An effective abstract usually: 1. uses one or more well developed paragraphs: these are unified, coherent, concise, and able to stand alone; 2. uses an introduction/body/conclusion structure which presents the article, paper, or report’s purpose, results, conclusions, and recommendations in that order; 3. follows strictly the chronology of the article, paper, or report; 4. provides logical connections (or transitions) between the information included; 5. adds no new information, but simply summarizes the report; 6. is understandable to a wide audience;
The above example consists of three paragraphs and is made up of 280 words. It includes such information as purpose, method, scope of the paper (problems addressed), and conclusion. Passive voice (It is argued that ...) is used to downplay the author and emphasize the conclusion.
All of these problems are about blurred boundaries, between and within real world domains of language use, between the test and the nontest situation, and between the components of ability or knowledge measured by the test. It is argued that these blurred
Look at the following sample abstract from Language Testing.
This article takes up some of the issues identified by Douglas (2000) as problematic for Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) testing, making reference to a number of performance-based instruments designed to assess the language proficiency of teachers or intending teachers. The instruments referred to include proficiency tests for teachers of Italian as a foreign language in Australia (Elder, 1994) and for trainee teachers using a foreign language (in this case English) as medium for teaching school subjects such as mathematics and science in Australian secondary schools (Elder, 1993b; Viete, 1998).
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How to Write a Dissertation in English
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boundaries are an indication of the indeterminacy of LSP, as currently conceptualised, as an approach to test development (Elder 149).
The first problem addressed in the article has to do with specificity: how does one
7.1 Abstracts
How to Write a Dissertation in English
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7.1 Abstracts
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contains specific information from the paper, includes the purpose, methods, and scope of the paper, and provides the results (findings), conclusions, and recommendations. Unless otherwise directed, researchers should always write informative abstracts.
define the domain of teacher proficiency and is it distinguishable from other areas of professional competence or, indeed, from what is often referred to as “general” language proficiency? The second problem has to do with the vexed issue of authenticity: what constitutes appropriate task design on a teacher-specific instrument and to what extent can “teacher-like” language be elicited from candidates in the very artificial environment of a test? The third issue pertains to the role of nonlanguage factors (such as strategic competence or teaching skills) which may affect a candidat’s response to any appropriately contexutalized test-task and whether these factors can or should be assessed independently of the purely linguistic qualities of the test performance.
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How to Write a Dissertation in English
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The abstract is usually placed before the introduction of a paper, but it is usually the last part of the paper to be written. All other sections of the paper should have been completed before the essential information can be selected and summarized. The abstract is a condensed version of a research paper that highlights the major points covered and provides readers with a brief preview of the content and scope of the writing. It is formal and impersonal.
The abstract is extremely important and useful because most readers start reading a paper from the abstract and they depend on the abstract to decide whether or not they should continue to read the entire paper.
There are two typical types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. A descriptive abstract usually tells readers what information the paper contains, outlines the purpose, methods, and scope of the paper, and introduces the subject. An informative abstract
An abstract, especially one for journal articles, should be as brief and concise but informative as possible. Journal editors usually impose a word limit for the abstract which authors can not exceed. For example, ELT Journal limits the words of an abstract to 100200. Most abstracts of master’s theses are confined to 200 words. In order to shorten an abstract to satisfy such word limit, researchers often focus on only two or three aspects, with the emphasis placed on the results of the study. Therefore, information about the