1. Write Like a Chemist: Drawing on Applied Linguistics Research Fredricka L. Stoller Northern Arizona University fredricka.stoller@nau.edu

2. Overview of Presentation Overview of Write Like a Chemist project Discussion of the contributions of applied linguistics research and methodologies to the project

3. Write Like a Chemist Project

4. Write Like a Chemist Project Goals Design a discipline-specific writing course Improve chemistry students’ discipline-specific writing skills

5. Write Like a Chemist Project Goals Analyze the language of chemistry in four genres Translate findings into a pedagogical approach and instructional materials

6. Drawing Upon Applied Linguistics

7. Discourse analysis Corpus linguistics Curriculum and course design Language teaching pedagogy Writing pedagogy Assessment Language knowledge base

8. Discourse Analysis

9. Genre analysis Journal article Conference abstract Poster presentation Research proposal

10. Discourse Analysis Genre analysis Moves Hedging Lexical-grammatical patterns Collocations Pronoun use Active-passive voice Nominalizations

11. Moves

12. 1. Introduce the Research Area 1.1 Identify the research area 1.2 Establish the importance of the research area 1.3 Provide essential background information about the research area 2. Identify a Gap (or Gaps) 3. Fill the Gap 3.1 Introduce the current work 3.2 Preview key findings of the current work (optional) Cite relevant literature General Specific Figure 6.1. The move structure for a typical Introduction.

13. Move 1 Establishing a territory (citations required) via Topic generalizations of increasing specificity  Move 2 Establishing a niche (citations possible) via Step 1A Indicating a gap or Step 1B Adding to what is known Step 2 (optional) Presenting positive justification (Adapted from Swales, 2004)

14. 1. Introduce the Research Area Identify the research area Establish the importance of the research area Provide background information about the research area 2. Identify a Gap (where a gap identifies a question that needs to be answered, an area that needs to be better understood, a step that needs to be taken, a procedure that needs to be improved, an idea that needs to be tested, etc.) 3. Fill the Gap Present goals of current work Preview principal findings Cite relevant works to support each move/ submove More General More Specific

15. 1. Introduce the Research Area 1.1 Identify the research area 1.2 Establish the importance of the research area 1.3 Provide essential background information about the research area 2. Identify a Gap (or Gaps) 3. Fill the Gap 3.1 Introduce the current work 3.2 Preview key findings of the current work (optional) Cite relevant literature General Specific Figure 6.1. The move structure for a typical Introduction.

16. Discourse Analysis To facilitate discourse analyses, we made use of corpus linguistics tools Project-specific corpus American Chemical Society (ACS) Journals Search data base

17. Write Like a Chemist Corpus 200 full-length refereed journal articles (991,606 words) 240 sections of refereed journal articles (297,407 words) 132 full-length popular chemistry articles (157,344 words) Total word count: 1,466,357 words

18. ACS Journals Search Legacy data base (1879-1995) 23 journals, 464,233 articles Current issue to 1996 data base 33 journals, 316,131+ articles ASAP articles data base 2,745 articles (as of 9/30/08)

19. Collocations first-principles calculations first-principles kinetics first-principles methods first-principles molecular dynamics study first-principles simulations first-principles study

20. Active and Passive Voice

21. Table 2. Common Transitional Phrases (typically followed by we) In the present study, In the present work, In this context, In this investigation, In this paper, In this study, In this work, Herein, Use of “we”

22. In this work, we ___ (present tense) In this work, we ___ (past tense) carry out demonstrate describe develop employ present propose provide report show use analyzed solved calculated studied chose synthesized determined employed examined focused on found investigated measured Table 3. Common verbs that follow we in the fill-the-gap statement of the Introduction

23. Historical Changes: We

24. Word and phrase frequencies Further (97,663 documents) Farther (1,554 documents) Proceed (30,381 documents) Precede (18,693 documents) Principle (57,475 documents) Principal (20,267 documents)

25. Curriculum & Course Design Needs analysis Situation analysis Determination of primary goals and objectives Syllabus design

26. Syllabus Design Course content Four genres Five features of writing Audience and purpose Organization Writing conventions Grammar and mechanics Science content (in prose and graphics)

27. Syllabus Design Scope and sequence Instructional activities Instructional materials

28. X of Y by Z pattern found in journal article titles X (optional)Y (required)Z (optional) A nominalization (e.g., Determination, Investigation, Analysis, Measurement) A phrase that refers to, describes, or modifies Y of in for to... What was studied on in via by at... Target of Y or what was impacted by Y Method used (or detail of method used) to study Y Preparationof5-Substitute 1H-Tetrazoles fromNitriles in Water

29. Common functions of verb tense-voice combinations in Results sections FunctionTense-Voice Combination Example To describe specific results in your work To describe specific steps in your work To state scientific “truths” or knowledge To refer to a figure or table Past-Active Past-Passive Present-Active Present-Passive Other combinations of alcoholic solvents failed to lead to a higher yield. Initial HSSPME experiments were performed using spiked skimmed and full-fat milk samples.

30. Language Teaching Pedagogy Modeling Scaffolding Use of authentic texts and tasks

31. 2-(p-Toluenesulfonyl)-4'-methoxyacetophenone (2a). A mixture of 2-bromo-4'-methoxyacetophenone (45.8 g, 200 mmol) and p-toluenesulfinic acid sodium hydrate (35.6 g, 200 mmol) in ethanol (1 L) was heated at reflux for 1.5 h. The mixture was stirred and cooled to room temperature, and the resulting solid was collected, washed with ethanol (2 × 50 mL), dried to give 54.6 g (90%) of pure 2a: mp 126.0-127.0 °C; IR 2951, 2906, 1676, 1599, 1572 cm -1 ; 1 H NMR (CDCl 3 ) 2.45 (s, 3H), 3.90 (s, 3H), 4.67 (s, 2H), 6.95 (d, J = 8.8 Hz, 2H), 7.34 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 2H), 7.76 (d, J = 8.2 Hz, 2H), 7.95 (d, J = 8.8 Hz, 2H); 13 C NMR 20.9, 55.1, 62.5, 113.4 (2C), 127.7 (2C), 128.3, 129.1 (2C), 131.1 (2C), 135.8, 144.3, 163.7, 186.0. Anal. Calcd for C 16 H 16 O 4 S: C, 63.14; H 5.30; S, 10.54. Found: C, 63.49; H, 5.35; S, 10.33. (from Swenson et al., 2002) Authentic models of text

32. Language Teaching Pedagogy Feedback (self, teacher, and peer) Reflection tasks Learning-by-doing tasks Teacher guidelines

33. Teacher Guidelines How to acknowledge students’ apprehensions about writing How to build students’ confidence (with, e.g., actionable feedback) How to build upon students’ attraction to objectivity How to deal with mixed-ability classes

34. Teacher Guidelines Reminders that good writing doesn’t develop over night! Reminders that students learn to write by writing! Reminders that conciseness is not a matter of simply eliminating words.

35. Writing Pedagogy Adoption of a process orientation to writing Attention to multiple factors that contribute to effective writing Recognition that students need to have something to say in order to write Incorporation of different forms of feedback

36. Assessment Development of pre and post tests/ tasks to evaluate student progress Identification of benchmarks Development of holistic and analytic grading criteria and rubrics (for faculty and student use)

37. Language Knowledge Base Functions of, e.g., hedging, tense- voice combinations, modals Terminology (participles vs. particles) Distinctions between tense and aspect Complexity of article system Nominalizations Two-word modifiers

38. Write Like a Chemist: Drawing on Applied Linguistics Research Fredricka L. Stoller Northern Arizona University fredricka.stoller@nau.edu