Understanding the Five ‘WS’

            UNDERSTANDING THE FIVE ‘WS’

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by  Catherine Dawson in A Practical Guide to Research Methods, How to Content, United  Kingdom, 2007, pp 4-7.

When you start to think about your research project, a useful way of remembering the important questions to ask is to think of the five ‘Ws’:



a. What?
b. Why?
c. Who?
d. Where?
e. When?
Once you have thought about these five ‘Ws’ you can move on to think about how you are going to collect your data.

a. What?
What is your research? This question needs to be answered as specifically as possible. One of the hardest parts in the early stages is to be able to define your project – so much research fails because the researcher has been unable to do this. A useful tip is to sum up, in one sentence only, your research. If you are unable to do this, the chances are your research topic is too broad, ill thought out or too obscure.

b. Why?
Why do you want to do the research? What is its purpose? Okay, you might have been told to do some research by your tutor or by your boss, but there should be another reason why you have chosen your particular subject. Reasons could include the following:
- You are interested in the topic.
- You have identified a gap in the literature.
- You want to obtain funding for a particular service or enterprise and you need to find out whether there is a demand for what you are proposing.Whatever your reason, think very carefully about why you are doing the research as this will affect your topic, the way you conduct the research and the way in which you report the results. You should consider the following points:
- If you’re conducting the research for a university dissertation or project, does your proposed research provide the opportunity to reach the required intelletual standard? Will your research generate enough material to write a dissertation of the required length? Will your research generate too much data that would be impossible to summarise into a report of the required length?
- If you’re conducting research for funding purposes, have you found out whether your proposed funding body requires the information to be presented in a specific format? If so, you need to plan your research in a way which will meet that format.

c. Who?
Who will be your participants? (In this book, people who take part in research will be called participants or respondents, rather than ‘subjects’, which is a term that I have never liked.) At this stage of the research process, you needn’t worry too much about exactly how many participants will take part in your research as this will be covered later. However, you should think about the type of people with whom you will need to get in touch and whether it will be possible for you to contact them. If you have to conduct your research within a particular time scale, there’s little point choosing a topic which would include people who are difficult or expensive to contact. Also, bear in mind that the internet now provides opportunities for contacting people cheaply, especially if you’re a student with free internet access.

d. Where?
Where are you going to conduct your research? Thinking about this question in geographical terms will help you to narrow down your research topic. Also, you need to think about the resources in terms of available budget and time. If you’re a student who will not receive travel expenses or any other out of pocket expenses, choose a location close to home, college or university. If you’re a member of a community group on a limited budget, only work in areas within walking distance which will cut down on travel expenses. Also, you need to think about the venue. If you’re going to conduct interviews or focus groups, where will you hold them? Is there a room at your institution which would be free of charge, or are you going to conduct them in participants’ own homes? Would it be safe for you to do so? Would you be comfortable doing so? If you’ve answered ‘no’ to either of these last two questions, maybe you need to think again about your research topic.

e. When?
When are you going to do your research? Thinking about this question will help you to sort out whether the research project you have proposed is possible within your time scale. It will also help you to think more about your participants, when you need to contact them and whether they will be available at that time. For example, if you want to go into schools and observe classroom practice, you wouldn’t choose to do this research during the summer holiday.

The 25 Writing Errors (2)

                              The 25 Writing Errors (2)

By Laurie Rozakis
In English Grammar for the Utterly Confused. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2003. PP. 77-93.

Image Source: www.impacthiringsolutions.com

11. Incorrect voice (active versus passive voice)
Passive voice: The meeting was attended by the executive.
Active voice: The executive attended the meeting.

English has two voices: active and passive. A verb is active when the subject performs the action. A verb is passive when its action is performed upon the subject. The active voice is clearer and more concise than the passive voice.Even though the active voice is stronger than the passive voice, you should use the passive voice in these two situations:
- To avoid placing blame (“A mistake was made” rather than “You made a mistake.”)
- To avoid identifying the doer of the action (“The letter was sent” rather than “Nicole sent the letter.”)

12. Fragments (incomplete sentences)
Fragment: If you want to be clearly understood.
Correct: Don’t write sentence fragments if you want to be clearly understood.
Every sentence must have three things:
- A subject: the “doer” of the action. The subject will be a noun or pronoun.
- A verb: what the subject does.
- A complete thought.
The fragment in this example is missing a subject and a verb. As a result, the group of
words does not express a complete thought.

13. Run-ons (two sentences run together)
Run-on: Daddy longlegs spiders are more poisonous than black widows, daddy longlegs spiders cannot bite humans because their jaws won’t open wide enough.
Correct: Daddy longlegs spiders are more poisonous than black widows, but daddy longlegs spiders cannot bite humans because their jaws won’t open wide enough.
or Daddy longlegs spiders are more poisonous than black widows; however, daddy longlegs cannot bite humans because their jaws won’t open wide enough.

14. Missing letters
Here are five words that are frequently misspelled because the speaker drops a letter or syllable.
- Accidentally: The word has five syllables; drop one and accidentally becomes accidently.
- Accompaniment: The second a and the only i are the problems with accompaniment.
To remember the i, you might want to use this mnemonic: there’s a lot of animal in
accompaniment.
- Acreage: The e presents the spelling problem because it is rarely stressed in speech.
That’s how people end up with acrage. It’s also common for writers to misplace the e,as in acerage.
- Anecdote: Letters get dropped when writers mispronounce anecdote as anedote. Then there’s
antidote—a legitimate word, but the wrong one in context.
- Asked: This word gets mangled as ast or even axed.
This results in such curious spellings as askd, askt, and axst.

15. Extra letters
Because of errors in pronunciation, spellers often insert an unnecessary vowel between two letters. Here are some of the most commonly misspelled words:
- Athlete: Often mispronounced as athalete, resulting in that unnecessary a.
- Disastrous: The word ends up with disaster stuck in there: disasterous. What extra letter do you see?
- Grievous: Another common speech slip results in grieveous or grievious. No extra e ori, please.
- Hindrance: This word falls prey to the same problem as disastrous: add hinder to hindrance
and you get hinderance. Too many syllables!
- Lightning: The bolt of electricity on a stormy night is often mispronounced and thus misspelled as lightening. Now, lightening is a legitimate word; it means that something is getting less dark. Say each letter to help you spell the word you want.

16. Transposed letters
Mispronunciation can also result in scrambled letters. Here are some words especially prone to switched
letters.
aesthetic allegiance analysis analyze anonymous
auxiliary bureaucrat diaphragm entrepreneur gasoline
gauge gorgeous irrelevant khaki lingerie
mileage psychology resuscitate rhyme rhythm

17. Incorrect plurals
Remember that plural nouns name more than one person, place, or thing. There are regular plurals and irregular ones. The regular plurals rarely result in spelling errors, but irregular plurals often cause trouble. Keep regular and irregular plurals straight and you’ll eliminate a bunch of spelling errors. Below are some spelling rules to help you form the correct plurals.

18. Errors in confusing word pairs (such as weather/whether)
Some words in English have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings,such as bay/bay
and beam/beam. We also have words with the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings, such as coarse/course or bridal/bridle. Distinguishing between these confusing words is crucial because it helps you write exactly what you mean.

19. Missing commas or extra commas
Incorrect: Avoid commas, that are not necessary.
Correct: Avoid commas that are not necessary.
Have you ever been advised to “add commas where you would take a breath”? Sometimes this advice works—but sometimes it doesn’t. It’s especially dangerous when you’ve gone over and over your writing. At that point, nothing looks correct. To avoid confusion and frustration, don’t wing it. Use these rules as you write to help you correctly punctuate your documents.

20. Missing or misused apostrophes
Incorrect: Save the apostrophe for it’s proper use and omit it where its’ not needed.
Correct: Save the apostrophe for its proper use and omit it where it’s not needed.

21. Misused exclamation marks
Incorrect: Of all U.S. presidents, none lived to be older than John Adams, who died at the age of 91!
Correct: Of all U.S. presidents, none lived to be older than John Adams, who died at the age of 91.

22. Misused semicolons
Incorrect: Use the semicolon correctly always use it where it is appropriate; and never where it is not suitable

23. Proper nouns not capitalized.
Incorrect: louisa adams, Wife of john quincy Adams, was the first (and only) foreignborn First Lady.
Correct: Louisa Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams, was the first (and only) foreignborn first lady.

24. Errors in titles
Incorrect: The Wind In The Willows
Correct: The Wind in the Willows
Capitalize the major words in titles of books, plays, movies, newspapers, and magazines.
- Do not capitalize the articles: a, an, the.
- Do not capitalize prepositions: at, by, for, of, in, up, on, so, on, to, etc.
- Do not capitalize conjunctions: and, as, but, if, or, nor.

25. Missing words
Incorrect: Proofread carefully to see if you have any words out.
Correct: Proofread carefully to see if you have left any words out.
This is a simple rule, but many people run out of time before they can proofread a document.
Always make the time to proofread your writing. And try to let your writing sit and
“cool off” for a few hours. The errors will become much more obvious and easier to isolate.

The 25 Writing Errors (1)

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The 25 Writing Errors (1)

By Laurie Rozakis
In English Grammar for the Utterly Confused. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2003. PP. 77-93.

When someone complains that a person “can’t write,” they are most often referring to errors that person makes in grammar and usage. Below are the top 25 writing hot spots.

I. Grammar and Usage
1. Lack of clarity
Incorrect: Prehistoric people used many inorganic substances difficult to find at archaeological sites, which included clay and rock.
Correct: Prehistoric people used many inorganic substances, including clay and rock, which are difficult to find at archaeological sites.
Sentences can be confusing for many different reasons. In the previous example, too many phrases come between the pronoun and its antecedent. As a result, the pronoun reference gets confusing. This can happen even if the intervening material is logically related to the rest of the sentence, as is the case here. Here’s the quick and dirty lowdown:
One sentence = one complete thought. Don’t cram too much into one sentence.
The more complex your ideas, the shorter and more simple your sentences should be.
Check that all parts of the sentence are logically related. Are they in the same tense,for example?
Reread your sentences to make sure all pronouns refer to their antecedents and are placed as close as possible to them.
Check that you have punctuated your sentences correctly.

2. Redundancy (unnecessary words)
Incorrect: If you reread your work, you will find upon serious reconsideration that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by careful editing and revising and attentive reevaluation. Scrupulous editing can also help you make your writing less wordy.
Correct: If you reread your work, you will find that a great deal of repetition can be avoided by careful editing.
Long-winded writing may sound educated and impressive, but it actually turns off your audience because it wastes their time. Say what you need to say concisely. Since your writing will be more intelligible, it will communicate its message directly.

3. Problems with subject-verb agreement
Incorrect: Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
Correct: Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
Agreement means that sentence parts match, singular to singular and plural to plural.
Since the subject verbs is plural, it takes a plural verb, agree.
This is confusing because we add -s or -es to make the third-person singular form of most verbs but add -s or -es to make the plural form of most nouns. For example, he starts is singular, but six papers is plural. Both end in s.
Parallel: To avoid getting hit by lightning, never seek protection under a tree, lie down on wet ground, or stay on a bike.
Parallel structure means putting ideas of the same rank in the same grammatical structure.
Your writing (and speech) should have parallel words, phrases, and clauses.
Parallel words share the same part of speech (such as nouns, adjectives, or verbs) and tense (if the words are verbs).
Parallel phrases create an underlying rhythm in your speech and writing.
Parallel clauses also give your writing balance.

5. Wrong verb tense
Incorrect: President John Quincy Adams owns a pet alligator, which he kept in the East Room of the White House.
Correct: President John Quincy Adams owned a pet alligator, which he kept in the East Room of the White House.
The tense of a verb shows its time. English has six verb tenses. Each of the six tenses has two forms: basic and progressive (also known as “perfect”). In the example here, the action takes place in the past, so the past tense must be used.

6. Mixed metaphors
Incorrect: Take the bull by the toe.
Correct: Take the bull by the horns.
Metaphors are figures of speech that compare two unlike things to explain the lessfamiliar object. When used correctly, metaphors make your writing more descriptive and precise. In most instances, metaphors use words for more than their literal meaning. Here, for example, we’re not literally talking about grabbing a bull by the horns; rather,we’re figuratively talking about seizing an opportunity. For a metaphor to be effective, it must compare images or objects that go together. Here,for instance, we would grab a bull’s horns, not its toes. When two clashing images are combined in one comparison, we get a mixed metaphor, which confuses readers.

7. Dangling modifiers
Incorrect: Flying over the countryside, cars and houses looked like toys.
Correct: As we flew over the countryside, cars and houses looked like toys.
A modifier is a word or phrase that describe a subject, verb, or object. (To “modify” is to qualify the meaning.). The modifier is said to “dangle” when the word it modifies has been left out of the sentence. Dangling modifiers confuse your readers and obscure your meaning because the sentence doesn’t make sense. Correct a dangling modifier by adding the word or words that have been left out. Here,the subject we was added and flying was changed to flew so the sentence makes sense. And while we’re dangling, let’s look at another mangled construction, dangling participles. A participle is a verb ending in -ing. It is dangling when the subject of the participle and the subject of the sentence don’t agree. For example:

Incorrect: Rushing to finish the paper, Bob’s printer broke.
The subject is Bob’s printer, but the printer isn’t doing the rushing.
Correct: While Bob was rushing to finish the paper, his printer broke.
One way to tell whether the participle is dangling is to put the clause with the participle right after the subject of the sentence: “Bob’s printer, rushing to finish the paper, broke.”
You can easily hear that it doesn’t sound right.
Note: Not all words that end in -ing are participles. For example: “Completing the task by Tuesday is your next assignment.” The word completing functions as a noun, not a verb. (Nouns ending in -ing are called gerunds.)

8. Misplaced modifiers
Incorrect: My parents bought a kitten for my sister they call Paws.
Correct: My parents bought a kitten they call Paws for my sister.
A misplaced modifier is a phrase, clause, or word placed too far from the noun or pronoun it describes. As a result, the sentence fails to convey your exact meaning. As this sentence is written, it means that the sister, not the kitten, is named Paws. That’s because the modifier they call Paws is in the wrong place in the sentence. To correct a misplaced modifier, move the modifier as close as possible to the word or phrase it describes.

9. Incorrect idioms
Incorrect: It’s raining cats and puppies.
Correct: It’s raining cats and dogs.
The phrase “It’s raining cats and dogs” is an idiom, an expression that has a figurative rather than literal meaning. Expressions such as “make a big deal out of it,” “on the double,”
and “down and out” are idioms. If you decide to use idioms in your writing, be sure to use the correct phrase. For instance, it’s idiomatic to say, “She talked down to him.” It’s not idiomatic to say, “She talked under to him.”

10. Biased language
Incorrect: That old geezer is taking my parking space!
Correct: That man is taking my parking space!
Avoid language that denigrates people because of their age, gender, race, or physical condition. This is especially crucial in business, where such language could result in a lawsuit.

(to be continued)

MANFAAT MENYUSUN OUTLINE

            MANFAAT MENYUSUN OUTLINE

www.ccc.commnet.edu

      by
Ari Julianto


Outline merupakan rencana penulisan yang memuat garis-garis besar dari suatu karangan yang akan digarap, dan merupakan rangkaian ide-ide yang disusun secara sistematis, logis, jelas, terstruktur dan teratur.

Dalam pembuatan skripsi/thesis outline sangat berguna sebab dalam penyusunan para penulis skripsi/thesis dituntut untuk merancang ide-ide konten dalam berbagai bab.

Beberapa manfaat Outline antara lain:
1. Untuk menjamin penulisan bersifat konseptual, menyeluruh, dan terarah.

2. Untuk menyusun karangan secara teratur. Kerangka karangan membantu penulis untuk melihat gagasan-gagasan dalam sekilas pandang, sehingga dapat dipastikan apakah susunan dan hubungan timbal-balik antara gagasan-gagasan itu sudah tepat, apakah gagasan-gagasan itu sudah disajikan dengan baik, harmonis dalam perimbangannya.

3. Memudahkan penulis menciptakan klimaks yang berbeda-beda. Setiap tulisan dikembangkan menuju ke satu klimaks tertentu. Namun sebelum mencapai klimaks dari seluruh karangan itu, terdapat sejumlah bagian yang berbeda-beda kepentingannya terhadap klimaks utama tadi. Tiap bagian juga mempunyai klimaks tersendiri dalam bagiannya. Supaya pembaca dapat terpikat secara terus menerus menuju kepada klimaks utama, maka susunan bagian-bagian harus diatur pula sekian macam sehingga tercapai klimaks yang berbeda-beda yang dapat memikat perhatian pembaca.

4. Menghindari penggarapan topik dua kali atau lebih. Ada kemungkinan suatu bagian perlu dibicarakan dua kali atau lebih, sesuai kebutuhan tiap bagian dari karangan itu. Namun penggarapan suatu topik sampai dua kali atau lebih tidak perlu, karena hal itu hanya akan membawa efek yang tidak menguntungkan; misalnya, bila penulis tidak sadar betul maka pendapatnya mengenai topik yang sama pada bagian terdahulu berbeda dengan yang diutarakan pada bagian kemudian, atau bahkan bertentangan satu sama lain. Hal yang demikian ini tidak dapat diterima. Di pihak lain menggarap suatu topik lebih dari satu kali hanya membuang waktu, tenaga, dan materi. Kalau memang tidak dapat dihindari maka penulis harus menetapkan pada bagian pada topik tadi yang akan diuraikan, sedangkan di bagian lain cukup dengan menunjuk kepada bagian topik tadi.

5. Memudahkan penulis mencari materi pembantu. Dengan mempergunakan rincian-rincian dalam kerangka karangan penulis akan dengan mudah mencari data-data atau fakta-fakta untuk memperjelas atau membuktikan pendapatnya. Atau data dan fakta yang telah dikumpulkan itu akan dipergunakan di bagian mana dalam karangannya itu.

Para pembaca bisa menyusutkan kembali outline yang hakekatnya sama dengan apa yang telah dibuat penyusun skripsi/thesis. Dengan penyusutan ini pembaca akan melihat wujud, gagasan, struktur, serta nilai umum dari karangan itu. Kerangka karangan merupakan miniatur atau prototipe dari sebuah karangan. Dalam bentuk miniatur ini karangan tersebut dapat diteliti, dianalisis, dan dipertimbangkan secara menyelurih, bukan secara terlepas-lepas.

Instrumen Penelitian

               Instrumen Penelitian

                                    Written by
                                   Ari Julianto


Secara garis besar, instrumen penelitian dapat digolongkan menjadi tes; dan non tes.

1. Instrumen Penelitian Berbentuk Tes
Ditinjau dari proses pemeriksaannya, suatu tes dapat dikelompokkan menjadi dua, yaitu:
1.1. Tes tipe subjektif
Dalam pemeriksaan tes tipe subjektif, ada faktor lain di luar kemampuan testi yang mempengaruhi proses pemeriksaan dan hasil akhir berupa skor. Faktor di luar kemampuan testi, misalnya:
a) guru: emosi/perasaan, kelelahan,kecermatan; dan
b) siswa: tulisan, kerapihan.

Bentuk tes tipe subjektif dapat dikategorikan:
1) Tes lisan
2) Tes uraian
3) Tes perbuatan/keterampilan

1.2. Tes tipe objektif
Dalam pemeriksaan tes tipe objektif tidak ada faktor lain yang mempengaruhi proses pemeriksaan dan hasil akhir berupa skor yang akan diperoleh testi.

Bentuk tes tipe objektif dapat dikategorikan:
1. Benar-Salah (True-False)
2. Pilihan berganda (Multiple choice)
a) Pilihan ganda biasa
b) Hubungan antar hal (sebab-akibat)
c) Pilihan ganda kompleks
d) Menjodohkan

Sedangkan berdasarkan tujuannya, tes dapat dikelompokkan menjadi:
1. Tes kecepatan berfikir (Speed test)
a. Tes intelegensi
b. Tes keterampilan bongkar pasang alat

2. Tes kemampuan (kognitif atau psikomotorik) (Power test)
3. Tes pencapaian (Achievement test)
a. Tes harian (formatif), untuk mengetahui sampai sejauh mana siswa sudah terbentuk (kognitif, afektif, psikomotorik) setelah mengikuti suatu program tertentu.
b. Tes sumatif, untuk mengetahui penguasaan siswa dalam sejumlah materi pelajaran (pokok bahasan) yang telah dipelajari.
c. UAN
4. Tes kemajuan hasil belajar/tes perolehan (Assesment test), untuk melihat hasil belajar setelah kegiatan dilakukan.
5. Tes diagnostik (Diagnostic test), untuk mencari, menyelidiki, atau meneliti penyebab dari sesuatu hal yang muncul

2. Instrumen Penelitian Berbentuk Non-Tes
Teknik non-tes digunakan untuk memperoleh data tentang aspek afektif atau psikomotorik dari subjek yang diteliti. Instrumen penelitian bentuk non tes dapat berupa:
1. Wawancara (interview)
Ini dilakukan dengan cara menentukan tanya jawab langsung antara pewawancara dengan yang diwawancara tentang segala sesuatu yang diketahui oleh pewawancara.

2. Obsevasi/pengamatan (observation)
Ini dilakukan dengan cara orang yang melakukan pengamatan (observer) mengadakan pengamatan langsung ke lapangan tentang segala sesuatu yang ingin diketahui tentang objek yang diteliti. Agar hasil observasi sesuai dengan apa yang diinginkan, observer harus membuat pedoman obervasi, yaitu berupa daftar informasi yang ingin diketahui oleh observer.

3. Angket (questionnaire)
Ini merupakan daftar pertanyaan/pernyataan yang harus dijawab atau diisi oleh responden. Berdasarkan kebebasan responden dalam menjawab setiap pertanyaan.
Angket dibagi menjadi dua, yaitu:
a) Angket terbuka
Jawaban untuk setiap pertanyaan/pernyataan tidak disediakan. Responden bebas memberikan jawaban untuk setiap pertanyaan sesuai dengan yang diinginkannya.

b) Angket tertutup
Jawaban untuk setiap pertanyaan/pernyataan telah disediakan, Responden bebas memberikan jawaban untuk setiap pertanyaan sesuai alternatif jawaban yang telah disiapkan.

Academic Writing

                           Academic Writing

                                Written by Ari Julianto


A. Academic writing should be
1. Analytic
concerned with real facts and details, rather than general aspects.

2. Objective
based on things which can be seen or measured, rather than on personal feelings.

3. Intellectual
based on an enlightened judgement of complex ideas and information, rather than an appeal to emotions.

4. Rational
using clear thinking to make decisions and judgements based on reason, rather than passionate arguments against a doctrine or belief.


B. The language of academic writing
Some of the main characteristics of the language of academic writing include:
- Frequent use of passive verb forms;
- Impersonal pronouns and phrases;
- Qualifying words and phrases;
- Complex sentence structures;
- Specialised vocabulary, style and presentation.

C. Style of academic writing
Academic writing has a characteristic style:
- It is serious, rather than conversational;
- It is impersonal, rather than personal;
- It is formal, rather than colloquial.

D. Presentation of information in academic writing
Information is presented in recognisable sequences:
For example, events are recorded in chronological order (from earliest to most recent); Points are made and expanded through examples;
Points are arranged hierarchically in ascending or descending order;Details or outcomes are compared or contrasted.

Two Types of Hypothesis

                    Two Types of Hypothesis
 


 Written by John W. Creswell in Educational Research, Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Boston: Pearson.2012.pp. 126-129.


There are two types of hypotheses: the null and the alternative to the null. You need both types in a research study, but authors generally write only one or the other into their reports.


1. Null Hypotheses
The null hypothesis is the most traditional form of writing a hypothesis. Null hypotheses make predictions that of all possible people whom researchers might study (i.e., called the general population), there is no relationship between independent and dependent variables or no difference between groups of an independent variable or a dependent variable.

To study this hypothesis, you would select a sample of all possible people and draw conclusions from the statistical analysis of this sample for the population. A null hypothesis might begin with the phrase “There is no difference between” groups or “There is no relationship between (or among)” variables.

To write a hypothesis, you can complete the following script, which employs the language “no difference”:
There is no difference between (independent variable, group 1 ) and (independent variable, group 2) in terms of (dependent variable) for (participants) at (research site).
An example of the application of this script might be:

There is no difference between at-risk and non-at-risk  students in terms of student achievement on math test scores for third-grade students in a Midwest school district.
Independent variable: at-risk students (members and nonmembers) Dependent variable: student achievement test scores Participants: third-grade students
Site: X school district
Form and language: null indicating no difference

2. Alternative Hypotheses
In contrast to the null hypothesis, you may write an alternative hypothesis. You will use an alternative hypothesis if you think there will be a difference based on results from past research or an explanation or theory reported in the literature.

The two types of alternative hypotheses are directional and nondirectional. In a directional alternative hypothesis, the researcher predicts the direction of a change, a difference, or a relationship for variables in the total population of  people. A researcher selects a sample of people from a population and predicts that the scores will be higher,better, or changed in some way. This typical form for writing hypotheses is encountered in the literature more than any other type of hypothesis.

A script for a directional alternative hypothesis is:
(group 1, independent variable) at (research site) will have (some difference, such as higher, lower, greater, lesser) on (dependent variable) than (group 2 of independent variable).
An example of this script is:

Students who participate in direct learning in four elementary schools will have higher achievement scores than students who participate in whole-language learning.
Independent variable: learning (direct and whole language)
Dependent variable: achievement test scores
Participants: third-grade students
Research site: four elementary schools
Key indicator: directional, a prediction is implied alternative hypothesis the researcher predicts a change, a difference, or a relationship for variables in a population but does not indicate whether the direction of
this prediction will be positive or negative, or greater or less.

The nondirectional alternative is not as popular as the directional alternative because the researcher does not take a stand about the direction of the relationship of the variables. A script for a nondirectional alternative hypothesis is:
There is a difference between (group 1, independent variable) and (group 2, independent variable) in terms of (dependent variable).

An illustration of this script would be:
There is a difference between varsity athletes in high school who smoke and those who do not smoke in terms of athletic accomplishments.In this example, the author does not state whether the difference will be positive or negative. An analysis of the variables in this statement shows:
Independent variable: use of tobacco (smokers and nonsmokers)
Dependent variable: athletic accomplishments
Participants: varsity athletes
Sites: high schools
Key indicator: the words “a difference,” but the direction is not specified.

The Writing Process

                The Writing Process

Taken from Academic Writing: A Guide to Tertiary Level Writing Edited by Dr Natilene Bowker. Massey University. 2007. pp.32.


Writing is a long and winding process. In managing this process, there are certain steps that you can take every time you begin an assignment. These steps will help to maximise your efforts and make meaning out of the chaos and disorder that often appears when first embarking on any assignment.

One of the most comprehensive and sophisticated assignment tasks you will find at university is essay  writing. What follows are some guidelines on how to go about essay writing. However, the steps outlined have general application for almost any other assignment that you will be given.

Think about topic
It is essential that you interpret the topic correctly. This can be achieved by brainstorming to generate ideas, and then formulating a point of view, even if it is a very rough one. Some people have found that reading around the assignment topic, by looking up some of the key words in their course materials and textbooks or glancing through relevant readings in their study guide, is helpful in familiarising themselves with the question.


Research topic
Start your research by reading your study guide, text book, and lecture notes (if lectures are available). Then look in the library, or access the online catalogue, to see if there are other useful materials, but only look at information relevant to the topic. However, to do well in an assignment, it is not always necessary to have references outside your course materials. For 100 level papers, 3-5 references may be enough to do well, as long as you explain the ideas thoroughly and relate them effectively to the essay topic. Sometimes, course co-ordinators may specify the minimum number of references expected in the assignment instructions. Also, remember that you will be marked on what you write, not what you read. So try to look at everything you read in terms of whether it is worthy of summarising on paper. Simply writing something down in your own words will help clarify your understanding of the topic.

Plan your essay
Now that you have made notes and summaries on the essay topic, you should be in a much better position to decide on the type of position or argument you are going to back up or argue in your essay. With your argument in mind, write down the main points that support it. Make sure they are in complete sentences, and arrange them in the order that best supports your stance. These sentences can function as an essay plan. Each sentence represents a paragraph in your essay.

Write your essay
Remember, writing often does not come easily. Be patient and start with getting your ideas down on paper. After the fi rst draft, you can work on refi ning them. If you havealready made summaries and notes, the process of writing your essay may be easier. However, if you are having diffi culty, try writing some headings that are relevant to the essay topic – perhaps they summarise each of the main points you want to make – or perhaps they are just words that have some relevance to the topic.

Under each heading start summarising information from one book or study guide reading. Suspend the need to connect your writing to other readings or parts of the essay. Just write. Trying to control the way your essay will look and its structure early on can waste time because, as you write more and read more, you end up developing groups of information that you can link together due to similar features they have in common.
However, doing this at the beginning is difficult as you cannot see the overall picture since you are just starting out and your knowledge of the essay topic has not had sufficient time to develop. Uncertainty at the beginning is perfectly acceptable and normal. Once you are more familiar with the issues, it becomes easier to work out the main themes or sections and even the order to place them. What is important though is writing down information in your own words, so that you have something to show at the end of your reading and analysis.

Revise your essay
Look over your essay to make sure that you have answered the essay question. Have you stuck to the topic? Have you left out anything vital? You may have to revise your essay several times before it effectively addresses the topic and question. Try to leave yourself at least 24 hours between finishing your first draft and revisions. This will allow you time to distance yourself from the topic and refl ect on it with a critical eye. It is also really useful if you can access someone independent who is not doing the course to have a read over your assignment to see if it makes sense. If they understand it, then your marker should understand it. Take note of anything this external person does not understand, because it may suggest that you need to clarify and explain details further. Providing such extra detail can only reinforce what you know and understand to the marker.

Edit your essay
You should check for errors (punctuation, spelling, grammar), bad sentence structure, jargon, slang etc.Is your presentation OK? Can it be improved? Is the referencing correct?

The Nature of Assessment

                The Nature of Assessment

Written by International Reading Association, Inc. and the National Council of Teachers of English in Standards for the Assessment of Reading and Writing. Delaware: IRA.2010. pp 1-7.
 

For many years, a transmission view of knowledge, curriculum, and assessment dominated and appeared to satisfy our social, political, and economic needs. Knowledge was regarded as a static entity that was "out there" somewhere, so the key educational question was, How do you get it from out there into students' heads? The corollary assessment question was, What counts as evidence that the knowledge really is in their heads? In a transmission view, it made sense to develop educational standards that specified the content of instruction before developing assessment procedures and engagements.

In the 1920s, notions of the basic purposes of schooling began to shift from an emphasis on the transmission of knowledge to the more complex nurturing of independent and collaborative learning and of problem solving. This shift has gained increasing prominence in today's postindustrial society, with its  everexpanding, need for workers with strong communication skills and dispositions toward problem solving and collaborating. A curriculum committed to independent learning is built on the premise that inquiry, rather than mere transmission of knowledge, is the basis of teaching and learning. This shift from knowledge transmission to inquiry as a primary goal of schools has important implications for assessment. In a knowledge-transmission framework, tests of static knowledge can suffice as assessment instruments.

Students are the participants who are primarily accountable (either they have the knowledge or they don't), with teachers held accountable next. Policymakers, including school board members, trustees, or regents, are the primary recipients of assessment data. An inquiry framework changes the role of assessment and the roles of the participants. Within this framework, assessment is the exploration of how the educational environment and the participants in the educational community support the process of students as they learn to become independent and collaborative thinkers and problem solvers.

This exploration includes an examination of the environment for teaching and learning, the processes and products of learning, and the degree to which all participants-students,teachers, administrators, parents, and board members-meet their obligation to support inquiry. Such assessments examine not only learning over time but also the contexts of learning.Inquiry emphasizes different processes and types of knowledge than does knowledge transmission. For example, it values the ability to recognize problems and to generate multiple and diverse perspectives in trying to solve them.

An inquiry stance asserts that while knowledge and language are likely to change over time, the need for learners at all levels (students, teachers, parents, administrators, and policymakers) who can solve new problems, generate new knowledge,and invent new language practices will remain constant. An inquiry perspective promotes problem posing and problem solving as goals for all participants in the educational community. For example, inquiry values the question of how information from different sources can be used to solve a particular problem. It values explorations of how teachers can promote critical thinking for all students. And it raises the question why our society privileges the knowledge and cultural heritage of some groups over others within current school settings.

Inquiry the needs of a multicultural society in which it is essential to value and find strength in cultural diversity. It also honors the commitment to raising questions and generating multiple solutions. Various stakeholders and cultural groups provide different answers and new perspectives on problems. Respecting difference among learners enriches the curriculum and reduces the likelihood of problematic curricular narrowing.

Approaches to Language Testing

    Approaches to Language Testing


Written by J. B. Heaton in Writing English Language Test, London:Longman. 1990. pp. 15-19.

1. Background
Language tests can be roughly classified according to four main approaches to testing:
(i) the essay-translation approach;
(ii) the structuralist approach;
(iii) the integrative approach; and
(iv) the communicative approach.
Although these approaches are listed here in chronological. order, they should not be regarded as being strictly confined to certain periods in the development of language testing. Nor are the four approaches always mutually exclusive. A useful test will generally incorporate features of several of these approaches. Indeed, a test may have certain inherent weaknesses simply because it is limited to one approach, however attractive that approach may appear.

2. The essay translation approach   
This approach is commonly referred  to as the pre-scientific stage of language testing. No special skill or expertise in testing is required: the subjective judgement of the teacher is considered to be of paramount importance. Tests usually consist of essay writing, translation, and grammatical analysis (often in the form of comments about the language being learnt). The tests also have a heavy literary and cultural bias. Public examinations (e.g. secondary school leaving examinations) resulting from the essay-translation approach sometimes have an aural oral component at the upper intermediate and advanced levels   though this has sometimes been regarded in the past as something additional and in no way an integral part of the syllabus or examination.

3. The structuralist approach
This approach is characterised by the view that language learning is chiefly concerned with the systematic acquisition of a set of habits. It draws on the work of structural linguistics, in particular the importance of contrastive analysts and the need to measure the learner' s master iOf the separate elements of the target language: phonology, vocabulary and  grammar. Such mastery is tested using words and sentences completely divorced from any context on the grounds that a larger sample of language forms can be covered in the test in a comparatively short time. The skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing are also separated from one another as much as possible because it is considered essential to test orse thing at a time. Such features of the structuralist approach are, of course,still valid for certain types of test and for certain purposes.

4. The Integrative approach
This approach involves the testing of language in context and is thus concerned primarily with meaning and the total communicative effect of discourse. Consequently, integrative tests do not seek to separate language skills into neat divisions in order to improve test reliability: instead, they are often designed to assess the learner's ability to use two or more skills simultaneously. Thus, integrative tests are concerned with a global view of proficiency   an underlying language competence or grammar of expectancy", which it is argued every learner possesses regardless of the purpose for which the language is being learnt. Integrative testing involves functional language but not the use of functional language. Integrative tests are best characterised by the use of doze testing and of dictation. Oral interviews, translation and essay writing are also included in many integrative tests   a point frequently overlooked by those who take too narrow a view of integrative testing.

5. The communicative approach
The communicative approach to language testing is sometimes linked to the integrative approach. However, although both approaches emphasise the importance of the meaning of utterances rather than their form and structure, there are nevertheless fundamental differences between the two approaches. Communicative tests are concerned primarily (if not totally) with how language is used in communication. Consequently, most aim to incorporate tasks which approximate as closely as possible to those facing the students in real life. Success is judged in terms of the effectiveness of the communication which takes place rather than formal linguistic accuracy. Language 'use' is often emphasised to the exclusion of language `usage'. `Use' is concerned with how people actually use language for a multitude of different purposes while 'usage' concerns the formal patterns of language (described in prescriptive grammars and lexicons). In practice. however, some tests of a communicative nature include the testing of usage and also assess ability to handle the formal patterns of the target language. Indeed, few supporters of the communicative approach would argue that communicative competence can ever be achieved without a considerable mastery of the grammar of a language.

Questions and Elements in Analyzing A Novel

Questions and Elements in Analyzing A Novel


                                 Written by Ari Julianto



1. Starting Points to Consider
- What is your impression of the author’s purpose?
- Is the novel written to be entertaining, informative, philosophical, argumentative, or a combination?

Hint: Title, chapter headings, or opening lines may give indications of the purpose. Then consider the following questions as possible starting points:
1. Do you agree with the ideas presented in the work? Why or why not?
2. Does the author’s imaginative environment seem realistic and engaging? How? Why?
3. How does this novel compare to other works by the same author? To works by other authors?
4. Does the novel reflect any historical, sociological, religious, or psychological concerns?
5. Do you agree with evaluations of the novel by other critics? If not, why?

2. Point of View
 - Does the narrator speak in first person ("I") or in third person?
- If there is a first-person narrator, is that person a major character or a minor character observing the main action?
- If the narration is in third person, is the narrator omniscient (able to see anything and tell us what is in the characters' minds), or is there limited omniscience so that we see into the mind of only one character?
- Does the point of view change?
- How does the point of view impact the story or theme?

3. Plot
 - Are there major and minor events?
- How are they related?
- Is time a factor in the plot?
- Does the novel unravel in chronological order?
- If not, why not?
- Are any later incidents foreshadowed in the story?
- Are flashbacks used?
- If so, why?
- Is the story logical?
- Does the plot depend on coincidence, or does it develop from the characters’ actions?
- What are the conflicts?
- Are they internal conflicts (psychological, theological) or external conflicts (sociological, biological, or environmental)?
- Are conflicts resolved?
- Is there a surprise conclusion?
- Is the conclusion plausible, satisfying?

4. Theme
 - Does the title suggest a theme?
- Are themes revealed through the plot (actions, dialogue) or personalities of the characters?
- Are there other symbols, images, and/or descriptive details in the work that suggest themes?
- Look for repeated words and images as clues.

5. Setting
 - What is the setting of the work?
- Is there more than one?
- Consider historical period, season, time of day, and geographical location. What mood or atmosphere (gloomy, tense, cheerful) is created by the setting?
- Why has the author chosen the setting?
- Does the setting simply provide a backdrop, or is it symbolic?
- If so, of what?

6. Character
 - Are the characters believable? Why or why not?
- Is there one protagonist (main character) or several?
- Does the story have traditional heroes or heroines (protagonists) and villains (antagonists)?
- An antagonist can be anything in conflict with the protagonist, such as nature. Does the author reveal characters through the comments and thoughts of other characters or through the characters' own actions, words, and thoughts?
- How do the characters help convey the theme?
- What are the most important traits of the main characters?
- What is the author's attitude toward the characters?
-Are readers supposed to sympathize with the characters or criticize them?
- How do the secondary and minor characters function in the novel?
- Do they provide parallels or contrasts with traits of the main characters?
- Are the main characters dynamic (evolve, change, or learn something), or do they remain static (unchanging)? How? Why?
- If dialect or colloquial speech is used, what is its effect?
- Are the social classes and occupations of the characters significant?
- Does the social, economic, political, or religious environment affect the characters and support the theme?

7. Imagery, Symbolism, and Tone
 - What images (any details that appeal to the physical senses) are used in the novel? Are the images literal (a description of an old man) or figurative ("He was as old as the hills”)?
- Are there repeated images or related images (light and dark)? If so, what is the significance?
- Are symbols conventional ones (spring symbolizing a new beginning, the color red representing passion) or unusual (the sea symbolizing life in Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea)?
- Symbols are often open to the reader’s interpretation. What is the prevailing tone of the work?
- How does the author feel about the work?
- How does the author make the reader feel about the characters? Sympathetic? Humorous? How does this tone affect the story? How do the imagery and symbolism affect the novel’s theme? Do they stand by themselves or serve as representations of deeper, meaningful concepts.

Important Elements in Analyzing A Short Story

Important Elements in Analyzing A Short Story

                                     Written by Ari Julianto


When analyzing fiction, you should consider:

1. PLOT
Plot refers to what happens in the story - events and thoughts which make up the story's basic structure. The plot is usually composed of an introduction, rising action, a climax, falling action and an ending that ties the story together. All plots contain a conflict: a struggle between two or more opposing forces. The conflict may be internal (person vs. self) or external (person vs. person, person vs. nature, person vs. society, or person vs. fate).

2. SETTING
Setting refers to the location of a story or novel in terms of place, time, social environment, and physical environment. Place: the geographical location of the story - a country or a city, a large city or a small village, indoors or outdoors, or both. Time: the period in history, the season of the year, the day of the month, and/or the hour of the day in which the events of the story occur. Social environment: the location of characters and events in a particular society and/or a particular social class (lower, middle, or upper class).
Physical environment: the details of the location in which the story takes place. These physical details often indicate the emotional state of the characters or the relationship between characters.

3. CHARACTERS
Characters are the people (or animals!) in a story. The term character refers to people's outward appearance and behaviour and also their inner emotional, intellectual, and moral qualities. Most stories have a main character (the protagonist or hero/heroine), whose personality traits move the plot forward and contribute to conflict. Many stories also have at least one minor character, who is not the focus of the story but who still plays an important role. Sometimes characters provide contrasts with one another.

4. POINT OF VIEW
Point of view is the perspective from which a story is told. The author creates a narrator to tell the story. It is through the narrator's perspective (through the narrator's eyes and mind) that readers learn what is happening in a story. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the narrator of a story is the author. Remember that the point of view and the narrator are tools created and used by the author in order to tell a story in a certain way. The narrator of a story does not necessarily express the author's opinions.

5. IMAGERY
Imagery refers to the collection of images in a work of fiction: the mental pictures created by the author's words. Writers use concrete images to go beyond physical description in order to express feelings and states of mind. Most images are created through words that appeal to the reader's five senses.
For example, a pink flower may appeal to the reader's sense of sight or smell and bring forth pleasant associations with springtime or a holiday memory. The colour green suggests youth and life; white, purity.

6. SYMBOLISM
A symbol is something that represents something else. It is an image of an event or a physical object (a thing, person, or place) that is used to represent something non-physical such as an idea, a value, or an emotion. Authors use symbols to suggest meaning. A heart, for example, symbolises love. One symbol may suggest more than one meaning.

7. TONE
Tone refers to the author's attitude or position toward the action, characters, narrator, subject, and even readers of the story. To determine the tone of a story, the reader must examine the language the author uses and decide what effect the author's choice of words has.

8. IRONY
Irony refers to the unexpected difference or lack of agreement between appearance and truth or between expectation and reality. Irony is apparent when an author uses language to create a deliberate contrast between appearance (what seems to be true) and truth (what is true), or between expectation (what was hoped for) and reality (what actually happens). Often readers know or understand something that a character in a story does not.

9. THEME
A theme is a truth that a story reveals. A theme is rarely directly stated by the author. Instead, the reader must discover the theme by questioning and examining the meaning from details in the story. Usually themes deal with general areas of human experience, for example: the nature of humanity or society, the relationship of human beings to the environment, or the question of moral responsibility.

Mostly taken from The Learning Center

What Is Scientific Research?

                What Is Scientific Research?
 

Written by A. Yavuz Oruc in Handbook of Scientific Proposal Writing. New York: CRC Press. 2012. pp18-181.

The term scientific research is used broadly to refer to an investigation of open problems in a scientific field. The synergy between the two words that constitute the term codifies its meaning. We will explore these two
words and the synergy between them to give as complete a description of the term scientific research as possible. We begin with the second word first.

Source image: www.123rf.com

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary* defines research as “careful or diligent search,” “studious inquiry; especially investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery or interpretation of facts, revision of
accepted theories in the light of new facts or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws,” or “collecting of information about a particular subject.”

Others define it more succinctly as “human activity based on intellectual application in the investigation of matter.” We will adopt the following more generic definition to focus on the essence of research:

Research is a process of understanding a problem, and discovering facts to help solve it. Researching a problem can thus be viewed as solving or completing a puzzle. However, in this puzzle analogy, obtaining the missing pieces may involve steps that may go far beyond searching for them. The pieces may exist in some other form and may have to be modified before they can be used, or they may not even exist and may have to be created. Exactly how the pieces are obtained and the puzzle is solved depends on the model of
research process used.

One such model is that of a mathematical investigation in which Mathematical results are customarily established using five basic entities:
(1) axioms (postulates), 
Axioms are generally the ground rules of a mathematical investigation. All statements must agree with the axioms of the mathematical domain within which the research activity is carried out.
 
(2) definitions and propositions, 
Definitions and propositions form the front end of such an activity. They are introduced to formalize the problems to be solved.

(3) lemmas
Lemmas serve as auxiliary puzzle pieces

(4) theorems
Theorems correspond to blocks of puzzles, and corollaries extend the solutions of puzzles to the solutions of other similar puzzles. In this setting, stating and proving lemmas should constitute a research activity if they have not been stated or proved before. They are like creating new pieces to solve a puzzle. Stating and proving theorems is similar to putting smaller pieces together to make bigger pieces of a puzzle. This would also be a research activity if the theorems in question have not been stated and proved elsewhere.

(5) corollaries.
On the other hand, corollaries are more like consequences of theorems and lemmas. Stating and proving corollaries, in and of themselves, should therefore be viewed more as a process of extending known results. However, in some cases, coming up with corollaries and proving them may involve considerable creativity and effort and thus constitute a legitimate research activity.

Basic and Applied Research

                Basic and Applied Research


Written by Kenneth S. Bordens and Bruce B. Abbott in Research Design and Methods, A Process Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2011. pp. 4-6.


Scientists work in a variety of areas to identify phenomena and develop valid explanations for them. The goals established by scientists working within a given field of research may vary according to the nature of the research problem being considered.

For example, the goal of some scientists is to discover general laws that explain particular classes of behaviors. In the course of developing those laws, psychologists study behavior in specific situations and attempt to isolate the variables affecting behavior.

Other scientists within the field are more interested in tackling practical problems than in finding general laws. For example, they might be interested in determining which of several therapy techniques is best for treating severe phobias. An important distinction has been made between basic research and applied research along the lines just presented.

I. Basic Research
Basic research is conducted to investigate issues relevant to the confirmation or dis-confirmation of theoretical or empirical positions. The major goal of basic research is to acquire general information about a phenomenon, with little emphasis placed on applications to real-world examples of the phenomenon.

For example, research on the memory process may be conducted to test the efficacy of interference as a viable theory of forgetting. The researcher would be interested in discovering something about the forgetting process while testing the validity of a theoretical position. Applying the results to forgetting in a real-world situation would be of less immediate interest.

II. Applied Research
The focus of applied research is somewhat different from that of basic research. Although you may still work from a theory when formulating your hypotheses, your primary goal is to generate information that can be applied directly to a real-world problem. A study by James Ogloff and Neil Vidmar (1994) on pretrial publicity provides a nice example of applied research. It informs us about a very real problem facing the court system: To what extent does pretrial publicity affect the decisions jurors make about a case? The results of studies such as Ogloff and Vidmar’s can help trial and appeals court judges make decisions concerning limitations placed on jury exposure to pretrial publicity. Further examples of applied research can be found in the areas of clinical, environmental, and industrial psychology (among others).

III. Overlap Between Basic and Applied Research
The distinction  between applied and basic research is not always clear. Some research areas have both basic and applied aspects. Consider the work of Elizabeth Loftus (1979) on the psychology of the eyewitness.

Loftus has extensively studied the factors that affect the ability of an eyewitness to accurately perceive, remember, and recall a criminal event. Her research certainly fits the mold of applied research. But her results also have some implications for theories of memory, so they also fit the mold of basic research. In fact, many of Loftus’s findings can be organized within existing theories of memory.

Even applied research is not independent of theories and other research in psychology.The defining quality of applied research is that the researcher attempts to conduct a study the results of which can be applied directly to a real-world event. To accomplish this task, you must choose a research strategy that maximizes the applicability of findings.

Writing A Review of A Film

Writing A Review of A Film

    Written by Ari Julianto


 




I. Definition
Based on American Heritage Dictionary (6162) the word review is defined as follows:
re·view v. re·viewed, re·view·ing, re·views.
— v. tr. 1. To look over, study, or examine again. 2. To consider retrospectively; look back on. 3. To examine with an eye to criticism or correction: reviewed the research findings. 4. To write or give a critical report on (a new work or performance, for example). 5. Law. To reexamine (an action or a determination) judicially, especially in a higher court, in order to correct possible errors. 6. To subject to a formal inspection, especially a military inspection.
— v. intr. 1. To go over or restudy material: reviewing for a final exam. 2. To write critical reviews, especially for a newspaper or magazine.
— n. Abbr. rev. 1. A reexamination or reconsideration. 2. A retrospective view or survey. 3. a. A restudying of subject matter. b. An exercise for use in restudying material. 4. An inspection or examination for the purpose of evaluation. 5. a. A report or an essay giving a critical estimate of a work or performance. b. A periodical devoted to articles and essays on current affairs, literature, or art. 6. a. A formal military inspection. b. A formal military ceremony held in honor of a person or an occasion. 7. Law. A judicial reexamination, especially by a higher court, of an action or a determination. 8. A musical show consisting of often satirical skits, songs, and dances; a revue. [Probably from Middle English, inspection of military forces, from Old French revue, review, from feminine past participle of reveeir, to see again, from Latin revidKre :
re-, re- + vidKre,

Meanwhile Leo et al (2007: 137) states that a review is a critical assessment in a newspaper, a magazine, or on the internet. the review may be a review of a book, a play, or a film. or something else.

II. The Purpose
The purpose of writing a review is to let the reader know whether it is worthwhile to read a certain book, to view a particular film, or to attend the performance of a play.

III.  The Elements To Be Considered
1. Bibliographic Elements
This includes the title of the film, the screen writer, the producer, the director, the film company, the date of the release and the achievement in awards,

2. Plot
Ade (2008: 40) defines plot as the central plan or an outline of events in a play/film. The plot refers to the story that a play/film tells. Normally, the events are arranged sequentially. This does not happen all the time. Some of them distort the sequence of events.
How is the plot constructed?
Is there a pattern of repetition?
Is there a climax?

3.Setting
This includes the location, the sets, the props, and the costumes. Setting generally refers to the location of a literary work. The setting is a reference to the placement of a work in both time and place. The locale or environment in which a story is set will determine a lot about it. The setting is often related to the focus or concern of the play/film.

4. Theme
Each play/film makes a statement about the social world. This may emerge from an exploration of the entire story. The theme is the central message of a play/film. It is however possible to have sub-themes along with major dramatists who seek to make statements that have universal validity in their works. Generally, plays/films that treat common human problems make statements that have timeless relevance and consequently have more appeal as they speak to people of all ages and at all places.

5. Type
Finding out the type of the film. Is it action, adventure, comedy, drama, horror, science fiction, tragedy, religious, historical, documentary, thriller, western, war, martial arts, or musical?

6. Acting
Point out the main and supporting actors and actresses' performance in relation to the story.
Do they act appropriately according to the plot?

7.  Soundtrack
This includes the sound effects, noise and music.
Is the soundtrack adequate?
Are there any special sound effect used?

8. Lighting
Is the lighting artificial or natural?
How about the direction and the intensity of the lighting?

9. Screen Writer
The dialogues should be moved along the story and also sound realsitic,

10. Cinematography
This related to camera angle, camera movement, and camera distance (far shot, medium shot or close shot),

11. Rating
The most common ratings used are: starts, thumbs up and down, and letter grades.

  
IV. Tips
1. Point out the strength and the weakness,
2. View the film several times,
3. Try to read many professional reviewers in writing A film Review,
4. Focus on the elements to be analyzed and take down the notes,
5. Find out whether the elements in the film support each other,
6. Write a brief of the story clearly   


Reference
Ade, Olaofe Isaac and Oyeniyi Okunoye.2008. An Introduction to Literature and Literary Criticism. Abuja: National Open University of Nigeria.

Editorial Team. 1992. The American Heritage Dictionary of The English Language. Third Edition. Boston: Houghton Miffin.

Leo, Sutanto et al. 2007. English for Academic Purpose: Essay Writing. Yogjakarta: Penerbit Andi Offset.

Review of Related Literature

Review of Related Literature

 

Written by L.R.Gay, Geoffrey E. Mills and Peter Airasian  in Educational Research. Competencies for Analysis and Applications. New Jersey: Perason. pp. 80-81


Having happily found a suitable topic, the beginning researcher is usually raring to go. Too often the review of related literature is seen as a necessary evil to be completed as fast as possible so that one can get on with the "real research." This perspective reflects a lack of understanding of the purposes and importance of the review and a feeling of uneasiness on the part of students who are not sure how to report the literature. Nonetheless, the review of related literature is as important as any other component of the research process and can be conducted quite painlessly if approached in an orderly manner. Some researchers even find the process quite enjoyable!

I. Definition
The review of related literature involves the systematic identification, location, and analysis of documents containing information related to the research problem. The term is also used to describe the written component of a research plan or report that discusses the reviewed documents. These documents can include articles, abstracts, reviews, monographs dissertations, books, other research reports, and electronic media effort.

II. Purpose
The major purpose of reviewing the literature is to determine what has already been done that relates to your topic. This knowledge not only prevents you from unintentionally duplicating another person's research, but it also gives you the understanding and insight you need to place your topic within a logical framework.

Previous studies can provide the rationale for your research hypothesis, and indications of what needs to be done can help you justify the significance of your study. Put simply, the review tells you what has been done and what needs to be done.

Another important purpose of reviewing the literature is to discover research strategies and specific data collection approaches that have or have not been productive in investigations of topics similar to yours. This information will help you avoid other researchers' mistakes and profit from their experiences. It may suggest approaches and procedures that you previously had not considered. For example, suppose your topic involved the comparative effects of a brand new experimental method versus the traditional method on the achievement of eighth-grade science students.

III. Scope
The review of literature may reveal 10 related studies that found no differences in achievement. Several of the studies, however, may suggest that the brand-new method is more effective for certain kinds of students than for others. Thus, you may reformulate your topic to involve the comparative effectiveness of the brand-new method versus the traditional method on the achievement of a subgroup of eighth-grade science students: those with low aptitude.

Being familiar with previous research also facilitates interpretation of your study results. The results can be discussed in terms of whether and how they agree with previous findings. If the results contradict previous find ings, you can describe differences between your study and the others, providing a rationale for the discrepancy. If your results are consistent with other findings, your report should include suggestions for the next step; if they are not consistent, your report should include suggestions for studies that may resolve the conflict.

Beginning researchers often have difficulty determining how broad their literature reviews should be. They understand that all literature directly related to their topics should be reviewed; they just don't know when to quit! They have trouble determining which articles are "related enough" to their topic to be included. Unfortunately, no formula can be applied to solve the problem; you must base your decisions on your own judgment and the advice of your teachers or advisors.

IV. General Guidelines
The following general guidelines can assist you:
1. Avoid the temptation to include everything you  find in your literature review. Bigger does not mean better. A smaller, well-organized review is definitely preferred to a review containing many studies that are only tangentially related to the problem.

2. When investigating a heavily researched area, review only those works that are directly related to your specific problem. You'll find plenty of references and should not have to rely on less related studies. For example, the role of feedback in learning has been extensively studied in both non-human animals and human beings, for verbal learning and nonverbal learning, and for a variety of different learning tasks. Focus on those using similar subjects or similar variables—for example, if you were concerned with the relation between frequency of feedback and chemistry achievement, you would probably not have to review feedback studies related to non-human animal learning.

3. When investigating a new or little-researched problem area, review any study related in some meaningful way to your problem. You'll need to gather enough information to  develop a logical framework for the study and a sound rationale for the research hypothesis. For example, suppose you wanted to study the effects of an exam for non English speaking students on GPA. The students must pass the exam to graduate. Your literature review would probably include any studies that involved English as a second language (ESL) classes and the effects of culture-specific grading practices as well as studies that identified strategies to improve the learning of ESL students.

In a few years, there will probably be enough research on the academic consequences of such an exam on non-English speaking students to permit a much more narrowly focused literature review. A common misconception among beginning researchers is that the worth of a topic is directly related to the amount of literature available about it. This is not the case. For many new and important areas of research, few studies have been published; the effects of high-stakes testing is one such area. The very lack of such research oftenincreases the worth of its study.

On the other hand, the fact that a thousand studies have already been done in a given problem area does not mean there is no further need for research in that area. Such an area will generally be very well developed, and subtopics that need additional research will be readily identifiable.

Wordy Words And Phrases

             Wordy Words And Phrases

Written by Daniel Holtom & Elizabeth Fisher in Eniov Writing Your Science Thesis or Dissertation. London. Imperial College Press. 1999. pp.256-260.

  

Image: samingersoll.com

Try to remove these words and phrases from your text. They  are usually unnecessary.

1. above

Above can cause wordiness, for example,

The argument experiment outlined above proved crucial to our research.

You could just write,

This proved crucial to our research.

Below is a little more useful. You can use it as a signpost for related information or argument the reader will find useful, for example,

I will deal with this contradiction below.

2. amount

‘A large amount’ is vague, and ‘a maximum’ amount is redundant maximum and minimum are amounts.

3. all, all of

Try to get rid of the ‘of, ‘all the samples’ is more concise than ‘all of the samples’.

4. area

My research was in the area of delta wing aeronautical  design.

could be written more concisely,

My research was in delta wing aeronautical design.

5. as far as

As far asbore holes are concerned, I had no problems.

You could just write, I had no problems with bore holes.

6. both, both of

Both of the traces indicated an increase in activity. This does not need the of and could be written,

Both traces indicated an increase in activity.

6. capability

The plastic has the capability of reforming itself.

You could just write,

The plastic can reform itself,

7. cause and result

At times you have to make clear what is a cause and what is a result, but

there are often quicker ways of saying what you mean; compare the

following, for example,

The addition of NaCI caused an improvement in taste.

Adding NaCl improved the taste.

8. clearly demonstrates, shows

If data clearly demonstrate a phenomenon, then they really show it.

The spectrophotometer readings clearly demonstrate a decrease in density.

The spectrophotometer readings show a decrease in density.

9. definitely

Unless there is some question hanging over what you are saying, definitely

is unnecessary and often looks desperate to be convincing.

10. due to the fact that

This really means ‘because’. . .

11. in addition

If you are adding something to your text, you do not need to tell the reader

you are doing so by using ‘in addition’.

12. in colour, in appearance

Both of these phrases are unnecessary,

The landfish was red in colour.

The landfish was red in appearance.

could simply be written as,

The landfish was red.

13. in order to

Use ‘to’.

14. literally

A word best avoided in your thesis. You whole text should be literal.

15. manner

Manneralways makes your sentence wordy.

The chemical were added in a slow manner.

The chemicals were added slowly. [This example is also vague.]

16. nature

Chewing gum has an elastic nature.

Chewing gum is elastic.

17. process

Unless you are actually discussing a process this is a word to avoid. For

example, you do not have to write ‘the stratification 

18. personally

Personally I think.. .

This is not only wordy but can deflate your argument. It implies that other

people would disagree with you. I think does the job better.

19. pooled together

If you pool samples, then they must be together, so you could write,

The sulphide samples were pooled together.

as simply, The sulphide samples were pooled.

20. reason, because

You only need one of them, as they do the same job.

21. seldom ever

You do not need the ever.

22. similar, very similar

The veryis redundant. Writing that two items are very similar tells us no

more than if we write they are similar.

23. sized

Large sized.. .

If something is large, we know this refers to size, so the word sized is

redundant. [This example is also vague.]

24. that

One that in a sentence is normally more than enough unless you want to

stress a point; for example, the first and second sentences are clear, the

third sentence is full of redundant thats:

I found I could not move, wanted to go to the toilet, had a headache, and had fallen down the stairs.

I found that I could not move, wanted to go to the toilet, had a headache, and had fallen down the stairs.

I found that I could not move, that I wanted to go to the toilet, that I had a headache, and that I had fallen down the stairs.

25. the field of

This is useful when you are giving the general area in which you work,

My research was in the field of Para-psychology.

but it can get overused,

The field of para-psychology is seldom taken seriously by other scientists.

could equally well be written,

Para-psychology is seldom taken seriously by other