【2017年整理】研究与生学术英语写作教程Unit6DiscussingResults.doc

Unit 6 Discussing Results Objectives: - Understand the discussion section - Learn how to present your results - Learn how to compare your results with others - Learn how to interpret your results - Learn how to express opinions in the discussion Contents: - Reading and discussion: a sample result section - Language focus: comparison and contrast; strengthening or weakening a claim - Signal words of comparison and contrast - Writing practice: writing comparison and contrast, and writing a short discussion section - Classroom extension: writing a result section for a classroom experiment. Reading Activity 1.1 Pre-reading Task The results section presents your research findings, and the discussion section is an analysis of those findings. You may include a discussion section at the end of your results section to explain and contemplate the results. The discussion can either be a part of the results section or a separate section of its own, which should be in line with the practice of your target journal. Sometimes, the results, discussion and conclusion sections are combined in journal articles. Most articles do not contain all three sections. The function of the discussion part is to interpret your results in light of what has already been known about the subject of the investigation, and to explain our new understanding of the problem after taking your results into consideration. The Discussion will always be connected to the Introduction by way of the question(s) or posed hypotheses and cited literature, but it does not simply repeat or rearrange the Introduction. Instead, it tells how your study has moved us forward from the place you leave us at the end of the Introduction. Before reading the following sample discussion section, think about the following questions: How many elements does a discussion section include? What do those elements function? What expressions are typical in writing a discussion section? Reading Passage In this large, prospective inve