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I’d have to disagree with that approach: I don’t see my task in showing what is being done right now, but teaching how writing can be used in the best possible way to improve one’s research, both in process and in outcomes – and especially in Germany that quite often means: don’t copy what you see but aim to do better. Plus, see Sword’s book again, as mentioned before… it really helps to realise one does NOT have to do as the Romans do, even when you’re in Rome. ;-)
Cheers,
Natalie
Spannend, fordernd und inspirierend, nachhaltig, sehr bereichernd, lebendig und zielorientiert!
Das sind die Rückmeldungen zu meinem Workshop auf dem Karrierekongreß WoMenPower 2015 im Rahmen der Hannover-Messe:
Write yourself to the top: Schreiben als Werkzeug zur Potentialentfaltung
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Dr. Natalie Struve
Wissenschaft schreiben
wissenschaft-schreiben.de
Text-Coaching
Kurse & Workshops
Maßgeschneiderte Programme
Vorträge
Deutsch & Englisch
Murnauer Str. 19, D-82418 Murnau
Tel. +49 (0)8841 6782777, mobil +49 (0)178 1800745
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Von: European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing - discussions [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Im Auftrag von Lucie Moussu
Gesendet: Montag, 21. September 2015 16:15
An: [log in to unmask]
Betreff: Re: Use of we/I in academic texts?
Dear Anne,
My context is Applied Linguistics, Psychology… in short, the social sciences, in the US and Canada. And we use the passive voice all the time. “Participants were asked to read aloud,” as opposed to “the researchers asked the participants to read aloud,” which is a lengthy and useless construction since we don’t care about the researchers.
So, as many people said below, it is 100% context-dependant. I tell my students that going to university means learning a new language, the language of their future profession. They have to ask their profs and analyze textbooks and academic writings in their fields in order to see what is being done in their specific fields.
Best,
Lucie.
On Sep 21, 2015, at 8:02 AM, Tamer Osman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Dear Anne,
I am a North American teacher.The new trend in academic writing in North America is to use ' we /I' instead of using the passive form.We consider the usage of the passive vocie as an old-fashioned style by now.That trend is destined to the academic writing within the framework of the Plain English Campaign raised by the USA.
Best regards,
Tamer Osman
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2015 at 3:05 PM
From: "Anne Wegner" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Use of we/I in academic texts?
Dear colleagues
Two questions for you. I teach academic writing, mainly to PhD students from difference scientific areas at various German universities. One of the things I teach is that it is generally ok to use “we/I” in academic texts, while pointing out that its use does slightly depend on the area in which one is working or the journal for which one is writing. However, my daughter said that during her recent Bachelor studies (Durham University, political sciences), she was mainly writing, and being expected to write, in the passive voice, avoiding we/I. I have two main questions related to this:
1) Am I the only one getting my workshop participants to use we/I in an English academic text? If so, I'd better stop!
2) What do academic texts in other European languages generally contain - we/I or passive voice? In a German academic text, the use of we/I is generally frowned upon.
I would appreciate any comments and am happy to put together a summary of any answers I receive.
Many thanks
Anne Wegner
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