Summary of an Academic Article

In her article “Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing”, Tardy (2010) describes an assignment that aims at helping English as Second Language (ESL) students to develop their skills of academic writing by creating an article for Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.

Tardy (2010) declares that higher-education writing imposes on students the challenging requirements of academic discourse. A possible means of developing “academic literacy skills [is] through small-scale research projects” (p. 18), such as writing articles for Wikipedia, a web-based encyclopedia that can be modified by any user as long as the site’s guidelines are followed.

Tardy (2010) describes in detail the eight steps that would be necessary to compose a Wikipedia article and she explains the way in which each of them enhances students’ development of academic skills. The steps are the following: 1) examining Wikipedia to understand the website in depth, 2) selecting a topic and collecting information (researching), 3) organizing the compiled information and paraphrasing texts, 4) drafting the article, 5) revising the draft and sharing it with peers to receive feedback on it, 6) formatting full and in-text citations, 7) proofreading and incorporating hyperlinks, and 8) publishing.

Although Wikipedia has a rather “negative reputation in certain academic circles” (Tardy, 2010, p. 13) due to its high popularity and the fact that any reader can edit the articles published on the site, it provides

an excellent forum for students to begin confronting the challenges of academic writing: research, citation, generic conventions, and style. Acquainting students with Wikipedia […] has the additional benefit of raising their awareness about the credibility and reliability of information that they may locate as Wikipedia users. (Tardy, 2010, p. 13)

According to Tardy (2010), as Wikipedia demands that students report sources so as to avoid plagiarism, in the assignment process students learn to cite sources adequately. Moreover, the author emphasizes that, as Wikipedia articles are aimed at a global audience, ESL students can explore their personal interests and write about topics which are not dealt with in Wikipedia’s English edition. This allows them to draw on their cultural and personal resources, and to write from a well-informed position.

In conclusion, Tardy (2010) states that composing articles for Wikipedia does not only introduce ESL students to the varied skills of academic writing in a personalised and exploratory way, but also creates a high sense of satisfaction of seeing their articles published on a globally well-known forum.

References

Tardy, C. M. (2010). Writing for the world: Wikipedia as an introduction to Academic Writing. English Teaching Forum, 1, pp. 12-19, 27

Analysis of In-text Citations in an Academic Article

In the article entitled “Developing Voice by Composing Haiku: A Social-Expressivist Approach for teaching Haiku Writing in EFL Contexts” (Iida, 2010), basically two types of in-text citations can be observed: direct quotations and paraphrasing.

            Both types are constant throughout the article, and the author introduces them recurring to the signal phrase “according to”, which does not contribute to a vivid and rich academic style. On page 29, for example, the phrase is used three times in two paragraphs.

            When paraphrasing, Iida (2010) resorts to parenthetical quotations, which is correct according to the American Psychological Association (APA, 2010), and, in the case of direct quotations, the author includes the page number of the original source, which is also appropriate in this case. However, the comma between the authors’ names and the year of publication is missing in most in-text citations.

            What is more, the connector “and” is used instead of the ampersand in one citation on page 30, “However, haiku [...] express something deep and thoughtful (Blasko and Merski 1998) and reflect how the writer feels.” Notice the missing comma in this case as well.

            Iida cites “Suzuki et al. 2003” (p. 30), but in the reference section it can be read that the quotation belongs to five authors and not to six or more, which means that all the authors should have been mentioned the first time they were quoted.

            In conclusion, the author of the article seems to have followed some APA (2010) conventions but has omitted, deviated from or misinterpreted others.

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC.

Iida, A. (2010).  Developing Voice by Composing Haiku: A Social-Expressivist Approach for Teaching Haiku Writing in EFL Contexts. English Teaching Forum, Nbr. 1. DOI: EJ914886

Academic Summary

            This is an academic summary of an article entitled “Developing Voice by Composing Haiku: A Social-Expressivist Approach for teaching Haiku Writing in EFL Contexts” (Iida, 2010). In this article, the author emphasizes the benefits of working with haiku in EFL classes as a means of helping students to develop their English skills in real-life situations.

            Iida (2010) explains that traditional EFL schools focus their teaching on grammar and memorizing forms, but this leaves students “at a disadvantage when they [have] to use English in real-world situations” (p. 28). A better alternative is the social-expressivist approach, which fosters the creation of communicative contexts where students “learn to presume their voice” (p. 28); i.e., they discover their inner selves and learn to give voice to their minds. In this process of discovering their personal views and ideas, student interact in a social context “that presumes an audience —the teachers, classmates, and even the community at large” (p. 28).

            One of the tools to develop this internal voice is the haiku: a short poem of Japanese origin that consists of three lines with a syllable pattern of 5-7-5 (Iida, 2010). One of the benefits of using haiku is that, by writing them, students incorporate new words, write more fluently and, what is more, express their feelings.

            Before embarking on the task of writing haiku, it is advisable to read some examples to understand how to construct and interpret them. “It is helpful to read a poem and then perform a textual analysis in an effort to construct meaning” (Hanauer, 2004, as cited in Iida, 2010, p. 31).

            According to Iida (2010), composing a haiku involves following five steps, namely reviewing the concept of haiku, collecting material, writing the poem, sharing one’s production with peers for reader-writer interaction and, finally, publishing the haiku. In this sense, not only does haiku composition enhance reading and writing skills, but also speaking and listening skills by means of socialization, and introspection.

            An added benefit of sharing haiku with peers is the wide range of interpretations that can emerge. As Iida (2008) cites himself

It is much more significant for the writer to create haiku where interpretations of content can vary according to readers rather than compose a haiku that provides just one interpretation: a good haiku allows readers to have multiple interpretations (as cited in Iida, 2010, p. 30).

            In conclusion, haiku composition is a positive tool of the social-expressivist approach which not only enhances students’ development of the four basic learning skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) but also promotes socialization and the unveiling of feelings.

References

Iida, A. (2010).  Developing Voice by Composing Haiku: A Social-Expressivist Approach for Teaching Haiku Writing in EFL Contexts. English Teaching Forum, Nbr. 1. DOI: EJ914886

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María Eugenia