Dissertation Writing in Practice: Turning Ideas into Text

6. The Final Touches

As you are writing your dissertation, you will need to keep proofreading and editing your text to ensure that it is easy to follow and error-free. You will also need to read it through one final time before you submit your dissertation. We should at this point distinguish between proofreading and editing. The former refers to the process of reading a text to detect surface errors, such as spelling mistakes or missing plurals. These errors, although they are extremely irritating to a reader and give an impression of carelessness, do not generally impede understanding of the text, unless they are overly abundant. Editing, on the other hand, involves careful reading to ensure that the text runs smoothly enough to be readily understood by a reader without undue effort and with no possible ambiguities of meaning. Editing a text may involve quite substantial rewriting, unlike the quick additions and deletions you make while proofreading. This last chapter of the book will now look at certain features of text that you should consider when editing your writing as they will make your work easier to read. CREATING COHESIVE TEXT If, on rereading your text yourself, you find that your message seems unclear, or if you receive feedback from your supervisor saying that certain parts are difficult to follow, you may need to consider how cohesive your text is. The cohesion of a text, that is to say, the way the The Final Touches 152 DISSERTATION WRITING IN PRACTICE sentences in the text are tied together and follow on smoothly from each other, is achieved to some extent by grammatical accuracy, such as the use of the correct tense. This is one aspect of your writing that you may need to improve and we have discussed the appropriate tense to use at several points throughout the book, but it is beyond our scope to cover general grammar constructions in detail. Cohesion is also achieved, however, by the order in which the information given in each sentence is presented and by the correct use of vocabulary and pronoun reference. It is these three aspects of cohesion that we will consider in the following sections. COHESIVE TEXT: INFORMATION STRUCTURE When we talk of information structure in a language, this is referring to the order in which the information given in each sentence is presented. The order of presentation has a great impact on the readability of a text, that is to say, the ease with which a text can be understood. To see how information structure works in English, we can study the different ways the statements given below can be combined into continuous text as an example. Statements Here are 23 statements of facts or ideas about language teaching which can be used to form the introductory paragraph(s) to a textbook for teachers. 11. There is a pendulum effect in language teaching. 12. Overcoming the pendulum effect is an important task. 13. Applied linguists confront this task. 14. Teachers who are concerned with foreign language learning confront this task. 15. Teachers who are concerned with second language learning confront this task. 16. The pendulum effect is most evident in the area of methodology. 153 THE FINAL TOUCHES 17. In the area of methodology, fads and fashions come and go. 18. Fads and fashions come and go with monotonous regularity. 19. Fads and fashions are like theories of grammar in this regard. 10. There is a way to overcome the pendulum effect. 11. The way to overcome the pendulum effect is to derive effective classroom practices from empirical evidence. 12. The empirical evidence should relate to the nature of language learning. 13. The empirical evidence should relate to the nature of language use. 14. Effective classroom practices should also be derived from insights into what makes learners tick. 15. This book has a major purpose. 16. The major purpose is to introduce teachers to an empirically based approach to language teaching methodology. 17. The book also aims to introduce teachers in preparation to an empirically based approach to language teaching methodology. 18. An empirically based approach integrates theory and research with insights. 19. The theory and research relate to the nature of language learning and use. 20. The insights are derived from observation of what actually goes on in classrooms. 21. The insights are also derived from analysis of what actually goes on in classrooms. 22. What actually goes on in...