Q Manual4 Using Your Language Skills Effectively4.1 IntroductionAlthough you are business or commerce students, it is essential that you learn how to effectively use your language skills - reading, writing, listening and speaking. If you do not learn how to effectively use these skills, your progress may be hindered. Listening and reading are two significant communication channels through which you receive information. Simply sitting in a class does not mean you will learn what is being taught. You can hear everything, but you may not be listening. Listening is an active process which requires effort and from which you can be easily distracted. The following activities can assist you to improve your listening skills:
Studying any subject usually entails a great deal of reading. No lecturer can possibly give you all the necessary information and knowledge you require to complete successfully a unit of study. Your lecturers will expect you to read widely and extensively, beyond the set texts and recommended readings. Due to the amount of reading required, you need to be familiar with different types of reading skills. Reading technical material, as distinct from novels, requires that you quickly absorb a large number of ideas or the major points of articles and books, not the details. There are a number of techniques which you can use to improve your reading skills. However, ultimately it is your purpose for reading which will influence your reading rate and how you will deal with the text (e.g. take notes, underline key words etc.). Below is a description of four different reading approaches that can be adopted according to your purpose and the reading material. Reading for an overview of any material entails reading quite rapidly, reading the introductory and concluding paragraphs, noting the main themes or points and forming an overall impression of what you read. You are not concerned with specific details or a complete understanding of the material. You read for an overview when, for example, you want to:
4.3.2 Reading for specific information To locate (or re-locate) a specific item or section in a book or article, read through most of the material quite rapidly, using such features as the table of contents, the index, chapter headings and sub-headings to guide you to the item or section you want. Then read the section thoroughly, possibly taking notes or underlining. Use this technique if, for example, your purpose is to:
4.3.3 Reading for central ideas To familiarise yourself with central ideas in any material, first take an overview of it. Then read so that the structure of the material and its central theme, thesis or argument becomes clear enough for you to write it down or explain it to someone else. Read for the central message or ideas when, for example, you want to:
4.3.4 Reading for an in-depth critical understanding When reading to understand an entire book or article as thoroughly as possible, first preview or overview the material. Then read the material in detail, section by section, criticising or evaluating it. As you read identify the structure to understand its main thesis, the information supporting this, its theoretical perspective and the underlying assumptions. Reading in this depth does not mean laboriously reading every page word by word. It does involve making sure that you read actively, understanding each section so that you can reproduce clearly what you have read with the material set aside and so that you can see how each section fits into the whole. Seeing clearly how material is organised or structured can help you to understand its content. (Refer to Appendix 2 to alert yourself to the words and phrases that are signposts to the structure.) Take notes or underline important information to help reinforce your understanding. Read for an in-depth critical understanding if, for example, your purpose is to:
Source: Marshall, L. and Rowland, F. (1993), A Guide to Learning Independently, Longman Cheshire, Malaysia, pp. 116-117. The following guidelines provide you with a number of questions to consider while you are actively reading.
Content
Structure
Style and format
Source: Marshall, L. and Rowland, F. (1993), A Guide to Learning Independently, Longman Cheshire, Malaysia, p. 120. The skill of writing is an important one that you need to master in your studies. As tertiary students, when writing, you are required to go beyond merely describing a topic. Instead you must be a critical thinker. This involves analysing a topic, putting forward your argument and providing concrete support for it. In addition, you must synthesise your supporting points, thus, illustrating where authors' views or points agree or interact. Keep in mind, that when presenting your arguments you must also acknowledge evidence that is contrary to your own. By doing so you illustrate your awareness of other points of view. Having discussed the importance of critical thinking in writing, we must now look at the language used to express your ideas. Poor language, grammar, expression often lead to failure because your written message is not understood by your tutor. 4.4.2 Language considerations in academic writing The language used to express your ideas in academic writing must suit your reader/audience. At university the main reader (audience) is your tutor who will assess your assignment. The second reader is a general audience who is only vaguely familiar with the assignment topic and subject matter in question. It is essential to consider your audience throughout the writing process as this will have an impact on the type of language (formal or informal) that you use to express your ideas, as well as the number of definitions that you may or may not have to provide. Following are some general style hints which you may find useful when writing academic assignments. However, if you have problems because English is not your first language, the Language and Learning Services of the Teaching Services Unit, can assist you. The average length of sentences is between 15 and 20 words. However, this rule should be applied with great flexibility. If you want a sentence to have more emphasis, make it short and to the point. In written work, a paragraph is the basic unit of organisation in which a group of related sentences fully develops one idea (Oshima and Hogue, 1978). A well structured paragraph contains three parts:
4.4.5 Writing objectively: using third person pronouns To present an assignment in an objective manner, it is general practice to use the third person. Using this writing style, you become an observer who uses pronouns such as, `they' and `it'. The use of these pronouns, rather than `I' and `we' (first person), is more impersonal, signifying a more objective appraisal. The following examples illustrate the differences between writing in the first and third person. These examples could just as easily be rephrased to eliminate both `I' and `it'. This may be done to avoid the monotony of too many pronouns. Example one:
It was the purpose of this study to ...
It was found....
It is recommended.... The recommendation is that... It is expected generally that you will prepare reports and other assignments using the third person. However, in certain instances, you may be encouraged to include personal evaluations. When this is the case, a personal evaluation is expected. However, unless otherwise advised by your tutor, the assignment should be written using the third person. When you are discussing someone's research, the tense of the first verb you use commits you for the rest of the discussion. For example, `Smith argues...' commits you to the present tense, and `Smith argued...' means you must use the past tense, for the remainder of your comments on Smith's work. This means that a following sentence should read, `This will cause...' in the first case and, `This would cause...' in the second. The use of past tense verbs
In writing an assignment, past tense verbs are used to explain all prior events. Since the study is completed, and is now being reported, all references to it are in past tense. For example, you would write the Introduction in the following manner: The findings section of the report is also written in past tense:
4.4.7 Slang and informal English Leave them out. This includes the common contractions you use when speaking, such as `can't, isn't, it's, won't, and lots'. Written English is not the same as spoken English and academic English is somewhat more formal than business English. When you are writing assignments it is important that your writing is clear, concise and unambiguous. Also, it is important that you address and answer your assignment topic as requested. You may write an excellent report or essay, but if it does not answer the question or fulfil the necessary requirements, you will get limited marks for it. Your lecturer/tutor must be able to read your assignment without wondering what it is all about, and what you are trying to say. If your reader (at university it is your lecturer or tutor) cannot understand the points you are trying to make, you will not get suitable credit for all your hard work. There are some steps that you can take to ensure that your writing is clear, and to give yourself the best chance of gaining good marks:
Source: Crosling, G. (1993), Course Materials, Monash University, Melbourne.
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