How to Write an Abstract for a Rearch Paper
WANG Yan
reality是什么意思School of International Studies
UIBE
Issues to address:
1What is an abstract?
2Functions of an abstract
3Structure of an abstract
4Principles of abstract writing
1. What is an abstract?
☐An abstract is a condend version of a longer piece of writing that highlights the major points covered, concily describes the purpo and scope of the writing,bnn
and reviews the writing's contents in
generationgapabbreviated form.
⏹It is a conci and clear summary of a
complete rearch paper.
⏹It tells the reader What you t out to
do, and Why you did it,How you did it, What you found (recommendations).
2. Functions of an abstract
☐An abstract is ud to communicate specific information from the article.☐It is aimed at introducing the subject to readers, who may then read the article to find out the author's results, conclusions, or recommendations.
2. Functions of an abstract
☐The practice of using key words in an abstract is vital becau of today's
electronic information retrieval systems.
⏹Titles and abstracts are filed electronically, and
key words are put in electronic storage.
⏹When people arch for information, they enter
key words related to the subject, and the
computer prints out the titles of all the articles
containing tho key words.
⏹An abstract must contain key words about what
is esntial in an article so that someone el
can retrieve information from it.
3. Structure of an abstract
☐The components of an abstract
①Background Information
②Subject Matter/Problem Statement鱼杆
③Purpo
④Method (and Data)
dlt⑤Results / Findings
⑥Conclusion / Implicationszigzag什么意思
The components of an abstract
①Background information
◆You may need to refer briefly to background to
provide a context.成人学位英语考试
②Statement of the problem (subject matter):
◆What problem(s) are you trying to solve?
◆What is the author’s focus in this rearch?
③Purpo of the rearch:
◆What is the reason/purpo for doing this rearch?
④Methods (approach and data):
◆What is the main method ud for the rearch?
What is the theoretical framework?
◆What is the subject scope? What data is analyzed?
⑤Results (Findings):
◆What did you find/invent/create?
⑥Conclusion (Implications):
◆What are the larger implications of your findings, esp.
for the problem/gap identified in steps ①& ②?
Exerci 1:
A Sample Abstract
(1) The dozens of studies on academic discour carried out over the past 20 years have mostly focud on written academic pro or on academic lectures. (2) Other registers that may be more important for students adjusting to university life, such as textbooks, have received surprisingly little attention, and spoken registers such as study groups or on-campus rvice encounters have been virtually ignored. (3) To explain more fully the nature of the tasks that incoming international students encounter, this article undertakes a comprehensive linguistic description of the range of spoken and written registers at U.S. universities. (4) Specifically, the article describes a multidimensional analysis of register variation in the TOEFL 2000 Spoken and Written Academic Language Corpus. (5) The analysis shows that spoken registers are fundamentally different from written ones in univers
ity contexts, regardless of purpo. (6) Some of the register characterizations are particularly surprising. (7) The findings of this rearch may provide insights and have significant implications for pedagogy and further rearch.
subject matter (1) The dozens of studies on academic discour
carried out over the past 20 years have mostly
focud on written academic pro or on
academic lectures.
problem statement (2) Other registers that may be more important for
students adjusting to university life, such as
iparttextbooks, have received surprisingly little
attention, and spoken registers such as study
groups or on-campus rvice encounters have
been virtually ignored.
background information
(3) To explain more fully the nature of the tasks that incoming international students encounter, this article undertakes a comprehensive linguistic description of the range of spoken and written registers at U.S. universities.
(4) Specifically, the article describes a multidimensional analysis of register variation in the TOEFL 2000 Spoken and Written Academic Language Corpus.
purpo
method data
(5) The analysis shows that spoken registers are fundamentally different from written ones in university contexts, regardless of purpo.
between(6) Some of the register characterizations are particularly surprising.
(7) The findings of this rearch may provide insights and have significant implications for pedagogy and further rearch.findings implications Subject:written in the third person Length:short, usually 10% or less of the length of the original piece Audience:understandable to a wide audience Language:technical language of the discipline or profession Verbs:passive voice Ten:the prent ten the past ten the prent perfect ten 4. Principles of abstract writing
4. Principles of abstract writing
☐Requirements for the abstract of a
BA thesis in UIBE
⏹Length: 200-300 words
⏹Key words: 3
⏹One page of Chine abstract and one
brainstormpage of English abstract
Language ud in an abstract Background:
(1) The dozens of studies on academic
discour carried out over the past 20
years have mostly focud on written
academic pro or on academic lectures. (2) Other registers that may be more
important for students adjusting to
university life, such as textbooks,
have received surprisingly little attention, and spoken registers such as study
groups or on-campus rvice encounters
have been virtually ignored.
Language ud in an abstract Background:
☐Most studies in this field have addresd …
☐In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in …
☐… has received much attention in the field of …
<:
As a newly developed interdisciplinary field of study, rearch on the development of
pragmatic competence is increasingly
attracting extensive academic interest.
