Høgskolen i Oslo

Using English for Academic Purposes: Linguistic and Rhetorical Strategies for the Effective Communication of Biomedical Research

Daniel Lees Fryer

Presented at the Centre for Cancer Biomedicine, Norwegian Radium Hospital, University of Oslo, 21 April 2009

Introduction“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture” – Elvis

Costello (White 1983) Introducing English for Academic Purposes (EAP):

teaching and research The process of writing scientific English: rhetorical

and linguistic strategies (tips for developing writing skills - applicable also to spoken academic English)

Summary, concluding remarks References and recommended reading Contact details

EAP “to help non-native speakers of English

master the functions and linguistic conventions of texts that they need to read and write in their disciplines and professions” (Hyon 1996: 698)

Genre-based teaching and research EAP courses at Oslo University College

– Academic writing– Written and spoken communication skills

(academic and administrative)

Process of academic writingAudience

Purpose

Organization

Flow

Style

Rhetorical/contextual

Linguistic/textual

Audience and Purpose Who am I (we) writing for?

– Defining one’s audience, reader expectations, background/shared knowledge

– Journal analysis What am I (we) writing for?

– Rhetorical purpose: instruction, recounting, reporting, discussing, explanation, persuasion

– What does/should the reader already know?

Organization Text presented in a structured,

conventionalized format (e.g. IMRD [see ICMJE 2008])

Types of general text organization: problem-solution, comparison-contrast, cause-effect, classification (taxonomy), general-specific

Ordering of information within IMRD sections, e.g. Introduction (CARS model) + handout:1) Establishing a research territory2) Establishing a niche3) Occupying the niche

Organization example (see handout)As the prevalence of obesity increases in the United States,1,2 concern about the association of body weight with excess mortality has also increased. However, estimating deaths attributable to overweight and obesity in the US population raises complex methodologic issues.3,4 In several previous studies,5-7 relative risk estimates from epidemiologic cohort studies were combined with estimates of the prevalence of overweight and obesity from national surveys to calculate the fraction of deaths attributable to overweight and obesity. It is important to adjust relative risk estimates for confounding factors such as age and smoking that are associated with obesity and mortality.8,9 When relative risks are adjusted for confounding factors, the use of properly adjusted estimators of attributable risk is necessary to avoid bias.8,9

Previous estimates5,7 of deaths associated with obesity in the United States used adjusted relative risks in an attributable fraction formula appropriate only for unadjusted relative risks and thus only partially adjusted for confounding factors, did not account for variation by age in the relation of body weight to mortality, and did not include measures of uncertainty in the form of SEs or confidence intervals (CIs). Previous estimates used data from a variety of studies to estimate relative risks, but the studies had some limitations. Four of 6 included only older data (2 studies ended follow-up in the 1970s and 2 in the 1980s), 3 had only self-reported weight and height, 3 had data only from small geographic areas, and 1 study included only women. Only 1 data set, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) I, was nationally representative.

The objective of this study was to estimate deaths associated with underweight, overweight, and obesity in the United States in 2000 by using all available mortality data from the NHANES and to offer an assessment of the uncertainty of those estimates. (Flegal et al. 2005: 1861)

1) Establishing research territory

2) Establishing a niche

3) Occupying the niche

Flow Using cohesive ties to connect ideas

into coherent whole (more explicit in academic English than in many other registers)– Linking words and phrases to

demonstrate addition, adversativity, cause and effect, clarification, contrast, illustration, intensification (see handout)

– Determiners such as this + summary word/phrase

As the prevalence of obesity increases in the United States,1,2 concern about the association of body weight with excess mortality has also increased. However, estimating deaths attributable to overweight and obesity in the US population raises complex methodologic issues.3,4 (contrastive) (Flegal et al. 2005)

Although these are potential confounding influences, they might also be in the causal pathway. For example, watching television could affect fitness and obesity by displacing time which would otherwise be spent on more active pursuits. (contrastive, illustrative) (Hancox et al. 2004)

The presence of Eps15b rather than Eps15 in complex with Hrs was a surprising finding, and we therefore wanted to verify the existence of this complex using a different approach. (cause-effect) (Roxrud et al. 2008)

Flow examples

Style Explicit, journal specific

– orthographic (spelling, dictionaries, abbreviations, style manual) or technical (text/figure/table layout)

Implicit, discourse specific– avoidance of contractions; limited use of

personal pronouns, questions, and “run-on” expressions; formal negative forms; adverb placement; single (often Latinate) verbs vs. phrasal or prepositional verbs; modality and hedging (caution, uncertainty)

Style examplesAuthor presence: scientific discourse as impersonal/objective, traditional “avoidance” of pronouns I and we, and extensive use of passive voice. However, use of first-person pronoun and active voice encouraged by most journals, and author presence expressed in many subtle ways:– The differences between NHANES I and the later

surveys suggests that the association of obesity with total mortality may have decreased over time, perhaps because of improvements in public health... (Flegal et al. 2005) (hedging, modality)

Style examples: academic formalityVerbs, single vs. prep./phrasal, e.g. is made

up of / comprises, brought on by / caused- This study is made up of several parts / This study comprises several parts

Appropriate negative forms, e.g. not... any vs. no - The analysis did not yield any new results / The analysis yielded no new results

Placing adverbs within the verb, e.g. This model was developed by Krugman (1979) originally / This model was originally developed by Krugman (1979)

Summary, concluding remarks Very brief intro to process of academic writing

Intended audience, purpose, organization, flow, style

Note techniques and strategies used by expert members of discourse community. Practice

Research and knowledge - social practice. Seek help and advice from those around you

KISS (keep it short and simple) Ordering (what comes first vs. what is written

first) Native/non-native speakers (NNS): native

speaker a good writer does not make. (Note: more than 50% of total medical research output is attributed to NNS)

References and recommended reading*Flegal KM, Graubard BI, Williamson DF, et al. Excess deaths associated with

underweight, overweight, and obesity. JAMA 2005;293:1861-7.

Hancox RJ, Milne BJ, Poulton R. Association between child and adolescent television viewing and adult health: a longitudinal birth cohort study. Lancet 2004;364:257-62.

Hyon S. (1996). Genre in three traditions: implications for ESL. TESOL Quarterly 1996;30:693-722.

* ICMJE. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: writing and editing for biomedical publication. Updated October 2008. Philadelphia, PA: ICMJE; 2008. p. 11-5. Available at URL: www.icmje.org

* Murray R. Writing for academic journals. Maidenhead: Open University Press; 2005.

Roxrud I, Raiborg C, Pedersen NM, et al. An endosomally localized isoform of Eps15 interacts with Hrs to mediate degradation of epidermal growth factor receptor. Journal of Cell Biology 2008;180:1205-18.

* Swales JM, Feak CB. Academic writing for graduate students: essential tasks and skills. 2nd ed. Ann Arbor, MA: University of Michigan Press; 2004.

White T. A man out of time beats the clock. Interview with Elvis Costello. Musician Magazine 1983;60:52.

Contact detailsDaniel Lees FryerOffice for Recruitment and Development Dept. of Organization and Human

Resources Oslo University College, PO Box 4, St.

Olavs plass NO-0130 Oslo, Norway

Tel.: +47 2245 2411; E-mail: dlfryer@gmail.com