Graduate DiplomaReading & Writing Session 16

Complex SentencesNoun phrasesReferencing

RESEARCH ON POSTGRADUATE WRITING

Torrance and Thomas (1994) describe some of the difficulties that social science postgraduates face in writing their theses. They note:

In addition to lack of appropriate writing skills, students may experience problems when they actually commence writing and become excessively worried by what they perceive to be the demands of the task facing them.... Some students may be hindered in their writing not so much by an inability to produce good quality text, but by excessive concern as to whether or not what they write is, in fact, in an acceptable style or sounds sufficiently academic. (Torrance and Thomas 1994: 106)

Torrance , Thomas and Robinson (1994) described three kinds of postgraduate writer. In their research these authors distinguished between:• planners - students who preferred to have their ideas clear before starting to write, and who produced few drafts;• revisers - students who preferred to start writing first before taking final decisions about content; and• mixed - students who planned but were then forced to change their plans by repeated revising. Torrance et al. report that the ‘planners’ claimed to write more than the ‘revisers’ and the ‘mixed’ students. Both the ‘planners’ and the

‘revisers’ seemed happy with their writing styles, but members of the ‘mixed’ group reported more difficulties and anxieties about writing than did the other two groups.

Other investigators have commented on similar differences between individual writers. In the study I mentioned earlier Alan Braithwaite and I distinguished between ‘thinkers’ and ‘doers’, and somewhat earlier Lowenthal and Watson (1977: 782) distinguished between ‘serialists’ who proceeded one step at a time and ‘holists’ who thought first about the big picture. It is important to note, however, that people’s styles of writing vary according to the task in hand. And furthermore, these simple labels do not do justice to the variety of writing styles that exist (see Eklundh 1994).

Finally we may note that although most postgraduates now write with word-processors and these have considerable advantages, they can cause additional difficulties. In a recent survey Reese (unpublished) found that, although all of the twenty-six students in his sample currently produced their work on a word-processor, none of them thought that they had got sufficient training and feedback in information technology skills. Reese (1996) also noted that the regulations that most students are currently required to follow in order to submit their theses were woefully out of date in terms of information technology.

RESEARCH ON POSTGRADUATE WRITING

Torrance and Thomas (1994) describe some of the difficulties that social science postgraduates face in writing their theses. They note:

In addition to lack of appropriate writing skills, students may experience problems when they actually commence writing and become excessively worried by what they perceive to be the demands of the task facing them.... Some students may be hindered in their writing not so much by an inability to produce good quality text, but by excessive concern as to whether or not what they write is, in fact, in an acceptable style or sounds sufficiently academic. (Torrance and Thomas 1994: 106)

Torrance , Thomas and Robinson (1994) described three kinds of postgraduate writer. In their research these authors distinguished between:• planners - students who preferred to have their ideas clear before starting to write, and who produced few drafts;• revisers - students who preferred to start writing first before taking final decisions about content; and• mixed - students who planned but were then forced to change their plans by repeated revising. Torrance et al. report that the ‘planners’ claimed to write more than the ‘revisers’ and the ‘mixed’ students. Both the ‘planners’ and the

‘revisers’ seemed happy with their writing styles, but members of the ‘mixed’ group reported more difficulties and anxieties about writing than did the other two groups.

Other investigators have commented on similar differences between individual writers. In the study I mentioned earlier Alan Braithwaite and I distinguished between ‘thinkers’ and ‘doers’, and somewhat earlier Lowenthal and Watson (1977: 782) distinguished between ‘serialists’ who proceeded one step at a time and ‘holists’ who thought first about the big picture. It is important to note, however, that people’s styles of writing vary according to the task in hand. And furthermore, these simple labels do not do justice to the variety of writing styles that exist (see Eklundh 1994).

Finally we may note that although most postgraduates now write with word-processors and these have considerable advantages, they can cause additional difficulties. In a recent survey Reese (unpublished) found that, although all of the twenty-six students in his sample currently produced their work on a word-processor, none of them thought that they had got sufficient training and feedback in information technology skills. Reese (1996) also noted that the regulations that most students are currently required to follow in order to submit their theses were woefully out of date in terms of information technology.

RESEARCH ON POSTGRADUATE WRITING

Torrance and Thomas (1994) describe some of the difficulties that social science postgraduates face in writing their theses. They note:

In addition to lack of appropriate writing skills, students may experience problems when they actually commence writing and become excessively worried by what they perceive to be the demands of the task facing them.... Some students may be hindered in their writing not so much by an inability to produce good quality text, but by excessive concern as to whether or not what they write is, in fact, in an acceptable style or sounds sufficiently academic. (Torrance and Thomas 1994: 106)

Torrance , Thomas and Robinson (1994) described three kinds of postgraduate writer. In their research these authors distinguished between:• planners - students who preferred to have their ideas clear before starting to write, and who produced few drafts;• revisers - students who preferred to start writing first before taking final decisions about content; and• mixed - students who planned but were then forced to change their plans by repeated revising. Torrance et al. report that the ‘planners’ claimed to write more than the ‘revisers’ and the ‘mixed’ students. Both the ‘planners’ and the

‘revisers’ seemed happy with their writing styles, but members of the ‘mixed’ group reported more difficulties and anxieties about writing than did the other two groups.

Other investigators have commented on similar differences between individual writers. In the study I mentioned earlier Alan Braithwaite and I distinguished between ‘thinkers’ and ‘doers’, and somewhat earlier Lowenthal and Watson (1977: 782) distinguished between ‘serialists’ who proceeded one step at a time and ‘holists’ who thought first about the big picture. It is important to note, however, that people’s styles of writing vary according to the task in hand. And furthermore, these simple labels do not do justice to the variety of writing styles that exist (see Eklundh 1994).

Finally we may note that although most postgraduates now write with word-processors and these have considerable advantages, they can cause additional difficulties. In a recent survey Reese (unpublished) found that, although all of the twenty-six students in his sample currently produced their work on a word-processor, none of them thought that they had got sufficient training and feedback in information technology skills. Reese (1996) also noted that the regulations that most students are currently required to follow in order to submit their theses were woefully out of date in terms of information technology.

RESEARCH ON POSTGRADUATE WRITING

Torrance and Thomas (1994) describe some of the difficulties that social science postgraduates face in writing their theses. They note:

In addition to lack of appropriate writing skills, students may experience problems when they actually commence writing and become excessively worried by what they perceive to be the demands of the task facing them.... Some students may be hindered in their writing not so much by an inability to produce good quality text, but by excessive concern as to whether or not what they write is, in fact, in an acceptable style or sounds sufficiently academic. (Torrance and Thomas 1994: 106)

Torrance , Thomas and Robinson (1994) described three kinds of postgraduate writer. In their research these authors distinguished between:• planners - students who preferred to have their ideas clear before starting to write, and who produced few drafts;• revisers - students who preferred to start writing first before taking final decisions about content; and• mixed - students who planned but were then forced to change their plans by repeated revising. Torrance et al. report that the ‘planners’ claimed to write more than the ‘revisers’ and the ‘mixed’ students. Both the ‘planners’ and the

‘revisers’ seemed happy with their writing styles, but members of the ‘mixed’ group reported more difficulties and anxieties about writing than did the other two groups.

Other investigators have commented on similar differences between individual writers. In the study I mentioned earlier Alan Braithwaite and I distinguished between ‘thinkers’ and ‘doers’, and somewhat earlier Lowenthal and Watson (1977: 782) distinguished between ‘serialists’ who proceeded one step at a time and ‘holists’ who thought first about the big picture. It is important to note, however, that people’s styles of writing vary according to the task in hand. And furthermore, these simple labels do not do justice to the variety of writing styles that exist (see Eklundh 1994).

Finally we may note that although most postgraduates now write with word-processors and these have considerable advantages, they can cause additional difficulties. In a recent survey Reese (unpublished) found that, although all of the twenty-six students in his sample currently produced their work on a word-processor, none of them thought that they had got sufficient training and feedback in information technology skills. Reese (1996) also noted that the regulations that most students are currently required to follow in order to submit their theses were woefully out of date in terms of information technology.