PHƯƠNG PHÁP NGHIÊN CỨU VÀ KỸ NĂNG

VIẾT HỌC THUẬT

(RESEARCH METHOD AND ACADEMIC WRITING SKILL)

CHAPTER 5

FUNDAMENTAL OF WRITING SKILL

FOR ACADEMIC PROJECTS
(KHÁI QUÁT KỸ NĂNG VIẾT CÁC SẢN PHẨM HỌC THUẬT)

1
 CONTENT
(NỘI DUNG)

1. Introduction of Academic Writing

(Giới thiệu về viết học thuật)

2. Process of Academic Writing

(Kỹ năng viết học thuật)

2
 Warm-up Activity (Câu hỏi thảo luận nhóm)

DISCUSS IN GROUPS:
1. Do you like writing in your native language? What do you usually write
about?
2. What is your most unforgettable writing experience in either language?
3. What areas of writing are easy for you? What areas are challenging?
4. How do you like writing in English? When do you write in English?
5. What makes good writing in your native language? In English?
6. What are the purposes of writing?
7. What do you think academic writing is?
8. What expectations do you have when you study a academic writing
course?
 INTRODUCTION OF ACADEMIC WRITING (GIỚI THIỆU CHUNG)

• Academic writing is part of a complex process

of finding, analyzing and evaluating information,
planning, structuring, editing and proofreading
your work, and reflecting on feedback that
underpins written assessment at university.
• Academic writing-related skills can help you
succeed in the workplace. Employers are often
looking for candidates who can communicate
ideas clearly and concisely and with confidence.
Learning how to write academically as a student
can help you develop some of these skills.

4
 Find out the
(1)
similarities and
differences Academic writing are the traits taught while writing essays
between those for college or university that can be useful in the workplace.
definitions of Academic writing involves communicating ideas clearly and
concisely and conveying arguments in a logical and
‘Academic
convincing manner. The skills used in this kind of writing
Writing’. are transferable to a range of workplace tasks, so many
employers look for these skills in candidates (Indeed UK,
2024).

(2)
Academic writing is writing which communicates ideas, information and
research to the wider academic community. It can be divided into 2 types:
(i) student academic writing, which is used as a form of assessment at
university as preparation for study; and (ii) expert academic writing, which
is writing that is intended for publication in an academic journal or book.
Both types of academic writing (student & expert) are expected to adhere
to same standards (EAP Foundation, 2024). 5
 ROLES OF ACADEMIC WRITING

▪ Students, professors, and researchers in

every discipline use academic writing to
convey ideas, make arguments, and
engage in scholarly conversation.
▪ Academic writing is characterized by
evidence-based arguments, precise word
choice, logical organization.

6
Class Activities (Câu hỏi thảo luận nhóm)

Find out the some

similarities and differences
between “Academic
Writing” and “other writing
contexts” or others.
 SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
ACADEMIC WRITING & OTHER WRITING CONTEXTS

o personal judgments and • Refers to all formal

evaluations/ personal stories written pieces based
and reflections on reliable data.
o measured by your feelings & Interpersonal/ o the text should have
intrapersonal
thoughts writings Academic
a well-organized
writing
o can be written down structure:
immediately and introduction, body,
spontaneously without Write words out in full and conclusion
organization or planning rather than
shortening them.
o cite the published
o no need to follow an
Instead of writing works you consulted
organized structure or “can’t don't” or “isn't”
development of the text, be you are expected to o be formal and follow
formal, or adhere to the rules write “cannot, do not” rules of punctuation
or “is not” and grammar
of punctuation & grammar 8
ACADEMIC WRITING…

• It is a concise, focused and well structured writing. (Là một bài viết cô đọng,
tập trung và có cấu trúc tốt)
• Its evidence is in a form of references which support what is written to propose
theories and ideas. (tài liệu tham khảo là bằng chứng hỗ trợ những lý thuyết
và ý tưởng được viết)
• It has a clear on focus the research problem under investigation (có sự tập
trung rõ ràng vào vấn đề nghiên cứu)
• The first step to writing academically is to clearly define the purpose of
writing and audience. (Bước đầu tiên để viết một cách học thuật là xác định rõ
ràng mục đích của bài viết và người đọc)
9
 CHARACTERISTICS OF ACADEMIC WRITING
Clear and limited focus Logical structure
The argument or Academic writing follows a logical, straightforward structure.
research question (the • The introduction provides background information, lays
focus of an academic out the scope and direction of essay, and states the thesis
paper) is established or argument.
early by the thesis
statement. • The body paragraphs support the thesis statement, with
each body paragraph elaborating on one supporting point.
Every paragraph and
sentence of paper • The conclusion refers back to the thesis, summarizes the
connects back to that main points, and highlights the implications of the paper’s
primary focus. findings. Each sentence and paragraph logically connects
to the next in order to present a clear argument.

10
1. Introduction
This research focuses on pension policies in Vietnam. Specifically, it
studies whether the pension policies have taken into account concerns
and expectations of their important stakeholders: the old-aged in Vietnam.
Motivation for this research is a concern about socio-economic conditions
of the old-aged. There is a modest proportion of the population
participating in Vietnam’s pension programs. At the same time, the
likelihood of being taken care of by family members when getting old is
becoming less common. Therefore, many people are vulnerable to
poverty when getting older.
There have been many reforms in pension policies in Vietnam since 1995
to increase participation in the pension program …. 11
 CHARACTERISTICS OF ACADEMIC WRITING

Critical (đánh giá giá trị của bài đọc) Evidence-based

arguments
As an academic writer, you should not simply
accept everything you read as fact. Statements must be
supported by evidence,
You need to analyze and evaluate information
whether from
you are writing about, in other words make
judgements about it, before you decide whether -scholarly sources (as in a
and how to integrate it into your own writing. research paper),
This is known as critical writing - requires a -results of a study or
great deal of research in order for the writer to experiment, or
develop a deep enough understanding of the
topic to be truly critical about it. The use of evidence gives
credibility to an argument.
12
 Do you think these are characteristics of Academic Writing?
Explain your ideas.

1. Wordiness.
2. A vague or missing thesis statement.
3. Informal language.
4. Description without analysis.
5. Not citing sources.

13
 COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID IN ACADEMIC WRITING
1. Wordiness. If you find yourself writing a sentence over 25 words long,
try to divide it into two or three separate sentences for improved
readability.
2. A vague or missing thesis statement. Your thesis statement must be
clear. Each body paragraph needs to tie into that thesis statement.
3. Informal language. Academic writing should not include slang or
conversational language.
4. Description without analysis. Do not simply repeat your source
materials. Rather, analyze how the materials relate to your point.
5. Not citing sources. Any ideas that are not your own need to be cited.
Find academic information from reliable resources (journals, books,
conference proceedings).
14
 Nhận xét về các đoạn viết sau trong 1 khóa luận
Theo VAS 02 - Hàng tồn kho, giá trị hàng tồn kho được xác định: “Hàng
tồn kho tính theo giá gốc. Trường hợp giá trị thuần có thể thực hiện được
thấp hơn giá gốc thì phải tính theo giá trị thuần có thể thực hiện được”.
…
Hàng hóa mua vào ở thời điểm khác nhau sẽ có giá gốc khác nhau. Tùy vào
công tác quản lý kho và tính chất hàng hóa, mỗi doanh nghiệp có thể sử
dụng phương pháp khác nhau để tính giá trị hàng tồn kho và giá trị hàng
xuất kho để dùng hay để bán.
Theo quy định hiện hành, có ba phương pháp xác định giá trị hàng tồn kho:
1. Phương pháp tính theo giá đích danh;
2. Phương pháp nhập trước, xuất trước (FIFO); 15

3. Phương pháp bình quân gia quyền.

Nhận xét về đoạn viết

Tổ chức công tác kế toán trong doanh nghiệp là quá trình xác định và
phân chia các nhiệm vụ kế toán, đồng thời phối hợp với các phòng ban
khác để thực hiện các công việc liên quan. Mục đích là tạo ra một hệ
thống kế toán toàn diện, đáp ứng hiệu quả các yêu cầu và mục tiêu của
doanh nghiệp. (Giáo trình Tổ chức công tác kế toán trong doanh nghiệp
trong điều kiện tin học hóa, Đại học Kinh tế Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh).

16
 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS OF ACADEMIC WRITING

Arrange your points in Write in structured paragraphs

logical order
• Think about what the • Have a clear idea of what you want to
reader needs to say. From the 1st or 2nd sentence
know. make your point clear.
• Create a list of your • The rest of paragraph should explain
main points. point/theme in detail and provide
evidence/references. Evidence can be
data, facts, quotations, arguments,
statistics, research and theories.
A traumatic response frequently entails a “delayed, uncontrolled
repetitive appearance of hallucinations and other intrusive
phenomena” (Caruth, 1996, p.11). 17
 DISSERTATIONS AND JOURNAL ARTICLES
MAY HAVE:
 LONGER ESSAYS MAY ❑ABSTRACT (TÓM TẮT)
SHORT ESSAYS INCLUDE: ❑LIST OF CONTENTS (MỤC LỤC)
(INCLUDING EXAM ❑LIST OF TABLES (DANH MỤC BẢNG BIỂU)
 Introduction
ANSWERS) ❑INTRODUCTION
GENERALLY HAVE  Main body
❑MAIN BODY
THIS PATTERN: ◼ Literature review
oLITERATURE REVIEW (CÁC NGHIÊN
❑INTRODUCTIO ◼ Case CỨU TRƯỚC)
N study/Method o CASE STUDY/METHOD
❑MAIN BODY ◼ Discussion o FINDINGS
❑CONCLUSION  Conclusion o DISCUSSION
❑CONCLUSION
 References (TLTK)
❑ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (LỜI CẢM ƠN)
 Appendices (phụ lục)
❑REFERENCES
18
❑APPENDICES
Find the words in your understandings that match the following definitions.
1. ABSTRACT
2. LIST OF CONTENTS
3. LIST OF TABLES
4. INTRODUCTION
5. MAIN BODY
a. LITERATURE
REVIEW
b. CASE
STUDY/METHOD
c. FINDINGS
d. DISCUSSION
6. CONCLUSION
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
8. REFERENCES
9. APPENDICES
The Process of Academic Writing
 ACADEMIC WRITING PROCESS
1. Decide on what you want to study: The 1st step involves choosing a
subject, and narrow down to formulate your topic. Understand purpose and
audience of your proposed work.
2. Collect information or expert sources: The 2nd step is to identify sources of
information, take down notes and prepare a working bibliography.
3. Prepare a frame work or structure to work on: The 3rd step comprises
finalizing the basic premises, key points, the organizational pattern of work
and grouping of points for paragraphs.
4. Start writing: Drafting.
5. Edit and revise: going through the draft to ensure consistencies. Language
errors and use of taboo/informal/ discriminatory words & expression are to be
checked.
6. Prepare the final draft & submit: It is always better to keep a checklist to
21
verify if anything important is left out, before submitting.
Organizing Sentences and Paragraphs

22
 Sentences

⚫ Objectives of sentences: To create shorter sentences

and increase readability.
⚫ Writing clearly generally involves writing short sentences.
But there are exceptions.
Nhận xét về đoạn viết sau
 Paragraphs

❑ Have a clear idea of what you want to say.

❑A paragraph should communicate one main idea. All of the
sentences in the paragraph relate to the main idea. This is called
a unified paragraph. A unified paragraph focuses on one
central idea.
 Paragraphs

In academic writing, a paragraph usually consists of five

until ten sentences long.
⚫ Paragraph structure
Topic Sentence: It is usually the first
sentence in a paragraph.
Supporting Sentences: They
support the information of the topic
sentence. It includes specific details
Concluding Sentence: It reminds
what topic sentence was about, or
emphasize the importance of the main
idea
Source: Zemach, Dorothy E & Rumisek, Lisa A. (2005). Academic Writing from Paragraph to Essay. Macmillan Education: Oxford.
 Multiple choice questions – Topic sentence

Choose the best topic sentence for each group of supporting

sentences. Write it on the line provided.

1. ________________________. I usually go skiing every weekend in

the winter even though it is expensive. I love the feeling of flying down a
mountain. The views are beautiful from the top of a mountain and along
the trails. Even the danger of falling and getting hurt can’t keep me
away from the slopes on a winter day.
⚫ a) Skiing is expensive.
⚫ b) Skiing is my favorite sport.
⚫ c) Skiing is dangerous.
2. ________________________. North Americans send cards for
many occasions. They send cards to family and friends on birthdays
and holidays. They also send thank-you cards, get well cards,
graduation cards, and congratulation cards. It is very common to buy
cards in stores and send them through the mail, but turning on the
computer and sending cards over the Internet is also popular.
⚫ a) Sending cards is very popular in North America.
⚫ b) Birthday cards are the most popular kind of card.
⚫ c) It is important to send thank-you cards.
3. ________________________. For example, a person can have
breakfast in New York, board an airplane, and have dinner in Paris. A
businesswoman in London can instantly place an order with a factory
in Hong Kong by sending a fax. Furthermore, a schoolboy in Tokyo
can turn on a TV and watch a baseball game being played in Los
Angeles.
⚫ c) The fax machine was an important invention.
⚫ a) Airplanes have changed our lives.
⚫ b) Advances in technology have made the world seem smaller.
4. ________________________. I enjoy summer sports like water
skiing and baseball. The weather is usually sunny and hot, so I can go
to the beach almost every day. Gardening is my hobby and I spend
many summer days working in my garden. Unfortunately, the days pass
too quickly in summer.
⚫ a) I like to garden in summer.
⚫ b) Summer is my favourite season.
⚫ c) Summer is to short.
5. _______________________ . First of all, we need money to repair
old roads and build new roads. We also need more to pay teachers’
salaries and to pay for services such as trash collection. Finally, more
tax money is needed to give financial help to the poor citizens of the
city. It is clear that the city will have serious problems if taxes are not
raised soon.
⚫ a) We should raise city taxes.
⚫ b) City taxes are too high.
⚫ c) City taxes pay for new roads.
6. _______________________ . One thing you must consider is the
quality of the university’s educational program. You also need to think
about the school’s size and location. Finally, you must be sure to
consider the university’s tuition to make sure you can afford to go to
school there.
⚫ a) It is expensive to attend a university in the United States.
⚫ b) There are several factors to consider when you choose a
university to attend.
⚫ c) You should consider getting a good education.
 Exercise. Cause and Effect

⚫ Link the below causes and effects together using the below
expression.

For this reason – as a result – consequently - therefore

1. The alarm was not set – we were late for work

2. The ocean is extremely polluted- coral reefs die
3. The meal was cheap – we ordered dessert
4. The electricity went out for most of the day - the ice cream
in the freezer melted.
 Example. Cause and Effect Essay. How can you edit this writing?
Smoking is one of the most common social problems nowadays. It starts as a way of having
fun but leads to an addiction. Today, we often hear of smoking among teenagers. This essay
aims to highlight the main causes and effects of smoking.
There are many causes and effects behind the problem of smoking among people. To start
with, most people start smoking because they just want to try then it becomes a bad habit!
which is difficult to quit. As a result, after smoking for a while, the smoker would suffer from
breathing problems such as asthma, heart diseases, high blood pressure, sleeping difficulties,
and find difficulty to practice any type of sport.
Another important effect of smoking is that it causes a lot of anger for the smokers, especially
when they lack cigarettes. This problem has an effect on their social life in addition to their
health since anger does affect health. Moreover, some people smoke because they think a
cigarette would relieve stress which is a false belief. Another effect is that smoking causes
lung cancer which has no cure and often leads to serious health issues. Finally, many people
start smoking during their early teens, due to peer pressure and acceptance. One of the
effects of smoking is that it can easily make a body weak and cause a slow and steady
death.
To Sum up, smoking is dangerous. Schools, families and the community should work together
to stop smoking among teenagers. Achieving that means having a healthier society.
Summarizing (tóm lược) and Paraphrasing (diễn giải)

35
 Summarizing

Summarizing is defined as “a brief restatement of an author's words that conveys only

the author's main point(s)” (Duke University, n.d). Summarizing is frequently used to
abbreviate a larger piece of text; therefore, summarizing is also called writing a
summary of main concepts.
Tóm lược là diễn tả lại ý tưởng chính của đoạn văn gốc bằng một đoạn văn rất cô
đọng và rất chung chung, mà không hẳn dùng lại những chữ của tác giả gốc.
HAVE YOU EVER SUMMARIZE?
Thực hành
⚫ Viết một đoạn văn để tóm tắt về nội dung chương kế
toán tiền và khoản phải thu đã học trong môn KTTC
căn bản.
 Summarizing
You summarize every time you tell friends about an experience, a book you read, a
story you heard or a movie you saw.
▪ You can't tell everything, so you tell what's most important: the main idea(s) and
a few details.
* SUMMERIZING – for students
⚫ …helps you learn to determine essential ideas and consolidate important details
that support them.
⚫ …enables you to focus on key words and phrases of an assigned text that are worth
noting and remembering.
⚫ …teaches you how to take a large selection of text and reduce it to the main points
for more concise understanding.
 Summarizing
⚫ When you summarize in academic writing, you should
⚫ Avoid using too many sentences from the original text.
⚫ If words and phrases of original author are to be used, they should be
“quoted”.
 Nhận xét về phần viết tóm tắt sau:

Tài liệu tham khảo

Thực hành.
⚫ Tạo một đám mây từ vựng chính hoặc bản đồ tư
duy với thông tin chính (Read the text below and
create a word cloud or a mind map with the key
information)

Computers have become a necessity for both small and large

businesses today. It takes a computer less than a second to retrieve
information that takes a person several hours to obtain. It is for this
reason that banks, airlines, and fast food restaurants rely so heavily
on them. In addition, computers can store large amounts of data in a
relatively small space. Because of this, offices need less storage
space equipment such as file cabinets and supply store rooms.
Thực hành.

Which of the following writing skills regarding summarizing is

incorrect?
a. Summarizing can be used to shorten longer passages of text, such as
an entire chapter or book.
b.A summarized version is longer than the original and explains the
original text in more sentences.
c. A summarized version is more concise than the original.
d.Like “in a nutshell,” summarizing is to express a great deal of the
original content in a few words.
Thực hành.

Which of the following sentences in an academic writing uses “summarizing”?

a. According to Wang (2006), learners who engage in cultural exchange with
foreigners through the Internet can explore the world and develop more
favorable attitudes toward other cultures.
b. Teacher who was interviewed in this study shared the same opinions. “I believe
Internet is convenient and can help reduce cultural disparities among students of
different nationalities, which is a good sign. I believe more and more people will
utilize Internet for learning in the future.” (Teacher 1)
c. None above use summarizing skill.
d. Both use summarizing skill.
 Paraphrasing
• A paraphrase must include your own words and make sense.
⚫ “Diễn giải là một cách viết lại đoạn văn gốc của người
khác với chữ của mình (nhưng ý tưởng thì vẫn mượn của
tác giả khác) và nhất định phải ghi nguồn”. (Nguyen, 2013,
p. 179)
⚫ “Đọc đi đọc lại đoạn văn gốc cho đến khi hiểu đầy đủ ý
nghĩa của đoạn văn, sau đó đặt đoạn văn gốc qua một
bên, và viết lại đoạn văn với từ và cách trình bày của
chính mình” (Nguyen, 2013, p. 180)
 Paraphrasing

Why paraphrase?
⚫ To avoid plagiarism.
⚫ When we paraphrase…
i. we demonstrate our comprehension.
ii. we enhance our understanding by putting it in our own
words.
⚫ If you can explain something in your own words, then you
have a good understanding of a topic.
Thực hành.
Please read the following sentence and determine which of the
sentences below is the best paraphrase:
"College students often struggle with financing their education”.
❑ Paraphrase 1: College students frequently have a hard time paying
for their schooling.
❑ Paraphrase 2: Financing their education is often a struggle for
college students.
❑ Paraphrase3: Obtaining financial assistance is a necessity for
many undergraduates.
 ⚫ How to paraphase? “5R”

Reference
Reword * Use
reference
Reflect * Reword transitions: Review
* Choose all major Restructure “According
vocabular * Check
the * Change the to...”;
y words: your
informatio
Synonyms structure “As seen in...” paraphrase
n from the
* Use your * Use with the
passage * Use your
grammar Citations original
you want language:
(Author, Year) passage.
to use “Your
Voice” and a
Reference
Page
Which of the following belong to each of the 5R (Reflect, Reword, Restructure,
Reference, Review)?
1. Find different ways of expressing the information in the groups of words
(phrases).
2. Check your version against the original to make sure you express the essential
information accurately.
3. Use quotation marks to indicate any phrase or concept you borrowed from
the original.
4. Rewrite sentences. Simplify the sentence structure and the vocabulary
without changing the meaning.
5. Read the original text until you understand its meaning fully. Underline, or
note, any important subject-specific words.
6. Record the source, with its page number, so that you can easily indicate it if
you need to incorporate it later into an essay.
7. Look up any difficult words and find synonyms for them.
 Revision. “What is the difference between…”

SUMMARIZING PARAPHRASING
Summarizing involves putting the Paraphrasing involves putting a
main idea(s) into your own words, passage from source material into
including only the main point(s). It your own words. A paraphrase
is necessary to attribute must also be attributed to the
summarized ideas to the original original source.
source. Paraphrased material is usually
Summaries are significantly shorter than the original passage,
shorter than the original. condensing it slightly.
summarize = make notes paraphrase = synthesise
 Summarizing or Paraphrasing?
Thực hành: Đánh dấu chéo vào phương án bạn chọn.
Use when… Paraphra Summari
sing sing
Providing a brief overview of a text, e.g. a book, in one
sentence or in several paragraphs, depending on your
writing situation and audience
Using your own words is…
Using about the same number of words to convey the
meaning of the original source is…
You should include an in-text citation and reference when
you are…
 Vocabulary

* What is the importance of vocabulary?

⚫ “Because each new word has to be studied and
⚫ “Vocabulary is the best learned on its own, the larger your vocabulary
single indicator of becomes, the easier it will be to connect a new
intellectual ability and an word with words you already know, and thus
accurate predictor of remember its meaning. So your learning speed,
success at school.” or pace, should increase as your vocabulary
W. B. Elley grows.” Johnson O’Connor
⚫ Vocabulary size is a ‘convenient proxy’ for a whole range of
educational attainments and abilities – not just skill in reading, writing,
listening and speaking, but also general knowledge of science, history
and the arts.
A wealth of words, by E. D Hirsch Jr
Punctuation

52
 Abbreviations
⚫ Abbreviations: are an important and expanding feature of
contemporary English, widely used for convenience and space-
saving. Students need to be familiar with general and academic
abbreviations.
⚫ many standard abbreviations have a full stop after them to show that it is
a shortened form
• lt. = litre
• govt. (government)
• co. (company)
• Oct. (October)
⚫ no standard pattern for using full stops, so both BBC & B.B.C. are used.
The important thing is to employ a consistent style in your work.
 Abbreviations

⚫ Abbreviations can be confusing. ⚫ Some types of Abbreviations

❑ PC, for example, may stand for ‘personal
computer’ but also ‘politically correct’ or
Acronyms: initial letters of a name
something else. or phrase (e.g. AIDS = Acquired
⚫ It is useful to be aware of these potential
Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
confusions. They are pronounced as words.
⚫ A good dictionary should be used to Other abbreviations: names of
understand more unusual abbreviations. countries, organisations and
companies (USA/ BBC/ IBM), and
also abbreviations that are only
found in written English (e.g.
PTO).
Abbreviations
TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS

EU European Union
HRM human resource management
ICT information and communications technology
IMF International Monetary Fund
PLC public limited company
PR public relations
UN United Nations
VC Vice-Chancellor
WTO World Trade Organisation