English for Academic Purposes I (2021) L06 - Understanding Journal Articles

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L06 – Understanding Journal Articles

Before you tackle an assignment, you will probably need to read academic books, journal
articles and other academic texts closely and carefully in order to understand specific
information. You will not have time to read every word in every book or journal. It is
important therefore to learn reading techniques that help you quickly assess material,
decide if it is useful and, if so, which parts need to be read more carefully. It is also useful to
look at the layout and organisation of the text.

In the last lesson, you should have learnt the importance of journal articles in academic
research. How much do you remember?

Task 1
Decide if the following descriptions are True or False.
A journal article………
(i) presents original research findings ( T / F )
(ii) publishes critiques or reviews of existing research (T/F)
(iii) is discipline-specific ( T / F )
(iv) is peer-reviewed ( T / F )
(v) follows academic writing conventions ( T / F )

Journal articles are important because they provide experts within a certain field a forum to
communicate current research and further an area of academic knowledge, often using a
rigorous process called peer review. Peer review is a process by which academic research
and study is subjected to review by a group of other scholars or researchers in that field.

Task 2 – Understanding the structure of a journal article

The following table (p.1 – p.2) shows what might be included in a journal article. Fill in the
blanks to make the description meaningfully complete.

Title
It can give you a c_______________ as to whether the text is relevant for your purpose
and what sort of information you can expect to get from it.

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Abstract
It is usually a single p____________________ at the beginning of a journal article to
summarise the different sections of the text and draws attention to the main conclusions.
It helps you to decide whether or not the text is relevant for your p_______________.

Details about the authors

It can be helpful to know more about the a_______________.

Date / Year of publication

It helps you to decide whether or not the article is up to d_______________.

Introduction
This section come at the beginning and explain the purpose and o____________________
of the article along with any features you should especially notice.

Text
Journal articles are organised into s_______________ that have headings. There are also
s_______________ to help you find your way around the text.

Reference list ( “References” in APA style)

The requirements of a reference list are that all references cited in the text of a paper
must be listed a_______________ly by first author's last name in the list of references
and that all references listed must be cited within the text. Don’t mix it up with
Bibliography, which includes books or journals that have not been specifically referred
to in the text.

Appendix
It contains s____________________ information such as further reading or more data.

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Task 3 – The required reading of this course

You should have already downloaded the PDF version of the required reading “Brief report:
Does exposure to violent video games increase moral disengagement among adolescents?”
Can you find the following details in the article?
/
Title
Details about the authors
Date / Year of publication
Abstract
Introduction
Headings / Subheadings
Reference list
Appendix

Task 4 – The required reading of this course

Answer the following questions by using the required reading.
1. This study investigates the relationship between violent video games and
___________________________________.
2. The authors cited ___________________’s definition of moral disengagement.
3. How many students participated in this study? ______________
4. The authors collected data by means of ____________________.
5. The research findings suggest that playing violent video games may ____________
adolescents’ moral disengagement in real situations.
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Working with abstracts

When carrying out research, you will initially find many sources that appear to be relevant,
and it is difficult to decide which sources to concentrate on. However, by referring to
abstracts first, you will be able to quickly identify the main ideas of a text, and thus to
decide whether the text is relevant to your needs. As with introductions and conclusions,
abstracts have certain typical features.

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Task 5 – Structure of an abstract

Match the parts of an abstract (1-5) to the questions they answer (a-e).

1. background a. What was the purpose of the research?

2. aims b. What were the main findings?
3. approach c. What did the research lead to?
4. results d. What was the context of the work?
5. conclusion e. What were the methods used in the research?

Task 6
Which parts of an abstract do the following sentences belong to?
Parts Sentences
aims 1. The main purpose of the article is to……
2. We employed the following methods……
3. Previous research indicates / has shown that……
4. The findings of the research illustrate how……
5. We tested this hypothesis using the model of……
6. This article has the following goals / objectives……
7. This article examines / studies……
8. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are
discussed……

Task 7
Read the abstract below and write the names of the five abstract parts in the left-hand
column. Underline the phrases which helped you identify them. Does the writer agree that
having more computers at school leads to changes in teaching? ( Yes / No )

1____________ Most policy makers, corporate executives, practitioners, and parents

assume that wiring schools, buying hardware and software, and
distributing the equipment throughout will lead to abundant
classroom use by teachers and students and improved teaching and
2____________ learning. This article examines these assumptions in two high schools
located in the heart of technological progress, Northern California's
3____________ Silicon Valley. Our qualitative methodology included, firstly, interviews
with teachers, students, and administrators, secondly, classroom

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observations, review of school documents, and, finally, surveys of
4____________ both teachers and students in the two high schools. We found that
although teachers used computers for classroom work, access to
equipment and software seldom led to widespread teacher and
student use and most teachers were occasional users or non-users. As
a result, more often their use sustained rather than altered existing
5____________ patterns of teaching practice. We offer two interrelated explanations
for these challenges to the dominant assumptions that guide present
technological policy making. In general, traditions in high schools will
influence the slow revolution in teaching practices.

Task 8 – Language Focus

Find the following words in the above abstract.
1. the verb that is close in meaning to these verbs: to believe, to imagine, to suppose
2. the verb that is opposite in meaning to these verbs: to collect, to gather
3. the verb that is close in meaning to these verbs: to investigate, to study
4. a noun that comes from the verb to assume
5. a pair of verbs, one of which means continued, and the other means changed

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

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Self-learning Task (IELTS Reading)

Task type – Matching headings

This task tests whether you understand the organisation of texts and can identify the main
idea or topic in each section of a text. You will be given a numbered list with headings, as
well as a text divided into sections. The headings will be in the form of short statements
which summarise the information in a section. You will need to read the text sections and
decide which of the headings best fits that section.

Exam tip: You have limited time to take the IELTS exam, so read only what you need to
know in order to do the task. It is a good idea to read the first sentence of a
short paragraph only. In longer paragraphs, read the first and last sentence.
This technique is called 'skim-reading'.

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The following passage has five sections, A – E. Choose the correct heading for sections A – E
from the list of numbered headings (i) – (ix). Follow the steps below.
 In this task, there are more headings than sections, so read the sections first.
 For each section of the passage, read the beginning and the end. Some of the
sentences are long so there is no need to read the whole sentence. Underline some
key words.
 Read the headings next. If they are long, underline some key words.
 You may now already be able to match some of the headings to the sections.
 Look at the remaining sections in more detail to help you match them to the
headings.

List of Headings
i. The science of marriage
ii. The importance of honest communication
iii. The power of thought
iv. The likelihood of marrying again
v. Technological advances
vi. The benefits of avoiding arguments
vii. The real predictor for a lasting marriage
viii. The consequences of early dissatisfaction

Section A [Heading:__________]
Marriage is a much-researched topic, and the way married couples communicate in
particular has been the subject of many studies. These days, research into marriage often
involves hours of recordings, followed by a thorough analysis of data with the help of
modern software applications.

Section B [Heading:__________]
One such study analysed five years' worth of data, obtained from 750 participating couples.
At the start of the study, participants who felt they were in a harmonious relationship
reported having happy marriages. In other words, low levels of conflict corresponded-to a
perceived higher degree of happiness. At the end of the five-year period, however, many of
these couples had separated or had started divorce proceedings. The outcome of this study
suggests that keeping the peace rather than talking about problems and working through
them can have harmful effects on a relationship.

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Section C [Heading:__________]
In a more recent, larger scale study, people were observed over a fifteen-year period. The
researchers recorded the timings of marriages, divorces and remarriages and discovered
patterns that helped them estimate how likely divorce was. If participants admitted the
possibility of divorce to themselves during the first year of the study, the probability of it
actually happening was ten times greater than for those couples who had not thought about
it at all. Clearly, once the idea of divorce is in somebody's mind, they are more likely to act
on it.

Section D [Heading:__________]
Yet another piece of research confirms that the way men and women feel at the beginning
of their marriage makes a difference to its eventual outcome. Those who feel disappointed,
perhaps because marriage itself is different from their expectations, or because their
lifestyle is not what they had envisaged, are more likely to divorce.

Section E [Heading:__________]
Having said that, relationships are complex and their development is the result of many
different influences. The end of a marriage is unlikely to be brought about by one particular
factor, and is more probably the result of a combination of small incidents that add up over
time. It is also worth bearing in mind that in most countries it is the minority of marriages
that fail. No one can truthfully claim that their marriage is happy or perfect all the time, but
the fact remains that most married people stay together for life. The secret of a happy
marriage, it seems, lies where most people have always thought it does: in the effort made
on a daily basis by both partners to treat each other with consideration and courtesy, and to
cheerfully accept each other's faults as well as their good qualities.

Acknowledgement
Material in this lecture handout is adapted from:
British Council. (2014). English for academics. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Gabbiadini, A., Andrighetto, L., & Volpato, C. (2012). Brief report: Does exposure to violent video games increase moral
disengagement among adolescents? Journal of Adolescence, 35(5), 1403-1406.
Gillet, A., Hammond, A., & Martala, M. (2009). Successful academic writing. New York, NY: Pearson Education.
McCormack, J., & Slaght, J. (2012). English for academic study: Extended writing & research skills course book. Reading,
England: Garnet Publishing Ltd.
Van Geyte, E. (2011). Reading for IELTS. London: HarperCollins Publishers.