English Grammar

1

• English Grammar Editing Workshop

How to improve grammar and editing for
assignments. ? ? ? ? ??
2
Welcome to the workshop

• Speaker Jonny Wells
• ELSSA centre

3
ELSSA Centre

• Website www.elssa.uts.edu.au
• Phone [phone]
• Support students with academic skill building
• Provide workshops in faculties throughout the
  semester
• Provide 1 to 1 appointments though our wesbite

4
Please make notes today

• Presentation is not available will be on the
  ELSSA website in the near future.
• Please do not copy word for word there isnt
  time.
• Use good note taking skills
• Use bullet points to get the main issues
• Please feel free to ask questions as we go along!

5
Todays program

• Discussion / Ice breaker
• Use of grammar for academic purposes
• Developing unity and cohesion in your writing
• Effective editing techniques
• 8 point editing checklist its importance
• Resources to help improve grammar
• Questions to ask your lecturer before hand-in!

6
Discussion Questions

• Ask your partner these questions
• How do you rate your academic writing skills and
  abilities?
• How confident are you about your knowledge of
  grammar, punctuation and spelling in your written
  work?
• How do you currently edit or proof your work?
• How many times do you draft your assignment work?
• Do you know how to improve your levels of
  grammar, editing and academic writing knowledge?

7
Question

• Why is careful editing and proofing of your
  grammar, spelling, punctuation and style, so
  important in your assignment work?

8
ANSWER

• First impressions COUNT!

You are university students, and as such, you are
expected to have above average knowledge and
usage of English grammar, vocabulary, spelling,
punctuation and academic register/style.
9
What are some of the most common mistakes
university students make?

• Native speakers
• Poor overall structure
• Poor academic style too casual
• Informal use of vocabulary
• Writing in the 1st person I
• Non-native speakers (the above plus)
• Subject verb agreement They has a lecture.
• Use of articles (a, an, the)
• Preposition errors (in, for, at)
• Countable/uncountable / sing/pl nouns (evidences)
• Verb tense
• punctuation

10
How to improve your knowledge of grammar.

• Like anything you need to practice!
• Also.
• Read what you want to write.
• Write often in the style required.
• Use grammar books to self-teach.
• Get friends/peers to check/tutor

11
Excellent Grammar Aids

• English grammar in Use Raymond Murphy /
  Intermediate /Advanced
• English Basics Mark Cholij
• Academic Writing HandbookStephen Bailey
• Google!
• Good Bookshops have a browse and find one you
  like

12
Academic Grammar

• Increased use of the Passive Tense more formal,
  less emotional and more authoritative.
• Practice
• A. The lecturer presented the SWOT analysis
  marketing theory.
• B. I will analyse the key factors related to
  monetary policy in Australia.
• C. The Government claims that renewable energy
  targets must be significantly increased within
  the next 10 years.

13
Developing Unity Cohesion

• Effective unity and coherence are essential for
  good academic writing and essay writing!
• A well written essay should be
• well organised into introduction, body
  paragraphs/sections and have a strong conclusion.
• Each paragraph should be well supported with
  relevant logical arguments.
• The body paragraphs should feature a topic
  sentence, supporting sentences and have a
  concluding sentence and the paragraphs should
  flow logically together from start to finish.
• All the parts of the paragraphs and essay should
  work together to develop unity and coherence.

14
Developing Unity Cohesion

• ?Developing Unity
• Having paragraphs all related to the main topic
  sentence ensures unity in the writing and it
  also ensures that the points and information
  within the paragraph are relevant, connected and
  in keeping with the topic of the essay.

15
Developing Cohesion

• ? Cohesive Devices
• Cohesive devices are words and phrases that
  connect sentences and paragraphs together, to
  create a smooth flow of ideas. Cohesive devices
  are words such as transitions, pronoun references
  and the repetition of key supporting ideas.

16
Effective Use of Transitions

• There are many transition words and phrases in
  English that are used in academic writing to
  connect sentences together or relate ideas to one
  another. Here is a table of some of the common
  examples.

Source Oshima Hogue, 2007
17
Effective Pronoun Usage

• In academic writing, to develop unity in
  paragraph writing, it is essential that the
  pronoun use is consistent and relates to the same
  idea, person, thing being described.
• Example Climate Change is affecting most
  nations on the planet. It is affecting the way
  people are living on Planet Earth as it is not
  able to adapt quickly enough to the changes in
  the climate system nor are the human beings
  living on it. They simply cannot escape the
  affects of climate change if governments take no
  action. (source climatechange.org)
• Q What do the underlined pronouns refer to in
  the above text?

18
Importance of Unity and Cohesion

• Unity and cohesion are vital elements in your
  writing. They ensure that your writing is
  logical, well connected, relevant to your topic
  sentences. Furthermore they tie into your thesis
  statement and make for clearer, more concise and
  smoother reading.

19
Features of Academic writing

• Q What are some of the features of academic
  register/ writing?

20
Features of Academic Writing

• It has few personal pronouns, such as I, we
  or they.
• It is highly structured has a very formal
  style.
• It is impersonal and non emotional -usually fact
  based.
• Its grammar makes greater use of the passive
  tense.
• It is often research based and not opinion based
  writing. It uses references and quotes to show
  this.
• It features no jargon or slang words.
• It has no colloquialisms. e.g. Im gonna go
  now.
• No grammatical contractions e.g. cant, wont,
  doesnt etc.
• It is a formal style of communication most often
  used by professionals and academics and
  university students!

21
Editing and Proofing

• Q How many drafts of your assignment do you do
  before you hand-in your work?
• Q What are the minimum number of drafts you
  should do, before hand-in?

22
Editing checklist

• Q What questions do you need to ask yourself
  when proofing and editing your work?

23
Editing checklist - 8 things

• Have I answered the question fully?
• Are my arguments supported correctly?
• Is my writing clear and concise and meets the
  marking criteria?
• Is my writing logical and well structured?
• Have I plagiarised anywhere, intentionally/uninten
  tionally?
• Have I remained within the set word limit?
• Have I written in academic style /proper
  register?
• Have I spell checked and grammar checked
  thoroughly?

24
Editing Proofing Skills

• Q What techniques can help you edit your work
  better?

25
Good Editing techniques

• Leave text for 24 hours!
• Always print a hard copy
• Dont edit on screen
• Read from bottom to top
• Read it out loud to yourself
• Check topic sentences and concluding sentences in
  your paragraphs
• Ask your peers/friends to read it
• Spell check but dont rely on it
• Check punctuation, spelling and grammar you can
  be sure your lecturer will!!!

26
Edit X 3 rule

• Proof and edit for clarity of meaning.
• Proof and edit for style and grammar.
• Proof and edit for presentation/typos.

27
Editing

• When proofing and editing, look out for the
  common mistakes that native and non-native
  university students make that were outlined
  before.
• Also- get someone to read your work for you.

28
Good writers dowhat?

• Start early and finish early.
• Read around the subject thoroughly.
• Plan well (often over a day or two).
• Structure essays logically and check the marking
  criteria.
• Reference so that they support their argument
  fully.
• Have high levels of accuracy in their work.
• Pay close attention to correct grammar,
  punctuation and spelling.
• Hand their work in on time within deadlines.
• Ask for help if they need it.

29
Things to ask your lecturer

• Are there any things that you dont want students
  to do in their assignment?
• How many references are wanted?
• Is there anything you particularly require in
  assignments / indenting/ double spacing-1.5
  spacing/single spaced?
• What should I do if I cant hand my essay in
  personally?
• Can I submit my assignment electronically?
• Can I submit my assignment by faculty
  mailbox/pigeonhole?
• Dont be afraid to ask questions of your lecturer
  
• if you dont ask.you dont get!

30
Further resources / help

• Internet
• Books / Bookshop Co-Op/Abbeys/Bridge
• Lecturer/ Faculty staff
• ELSSA centre
• Your Classmates/Friends/Peers

31
Essay Writing Cycle

• Start early!
• Analyse the question fully.
• Plan effectively and take your time doing it .
• (your essay will write itself!).
• Write / edit / re-draft.
• Write / edit / re-draft for a 2nd time.
• Write / edit / re-draft for a 3rd time minimum.
• Make sure edit and proof fully
• If non-native speaker get a native speaker to
  read your assignment for you before hand-in.
• Do your best work.
• Hand-in on time

32
Do you have any questions about todays workshop?
33

• Good luck with your writing, editing and grammar
  in your studies!

Thanks for your time.