideas - use colours or numbers. 5. Read what you have marked very carefully. 6. Organise the information you have. You could give all similar ideas in different texts the same number or letter or colour. 7. Transfer all the information on to one piece of paper. Write down all simiar information together. 8. Paraphrase and summarise as necessary. 9. Check your notes with your original texts for accuracy and relevance. 10. Combine your notes into one continuous text. 11. Check your work. a. Make sure your purpose is clear b. Make sure the language is correct c. Make sure the style is your own d. Remember to acknowledge other people's work Tasks 1. Paraphrase Read the following text and write a paraphrase - remember to use your own words. Show your answers to someone. If you are in one of my classes, e-mail the paraphrase to me. There was a time, not so long ago, when the words 'correspondence tuition' conjured up a method of learning which seemed drab, secondrate and the private pursuit of a small and rather secretive minority. The success of the Open University in Britain has certainly changed all that. Open University course materials are so confidently and attractively designed that they have occasionally even been accused of flashiness. The University's materials and methods are open to anyone's inspection - indeed they are also the basis of a brisk and growing export business. The Open University has turned correspondence teaching into a major and thoroughly respectable method of adult learning. From Jennifer Rogers, Adults learning, 2nd edition. Published by Open University Press in Milton Keynes in 1977, page 172.

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2. Summary Read the following text and summarise Garfinkel's findings. Remember to use your own words. Show your answers to someone. If you are in one of my classes, e-mail the synthesis to me. Garfinkel once asked some of his students to behave in their own homes as if they were lodgers and to report back the results: â&#x20AC;Ś family members were stupefied. They vigorously sought to make the strange actions intelligible and to restore the situation to normal appearances. Reports were filled with accounts of astonishment, bewilderment, shock, anxiety, embarrassment and anger, and with charges by various family members that the student was mean, inconsiderate, nasty or impolite. Family members demanded explanations: What's the matter? What has got into you? Did you get fired? Are you sick? What are you being so superior about? Why are you mad? Are you out of your mind or just stupid? One student acutely embarrassed his mother in front of her friend by asking if she minded if he had a snack from the refrigerator 'Mind if you have a little snack? You've been eating little snacks around here for years without asking me. What has got into you?' One mother, infuriated when her daughter spoke to her only when she was spoken to, began to shriek in angry denunciation of the daughter for her disrespect and insubordination and refused to be calmed by the student's sister. A father berated his daughter for being insufficiently concerned for the welfare of others and for acting like a spoiled child. Adapted from H. Garfinkel, Studies in Ethnomethodology, 1967, p. 45, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. page 10.

3. Synthesis Read the following texts and write a synthesis of about 200 words to answer the following question: What is jazz? Remember to use your own words. Show your answers to someone. If you are in one of my classes, e-mail the synthesis to me.

The basic harmonies used in jazz are generally very simple. When complexities do occur, they are usually as a result of an improvised decoration or elaboration of what are basically simple cord patterns. Since any such complexities are improvised, all the notation needs to show is the essential notes of the chords around which the performer is free to improvise. (Page 62 of The AB guide to music theory. By Eric Taylor. Published by ABRSM Publishing in London.) Jazz, term used at least from 1914 for a type of American popular music originating among Negroes of New Orleans and taken over also by whites; also used generally for various types of dance music indebted to this (though purists reserve the term for such music as retains the original flavour and the original basis of improvisation). The jazz idiom, characterised by certain syncopations over strongly reiterate rhythms, influenced e.g. Stravinsky, Walton and Milhaud as well as many American composers. (From page 205 of the New Penguin dictionary of music, written by Arthur Jacobs and published by Penguin in 1958.) Although only as old as the century, jazz has grown so rapidly and in so many different directions that a newcomer might well feel bewildered. In a mere nine decades, the music has moved from the simple structures and harmonies of its beginnings, through the developing sophistication of the 1920s and 1930s, the complexities of bebop and post-hop in the 1940s and 1950s, outright abstraction in the 1960s, jazz-rock-fusion in the 1970s, and into the pluralism of the post-fusion period. Further confusion is caused by the fact that even when a phase or movement has passed its peak, it is still not over and done with. Virtually all styles and approaches continue to exist simultaneously, and any radical innovation is often accompanied by a reassertion of earlier styles: with the advent of bebop there was also a revival of traditional New Orleans, Chicago and Dixieland jazz, arid with the experimentations of more recent years came a revival of bebop. The very notion of what constitutes jazz is nowadays highly problematic - and doubtless this book will add to the controversy, both by what it omits and by what it includes. (From page vii of Jazz: The rough guide. It was written by Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather and Brian Priestley and published in London by The Rough Guides in 1995.)

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CHAPTER 5 WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS AND ABSTRACTS

A major goal of this course is the development of effective technical writing skills. To help you become an accomplished writer, you will prepare several research papers based upon the studies completed in lab. Our research papers are not typical "lab reports." In a teaching lab a lab report might be nothing more than answers to a set of questions. Such an assignment hardly represents the kind of writing you might be doing in your eventual career. Written and oral communications skills are probably the most universal qualities sought by graduate and professional schools as well as by employers. You alone are responsible for developing such skills to a high level. 5.1 Resources for Learning Technical Writing Before you begin your first writing assignment, please consult all of the following resources, in order to gain the most benefit from the experience. • • •

•

General form of a typical research article Specific guidelines (if any) for the assignment – see the writeups on individual lab studies McMillan, VE. "Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences, Third Ed." New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001. ISBN 0-312-25857-7 (REQUIRED for Bios 211, 311, recommended for other science courses that include writing) Writing portfolio examples (pdf)

As you polish up your writing skills please make use of the following resources • • •

Instructor feedback on previous assignments Common errors in student research papers Selected writing rules (somewhat less serious than the other resources)

83 For Biosciences majors the general guidelines apply to future course work, as can be seen by examining the guidelines for the protein purification lab paper (Bios 311). Instructions for authors from the Journal of Biological Chemistry editorial board may be helpful as well. Their statement of editorial policies and practices may give you an idea of how material makes its way into the scientific literature. 5.2 General Form of a Research Paper An objective of organizing a research paper is to allow people to read your work selectively. When I research a topic, I may be interested in just the methods, a specific result, the interpretation, or perhaps I just want to see a summary of the paper to determine if it is relevant to my study. To this end, many journals require the following sections, submitted in the order listed, each section to start on a new page. There are variations of course. Some journals call for a combined results and discussion, for example, or include materials and methods after the body of the paper. The well known journal Science does away with separate sections altogether, except for the abstract. Your papers are to adhere to the form and style required for the Journal of Biological Chemistry, requirements that are shared by many journals in the life sciences. 5.3 General Style Specific editorial requirements for submission of a manuscript will always supercede instructions in these general guidelines. To make a paper readable • • • • •

Print or type using a 12 point standard font, such as Times, Geneva, Bookman, Helvetica, etc. Text should be double spaced on 8 1/2" x 11" paper with 1 inch margins, single sided Number pages consecutively Start each new section on a new page Adhere to recommended page limits

Mistakes to avoid •

Placing a heading at the bottom of a page with the following text on the next page (insert a page break!)

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• •

Dividing a table or figure - confine each figure/table to a single page Submitting a paper with pages out of order

In all sections of your paper • • • • • • •

Stay focused on the research topic of the paper Use paragraphs to separate each important point (except for the abstract) Present your points in logical order Use present tense to report well accepted facts - for example, 'the grass is green' Use past tense to describe specific results - for example, 'When weed killer was applied, the grass was brown' Avoid informal wording, don't address the reader directly, and don't use jargon, slang terms, or superlatives Avoid use of superfluous pictures - include only those figures necessary to presenting results

Title Page Select an informative title as illustrated in the examples in your writing portfolio example package. Include the name(s) and address(es) of all authors, and date submitted. "Biology lab #1" would not be an informative title, for example. 5.4 Abstract The summary should be two hundred words or less. General Intent An abstract is a concise single paragraph summary of completed work or work in progress. In a minute or less a reader can learn the rationale behind the study, general approach to the problem, pertinent results, and important conclusions or new questions. Writing an Abstract An abstract is a short summary of your completed research. If done well, it makes the reader want to learn more about your research. These are the basic components of an abstract in any discipline:

85 1) Motivation/problem statement: Why do we care about the problem? What practical, scientific, theoretical or artistic gap is your research filling? 2) Methods/procedure/approach: What did you actually do to get your results? (e.g. analyzed 3 novels, completed a series of 5 oil paintings, interviewed 17 students) 3) Results/findings/product: As a result of completing the above procedure, what did you learn/invent/create? 4) Conclusion/implications: What are the larger implications of your findings, especially for the problem/gap identified in step 1? However, it's important to note that the weight accorded to the different components can vary by discipline. For models, try to find abstracts of research that is similar to your research. Write your summary after the rest of the paper is completed. After all, how can you summarize something that is not yet written? Economy of words is important throughout any paper, but especially in an abstract. However, use complete sentences and do not sacrifice readability for brevity. You can keep it concise by wording sentences so that they serve more than one purpose. For example, "In order to learn the role of protein synthesis in early development of the sea urchin, newly fertilized embryos were pulse-labeled with tritiated leucine, to provide a time course of changes in synthetic rate, as measured by total counts per minute (cpm)." This sentence provides the overall question, methods, and type of analysis, all in one sentence. The writer can now go directly to summarizing the results. Summarize the study, including the following elements in any abstract. Try to keep the first two items to no more than one sentence each. • • •

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Purpose of the study - hypothesis, overall question, objective Model organism or system and brief description of the experiment Results, including specific data - if the results are quantitative in nature, report quantitative data; results of any statistical analysis shoud be reported Important conclusions or questions that follow from the experiment(s)

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Style: • • • • • •

Single paragraph, and concise As a summary of work done, it is always written in past tense An abstract should stand on its own, and not refer to any other part of the paper such as a figure or table Focus on summarizing results - limit background information to a sentence or two, if absolutely necessary What you report in an abstract must be consistent with what you reported in the paper Correct spelling, clarity of sentences and phrases, and proper reporting of quantities (proper CHAPTERs, significant figures) are just as important in an abstract as they are anywhere else

For conference papers, research papers, theses and dissertations, you will almost always be asked to write an abstract. The main point to remember is that it must be short, because it should give a summary of your research. In fact, not only are abstracts short, they must almost always be a certain, specified length. Many abstracts are, so, before you begin writing, you must find out how long your abstract should be (for example, 200 words for AIT master's theses) and you should come close to - but not go over - this limit. Abstracts that exceed the maximum word limit are often rejected because they cannot be used for databases, summaries of conferences, etc. An abstract should briefly: Re-establish the topic of the research. Give the research problem and/or main objective of the research (this usually comes first). Indicate the methodology used. Present the main findings. Present the main conclusions It is essential that your abstract includes all the keywords of your research, as it will enabled on databases which other researchers will search. Obviously if you only have two hundred words, you can only cover each of these areas briefly. The emphasis is generally on the main findings and main conclusions since these areas are of most interest to readers.

87 Common Problems a) Too long. If your abstract is too long, it may be rejected - abstracts are entered on databases, and there is usually a specified maximum number of words. Abstracts are often too long because people forget to count their words (remember that you can use your word processing program to do this) and make their abstracts too detailed. b) Too much detail. Abstracts that are too long often have unnecessary details. The abstract is not the place for detailed explanations of methodology or for details about the context of your research problem because you simply do not have the space to present anything but the main points of your research. c) Too short. Shorter is not necessarily better. If your word limit is 200 but you only write 95 words, you probably have not written in sufficient detail. You should review your abstract and see where you could usefully give more explanation - remember that in many cases readers decide whether to read the rest of your research from looking at the abstract. Many writers do not give sufficient information about their findings d) Failure to include important information. You need to be careful to cover the points listed above. Often people do not cover all of them because they spend too long explaining, for example, the methodology and then do not have enough space to present their conclusion.

Abstracts and Introductions Compared At first glance, it might seem that the introduction and the abstract are very similar because they both present the research problem and objectives as well as briefly reviewing methodology, main findings and main conclusions. However, there are important differences between the two: Introduction Should be short, but does not have a word limit; main purpose is to introduce the research by presenting its context or background.

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Introductions usually go from general to specific, introducing the research problem and how it will be investigated Abstract Has a maximum word limit;Is a summary of the whole research; main purpose is to summarize the research (particularly the objective and the main finding/conclusion), NOT to introduce the research area Samples Sample 1 Here is an abstract from a published paper. It is 220 words long. Read it through looking for the main purpose of each sentence (for example, presenting research problem, objective, methodology, main findings, or conclusion). Abstract Major problems of the arid region are transportation of agricultural products and losses due to spoilage of the products, especially in summer. This work presents the performance of a solar drying system consisting of an air heater and a dryer chamber connected to a greenhouse. The drying system is designed to dry a variety of agricultural products. The effect of air mass flow rate on the drying process is studied. Composite pebbles, which are constructed from cement and sand, are used to store energy for night operation. The pebbles are placed at the bottom of the drying chamber and are charged during the drying process itself. A separate test is done using a simulator, a packed bed storage CHAPTER, to find the thermal characteristics of the pebbles during charging and discharging modes with time. Accordingly, the packed bed is analyzed using a heat transfer model with finite difference technique described before and during the charging and discharging processes. Graphs are presented that depict the thermal characteristics and performance of the pebble beds and the drying patterns of different agricultural products. The results show that the amount of energy stored in the pebbles depends on the air mass flow rate, the inlet air temperature, and the properties of the storage materials. The composite pebbles can be used efficiently as storing media.

89 Helwa, N. H. and Abdel Rehim, Z. S. (1997). Experimental Study of the Performance of Solar Dryers with Pebble Beds. Energy Sources, 19, 579591. Sample 2 Here is a second abstract from a published paper. It is 162 words long. Again, read it through looking for the main purpose of each sentence (for example, presenting the research problem, objective, methodology, main finding, or conclusion). You can find suggested answers by clicking on the sentences. Abstract The long-term performance of various systems was determined and the economic aspects of solar hot water production were investigated in this work. The effect of the collector inclination angle, collector area and storage volume was examined for all systems, and various climatic conditions and their payback period was calculated. It was found that the collector inclination angle does not have a significant effect on system performance. Large collector areas have a diminishing effect on the systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overall efficiency. The increase in storage volume has a detrimental effect for small daily load volumes, but a beneficial one when there is a large daily consumption. Solar energy was found to be truly competitive when the conventional fuel being substituted is electricity, and it should not replace diesel oil on pure economic grounds. Large daily load volumes and large collector areas are in general associated with shorter payback periods. Overall, the systems are oversized and are economically suitable for large daily hot water load volumes. Haralambopoulos, D., Paparsenost, G. F., and Kovras, H. (1997) Assessing the Economic Aspects of Solar Hot Water Production in Greece. Renewable Energy, 11, 153-167. Other Sample Abstracts: a) History/social science: "Their War": The Perspective of the South Vietnamese Military in Their Own Words Author: Julie Pham (UCB participant in UC Day 2001)

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Despite the vast research by Americans on the Vietnam War, little is known about the perspective of South Vietnamese military, officially called the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF). The overall image that emerges from the literature is negative: lazy, corrupt, unpatriotic, apathetic soldiers with poor fighting spirits. This study recovers some of the South Vietnamese military perspective for an American audience through qualitative interviews with 40 RVNAF veterans now living in San JosĂŠ, Sacramento, and Seattle, home to three of the top five largest Vietnamese American communities in the nation. An analysis of these interviews yields the veterans' own explanations that complicate and sometimes even challenge three widely held assumptions about the South Vietnamese military: 1) the RVNAF was rife with corruption at the top ranks, hurting the morale of the lower ranks; 2) racial relations between the South Vietnamese military and the Americans were tense and hostile; and 3) the RVNAF was apathetic in defending South Vietnam from communism. The stories add nuance to our understanding of who the South Vietnamese were in the Vietnam War. This study is part of a growing body of research on non-American perspectives of the war. In using a largely untapped source of Vietnamese history &endash; oral histories with Vietnamese immigrants &endash; this project will contribute to future research on similar topics. b) Humanities: Violence, Subalternity, and El Corrido Along the US/Mexican Border Author: Roberto Hernandez (UCB participant in UC Day 2001) The Geopolitical divide that separates the CHAPTERed States and Mexico has long plagued the region with violence and conflict. However, its extent and political nature is often overshadowed and undermined by mainstream information outlets. The boundary inspires polarized reactions: tough on crime/immigration rhetoric from politicians and enforcement officials &endash; exemplified in current border militarization &endash; and appeasement through feel-good news reporting. Such contradictions desensitize and deny the essence and root cause of the conflict &endash; an ongoing sociopolitical, cultural, and economic struggle between the two nations. While information transmission in the north has a U.S. focus, south of the divide knowledge distribution is very Mexico-centered. However, the border region acts as a third space t hat gives birth to a distinct border gnosis, a unique form of knowledge construction among subaltern communities on both its sides. One form of subalternity, corridos, (border folk

91 ballads), has functioned to create an alternative discourse to the borderlands imaginary. This study is an examination of the analysis and critique found in corridos that seek a critical approach to the violence at the nations' shared edges and its ensuing political implications. To illustrate their subaltern function, I will examine two incidents: the 1984 McDonalds shooting in San Ysidro, California, and the 1997 death of Ezequiel Hernรกndez in Redford, Texas. these cases are indicative of the politically charged environment of a border region that in becoming an increasingly militarized zone has also set the stage for a cultural battle amongst different forms of knowledge construction and legitimation. c) Biological Sciences: "The Listeria monocytogenes p60 Protein is not Essential for Viability in vitro, but Promotes Virulence in vivo" Author: Sina Mohammedi, 2002 UC Day nominee and runner-up Intracellular pathogens (agents which infect host cells), such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Listeria monocytogenes, cause very high mortality rates in the United States. Therefore, deciphering the mechanisms through which the pathogens cause disease is of great interest. Listeria infection of mice is a well-developed model system for studying the fundamentals of host-pathogen interactions. In vitro assays in animal cell cultures have helped show that Listeria causes illness by secreting molecules, called virulence factors, to the outside of the bacterial cell in order to affect the host organism. My work involves one such secreted protein, called p60. P60 is an antigen (an agent seen by the host immune system) implicated in regulated bacterial cell wall breakdown. The objective of this study was to examine two questions: first, is p60 essential to the viability of Listeria, as previously published? and second, is p60 a virulence factor in Listeria? To examine these questions, I contructed a Listeria strain lacking p60 (p60-). This new strain displayed no defect in viability. In fact, most standard in vitro pathogenicity assays were normal for p60-. However, when p60- was tested in a mouse (in vivo), a 1000-fold reduction in virulence was observed. This discovery suggests that p60 is indeed a key factor in the disease-causing ability of Listeria, but not essential for viability. Future studies will focus on the precise role of p60 in Listeria pathogenesis. This work increases our understanding of such diseases as tuberculoses, various food poisonings, and meningitis.

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d) Engineering: "Quantifying the Mechanics of a Laryngoscopy" Laryngoscopy is a medical procedure that provides a secure airway by passing a breathing tube through the mouth and into the lungs of a patient. The ability to successfully perform laryngoscopy is highly dependent on operator skill; experienced physicians have failure rates of 0.1% or less, while less experienced paramedics may have failure rates of 10-33%, which can lead to death or brain injury. Accordingly, there is a need for improved training methods, and virtual reality technology holds promise for this application. The immediate objective of this research project is to measure the mechanics of laryngoscopy, so that an advanced training mannequin can be developed. This summer an instrumented laryngoscope has been developed which uses a 6-axis force/torque sensor and a magnetic position/orientation sensor to quantify the interactions between the laryngoscope and the patient. Experienced physicians as well as residents in training have used this device on an existing mannequin, and the force and motion trajectories have been visualized in 3D. One objective is to use comparisons between expert and novice users to identify the critical skill components necessary for patients, to identify the mechanical properties of the human anatomy that effect laryngoscopy, and thus enable the development of a realistic training simulator. In the future an advanced training mannequin will be developed whose physical properties will be based on our sensor measurements, and where virtual reality tools will be used to provide training feedback for novice users.

More Sample Abstracts (Asian Contexts) Sample I This research study aimed to 1) compare learning achievements between the selected method of teaching and SorSorWorTor teaching method, with 60% criteria; 2) compare learning achievements in mathematic fractions at Grade 6 (Prathom 6) Level between the selected method of teaching and SorSorWorTor teaching method; and 3) compare the level of retention in learning mathematic fractions at Grade 6 (Prathom 6) Level between the selected method of teaching and SorSorWorTor teaching method.

93 The sampling was a group of 48 Grade 6 students of Ban Rartpatthana School, Serng Sarng District, under the Office of the 3rd Nakhon Ratchasimaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Educational Zone, during the First Semester, 2006 School Year. They were divided into 2 groups from 2 different rooms, 24 each, by using a cluster random sampling technique. The first group was taught by a selected method whereas the second group by the SorSorWorTor teaching method. The research tools consisted of lesson plans based on the selected method of teaching and SorSorWorTor teaching method, and the Achievement Test for mathematic fractions. The collected data was then analyzed by averaging X, S.D., and t-test for dependent and independent variables. Following are the research findings: 1. The post achievements in learning mathematic fractions by both selected methods of teaching and SorSorWorTor teaching method at Grade 6 (Prathom 6) Level were significantly statistically higher than 60% criteria at .05. 2. The post achievements in learning mathematic fractions by both selected methods of teaching and SorSorWorTor teaching method at Grade 6 (Prathom 6) Level were significantly statistically different at .05, with the selected method of teaching having higher learning achievements. 3. By comparison, the level of retention in learning of mathematic fractions at Grade 6 (Prathom 6) Level between the selected method of teaching and SorSorWorTor teaching method was significantly statistically different at .05, with the selected method of teaching having a higher level of retention.

Sample II This research aims to examine problems of academic administration, and compare the problems prevalent in Buddhist General Education Schools (or Pariyattitham Schools) in Nakhon Ratchasima using the Demingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Administrative Processes based on views of the selected school administrators and teachers. Sampling teachers Schools) research

groups used in the study included 189 administrators and of Buddhist General Education Schools (or Pariyattitham in Nakhon Ratchasima during Academic Year 2004. The tool employed to collect data was 48 value-scaled 93

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questionnaires and statistics used for the analysis of data was percentile ranking with average X, S.D., and t-test. The study yielded the following results: 1. The gravity of problems faced by Buddhist General Education Schools (or Pariyattitham Schools) in Nakhon Ratchasima using the Deming’s Administrative Processes was found ‘medium’ when considered its overall as well as 4 individual items. 2. The gravity of problems faced by Buddhist General Education Schools (or Pariyattitham Schools) in Nakhon Ratchasima using the Deming’s Administrative Processes when considered items by items was mostly found in ‘medium’ level; whereas 5 items were found in a ‘most’ level: Budget for academic planning was insufficient, overall school budget was not enough to implement the plan, teaching media and library facilities were not sufficient, there was no budget for monitoring and supervising the academic administration, and finally; there was little budget for solving academic administration problems. 3. The comparative study of academic administration problems as faced by administrators and teachers of Buddhist General Education Schools (or Pariyattitham Schools) in Nakhon Ratchasima using the Deming’s Administrative Processes found that there was no significant difference at .05 level in both overall and items by items. 4. The comparative study of individual academic administration problems as faced by Buddhist General Education Schools (or Pariyattitham Schools) in Nakhon Ratchasima using the Deming’s Administrative Processes also found that there was no significant difference at .05 level, except 1 item relating the shortage of organization or authority directly inspecting academic performance of administrators and teachers.

95 Sample III This research study aimed at investigating and comparing the guidance operation in schools that come under the Office of Nakhon Ratchasima Educational Service Area Zone 4, in the 2005 school year, classified by sizes of the schools: small and large. The sampling groups used in this study were 136 primary education schools, further divided into 107 small schools and 29 large schools through stratified random sampling. The research tools utilized in collecting data were value rated 5 multiple choice questionnaires containing 47 items. The data were analyzed through distribution of frequency, percentage, X, standard deviation, and t-test. The findings of this study are summarized below: 1. The guidance operation in schools that come under the Office of Nakhon Ratchasima Educational Service Area Zone 4 was in the overall picture rated at a “much” level in the four areas of atmosphere and environment management, the enhancement of effectiveness and efficiency in curriculum and learning by using guidance principles, guidance personnel management, educational supervision, follow ups and evaluation; and a “medium” level in guidance management and administration. The highest average was in the area of atmosphere and environment management, while the lowest was in the area of guidance management and administration. 2. The results of the guidance operation in schools that come under the Office of Nakhon Ratchasima Educational Service Area Zone 4 in the overall picture did not yield any statistically significant differences at .05, except the area of guidance management and administration, in which the large schools were more active on a wider scale than the small ones.

Sample IV This study aimed to synthesize the results of research works that compared levels of the high school student’s ability to use English acquired through the experiential instruction and teacher’s handbook instruction by using meta-analysis. The samplings came from research studies which were theses or dissertations that had been done in order to experiment and compare levels of the high school student’s ability to use English acquired through the experiential instruction and teacher’s 95

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handbook instruction. Nine theses or dissertations that passed the criteria for research self-evaluation were used in this study. The research tools used for collecting data consisted of research selfevaluation questionnaires and summaries of detailed characteristics of research constructed by the researcher. The quantity researches were then synthesized by meta-analysis method in accordance with SchmidtHunter’s approach. Statistics used in analyzing the collected data was to establish the value of the magnitude of Schmidt-Hunter’s approach.

From the synthesis, it was found that the teaching of English through experiential instruction method achieved the higher level of student’s ability to listen, speak, read and write English than the one carried out through teacher’s handbook instruction method, with the value of the magnitude of results at 1.069, 0.792, and 0.791 times of the common standard deviation between the experimental group and the controlled group, respectively.

5.5 Introduction Your introductions should not exceed two pages (double spaced, typed). See the examples in the writing portfolio package. General intent The purpose of an introduction is to familiar the reader with the rationale behind the work, with the intention of defending it. It places your work in a theoretical context, and enables the reader to understand and appreciate your objectives. Writing an introduction The abstract is the only text in a research paper to be written without using paragraphs in order to separate major points. Approaches vary widely, however for our studies the following approach can produce an effective introduction. • •

Describe the importance (significance) of the study - why was this worth doing in the first place? Provide a broad context. Defend the model - why did you use this particular organism or system? What are its advantages? You might comment on its

•

suitability from a theoretical point of view as well as indicate practical reasons for using it. Provide a rationale. State your specific hypothesis(es) or objective(s), and describe the reasoning that led you to select them. Very briefy describe the experimental design and how it accomplished the stated objectives.

Style: • •

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Use past tense except when referring to established facts. After all, the paper will be submitted after all of the work is completed. Organize your ideas, making one major point with each paragraph. If you make the four points listed above, you will need a minimum of four paragraphs. Present background information only as needed in order support a position. The reader does not want to read everything you know about a subject. State the hypothesis/objective precisely - do not oversimplify. As always, pay attention to spelling, clarity and appropriateness of sentences and phrases.

5.6 Materials and Methods There is no specific page limit, but a key concept is to keep this section as concise as you possibly can. People will want to read this material selectively. The reader may only be interested in one formula or part of a procedure. Materials and methods may be reported under separate subheadings within this section or can be incorporated together. General intent This should be the easiest section to write, but many students misunderstand the purpose. The objective is to document all specialized materials and general procedures, so that another individual may use some or all of the methods in another study or judge the scientific merit of your work. It is not to be a step by step description of everything you did, nor is a methods section a set of instructions. In particular, it is not supposed to tell a story. By the way, your notebook should contain all of the information that you need for this section.

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Writing a materials and methods section Materials: • •

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Describe materials separately only if the study is so complicated that it saves space this way. Include specialized chemicals, biological materials, and any equipment or supplies that are not commonly found in laboratories. Do not include commonly found supplies such as test tubes, pipet tips, beakers, etc., or standard lab equipment such as centrifuges, spectrophotometers, pipettors, etc. If use of a specific type of equipment, a specific enzyme, or a culture from a particular supplier is critical to the success of the experiment, then it and the source should be singled out, otherwise no. Materials may be reported in a separate paragraph or else they may be identified along with your procedures. In biosciences we frequently work with solutions - refer to them by name and describe completely, including concentrations of all reagents, and pH of aqueous solutions, solvent if non-aqueous.

Methods: • • • • •

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See the examples in the writing portfolio package Report the methodology (not details of each procedure that employed the same methodology) Describe the methodology completely, including such specifics as temperatures, incubation times, etc. To be concise, present methods under headings devoted to specific procedures or groups of procedures Generalize - report how procedures were done, not how they were specifically performed on a particular day. For example, report "samples were diluted to a final concentration of 2 mg/ml protein;" don't report that "135 microliters of sample one was diluted with 330 microliters of buffer to make the protein concentration 2 mg/ml." Always think about what would be relevant to an investigator at another institution, working on his/her own project. If well documented procedures were used, report the procedure by name, perhaps with reference, and that's all. For example, the Bradford assay is well known. You need not report the procedure in full - just that you used a Bradford assay to

99 estimate protein concentration, and identify what you used as a standard. The same is true for the SDS-PAGE method, and many other well known procedures in biology and biochemistry. Style: •

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It is awkward or impossible to use active voice when documenting methods without using first person, which would focus the reader's attention on the investigator rather than the work. Therefore when writing up the methods most authors use third person passive voice. Use normal prose in this and in every other section of the paper – avoid informal lists, and use complete sentences.

What to avoid • • •

Materials and methods are not a set of instructions. Omit all explanatory information and background - save it for the discussion. Omit information that is irrelevant to a third party, such as what color ice bucket you used, or which individual logged in the data.

5.7 Results The page length of this section is set by the amount and types of data to be reported. Continue to be concise, using figures and tables, if appropriate, to present results most effectively. See recommendations for content, below.

General intent The purpose of a results section is to present and illustrate your findings. Make this section a completely objective report of the results, and save all interpretation for the discussion. Writing a results section IMPORTANT: You must clearly distinguish material that would normally be included in a research article from any raw data or other appendix material that would not be published. In fact, such material should not be submitted at all unless requested by the instructor.

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Content • • • • •

Summarize your findings in text and illustrate them, if appropriate, with figures and tables. In text, describe each of your results, pointing the reader to observations that are most relevant. Provide a context, such as by describing the question that was addressed by making a particular observation. Describe results of control experiments and include observations that are not presented in a formal figure or table, if appropriate. Analyze your data, then prepare the analyzed (converted) data in the form of a figure (graph), table, or in text form.

What to avoid • • • • •

Do not discuss or interpret your results, report background information, or attempt to explain anything. Never include raw data or intermediate calculations in a research paper. Do not present the same data more than once. Text should complement any figures or tables, not repeat the same information. Please do not confuse figures with tables - there is a difference.

Style • • •

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As always, use past tense when you refer to your results, and put everything in a logical order. In text, refer to each figure as "figure 1," "figure 2," etc. ; number your tables as well (see the reference text for details) Place figures and tables, properly numbered, in order at the end of the report (clearly distinguish them from any other material such as raw data, standard curves, etc.) If you prefer, you may place your figures and tables appropriately within the text of your results section.

101 Figures and tables •

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Either place figures and tables within the text of the result, or include them in the back of the report (following Literature Cited) - do one or the other If you place figures and tables at the end of the report, make sure they are clearly distinguished from any attached appendix materials, such as raw data Regardless of placement, each figure must be numbered consecutively and complete with caption (caption goes under the figure) Regardless of placement, each table must be titled, numbered consecutively and complete with heading (title with description goes above the table) Each figure and table must be sufficiently complete that it could stand on its own, separate from text

5.9 Discussion Journal guidelines vary. Space is so valuable in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, that authors are asked to restrict discussions to four pages or less, double spaced, typed. That works out to one printed page. While you are learning to write effectively, the limit will be extended to five typed pages. If you practice economy of words,that should be plenty of space within which to say all that you need to say. General intent The objective here is to provide an interpretation of your results and support for all of your conclusions, using evidence from your experiment and generally accepted knowledge, if appropriate. The significance of findings should be clearly described. Writing a discussion Interpret your data in the discussion in appropriate depth. This means that when you explain a phenomenon you must describe mechanisms that may account for the observation. If your results differ from your expectations, explain why that may have happened. If your results agree, then describe the theory that the evidence supported. It is never appropriate to simply state that the data agreed with expectations, and let it drop at that.

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• • • • •

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Decide if each hypothesis is supported, rejected, or if you cannot make a decision with confidence. Do not simply dismiss a study or part of a study as "inconclusive." Research papers are not accepted if the work is incomplete. Draw what conclusions you can based upon the results that you have, and treat the study as a finished work You may suggest future directions, such as how the experiment might be modified to accomplish another objective. Explain all of your observations as much as possible, focusing on mechanisms. Decide if the experimental design adequately addressed the hypothesis, and whether or not it was properly controlled. Try to offer alternative explanations if reasonable alternatives exist. One experiment will not answer an overall question, so keeping the big picture in mind, where do you go next? The best studies open up new avenues of research. What questions remain? Recommendations for specific papers will provide additional suggestions.

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When you refer to information, distinguish data generated by your own studies from published information or from information obtained from other students (verb tense is an important tool for accomplishing that purpose). Refer to work done by specific individuals (including yourself) in past tense. Refer to generally accepted facts and principles in present tense. For example, "Doofus, in a 1989 survey, found that anemia in basset hounds was correlated with advanced age. Anemia is a condition in which there is insufficient hemoglobin in the blood."

The biggest mistake that students make in discussions is to present a superficial interpretation that more or less re-states the results. It is necessary to suggest why results came out as they did, focusing on the mechanisms behind the observations. 5.9 Literature Cited Please note that in the introductory laboratory course, you will not be required to properly document sources of all of your information. One reason is that your major source of information is this website, and

103 websites are inappropriate as primary sources. Second, it is problematic to provide a hundred students with equal access to potential reference materials. You may nevertheless find outside sources, and you should cite any articles that the instructor provides or that you find for yourself. List all literature cited in your paper, in alphabetical order, by first author. In a proper research paper, only primary literature is used (original research articles authored by the original investigators). Never include a web site as a reference - anyone can put just about anything on a web site, and you have no way of knowing if it is truth or fiction. If you are citing an on line journal, use the journal citation (name, volume, year, page numbers). Some of your papers may not require references, and if that is the case simply state that "no references were consulted." 5.10 Sample Research Report Executive Summary (Summary or Abstract) The aim of this report was to investigate UniLab staff attitudes to personal mobile phone use in staff and team meetings. A staff survey on attitudes towards the use of mobile phones in the staff / team meetings was conducted. The results indicate that the majority of staff find mobile phone use a major issue in staff meetings. The report concludes that personal mobile phones are disruptive and should be turned off in meetings. It is recommended that UniLab develops a company policy banning the use of mobile phones except in exceptional circumstances. Introduction There has been a massive increase in the use of personal mobile phones over the past five years and there is every indication that this will continue. According to Black(2002) by 2008 almost 100% of working people in Australia will carry personal mobile phones. Black describes this phenomenon as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;serious in the extreme, potentially undermining the foundations of communication in our societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (2002, p 167). Currently at UniLab 89% of staff have personal mobile phones in meetings and asked what the official company policy is. At present there is no official company policy regarding phone use. This report examines the issue of mobile phone usage in staff meetings and small team meetings. It does not seek to examine the use of mobile phones in the workplace at other times, although some concerns were raised. For the purposes of this report a personal mobile phone is a personally

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funded phone for private calls as opposed to an employer funded phone that directly relates to carrying out a particular job.

Methods This research was conducted by questionnaire and investigated UniLab staff membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; attitudes to the use of mobile phones in staff / team meetings. A total of 412 questionnaires were distributed with employees' fortnightly pay slips The questionnaire used Lekert scales to assess social attitudes (see Smith 2002) to mobile phone usage and provided open ended responses for additional comments. Survey collection boxes were located in every branch for a four week period. No personal information was collected; the survey was voluntary and anonymous.

Results There was an 85% response rate to the questionnaire. A breakdown of the responses is listed below in Table 1. It can be clearly seen from the results that mobile phones are considered to be disruptive and should be turned off in meetings. Table 1 Personal Mobile Phone Usage in Staff and Team Meetings Is Content

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Agree 7

Strongly Disagree 23

Not a problem An issue Disruptive Phones should be permissible Phones should be turned off Allowed in some circumstances

40 80 6

45 10 16

10 7 56

5 3 22

105 The survey also allowed participants to identify any circumstances where mobile phones should be allowed in meetings and also assessed staff attitudes towards receiving personal phone calls in staff meetings in open ended questions. These results showed that staff thought that in some circumstances, e.g. medical or emergencies, receiving personal phone calls was acceptable, but generally receiving personal phone calls was not necessary. Discussion / Interpretation of Results It can be seen from the results in Table 1 that personal mobile phone use is considered to a problem; however it was acknowledged that in some situations it should be permissible. 80% of recipients considered mobile phones to be highly disruptive and there was strong support for phones being turned off in meetings (85%). Only 12% thought that mobile phone usage in staff and team meetings was not a problem, whereas 85% felt it was an issue. The results are consistent throughout the survey. Many of the respondents (62%) felt that in exceptional circumstances mobile phones should be allowed, eg medical, but there should be protocols regarding this. These findings are consistent with other studies. According to Smith (2005) many companies have identified mobile phones as disruptive and have banned the use of mobile phones in meetings. Havir (2004) claims that 29% of staff meeting time is wasted through unnecessary mobile phone interruptions. This affects time management, productivity and team focus. Conclusion The use of mobile phones in staff meetings is clearly disruptive and they should be switched off. Most staff felt it is not necessary to receive personal phone calls in staff meetings except under certain circumstances, but permission should first be sought from the team leader, manager or chair. Recommendations It is recommended that UniLab develops an official policy regarding the use of mobile phones in staff meetings. The policy should recommend: â&#x20AC;˘ mobile phones are banned in staff meetings

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â&#x20AC;˘ mobiles phone may be used in exceptional circumstances but only with the permission of the appropriate manager or chair Finally, the policy needs to apply to all staff in the company.

107 CHAPTER 6 WRITING A DISSERTATION/THESIS

Writing a dissertation or thesis is a highly technical job. Students must be familiar with forms and formats of a dissertation, and must be able to follow them systematically and accurately. Here are a few points to keep in mind while attempting to write one. 6.1 Good and Mediocre Dissetations/Theses The advice given here is very general in nature: you must always check with your supervisor and with course documentation what the specific requirements are on your course. A good dissertation/thesis will: have a clear objective, based on a well worked out thesis or central question. be well planned and widely researched. show that the student has a good grasp of relevant concepts and is able to apply these in their own work. include analysis, critical evaluation and discussion, rather than simple description. contain consistent and correct referencing. be structured and expressed in an appropriate academic way. show your tutors that you have learnt something on the course and have been able to use this to produce a well argued extended piece of academic work. A mediocre dissertation/thesis will: have a very general or unclear title. be poorly planned, with a narrow field of research. rely heavily on source material, with little or no attempt to apply this to the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aims. be mostly descriptive. contain little or no referencing, perhaps in an incorrect format. be poorly structured, with possible plagiarism of source material not convince your tutors that you have learnt much.

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6.2 Some Tips on How to Produce a Good Dissertation Your topic Start thinking early on about what you would like to write about. Consult as soon as possible with your supervisor for advice on the expected scope of your dissertation. Remember that you will not simply be writing about “IT in Primary Education”, but instead will be focussing on specific aspects, perhaps trying to solve a problem, querying currently held beliefs, or arguing a particular case or “thesis”. Your final title may instead be something like: A computer for every pupil?

A critical analysis of the over-reliance on Information Technology in current UK primary education. This title will therefore probably need to be refined over the weeks before you agree the final version with your supervisor. Planning and research Your dissertation is a major commitment and will be a long way to deciding your final award. It is obviously very important, therefore, to plan meticulously. Work out a timetable and stick to it. You really have no excuse to leave things to the last minute. There will always be problems: difficulties in obtaining books or materials; delays in receiving replies to letters or questionnaires; temperamental printers and floppy disks; mysterious dissertation-eating dogs. You must allow for these, however: none is an excuse for not handing in your work on time. In consultation with your supervisor, draw up an initial reading list, making sure that this is wide-ranging, relevant and as up-to-date as possible. Approach this reading with specific questions in mind; if not, you will waste a lot of valuable time reading irrelevant information. If you’re going to include some sort of survey or questionnaire, make this as wide as possible, but remember that companies and organisations are swamped with this sort of thing and the response rate will probably be very disappointing.

109 Most of your writing will probably need redrafting several times, and you must carefully proofread everything you write, or perhaps get someone else to do this for you. Any revisions needed will of course take time, as will the binding of your finished dissertation, if this is necessary. Structure of dissertation As stated, you must check with your supervisor and with course literature what the required structure is, as there are many variations. A basic framework would be: Title page Title, your name, course name, date, name of supervisor Abstract One paragraph summarising the whole dissertation Acknowledgements Thanks to those who have assisted you Table of contents Chapters and/or sections & sub-sections with page numbers Table of figures If appropriate Introduction A presentation of your question/problem/thesis, with a brief outline of the structure of your work Main body/discussion The facts, evidence, analysis, evaluation and discussion. All very well structured: arts/social sciences tending towards paragraphs; sciences/engineering towards sections; business a mixture of the two. Conclusion/findings Where you bring it all together, stating very clearly your answer to your central question and if appropriate making recommendations, suggestions etc. Bibliography A complete list of your sources, correctly formatted. Appendices Any information not central to your main text or too large to be included: for example, complete questionnaires, copies of letters, maps etc.

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Other sections you may be asked to include could be terms of reference, procedure, methodology, executive summary, literature review or recommendations. Avoid footnotes, unless you’re using a numerical referencing system. Avoid too many brackets. Use bold and italics sparingly and consistently. Avoid underlining. Avoid using “etc.” Content and style Your dissertation is a piece of academic work; an intellectual achievement. You are not expected to produce something completely original, but instead, to should show understanding of key issues and theories; evidence of thought and insight; critical analysis and evaluation, and a demonstration that you have been able to research a topic within your professional domain and present your findings appropriately. Simple description is not enough, and will result in a low mark. You should write in an appropriate academic style, avoiding colloquialisms, contractions, phrasal verbs and vagueness. You do not need, however, to use long, over-formal vocabulary: you should aim at all times for clear and concise expression. You should normally avoid too much personal language (“I”, “my” etc), although opinions on this vary. As a rule of thumb, only use it when you are describing what you actually did and when you are expressing personal opinions, probably in your conclusion. Don’t refer to yourself as “we” unless you are describing some sort of groupwork, and don’t refer to yourself as “the author”: it’s pompous and confusing. Avoid using “he/she”, “her/his” etc. The best way to avoid this and still be non-sexist is to make the subject plural whenever possible. (For example, “Teachers should always be in control of their class”.) In your conclusion, don’t start undermining your work by apologizing for poor results or complaining about lack of time. Always be positive. If there were problems, analyze these objectively in an appropriate place. Any research has weaknesses; they’re part of the process. Sentences should be well-punctuated, complete but not over-long. Paragraphs should be adequately developed, withnormally at least five or six sentences. You should use linking words or phrases to guide your

111 reader through your writing. Make sure all figures are integrated into your text and referred to. And remember to consistently and correctly make references to your sources. Referencing Acknowledgement of your sources is a vital and integral part of the academic process. If you do not do this, particularly at dissertation/postgraduate level, you could be accused of plagiarism. By the time you do your dissertation you should be very clear on how to do this. If not, check with course tutors or in course literature what the preferred method is (normally at UCE it is the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Harvard Methodâ&#x20AC;?) and make sure you know how to use it. It can be a complicated area, but there are many guides and staff to help you (us, for example). Little or no referencing and a short bibliography indicate little research carried out, a generally un-academic approach and maybe even copying from source material. Extensive referencing and bibliography indicate wide research, a correct approach and the use of these sources as evidence to back up the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s argument.

6.3 Writing a Dissertation/Thesis When you are preparing to write a Ph.D., there are two possible paths to success: o

Planning Ahead. Few take this path. The few who do leave the University so quickly that they are hardly noticed. If you want to make a lasting impression and have a long career as a graduate student, do not choose it.

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Perseverance. All you really have to do is outlast your doctoral committee. The good news is that they are much older than you, so you can guess who will eventually expire first. The bad news is that they are more practiced at this game (after all, they persevered in the face of their doctoral committee, didn't they?).

Here are a few guidelines that may help you when you finally get serious about writing. The list goes on forever; you probably won't want to read it all at once. But, please read it before you write anything. The General Idea: 1. A thesis is a hypothesis or conjecture. 2. A PhD dissertation is a lengthy, formal document that argues in defense of a particular thesis. (So many people use the term ``thesis'' to refer to the document that a current dictionary now includes it as the third meaning of ``thesis''). 3. Two important adjectives used to describe a dissertation are ``original'' and ``substantial.'' The research performed to support a thesis must be both, and the dissertation must show it to be so. In particular, a dissertation highlights original contributions. 4. The scientific method means starting with a hypothesis and then collecting evidence to support or deny it. Before one can write a dissertation defending a particular thesis, one must collect evidence that supports it. Thus, the most difficult aspect of writing a dissertation consists of organizing the evidence and associated discussions into a coherent form. 5. The essence of a dissertation is critical thinking, not experimental data. Analysis and concepts form the heart of the work. 6. A dissertation concentrates on principles: it states the lessons learned, and not merely the facts behind them. 7. In general, every statement in a dissertation must be supported either by a reference to published scientific literature or by original work. Moreover, a dissertation does not repeat the details of critical thinking and analysis found in published sources; it uses the results as fact and refers the reader to the source for further details. 8. Each sentence in a dissertation must be complete and correct in a grammatical sense. Moreover, a dissertation must satisfy the

113 stringent rules of formal grammar (e.g., no contractions, no colloquialisms, no slurs, no undefined technical jargon, no hidden jokes, and no slang, even when such terms or phrases are in common use in the spoken language). Indeed, the writing in a dissertaton must be crystal clear. Shades of meaning matter; the terminology and prose must make fine distinctions. The words must convey exactly the meaning intended, nothing more and nothing less. 9. Each statement in a dissertation must be correct and defensible in a logical and scientific sense. Moreover, the discussions in a dissertation must satisfy the most stringent rules of logic applied to mathematics and science. What One Should Learn From The Exercise: 1. All scientists need to communicate discoveries; the Ph.D. dissertation provides training for communication with other scientists. 2. Writing a dissertation requires a student to think deeply, to organize technical discussion, to muster arguments that will convince other scientists, and to follow rules for rigorous, formal presentation of the arguments and discussion. 6. 4 A Rule of Thumb: Good writing is essential in a dissertation. However, good writing cannot compensate for a paucity of ideas or concepts. Quite the contrary, a clear presentation always exposes weaknesses. Definitions and Terminology: 1. Each technical term used in a dissertation must be defined either by a reference to a previously published definition (for standard terms with their usual meaning) or by a precise, unambiguous definition that appears before the term is used (for a new term or a standard term used in an unusual way). 2. Each term should be used in one and only one way throughout the dissertation. 3. The easiest way to avoid a long series of definitions is to include a statement: ``the terminology used throughout this document follows that given in [CITATION].'' Then, only define exceptions.

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4. The introductory chapter can give the intuition (i.e., informal definitions) of terms provided they are defined more precisely later. Terms and Phrases to Avoid: •

adverbs Mostly, they are very often overly used. Use strong words instead. For example, one could say, ``Writers abuse adverbs.''

•

jokes or puns They have no place in a formal document.

•

``bad'', ``good'', ``nice'', ``terrible'', ``stupid'' A scientific dissertation does not make moral judgements. Use ``incorrect/correct'' to refer to factual correctness or errors. Use precise words or phrases to assess quality (e.g., ``method A requires less computation than method B''). In general, one should avoid all qualitative judgements.

•

``true'', ``pure'', In the sense of ``good'' (it is judgemental).

•

``perfect'' Nothing is.

•

``an ideal solution'' You're judging again.

•

``today'', ``modern times'' Today is tomorrow's yesterday.

115 •

``soon'' How soon? Later tonight? Next decade?

•

``we were surprised to learn...'' Even if you were, so what?

•

``seems'', ``seemingly'', It doesn't matter how something appears;

•

``would seem to show'' all that matters are the facts.

•

``in terms of'' usually vague

•

``based on'', ``X-based'', ``as the basis of'' careful; can be vague

•

``different'' Does not mean ``various''; different than what?

•

``in light of'' colloquial

•

``lots of'' vague & colloquial

•

``kind of'' vague & colloquial

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•

``type of'' vague & colloquial

•

``something like'' vague & colloquial

•

``just about'' vague & colloquial

•

``number of'' vague; do you mean ``some'', ``many'', or ``most''? A quantative statement is preferable.

•

``due to'' colloquial

•

``probably'' only if you know the statistical probability (if you do, state it quantatively

•

``obviously, clearly'' be careful: obvious/clear to everyone?

•

``simple'' Can have a negative connotation, as in ``simpleton''

•

``along with'' Just use ``with''

•

``actually, really'' define terms precisely to eliminate the need to clarify

117 •

``the fact that'' makes it a meta-sentence; rephrase

•

``this'', ``that'' As in ``This causes concern.'' Reason: ``this'' can refer to the subject of the previous sentence, the entire previous sentence, the entire previous paragraph, the entire previous section, etc. More important, it can be interpreted in the concrete sense or in the meta-sense. For example, in: ``X does Y. This means ...'' the reader can assume ``this'' refers to Y or to the fact that X does it. Even when restricted (e.g., ``this computation...''), the phrase is weak and often ambiguous.

•

``You will read about...'' The second person has no place in a formal dissertation.

•

``I will describe...'' The first person has no place in a formal dissertation. If self-reference is essential, phrase it as ``Section 10 describes...''

•

``we'' as in ``we see that''

•

``Hopefully, the program...'' Computer programs don't hope, not unless they implement AI systems. By the way, if you are writing an AI thesis, talk to someone else: AI people have their own system of rules.

•

``...a famous researcher...'' It doesn't matter who said it or who did it. In fact, such statements prejudice the reader.

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•

Be Careful When Using ``few, most, all, any, every''. A dissertation is precise. If a sentence says ``Most computer systems contain X'', you must be able to defend it. Are you sure you really know the facts? How many computers were built and sold yesterday?

•

``must'', ``always'' Absolutely?

•

``should'' Who says so?

•

``proof'', ``prove'' Would a mathematician agree that it's a proof?

•

``show'' Used in the sense of ``prove''. To ``show'' something, you need to provide a formal proof.

•

``can/may'' Your mother probably told you the difference.

Voice: Use active constructions. For example, say ``the operating system starts the device'' instead of ``the device is started by the operating system.''

Tense: Write in the present tense. For example, say ``The system writes a page to the disk and then uses the frame...'' instead of ``The system will use the frame after it wrote the page to disk...''

119 References to Extant Work: One always cites papers, not authors. Thus, one uses a singular verb to refer to a paper even though it has multiple authors. For example ``Johnson and Smith [J&S90] reports that...'' Avoid the phrase ``the authors claim that X''. The use of ``claim'' casts doubt on ``X'' because it references the authors' thoughts instead of the facts. If you agree ``X'' is correct, simply state ``X'' followed by a reference. If one absolutely must reference a paper instead of a result, say ``the paper states that...'' or ``Johnson and Smith [J&S 90] presents evidence that...''. Concept vs. Instance: A reader can become confused when a concept and an instance of it are blurred. Common examples include: an algorithm and a particular program that implements it, a programming language and a compiler, a general abstraction and its particular implementation in a computer system, a data structure and a particular instance of it in memory.

Terminology for Concepts and Abstractions When defining the terminology for a concept, be careful to decide precisely how the idea translates to an implementation.

Knowledge vs. Data The facts that result from an experiment are called ``data''. The term ``knowledge'' implies that the facts have been analyzed, condensed, or combined with facts from other experiments to produce useful information. Cause and Effect: A dissertation must carefully separate cause-effect relationships from simple statistical correlations. For example, even if all computer programs written in Professor X's lab require more

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memory than the computer programs written in Professor Y's lab, it may not have anything to do with the professors or the lab or the programmers (e.g., maybe the people working in professor X's lab are working on applications that require more memory than the applications in professor Y's lab).

Drawing Only Warranted Conclusions: One must be careful to only draw conclusions that the evidence supports. For example, if programs run much slower on computer A than on computer B, one cannot conclude that the processor in A is slower than the processor in B unless one has ruled out all differences in the computers' operating systems, input or output devices, memory size, memory cache, or internal bus bandwidth. In fact, one must still refrain from judgement unless one has the results from a controlled experiment (e.g., running a set of several programs many times, each when the computer is otherwise idle). Even if the cause of some phenomenon seems obvious, one cannot draw a conclusion without solid, supporting evidence.

Commerce and Science: In a scientific dissertation, one never draws conclusions about the economic viability or commercial success of an idea/method, nor does one speculate about the history of development or origins of an idea. A scientist must remain objective about the merits of an idea independent of its commercial popularity. In particular, a scientist never assumes that commercial success is a valid measure of merit (many popular products are neither welldesigned nor well-engineered). Thus, statements such as ``over four hundred vendors make products using technique Y'' are irrelevant in a dissertation.

Politics and Science: A scientist avoids all political influence when assessing ideas. Obviously, it should not matter whether government bodies, political parties, religious groups, or other organizations endorse an idea. More important and often overlooked, it does not matter

121 whether an idea originated with a scientist who has already won a Nobel prize or a first-year graduate student. One must assess the idea independent of the source. Canonical Organization: In general, every dissertation must define the problem that motivated the research, tell why that problem is important, tell what others have done, describe the new contribution, document the experiments that validate the contribution, and draw conclusions. There is no canonical organization for a dissertation; each is unique. However, novices writing a dissertation in the experimental areas of CS may find the following example a good starting point: o

Chapter 1: Introduction An overview of the problem; why it is important; a summary of extant work and a statement of your hypothesis or specific question to be explored. Make it readable by anyone.

Chapter 2: Definitions New terms only. Make the definitions precise, concise, and unambiguous.

Chapter 3: Conceptual Model Describe the central concept underlying your work. Make it a ``theme'' that ties together all your arguments. It should provide an answer to the question posed in the introduction at a conceptual level. If necessary, add another chapter to give additional reasoning about the problem or its solution.

Chapter 4: Experimental Measurements Describe the results of experiments that provide evidence in support of your thesis. Usually experiments either emphasize proof-of-concept (demonstrating the viability of a method/technique) or efficiency (demonstrating

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that a method/technique provides performance than those that exist). o

Chapter 5: Corollaries And Consequences Describe variations, extensions, applications of the central idea.

better

other

Chapter 6: Conclusions Summarize what was learned and how it can be applied. Mention the possibilities for future research.

Abstract: A short (few paragraphs) summary of the the dissertation. Describe the problem and the research approach. Emphasize the original contributions.

Suggested Order for Writing: The easiest way to build a dissertation is inside-out. Begin by writing the chapters that describe your research (3, 4, and 5 in the above outline). Collect terms as they arise and keep a definition for each. Define each technical term, even if you use it in a conventional manner. Organize the definitions into a separate chapter. Make the definitions precise and formal. Review later chapters to verify that each use of a technical term adheres to its definition. After reading the middle chapters to verify terminology, write the conclusions. Write the introduction next. Finally, complete an abstract. Key to Success: By the way, there is a key to success: practice. No one ever learned to write by reading essays like this. Instead, you need to practice, practice, practice every day.

123 Parting Thoughts: Here are some great quotes for you to mull over. If they don't mean anything to you now, revisit them after you finish wirting a dissertation/thesis. 1) After great pain, a formal feeling comes. -- Emily Dickinson 2) A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it. -- Samuel Johnson 3) Keep right on to the end of the road. -- Harry Lauder 4) The average Ph.D. thesis is nothing but the transference of bones from one graveyard to another. -- Frank J. Dobie 5) Genius is 1% per cent inspiration and 99% perspiration --Thomas Edison

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CHAPTER 7 WRITING A LIST OF REFERENCES AND CITING SOURCES

At the end of an academic writing, students need to write a list of references and cite sources properly. Following are some of the key points to ponder over. 7.1 Writing a List of References At the end of all pieces of academic writing, you need a list of materials that you have used or referred to. This usually has a heading: references but may be bibliography or works cited depending on the conventions of the system you use. The object of your writing is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject, for you to present ideas you have learned in your own way. The emphasis should be on working with other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideas, rather than reproducing their words. The ideas and people that you refer to need to be made explicit by a system of referencing. This consists of a list of materials that you have used at the end of the piece of writing and references to this list at various points throughout the essay. The purpose of this is to supply the information needed to allow a user to find a source. Therefore, at the end of your assignment you need a list of the materials you have used - a bibliography or a reference list. There are many ways of writing a list of references - check with your department for more information - but the one used here - the American Psychological Association style - is well known and often used (American Psychological Association, 1983, 1994, 1999, 2001). See Gibaldi (1999) and Modern Languages Association (1998) for another way.

125 References Abercrombie, D. (1968). Paralanguage. British Journal of Disorders of

Communication, 3, 55-59. Barr, P., Clegg, J. & Wallace, C. (1981). Advanced reading skills. London: Longman. Chomsky, N. (1973). Linguistic theory. In J. W. Oller & J. C. Richards (Eds.), Focus on the learner (pp. 29-35). Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House. Fromkin, V. & Rodman, R. (1983). An introduction to language. London: Holt-Saunders. Guiora, A. Z., Paluszny, M., Beit-Hallahmi, B., Catford, J. C., Cooley, R. E. & Dull, C. Y. (1975). Language and person: Studies in language behaviour. Language Learning, 25, 43-61. GVU's 8th WWW user survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2000, from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/usersurveys/survey1997-10/ Kinsella, V. (Ed.). (1978). Language teaching and linguistics: Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lipinsky, E. & Bender, R. (1980). Critical voices on the economy. Survey, 25, 38-42. Oller, J. W. & Richards, J. C. (Eds.). (1973). Focus on the learner. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House. Longman dictionary of contemporary English. (1978). London: Longman. Smith, F. (1978). Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Stern, H. H. & Weinrib, A. (1978). Foreign languages for younger children: Trends and assessment. In V. Kinsella (Ed.), Language teaching and linguistics: Surveys (pp. 152-172). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Notes Use heading: References. Page numbers should be included for all articles in journals and in collections. Use italics (or underlining in handwriting) for titles of books, periodicals, newspapers etc. Use alphabetical order. Alphabetise works with no author by the first significant word in the title. All co-authors should be listed.

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Indent second etc. lines Use (n.d.) if no date is given. If the author of a document is not given, begin the reference with the title of the document. 2. Books a. One author: Smith, F. (1978). Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. b. Two authors: Fromkin, V. & Rodman, R. (1983). An introduction to language. London: Holt-Saunders. c. More than two authors: Barr, P., Clegg, J. & Wallace, C. (1981). Advanced reading skills. London: Longman. d. Edited collections: Kinsella, V. (Ed.). (1978). Language teaching and linguistics: Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Oller, J. W. & Richards, J. C. (Eds.). (1973). Focus on the learner. Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House. e. Book, corporate author: British Council Teaching Information Centre. (1978). Pre-sessional courses for overseas students. London: British Council. f. Book, no author, or editor:

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. (1978). London: Longman. The Times atlas of the world (5th ed.). (1975). New York: New York Times. g. Book, third edition: Fromkin, V. & Rodman, R. (1983). An introduction to language (3rd ed.). London: Holt-Saunders. h. Book, revised edition: Cohen, J. (1977). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences (rev. ed.). New York: Plenum Press.

127 i. Non-English book: Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. (1951). La genèse de l’idée de hasard chez l’enfant [The origin of the idea of danger in the child]. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. j. English translation of a book: Luria, A. R. (1969). The mind of a mnemonist (L. Solotaroff, Trans.). New York: Avon Books. (Original work published 1965) k. Books or articles, two or more by the same author in the same year: Lyons, J. (1981a). Language and linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lyons, J. (1981b). Language, meaning and context. London: Fontana. 3. Periodical articles a. One author: Abercrombie, D. (1968). Paralanguage. British Journal of Disorders of Communication, 3, 55-59. b. Two authors: Lipinsky, E. & Bender, R. (1980). Critical voices on the economy. Survey, 25, 38-42. c. More than two authors: Guiora, A. Z., Paluszny, M., Beit-Hallahmi, B., Catford, J. C., Cooley, R. E. & Dull, C. Y. (1975). Language and person: Studies in language behaviour. Language Learning, 25, 43-61. d. Review of a book: Carmody, T. P. (1982). A new look at medicine from a social perspective [Review of the book Social contexts of health, illness and patient care]. Contemporary Psychology, 27, 208-209. e. Review of a book, no title: Maley, A. (1994). [Review of the book Critical language awareness]. Applied Linguistics, 15, 348-350. f. Magazine article: Gardner, H. (1981, December). Do babies sing a universal song? Psychology Today, 70-76.

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g. Newspaper article: James, R. (1991, December 15). Obesity affects economic social status. The Guardian, p. 18 h. Newspaper/Magazine article, no author: Acid attack â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;scarred girl for lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. (1986, October 21). The Guardian, p. 4. (In the essay use a short form of the title for citation: ("Acid Attack." 1986)) i. Newspaper article, letter to the editor: Hain, P. (1986, October 21). The police protection that women want [Letter to the editor]. The Guardian, p. 4. j. Journal article, in press: Johns, A. M. (in press) Written argumenation for real audiences. TESOL

Quarterly. 4. Selections from edited collections a. One author: Chomsky, N. (1973). Linguistic theory. In J. W. Oller & J. C. Richards (Eds.), Focus on the learner (pp. 29-35). Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House. b. Two authors: Stern, H. H. & Weinrib, A. (1978). Foreign languages for younger children: Trends and assessment. In V. Kinsella (Ed.), Language teaching and linguistics: Surveys (pp. 152-172). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 5. CD ROMs etc a. Newspaper or magazine on CD-ROM: Gardner, H. (1981, December). Do babies sing a universal song? Psychology Today [CD-ROM], pp. 70-76. b. Abstract on CD-ROM: Meyer, A. S. & Bock, K. (1992). The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon: Blocking or partial activation? [CD-ROM]. Memory Cognition, 20, 715726. Abstract from: SilverPlatter File: PsycLIT Item: 80-16351

129 c. Article from CD-ROM Encyclopedia: Crime. (1996). In Microsoft Encarta 1996 Encyclopedia [CD-ROM]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. d. Dictionary on CD-ROM:

Oxford English dictionary computer file: On compact disc (2nd ed.) [CDROM]. (1992). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 6. Documents obtained from the Internet All references begin with the same information that would be provided for a printed source (or as much of that information as possible). The WWW information is then placed at the end of the reference in the same way as publishing information is given for books. It is important to give the date of retrieval because documents on the Web may change in content, move, or be removed from a site altogether. The object of this is the same as all referencing - to supply the information needed to allow a user to find a source. If you do not know the author or the date and it does not have a clear title, think carefully before using it. a. An article: Jacobson, J. W., Mulick, J. A. Schwartz, A. A. (1995). A history of facilitated communication: Science, pseudoscience, and antiscience: Science working group on facilitated communication. American Psychologist, 50, 750-765. Retrieved January 25, 1996, from http://www.apa.org/journals/jacobson.html b. A newspaper article: Sleek, S. (1996, January). Psychologists build a culture of peace. APA Monitor, pp. 1, 33 [Newspaper, selected stories on-line]. Retrieved January 25, 1996, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/peacea.html c. WWW Document: Li, X. & Crane, N. (1996, May 20). Bibliographic formats for citing electronic information. Retrieved March 10, 1997, from http://www.uvm.edu/~xli/reference/estyles.html d. WWW Document - corporate author: World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). (1995, May 15). About the World Wide Web. Retrieved December 30, 1996, from http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/

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e. WWW Document - corporate author: American Psychological Association (1996). How to cite information from the world wide web. Retrieved March 17, 1997, from http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html f. WWW Document - no author:

A field guide to sources on, about and on the Internet: Citation formats. (1995, Dec 18). Retrieved February 7th, http://www.cc.emory.edu/WHSCL/citation.formats.html g. WWW Document - no author, no date: WWW user survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August http://www.wast.ac.uk/usersurveys/survey2000-10/

1996,

2005,

from

h. An abstract: Rosenthal, R. (1995). State of New Jersey v. Margaret Kelly Michaels: An overview [Abstract]. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 1, 247â&#x20AC;&#x201C;271. Retrieved January 25, 1996, from http://www.apa.org/journals/ab1.html 7. Others a. Government report: National Institute of Mental Health. (1982). Television and behaviour: Ten years of scientific progress and implications for the eighties (DHHS Publication No. ADM82-1195). Washington DC: US Government Printing Office. b. Publication with no date given: Malachi, Z. (Ed.). (n.d.) Proceedings of the International Conference on Literary and Linguistic Copmputing. Tel Aviv: Faculty of Humanities, Tel Aviv University. c. Unpublished dissertation or thesis: Devins, G. M. (1981). Helplessness, depression, and mood in end-stage renal disease. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, McGill University, Montreal. d. Unpublished conference paper: Howarth, P. (1995, March). Phraseological standards in EAP. Paper presented at the meeting of the British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes, Nottingham.

131 e. Film or videotape: Maas, J. B. (Producer), and Gluck, D. H. (Director). (1979). Deeper into hypnosis [Film]. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

7.2 Citing Sources One of the most important aspects of academic writing is making use of the ideas of other people. This is important as you need to show that you have understood the materials that you have studied and that you can use their ideas and findings in your own way. In fact, this is an essential skill for every student. Spack (1988, p. 42) has pointed out that the most important skill a student can engage in is "the complex activity to write from other texts", which is "a major part of their academic experience." For this reason, any academic text you read or write will contain the voices of other writers as well as your own. In your writing, however, the main voice should be your own and it should be clear what your point of view is in relation to the topic or essay question. The object of academic writing is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject, for you to present ideas you have learned in your own way. The emphasis should be on working with other people’s ideas, rather than reproducing their words. If your view is not clear, you will be told you have not answered the question or something similar. It is essential therefore that it must always be clear whose voice is speaking. There are two main ways in which you can show your view (Tadros, 1993): negatively

•

lack of mention of any other writer

positively

• •

first person pronouns ("I") comments and evaluations ("two major drawbacks", "of no great merit", " as X insightfully states", )

It will always be assumed that the words or ideas are your own if you do not say otherwise. When the words or ideas you are using are taken from another writer, you must make this clear. If you do not do this and

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use another person's words or ideas as if they were your own, this is Plagiarism and plagiarism is regarded as a very serious offence. The ideas and people that you refer to need to be made explicit by a system of citation. The object of this is to supply the information needed to allow a user to find a source. You need to acknowledge the source of an idea unless it is common knowledge in your subject area. It is difficult sometimes to know whether something is common knowledge in your subject or needs acknowledging. In general, if your lecturer, in lectures or handouts, do not acknowledge the source you can assume that it is common knowledge within your subject. The object of academic writing is therefore for you to present your ideas in your own way. To help you do this, however, you will need to use the ideas of other people and when you do this, you need to say where the words and ideas are from. There are several reasons for this (See Thompson, 1994, pp. 178-187 for more information). 1. You need to show that you are aware of the major areas of thought in your specific subject. This allows you to show how your contribution fits in, by correcting previous research, filling gaps, adding support or extending current research or thinking. 2. You need to support the points you are making by referring to other people's work. This will strengthen your argument. The main way to do this is to cite authors that agree with the points you are making. You can, however, cite authors who do not agree with your points, as long as you explain why they are wrong. Do not make a statement that will cause your reader to ask, "Who says?" 3. If you are a student, you need to show that you have read and understood specific texts. You need to show that you have read around the subject, not just confined your reading to one textbook or lecture notes. 4. You must not use another person's words or ideas as your own so you need to say where they are from. You usually do this by reporting the works of others in your own words. You can either paraphrase if you want to keep the length the same,

133 summarise if you want to make the text shorter or synthesise if you need to use information from several sources. Do not forget, though, that the central line of argument, the main voice, should be your own. This means that you will need to comment on or evaluate any other works that you use. If you do not do this, you will be accused of being too descriptive, of not being critical or analytical enough, or of not producing a clear argument. There are two ways in which you can refer to, or cite, another person's work: a) by reporting or b) by direct quotation. a) Reporting This simply means reporting the other writer's ideas into your own words. You can either paraphrase if you want to keep the length the same or summarise if you want to make the text shorter. There are two main ways (Swales, 1990, p. 148) of showing that you have used another writer's ideas:

integral According to Peters (1983) evidence from first language acquisition indicates that lexical phrases are learnt first as unanalysed lexical chunks. Evidence from first language acquisition indicating that lexical phrases are learnt first as unanalysed lexical chunks was given by Peters (1983). OR non-integral Evidence from first language acquisition (Peters, 1983) indicates that lexical phrases are learnt first as unanalysed lexical chunks. Lexical phrases are learnt first as unanalysed lexical chunks (Peters, 1983). depending on whether or not the name of the cited author occurs in the citing sentence or in parenthesis. If you want to refer to a particular part of the source:

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According to Peters (1983, p. 56) evidence from first language acquisition indicates that lexical phrases are learnt first as unanalysed lexical chunks. (At end of essay) References Peters, A (1983). The CHAPTERs of language acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. b) Direct Quotation Occasionally you may want to quote another author's words exactly. For example: Hillocks (1982) similarly reviews dozens of research findings. He writes, "The available research suggests that teaching by written comment on compositions is generally ineffective" (p. 267). (At end of essay) References Hillocks, G. (1982). The interaction of instruction, teacher comment, and revision in teaching the composing process. Research in the Teaching of English, 16, 261-278. If you do so, keep the quotation as brief as possible and quote only when it is necessary. You must always have a good reason for using a quote - and feeling unable to paraphrase or summarise is never a good reason. The idea of an essay is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject; you present ideas you have learned in your own way. The emphasis should be on working with other peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ideas, not reproducing their words. Your paper should be a synthesis of information from sources, expressed in your own words, not a collection of quotations. Any quote you use should not do your job for you, but should add something to the point you are making. The quote should support your point, by quoting evidence or giving examples or illustrating, or add the weight of an authority. It should not repeat information or disagree with your point.

135 Reasons for using quotations: 1. quote if you use another person's words: you must not use another person's words as your own; 2. you need to support your points, quoting is one way to do this; 3. quote if the language used in the quotation says what you want to say particularly well.

Reasons for not using quotations: 1. do not quote if the information is well-known in your subject area; 2. do not use a quotation that disagrees with your argument unless you can prove it is wrong; 3. do not quote if you cannot understand the meaning of the original source; 4. do not quote if you are not able to paraphrase the original; 5. do not use quotations to make your points for you; use them to support your points. If you decide to use a quotation, you must be very careful to make it clear that the words or ideas that you are using are taken from another writer. This can be done in several ways, either integral or non-integral: Widdowson (1979, p. 5) states that "there is a good deal of argument in favour of extending the concept of competence to cover the ability to use language to communicative effect." According to Widdowson (1979),"there is a good deal of argument in favour of extending the concept of competence to cover the ability to use language to communicative effect" (p. 5). According to Widdowson, "there is a good deal of argument in favour of extending the concept of competence to cover the ability to use language to communicative effect" (1979, p. 5). According to one researcher, "there is a good deal of argument in favour of extending the concept of competence to cover the ability to use language to communicative effect" (Widdowson, 1979, p. 5).

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(In all cases at end of essay) References Widdowson, H. G. (1979). Explorations in applied linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. When you are using a direct quotation of a single phrase or sentence, quotation marks should be used around the words, which must be quoted exactly as they are in the original. However, note the following: 1. You may wish to omit some of the author’s original words that are not relevant to your writing. In this case, use three dots (...) to indicate where you have omitted words. If you omit any of the author’s original words, make sure you do not change the meaning. He stated, "The ‘placebo effect,’ ... disappeared when behaviours were studied in this manner" (Smith, 1982, p. 276), but he did not clarify which behaviours were studied. 2. If you need to insert material (additions or explanations) into a quotation, use brackets, ([...]). Smith (1982) found that "the placebo effect, which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when [his own and others’] behaviours were studied in this manner" (p. 276). 3. If the material quoted already contains a quotation, use single quotation marks for the original quotation (‘...’). He stated,"The ‘placebo effect,’ ... disappeared when behaviours were studied in this manner" (Smith, 1982, p. 276), but he did not clarify which behaviours were studied. 4. If the direct quotation is long - more than two or three lines, it should be indented as a separate paragraph with no quotation marks. According to Smith (1982, p. 276): The "placebo effect," which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when behaviours were studied in this manner. Furthermore, the behaviours were never exhibited again, even when real drugs were administered. Earlier studies were clearly premature in attributing the results to the placebo effect.

137 Secondary sources In all cases, if you have not actually read the work you are referring to, you should give the reference for the secondary source - what you have read. In the text, you should then use the following method: According to Jones (as cited in Smith, 1982, p. 276), the .... (At end of essay) References Smith. G. (1982). The placebo effect. Psychology Today, 18, 273-278.

7.3 Language Reporting - Paraphrasing and Summarising Reporting uses paraphrase and summary to acknowledge another author's ideas. You can extract and summarise important points, while at the same time making it clear from whom and where you have got the ideas you are discussing and what your point of view is. Compare, for example: Brown (1983, p. 231) claims that a far more effective approach is ... Brown (1983, p. 231) points out that a far more effective approach is ... A far more effective approach is ... (Brown, 1983, p. 231) The first one is Brown's opinion with no indication about your opinion. The second one is Brown's opinion, which you agree with, and the third is your opinion, which is supported by Brown Here are some more expressions you can use to refer to someone's work that you are going to paraphrase: If you agree with what the writer says. The work of X indicates that ... The work of X reveals that ... The work of X shows that ... 137

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Turning to X, one finds that ... Reference to X reveals that ... In a study of Y, X found that ... As X points out, ... As X perceptively states, ... As X has indicated ... A study by X shows that ... X has drawn attention to the fact that ... X correctly argues that ... X rightly points out that ... X makes clear that ... If you disagree with what the writer says. X claims that ... X states erroneously that ... The work of X asserts that ... X feels that ... However, Y does not support X's argument that ... If you do not want to give your opinion about what the writer says. According to X... It is the view of X that ... The opinion of X is that ...

139 In an article by X, ... Research by X suggests that ... X has expressed a similar view. X reports that ... X notes that ... X states that ... X observes that ... X concludes that ... X argues that ... X found that ... X discovered that ... Quoting Sometimes you may want to quote an author's words exactly, not paraphrase them. If you decide to quote directly from a text, you will need an expression to introduce it and quotation marks will need to be used: As X said/says, "... ..." As X stated/states, "... ..." As X wrote/writes, "... ..." As X commented/comments, "... ..." As X observed/observes, "... ..." As X pointed/points out, "... ..." To quote from X, "... ..."

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It was X who said that "... ..." This example is given by X: "... ..." According to X, "... ..." X claims that, "... ..." X found that, "... ..." The opinion of X is that, "... ..." Concluding After quoting evidence you reach a conclusion: The evidence seems to indicate that... It must therefore be recognised that... The indications are therefore that... It is clear therefore that ... Thus it could be concluded that... The evidence seems to be strong that... On this basis it may be inferred that... Given this evidence, it can be seen that...

141 CHAPTER 8 PUNCTUATION

8.1 What is Punctuation? A punctuation mark is a sign or symbol which is used in a text to bring out the meanings of the words in the text. In this section, we shall look at twelve different punctuation marks. Each punctuation mark has its own special way of bringing out the meanings of words. They are: full stop, question mark, exclamation mark, comma, semi colon, colon, dash/ hyphen, brackets, inverted commas, single inverted commas, apostrophe, capital letters. . full stop ? question mark ! exclamation mark , comma ; semi colon : colon -, ¯ dash/ hyphen ( ) brackets “ “ inverted commas ‘ ‘ single inverted commas ‘ apostrophe ABC capital letters

8.2 Bringing Out Meaning Punctuation is an essential feature of writing. Every effort is made to bring out meaning in writing because the writer cannot help the readers if the meaning is not clear to them. If the deader does not understand a sentence, he cannot ask the writer to make the meaning clearer. This is different from speech. When people speak they can do many things to make the meaning of their words clear. They can make their voice go higher or lower, they can speak softly or loudly. They can pause (stop) for a short while. They can vary their facial expressions. A person who is listening can ask a question and can keep asking questions until he or she is satisfied with the answer.

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8.3 Punctuation in Contexts a) The sentence and the full stop The full stop is the most important punctuation mark. It shows the end of the sentence. The English language also uses capital letters at the beginning of sentences. For example: The first schools in what is now British Columbia were established by the Hudsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bay Company in about 1853 on Vancouver Island. The present public school system originated with the Public School Act of 1872. Education is free and compulsory for children ages 7 to 15. Schools are funded by the provincial government and local property taxes. The provinceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 75 school districts are administered by locally elected boards. b) The comma The comma is the most important punctuation mark after the full stop. Its main use is for separating parts of sentences. Commas function in five main ways: 1. Before or after adverbial clauses and groups. 2. Before various connectives to join two independent clauses. 3. To separate some non-defining phrases from the rest of the sentence. 4. To separate words, groups and clauses in a series. 5. To separate adjectives that separately modify the same noun. 1. Before or after adverbial clauses and phrases For example: Recently, the number of service enterprises in wealthier freemarket economies has grown rapidly. Subsequently, the aircraft underwent numerous design changes before it was incorporated into the Type 4 jet aircraft.

143 Although it might seem highly unlikely, there are considerable similarities between the male and female body. Similar feelings influenced middle-class shareholders and directors, too.When the activity of our kidneys is considered, a bed-time drink does not waken us by filling our bladders during the night. Some businesses only seek to earn enough to cover their operating costs, however.Because stocks are generally negotiable, stockholders have the right to assign or transfer their shares to another individual. If we work at night and sleep during the daytime, we have difficulty in adjusting our habits. The patient's perception of his environment and his response to it is likely to be grossly reduced, since he might be unconscious or paralysed, for example. 2. Before various connectives to join two independent clauses (and, but, or, so nor, for yet) For example: What we require is a National Emergency Government, but no two men I meet can agree how this can be formed. There was no Canadian Consulate in Paris at that time, so we had to go to the American Consulate for ours. It was clearly not an all-party government, yet it was something more than a mere Conservative front. These experiments led to theories about how development was controlled in terms of cell and tissue properties, but it was very difficult to link these theories with gene action.

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3. To separate certain phrases from the rest of the sentence For example: Day-to-day television, in its regularity and its availability, seems regulated by repetition and modulated by acceptable difference. The chairman, getting to his feet, began to describe his plans. The opposition parties, however, were unwilling to accept any programme of economies which did not involve a cut in the standard rate of benefit. A nap after lunch, on the other hand, will help you to feel less tired on the evening. Some of the top clubs, who had never liked the system, were worried about the growing tendency of the very best professionals to leave the country to play in Italy and elsewhere. 4. To separate words, phrases and clauses in a series For example: Many U.S. firms attempt to tap emerging markets by pursuing business in China, India, Latin America, and Russia and other Eastern European countries.

The industrial power generator, electronics, and appliance manufacturer Westinghouse Electric Corporation purchased media production company CBS Inc. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries manufactures a large variety of industrial products and machinery, including ships, steel products, power plants, transportation systems, printing presses, aircraft, guided missiles, torpedoes, and air-conditioning and refrigeration systems.

145 5. To separate adjectives that separately modify the same noun. For example: Critics praise the novel's unaffected, unadorned style. It was conceived of by all those who participated in it as a temporary, emergency government. He walked with long, slow, steady, deliberate strides.

Common mistakes A comma cannot separate subject from predicate. The following sentences are not possible: *A man of his great abilities, would always be successful. *The number of service enterprises in wealthier free-market economies, has grown rapidly. *Only occupants of the deep oceans or the darkest recesses of caves, will escape such rhythmic influences. A comma cannot be used to join grammatically separate sentences. The following sentences are not possible: *London is a very cosmopolitan city, there are people from many culture living there. *Learning a new language is like learning to swim, it takes a lot of practice. *Students in Higher Education face many problems, for example, they have to cope with a new culture.

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c) The apostrophe The apostrophe has two main functions in English, but only one in academic writing. It is used mainly to show possession or relationship. It is also used in informal writing to show contraction or letters left out. Possession or relationship The apostrophe precedes the 's' in singular words and plurals that do not end in 's'. It follows the 's' in plurals that end in 's'. The apostrophe is not used with the possessive pronouns 'hers', 'yours', 'theirs' and 'its'. For example:

Modern estimates of Englandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total population vary between 1 and 3 million. The annual per capita consumption of sugar, between the Queen's accession and 1860, rose to 54 lb. in 1870-99 and 85 lb. in 1900-10. Newly married, neatly permed and wearing the very latest in expensive Western wedding garb, they head for the groom's sleek sports car under a hail of rice. In contrast to the all-inclusiveness of other countries' socialised medical services, 40m Americans have no coverage at all. The intention of this new alliance is to make the fight against the administration's policy on cryptography a populist issue and to derail potentially threatening legislation. The third and main reason is the process of extracting fibre from the plant's stem. The weather's unpredictability makes this risky - farmers can easily lose their whole crop.

Common mistakes An apostrophe cannot be used to make plurals. The following are not possible:

147 Sale CD’s, Record’s, Tape’s Today In SUT

d) Quotation marks In academic writing, quotation marks are used to show that you are quoting directly from another author's work. The quotation marks should enclose the actual words of the author and all bibliographical information must be given. For example: Hillocks (1986) similarly reviews dozens of research findings. He writes, " The available research suggests that teaching by written comment on compositions is generally ineffective" (p. 167). Hatch (1978, p. 104) wonders whether a more accurate portrayal might be that the learner " learns how to do conversation, how to interact verbally and out of this interaction syntactic structures are developed" . Note the punctuation before the quotation marks: When a reporting verb is used to introduce the quotation, a comma is used. He stated, " The ‘placebo effect,’ ... disappeared when behaviours were studied in this manner" (Smith, 1982, p. 276), but he did not clarify which behaviours were studied. When the quotation is integrated into the structure of your sentence, no punctuation is used. Richterich and Chancerel (1980, p. 5) maintain that " assessment should be an integral part of the learning material" .

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When the quotation is independent of the structure of the main sentence, a colon is used. Miele (1993, p. 276) found the following: " The placebo effect ... disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner" . e) Colon Colons are used to add extra information after a clause. This can be divided into three main categories. Lists A colon can introduce a list. We need three kinds of support: economic, moral and political. The Labour government found itself under pressure from three directions: from the left wing, from the TUC, and from Sir Oswald Mosley and his supporters. Explanations A colon can be used before an explanation. We decided not to go on holiday: we had too little money. It was something very rarely seen in Britain, or in other democracies: an emergency government.

Quotations A colon is used before a quotation when the quotation is independent of the structure of the main sentence. Miele (1993, p. 276) found the following: " The placebo effect ... disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner." Note Do not use a colon directly after a verb or a preposition that introduces the list, explanation or quotation.

149 8.6 Semi-Colon Semi-Colons have two main uses in academic writing. To separate closely-related sentences A semi-colon can be used to separate two sentences which could be written as independent sentences but are very closely related in meaning. A thorough and detailed biography of Arthur Henderson is also badly needed; the recent short studies by F. M. Leventhal and Chris Wrigley add little in so far as the events of 1931 are concerned. Clearly, as the concentration of P rises, so will the proportion of enzyme molecules to which P is bound; hence the rate of conversion of S to A, and thence to P, will fall. In both cases a full stop would be acceptable. A comma would not. Complicated Lists A semi-colon can also be used to separate items in lists, especially if the items are long and complicated and already contain commas. Labour was the largest party with 288 MPs; the Conservatives, who had gained more votes than Labour in the 1929 general election, were, nevertheless, only the second largest party with, by 1931, 262 MPs; and the Liberals had fifty-nine MPs. Latin literature continued to be copied by Christian aristocrats; classical learning survived in the teaching available, now in episcopal households rather than public schools; Roman art continued to adorn the walls of churches and the sides of sarcophagi. f) Capital letters Capital letters have two main uses in English: they are used at the beginning of sentences and for proper names.

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At the beginning of a sentence If football was a business, it was a very peculiar one. Clubs did not compete with one another to attract larger crowds by reducing their prices. Nor did they make any serious efforts to derive income from a huge fixed asset, which was used for only a few hours a week. Proper names Personal names: Arya, Dhirawit, John, Ms Smith, Dr Brown, Mr Gates, Elizabeth, Titles: Mr, Ms, Dr, Colonel, Professor, President, Prime Minister, Judge Geographical names: Argentinian, Europe, China, Mount Everest, Lake Michigan Skye, Borneo, London, Bangkok, the River Thames, the Pacific Ocean, the Panama Canal, Baker Street, Cambridge Road, Raffles Hotel, St George's Hall Company/Organisation names: Shell, Woolworths, Microsoft, Boots, World Trade Organisation, World Health Organisation, Federal Trade Commission, British Broadcasting Corporation University/School names: Suranaree University of Technology, Harvard University, Oxford University, Cambridege University Religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam Days, months, festivals - but not seasons: Monday, July, Christmas, summer, Magazines: Newsweek, New Scientist, Vogue, The Times, Languages: Chinese, German English, French Hindi, Thai, Tibetan, Russian Nationalities: American, Chinese, English, French, Indian Japanese, Spanish, Thai

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BIODATA Dr. Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn Institute of Social Technology Suranaree University of Technology Nakhon Ratchasima 30000 Thailand dhirawit99@yahoo.com www.twitter.com/LiveDhirawit Dr. Dhirawit Pinyonatthagarn, graduated with B.A. (Education) from Mahachula Buddhist University (Bangkok), in 1979(GPA 3.61 out of 4.00), M.A.(Linguistics), M.Phil.(Linguistics), and Ph.D. (Linguistics) from The University of Delhi, India, in 1981, 1983, and 1990, respectively, with the scholarship for Ph.D. from the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Government of India. He is currently Lecturer of School of English, Institute of Social Technology, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000,Thailand. He received his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Delhi, India. His research experience includes: 1) An Analysis Of Discourse Features That Affect Students'Communication Of Written Texts In English V Academic Writing Classes At SUT; 2) An Investigation Of Thai Students Co-Op Placement Experiences; 3) Internationalization Of Cooperative Education From Thai Students' Viewpoints. His research connections are: Jill Burton (University Of South Australia, Australia), Richard Coll (University Of Waikato, New Zealand) Teun Van Dijk (University Of Barcelona, Spain), and Karen

163 Carrier (Northern Illinois University, USA). He has had teaching and supervising experience of both undergraduate and graduate levels. He was Visiting Fellow of National University of Australia (1995), University Of London (1999), University of South Australia (2000), and Visiting Professor of Northern Illinois University (2003). He now serves on the Editorial Board of Asia Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education(http://www.apjce.org), based in New Zealand, and as English Language Advisor to Global Think's E-Learning International Consulting Corporation (Thailand), Advisor to Chairman of the Commission on Religions, Arts, and Culture, House of Representatives, Advisor to Chairman of The Chamber of Commerce in Nakhon Ratchasima.He has been a frequent presenter and attendant of various international conferences and seminars, in and outside Thailand. In the past, he worked at several places in different positions, for examples: The US Library of Congress (Cataloger),The Nation (Rewriter), The Imperial Hotel(Assistant Secretary to the Chairman Akorn Hoontrakul), Thammasat University(Instructor), Chulalongkorn University(IUP Coordinator), Prince of Songkhla University(Instructor). He has attended a number of national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops, as both participant and presenter. In 1995, he was invited as Visiting Fellow at Thai Studies Center, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. In 1999, he visited Goldsmiths College, University of London, and in the same year, he presented a paper and chaired a session in the UNESCO-UNISPAR International Conference on University-Industry Cooperation, held in Lodz, Poland. He was also a member of the Editorial Board for Senzor Journal, University of Kosic, Slovak Republic. In 2002, he was invited as a Visiting Professor at Northern Illinois University. While in USA, he visited MIT, Harvard University, and Wat Thai Dhammaram in Chicago. At Suranaree University of Technology, his current office in Nakhon Ratchasima, he has had some administrative experience: Acting Chair of the English School, Deputy Director of the Center for International Affairs. He is now back to his teaching job and research and just recently has been appointed as Chief of the Translation and Interpretation Unit, Technopolis, Suranaree University of Technology. On the other side of his educational activities, Dr. Dhirawit has been a member of two major educational reform groups: National Education Commission (Secretary-General, Dr. Rung Kaewdang) and Thai Education in the Globalization Age Project(Chairman, Professor Dr. Sippanonda Ketutat). He was the Chairman and a member of Wat Sakaew Elementary School (Nakhon Ratchsima) Board of Trustee.

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On the business side of his activities, he has written a few books about English usage and conversations, they are on sales at major bookstores in Thailand, especially at Chulalongkorn University Bookstore in Bangkok. He sometimes writes articles and stories for Thai newspapers, including Korat Post (an English newspaper owned and edited by Frank Anderson). He has been invited to teach English at Vongchavalitkul University(Korat), Seagate (Korat), and the Federation of Industry(Korat), Sima Thani Hotel(Korat), to name a few. He was an invited simultaneous English and Thai interpreter for the seminar organized by The Chamber of Commerce of Nakhon Ratchasima; and speech writer and interpreter for Mr. Yothin Methachanan, The Governor of Nakhon Ratchasima.

On the political front, he was appointed by Dr. Bhokin Palakul, then Minister to the Prime Minister Office, member of the Committee on Regional Political Reform Campaign; he was also a candidate (Nakhon Ratchasima) for the Thailand's New Constitution Drafting Committee; he had been a member of the defunct Thai Rak Thai Party for 5 years, then he resigned to run for the 1996 Senatorial Election just before the 19 Sept 1996 Military Revolution. Later on, he became a Democrat Party member but resigned after two years. He has remained a political observer, researcher, and analyst up until now, apart from his teaching job at the university. In the future, he will devote more time to educational and political reforms in Thailand. Now, he works and lives happily in his native town, Nakhon Ratchasima, with his wife, Ploi, and three kids: Warin (Amy) Akrawit (Victor), and Akraporn(Fairy). His favorite mottos are: Hard work and big dreams, Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, and Tough times never last but tough people do.