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Selasa, 10 Juli 2012

Writing an Article: A simple Article of the student’s related field

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SNAPSHOT

Writing an article is similar to exposing arguments. Therefore, writing an article is similar to writing an exposition type of text. It is started with the formulation of a thesis in the mind of the writer. This thesis is then wrapped in an introduction as the starting point or the theme of the text. This introduction is then followed by an exposition of your arguments which are supported by some related literatures or quotations. The article is then closed with a reiteration; a kind of a statement which has the function is to judge that what is stated in your thesis is justified or acceptable.

Writing an article is different from summarizing or compiling. It is about exposing your arguments, to defend a thesis you have made before the arguments, which are written in scientific ways. It means that it is not only your expose your arguments as you like, but the arguments are also to be justified or supported by some facts or thoughts made by some experts or the related fields. Therefore, quotations are very important in writing an article. If you only write everything because you fell that you know or have the knowledge about a matter, it means that you are only informing or telling something to people. Writing an article is not directing, not imposing something so that other people will follow you. Writing an article is about defending a thesis about something that you have made by exposing your arguments, which are supported by some facts and some experts’ saying or findings.

EXPLORATION

Before writing is started, an observation to identify a problem is necessary. A problem can be about everything. You are recommended to identify a problem related to your majority; psychology, technical engineering, laws, education, economy and business, health, etc. Then, analyze the problem and make a thesis. If only you are interested in the learning of English, then you can make thesis about learning English after you identify a problem. Remember, a thesis is a controversial statement about something. If you make a statement and you are sure that there are a number of people who will not agree with you, it means that it is a good thesis.

Example:

If only you are interested in English learning, you can make a thesis after you see the daily activities of learning English by students and lecturers in the classrooms. You may write a thesis as follows.

“Whatever the media and speaking materials to be used in the classroom, since the class is too large, consisting of 40 students, the result of the learning will be a nonsense.”

After you make a thesis, then keep it in mind. Now, you begin to prepare to make an introduction. Before you make it, you have to be familiar with the rhetorical structure of an article. It is very simple. It is like when you make an exposition text. The simplest rhetorical structure is; introduction ^exposition^ justification ^ reference.

Element

What to do

Title

- Write a title in the form of noun phrase

- It must look specific, interesting, and beneficial

Example:

- Learning to speak for students in a large class

Introduction

It contains at least there paragraphs with different communicative purpose:

- 1st : It contains a description or an exposition of general terms related to the title, from which the thesis will be formulated. It should be direct, don’t go too far away from the point included in the title.

Take the key words from the title; (1) learning (English), (2) Speak (speaking skill), (3) large class (a classroom with too many students in it)

a. Don’t start your writing by discussing the function of language, the status of English in Indonesia, etc. This discussion goes too far from the point

b. Start your writing by the direct discussion of learning English as something important for university students.

c. Then, continue the discussion to the language skills, and speaking is as the one most important for them to acquire.

- 2nd : It contains more specific points. Narrow the discussion into more specific points. Discuss the Speaking skill only as one of the most important skills for students. Provide enough arguments for this, and then expose the problems that are commonly found the teaching leaning process.

a. Pint out that learning to speak is not easy.

b. Point out that there are some factors that influence the success in acquiring the skill (speaking skill)

- 3rd : It contains a thesis. Based on the analysis you have exposed in the preceding paragraphs, make a thesis, or a statement about a crucial point to do.

Exposition

This section contains your opinions and arguments, which is supported by some quotations (expert’s sayings or findings). The most practical rhetoric for this section is as follows:

- Start to write anything that you know about the topic, about everything related to the title or thesis you have made in the introductions, then

- Write your own opinions or arguments based on what you written above, and

- Support your opinions or arguments by one or two quotations (some experts’ sayings or finding.)

The rhetoric can be inverted as follows;

- Start to write anything that you know about the topic, about everything related to the title or thesis you have made in the introduction, then

- Support your descriptions by one or two quotations (some experts’ sayings or finding.)

- Writing your own opinions or arguments based on what you written above.

Example:

Based on the key words from the title, or thesis, you begin your writing by discussing;

- English

Based on your knowledge, you start writing by telling everything about English, the learning of English, etc. , then write your own opinions or arguments in relation to what you have just written and support your opinions or arguments with one or two quotations (the expert’s sayings or findings).

- speaking

Do the same thing for this key word. Based on your knowledge, tell everything about language skills and speaking is one of the most important language skills. Then, write your opinions about the language skills or speaking skill as far as you get the knowledge about it. Then, support your opinions or arguments with one or two quotations.

- Class, or classroom management

Do this in the same way. Based on your knowledge, start writing by telling everything a classroom management. Bring up your opinions or arguments and then support them with one or two quotations.

Justification

This is closing of the paper. It contains a brief conclusion. It is the section in which you have to extract the main point from the discussion that you make in the exposition section and then you make a convincing statement.

The main function of this section is to justify that what you have stated in the thesis, “Whatever the media and speaking materials to be used in the classroom, since the class is too large, consisting of 40 students, the result of the learning will be nonsense” is really justified, acceptable rationally, and it is not a nonsense.

Reference

It is a list of recourses from which you include some citations or quotations. These resources can be some books, journals articles, and you can also take some of the resources from the internet.

LINGISTIC REALIZATION

Starting point is very important in writing. It is the first step that you take from which you can make an effective shoot, or gentle leap for father destination. In writing article, a problem identification become the starting point or the signpost from which a title or thesis can be made. This starting point in modern grammar is called ‘theme’, and the further development that follows the theme is called ‘rheme’.

Before writing an article, you have to identify a problem, and then make a gentle leap from the problem to formulate a title. It is very common to revise the title again and as your writing is in progress. After the title is made, an introduction is to be made. This introduction becomes the starting point or the signpost from which the whole text is to be developed.

1. Theme – Rheme

One of the most crucial problems in learning English by many university students is how to develop a sentence. They often find it difficult to write a sentence after a sentence. They often find the death-end so that they don’t know what to write further. Their ideas sometimes stop and go nowhere.

To, help them escape, they should be familiar with the concept of ‘theme’ and ‘rheme’. As mentioned previously, theme is the signpost and rheme is the development that follows the signpost. The firs part of a sentence is the theme, so it can be the subject of the sentence or some adverb phrases or adverb clauses.

“English is one the most important foreign language to learn by all university all university students. Although it is considered to be one of the most difficult subjects, they have to be good at it. Without having a good acquisition in English, they will not be able to access broader knowledge and information of the world.”

The text above consist of there sentences only. Each sentence has one ‘theme’, and each ‘theme’ needs further description or development as in the ‘rheme’. The themes are underlined, while the rest part of the sentence is the rheme.

o English (theme)

Is one the most important foreign language to learn by all university student. (rheme)

Rationally, after you write down ‘English’ (as the theme), what do you want to say about it? (as the rheme).

Then you write:

Is one the most important foreign language to learn by all university students.

o Although it is considered to be one of the most difficult subject, (theme)

Rationally, after you write down ‘Although it is considered to be one of the most difficult subjects, ‘ (as the theme), what do you want to say about it? (as the rheme).

Then you write:

They have to be good at it.

o Without having a good acquisition in English, (theme) they will not be able to access broader knowledge and information of the world. (rheme)

Rationally, after you write down ‘Without having a good acquisition in English’ (as the theme), what do you want to say about it? (as the rheme)

Then you write:

They will not be to access broader knowledge and information of the world.

From this, then you can understand that the most important point when realizing your ideas to flow in some sentences is by determining the theme as the starting point first. After you get the first theme, the next theme can be made based on the information in the rheme of the previous theme.

- English is one the most important foreign language to learn by all university students.

- Although it is considered to be one of the most difficult subjects they have to be good at it.

- Without having a good acquisition in English, they will not be able to access broader knowledge and information of the world.”

The ‘theme’ of a sentence can be used as the theme of the other sentences that follow.

- Without having a good acquisition in English, they will not be able to access broader knowledge and information of the world.

- To have a good acquisition in English is really important for each of university students

- Speaking acquisition is considered to be the most important target to realize in the study of English in the university level.

2. Coherence

The concept of coherence is the closely related to the concept of theme-rheme. It is about how the ideas have to from one sentence to be continued with another sentence that follows in a paragraph. How the ideas have to follow from one paragraph to be continued with other paragraph in a whole text.

The concept of theme-rheme can be used to help realize a coherent text. Coherent text is constructed by having the interconnected sentences in a text, of which the ideas run very well from one sentence into the other sentence that follows. Understanding the concept of theme-rheme and the knowledge abut transition signals are very helpful. Some conjunctions are very useful to help interconnect among the sentences in a paragraph, while some conjunctive phrases are useful to interconnect among the paragraphs. The use of both conjunctions and conjunctive phrases are optional; it doesn’t mean that each paragraph is to be opened with them. You may use them when necessary only.

Examples:

Some conjunctions to interconnect among the sentences

o First, second, third, etc.

o Therefore,

o However,

o On the other hand,

o As a result

o In addition

o In contrast

o Moreover

o Furthermore

Example:

Conjunctive phrases to interconnect among paragraphs;

o Based on the fact that. . .

o According to. . .

o In conclusion. . .

o It is taken for granted that . . .

o Based on what has been stated previously, . . .

The key point about coherence is that there is interconnection among the sentences and among the paragraphs, so that the ideas or information flow smoothly and without any sudden.

3. Quotation

There is very simple way of how to write a quotation. I suggest using indirect quotation. There some ways that you can use;

- Using ‘according to….. ‘

- Using ‘in line with what is said by..’

- Using (name of author, year, page)

Example #1:

o According to Weissberg and Buker (1990: 20), introduction of the research report serves as an orientation for readers of the report, giving them the perspective they need to understand the detailed information coming in later sections.

o In line with what has been stated by Weissberg and Buker (1990: 20), introduction of the research report serves as an orientation for readers of the report, giving them the perspective they need to understand the detailed information coming in later sections.

o Introduction of the research report serves as an orientation for readers of the report, giving them the perspective they need to understand the detailed infoemation coming in later sections (Weissberg and Buker, 1990: 20)

Example #2:

o According to Eggins (1994:2) it is said that the general function of language is a semantic one, and people negotiate texts in order to make meanings with each other.

o In line with what has been said by Eggins (1994; 2), in each type of using the language as a means of communication, people negotiate texts in order to make meanings with each other.

o In each type of using the language as a means of communication, people negotiate text in order to make meanings with each other (Eggins, 1994: 2)

One important thing to remember is that as you use indirect quotation, you can paraphrase what an author has said. It doesn’t have to write it absolutely in the same words, phrases or sentence as what is said by the author.

4. Reference

This is the list of the resources of the citations or quotations. In an academic writing, you have to mention all the resources you have used to support your opinions or arguments. The rhetorical structure is: Name of Author ^ Year of Publication ^ Title of the book ^ Place of Publication ^ Name of the Publisher.

Example:

- Weissberg, R. and S. Buker. 1990. Writing Up Research. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.

- Eggins, S. 1994. An Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics. London: Pinter Publisher.

WRITING PRACTICE

As the starting point to write, let’s look around you. In line with your majority (economic, psychology, health, education, law, engineering, geography, etc), please identify a problem. Whatever the problem that you can identify, use it as the theme or the signpost or the starting point to make a thesis. Keep writing the thesis in the form of a raw draft. Use the thesis to make a raw title of the article that you want to write.

Before writing begins, you must be sure that you have collected enough information and recourses that you will use as the references. If it is about Law Practice, then you must have enough books about law that discuss the related topics as the one that you mean in the thesis, as well as in the title. If it is about economy, then you have to get enough book that discuss the similar terms as you mention in the title or thesis of your article.

If you have been ready, now fill the table bellow. Writer it briefly according to the rhetorical structure of an article as it has been discussed earlier. Don’t think too much about how many pages. Two or three pages are alright.

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