Academic Writing for Master of Applied Social Work Students 2015

Master’s in Applied Social Work

Centre for Learning and Teaching

Academic Writing Orientation

CENTRE FOR TEACHING

AND LEARNING SERVICES

http://tinyurl.com/6xy9hy Academic English podcast

http://owll.massey.ac.nz Online Writing and Learning Link

http://tinyurl.com/albanyworkshops2015 Workshops

Book on [email protected]

OR in person at the library (LEVEL 3)

ONE-TO-ONE OR SMALL GROUP CONSULTATIONS

CTL Orientation Workshops for Postgraduate Students

Date Time Venue Workshop

SNW300

SNW200

9am-2pm

Study Centre Auditorium

Part 2: Academic Writing

Analysing assignment questions Finding sources – Library session Using and acknowledging sources Writing paragraphs & Essays

Tue 24/2

or

Wed 25/2

5-7pm

12-2pm

Part 1: Academic Knowledge and Learning

Relationship between theory and research Application and critique of theory and

research in assignments

Sat 28/2 9am-1pm

Registration is essential:

Email: [email protected]

Date Time Venue Workshop

Wed 4/3 12-2pm QB2 Reading and Critiquing Journal Articles

Wed 11/3

Thurs 12/3

1-2pmor

7-8pm

QB5

Online workshop

Avoiding plagiarism

Avoiding plagiarism (repeat)

Wed 11/3 12-1:30pm

Library Seminar Room (Level3)

Writing a Research Proposal

Link for other workshops: http://albanyctl.massey.ac.nz

Other CTL Workshops for Postgraduate Students

Part 1: Academic English style

Part 2: APA referencing

Part 3: Using sources in your writing

Part 4: Paragraph structure

PART 1: ACADEMIC

ENGLISH STYLE

Ordinary English

Ageism happens when someone is treated badly justbecause they’re young or old and it’s a lot more commonthan people think. What matters most isn’t whether or notsomeone’s treated differently but whether it’s unfair to treatthem differently in the circumstances. You couldn’t call a barageist if they didn’t take on a 16 year-old for the job becausethat’s fair enough as their hands are tied. But it’s obvious thata bar that wouldn’t give a job to a 50 year old to serve drinksis being ageist if that person was able to do everything he orshe was supposed to do, except for the fact that he or shewas older. This sort of thing is incredibly common, even inNew Zealand.

Ageism may be defined as “unfair discrimination towards

someone on account of their age” (Smith & Davidov, 2003, p.

104). The crucial aspect in ageism is not discrimination in

itself, but its unfairness. A bar cannot be considered ageist for

refusing to employ a 16 year-old, since this is perfectly fair

(and in fact, legally required). However, a bar which refused

to employ a 50 year old to serve drinks could be considered

ageist, if that person met the other employment requirements.

Recent research has found evidence of ageist employment

practices, in over half of New Zealand organisations (Brown,

2012).

Academic English

Ageism happens when ….

unfair discrimination

precise

Ageism may be defined as ….

when someone is treated badly

concise

Academic English is:

Recent research has found

… (Brown, 2012).

based on theory and evidence

This sort of thing is incredibly

common, even in New Zealand.

Situational Leadership Theory is about the idea that there is no single

best leadership style, and if you really want to be an effective leader,

you need to adapt your leadership style so that you lead differently in

different situations and according to the different needs of different

followers, and if you are going to use it, you’ll have to start off by seeing

if you can put followers into four groups of different performance

readiness levels (R1, R2, R3, R4), and then you’d better have a good

look at the ways you are going about the day to day business of

managing a social work team and work out which of the four leadership

styles (Telling, Selling, Participating, Delegating) seem to fit. How these

leaders tell their followers their duties and responsibilities, provide

guidance, communicate (listening and explaining) and provide

supportive behaviors. Finally, ability (relevant knowledge, skill, and

experience) and willingness (confidence, commitment, and motivation

towards the tasks). You can find out which performance readiness level

they can best fit into.

Task 1: Suggest 3 improvements to this paragraph

Recent research has found evidence of such

practices, where age is used as an unjustified

barrier to employment or promotion, in over half

of New Zealand employers (Brown, 2012).

Citations are a short way of indicating the source of your

theories, models, concepts, examples or facts

In APA style, all you need to do is to put the author and

date of publication of the book, article or website you used

The most common way to do this is to put these in

brackets AFTER you’ve used the information

PART 2: APA

REFERENCING

As an alternative you can use ‘according to’

and include the author(s) in your sentence

Or make the author(s) the subject of your sentence, choosing an appropriate reporting verb, for example:

claim(s) argue(s) explain(s) point(s) out foundsuggest(s)

According to Brown (2012), older employees

provide three main benefits for organisations.

The first of these is ….

Brown (2012) found that age is used as an

unjustified barrier to employment or promotion in

over half of New Zealand employers.

Brooks, R. M. (2010). Financial management: Core concepts. Boston, MA: Pearson

Brown, P. (2012). Equal opportunities in New Zealand: Myth or reality? Australasian

Journal of Human Resources, 41(3), 46-68.

Davidson, C., & Tolich, M. (2001). Social science research in New Zealand.

Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson Education.

Khan, I., & Chen, T. (2010). Tackling ageism: A cross-institutional approach. In J.

Johnson & T. Peterson (Eds.), An equal opportunities handbook (pp. 102-131). San

Francisco, CA: Pilot Press.

Atkinson, D. (2013, January 24). Too old to work: Too young to die? Retrieved from

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/1004532.htm

Smith, P., & Davidoff, R. (2003). Equal opportunities: From policy to practice. Central

Islip, NY: Progressive Press.

Statistics New Zealand. (2008). Demographic Trends – 2001-2006. Retrieved from

http://stats.govt.nz/demotrends-2012.pdf

Your citations need to match up with complete references to sources in a list at the end

References

Smith, P., & Davidoff, R. (2003). Equal opportunities: From policy to

practice. Central Islip, NY: Progressive Press.

(year) title of book

city publisher

In academic writing, most references are to books and journal articles

surname,

initial

Brown, P. (2012). Equal opportunities in New Zealand: Myth or

reality? Australasian Journal of Human Resources, 41(3), 46-68.

doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

(year) title of articlesurname,

initial

volume / issue number

page numbers

name of journaldoi number

CHAPTER IN

EDITED BOOK

Biggins, G. (2009). Why I became a social worker. In P. Te Ara & T. Rogers (Eds.),

Social work and social workers in New Zealand/Aotearoa (pp.102-120).

Auckland, New Zealand: Insight Press.

Title of chapter – not

in italicsEditors’ names – initial

goes before and (Eds.),

goes after!

Title of book –

in italics

Page numbers of chapter – in

brackets with pp. before

Author of chapter

and year of

publication

City &

Publisher

CITY OF PUBLICATION

UK, NZ etccity,

country

Harmondsworth, England:

Penguin.

Palmerston North, New

Zealand: Dunmore Press.

USAcity, state

initials

Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates.

Check title of book in library catalogue and/or Google if

city of publication is not clear from the book itself

Australiacity plus

state OR

country

Milton, Qld: McGraw-Hill.

Milton, Australia: McGraw-Hill.

WEB PAGE REFERENCE

Statistics New Zealand. (2009). Mapping trends in the Auckland region. Retrieved from http://www.stats.govt.nz/Publications/PopulationStatistics/mapping-trends-in-the-auckland-region.aspx.

author’s name (or organisation that owns the web site)

Year (if it’s missing put (n.d.)

Retrieved from followed by full internet address

Title of page (in italics)

REFERENCING

SOFTWARE

Endnote ($36 from library – and make sure you go to a

tutorial)

http://tinyurl.com/endnoteguide

http://www.zotero.org/

Free Programmes to download (but you’ll need to learn

how to use them, through online tutorials etc)

Use the references tab in the toolbar

Microsoft Word 2007 +

Click ‘insert citation’ + add new sourceTake care with names (Hamel, Gary) and type of source

http://www.mendeley.com

Task 2: Write end of text references and in-text

citations for the following journal article

Author: Mason DurieYear of Publication: 2000Article: Public health strategies for Māori.Journal Name: Health Education & BehaviourVolume: 27Issue: 3Start page: 288End page: 295doi: Not provided

Durie, M. (2000). Public health strategies for Māori. Health Education & Behaviour, 27(3), 288-295.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Durie, 2000).

According to Durie (2000), xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Mundell (2002, p. 4) argued, “If it’s right for Europe to scrap its national

currencies, why is it wrong for other countries to do the same thing?”

1) Only quote definitions:

Quotations

And, as in the above examples, copy as few words as possible and

put these inside “…..” after your own introductory phrase.

2) ..... or really memorable phrases:

The concept of comparative advantage states that “everyone does best

when each concentrates on the activity for which he or she is relatively

most productive” (Frank & Bernanke, 2001, p. 23).

PART 3: USING SOURCES IN

YOUR WRITING

On the next slide is an extract from an article about how leaders communicate with team members.

Let’s see how we can summarise the main points, so that this can be part of an essay about effective leadership in Social Work

Summarising

90% of the time, when you use ideas from your reading, you’ll need to summarise these in your own words. This four-step process is the most effective way to do this:

a) highlight the relevant information

b) turn this into brief notes

c) close the original text

d) expand your notes into one or more linked sentences

Bakhtin … differentiates between monologic and dialogic ways of talking. Monologism is based on a single authority who is unresponsive to how his/her voice is being received, advocates a particular view or ideology, manages meanings and impressions, and aims to get a common understanding of his/her pre-established view or vision. Bakhtin criticized the oppressive nature of monologic discourse, suggesting that it rules out diverse meanings, silencing and marginalizing other voices. Dialogism means talking with people not to them, understanding that meaning emerges in specific moments of responsive conversation between people, and that everything that is said is in relationship to ‘others’: other people, other ideas, other conversations. Talking with means all views are shared and considered – cross/back and forth dialogue (p. 1434)

Cunliffe, A. L., & Eriksen, M. (2011). Relational leadership. Human

Relations 64, 1425-1449. doi: 10.1177/0018726711418388

Bakhtin … differentiates between monologic and dialogic ways of talking. Monologism is based on a single authority who is unresponsive to how his/her voice is being received, advocates a particular view or ideology, manages meanings and impressions, and aims to get a common understanding of his/her pre-established view or vision. Bakhtin criticized the oppressive nature of monologicdiscourse, suggesting that it rules out diverse meanings, silencing and marginalizing other voices. Dialogism means talking with people not to them, understanding that meaning emerges in specific moments of responsive conversation between people, and that everything that is said is in relationship to ‘others’: other people, other ideas, other conversations. Talking with means all views are shared and considered – cross/back and forth dialogue

Monologic talking: Single authority; imposes particular view; silences or

marginalises other voices

Dialogic talking: with, not to, people; meaning emerges (not pre-established);

all views shared and considered

STEP 1: Highlight relevant information

STEP 2: Take the information out and put into brief notes

Bakhtin distinguished between two forms of talking. In monologiccommunication, the speaker sees him or herself as a single authority and seeks to impose their view on others through talking to them, silencing or marginalising any other voices. Dialogic talking, on the other hand, means talking with people, allowing new meanings to emerge from the sharing and consideration of views (Cunliffe & Eriksen, 2011).

STEP 3: Close the original book or screen – so all

you have in front of you is your notes

STEP 4: Expand your notes into one or more linked

sentences

Monologic talking: Single authority; imposes particular view; silences or

marginalises other voices

Dialogic talking: with, not to, people; meaning emerges (not pre-established);

all views shared and considered

A strengths-based model can be a suitable approach to social work practice with migrants, families and communities (Sisnerous et al., 2008). This approach is focused on the strengths, possibility and resilience of individuals and their families, rather than addressing their deficits and weaknesses (Saleebey, 2006). For Korean migrants, the transnational community is a vital source of strength, opportunities, resilience and belonging. To meet the needs of migrants and their families, it is important for practitioners to work with groups, organisations and other institutions at the community level (Berg-Weger, 2010). This community-level social work practice, based on the strengths-based approach, can be extended to macro practice in the transnational context within which Korean clients are positioned. The roles of social work practitioners with migrant communities can range from empowering clients and their families, to utilising the community’s own resources, and to promoting the participation and inclusion of migrant clients in their host society. (p. 38)

Task 2: Write a summary of this text using your

own words in three or four sentences.

Hong-Jae, P., & Anglem, J. (2012). The 'transnationality' of Koreans, Korean families and

Korean communities in Aotearoa New Zealand--implications for social work

practice. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Review, 24(1), 31-40.

A strengths-based model can be a suitable approach to social work practice with migrants, families and communities (Sisnerous et al., 2008). This approach is focused on the strengths, possibility and resilience of individuals and their families, rather than addressing their deficits and weaknesses (Saleebey, 2006). For Korean migrants, the transnational community is a vital source of strength, opportunities, resilience and belonging. To meet the needs of migrants and their families, it is important for practitioners to work with groups, organisations and other institutions at the community level (Berg-Weger, 2010). This community-level social work practice, based on the strengths-based approach, can be extended to macro practice in the transnational context within which Korean clients are positioned. The roles of social work practitioners with migrant communities can range from empowering clients and their families, to utilising the community’s own resources, and to promoting the participation and inclusion of migrant clients in their host society. (p. 38)

1. Highlight main points

• SWs can use a strengths-based approach with migrants

• Focus on resilience, ops, belonging

• Work with groups + insts at comm level

• empower clients, use comm res, promote incl + part.

2. Make brief notes

Social workers in New Zealand / Aotearoa are recommended to adopt a strengths-based approach to working with migrants. This approach involves working with community organisations and building on existing strengths, such as resilience and a sense of belonging. Using these community resources, social workers can both empower individual clients and promote broader social inclusion and participation (Hong-Jae, & Anglem, 2012).

3. Expand these notes into linked sentences

PART 4: PARAGRAPH

STRUCTURE

Unity

The paragraph should focus on ONE claim about ONE topic

Coherence

Each sentence in the paragraph should build explicitly on the one before

Development

The paragraph’s claim must be developed through logical argument, supported by relevant evidence

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPHS

EXAMPLE of a WELL-

STRUCTURED PARAGRAPH

Another barrier to elimination of the Monarchy is the lack of analternative concept of State power. This difficulty is said to explain whyAustralians, less attached to the Monarchy than New Zealanders (Singh,2010), voted against change in the referendum a decade ago (Campbell,1999). According to Julia Gillard, a recent Australian Premier, the issuewas no longer even on the agenda (Behan, 2011). In the meantime, likeNew Zealand, Canada etc, Australia continues to be governed accordingto the authority of the ‘Crown’ as the executive branch of Government;an authority inherited from the colonial power, Britain (Radley &Foreman, 2003). Republicanism has traditionally replaced this ‘top-down’authority with a concept of power of the people. However, this ‘people-power’ concept has been criticised for suppressing diversity and bi-culturalism in favour of ‘One Nation’ (Brown, 2003) and would clearly beespecially problematic for New Zealand, where the Treaty Principlesuphold partnership, protection and participation (Massey University,2009). If Australia, where indigenous rights and biculturalism have beenless prominent, has struggled to develop an alternative to the power ofthe Crown, how much more difficult would such a process be in NewZealand, where national identity is a complex and central political issue?

TASK 4: IDENTIFY PROBLEMS

WITH PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

The political challenge of becoming a republic needs to be considered.Firstly, Australians voted by 55% to 45% against becoming a republic inthe national referendum held on November 6th 1999, with only the Stateof Victoria giving a narrow majority in favour of the change (Campbell,1999) and New Zealanders are more attached to the Monarchy thanAustralians (Singh, 2010). Secondly, like New Zealand, Canada etc,Australia continues to be governed according to the authority of the‘Crown’ as the executive branch of Government, an authority inheritedfrom the colonial power, Britain (Radley & Foreman, 2003). In NewZealand, the current Governor General is Sir Jerry Mataparae (NewZealand Government, n.d.). Thirdly, Brown (2003) points out thatRepublicanism has traditionally replaced ‘top-down’ authority with aconcept of a generalised power of the people and that diversity andbiculturalism are ignored. However, in New Zealand, the Treaty Principlesuphold partnership, protection and participation (Massey University,2009). Therefore, it is even harder for New Zealand to abolish theMonarchy than it was for Australia, where indigenous rights andbiculturalism have been less prominent. According to a recent AustralianPremier, Julia Gillard, the issue was no longer even on the agenda(Behan, 2011).

UNITY

… is weak: it introduces the topic (vaguely) but makes no claim about it.

Topic sentence in the BAD ‘Republic’ Paragraph

Topic sentence in the Improved ‘Republic’ Paragraph

Another barrier to the elimination of the Monarchy is the lack of an alternative concept of State power.

The political challenge of becoming a republic needs to be considered.

… is strong: it introduces the topic more precisely and makes a specific claim about it.

Because the original topic sentence was so vague, the paragraph includes too much irrelevant detail

* Facts are only worth including if they make any difference to the claim made in the topic sentence

... the current Governor General is Sir Jerry Mataparae

Australians voted by 55% to 45% against becoming a republic in the national referendum held on November 6th 1999, with only the State of Victoria giving a narrow majority in favour of the change ...

TECHNIQUES FOR

GREATER COHERENCE

Coherence can be achieved by creating language

bridges from one sentence to another. This allows the claim to be supported and developed as the paragraph goes on. This can be done by:

Repetition and Variation of topic vocabulary: keeps the focus on the same topic

Back-reference devices: Using ‘this’ / ‘these’

/ ‘such’ etc means that each sentence builds on the one before, helping your argument move forward

Sentence adverbials: Words or phrases like

‘Moreover’ or ‘On the other hand’ highlight important steps in the argument – but should not be used too much or too loosely.

3. EVALUATION OF

PARAGRAPH COHERENCE

Improved ‘Republic’ Paragraph

Another barrier to elimination of the Monarchy is the lack of an alternative concept of State power. This difficulty is said to explain why Australians, less attached to the Monarchy than New Zealanders (Singh, 2010), voted against change in a referendum a decade ago (Campbell, 1999).

The clear back-reference and the omission of irrelevant details makes it more coherent and easy to follow.

The political challenge of becoming a republic needs to be considered. Firstly, Australians voted by 55% to 45% against becoming a republic in the national referendum held on November 6th 1999, with only the State of Victoria giving a narrow majority in favour of the change (Campbell, 1999). On the other hand, Australians are less attached to the Monarchy than New Zealanders (Singh, 2010).

BAD ‘Republic’ Paragraph

Each sentence seems to set off in a new direction, so it’s hard to follow the argument

PARAGRAPH COHERENCE

…. uses linking words in a desperate attempt to cover up the lack of real coherence

BAD‘Republic’ Paragraph

Firstly, ........ On the other hand, ....... Secondly, ...... Thirdly, .....However, ....... Therefore, ......

Improved ‘Republic’ Paragraph

…. uses just a couple of linking words strategically – to highlight important ‘moves’

... the issue is no longer even on the agenda (Behan, 2011). In the meantime, like New Zealand, Canada etc, Australia continues to be

governed according to the authority of the ‘Crown’ .... Republicanism has traditionally replaced this ‘top-down’ authority with a concept of

power of the people. However, this ‘people-power’ concept has been criticised ......