Tips for Writing Technical Papers, Study notes of Technical English

Download Tips for Writing Technical Papers and more Study notes Technical English in PDF only on Docsity! About Writing Technical Papers: Organization, English, and Some Tips DR. DANITYAL MUNIR The 3 C’s e Correct, Clear, and Concise e The readers: oO The readers do not just read; they interpret. The Action Verb vs. the Abstract Noun + the Weak Verb e To investigate e To carry out an investigation of e Aninvestigation of ...has been carried out e To decide e To make a decision of e To explain e To provide an explanation of e To understand e To facilitate the understanding of The Action Verb e The departure of the airplane is thought to be dependent on the weather. e Bad w eather may ground the airplane. The Action Verb e Itis clear that Sofia is in need of practice before the concert. The last time she played her guitar was three weeks ago. e Clearly, Sofia needs to practice before the concert. She has not touched her guitar in three weeks. Parallelism: Either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, first/second/third e Either Iam always in doubt orITam always in trouble. ¢ Tam always either in doubt or in trouble. e Tam always in either doubt or trouble. e They hoped to go not only to London but also to Paris. e They hoped to go to not only London but also Paris. e For love, for honor, for fame, or for money. ¢ For love, honor, fame, or money. President John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address — an example for parallelism Ln nl e We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as changes ... e So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. e Now the trumpet summons us again — not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,” a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. e And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. Make Every Word Count e There is a slight difference in terms of speed between the two methods. > The two methods differ slightly in speed. e It is important to develop a more effective approach to solve the complicated problem. >» Amore effective approach must be developed to solve the complicated problem. Present, Past, and Present Perfect e Use present tense for well established fact o Smith (1975) showed that process A is faster than process B by more than a factor of 5. e Use past tense for un-established results or results that cannot be generalized o In our study, the delay is less than 5msec. o Smith reported that 15% of the energy was wasted in idle listening. e Use present tense to refer readers to your figures or tables. o Table 5.2 shows that.... o Figure 5 indicates that... e Use present perfect tense for events that have been repeated or continued from the past to the present o Scheduling and broadcasting algorithms has been studied since ages. As a mother of five, my kitchen is always busy. Young and inexperienced, the task seemed easy to me. Following experimentation, bacteria multiplied. Being in poor condition, we were unable to save the animals. In drawing the picture, his wife was used as the model. Give the clear picture As a mother of five, Iam always busy in my kitchen. Young and inexperienced, I thought the task was easy. Following experimentation, we found the bacteria multiplied. We were unable to save the animals because they were in poor condition. In drawing the picture, he used his wife as the model. Avoid ambiguity e He noticed a large stain in the glass that was right in the center. e He noticed a large stain right in the center of the glass. e You can call your mother in London and tell her all about George’s taking you out to dinner for just sixty cents. e For just sixty cents, you can call your mother in London and tell her all about George’s taking you out to dinner. The Generic vs. the Specific e The temperature changed. e The temperature increased from 15C to 23C. e We determined the conditions necessary for performance improvement. What Scientists Said vs. What They Mean e Ithas long been known that .... e Ihave not bothered to look up the original reference, but... e Of great theoretical and practical importance ... e Interesting to me or important for me to publish ... e Typical results are shown .... e The best results are shown .... e Itis clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding of ... e Ido not understand it. e Itis suggested that .... Or It is believed that ... e I think References 1. George D. Gopen & Judith A. Swan, “The Science of Scientific Writing”, American Scientist, Vol. 78, 550 (1990). 2. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, Joseph M. Williams, Addison Wesley Longman, Inc, New York (1997) . 3. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, Joseph M. Williams, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1995).