教授透過17堂課、150句學術英文寫作句型的方式,帶領讀者從表達、討論到論述的學習,建立批判思考與邏輯力,強調學術寫作是「聆聽他人,做出回應」( they say, I say )!
▌前言
過去書寫英文作文多半是為了考試或是課程需求,在時間壓力的考驗下,通常會依據主題發展三個觀點,再依文章長度延展出進一步的篇幅,藉此強化論述的層次。然而,在學術寫作的撰寫上,除了敘述的嚴謹格式之外,更強調如何透過「概述」、「引述前人觀點」的作法,聚焦在主軸的框架、牽引出作者個人立場的回應,分別為:同意、不同意或是兩者參半。細讀這本書真的可以收穫很多,適合用於表達不同觀點的表述,形成一篇深入主題的談話,進而拓展思考的深度。
▌為什麼要學習英文學術寫作技巧?
寫作能力的訓練,能夠協助培養更高層次的批判、分析與融合能力,而寫出一篇好的英文學術寫作的背後,也需要透過長時間的閱讀累積、技巧學習,從而建立起自己的思考路徑、撰文架構與闡述方式 -- 這些,至少我目前是無法嫻熟的使用各種寫作句型( e.g. 證據支持、相反論述、指出文本矛盾、質疑論點 ),恣意地流暢表達,所以希望透過書籍的範本與指引,掌握一套釐清邏輯、前後脈絡的書寫語言。
▌概述論點的句型
以下將記錄一些我覺得實用的句型。
區分自己與他人的論點
在閱讀文本的時候,常會標示( signal )出某人說了什麼話,這些話語顯示著作者先前閱讀哪些人物的讀物與思想,所以說區分出是寫作者本身還是他人的話語,是學術創作中很重要的一環。
作者以社會評論家暨教育家葛瑞格里.孟修斯( Gregory Mantsios )的一篇討論美國社會階級不平等的文章做示範,提點他是如何運用「發言標記」( voice marker )來區分不同觀點的。
“We are all middle-class,” or so it would seem( 或者看起來似乎如此 ). Our national consciousness, as shaped in large part by the media and our political leadership, provides us with a picture of ourselves as a nation of prosperity and opportunity with an ever expanding middle-class life-style. As a result, our class differences are muted( 我們的階級差異沒有人談論 ) and our collective character is homogenized. ( 我們的集體角色都看似同質了 )
Yet( 然而 ) class division are real( 是千真萬確的 )and arguably the most significant factor in determining both our very being in the world and the nature of the society we live in.
作者表示孟修斯的用語淺顯易懂,不過仔細一看會發現使用了許多細緻的修辭技巧( 粗體字的部分 ),有效的將反對意見與自己的觀點區分開來。我自己對於他點到為止的精鍊用字十分喜歡與讚嘆,無疑是閱讀量大,並在撰文時立刻想到而運用上。
句型:標示出誰在說什麼
Although X makes the best possible case for ______ , I am not persuaded. ( 雖然 X 的 _______ 立論甚佳,但我仍無法苟同。)
My view, however, contrary to what X has argued, is that ______. ( 然而,我的觀點和 X 所主張的相反,我認為_______。)
Adding to X’s argument, I would point out that ______. (為了補充說明X的觀點,我想指出_______。)
According to both X and Y, _________. ( 根據 X 和 Y 雙方的看法,_______。)
表現出誰在說話的技巧
書中提到,如果想要提醒讀者某論點是誰提出的,不必一直使用 X argues 這樣的直接標記,而是使用嵌入式的方法,不僅節省思路,也可以流暢的帶出他人的觀點。
Earlier in the this chapter we coined the term “voice marker.” We would argue that such markers are extremely important for reading comprehension.
→ We would argue that “ voice marker,” as we identified them earlier, are extremely important for reading comprehension.
X overlooks what I consider an important point about ______. ( 關於 _______,X 忽略了我認為的一個重點。)
These conclusions, which X discusses in ______, add weight to the argument that ______. ( X 在 _____ 所探討的這些結論,進一步證明了______的論證。)
I wholeheartedly endorse what X calls _____. (我完全支持 X 所稱的 _____。)
納入反對意見
At this point I would like to raise some objections that have been inspired by the skeptic in me. She feels that I have ignoring ______. (現在,我想提出壹些反面的意見,是我內心的回一者告訴我的。他覺得我忽略了________。)
Yet some readers may challenge my view by insisting that ______. ( 然而,有些讀者可能會質疑我的觀點,堅持說______。)
Of course, many will probably disagree on the ground that _____. ( 當然,很多人或許會不同意,理由是______。)
指出反對者身分
Biologists, of course, may want to question whether_______. ( 當然了,生物學家可能會質疑是否_______。)
Nevertheless, both followers and critics of X will probably suggest otherwise and argue that _______. (不過,X 的支持者和批評者雙方可能有不同看法,主張說_______。)
Non-native English speakers are so diverse in their views that it’s hard to generalize about them, but some are like to object on the grounds that _____. ( 非以英語為母語人士之間的想法差異太大,很難一概而論,但其中壹些人很可能會反對,理由是 ______。)
讓步之餘仍堅持立場
Although I grant that ______, I still maintain that ______. (雖然我承認_____,但我仍然堅信 ______。)
Proponents of X are right to argue that ______. But they exaggerate when they claim that ______. ( X 的擁護者說得沒錯:_______,但是他們主張______是有點言過其實了。)
While it is true that ______, it does not necessarily follow that ______. ( _____是事實沒錯,但未必能由此推斷 ______。)
點出在乎這個論點的人
Parents used to think ______. But recently ( or within the past few decades ) experts suggest that _____. (家長們過去認為 ______, 但是最近( 或者在過去數十年間) 專家指出 _______。)
The interpretation challenges the work of those critics who have long assumed that _____. (這個解釋挑戰了某些批評者的論點,他們長久以來認定______。)
These findings challenge the work of earlier researchers, who tended to assume that _____. (這些發現挑戰了早期研究者的成果,他們多傾向認定_______。)
At first glance, teenagers might say _____. But on closer inspection ______. ( 乍看之下,青少年可能會說______, 但是仔細一看,其實是______。)
In a world increasingly dominated by cellphones and sophisticated computer technologies, these attempts to return to the nature appear futile. (在一個生活肆意被手機和精密電腦掌控的世界哩,想要回歸大自然的努力彷彿是徒然。)
表明你的主張何以重要
______ matters / is important because _______. ( ______ 之所以重要,是因為_______。)
Although X may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of today’s concern over _____. (雖然 X 看似微不足道,事實上,以今日人們對於 ______ 的關心來看,它極其重要。)
Ultimately, what is at stake here is _____. (最後,真正事關重大的是 _____。)
These conclusions / This discovery will have significant applications in _____ as well as in _____. (這些結論 / 發現不僅在 _____ 方面有著重大的影響,在 _______ 方面也是。)
My point here (that _____ )should interest those who ______. Beyond this limited audience, however, my point should speak to anyone who cares about the larger issue of _____. (我的論點 ______ 應該會讓那些 _______ 的人產生興趣。不過除了這些有限的讀者之外,任何關心 _______ 這個更大議題的人,希望登能聽聽我的觀點。)
混合學術與口語風格
作者提到在學術文章的字裡行間,其實可以透過混合學術用語與大眾用語的方式,讓潤飾後的語言更能增添文采得活潑生動,甚至更為「嚴密精準」,為什麼會這麼說呢?作者認為這種詼諧的手法,能夠讓撰文者與讀者產生智識上的的互動與連結,完爾一笑,產生共鳴;而我認為是詼諧有趣,若能有效運用事宜,儼然有畫龍點睛之效。
在無數的論文中都可以看到這樣的用法,好比說新聞媒體報導、研究領域等。
“ Making and judging formal and mechanical errors in student papers is one area in which composition studies seems to have a multiple personality disorder. On the one hand, our mellow, student-centered, process-based selves tend to condemn making formal errors at all. Doing it represents the Bad Old Days. Ms. Fidditch and Mr. Flutesnoot with sharpened red pencils. spilling innocent blood across the pages. Useless detail work. Inhumane, perfectionist standards, making our students feel stupid, wrong, trivial, misunderstood. Joseph Williams has pointed out how arbitrary and context-bound our judgments of formal error are. And certainly our nothing of errors on student papers gives no one any great joy…” —羅伯特.康諾斯與安德莉亞.郎斯福德(Robert Connor & Andrea Kunsford)〈現今大學寫作形式錯誤之頻率,或者凱托老爹老媽做研究〉(Frequency of Formal Errors in Current College Writing, or Ma and Pa Kettle Do Research)
社會科學的學術寫作風格
書裡提到不同領域會有不太相同的段落形式與句型,好比說以社會科學為例,這科目主要是研究人的行為、互動與發展,並如何在社會組織進行運作,也就是說社會科學學門始終持續的辯論,在時空環境下、在舊雨新知的空間裡,成就一來一往的觀點與回應。
作者認為,社會科學的基本寫作大致分為幾個核心部分:一段強而有力的緒論( introduction )和論點,一段文獻探討( literature review ),還有創作者的個人分析與往後可能產生的影響。摻雜在字裡行間,作者提出許多適合的句型作介紹:辯護、駁斥,甚至是提出兩個論點之後,再次補充第三種論點的技巧,如下:
In recent discussions of _______, a controversial aspect has been ________. On the one hand, some argue that ________. On the other hand, others argue that _______. Neither of these arguments, however, considers the alternative view that ______.
▌結語
個人認為《17堂論文寫作必修課》值得推薦給研究生,不僅能學到各種面向的爭辯語句,亦能在活用的同時,找到更深入的觀點。雖然說我很難定義它是否為一本工具書的形式,還是比較適合用「寫作指南」來形容,我想會較為貼切吧!可以將它置放在書桌的一隅,每當陷入文思枯竭的時候,不妨將它輕輕翻閱,尋覓合適的靈感。