ENGL 214

Academic & Professional

Communication

Major Project Overview:

Final Report

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 1

Aims
• To provide an overview of the report
writing process
• To discuss finding and focusing a topic
• To learn how to do a preliminary resource
search
• To consider writing for a specific audience

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Homework: in-
class activity
• In small groups of 3 or 4, present
the country of interest that you
researched on the CIA World
Factbook website.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 3

 By export 4

Thinking
Ahead
Which region of Africa will you focus
your research paper on?

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Report
• Professional-looking report
RT • 1,600–1,900 words
REPO
• Six sources minimum
• In the student’s major &
linked to the theme
• APA 7 referencing

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Report:

20% 20%
15% 15%
15% 15%

PRE- FINAL MIDTERM JOB ORAL FINAL

REPORT REPORT EXAM SKILLS PRESENTATION EXAM

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Report:

20% 50%
15%
15% • The report is a priority in this
course.
• The pre-report, final report, and
presentation are worth a cumulative
of half of the course grade.
• If you are going to screw something
up, do it with another assessment.
PRE- FINAL ORAL
REPORT REPORT PRESENTATION

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Report topic
• Choose a title / topic which has elements of both your major, and the theme.
major theme

Ex. Mechanical Engineering Ex. Health

Title:
“Reducing respiratory problems caused by air conditioning
systems”
ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL
Report type options:
• In ENGL 214, a simple descriptive report is not allowed.
• Instead, you should attempt to …

… address a problem … argue for or

(problems, solutions, against a point of
recommendations); view.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

 The report writing process
Week 1,2 Weeks 3,4 Weeks 5,6,7 Week 8

Is the yes
Select topic Source evaluations Submit to
proposal no
approved? Turnitin
Modify proposal
Is topic too
general? Write finalized
Submit copy of first
Submit Progress report
yes
Proposal draft
Narrow
topic no

Write 2-3 level outline

Purpose Take notes Revise and
statement edit:
content,
Get more
yes Write first draft - body paragraph organization, style
Write 2 level focus (in class) check spelling,
outline sources punctuation,
no
grammar
Write introduction, conclusion,
Are the sources
Find sources recommendations, title page,
good enough?
table of contents and references
page (on your own time)

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Pre-Report: (20%)
• First draft (10%): drafts conducted in class. Complete
first draft submitted to the instructor via
Turnitin/Blackboard.
• Library and Internet research skills; audience
analysis; finding, narrowing and focusing a topic;
note taking; outlining; quotation; APA references
and documentation; source evaluations.
• Progress report (8%)
• Background; thesis statement; working
bibliography; preliminary two-level outline;
schedule of tasks to be completed.
• Report title (+/–2%)
• Generating, honing, and revising a suitable topic for
the final report; one that is relevant to both the
student’s major, and the course theme

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Report: Final Report (15%)
• Final revised & edited draft
(15%): submitted through
Turnitin via Blackboard.
• 2 Turnitin assignments should
be created on Blackboard:
• 1 for Ss to self-check their drafts
• 1 for final submission

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Narrow the area of research

• “Mechanical Engineering” is a very broad topic, as is “Health”

• Narrow your investigation to one area of your major, and one area of the theme.

Respiratory problems

Mechanical
Engineering

Health
Air-conditioning systems

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Focus the narrowed topic by …

… addressing a problem (effects, … arguing for or against a … focusing on a particular city

recommendations); point of view. or region.

The United Kingdom

Electrical
Engineering
European
Union
Electronic waste

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Title length
Mechanical Engineering and Health
• Too broad. This would need thousands of words to cover properly.

Air Conditioning and Health

• Still too broad. This would need thousands of words to cover properly.

Reducing Respiratory Problems Caused by Air Conditioning Systems

• Just right.

An Analysis of Infectious Respiratory Diseases Caused by Evaporative Air-

Conditioning Systems: A Case Study of Female Office Workers in New York
• Too specific. It would be difficult to find sources for this.

Too specific

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Narrowing a focus

Can I do my report on
“wave power”?

Sure, but you should focus it down by

doing either do a problem-solution or
an argument report.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

“Wave power” report titles:
Problem - solution Argument
Overcoming the Common Should a Wave Power
Difficulties of Wave Power System be Developed in the
Systems Eastern Provinces
INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
PROBLEMS ONE SIDE OF ISSUE
SOLUTIONS COUNTERARGUMENTS
CONCLUSION CONCLUSION
RECOMMENDATIONS RECOMMENDATIONS

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

 APA 7 titling conventions for ENGL 214

A connection to the student’s A connection to the Capital letter directly after

major should be obvious course theme should be punctuation
(ex. Electrical Engineering.). clear (ex. Europe).
Example:

Electronic Waste in the UK: A Problem Analysis

The type of report should be

Capitals for each word except words discernible (problem-solution,
that are conjunctions which are three argument).
letters or fewer, short prepositions
which are three letters or fewer and  all
articles.
ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL
 Report: No advantage-disadvantage essays

Please note that you absolutely cannot write an advantages-disadvantages

essay on this course.
The closest essay type that you can write is an argument essay, because this
format can include counterarguments, but argument essays differ in a couple of
ways:
• They tend to deal with social, political, cultural and economic issues
• They are not evenly balanced – the counterarguments are there to be argued
against

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

 Report: No cause-effect essays

Please note that you absolutely cannot write a causes-effects essay on this
course.
The closest essay type that you can write is a problem-solution essay, because
discussion of problems may necessitate some explanation of the causes, and your
solutions may target causes. However, problem-solution essays differ in a couple
of ways:
• Cause-effect essays tend to be very descriptive (describing causes, describing
effects) and there is relatively little thinking on display
• Problem-solution essays should focus more on offering solutions and
therefore demonstrate your thinking

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

 Term report: No descriptive essays

A common problem students have is choosing titles which suggest overly

descriptive essays. This is especially a problem for simplistic and obvious titles.
What this means is that the title will only allow the student to describe, state facts
and give details about a situation or set of processes – not really offer any
interesting thoughts, or display problem solving abilities. These kinds of
titles lead to essays read more like Wikipedia articles than essays.
Descriptive essays often start with How, because they describe how something
happens, not why or what can be done to change it. For example:
• How Climate Change Affects Desert Communities in Central Saudi Arabia
• How Artificial Intelligence Can Reduce Costs in the Accounting Sector

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

 Term report: No captain obvious titles

Please note that you should avoid choosing

overly simplistic or obvious titles, such
as:

• The Problem of COVID-19 and How

Vaccinations Can Address This
• Is Orange Juice Healthier Than Mountain
Dew?

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

What is important in a topic?
Practicality
• Consider the time you have.
• Are there enough published
resources on your topic?
Practicality
• A survey of resources is essential
• Is your topic too broad?
• Is your topic too narrow?
• Will this project be useful to you Interest
later in your academic and
professional career?

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Title writing guidance and examples

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Now write it

         
MAJOR narrowed to: THEME narrowed to: PROBLEM

 
       
 
 
   
 
       
 

 
focused to:
 

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Analysing your audience
• A writer must know their audience
• Your audience will fall somewhere between “lay” and “expert”.
• You must identify where on that scale your audience lies.
• It is more difficult to write a technical report for a lay audience than an expert audience
• Information must be presented in a way that it can be understood

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Helping lay audiences understand
• A clear, informative introduction
• Adequate background information
• A logical organization to your report
• Definitions of key terms, sufficient examples, and analogies.
• Clear, simple illustrations to help explain difficult concepts
• Headings and sub-headings
• Bulleted lists
• Topic sentences, and paragraphs with single ideas
• Transition words to connect sentences, paragraphs, and sections
• Special typography to indicate key concepts
• Sentences that seldom exceed 20 words or contain complex grammar
• Shorter paragraphs of between 5 and 12 lines
• A slower pace: do not pack sentences and paragraphs with too many facts

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Homework 2: Report Titles
• Refer to the Report title resources on slides 25.
• Work on your report title for homework.
• Report titles are due on Sunday, September 4th.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 28

 Questions Discussion Thank you

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