My Own Use of Language - Essay Example

? Language Portfolio Outline Professional language/General language A. Vocabulary B. Grammar C. Treatment of evidence D. Style and structures Academic language A. Vocabulary B. Grammar C. Treatment of evidence D. Style and structures Analysis of my own writing style A. Vocabulary B. Grammar C. Treatment of evidence D. Style and structures Appendix A: general / professional language extracts Appendix B: academic language extracts Appendix C: my own work extracts Rationale To date, the research has been conducted to help describe the difference between general, professional and academic language. This research is scattered across a number of different areas of inquiry and is of varying depth and quantity, ranging from expert opinion and linguistic analyses that is not accessible to practitioners, to a very few descriptive studies of classroom practice. A review of practical situation is needed to determine what the difference between general and academic language is. This difference can be traced when to examine different samples of text written in different style. In order to meet my research objective I will analyze language in both general and professional academic contexts, showing both differences and similarities of the language. These ideas will be incorporated into my own use of language. The main purpose of my study is to analyze language across the 3 genres. These genres include: vocabulary, grammar, style and treatment of evidence. In the course of my research I will compile different kinds of texts. Then I will compare these texts from the point of vocabulary, grammar, style and treatment of evidence. Finally, I will relate findings to my own language and will show how it is possible to apply my findings to my own writing. Professional language/General language Vocabulary The main purpose of business report is to inform or analyze rather than to dazzle your reader with exceptional jargon or complexity of your sentences. It means that there is no space for any kind of creative, adjective-filled prose in your report. You task is to put everything that belongs to business report. You can use “you,” but you should avoid “I” as well as long sentences or contractions. When choosing vocabulary for your task you should not forget that all that needed is to provide people with objective, non-emotive, and factual language. Consequently, there is no space for loaded words. In Appendix B you will find a sample of business report. The title of this report is Your Strategic Style Distribution. The first thing I would like to pay your attention to is the use of generalizations lie “most”, “all” and etc. Academic business report also has its own technical words. When to read through the text in Appendix B, you will find the following specialized words: “I Opt”, “The RI”, “Reactive Stimulators”, “Hypothetical analyzer”, “The logical processor” all these words add special meaning to the text. When reading through this text you can get the idea that you are reading through academic research report simply because of language use. Grammar Punctuation is a crucial factor in ensuring that what you can reach your reader. Grammar should be the main focus of your assignment. Proper grammar use can help to make things clear and straightforward. It is strongly advised to avoid too long sentences. Instead you have to break your text into smaller units. Returning to appendix B you will see that the text does not contain long sentences. Instead, all sentences are relatively short and clear. In order to understand my point, simply read the passage below: “In the “I Opt” survey measures the amount and kind of information a person considers before responding to new ideas, issues, goal/or processes. By understanding our strategic style(s) we are better equipped to increase our personal productivity and interactions with co-workers, family and friends. The following sections describe some of the ways this knowledge might be used for your benefit. (Smith, F . ,1983) Style Having dealt with the four essential stages in planning our report, it is reasonable to pay attention to the manner in which individual is conveying his thoughts and emotions. The overall process refers to how you write your report. Professional style should be clear of any kinds of cliches and obvious ambiguities. Technical terms are also present in the text. The use of active voice is highly encouraged. In fact, choosing the right words and combining them with other words – this is what makes the essence of any report. When to read through the text in appendix B we can clearly see that all these points are present in the text. For example, let’s take section under the title Teamwork and the Relational Innovator. The first impression after reading this section is a high level of professionalism. After reading few sentences of this report it is clear that the author clearly knows what he is talking about. “Working with Reactive Stimulators (RS): this can be very invigorating. However, adding a Hypothetical Analyzer or a Logical Processor to this team may be worth considering” Treatment of evidence Endnotes Endnotes usually appear at the end of the end of the text. These are used to present additional information about the sources. These sources present reader with the additional information researched in your paper. They also help to link some specific information to your report. References This is a list of all the materials and sources. This list is used for your report. This list is usually referenced as a bibliography. (Cummins, J. 1979) Appendices Important material that cannot (or should not) be fitted into the body of the report is usually placed in a section called an Appendix (plural: Appendices). Such material would include raw data, sample questionnaires, interview transcripts, maps, wiring diagrams, computer software, tender proposals and so forth. Glossary If your report uses terminology that is specialised then it will be necessary to provide a list of these terms and their meanings. Index Reports of about thirty or more pages should have an index. The precise mix of elements presented in the report varies according to its length and purpose for which this report is written. (Krashen, S., 2004) The reference to the report states facts in the following way: The report in Appendix B. has the following referencing. Sample Individual Report. © 1999, Professional Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Trademarks: Professional Communications Inc. Get your own personal I-Opt Individual Report Today at www.whatspossible.com/iopt_individual.html. This is a report directed at people with some special knowledge. That is the main reason why this report does not contain any glossary. The report is short. It has less than 30 pages, so it does not contain index. Also, there are no appendixes as all graphs are present in the text. Academic Language There are no particularly defined characteristics of academic language. In fact, features of academic language vary depending on the context, function of discipline, topic, and mode (written versus oral, for example). However, there are some common characteristics that distinguish one form from the other. The use of these forms makes make language sound as something that is well-written, carefully constructed, and professionally edited academic language. I can definitely say that academic language is something that is difficult to comprehend and even harder to produce. (Biber , D., 2006) Style A main feature of academic language can be categorized as conciseness. Traditionally, conciseness is being achieved by avoiding redundancy. These objectives are being achieved in the following way: (1) By using a high density of information-bearing words that ensure precision of expression; (2) By relying on grammatical processes to compress complex ideas into few words (8, 9). Less academic language, on the other hand, is very close to oral language. It means that most sentences begin with pronouns or animate subjects (do they?). As for verbs, many of them refer to actions rather than relations. As for long sentences, these are characterized by sequencing of information rather than embeddings. In Appendix A you will find excerpts that display the difference between a nonacademic text (from the Web site www.lowrider.com) and an academic text (from the Web site www.tutorvista. com). The differences between academic and non-academic language can be traced by comparing two texts. One text actively uses academic language while other does not use academic language. The differences between formal and non-formal language are exemplified when comparing these two different texts. The first one is written in general, informal, non-academic English. This text contains a lot of expressive, involved, inter- personal stance markers. In the first Lowrider posting (“…guys get caught up…,”“I frequently get asked…,”“Most of us…,”) and in the response (“Jason you are right”). After reading both articles it becomes clear that both are intended to inform the reader about certain kind of event. However, compared to the second article the first article uses personal authoritative voice rather than the impersonal authoritative voice that is characteristic of academic language. The author of the first article claims implies that he has the right to provide information about certain kind of issue without making reference to other authorities. The first author claims that providing information about the advantage of torque over horsepower adjustments is something that should be made on the basis of personal experience. When reading the second article carefully we can see that it is written in the scientist authoritative stance. When analyzing the second text we can see that the author is putting the main emphasis on a shared epistemology rather than on his belonging to a certain community. The given stance is expressed through a reduced use of personal pronouns. Also, certain reference is done to epistemically warranted evaluations. These are “rigorous study” and “questionable analysis”. These issues exist altogether with personally expressive evaluation. These evaluations are “great study” and “funky analysis”. The other important feature is author’s accent on general rather than specific claims. One should not forget that the author also maintains the impersonal authoritative stance. Close adherence to this stance helps author to create a distanced tone. This tone is often puzzling to adolescent readers. The tone is also extremely difficult to emulate in writing. Perhaps the simplest was to compare these texts is to consider the words that are used in text to accentuate some of the most important meanings present in the text. The list of the rarest (rare in what way?) words used in the Lowrider includes some special terms. One of these terms is the term “lolo” and its alternative form. “lowrider,”“upgrade,”“carb,”“HP,”“ex- haust,”“spin,” and “torque.” These are the list of words which are regularly used in the academic language of physics. These words are also frequently used across academic texts of different disciplines. These words also appear in the passage related to the text. The second text also contains some rare? technical words. These words are “magnitude,” “perpendicular,”“lever,”“pivot,”“hinge,”“fulcrum,” and “torque.” In addition to this, the text frequently uses the academic words “task,”“maximum,”“significance,” and “illustration.” (Cho, K.S., & S. Krashen, S., 1994) Vocabulary The difference in word selection reflects the convention in the more academic text. The main essence of academic text is that it presents information in a dense, concise and accurate manner. Nominalizations are a grammatical process. In the course of this process entire sentences are converted into single words (and give an example here as well). Nominalizations are crucial to building concise text and presenting this text in the form of academic language. We can find this point when we will analyze a sentence present in TutorVista article. “We may increase the turning effect of the force by changing the point of application of force and by changing the direction of force,” “application” and “direction” are nominalizations representing entire propositions. (Boice, R. , 1982) “Application” is shorthand for “where we apply”. He same thing can be told about “direction”. In fact, direction is shorthand for “how we direct.” It means that even though these two sentences have the same apparent structures they are used for different styles. Academic style usually uses nouns like “increase” or “industrialization”. These words are themselves actions that have been turned into nouns. When combined together they add to the complexity of academic language. This complexity derives from the fact that people are using reduced syntactic structures. These structures are used when we are talking about agents and actions or about some entities and relations. None in the case seems to recognize the challenge that that transition poses to the reader – which is? The main feature of vocabulary used for this kind of assignments is that it recognizes the use of some words as particularly important process for reader. An important feature of academic style is that it extensively uses terms which are being used in technical and precise ways. In order to understand professional literature you need to understand the meaning of particular words in the relevant contexts. These words use precision and reference in order to help people understand more clearly important things and notions. The main purpose why these words are used is to talk about science in a very direct and straightforward way. It means that in order to understand scientific vocabulary one needs to acquire academic vocabulary as well as strong comprehension skills needed to understand text and meaning of this text. Grammar Grammar of academic language has a lot of specific features. The first feature is the use of conjunctions. These are “when”, “by”, “however”, “if” and etc. These conjunctions are used with one single objective – to add coherence to the text and to shape its meaning. The piece of text showed below will give you an idea of what hind of coherence is achieved with the help of conjunctions: “By understanding our strategic style(s) we are better equipped to increase our personal productivity and interactions with co-workers, family and friends. The following sections describe some of the ways this knowledge might be used for your benefit.” (Appendix B) Analysis of my own language style In the course of my research it has been proved that the main feature of academic language are grammatical embeddings, sophisticated and abstract vocabulary, precision of word choice, and use of nominalizations. These things are used to refer to complex processes. All these processes help to present rather complicated ideas in efficient ways. The point of academic language is that it is precise and unambiguous. It should be accurate, objective, non-anecdotal, referenced and present an argument logically, clearly and convincingly. “Non-academic” language, as in your first extract, should also be accurate of course, but can be more subjective, anecdotal (this is actually very common especially if someone is describing how they themselves fixed a problem), does not need to be referenced (as you pointed out) and need not necessarily be providing an argument or anything empirical. The use of person is important, informal articles often use “you” or “I” which is unusual in academic texts unless they are didactic, and there can be an increased use of passive voice (eg it was seen that …) rather then “I saw that … “) . Informal articles can use informal language, eg. “alarming ease” and the use of exclamation marks. In the course of my research I have found out that the best ways to approach academic style of language is to make your language more precise, structured. The first thing I do at this point is being specific. In appendix C you can see example of my own writing. In appendix C you can find two samples of my works: essay #1 and essay #2. Essay #1 is an essay about International Capital Market (ICM) Brokers. While reading through this passage you will see that I am trying to present my reader with a very coherent text. I try to be very structural and to give specific information to the reader. After analyzing acidic samples I have clearly understood that the main feature of academic writing is its clarity. So I try to be clear and precise while writing my arguments. On grammatical level, I try to use conjunctions and sentence structures which help to achieve better coherence. Phrases like “with”, “overtime”, “in the course” and etc. I am also using proper referencing. My referencing style depending on what particular style is required in my essay. Complex grammatical structures are also present in my papers. “When instituted, NATO was at a distinct disadvantage in the number of army divisions it could muster to oppose any Soviet expansion.” Conclusion In the course of this research I have analyzed language across the 3 genres. These genres include: vocabulary, grammar, style and treatment of evidence. I the course of this research I have compiled different kinds of text that exemplified professional, general, and academic language. These samples were compared with my own use of language. I compared these texts from the point of vocabulary, grammar, style and treatment of evidence. My research proved that there are significant differences between professional and specialized language. These differences exist on the level of grammar, vocabulary, style and referencing. After identifying the key differences that single out academic style from other styles I showed reader how these knowledge can be applied in practice. Bibliograhy: Biber , D. (2006). University language: A corpus-based study of spoken and written registers. New York: John Benjamins Boice, R. (1982). Increasing the writing productivity of ‘blocked’ academicians. Behavioral Research Therapy, 20, 197-207. Cho, K.S., & S. Krashen, S. (1994). Acquisition of vocabulary from the Sweet Valley Kids series. Journal of Reading, 37, 662-667. Cho, K.S., & Krashen, S. (1995). From Sweet Valley Kids to Harlequins in one year . California English, 1(1), 18-19. Cummins, J. (1979) Cognitive/academic language proficiency , linguistic interdependence, the optimum age question and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 121-129. Krashen, S. (2004a). The Power of reading. (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann and Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. Smith, F . (1983). Essays into literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Appendix A Text 1. “Often times guys get caught up in in the situation when they do not know how to use HP motor in their lolo. I frequently get asked what to do in situations like these. It rather difficult to find an answer to these questions without the involvement of professionals and advice that is prepared by professionals. The best way to find an answer to this question is to get big numbers out of their small block. The answer to the impending challenge is not HP, but torque. "You sell HP, you feel that you are doing a great thing. Most of people who users are running 155/80/13 tires. These tires are located on their lolos. In case a person has big HP numbers, it will mean that this person will never get the power to get to the ground, at least off the line. I have a 64 Impala SS 409. 64 Impala SS 409 is an important instrument of vehicle. While it is a completely restored original (I drive it rolling on 14" 72 spoke cross laced Zeniths), the motor internals do not have such qualities. Now my vehicle displaces 420 CI. It also has forged pistons and blalanced rotating assembly. The intake, carb and exhaust are enlisted as the things which remain to be a part of OEM. OEM has a big potential. Because of originality this vehicle has a big potential to reduce the motors potential. Anyway, even if we are talking about the original 2 speed powerglide, it we can se that it spins those tires with alarming ease. The usual speed is up to 50 miles per hour! In my 62, I was known to build a nice 383 out of an 86 Corvette. I used the following manner of building this vehicle – I built it for good bottom end pull. Now my vehicle has a lowrider with 8 batteries. A person can ride on the obligitory 13's. Consequently, torque is something what is needed by my car. In this case the car pulls like an ox right from idle. The process lasts till the car will reach its modest 5500 redline. But I never take it that high. In my perception the best power is from 1100 to 2700 RPM. So when considering an engine upgrade, people are strongly advised to look for modifications. These modifications can improve torque. That is what your lolo needs! Posted by Jason Dave, Sept 2009 Jason you are right. I have tried the same with my vehicle. The overall process resulted in better torque placement. The overall process helped to provide better top end performance of the vehicle and to improve gas mileage of my vehicle in expensive gas times. Posted by Gabriel Rodriguez, Nov 2009 Text 2. From http://www.tutorvista.com/content/physics/physics-iii/rigid-body/torque.php Torque is the product of the magnitude of the force and the lever arm of the force. What is the significance of this concept in our everyday life? Dependence of torque on lever arm To increase the turning effect of force, it is not necessary to increase the magnitude of the force itself. We may increase the turning effect of the force by changing the point of application of force and by changing the direction of force. Let us take the case of a heavy door. If a force is applied at a point, which is close to the hinges of the door, we may find it quite difficult to open or close the door. However, if the same force is applied at a point, which is at the maximum distance from hinges, we can easily close or open the door. The task is made easier if the force is applied at right angles to the plane of the door. When we apply the force the door turns on its hinges. Thus a turning effect is produced when we try to open the door. Have you ever tried to do so by applying the force near the hinge? In the first case, we are able to open the door with ease. In the second case, we have to apply much more force to cause the same turning effect. What is the reason? The turning effect produced by a force on a rigid body about a point, pivot or fulcrum is called the moment of a force or torque. It is measured by the product of the force and the perpendicular distance of the pivot from the line of action of the force. Moment of a force = Force x Perpendicular distance of the pivot from the force. The unit of moment of force is newton metre (N m). In the above example, in the first case the perpendicular distance of the line of action of the force from the hinge is much more than that in the second case. Hence, in the second case to open the door, we have to apply greater force. Appendix B Your Strategic Style Distribution Most people have scores and capacities within all four basic strategic styles. The following graph plots your scores on all four basic strategic dimensions. Examining your chart will give you an understanding of how high or low one dimension is relative to the other three. YOUR STRATEGIC STYLE INTERRELATIONSHIPS If one or two of your highest scoring styles are significantly higher than the others, you will find yourself most often responding according to the characteristic preferences and traits associated with the higher rated style(s). However, if your scores are relatively close to each other on this graph, you will probably find yourself responding nearly equally between those styles. What Knowledge of Strategic Styles can mean to you. The “I Opt”™ survey measures the amount and kind of information a person considers before responding to new ideas, issues, goals and/or processes. By understanding our strategic style(s) we are better equipped to increase our personal productivity and interactions with co-workers, family and friends. The following sections describe some of the ways this knowledge might be used for your benefit. Learning and the Relational Innovator The RI—The RI can absorb and combine seemingly unrelated facts into relational, rational theories. This relational capacity of the RI can be employed to maximum advantage if effective use is made of analogies and examples to illustrate points and convey new concepts. However, this relational tendency can also lead the RI to lose concentration on the immediate learning task. This is an exposure because the RI can easily lose concentration on the PART because their tendency is to think of the WHOLE. Involving the RI in interactive group activities can assist them in staying on track while trying out or learning something new. The RI will welcome learning new concepts and will keep an open-mind about new ideas. Teamwork and the Relational Innovator Working with Reactive Stimulators (RS): This can be very invigorating. However, adding a Hypothetical Analyzer or a Logical Processor to this team may be worth considering. These disciplined styles might help to keep them on task rather than leaving them to their own creative imaginings. Working with Logical Processors (LP): The logical processor can help keep the RI focused on practical outcomes. However, the disciplined approach of the LP may contrast with the more spontaneous tendencies of the RI to give rise to some tension. Working with Hypothetical Analyzers (HA): The best chance of a good fit. The HA will appreciate the RI's ideas and can be expected to contribute to their refinement. There is, however, a risk of entering an idea-analysis cycle where projects are not completed because of a need to constantly analyze the stream of new ideas likely to be born out of the interaction. Working with Other Relational Innovators (RI): This is a great brain-storming team that can be valuable when new ideas are needed. However, they can benefit from the input of an LP or HA in tasks requiring disciplined, focused action Appendix C (Essay #1) Introduction International Capital Market (ICM) Brokers is the company which was founded by senior executives from the treasury, information technology, and customer relations departments, as well as major banks and financial institutions. With over a decade in existence the organization has managed to transform from a small brokerage house into a leading financial institution. Overtime the dynamics of trading have undergone many transformations. These very transformations helped company to keep up in business. The main revenue fetching service ICM Brokers is a part of the company’s online trading platform. This money usually go to institutional and retail investors. Trading online usually gives traders a lot of important benefits including trading currencies, commodities, and stocks over the internet. ICM Brokers is registered and headquartered in UAE, Dubai. Additionally, ICM Brokers has affiliated IB’s (Introducing broker) offices in over twenty other countries worldwide. With ever expanding customer base and reliance over self sufficient trading platform the company intends to promote its financial strength for higher customer confidence both locally and internationally. Over time the company has managed to evolve into one of the most technologically sound companies in the world. In the course of its development the company faced a lot of challenges. One of these challenges was a tough competition. Having been placed in the situation when the company had to rival with amongst renowned financial institutions the company faced a strong need to come up with an aggressive marketing plan able to sustain and grow its market share in order to meet its expanding pace. A complete and thorough plan is devised in anticipation to achieve the mentioned objectives. The Corporate Marketing strategy For any financial institution dealing with wealth management of clients it is clear that its success is dependent upon investment grade credit profile of its users. The organization is not likely to succeed unless it will manage to organize a group of investors who are able to invest their capital in safe hands. For this purpose several rating agencies made a radical decision to trace activities of various listed companies. This measure has been taken in order to trace the probable outcome of actions of these companies and to assess the probability of company default. This measure is the main deriving factor for financial institutions which get the right to remain on top of rating covenants. These organizations suffice their customer’s confidence level through their adherent policies of compliance towards regulatory requirements. While developing a marketing plan, careful emphasis should be put on sending a strong financial health signal especially to its overseas clients who are virtually unaware of the company’s financial strength. My research will also show that marketing strong credit rating is a thing that will allow company to build a strong customer confidence. This objective can be reached by reducing the traditional risk measures referred to as 4C’s of credit. These measures can be categorized in the following manner: 1 Capacity. (This is the ability to pay back, measured from Cash available to a company) 2 Collateral. (This acts as a security for depositors) 3 Covenants. (Restrictions on borrowers to do certain risky ventures) 4 Character. (Character history of the management) In relation to our business, capacity is a thing that brings more concerns to customers as any other issue. In common terms, business capacity is the ability of the firm to repay on its obligations when demanded by its creditors. Business capacity is an important characteristic of management and often serves to be the foundation of the sound credit. Business capacity is associated with a whole list of rather important things. One of these things is conformance with high ethical behavior and goodwill. This issue serves to be an important part of business qualification and operating record which is regularly used by management executives. Although ICM’s executives are highly esteemed in the local market, its overseas clients are completely innocent regarding this matter. In this case an entrant has to revise a marketing strategy of organization. This measure will help to serve the growing needs of customers and to improve their satisfaction level. For any marketing plan to be successful and effective one needs to identify, by conducting extensive market research, a strategic positioning of its product which correlates to an effective pricing and placement technique. Essay (2) Russia and NATO Memberhsip Before one can address the participation of Russia in NATO, a clear understanding of what NATO represents is in order. NATO began with the Washington Treaty of April 4, 1949 which was intended to deter any Soviet expansionism. A secondary concern of the NATO Pact was the security of the member states. The idea of NATO is based upon Article 51 of the UN Charter which gives the member nations the right to individual and collective self defense. The three objectives of NATO: 1. to reduce the possibility that Soviet military threats would reduce Western Europe to client status 2. to counter U. S. isolationism, and to co-ordinate the armed forces of the western powers occupying Germany. 3. To provide a safe framework within which Germany might rearm herself. From the very beginning of the organization, the geographical limits of the treaty area have caused many controversies among NATO members. The original membership did not include what later would be called the Warsaw Pact states. In 1997, and with reservations expressed by the Russian Federation, NATO extended to Poland, the Czech Republic and to Hungary the opportunity for membership. As members of this particular forum, the membership would have the right to express their views around the conference table and arrive at decisions that would be beneficial to all concerned. Coordinated strategy and policy would be agreed upon and a course of action would be determined by common consent. It was agreed upon to meet at the ministerial level two times per year in order to have dialogue about anything that was of mutual concern. Summits would be held as circumstances would dictate. Again, this was aimed at keeping the Soviet Union in check during the “Cold War”. Since its beginning in 1949 the organization has faced many challenges and to this date has reconciled major differences. The only cloud that hangs over the organization and its function is the fact the France decided to pull out of the organization because of politics in France. The success of NATO has proven that communication can be realized between a unequal nations, for the benefit of the entire world. When instituted, NATO was at a distinct disadvantage in the number of army divisions it could muster to oppose any Soviet expansion. At that time, the NATO countries could only muster 14 active divisions against the Soviet offering of 175 active divisions. The Korean War then broke out and NATO went to war against a country that was backed by the Soviet Union and sided with China. The world of today is nothing like the world of the Cold War. Many things have changed and will continue to change as more contact is had between what were once advisories. The United States and The Soviet Union are the two most powerful countries in the world and it would seem that much has happened in the near past to bring these two countries together. There is not any logical reason for the Soviet Union to be left out of NATO. When the wall went down in Berlin, the Iron Curtain parted to reveal a people who need the same thing that all peoples need. We all need to have a world at peace where economic considerations can be given to all who would come to the table. This is a time for inclusion and not a time to keep peoples apart. Read More