Ольга Мельник - Грамматика для написания научных статей

Общеизвестно, что в современном глобализированном мире английский язык является своеобразной lingua franca науки, техники и частично образования. Особенно важную роль он играет в научной письменной коммуникации, о чем свидетельствует постоянный рост количества публикаций на английском языке не только в международных, но и в национальных изданиях. Работа с нормами и канонами современного англоязычного научного дискурса и умение представлять свои научные достижения на английском языке очень важны для тех ученых, кто хочет активно общаться со своими зарубежными коллегами и стать равноправными членами международных научно-образовательных сообществ.

Целью пособия "Грамматика для написания научных статей" является отработка основных явлений грамматики английского языки, характерных для научных текстов, а также выработка стратегии овладения научным письмом как видом комплексной деятельности, охватывающей социальные, когнитивные и собственно языковые аспекты.

Потенциальной аудиторией пособия прежде всего являются аспиранты и молодые ученые Южного федерального университета, хотя некоторые его разделы можно использовать в преподавании английского языка как практической дисциплины студентам старших курсов и магистерских программ. Работа с пособием требует достаточно высокой общей англоязычной компетенции, что примерно соответствует уровню знаний и навыков выпускников специализированных групп с углубленным изучением английского языка неязыковых факультетов. Пособие также можно использовать как справочный материал для ученых, стремящихся самостоятельно овладеть основами письменной англоязычной коммуникации. Итак, пособие ориентировано на довольно широкую аудиторию.

Теоретической основой пособия является концепция научного дискурса как социально коммуникативного явления и одновременно как типа текста с рядом сравнительно устойчивых композиционных и языковых признаков. Соответственно, в пособии рассмотрены языковые единицы, способствующие когезии и когерентности научного текста в целом, а не только их отдельные грамматические черты, а также объяснено влияние некоторых социокультурных факторов на особенности организации научного текста.

I. Grammar

Task 1. Find and correct the mistakes.

1. This failure was occurred for two reasons.

2. Intensity is a significant in stress production.

3. He indicated me that he had decided to always choose the second syllable.

4. I do not agree that conclusion.

5. This experiment focuses the role of pitch.

6. We would suggest to find a better connector piece.

7. After reviewing customer specifications, five main design concepts generated.

8. We talked Terry Larrow.

9. $1500 cost our prototype.

II. Sentence structure

Task 2. Each sentence in the following passage contains one word order error. Rewrite the passage, making corrections as necessary. More than one answer may be possible.

1. Frederick Douglass, an African-American who was born into slavery, for the abolition of slavery fought all his life.

2. He wrote every month articles in the newspaper he established.

3. He used again and again his editorials to try to get his point across.

4. He gave frequently lectures.

5. However, success he did not find immediately.

6. He had to urge constantly president Abraham Lincoln to allow men of his race to enlist in the army.

7. Was very' significant his work for the antislavery movement.

8. Not only he influenced the president, but he also changed the face of the nation. 9. Why there are no campaigners like him today?

III. Academic vocabulary

Task 3. Insert the omitted words.

1. English language 1. _____ is becoming a priority academic/professional requirement whether international higher education graduates choose to return to their home countries or whether they choose to stay in the United States," notes Joan Morley.

2. "English is today the 2. _____language in science and technology, medicine and health care fields, commerce, business and industry, and much more.

3. It should come as no shock to find that three-quarters of the world's information stored in computer banks is in English."

4. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, a billion persons in the world are able to speak English, with more speaking it as a foreign language than as their mother tongue.

5. But the language that non-native speakers actually speak can be thought of as many different Englishes.

6. Some speak only about computers, or oil, or commodities trading or swine; they, 3._____ English into forms useful for specific purposes, and those who speak these forms are usually unable to 4. _____ comfortably about matters outside their field of interest.

7. Phrases like "get the hang of it," "to go along with," and "getting at," for example, mystify many non-native speakers.

8. 5._____in English can even be deadly.

9. An air traffic controller in Madagascar radioed, "Clipper 1736 report clear of runway."

10. The pilot 6._____ that as clearance for takeoff, rather than an order to report that he had cleared the runway, collided with an incoming airliner, and 600 people died.

11. Such linguistic mistakes have7. _____ at least 3,000 lives, an expert told the Journal.

12. Alan Firth, a British scholar who specializes in foreign 8. _____ of spoken English, told the Journal: "What happens to this language is no longer our 9._____.

13. English is no longer our possession. 14. It's not a monolith. 15. It's in an incredible state of flux."

IV. Punctuation

Task 4. Supply the text with punctuation.

the university of edinburgh unlike other scottish universities is composed of colleges there are three of them sciences and engineering humanities and social sciences and medicine and veterinary medicine each college covers both undergraduate and graduate programmes of study although students are generally admitted to one college only they may have the opportunity to study subjects of another undergraduate programmess generally last three years or four for honours there is an extensive variety of postgraduate programmes of study including a 9 month diploma a 12 month masters and doctoral research programmes lasting at least 36 months

V. Formal Style

Task 5. Choose a verb from the list that reduces the informality of each sentence. Note that you may need to add tense to the verb from the list.

assist raise reduce establish create increase investigate determine eliminate fluctuate

1. Expert Systems can help outthe user in the diagnosis of problems.

2. This program was set upto improve access to medical care.

3. Research expenditures have gone up tonearly $3,500 million.

4. The use of optical character reader (OCRs) should cut downthe number of problems with the U.S. mail service.

5. Researchers have found outthat this drug has serious side effects.

6. Building a nuclear power plant will not get rid ofthe energy problem completely.

7. Researchers have been looking intothis problem for 15 years now.

8. This issue was brought upduring the investigation.

9. Engineers can come up withbetter designs using CAD.

10. The emission levels have been going up and down.

VI. Audience

Task 6. Consider the following statements. For whom were they written? What are the differences between the two?

1a. Thermal system is a very broad field involving many separate fields of engineering.

1b. Thermal system is an interdisciplinary field which involves the traditional disciplines of thermodynamics, mass transfer, and chemical kinetics.

Now consider the following. For whom were these written? What are the differences between the two?

2a. Inflation is an abnormal increase in available currency and credit, resulting in a rise in price levels.

2b. An abnormal increase in available currency and credit, resulting in a rise in price levels is called inflation.

Now write a one-sentence definition of a term in your field for two different audiences: one will be students in a totally unrelated field, while the other consists of fellow-students in your own program. Discuss in class how your definitions differ.

VII. Structure

Task 7. Match the question with a title.

VIII. Spelling

Task 8. Find the mistakes.

I have a spelling checker,

It came with my PC.

It plainly marks four my revue

Mistakes I cannot sea.

I’ve run this poem threw it,

I’m sure your please to no.

It’s letter perfect in it’s weigh,

My checker tolled me sew.

(Source unknown)

Task 9. Consider eleven pieces of advice from the list below. Place a check mark (V) before the five most important of them (in your opinion) for a writer of academic texts.

1. Use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

2. Write in an objective, neutral manner.

3. Accurately use the terminology of your discipline.