Cause and Effect self-studying

This is a quite revision of cause and effect words used in academic writing.I just wanted to have them separated for further revision during my essay.

Most common: because, due to, because of, therefore and consequently, caused by, cause of, reason for, attributed to, on account of, owing to.

Verbs: motivate, facilitate, influence, provoke, trigger, contribute, stimulate, induce, derive.

Nouns: all the the nouns of the verbs above and chain reaction, effect, impact, origen, source, outcome, precedent, reason.

Other Cause and Effect Phrases:

Causes:
There are several reasons for this. Firstly, ...
Other causes played a part. Firstly,
A key factor was... ('key' means 'important')
This is due to ...
This is a reflection of...
Effects:
As a result, ...
This meant that...
One consequence of this is that ...

Conclusion

Globalisation in terms of mobility is as old as a life itself(1). Continuous movements of humans as a result of migration are likely increasing the spread of some genetic and infection diseases around the world revealing that gene flow has not been significative beneficial to humans(2). Although, genetic changes can only be seen from generations to generations in long periods of time, further researches should be done by nations and education in order to understand our own genetic origin and prevent possibly propagation of genetic disorder and infectious diseases. (3)

On the other hand; organisms with shorter life’s cycle will be more likely exposed to genetic changes due to gene flow(2). Whether or not, gene flow in local populations might lead to high diversity and what is more to increase fitness skills as a natural process of evolution; it might also lead to extinction and the creation of new subpopulations with new set of genetic markets(2). In that case, migration as a consequence of globalisation should requiere the develop of mechanisms that mitigate the most negative effect in some animals species. However, will it be part of speciation, extinction or evolution process? Should be natural selection intervened by conservation programmes?. Perhaps, migration concerns might be likely only suitable for multicultural, social and technological matters in a macro level, rather that in micro levels?(3)Further answer are expected to come.

...what would Darwin say??

(1): link between paragraphs

(2): refers back the thesis statement for humans populations and other animals groups

(3): personal considerations

Friday 16th self-study

UEFAP, Academic writing.

As we are going through the writing of our essay, there are important clues to follow as they are: summarising and paraphrasing. Summarising is when we expose the main ideas, concepts, facts and statements in our own words, it is much shorter length than the original text and paraphrase. And paraphrasing is when we write published ideas in our words too but in a long version and avoiding plagiarism. Usually it has the same lenght than the original text.Some idea to paraphrase are: changing the words, order of ideas, structure of the paragraph and using synonyms.

As exercise, I have summarised this article: Internet generation leave parents behind. The Guardian.Saturday 17 January 2009.

According to researches, children are spending a lot of time of their lives in front of the TV, computers and electronic games causing barriers within parents. Reports based on an annual survey show that habits as reading declined 84% in 2006, 80% in 2007 and 74% in 2008. From the age of 7, children are more likely to socialise and connect to the world signed into blogs(30%)or having a profile on a social networking site(62%). Cinema plans have been proposed to review children's media habits and to enhance the communication with parents and older generations.

Deakin University about Harvard referencing.

Why is Harvard an author-date system?: because it is customary in the physical, natural and social sciences as well as in the humanities. Explaining some of the more common applications of the author–date system. It is based on the Style manual for authors, editors and printers.

What is the difference between an in-text citation and a list of references?: in_text citation references are are provided in the body of the paper and in a reference list it is at the end giving full bibliographic details for the references cited in the paper.

What are two different ways to use in-text citation?: the family name of the author or authors and date can be in parentheses...discipline involves (Hay, Bochner & Dungey 1997).Or the family name of the author or authors can be included in your sentence...Hay, Bochner and Dungey (1997) explain...

What should you do if the book has more than 3 authors?: family names of the authors appear in the order in which they are on the title page of the work.

What information should be included for a book in the list of references?: family names and initials of authors, year, title and subtitle in italics, publisher and city of publication.

Note down one or two more relevant facts which you learnt about referencing.

1. Works that do not indicate the name of an author are cited in text by title (and year of publication, plus page number, if appropriate). ej: English for academic purposes (1987) provides authentic texts for students to practise study skills for higher education.

2. Work in an edited collection, as articles, reports, essays or chapters in edited collections containing contributions by a number of writers. In this instance, acknowledge of the author whose work is in-text citation and indicate the collection in which the work appears. It should be set out as follows: Chang, YY & Swales, JM 1991, ‘Informal elements in academic writing: threats and opportunities for advanced non–native speakers’, in C Candlin & K Hyland (eds), Writing: texts, processes and practices, Longman, London, pp. 145–64.

FIRST DRAFT CHECK LIST

This first draft check list was not bad as I expected. However, I have to point out that outlines in the main body were absolutely misplaced. I just misunderstood to include them in the text.plot!!

In general, the introduction describes quite well the main idea of the essay and shows very briefly the relation between globalisation and gene flow (where I am making focus on) through mobility concerns. Al so a thesis statement is implicit and clear.

Infinitive and Gerunds self-studying

GREAT!!!..I really wanted to practice it more. I have done all the exercises at all levels, but still I need to improve a bit more in gerunds. I have done my own verb's compilation according to my revision; there are a lot more, although. Here it is, it might help:

with to or ing (different meaning):

• forget
• go on
• like
• regret
• remember
• stop
• try

with to or ing (similar meaning):

• being
• continue
• intend
• propose
• start

normally followed with to:

• allow
• attempt
• deserve
• expect
• fail
• manage
• neglect
• threaten
• intent
• refuse
• order
• want

normally without to:

• had better
• would rather
• would sooner
• why not
• modal verbs as;can; might, will, could, should

normally followed by ing:

• avoid
• admit
• detest
• imagine
• keep on
• remember
• involve
• mind
• miss
• put off
• risk
• regret
• feel
• stand
• worth
• admit
• consider
• deny
• finish

normally followed by object and infinite without to:

• make
• let
• help

normally followed by object and infinitive with to:

• beg
• dare
• encourage
• invite
• persuade
• urge
• expect

WEBcorp

...thanks for this useful web side, but honestly I have not found myself familiar with it; so far.

LANGUAGE SELF-ASSESSMENT FROM OPEN UNIVERSITY.self studying

Reading and understanding science. I have got all the answer right and found it easy to do.However, I had to use the dictionary for the word "Foul";example: foul-smelling.

Identifying points and expressing ideas. It was not a problem at all. I could understood the text quite well without use of dictionary and was available to pick out the main ideas in order to make notes. I understood the task and here is a summary of the article in my own words: (ongoing)

Express concepts and ideas in your own words. It has not been as easy as the previous tasks. Convey my ideas in my own words takes time and I consider that there is a long way to go on it. What factors can be seen to affect health? (about 175 words;ongoing)

Organise your writing so that the meaning of your argument or description is clear. Sometimes I have difficulties connecting different sentences and paragraphs. I can see that in English they just flow on each other using an appropiate linking word.There is always "signspots" at the beginner of each paragraph "the topic", with all other sentences leading on from this. I could understand and fill in the gaps in the text quickly and correctly. Here is a list of useful linking words taken from the text and own search.

• Add points which are similar, or form points to make an argument: For one thing, In addition, Also, What is more, Moreover,




• Or contrasts points in an argument: In other words, In fact,




• Other useful linking words and phrases are: Rather, But, Furthermore, Yet, Whereas, However, On the other hand, In conclusion,As a result, The consequence of, Therefore, For this reason, Thus, Nevertheless, Firstly, Another similarity is that, Consequently.
• This link shows useful information about Review of Cause and Effect Linking Words http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/570/pulp/hemp5.htm

Using appropriate grammar, punctuation and spelling. I was able to identify grammar errors easily and could rewrite the sentences correctly with no difficulty. I managed to correct most of the punctuation but had problems with three or four.

Having completed the language self-assesment from the Open University gives me a a fairly clear idea about the areas of language I feel more confident and those that need to be improved further.It is clear that I have a wide understanding of scientific text and I do not have problems dealing with them. Vocabulary and taking notes were the less dificultest tasks. However, expressing clear concepts and ideas in my own words is my biggest challenge in academic writing. Grammar, puntuation, verbs, linking words were quite OK, although. I consider that a further revision on prepositions, gerunds and hedging should be done.