Category: Formal Writing

How to Write an Abstract

The thought of writing an abstract is terrifying to some people. It doesn’t have to be. An abstract is a summary of your research. One of the best ways to understand how to do one is to read a few. They seem complicated, but they really just represent the study they’re summarizing.

Below are some tips on how to write a good abstract.

1. The abstract should be written last.

It’s a summary and you can’t summarize what you’ve not done yet. So, go ahead and write your paper, do all the necessities, then when everything is finished, take some time to write your abstract.

2. Don’t write more than 300 words.

That seems like a lot on the surface, but when you consider all you have to put in an abstract, you realize it’s doable. It’s one paragraph, so don’t separate ideas.

3. Begin with a sentence that expresses your research findings.

What’s your conclusion? What did your research uncover? What’s the main idea? That first sentence functions like a topic sentence that makes the major point of your research.

4. The statement of the problem is next.

you want to state the purpose of the research, identify the problem, outline the scope and methodology, and finally the results. So, tell readers what you investigated, what you hoped to discover, and what the parameters of the study were. This also means you need to explain how data was collected and analysed, and what the data revealed. Write these in direct, straight forward sentences.

5. It’s important to note that when writing an abstract, you’re writing in past tense.

“The purpose of the study was to…”, “300 primary school teachers were surveyed…”, “The data was then analyzed using…”, and “The study found that…” The only sentences that aren’t written in past tense are the first sentence and possibly the second sentence (which contain the main idea and any definitions you deem absolutely necessary to include).

Remember, an abstract is for readers to find your work, get acquainted with the details, and decide if it’s something they want to read further. So give all the necessary information to help them make an informed choice.

How to Use Formal Language in Reports

Using formal language in writing is an essential part of learning to write well because it allows writers to take objective approaches to explaining ideas. This is helpful when trying to eliminate bias and reduce the influence of personal opinion. Unfortunately, most of us don’t regularly engage in formal language when we speak and interact with others. This is why report writing is often challenging for young writers. In addition to avoiding opinions, sticking to formal language means adhering to a few other guidelines. 

FORMAL LANGUAGE GUIDELINES

1. Avoid contractions and abbreviations.

This means that words like can’t and didn’t should not be used, as well as std. for standard. Mr., Mrs., and Dr. when identifying a person are acceptable. For example Dr. Henry Joseph and Mrs. Susan Telesford.

2. Avoid two-word verbs.

There are many verbs in English that are made up of two words. For example: give away, bump into, knock over, pick up, take back. These are considered informal language and should not be used. Instead, replace these verbs with single words that mean the same thing. Here are some examples, but note that the exact substitute will depend on the context.

Two-word VerbSingle-word Verbs
give awaydistribute
bump intocollide
knock overoverturn
pick upretrieve
give backreturn

3. Use more complex sentence structure.

One of the things with formal language is that it moves beyond the simple sentence to include more complex sentence formats. Consider the following three sentences:
– Kai kicked Yves on his leg.
– Then ran back into the classroom.
– Yves ran after Kai.

Consider the following sentence which combines all three:
– After Kai kicked Yves on his leg, Kai ran back into the classroom with Yves right behind him.

4. Use reported speech.

Speaking is often part of the interaction young writers must report on, and they should never leave out what participants in the situation say. However, reporting speech has a particular format.

– DIRECT: “Leave me alone,” Jordan said to Kyle.

– INDIRECT: Jordan told Kyle to leave him alone.

Notice the changes in the verbs and pronouns.

5. Consider using passive voice when trying not to give judgement or opinion.

This one is a little tricky because for reports it is often useful to identify who did an action. Passive voice avoids stating who did the action.

– Carlos pushed Michael, causing him to break his leg when he fell.
– Carlos pushed Michael, and when Michael fell, his leg broke.

The first sentence creates blame on Carlos and suggests that the writer believes it was Carlos’ fault Michael broke his leg. The second sentence only reports the facts as they happen, with no judgment. The passive voice helps make the second sentence opinion free.

Some of these strategies require students to understand additional concepts, so feel free to gather information from textbooks and online resources to help you get the message across.

#CreativeWritingforPrimary#ReportWriting#BetterWriters

3 Ways to Wow Readers in Reports

To many people, reports don’t feel like creative writing, and figuring out how to score well in reports is a challenge. If students understand a couple of basic things about reports, they will consistently perform better in their writing. #BetterWriting

Report writing takes many students outside their comfort zone because it asks for a formally structured response that excludes all that they’re most familiar with – expressions, casual language, and opinions.

Exceeding expectations in report writing relies heavily on using formal vocabulary and precise language that is void of opinions.

Students must detach themselves from the events and the outcomes and look at situations from an objective position. Even when describing their own role in an event or activity, information should be presented in a measured way.

#chronologicalorder

1. Connect actions using time order

Following time order is especially important so readers can get a sense of how things happened. Connecting ideas is also important, so transition words and phrases should be used to show which came first and which came next.

There are many great transition words and phrases, but the basic ones – next, before, after – work just as well too.

The main thing is that there’s enough information given so readers have their questions answered. It’s good practice to list a few questions that the target audience might want/need to know, then ensure these are answered.

#avoidopinions

2. Avoid opinions

Opinions have a way of sneaking into everything students say and write, even without them knowing. So, to say “avoid opinions” might seem obvious for a report, but it is easier said than done.

One way to ensure that students avoid opinion is to have them think of every detail in terms of their five senses. If they did not see it, hear it, taste it, smell it, or touch it, then they need to be careful.

So, it’ll be a statement of opinion to say that someone got angry. You don’t know that for sure. You see behaviour and interpret it as anger, but you don’t see the anger.

What you see is someone walking away, stomping their feet with a lot of energy. Or maybe someone’s brow getting forrowed and their eyes looking red.

When writing about the actions as they are observed, students should carefully avoid subjective descriptions. Adjectives and adverbs introduce opinions, so avoid that as much as possible.

Also, students should report the words other people say, but not explain what they think the person means.

#telldontshow

3. Tell, don’t show

Report writing asks students to tell what happened, and not to show what happened. This is the exact opposite of what they would be practicing in narrative writing.

For reports, students should carefully avoid descriptive language that introduces how they interpret situations. So, using adjectives and adverbs is frowned upon.

Students don’t have to worry about how participants do their actions. They just need to focus on what was said and what was done.

When relaying information about what was said, reported speech is important. No direct speech or dialogue should be used.

Tell readers what was said, nothing more.

#CreativeWritingforPrimary#WritingReports#BetterWriters